Posted by Greg Clow in restaurant closings, restaurant news, restaurant openings on May 14, 2007 at 1:36 pm

T.O. Tidbits is our new column that will feature news about openings, closings and other happenings in Toronto's restaurant and food shop scene. If you have a scoop to share, please let us know so we can include it in a future edition.

With new chef Patrick Lin at the helm, Senses (328 Wellington Street West) has a full slate of special menus and events planned through to the end of the year in both the restaurant and bakery. These include: an Australia-themed menu in June; a French food and wine tasting menu though July and August; a fall pie collection launching on September 20th; a Thanksgiving brunch on October 8th; and a tasting menu starting the same day that reflects the best of Chinese, Japanese, French and American culinary traditions.

Joining such hot spots as Coca and Seoul City along the west-of-Bathurst strip of Queen Street is Indus Junction (811 Queen Street West), a small and chic restaurant offering modern twists on classic Indian cuisine. Watch for a profile of the restaurant and owners (& sisters) Alka and Poonam Dhir here on Taste T.O. soon.

Java fiends on both ends of Queen Street have some new places to get their fix. In the east, Red Rocket Coffee (1402 B Queen Street East) has been open for a month or so near the streetcar depot at Greenwood, while in the west end, Niche Coffee & Tea (626 Queen Street West) has opened in the former location of Vienna Home Bakery. And coming soon to both 'hoods will be the first Toronto locations of Just Us! Café (2010 Queen Street East & 490 Queen Street West), a fair trade coffee roastery and café chain based out of Nova Scotia.

With Amato locations shutting down all over town, the time seems to be ripe for some new gourmet pizza joints to start picking up the slack. Enter Panago (44 Gerrard Street West), a 'za chain from BC that opened their first downtown T.O. location last month. Their personal pan pizzas may invoke thoughts of Pizza Hut, but their fresh ingredients and speciality pies like steak & blue cheese, chorizo & goat cheese, and pesto shrimp have made them a popular lunch spot for the local office crowd.

Attention gardeners: organic seed and plant specialists Urban Harvest have opened a retail location, although it's a bit off the beaten path. To find it, head to Dufferin Street between King and Queen, and walk down the driveway just north of Kuda Furniture. In addition to their fantastic selection of plants and seeds, they also have eco-friendly garden supplies, and they'll soon be selling their own line of herbal skin-care products.

The scene in Leslieville and South Riverdale continues to grow, with recent openings including The Burger Shoppe (688 Queen Street East), Soma Restaurant & Lounge (703 Queen Street East) and Fare Bistro (1097 Queen Street East), the latter being a new venture from Brad Clark, formerly of Le Select Bistro. Joining the fun soon will be Booze Emporium (696 Queen Street East), a gastropub and oyster bar headed up by Michael Summerfield (ex of Eau and 606).

Recent restaurant closures around town include JOV Bistro (1701 Bayview Avenue) and Biryani House (25 Wellesley Street East). In the case of the latter, chef Debu Saha is off to travel the world for a year or so, after which he promises to return to Toronto and open a new spot. A similar promise comes from the folks at Mildred Pierce (99 Sudbury Street) who will be closing shop at the end of July, but plan to open up elsewhere in October under a new name and with their famous brunch intact. To mark the end of an era, they'll be holding the "World's Longest Brunch" on Sunday, July 29th with proceeds going to Second Harvest at George Brown Chef's School.