Toronto is way better than advertised. The food scene alone makes the trip worthwhile, and between that, the sport, and enough culture to fill the gaps, there’s no real danger of running out of things to do.
Stay at the Four Seasons in Yorkville. The spa takes up two floors and operates at a pace that encourages you to cancel whatever you had planned. The Signature Gold and Diamond Facial is an hour that covers more ground than it has any right to – a customised peel, gold masks worked in with rose quartz crystals, and a hand and arm massage folded into the middle so there’s no dead time. Skin leaves noticeably better than it arrived. Breakfast at Café Boulud is generous and unhurried – Canadian bacon, maple syrup, eggs, garlic potatoes, filter coffee on a loop.
Book a Maple Leafs game. Hockey in the room is nothing like hockey on a screen – faster, noisier, and genuinely gripping even if you’ve never followed it. Even if you don’t know the rules, the audience, the mascots and the general ambience will tell you when to cheer. The Hockey Hall of Fame nearby operates on a scale that no other sports museum comes close to – the global reach of the game covered thoroughly, with enough to do that adults lose track of time alongside the kids, which is either a good sign or a slightly embarrassing one. The CN Tower earns its reputation, particularly the view, which makes the city’s actual scale land properly for the first time. The Art Gallery of Ontario fills a half day without any of it dragging, and the Distillery District is best approached without a plan and with a stop at SOMA, whose hot chocolate is thick enough to be taken seriously.
Dinner at aKin is not optional. A Michelin-starred blind tasting menu that rotates every couple of months, built on Hong Kong heritage. Every dish arrives fully considered – nothing half-formed, nothing there to fill space. The kind of cooking where each mouthful does exactly what it promises and occasionally more, the spherified single-bite pho being the most obvious example. For something less ceremonial, Occhiolino makes most of its pasta on site, visible through glass at the front of the room where the work carries on regardless of who’s watching. The open kitchen behind sends flames up with enough regularity to keep things interesting. Order the fettuccine al gamberi, finished tableside, and try not to immediately order another.
