Cooking classes
Click on the links below to view the full listings.

Radiant Alive & Well (www.eatingrawfoods.com, 905-467-8747) teaches people how to become healthy and vibrant by eating a raw food diet.

Simply Vegetarian (McCowan/Finch, 416-291-9784) teaches vegetarian and vegan dishes in small groups. No eggs used, dairy is optional. Beginner and advanced classes offered in a comfortable home environment.

Organic Tuscany Cooking Vacations (Italy) offers week-long "farm to table" organic cooking vacations in Tuscany. Special vegetarian week coming up: September 29, 2007. "The wine harvest will have started, the weather is generally great at that time of year and there are some lovely ingredients to be used (pumpkin, chestnuts, fennel...)"

Natural food stores

Qi Natural Food (710 Bloor St W, e. of Christie, 416-539-0459) has opened a new location serving the west end of the Annex.

Environmental / wellness / organics

Heart on Your Sleeve (90 Nassau St, w. of Augusta, 416-999-2197) sells clothing that is made in Canada, cruelty-free, sweatshop-free, recycled, organic, made from hemp, and more. Located right beside Left Feet.

Linda Louise Warman MSW RSW (Bathurst/Steeles area, www.LindaWarman.ca, 905-731-7972) is a psychotherapist, individual, couple, family counsellor, personal growth facilitator and holistic wellness coach."I promote conscious, compassionate vegan eating as foundational to personal wellness on all levels."

Miessence (www.pforganics.mionegroup.com) is a certified organic skin and personal care range made with 100% beneficial ingredients and no synthetic chemicals.

Click on the links below to view the full listings.

Boom Shiva (1180 Queen St W) has closed.

Cafe 668 (416-703-0668) is moving in August to a larger, newly renovated, licensed restaurant with a patio at 885 Dundas St, west of Bathurst at Claremont. Innovative pan-Asian vegan cuisine. They no longer offer cardholders a discount.

Sirdi Sai Sweets & Restaurant (Jaipur Gore Plaza, 8887 The Gore Rd, Unit 57-58, 905-794-6114) is a new vegetarian restaurant discovery in Brampton. The menu appears to be mostly North Indian. Several dishes feature paneer (cheese). Open daily 11:30am-9pm for a lunch buffet and dinner buffet.

Strictly Ital Restaurant (1720 Eglinton Ave, e. of Dufferin, 416-784-1466) serves very tasty, but not overly spicy Rastafarian cuisine. The place is casual – orders are placed and picked up at the counter. A menu of about seven different dishes changes daily. Tikka reports that, "Owner, Richard is a very warm and friendly man who greets return customers with a smile and kind word." Open Mon-Thu 11am-7pm, Fri-Sat noon-8pm. Closed Sun.

Zen Gardens has a new location in Cambridge (65 Water St N, 519-620-8809) serving delicious Chinese cuisine.

Vegetarian meal delivery

Green Zebra (www.greenzebrakitchen.com, 416-855-3174) offers fresh meals delivered weekly in reusable containers. Organic, unprocessed, wheat-free, vegetarian, plus meals for people with various health conditions. Green Zebra supports local farmers and follows sustainable business practices.

New World Organics
161 Main St. (at Gerrard), 647-435-4885
New World Organics serves take out vegan and vegetarian baked goods, soups, salads, and sandwiches. Ingredients are 90% organic, and the coffee and chocolate are fairly traded. They have been wholesaling to local organic coffee shops since June 2006, have a catering service and make wedding cakes. You can also find them at the Riverdale Farm Market on Tuesdays from 3-7pm.  Sherry reports, "I found this little gem in the east end of Toronto. The vegan banana bread and chocolate cake were both absolutely delicious!"
  Open Tue-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-4pm. Note: If they sell out for the day, they will close early.

Mama Earth Organics (www.mamaearth.ca, 416-850-8662) is an organic produce delivery service in the Beaches.

Native Organics & Natural Foods (909 Queen St E. east of Logan, 416-469-1010) is a new store.

Baby Naturopathics Inc. (www.babynaturopathics.com, 1-905-296-1361) is an online baby boutique selling certified organic infant clothes, toys, and vegetarian skin care products.

Everyday Whole Cuisine (www.everydaywholecuisine.com, 416-781-7724) is a new meal delivery service that focuses on using organic and local ingredients.

Rice Bar (319 Augusta Ave, www.ricebar.ca, 416-922-7423) is a restaurant and patio in Kensington Market with many vegetarian, vegan, and organic options.

Sahayoga (Near Belleville, www.sahayoga.com, 613-471-1000) is a  beautiful retreat in Prince Edward County that now offers 5% off to cardholders. Accommodation, all meals, and use of facility are included in a weekend package.

Tea Family Clan Vegetarian Tea House
116 Bronte Rd. (n. of Lakeshore), Oakville, 905-827-3159
They have quite a few appetizers and soups, five entrees (all vegetarian), and an extensive list of teas, bubble teas, and smoothies, along with very friendly service.

Moreen writes: "Located in Bronte Village is a charming little space with appropriately green-tea-accented walls. Very friendly, family operation. A wonderful selection of teas which are presented with a ritual elegance. We chose the Spring Oolong Tea which was reminiscent of artichokes. Appetizers we tasted: a delicious sticky rice and melt-in-your-mouth Curry Puffs. We sampled the Sweet and Sour Teriyaki Mushroom Cutlets served on spaghetti – very retro! They can accommodate up to 20 people. From here, it's a short stroll down to the harbour and lake.

Open Mon-Fri 11am-2:30pm for lunch and 4:30pm-8:30pm for dinner. Sat - open half hour later. They will open on Sunday for a large enough group.

In Port Credit, Planet Organic (170 Lakeshore Rd. E. at Hurontario, 905-271-0785) is now open, and Sherry reports that there are two good stores in Burlington: Marilu's Market (4025 New Street, 905-639-0319) and Goodness Me! Natural food market (3455 Fairview St., west of Walkers Line, 905-637-8404)

Over 80 vegetarian-friendly businesses offer Toronto Vegetarian Association cardholders a discount. Cards are available for $20 along with a minimum $20 membership donation. The latest additions to the program are:

Left Feet – 10% off
88 Nassau St, in Kensington Market, 416-360-5338
www.leftfeet.ca
Vegan shoe store featuring footwear from Vegetarian Shoes, Blackspot and No Sweat. Open Tues-Sat noon-7pm, Sun noon-5pm.

v Happy Buddha Vegetarian – 10% off
2366 Yonge St., (n. of Eglinton), 416-544-0330
Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine – over 100 dishes. Combining traditional cooking with modern concepts – experience the art of mock meat and seafood. Open Sun-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri and Sat 11am-11pm.

All dishes are vegetarian despite the menu listing things like “Shark Fin” soup and “Pork and Beef in Sizzling Plate”. All meats and fish are imitation. Caroline emailed us to say that, "It was really good food!” There is no egg, dairy, MSG, onions or garlic.

v M & B Yummy - Classic Ethiopian food
1263 Queen St W. (at Brock) in Parkdale, 416-516-2798
On Saturday nights there is now an after-hours vegan BBQ from 6pm until 2am: hot-dogs and burgers (from Sol Cuisine) and large soft pretzels (baked fresh). Also new is vegan soft-serve ice cream (Tofutti), sundaes and banana split, as well as delicious vegan cakes. Antoine writes: "Sunday Brunch is a huge amount of food for only $11, tax and beverage included. The owner and chef, Zeni, makes delicious soy lattes and (for those who don't like coffee) spice tea soy lattes (and cappuccinos)."

Prices have gone up a little. Open Mon, Wed and Thu noon to 10pm, Fri-Sat noon-midnight, and Sunday 11am to 7pm. Closed Tuesday, and for one hour on weekdays between 4pm and 5pm.

Indian Flavour
958 Bay St. (n. of Wellesley), 416-408-2799
They have moved north several blocks. The new location currently has a sign that says: "Ruchiro", but they will be changing it to "Indian Flavour." They serve cuisine from different regions of India, with lunch and dinner buffet specials. Discount cardholders receive 10% off their Mon-Sat dinner buffet.

v Bo De Duyen
254 Spadina, 2nd Floor (s. of Dundas), 416-703-1247
Closed Wed. Open Thu-Tue 11am-11pm.

Bhartpuri Sweets & Restaurant – CLOSED
They were at 1780 Albion Rd. (near Hwy 27). There are several other Indian restaurants in Etobicoke near the corner of Albion Rd. and Islington.

We now have pages for Hamilton and Stratford. 

With a population of a half million, Hamilton is the eighth largest city in Canada. There are two vegetarian restaurants and a vegetarian group based from McMaster University. With its proximity to farms, Hamilton has a good local food scene championed by Hamilton Eat Local Project (HELP). 

Stratford is a small city in rural southwestern Ontario famous for its theatre shows and festivals. They have a vegan cafe there called Veg Out.

Magic Oven – new location in the Annex
270 Dupont St. (at Spadina), 416-928-1555
www.magicoven.com
   New full service, licensed restaurant with seating for 65. They offer the same menu as their take-out locations, and discount cardholders are eligible to receive a 10% discount. Twelve vegetarian and five vegan pizzas to choose from, or order a custom one. They also sell pizza by the slice ($4) for take-out or eat-in.  Exceptional pizza menu with innovative healthy pastas and salads. Focus on quality ingredients with offerings to please vegan, lactose intolerant, vegetarian, gluten-free and wheat-free diets. Open Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun noon-10pm.

v LIVE - Organic Food Bar – open later
264 Dupont St. (at Spadina), 416-515-2002
LIVE is now open till 11pm most nights. Weekend brunch from 10am-3pm. Closed on Monday. Chic back yard patio opens as soon as the weather gets warmer. They have increased the number of raw snacks and desserts that are available for purchase, since their take-out location, Organiclicious, closed.

v M & B Yummy Classic Ethiopian food!  – vegan once again
1263 Queen St W. (at Brock) in Parkdale, 416-516-2798
They serve traditional Ethiopian cuisine made fresh to order. Recently the owner has gone back and forth between serving meat or not. But now all her menu items are entirely vegan thanks to help and encouragement from a supporter named Antoine. Antoine approaches local restaurants and encourages them to add vegan options to their menus. M&B Yummy does serve cow's milk as an option for coffee, and some non-vegan baked goods that are made elsewhere. But there are vegan desserts from Sweets From The Earth and vegan Nanaimo bars from a local pastry chef. 

Kalyvia – vegetarian options may contain chicken broth.
We received an email from Lee: “I was just at Kalyvia, a Greek restaurant at Danforth and Chester [416-463-3333, www.kalyvia.com]. They offer several "vegetarian meals", but upon inquiring I found out that both the potatoes and rice are made in chicken broth.” We sent them an email but have not heard back yet. Last summer we had success getting Spring Rolls to add a proper vegan menu free of fish sauce. Speaking up can work.

Note: Annapurna Vegetarian Restaurant will be closed from April 7 - April 17, 2007 inclusive.  Bo De Duyen has been closed for vacation for most of March, but they are reopening after Mar 27 according to a sign on the door.

Sadie's Diner & Juice Bar is a veggie brunch and lunch spot located at 504 Adelaide St. W. (e. of Bathurst, 416-777-2343). All-day brunch menu includes organic free-range eggs, tofu scramble, Yves veggie “bacon" or "sausages”, organic buckwheat waffles and pancakes, and breakfast burrito. ...

Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen at 1262 Danforth Ave (at Greenwood) is a new Thai-Malay vegetarian restaurant – a welcome addition to the meat-centric Danforth. NOW magazine rates them NNNN (out of five) in a recent review. They recommend ....

v M & B Yummy Classic Ethiopian food! at 1263 Queen St W. in Parkdale offers a Full Vegan Plate for only $7 (tax included)! They now have an entirely vegan menu.

More Vegetarian Directory updates:
• The Unfriendly Thai on Queen Street labels several dishes that contain fish sauce as “vegetarian”. A letter has been sent.
• Queen Street Commons is a new volunteer-run vegetarian cafe in Kitchener .
• Soul Dance is an organic veggie meal delivery service in Orangeville .
• Upaya Naturals is a Toronto-based online store for raw food products.