Welcome Robyn
Robyn Kennedy has joined us at the BIA office for the summer. She’s a senior student at Ryerson and is interested in event management opportunities. She’ll be responsible for many aspects of our 2010 Festival program – if your group is part of our Festival parade or if you want booth space on the street, then she’ll be your contact person.

Wedding bells at Sweet Creamery
Emilio and Tom, the proprietors of our attractive new ice cream parlour, were married last Friday in a small ceremony attended by a group of their close friends. They tied the knot at the CN Tower and then enjoyed a memorable dinner there together. All of your friends and neighbours in our BIA want to wish you a life full of happiness with each other. Drop in and give them your congrat’s as well - Sweet Creamery, 521 Parliament.

Cabbagetown’s hidden art salons
Tickets are selling briskly for this second tour of hidden art treasures (Saturday May 1, 6:30 to 11:30 pm). Your ticket includes cocktails and food, a tour of three art collections and a piano jazz concert at the last destination. An Aberdeen home has an amazing cerebral collection, an historic home featured in Style at Home has an equally fascinating collection, and a Don Vale residence showcases an emerging artist. For tickets and information, click here: http://www.cabbagetownsouth.ca/

Soup’s 9th
Soup Inc is a collection of creative people who work on digital productions, web design, graphic arts and consulting. They moved to Cabbagetown in 2001 when they purchased their building at 6031/2 Parliament. You may recognize the official Cabbagetown Festival Tee shirt (designed by Chris Kiraly from Blink, Blink) or the greeting cards (by Mary Spence-Thomas at Branch Out) or nearby school gardens (by Sunday Harrison from Green Thumbs Growing Kids). James Woollatt from Blink Blink is a newly minted member of the BIA’s Board of Management. These are just four of their members – as you can see from the picture, they’re a large and happy group. Everyone got together last week for a barbeque lunch to celebrate their 9th Anniversary. Congratulations all – and thanks for your hard work on behalf of Cabbagetown.

Learn to cook like Elie
Provence Delices, the beautiful restaurant at 12 Amelia Street, is justly known for its fine menus and cuisine. Elie, the proprietor, is hosting six cooking sessions for eight lucky people on Mondays from 6:30 to 9 pm, starting on Monday April 26. The topics include sea breem, poultry, starters (2 sessions) and charcuterie (2 sessions). These classes will be hands-on fun and conducted by Elie himself. For more information, click here: http://provcabbagetown.blogspot.com/
To reserve your place, call (416) 924-9901 or email info@provencerestaurant.com

Here’s Kendall & Company
For the past two weeks, we’ve shown you photos of the beautiful objects available at Kendall & Co Design + Décor (438 Parliament). Their new store combines both retail furnishings and interior design consulting. We’ve told them that we need faces – the people behind the scenes – to go with the goodies and here they are:

Spring at Riverdale Farm
It’s the season for babies. There are 13 new piglets, 3 new lambs and 2 six-month-old short horn calves at the Farm. The tulip gardens are in magnificent bloom. On Saturday May 1, the Farm holds its annual Rite of Spring Festival with sheep shearing, sheep dog demonstrations and spinning and weaving activities. It’s a great day for the whole family. Winchester and Sumach beside Riverdale Park.

Beer sampling at Samovar Above Winchester
Beer is good and Samovar has a big supply for everyone who wants a sample. Drop by on Friday April 23 from 5 to 8 pm (51A Winchester) to get a taste from ten different drafts. A small appetizer plate is recommended as well. You can get a second appetizer free whenever you purchase the first one. This happy hour offer runs Tuesdays to Fridays, 5 to 8 pm until June 30. Click here to see their menu and photo gallery: http://www.samovarroom.com/

Big Mamma’s Boy
The Grand Re-opening party is now scheduled for Tuesday May 4 at 7 pm. More details will follow soon. Save this time and date and be sure to drop by to see the new BMB and to test their newly tweaked menu. (554 Parliament).

JAMCafe has another tasting
Av Atikian is again hosting a marvellous wine and tasting evening, this time featuring beautiful Burgundies done in classic style by David Butterfield. Six wines from three districts will be paired with Av’s special menu. Wednesday, May 12 at 6:30 pm. Reservations at (416) 921-1255, $95 per person. For all the details about this amazing evening, click here: http://jamcabbagetown.blogspot.com/

Central Neighbourhood House
CNH holds regular euchre parties as fundraisers. It’s a fun way to help a valuable Cabbagetown agency. Players can win valuable prizes (ranging from $20 to $80). The proceeds benefit the Christmas Gift program for CNH’s Home Support clients. Over one thousand people receive these gifts, a monumental task that relies on the generosity and help of the neighbourhood for its success. Saturday April 24, 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, $20 registration fee. 349 Ontario St.

Cabbagetown Organics
This week’s features include Salba Seeds, “Nature’s most powerful whole food” at $19.99, a real savings from the regular price of $26.99. Illy Coffee is also available at $14.99. 499 Parliament.

Menagerie Pet Shop
Menagerie (549 Parliament) has Orijen cat and dog foods on sale at 10% discounts from now to May 31. These are biologically appropriate real food – all-natural, grain-free and Canadian made. While you’re there, stroll through this cool shop, see the lizards and parrots and fish and then say hello to Frankie, Menagerie’s house cat.

Pet Valu
At Pet Valu (240 Carlton), there’s a premier edition of the new magazine, “Pet Valu Companion”, and it’s full of articles and product announcements for pet owners. This edition features discussions on holistic grain-free multiple protein pet food and there are several new product lines for dogs and cats available in-store. There’s also a display of nifty new travel aids for people who are launching off with their pets.

Sharon’s
Sharon has a new $20 rack. She’s featuring tee’s, capris, sweaters and much more at this special price offering. She also has men's and women’s summer hats. 503 Parliament.

English Delights at International News
Nada has just added a new collection of English cakes, cookies and drinks to her shelves at International News (533A Parliament). She has Battenburg Cakes at $6.99 and Tipsy Cake at $3.50 – both brought in fresh weekly. Her candies include Dolly Mix and Olde English Royal Toffees and her cookies include Cadbury Digestives, Fox’s Classic ginger cookies, Elke’s Ginger Nuts and McVities Rich Tea cookies.

Looking tired but happy…
Last week, we told you that Hector is moving home. Pembroke’s gain and our loss. It appears, however, that you can take the boy out of Cabbagetown but you can’t take the Tee-shirt off his back. Here he is in tired splendour after dashing through the Boston Marathon last Sunday at rocket velocity in 3 hours and 59 minutes. He’s qualified automatically to enter again next year.