Mathew Silver

Dec 27, 2023 | torontolife.com | Vansh Thukral |Andrea Yu |Naama Blonder |Mathew Silver

Watching the roller coaster that is Toronto’s real estate market has become its own spectator sport. In a city desperate for housing options, everyone has a take because everyone has a stake. Our readers consumed an eclectic spread of stories this year: an architect’s passionate defence of downtown living, harrowing accounts of student slums, breathtaking renovations built on a budget.

Dec 22, 2023 | torontolife.com | Mathew Silver |Kate Dingwall |Liza Agrba |Tiffany Leigh

Our readers were hungry for a variety of reads this year, including a biography of one of Toronto’s most prolific restaurateurs, a memoir about turning a dairy farm into a distillery and a ranking of all the new food at the Rogers Centre. Here, a dozen of our most read food stories of 2023. When the Blue Jays played their 2023 home opener against the Detroit Tigers, fans at the Rogers Centre had a hard time focusing on the game.

Nov 18, 2023 | thestar.com | Mathew Silver

Every morning, Liz Greaves wakes up at 6, prepares her lunch and takes the TTC to the provincial courthouse downtown. When she arrives at security, Greaves usually greets the guards with the same line, invoking a classic phrase from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”: “It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood.” The guards always chuckle. Then Greaves moves through security with procedural efficiency, placing her purse in the bin, nothing in her pockets, never wearing metal bracelets or belt buckles.

Oct 19, 2023 | canadianbusiness.com | Mathew Silver

In 2018, Jake Karls co-founded Mid-Day Squares with his sister, Lezlie Karls, and her husband, Nick Saltarelli. The trio wanted to create a modern chocolate bar, replacing the high-sugar snacks of yesteryear with a low-sugar, high-protein plant-based alternative. Lezlie worked from her condo’s kitchen, whipping up batch after batch of prototypes, until she came up with their first product: a brownie-batter-flavoured square with six grams of protein and four grams of fibre per serving.

Oct 10, 2023 | torontolife.com | Mathew Silver

Grant Brammer could fix anything: cars, plumbing, electrical. So, when he bought a 20,000-square-foot plot of land in the Kawarthas in 1963, he couldn’t wait to start building the cottage he’d long dreamed of for his wife, Donna, and their three young children, Daniel, Laurie and Diane. Most weekends, Grant drove the two and a half hours north from the family’s home on the Scarborough Bluffs to their property in Highland Grove.