NikonRumors has posted about the possibility of a new 85mm lens aimed at portrait takers using DX cameras (d3000 to d300s). The 85mm focal length will give it an effective focal length of 127.5mm for DX cameras. It will feature VR and probably be at a lower price point than their existing 85mm.

This video by the Toronto Star shows some of the changes happening at the old Brickworks. Now dubbed the Evergreen Brickworks, the changes that started last year have really sped up and the site is going through a big transformation. It’s due to be finished in September.

This year’s finale for House was entirely shot with a Canon 5D Mark II.  A  Twitter interview with the director answers some questions about the experience.

Food & Wine had a list of Best New Food and Drink Experiences and picked two venues in Toronto:

• Charlie’s Burger, the “secret” foodie club that brings together chefs and food lovers. This made it into the Top 3.
• Barchef, the over-the-top drinks came in at 86.

Koko Share Bar opened in Yorkville a few weeks ago. The reviews have been positive and I put it on my list of places to try. On a random afternoon I poked my head in and tried lunch at the new restaurant. The lunch menu differs from their dinner menu but I was offered both to take a look at. I tried a beef tenderloin sushi roll and the Maguro role of tuna and ‘kimchee’. The dishes shortly arrived and both were quite tasty. Both sets of rolls surprised me by being quite bite-sized – I’ve found many new sushi places make very complex rolls with so many ingredients it makes the rolls almost too big to eat.

The beef tenderloin roll surprised me by it’s freshness. By using an outer layer of beef and a very thin layer of rice, they allow the veggies like the garlic stem to come through when eating. It tasted crisp like a salad. The Maguro roll had a tiny star shap of okra on top, I don’t recall okra being part of Korean or Japanese cuisine, but it looked great. This reminded me of a “spicy tuna” roll but it got it’s spiciness from the kimchi and not from a mayo-hotsauce concoction.

The quiet lunchtime hour allowed me to talk with the owner about many of the dishes. Each one is carefully crafted and you can tell he put a lot of thought into creating some unique dishes – taking a bit of Japan and Korea in each dish. I was very happy with my meal at Koko and will be back.

Koko Share Bar
81 Yorkville Ave.

CNN has an article about “7 Things You Might Not Know About Starbucks“. I knew about the mermaid and Moby Dick reference.

I saw this posted online and had to share:

Toronto Life just published their Best New Restaurants on their website. The top 10 include:

• Haisai
• Kaiseki Yu-zen Hashimoto
• Splendido
• Ame
• Local Kitchen and Wine Bar
• The Queen and Beaver
• Paramour
• Earth
• Hoof Cafe
• Guu Izakaya

They earlier featured the “runners-up”

• Buca
• Ceili Cottage
• The Stockyards
• Caplansky’s

The latest LCBO release is out. Here are some highlights. The full list is at the Vintages website.

• Chalk Hill Estate Chardonnay 2006, California, USA $39.00
• Campaner Gewürztraminer 2008, Alto Adige, Italy $25.00
• Wadleith Chardonnay 2008, Alto Adige, Italy $24.00
• John’s Blend Margarete’s Shiraz 2006, South Australia $39.00
• Mitchelton Crescent Mourvèdre/Shiraz/Grenache 2004, Victoria, Australia $29.00
• Dei Sancta Catharina 2007, Tuscany, Italy $45.00

Inside Line asks, is this the ultimate 911? The Carrera line is huge now, from the base Carrera the model range extends to include 3.8L S versions, all-wheel drive versions, a turbo, the GT3, a hardcore GT3 RS, a turbo-rwd GT2 and the Cup car.

The GT3 features rear wheel drive and a naturally aspirated 3.8L engine producing 435hp and 317ft-lbs of torque.