Ideally, my coffee would be dark and complex, roasted to perfect Viennese brown; the liquid spirit of a shady East african hill top with a warm, smoky aroma as big as a room--a brew that could temper even the most savage morning and make things a little more bearable.

So any Saturday I can, I'll skip my local mug-slingers and head down to Kensington for a cup of pre-grocery shopping joe at I deal Coffee. More addictive than a game of facebook scrabble, the heady scent of beans freshly roasted to perfect, rich mahogany wafts through the eclectic, shabby-chic digs of I Deal's Kensington Market location.

Read the full review of I Deal Coffee in our Cafes section.

There's a particularly stubborn old Zen koan in which a young pupil asks his master whether a dog can indeed posses Buddha-nature. The master (in typical zen obliquity) implies that the question itself must be unasked for any wisdom to be attained.

This pseudo-mystic morsel offers a useful bit of question begging distraction while awaiting your order from the grill of this pleasantly Scandinavian-decorated Roncesvalles satellite of the much loved Picton wiener shop.

So then, just what is the nature of a Buddha Dog?

Read the full review of Buddha Dog in the Restaurants section.

Image: Spiced Tiger Shrimp on Endive Salad

Some do indeed like it hot. Not that there's much choice lately as most Torontonians find themselves crammed sweatily ass-to-elbow into these dog days like passengers on an un-air conned rush hour bus. Luckily, along for the ride is some sweet relief as our city's suddenly lousy with open air food festivals appearing like so many beads of sweat on an ice cold glass.

For those (like me) that grew up along the Greek stretch of Danforth and keen to avoid the char-broiled, flaming cheese anarchy of that 'other' food festival this weekend and looking for something with a little more bite, the past week's temperatures are like John the Baptist: promising something even hotter to follow, namely: Harbourfront's annual, capsaicin orgy better known as The Hot & Spicy Food Festival.

I've been on a 'cleanse' for the past month whose stifling strictures and gory details I'll spare y'all but sufficed to say, the closest I've actually come to proper Asian fare lately is reading the excellent Eating Asia blog and watching episodes of the insanely fun Cooking Master Boy on Youtube. Lucky for me the cleanse is about to end and the timing couldn't be better since this Friday marks the launch of the annual Toronto Night Market.

From it's start in 2002 with 20 stalls and about 1000 visitors, this event now boasts nearly 100 vendors and expects crowds in excess of 60,000 people.

Toronto Night Market is run by members of Power Unit, a volunteer organization 40 strong of young people between the ages of 15-24 committed to 'hands-on' leadership and development and giving back to their community. This year's night market will generate $10,000 to be donated to the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care. The choice of recipient also influenced the theme for this year's night market of 'nostalgia and memories of the past', and also provides a wonderful symmetry between the young organizers and the cause they're helping; creating a bridge between the past and future through a truly 'memorable' event.

Thoughts turn to smoochin' once Toronto escapes the clutches of its winter prison. The newly summer-skinned brothers showing off tats and sisters in sundresses come charging through TTC turnstiles like glittering clouds of tropical fish into afternoons that wear the sun fiercely like a giant gold pendant. The heartbreak and heatstroke of August dog days still months away, now's the time to find that special sweetie 'n' head for the patios and there's no patio more likely to get you laid (patience, there'll be plenty of time for that) than the one in front of Julie's Cuban.

Read the full review for Julie's Cuban in our extra fine Restaurants section.

You might chalk it up to rampant apophenia but there seems to be a curious correspondence between North/South civil conflicts and fried chicken. Not to bang the war drum but anyone from Harlan Sanders to Martha Stewart'll confess that the best fried chicken comes from the "grey" side of the Mason-Dixon (heck, they don't call it southern fried chicken for nothing). Likewise, spending anytime in the two Koreas, you'll realize that though the north has the best tyrant to toupee ratio, you'll find some of the finest, most fingerlickin' fowl down south of the DMZ.

And from the Times to your fave foodie message board, peeps seem to be chirpping-up the crispy golden virtues of Korean fried chicken and blogTO, sage and shameless enough to recognize the smell of a fryer-fat-hot food trend are proud to squeeze our soon-to-be 72 inch behind into one of the bandwagon's few remaining seats.

Read the full review in the restaurants section...