5 Alternative Date Ideas in Toronto

I get asked a lot what my ideal date looks like. The honest answer? It depends on you.

Some nights I want to be the girl in the little black dress across a candlelit table. Other afternoons I want to be the one pulling you slightly off the beaten path, barefoot on a blanket somewhere, sun on our shoulders, nowhere to be.

Toronto is the kind of city that gives you both. So if you're planning our time together and you'd like something a little more bespoke than a standard dinner reservation, here are five of the alternative experiences we could enjoy.

An Afternoon at The Sauna (and Everything That Comes After)

I do love contrast therapy. If you've never experienced it, let me be the one to introduce you.

Let’s visit Alter Wellness or Othership. We'll move from hot, cold, rest, repeat and by the time we leave, we’ll be a little more loosened. From there? I'd love to cook with you or we could let someone else do it for us.

Vintage Shopping in Kensington, Then Martinis at Bar Raval

Meet me in Kensington on a Saturday. a detour into a record shop so I can pretend I know more about vinyl than I do.

Once we've made our little finds (I'll want you to pick something out for me), we'll walk up to Bar Raval for a Gin Martini at the bar. The tile, the Gaudí woodwork and the low hum of Spanish in the background is the kind of afternoon that leads into an evening we both won’t forget.

A Gallery Day at the AGO, Then a Long Dinner in Little Italy

I'm deeply drawn to the arts. Photography, watercolour, the way a really good painting can catch you. Let’s wander through the AGO. I'll tell you which pieces make no sense and you’ll explain them to me.

Afterward, we'll walk up to College Street for a long, slow dinner somewhere dim and Italian handmade pasta with a bottle of something unexpectedly good. No phones allowed.

The Toronto Islands

We catch the early ferry to Ward's Island. I’ll bring the fresh focaccia, fruit, a thermos of matcha for me and coffee for you. Let’s bikes along the boardwalk, see the skyline across the water and disappear

We can get to our book club reading that we are always behind on. We’ll pour something into our cups and enjoy the last moments before we cozy up in our suite.

A Jazz Night at The Rex and Wandering Chinatown Past Midnight

Amy Winehouse is my favourite artist, which should tell you I have a soft spot for a small, smoky room and a brilliant voice. The Rex or The Poetry Cafe on Queen West is my kind of place.

After the set, I want to walk. Chinatown comes alive after eleven, and there's nothing more romantic to me than shared bowls of something steaming under neon light at 1am. Late-night tom yum, your jacket around my shoulders. All the best conversations happen after midnight anyway.

A small note

What I love about each of these is that none of them are performative. Skin to skin, eyes connected, the slow unfolding of an afternoon you didn't have to manage.

If any of these feel like you, I'd love to hear. And if something entirely different is what you're dreaming of such as a weekend in Prince Edward County, a flight somewhere warm, a quiet afternoon neither of us will forget, I'm very open to the story you want to tell.

Our connection awaits.