The best local handicrafts and artisanal items, from our online worldwide Authentic Shopping Guide.
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Handcrafted Beers and Ales
Visit Mill Street Brewery (www.millstreetbrewery.com), the first commercial brewery to open in East Toronto (once the city’s brew capital) in over 100 years; handcrafted (and beautifully bottled) selections (organic lager, stock ale, and Belgian-style Wit beer). Steam Whistle Brewery (www.steamwhistle.ca) features premium preservative-free pilsner at the city’s historic John Street Roundhouse.
Handmade Jewelry
Toronto jewelry designer Krystyne Griffin creates artful, one-of-a-kind pieces handmade from exotic black coral, Mexican silver, ancient beads, and semi-precious stones. Necklaces demand a plunging décolletage. Available at the Gardiner Museum shop.
Smoked Salmon
Head to the original Kristapsons for perfect smoked salmon, cold-cured on-site; 55-year-old family-owned shop. 1095 Queen Street E; tel. +1 416 466 5152.
Handcrafted Chocolate
Chocolatiers David Castellan and Cynthia Leung design and handcraft single-origin chocolates in the Distillery Historic District shop—SOMA Chocolate. While there, sample the Mayan hot chocolate, imaginative truffles (fleur de sel, Australian ginger, chili), and outstanding homemade gelato (toasted almond, Venezuelan chocolate). 55 Mill Street; tel. +1 416 815 7662. www.somachocolate.com
Handpainted Clothing
Toronto illustrator and clothing designer Virginia Johnson patterns her jubilant, salt-air collections using watercolor paints on paper; vibrant cotton frocks, tunics, and sunhats, patterned with waves, birds, leaves, and flowers, couldn’t be softer if they were loomed from passing clouds. www.virginiajohnson.com
