My girlfriend Geneva’s sister recently got married in Toronto, which meant I got to see “Canada’s New York” for the first time ever. Admittedly, I don’t like New York, but I knew that there was one really important difference between The City That Never Sleeps Because It Just Got Mugged In The Filthy Subway and The Six: Drake and his general aura. (I’m really really really into Aubrey Drake “Drizzy” Graham’s entire world, in case you didn’t know.)
I was completely down to turn a weekend jaunt for the #BAMFwedding into a week-long excursion into a foreign city under one condition: that Geneva embark with me on the biggest, best, most ridiculously ambitious Drake tour of that city that had ever happened. Because she loves me like no other, she said yes. (You might remember this plan from the A+ Insider.)
I consulted a lot of sources before the trip, including this handy-dandy Pitchfork map. In the end, everything from wedding errands to our incredibly magnetic temporary neighborhood (Queen West, represent) held us back from hitting every last stop, but along the way we forged our own super-special built-for-Instagram path through Drake’s homeland on what Brittani inspired me to call the #SixGoddess tour. We were indeed on our Worst Behaviour, and it was a blast.
.@drake i am headed to the six right now so lemme know if you wanna chill ok
— carmen rios 🚬👑🦄 (@carmenriosss) May 2, 2015
Here’s where we went.
Customs and the Border Line
I have never flown internationally before; typically, I would meet Geneva in Seattle and she’d drive me over the border because I was too cheap to invest in an actual passport book and bought a passport card instead. For this trip, crossing the border in an airplane was inevitable because the ground and sea options were limited, so I caved. I’m really confused, though, about why you go through customs when you land, because it seems like a lot of wasted airplane space / fuel and also potentially dangerous situations happen that way. But either way, I knew going there and back that if I had trouble getting through customs I could call Drake, ’cause he’s always goin’ back and forth across the border line.
Terminal 1 and 3
Geneva landed at 7 AM on May 2 at Pearson International Airport in Mississauga. I was not there, and she did not take photos, but she did tell me she disembarked into Terminal 3. Drake hasn’t been there in so long, though, so it doesn’t really matter that I missed it.
The Bottom
Meanwhile, I landed at Billy Bishop Island Airport, which is — just so everyone knows — adorably tiny. It also happens to be south of everything else in Toronto, pretty much, so it looks like I made the right choice in starting there. When we arrived to “here,” it was truly triumphant and also very close to a Tim Horton’s. I almost rapped about it.
Side Note: Unsure, but pretty sure anyone who has ever been a bottom while in Toronto has also checked this off their Drake Tour list.
Sotto Sotto
We knew if we were going to Toronto we needed to hit up at least one of Drake’s name-dropped fave spots in town, and I was particularly invested in Sotto Sotto and Il Mulino, where he apparently brings his entire crew to talk women and vino, because this was something I knew we were also capable of doing in a public place perhaps with him inside. I chose Sotto Sotto because in their blurb on Google Maps, it’s mentioned that lots of celebrities go there. I made dinner reservations and jokingly told Geneva I was gonna tweet at him to invite him on our super special date, knowing all along that the odds of us actually seeing, or, better, meeting someone as famous as Drake were slim to none.
But there was a twist. Drake was in town when we were in town, and he went to Sotto Sotto that night.
When we left, big brown bag full of risotto leftovers in hand and a bottle of wine in our tummies, I saw three dudes wearing OVO owl and 6 God hats and sweatshirts walk in to the restaurant, and when I told Geneva I thought it seemed too good to be true, we realized they had hopped out of a red Ferrari parked right outside with the top down and decided to stick around to see if I was right. We waited around and saw the whole scene: two private cars parked outside without letting anyone out, and then a large black SUV parked down the street with a periscope-like thing on top, and then another a big SUV with flashing lights idled in front of the restaurant entrance from which Drake emerged, much like a figment of your imagination in a cloud of fog.
There are no paparazzi style photos. There was no conversation in which I invited him back to our place to smoke mad weed. Toronto is not a “screaming girls outside hotels” and “freaking out in public” kind of celebrity city, so I played it cool and did not approach the Six God himself that night. Instead, I kept him in my heart as we got extremely giddy-drunk later at the nearby Bedford Academy bar, and I thought of him every time we passed a Ferrari that looked like it might swerve at any moment.
The Inside of a Shoppers Drug Mart
I mean, c’mon. When in Rome…
Unfortunately, there was no confetti. There was a really sick deal on cheese, though! If you’d like proof we were there, I took a shitty photo of some Shoppers shopping carts on my phone when I was too drunk.
The Drake Hotel
The Drake Hotel, which I came to lovingly refer to as the Drake Industrial Complex, is not related to the rapper in the least, but there is a sign in the lobby that says, “SLEEP WITH DRAKE!” when you walk in, so. It’s a hotel, but it’s also got a cafe, concert venues, general stores filled with amazing candles and mason jars, and art studios across the city, and I knew when we passed and saw people in suits playing brass to the bar that we had to go in. If you like Drake and you just wanna see his name everywhere, go into this hotel. If you’re lucky like me, you’ll get to drink a cold beer while gorgeous women wearing slinky black outfits sing you flawless jazz covers.
We decided to go here instead of The Beaver, where something called “Bad Bitches Night” was happening. I hope Drake knows that I love him so much I decided to go to a place bearing his namesake rather than a place filled with probably a bunch of people I’d consider my soul twins.
Parkdale
Home to hard femme all-vegetarian food restaurant and bar Lipstick and Dynamite and also right next to the Queen West neighborhood where we stayed, Parkdale is an up-and-coming neighborhood full of thrift shops like Public Butter Vintage and House of Vintage, which both ruled, and a Rolling Stones theme bar I deeply regret not going to.
Parkdale is also where Drake and Noah “40” Shebib used to smoke weed and make music together. If you’ve ever wanted to sit on couches and look at paintings in Apartment 1503 a la “The Ride,” you’ve wished you were there. Good choice, JSYK.
Forest Hill
After Drake started achieving some success as Wheelchair Jimmy on Degrassi, he and his mom moved to the more elite Forest Hill neighborhood in Toronto. To be precise, they moved to 9 Coulson Avenue, where a woman in a white SUV saw me trying to take photos of her house last week. Forest Hill Village nearby is a small cluster of coffee shops and tiny boutiques, including a Second Cup we passed by to check out a high-end food market instead. Oh, there’s also the very Canadian food-and-clothing combination of a Loblaws and a Joe Fresh at the St. Clair West TTC stop. If you’re as intrigued by that concept as I am, be prepared.
Any Restaurant Playing a Drake Song
Drake doesn’t play on the radio as much as I thought he would in Toronto. I didn’t hear him a lot at restaurants or in bars, although I did hear someone playing “Company” from their convertible. (Why do people do that? That is not a song you relate to in public, y’all. PSA.) During the #BAMFwedding pre-dinner at Harvest Kitchen, though, I heard him twice, and then when we went outside I discovered graffiti nearby that said “Wu Tang Forever,” which happens to be one of the best tracks on Nothing Was The Same. Is it a sign? Um, duh it is, guys. Otherwise I would not have put it in here.
The OVO Flagship Store
I did not realize that the October’s Very Own store existed in real life, so once I found out I immediately drafted Geneva and her best friend Ian to come with me there. It was nestled literally up the street from our AirBnB, which meant it was meant to be, obviously. I bought a black OVO owl fitted and an October’s Very Own varsity pin. Also, if you go in person, just know that Drake wasn’t playing in there and the customer to staff ratio is approximately 1 to 1,000. Canadians are a very kind and helpful peoples. It was really overwhelming.
You can also shop the OVO store online, but you won’t be able to have your friends awkwardly take a photo of you standing in front of the all-glass exterior.
The Clouds
The trip home was super cloudy, but so was the cover of Nothing Was The Same, so like…
this was so great
and this gem
“Drake doesn’t play on the radio as much as I thought he would in Toronto. I didn’t hear him a lot at restaurants or in bars, although I did hear someone playing “Company” from their convertible. (Why do people do that? That is not a song you relate to in public, y’all. PSA.)”
this. giant. gem.
WHY DO PEOPLE DO IT, ABBY? WHY DO PEOPLE DO IT?
I love everything about this article. Praise Him.
praise hands emoji
“it was […] very close to a Tim Hortons”
this sentence can truly be applied to any place in Toronto
a huge plus to being in or around toronto honestly was how often i could get an iced capp while i was there
spoiler…Tim Hos are EVERYWHERE up here.
I have to disagree, while I agree it maybe the best track on the album, I think it’s referring to 1997 album by Wu-Tang Clan. It is one of the classic albums of the 90’s after all.
art is all interpretation though
Oh man, I’m so glad you went to Harvest Kitchen, that place is incredible! What did you eat???
ahhhhh so delicious. veggie lasagna! and some sort of cheap beer situation. i was super into that place and also very into their musical choices.
“But there was a twist. Drake was in town when we were in town, and he went to Sotto Sotto that night.”
what are the odds?! there are no odds. you are #blessed in every way.
i really hope one day i find out it was because i vaguely tweeted about this plan and he was into it or that maybe he saw the rap video i recorded for him when i was in college
This should be for sale in the airports and train stations of Toronto.
someone should email this link to the toronto tourism board
or just pass it out at Union Station tbh, that’s probably more efficient
#toronto
I have been waiting for this article for sooooo long. Long live the #SixGoddess who had a brush with Drizzy himself. Also. I got you something.
oh my god i love the hat thank you so much i’mma wear it every day in a different color <3
it’s too late to buy this for camp but darned if I don’t really wish I could have this on a mountain
right? we should all wear these on the daily.
This was amazing. I used to live around the corner in Toronto from where Drake at least /used/ to live in his fancy penhouse; not sure if he’s moved since then.
crossing my fingers for you that he hasn’t and that he reads this article and reaches out about hosting a block party together
WHAT. I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE WHAT I’M READING. I can’t believe you ran into Drake.
Also I laughed reading this whole thing but I’m still too shell shocked that you actually ran into the boy
i am so glad someone laughed while reading this, i was trying really hard you guys
IT WORKED.
Carmen I enjoyed everything about this.
<3
As a slightly homesick torontonian, thank you for all these pictures and discriptions of Toronto and THANK YOU for knowing that The Drake has nothing to do with Drake. This Swedish newspaper published a travel article about Toronto the other day and claimed that Drake owns The Drake and I was embarassed on behalf of everyone. Come on, Swedish newspaper, that’s basic research!
i am seriously very curious like, how both drake the human, drake the hotel / industrial complex, and drake’s cakes feel about their overlapping identities.
I seriously cannot believe the amazing luck you had. It was truly meant to be. This article is basically a tour of my neighbourhood and yet neither I or any of my friends have ever seen Drake.
on the other hand i seriously cannot believe you live in/near/around these places, because they were amazing. crossing my fingers that one day you see drake at sotto sotto and also that you enjoy the risotto.
This made me chuckle. Now I vicariously know how locals feel when tourists flock to LA or NYC.
i’m glad i could help you build empathy and understanding in this realm
OoooK. What? I have several points which I will number:
1) You deliberately chose to go to the gigantic and ridiculous capitalist straight hipster paradise ‘The Drake’ over the actually queer bar where the ladies hang at ‘The Beaver’? Why do you think they call it The Beaver??!
2) Parkdale is not ‘up and coming’ it’s being gentrified like whoa which is really not cool. Not cool at all. That’s my home and I like living there. I’ve been there for almost a decade. Anyway, it will never fully ‘come up’ anyway, since it’s home to a whack of houses belonging to CAMH (the huge psychiatric hospital complex which don’t get me started on) and they ain’t selling. It is also home to a huge Tibetan population and many, many other immigrant families and POC. Also queers. Tonnes of the dykes live there since we traditionally don’t really make that much money and it’s a cheap neighborhood. It’s part of why I love it. NO talk of ‘up and coming’ Parkdale can ignore that, imo. Up and coming = gentrification. Always. The neighborhood has been there forever. It’s doesn’t have to come. It’s already there.
3) No one in Toronto likes Drake. I mean, not really. Sorry you didn’t hear his music around but Toronto really couldn’t care less about celebrity, tbh. I mean, we care, but not in the way it seems American’s do. You’re right, there’s no such thing as screaming fans and paparazzi outside a restaurant. hipsters will start selling his stuff at their ‘tuck shops’ and ‘general stores’ when he becomes stupid enough to be enjoyed ironically like Rush. Not before. By my watch, you have about 10-20 years to wait.
This wasn’t meant to be mean, I’m just like, wow, you seem to have wasted your time here. Not one mention of Kensington? You missed out on some really great stuff just to follow Drake, just saying.
I suspect she didn’t mention kensington or any of the other stuff she did while there because this article is about drake
if you want a more rounded take on toronto check out the queer girl city guide it is super good :)
I like Rush unironically, so.