Our naturopath has us on something we call The "No" Diet: No sugar, no eggs, no dairy, no fun.

Our dulled taste buds have been happily revived thanks to Tori’s Bakeshop where everything made in-house is egg, sugar, casein and dairy-free. Guiltless treats (from $2) include cinnamon buns, gluten-free donuts and pecan tarts baked using organic ingredients like flax, spelt flour, soy cream and brown sugar. Pair yours with a double shot of Merchants of Green espresso.

The modern vintage décor is lovely too - linen-covered club chairs, pale dandelion-print wallpaper and industrial lanterns shaped like whisks. Plus, we’ll eat anything served by someone sporting a mint green neck bow.

Yes, yes, yes. —Marianne Wisenthal

Tori’s Bakeshop, 2188 Queen St. East, Toronto, 647-350-6500, www.torisbakeshop.ca

You have to love a restaurant that takes cocktails so seriously that the drinks menu is pages long.

Bring your reading glasses to Lucid Cocktail Kitchen,  because you’ll want to consider your choice carefully among the multiple sour, sweet savoury and bitter options laid out for each liquor. The "Boulevard Sour" ($14), a beyond-smooth concoction of bourbon, Campari and sweet vermouth blended with lime and egg white and topped with Angostura bitters was a fine starter for my meal of pumpkin and goat cheese stuffed pasta garnished with pea shoots ($19) and expertly sautéed winter greens ($5).

My dining partner enjoyed two starters—game tartar ($14) and a spinach herb salad with blue cheese ($9)—and we somehow polished off fresh-baked bread and butter on top of that.

I can't remember the last time I cleaned my plate so thoroughly.  —Kat Tancock

Lucid Cocktail and Kitchen, 571 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-361-6154, www.lucidck.com

There’s a new contender for best pizza in town, and lucky for me, it’s a stone’s throw away from home.

Slinging the pies ($11) are Sicilian ex-pats Romolo Salvati and Massimo Di Lascio who come to Kensington by way of east-end contender, Queen Margherita Pizza. The crust at Via Mercanti – soft, tender, charred and chewy – is true Neapolitan style and serves as the perfect base for dollops of melted buffalo mozzarella and beautifully flavored San Marzano tomatoes.

The place itself is not much to write home about – but that’s okay, I’ll take mine to-go. —Athena Tsavliris

Pizza Via Mercanti, 188 Augusta Ave., Toronto, 647-343-6647, www.facebook.com/viamercanti

We’re reliably stocked up on red wine and Touche Éclat but somehow the larder always seems bare.

In lieu of butter chicken on speed-dial we’re getting sensible with a new healthy food delivery service from nutrition expert Rose Reisman. Personal Gourmet meals (including veggie and gluten-free options) are made from locally sourced ingredients and come frozen so we can stock up for the week.

Three days after ordering on-line, a swish cooler bag appeared on our front porch filled with delish dinners like red tofu with basmati rice and sautéed carrots, and grilled chicken with Israeli couscous. Don’t be put off by the vacuum-sealed packaging — once heated up (ten minutes at 400 F) and transferred to a plate, we (almost) believed we’d made it from scratch. —Marianne Wisenthal

Meals from $6.55, Rose Reisman’s Personal Gourmet, 416-721-0560, www.personalgourmet.ca

Our highly subjective ranking of the best places to eat and drink right now:

Thai with Twist
Trust me, the Pad Thai at this place is so much better than anything you’ll eat on the Khao San Road in Bangkok. Khao San Road, 326 Adelaide St. W., Toronto,  647-352-5773, www.khaosanroad.ca

La Famiglia
The Terroni family does it again with another smashing hit, this time in tony Rosedale. Terroni, 1095 Yonge St., Toronto, 416-504-1992, www.terroni.com

Southern Belle
The homemade cornbread with sweet potato butter alone was worth the visit to this Little Italy gem. Acadia, 50 Clinton St., Toronto, 416-792-6002, www.acadiarestaurant.com

Mambo King
Ever since Jamie Oliver named Buca one of his favourite eats of the year, it’s become impossible to get a table. If you ever do, order the pappardelle al burro. Simply, divine. Buca, 602 King St. W., Toronto, 416-865-1600, www.buca.ca

To-Die-For-Taco
With Grand Electric, ex-Black Hoof-ers Colin Tooke and Ian McGrenaghan are doing wonders for our Mexican food scene. Bring a thermos and a good book. Lineups are long. Grand Electric, 1330 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-627-3459, www.grandelectricbar.com

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
I’ve only tried the vegan versions, but my husband visits thrice weekly, so let’s take his word for it when he says that all the meatballs are really good. Hey Meatball, 719 College St., Toronto, 416-546-1483, www.heymeatball.ca

Comfort Food
No one serves up comfort food like the folks at Woodlot do. The acoustics aren’t good, but the food more than makes up for the competing cackles. Woodlot, 293 Palmerston Ave., Toronto, 647-342-6307, www.woodlotrestaurant.com

Cocktail Hour
The food is always great here, and the desserts are the icing on the cake. Dave Mitton’s cocktails always shake things up too. The Harbord Room, 89 Harbord St.,  Toronto, 416-962-8989, www.theharbordroom.com

Guerilla Dining
Leading Toronto’s burgeoning pop-up restaurant scene is La Carnita, a temporary taco stand that created quite the buzz last fall. We’ve heard rumours of a permanent La Carnita in the old Briscola location on College St. La Carnita, www.lacarnita.com

Best Sammy
This is the best luxe sandwich bar in town, dishing out fried chicken sarnis smothered in chutney and greens. I wish I drank bourbon and talked with a drawl. The County General, 936 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-531-4447, www.thecountygeneral.ca —Athena Tsavliris

For clandestine affairs and tête-à-têtes, we’re booking a corner booth at the Winchester.

Bootlegger Al Capone was known to hang at this second floor joint, discretely tucked in a handsome heritage building off Parliament Street. The Electric Whisky is sinful enough for the gangster within but be sure to line your stomach: Canadiana meets Southern European dishes include BLT poutine with bourbon gravy ($8), beetroot tartar with Woolwich goat cheese ($10) and roasted pumpkin risotto ($16). The original Winchester sign hangs above the bar and after 10 p.m. live funk music brings out the hoofers.

If Al’s ghost appears, offer him a rye and keep an eye on your wallet. —Marianne Wisenthal

Winchester Bar & Grill, 51A Winchester Street, Toronto, 416-323-0051, www.winchesterkitchen.com

Photo credit: Voltaire Ramos

Culinary bells and whistles are a treat but sometimes simple and savory are all we need.

New from the team at Table 17, Ascari Enoteca 26 (named for the 1950s Formula One star) had everything we craved for our Friday night out: home made pasta, chatty tablemates, seamless service (even the waitress’s sequined sweater added cheer) and bottomless glasses of Piedirosso. Amid the locally sourced flavors (di rigore in Leslieville these days) are scrumptious imports like cured Bresaola, Marcona almonds and creamy La Tur cheese.

Finish things off with the banana Zeppole and do observe the speed limit on the way home. —Marianne Wisenthal

Ascari Enoteca 26, 1111 Queen Street E., Toronto, 416-792-4157, www.ascarienoteca.ca

Aside from the wafting smells of Tikka Masala, there’s never been any reason to linger at the corner of Coxwell and Gerrard.

Winds of change are blowing with the opening of Lazy Daisy’s café, an oasis of farm-fresh food and Te Aro Roasted coffee served in pretty hand-kilned crockery.

Farm girl Dawn Chapman’s charming new space has all the coziness of a hayloft with apple box shelving and harvest tables created from reclaimed barn wood. From free-range eggs and drug-free meats, we love that all ingredients on the menu are straight from the fields. We spotted locals mooing over Hunger Parfait with quinoa and wildflower honey ($6.95) and Comfort & Spice sandwiches with gooey melted cheese and curried apple chutney ($5.25).

Hi-ho, the derry-o. —Marianne Wisenthal

Lazy Daisy’s Cafe, 1515 Gerrard St. E., Toronto, 647-278-3966, www.facebook.com

Summer is for cycling barefoot, eating ice cream for dinner and sipping Pimms Cups on a blanket under the stars.

For more favourite summertime pastimes, read on:

Craigleigh Gardens reminds me of a communal garden in London. It’s lovely, romantic, and the perfect spot for you, your lovey dove and a book of Rossetti poetry.

Who wants to toil away at a desk when you can hook up atop the roof garden at 401 Richmond. It’s an urban oasis with eye-popping cityscapes.

Toronto is aplenty with charming patios, and the one at Tati sees us weekly. I love to sit under that fabulous old Manitoba maple with a bowl of moules and a glass of rosé.

It’s hard leave the farmers' market at Brickworks without a belly full of cherries, cheeses and JK’s famous fries. Bring an appetite and lots of shopping bags.

Museums are a cool escape on crazy hot days. My daughter’s a fan of the aquarium at the ROM (some fish are as intricate as an Etro print) and I like the Galleria Italia at the AGO. —Athena Tsavliris

The last thing Toronto needs is another rustic, wood-clad, downtempo Italian restaurant. How lovely, then, that just-opened Acadia is rustic, wood-clad, downtempo Nu-French and Southern American instead.

Inspired by southeasterly flavours, chef Matt Blondin and Scott Selland have come up with Acadia, a humbly decorated, off-College spot with a legit interesting menu (and, as is de rigeur these days, a good old-fashioned cocktail list). Dishes smoke and crackle with down-South flavours; even an uncomplicated summer salad gets lively with coffee-infused vinaigrette. More vegetable sides might be nice; currently, you can get licorice-creamed collard greens ($5) and/or cornbread fingers ($4, with sweet potato to dip; too good). My companion loved his sticky veal ribs ($26), but the menu's not too meaty; I narrowly chose speckled trout (accompanied by oyster mayo, sunchoke relish and charred scallion) over the red grouper. Plus, three of five starters are seafood-based, including shrimp-n-grits ($12). Next time! I'm also going back for dessert: A “chocolate bar” with peanuts and roasted-banana ice cream ($8).

Acadia, it's kinda like a road trip in your mouth.
—Sarah Nicole Prickett

Acadia Restaurant & Bar, 50C Clinton St., Toronto, 416-792-6002, www.acadiarestaurant.com