Toronto’s culinary elite are enhancing their craft with Mokable, a premium confectionery showcased at premier venues like DaNico, Fairmont Royal York, Hazelton Hotel: One Restaurant, Lyla Toronto, Ficoa, and Tatin Bakehouse. Following the buzz of Battle Mokable – an industry showcase that took place this July, executive chefs, pastry chefs, and mixologists are now proudly weaving Mokable into their kitchens and beverage programs, highlighting its transformative potential.

Mokable is an innovative coffee confectionery that transforms entire coffee beans into an ultra-fine powder, capturing 100% of the bean’s aroma and flavour while preserving the natural oils and acids typically lost in traditional brewing. With over a decade of experience in coffee beverage development, Mokable’s global founder discovered that up to 70% of a coffee bean’s flavour is discarded with the grinds—an insight that became the foundation for this groundbreaking approach.

Mokable’s Rise in Toronto
Launched in North America in February 2025, Mokable made its debut in Toronto, chosen as the first city for its dynamic culinary scene.
Born in Japan, and winner of the 2025 Grand Prix Japan Food Selection and 2024 JFEX Innovation Award, Mokable is a versatile delight—able to elevate culinary experiences, enhancing both sweet and savoury dishes while complementing expertly crafted cocktails and coffee. This bold yet adaptable flavour has impressed award-winning chefs and mixologists across Toronto. What began as an exclusive ingredient in select restaurants and bars (like Miku Toronto and Bar Pompette) has quickly become a staple for some of Toronto’s most influential culinary innovators.

Where Toronto’s Culinary Talents Are Showcasing Mokable
Toronto’s culinary community eagerly anticipates the inspired creations that will emerge from Fairmont Royal York, Hazelton Hotel: One Restaurant, and the artisanal Tatin Bakehouse—each poised to showcase Mokable in an elevated way. ​​Below is a selection of some of the city’s premier establishments currently featuring Mokable, highlighting the ingredient’s rising popularity among Toronto’s chefs and mixologists, who embrace Mokable for its exceptional flavour and sustainable ethos.

DaNico
Since Mokable launched this February, chef Daniele Corona and pastry chef Nikhil Londe have continued to offer SAVE THE COFFEE at DaNico, featuring Itakuja namelaka a fabulous cross between a ganache and a crème pâtissière, Jivara soft caramel, finished with Fruity Mokable crunch with cocoa.

Lyla Toronto

Created by Chef Michael Medeiros and featured at Lyla Toronto, the Mokable Mousse is a decadent composition of Fruity Mokable mousse, rich roasted ganache, and a textured Roasted & Fruity soil, delivering a harmonious balance of depth, flavor, and playful sophistication.

Ficoa
Ficoa’s Mokable mousse offers creamy and silky texture featuring apricot gel, hibiscus infused Mokable mousse, and beautifully dusted with beet-guajillo by chef Esau Garcia.

Deauville Club Restaurant
Mokable has inspired multiple collaborations across the city, including a joint TIFF initiative. No Vacancy beverage director and general manager Troy Gilchrist, Hornitos Tequila, and Deauville Club Restaurant created a movie-themed cocktail as a nod to Frankenstein, one of the most highly anticipated films at TIFF this year. The collaboration took place at Deauville Club Restaurant, located within Revery Hotel, a boutique property in the Curio Collection by Hilton.

Frankenfoam, available exclusively during TIFF, features Hornitos Black Barrel Tequila with Roasted and Fruity Mokable liqueurs, blended with passion fruit, strawberry, acid-adjusted pineapple juice, and ginger beer. The mixture is milk-punched for striking amber clarity and topped with a Fruity Mokable foam made with Calpico syrup, Prosecco, lemon, vanilla, and egg white, finished with a dusting of dehydrated strawberry.

Battle Mokable: An Arena Designed for Both Chefs and Mixologists

On July 21, 2025, more than 100 culinary professionals—from MICHELIN and award-winning chefs to line cooks, sous chefs, and mixologists—came together at Cirillo’s Culinary Academy for Battle Mokable. The highlight of the event was the timed black box challenge, where chefs and mixologists were tasked with creating a dish or cocktail using only the black box’s ingredients. Unlike traditional competitions, Battle Mokable brought both chefs and mixologists into the same arena, with teams formed separately for each discipline. Roles within the groups were thoughtfully balanced, creating space for collaboration across different areas of expertise while showcasing the full breadth of culinary and cocktail talent. The challenge not only pushed the limits of creativity in both food and drink, but also deepened connections among participants, showcasing how Mokable inspires innovation across the entire culinary spectrum.

The Mokable Masters
At Battle Mokable, chefs and mixologists were instructed to step outside their comfort zones. In the end, only two chef and mixology teams were selected as champions.

By Nicholas Porteous

In Hamnet, Chloe Zhao enlivens an enduring masterpiece with a beautiful work of speculative fiction surrounding the real-life origins of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, adapted from a novel by Maggie O’Farrell. It’s a dark and dramatic counterpart to Shakespeare in Love, working backwards from the classic text (and the very little we know of Shakespeare’s life) to uncover a primal story of how we process our pain through art. In this case, it’s about a marriage, immeasurably rocked by the death of a child.

You likely know the broad strokes of the tale already: William (Paul Mescal) and Agnes (Jessie Buckley) meet, fall in love, and raise a family, until London pulls him away. The plague strikes, their only son Hamnet dies. Shakespeare is absent at the crucial moment. Shortly thereafter, Hamlet debuts. One of the great works of art. The connection between Hamlet the play and Hamnet the lost child is mysterious, but Hamnet will make you believe in Shakespeare’s potentially not-so-hidden intentions.

Bring. Kleenex. My press screening–typically more muted than a regular TIFF audience–sounded like a symphony of sniffles throughout, and I doubt yours will be any different. The ideas of enduring loss, love and transcendent creativity are simply too powerful. Jessie Buckley is the embodiment of motherly grief and spiritual devastation, and Zhao’s naturalistic, airy approach to the material enables both Buckley and Mescal to discover profound moments of pain in the spaces between their words. The children are also extremely impressive, with Hamnet himself (Jacobi Jupe) delivering more than a few stunning moments. The movie lives and dies by our memory of this child, and Zhao’s decision to put him front and center pays off enormously–rather than abstracting him for the audience to project upon. It’s near-impossible for me to imagine Hamnet won’t be recognized this awards season.

Hamnet screens at TIFF ’25:

Mon. Sept 8 at 6:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre 

Thurs. Sept 11 at 2:00 PM at Royal Alexandra Theatre

Sat. Sept 13 at 12:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

In Select Theaters November 26, 2025
and on Netflix December 12, 2025, today we get a new Teaser for WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY.

DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson

WRITER: Rian Johnson

PRODUCERS: Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson

CAST: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church

SYNOPSIS: Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery opus. When young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. Wicks’s modest-but-devoted flock includes devout church lady Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), circumspect groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), tightly-wound lawyer Vera Draven, Esq. (Kerry Washington), aspiring politician Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), town doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), best-selling author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), and concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny). After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rian Johnson writes and directs Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and assembles another all-star, award-winning cast.

we don’t believe we’ve finally made it through the first weekend of TIFF, but make no mistake, we’re still reaching for the peak! tiff50 monday is expected to be the biggest day of the festival with both FRANKENSTEIN and THE SMASHING MACHINE set to bow.

some highlights from day four:

•kerry condon at tiff for train dreams

•dustin hoffman and leo woodall at tiff for tuner

•alyvia alyn lind at tiff for wayward

•toni collette at tiff for wayward

•sarah gadon at tiff for wayward

•paul mescal at tiff for hamnet

•june squibb at tiff for eleanor the great

•édgar ramirez at tiff for it would be night in caracas

•wagner moura at tiff for the secret agent

•angelina jolie at tiff for couture

•rami malek, richard e. grant, leo woodall (with meghann fahy), james vanderbilt at tiff for nuremberg

highlights:

angelina content:

nuremberg afterparty:

the team also was thrilled to visit the much-talked-about CRITERION CLOSET pop-up, which runs only through today! it was epic!

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

By David Baldwin

Detroit, 1977. Blue collar ex-con John Miller (Alan Ritchson, sporting a ridiculous blonde wig for far too long) is in love with Sophia (Shailene Woodley). Unfortunately for him, she is the ex-girlfriend of local gangster Reynolds (Ben Foster), who has John framed and thrown back into jail for drug possession. 

That is the set-up for MOTOR CITY and you can guess (minus a few twists and a bogus ending) where it goes from here. Not content to just be a stereotypical period action thriller, Director Potsy Ponciroli alongside Writer Chad St. John strip away the majority of the dialogue – leaving the film to glide by on body language, aesthetic, music and a gratuitous amount of slow motion. It makes for a frustratingly uneven viewing experiment that does not always work but somehow manages to always be interesting. 

Beyond wishing Woodley had more to do beyond being the fridged damsel in distress (who somehow gets the most dialogue out of the approximately 78 words spoken over the course of the entire film) and that anyone could match or surpass Foster’s brilliantly expressive performance, MOTOR CITY deserves high praise for its nasty third act elevator brawl between Ritchson and dirty cop Savick (Pablo Schreiber). The claustrophobic fight choreography is stunning and the way these two actors throw their bodies around easily make this brutally violent fight scene one of the most memorable of the festival.

MOTOR CITY screens at TIFF ‘25:

Thurs. Sept 4 at 8:45 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Fri. Sept 5 at 2:15 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

By Nicholas Porteous

The prolific and unpredictable Steven Soderbergh goes back to basics with The Christophers. It’s the story of two artists–one at the tail end of his life (Ian McKellen), and the other (Michaela Cole) near the start of her career, but drifting in a limbo of art-adjacent gigs–including forgery. His money-minded children (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) send her on a mission to secretly complete an unfinished series of his paintings–The Christophers–which reside at the top of his multi-story house, collecting dust. If she can finish the paintings and secretly return them, they’ll be worth several fortunes after he dies, which could be any day now. What follows is a very different sort of art heist.

The Christophers is a carefully-constructed character study which unravels largely through a series of dialogues. It’s theatrical, small in scale–mostly confined to McKellen’s enormous abode–but rich in scope. By the end, a complex portrait of both characters is uncovered. That’s not to say The Christophers is just talk. The twists and turns come fast, and the game changes, inverts, shimmies into a new form in practically every scene.

Ian McKellen is a true master at work here. Don’t let his character’s near-death status fool you–he’s the most electric presence in the movie by a mile. Every glance and gesture crackles, and he balances intense narcissism with a fiendish, cutting insight. He’s also funny as hell. Cole is tasked with a far less verbose and enigmatic personality. Half the fun of The Christophers is never quite knowing where her mind is headed next. She’s a captivating presence, but never totally steals the spotlight from McKellen, partly by necessity.

The production design is suspiciously fantastic. If you told me this was truly an aging artist’s apartment, plastered with layers upon layers of half-finished projects, memories, bits and bobs accumulated over a lifetime, I would believe you. I suspect it’s only the stunning work of more incredible artists.

The Christophers is another little Soderbergh gem. Minimalist by design, it won’t outshine any of the bigger films at TIFF 50, but if you can grab a ticket, you’ll find a clever character study with a performance at its center that only a living legend can give, after decades at the top of his craft.

The Christophers screens at TIFF ’25:

Mon. Sept 8 at 9:00 AM and 6:25 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

Fri. Sept 12 at 9:00 AM at TIFF Lightbox

Sat. Sept 13 at 9:00 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Focus Features and Universal Pictures Canada will release HAMNET In Select Theatres on Thursday, November 27th & Nationwide on Friday, December 12th, 2025.

Directed by: Chloé Zhao
Screenplay by: Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
Based on the novel by MAGGIE O’FARRELL
Producers: Liza Marshall, p.g.a., Pippa Harris, p.g.a., Nicolas Gonda, p.g.a., Sam Mendes, p.g.a., Steven Spielberg, p.g.a.
Executive Producers: Kristie Macosko Krieger, Chloé Zhao, Laurie Borg
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn
Synopsis: From Academy Award® winning writer/director Chloé Zhao, HAMNET tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.

By Amanda Gilmore

Director Gus Van Sant returns to telling stories about real world events with this unbelievable true crime story. Dead Man’s Wire recreates the fascinating true story of the 1977 kidnapping that made aspiring Indianapolis entrepreneur Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) into an eccentric outlaw folk hero.

Tony feels swindled by Meridian Mortgage Company. A company he partnered with to open a local shopping centre. After years of hollow meetings, Tony’s had enough. So, he takes Meridian Mortgage Company president Richard Hall (Dacre Montgomery), who happens to be the Meridian founder’s son, hostage. He refuses to let him go unless he gets a public apology and his money back.

Van Sant transports us into 70s Indianapolis. The grainy cinematography, soundtrack, and costume design make us time-travel. It’s a time before social media. When primetime news anchors and radio jockeys were household names.

Dead Man’s Wire is a retelling of this strange kidnapping. Van Sant and Screenwriter Austin Kolodney don’t want to tell you how to feel. Instead, they give you the facts. This allows us to decide for ourselves if we judge Tony or the privileged elite. Tony became an outlaw folk hero for some in ’77 for what he did. How he stood up for himself against the corporate elite. Here, the filmmakers allow us to see him similarly, but also for his faults.

At the centre of this outstanding crime thriller is Skarsgård, who has easily given one of his finest performances. He’s a bucket full of charisma that allows us to empathize with Tony just as the citizens in Indianapolis did during those 3 days in ’77. There is an outstanding supporting performance from Coleman Domingo, who plays a pivotal role as a radio disc jockey who gets pulled into Tony’s negotiations.

Dead Man’s Wire screens at TIFF ’25:

Sun. Sept 7 at 12:00 PM at VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales

Mon. Sept 8 at 3:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

Thurs. Sept 11 at 12:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

Sun. Sept 14 at 6:50 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

By Mr. Will Wong

BLACK RABBIT has all the makings of prestige television and it premieres as part of this year’s Primetime programme. The suspenseful upcoming Netflix release sees among others, star Jason Bateman and Laura Linney taking turns directing episodes of this Limited Series.

We meet Restauranteur Jake (Jude Law) thriving with this Michelin-starred establishment, for which the Series is named, and he’s about to expand further. The New York Times is about to do a feature, and in comes his troubled brother Vince (Jason Bateman), who is dealing with vices and debt. His resurfacing could mean everything Jake working for getting destroyed as seams begin to split beneath him and other problems come to light and chaos begins to unravel.

While it takes a moment to get going, we were fully immersed by the second episode, as we witness for Jake how we can rise above the soil, though sometimes we are unable to escape our roots. Yet another tremendous performance by this talented Ensemble, led by Law and Bateman, the latter flexing his ability in a role unlike any other he’s played.

Thankfully, the Series arrives on the streaming service September 18, 2025 but those of us who can’t wait, can see it at TIFF ’25 as follows:

By Nicholas Porteous

In Derek Cianfrance‘s Roofman, the nicest robber you’ve ever met (Channing Tatum), makes a temporary home inside a Toys R Us, and manages to fall for one of the employees (Kirsten Dunst). How will he juggle a growing relationship with a single mom and avoid getting caught in her place of work? If you find the premise unbelievable, you’re wrong. It’s a true story.

Roofman is a joyfully unexpected genre hybrid. It’s a romcom about two divorcees starting over, it’s a true crime story about a one-of-a-kind criminal, and it’s a Mrs. Doubtfire-esque thriller, where the tension around Dunst discovering Tatum’s true identity grows as their relationship–and his relationship with her family–deepens. Tatum, as Jeffrey Manchester, is one of the most entertaining characters in recent memory. He’s so resourceful, so endlessly sharp and inventive, and it’s a pleasure to watch him outsmart virtually every situation he’s thrown into. It’s impossible not to root for the guy with his back quite literally against the wall, and to wonder where he’s going next, or how he can possibly reconcile his criminal status with his deep-rooted family man instincts. He’s also wonderfully goofy. Cianfrance, known for his dark and tragic lead male characters, has found a comic muse in Manchester, who also fits perfectly into his filmic lineage of complex and often contradictory personalities.

The ensemble is absolutely stacked. Peter Dinklage is a standout as an insufferable Toys R Us manager. Ben Mendelsohn is unexpectedly wholesome as the local church pastor. LaKeith Stanfield, Uzo Aduba, and Juno Temple all turn in memorable work. Kirsten Dunst brings warmth and dimension to Leigh Wainscott that feels all her own. She deserves a bit more development in the screenplay, but the chemistry between Dunst and Tatum largely fills in any gaps.

Roofman succeeds as a comedy, a romance, a moving story of found family, and an unpredictable crime saga. It’s a brilliant and surprising genre mashup for Cianfrance, and a worthy addition to your list of must-sees at this year’s Festival.

Roofman screens at TIFF ’25:

Sun. Sept 7 at 10:00 AM at Roy Thomson Hall

Fri. Sept 12 at 3:00 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Sat. Sept 13 at 9:20 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

Sun. Sept. 14 at 9:15 AM at Scotiabank Theatre