As you might guess from the title of Eugene Levy’s latest series – “The Reluctant Traveler” – he’s a guy who’s happy to stay put.
The show, now in its second season on Apple TV+, follows Mr. Levy, a 77-year-old comedy legend known for his roles in “Waiting for Guffman,” “American Pie,” “Schitt’s Creek” and more, as he defies his anxieties about airports, heights, temperatures, textures. and vast areas of the animal kingdom. Much to his surprise, he leaves his comfort zone—Canada, as he often reminds viewers— shadow a moose calling expert in Sweden, herd 600 sheep at a German resort and politely avoid an octopus on a Greek trawler.
Raised in Hamilton, Ontario, about 40 miles southwest of Toronto, Mr. Levy got his big break in 1972 with Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin and Paul Shaffer in a celebrate the production of “Godspell” in Toronto Alexandra Royal Theatre. He’s called the city — and a historic, leafy neighborhood — home ever since.
“Rosedale is a residential area right in the heart of Toronto,” he told me over coffee at Tavern on the Green in New York, where he had joined the cast of the fourth season of “Only murders in the building.” With new skyscrapers going up “a mile a minute” in Toronto, he said, the scene from our table in Central Park looked a bit like his view from Rosedale. He and his wife, Deborah Divine, are neighborhood stalwarts — Avant Goûta local bistro, it’s been a favorite for decades — but it ranks high in other areas, too.
Here are five of Mr. Levy’s favorite places in Toronto.
1. Terroni Bar Centrale
“Deb and I usually did our daily constitutionals in the morning and ended up at Central Bar for a latte and some of their fine pastries,” he said, adding that the croissants are especially good at this spot in Summerhill, a neighborhood that borders Rosedale. It occupies the ground floor of the multi-storey building Terroni Price restaurant in a 19th-century brick building, Bar Centrale forgoes the Wi-Fi you’d expect with your coffee in favor of a wall of international magazines and — according to Mr. Levy — a staff full of good conversationalists.
2. Harry Rosen
The flagship of this family owned menswear business on Bloor Street is a shopping stop for Mr. Levy. “I hate traveling to different places to get different things,” he said, very pointedly. This place “has every designer, if that’s what you’re into, and everything from socks to tuxedos.” There is also a luxury grooming department, a sewing service and a range of coffee table books on subjects such as racing cars, rockers and tattoo art.
3. CN Tower
Tourist? Sure, Mr. Levy acknowledged. However, that’s about it 1,815-foot communications and observation tower offers unparalleled views of the city and Lake Ontario, even if — like him — you avoid the acrophobia-inducing glass-floored sections. “We were taking the children there when they were young,” he said. “I couldn’t even put my toe on the edge of the glass, but my kids would just destroy me — lay on it.” A less stressful view: Rogers Center, the ballpark next door, where you can watch the Toronto Blue Jays play baseball. “I’ve been a Jays fan, I guess since they started in ’77,” Mr. Levy told me. He made it clear he’s a fan during an episode of “The Reluctant Traveler” season 2: “I’m not going to paint my face,” he told the Spanish soccer player. Hector Bellerinbut “in a championship game, I’ll stand up and give them, you know, a thumbs up.”
4. The Royal Conservatory of Music
“The musicality that comes out of Royal Conservatory it’s just awesome,” Mr. Levy said, quickly noting that his wife “would go there when she was a kid taking piano lessons.” (Alumni of the 138-year-old institution include the pianist Glenn Gould and the singer Sarah McLachlan.) Mr. Levy loves concerts in the annex Koerner Hall — “the acoustics are impeccable” — where you can see top students or international stars.
5. Windsor Arms Hotel
The 1972 “Godspell” role became Mr. Levy’s first steady salary: “It was huge,” he said. And with his windfall (“$140 every week”) he began enjoying late-night meals and cocktails, or cake and coffee, at the arms of Windsor, 10 minutes by car from the theater. The hotel was popular, he said, because it was “quiet and more residential” than others. (The suites feel like genteel pre-war apartments, with musical instruments and plenty of plush seating.) One of Mr. Levy’s favorite old hangouts there — the Courtyard Cafe — is now the Courtyard, an event space worth a quick detour to see. where, among other things, Elton John and David Furnish had an engagement party. Mr. Levy, now a connoisseur of 5:30 p.m. dinners, is no longer the late-night cake-and-coffee guy he once was — but he still gives the place, you know, a thumbs up.