\n<\/p>\n
As you might guess from the title of Eugene Levy\u2019s latest series \u2014 \u201cThe Reluctant Traveler\u201d \u2014 he\u2019s a guy who\u2019s happy to stay put.<\/p>\n
The show, now in its second season on Apple TV<\/a>, follows Mr. Levy, a 77-year-old comedy legend known for his roles in \u201cWaiting for Guffman,\u201d \u201cAmerican Pie,\u201d \u201cSchitt\u2019s Creek\u201d and more, as he defies his anxieties about airports, heights, temperatures, textures and vast swaths of the animal kingdom. With great consternation, he leaves his comfort zone \u2014 Canada, as he often reminds viewers \u2014 to shadow an expert moose caller<\/a> in Sweden, herd 600 sheep through a German resort town and politely avoid an octopus aboard a Greek trawler.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Raised in Hamilton, Ontario, about 40 miles southwest of Toronto, Mr. Levy got his big break in 1972 alongside Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin and Paul Shaffer in a celebrated production<\/a> of \u201cGodspell\u201d at Toronto\u2019s Royal Alexandra Theater<\/a>. He has since called the city \u2014 and one historic, leafy neighborhood \u2014 home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cRosedale is a residential area that is right in the heart of Toronto,\u201d he told me over coffee at Tavern on the Green, in New York, where he\u2019d joined the cast of the fourth season of \u201cOnly Murders in the Building<\/a>.\u201d With new skyscrapers going up \u201ca mile a minute\u201d in Toronto, he said, the scene from our table in Central Park looked a little like his view from Rosedale. He and his wife, Deborah Divine, are neighborhood loyalists \u2014 Avant Go\u00fbt<\/a>, a local bistro, has been their go-to for decades \u2014 but spots in other areas rank high, too.<\/p>\n Here are five of Mr. Levy\u2019s favorite places in Toronto.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDeb and I would usually do our daily constitutional in the morning and end up at Bar Centrale<\/a> for a latte and some of their fine pastries,\u201d he said, adding that the croissants are especially good at this spot in Summerhill, a neighborhood that borders Rosedale. Occupying the ground floor of the multistory Terroni Price<\/a> restaurant in a 19th-century brick building, Bar Centrale forgoes the Wi-Fi you might expect with your coffee in favor of a wall\u2019s worth of international magazines and \u2014 according to Mr. Levy \u2014 a staff full of good conversationalists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The flagship of this family-run men\u2019s wear emporium<\/a> on Bloor Street is one-stop shopping for Mr. Levy. \u201cI hate traveling around to different places to get different things,\u201d he said, very much on brand. This place \u201chas every designer, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re into, and everything from socks to tuxedos.\u201d There\u2019s also a sumptuous grooming department, a tailoring service<\/a> and an array of coffee table books on topics like racecars, rockers and tattoo art.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Touristy? Sure, Mr. Levy acknowledged. Still, this approximately 1,815-foot communications and observation tower<\/a> offers unrivaled views of the city and Lake Ontario, even if \u2014 like him \u2014 you avoid the acrophobia-inducing glass-floored sections. \u201cWe used to take the kids<\/a> there when they were young,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t even put my toe on the edge of the glass, but my kids would just destroy me \u2014 they would lie down on it.\u201d A less stressful view: Rogers Centre<\/a>, the stadium next door, where you can see the Toronto Blue Jays play baseball. \u201cI\u2019ve been a Jays fan for, I guess since they started in \u201977,\u201d Mr. Levy told me. He clarified his brand of fandom during a Season 2 episode of \u201cThe Reluctant Traveler\u201d: \u201cI don\u2019t go and paint my face,\u201d he told the Spanish footballer H\u00e9ctor Beller\u00edn<\/a>, but \u201cin a championship game, I\u2019ll stand up and give them, you know, a thumbs-up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe musicianship coming out of the Royal Conservatory<\/a> is just awesome,\u201d said Mr. Levy, quick to note that his wife \u201cwould go there when she was a kid taking piano lessons.\u201d (Students at the 138-year-old institution have included the pianist Glenn Gould<\/a> and the singer Sarah McLachlan<\/a>.) Mr. Levy loves concerts at the attached Koerner Hall<\/a> \u2014 \u201cthe acoustics are impeccable\u201d \u2014 where you can see top students or international stars<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The 1972 \u201cGodspell\u201d role<\/a> became Mr. Levy\u2019s first steady acting paycheck: \u201cThat was huge,\u201d he said. And with his windfall (\u201c140 bucks every single week\u201d) he started enjoying meals and late-night cocktails, or cake and coffee, at the Windsor Arms<\/a>, a 10-minute drive from the theater. The hotel was popular, he said, because it was \u201cquiet and more residential\u201d than others. (The suites feel like genteel prewar apartments, with musical instruments and plenty of plush seating.) One of Mr. Levy\u2019s favorite old haunts there \u2014 the Courtyard Cafe \u2014 is now the Courtyard, an event space worth a quick wander to see where, among other things, Elton John and David Furnish held 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 \u2014 but he still gives the place, you know, a thumbs-up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n1. Terroni Bar Centrale<\/h2>\n
2. Harry Rosen<\/h2>\n
3. CN Tower<\/h2>\n
4. The Royal Conservatory of Music<\/h2>\n
5. Windsor Arms Hotel<\/h2>\n