Boho? Bobo? Hobo? Kensington Market is all three, a brick and clap-board village of punk rock and fresh fish that is justly famous for being unlike anyplace else in Toronto. Except, sort of, Baldwin Village, a one-block east outpost that’s like a slightly aged, slightly more expensive, slightly cleaner version. Both are the neighbourhood equivalent of the dudes from Easy Rider meeting up with Sid and Nancy for cocktails in a magically multicultural Moroccan bazaar. I know, right?

OLD STANDBYS Ronnie’s Local 069 (69 Nassau, 416-340-1110) may be the best local hang-around bar in the city. As EYE WEEKLY’s Jessica Duffin Wolfe wrote, “Spending an evening on Ronnie’s patio is like  entering a 3D Facebook group with benefits. You can see in the flesh everyone to whom you’re vaguely connected, and the particular style with which they flick their hair, or lean over the table to emphasize a point. Best, you can eavesdrop on their conversations simultaneously, instead of dropping by to peer at individual wall posts, now and then.” Plus: good, seasonal microbrews, comfortably shabby decor, meet-and-greet lineups for the washroom, a view of the bonfire of the insanities on the street and the knitting circle across it. And, sometimes, Tim Roth.

Three steps to having Best. Summer. Ever. 1) Grab a table on the wraparound patio at Amadeu’s Portuguese Restaurant (182-184 Augusta, 416-591-1245). 2) Order grilled sardines and a pitcher of sangria and, as you feast like a Portuguese prince in the waning evening light, discuss literature, life and the fleeting joy of the season’s elevated hemlines.
3) Repeat several times a week until September.

Down in the patchouli-scented vintage clothing district on Kensington, Last Temptation (12 Kensington, 416-599-2551) has long presented a compelling case for inertia: coffee and sandwiches at a streetside table allow you to relax amid the weekend hum of the market, inspiring the arrival of late-afternoon pitchers, cheap dinner and nightcaps.

Sometimes, you get half-corked on free drinks at some lame media party and then when a friend suggests a literary launch party for a follow-up, you say, “why not?” and then, when the smarty talking winds down, two women you just met suggest drinking wine out of bottles at picnic tables in a park and, after finding out you know all the same people and doing jumping jacks on the grass, you all head up to the reconvened lit party at a place where they serve platters of homestyle Italian food and you laugh and laugh and, with tomato sauce staining your chin and red wine dripped on your shirt, you find all the friends that you haven’t seen in way too long are out on the patio and wanting to catch up and, at that very moment when you think, “This is why I love living in this city,” you look up at the awning and realize you’re at John’s Italian Café (27 Baldwin, 416-596-8848). Those are good nights.

“Serving potheads since ah… I forget,” is the slogan at Hot Box Café (191A Baldwin, 416-203-6990). Enough said.

LET THE MUSIC  PLAY At Grossman’s (379 Spadina, 416-977-7000) they know something about the blues, and if the roster of past performers since 1948 doesn’t convince you, the cracks in the concrete floor and the hard living regulars on the bar stools will. Paying a premium for big-label domestic beer might sting, but when you realize it helps pay the performers, you don’t mind, the music hurts so good.

Indie-rock amid ironically appreciated marine decor: The Boat (158 Augusta, 416-593-9218). Modish decor, DJs and a cozy, crowded patio: The Embassy (223 Augusta, 416-591-1132). Punk, poetry, blues and everything in between, plus a crowd of hardcore Kensington people (when they say the market’s eclectic, they’re talking about this place): Graffiti’s (170 Baldwin, 416-506-6699). Dancing, parties and decent fusion: Supermarket (268 Augusta, 416-840-0501).

YOU GOTTA EAT SOMETIME Dynamite French bistro with horse meat on the menu: La Palette (256 Augusta, 416-929-4900). Spanish wine and tapas: Torito (276 Augusta, 647-436-5874). DIY Asian, kickass brunch and Soju cocktails: Rice Bar (319 Augusta, 416-922-7423). Handheld Tex-Mex: Big Fat Burrito (285 Augusta, 416-913-7487). Reliable diner classics on the sidewalk patio: KOS (61 Bellevue, 416-597-6912). Inexpensive, excellent vegan takeaway: Urban Herbivore (64 Oxford, 416-927-1231).

Baldwin Village offers one-stop multi-ethnic shopping, all with front patios that make the whole street feel like one big party — Margarita’s Mexican Fiesta (14 Baldwin, 977-5525), Bodega (30 Baldwin, 416-977-1287) for French, Jodhpore Club (33 Baldwin, 416-598-2502) for Indian, Konnichiwa (31 Baldwin, 416-593-8538) for Japanese and so on. Just put your finger on the globe and dig in.