• Local history with a focus on Toronto's restaurants, in the vein of The Toronto Book of the Dead by Adam Bunch or Where We Ate: A Field Guide to Canada's Restaurants, Past and Present by Peyton Gabby
• Moving chronologically from the early pubs of York in mid-1800s to the bright culinary future of Hogtown post-pandemic
• Author is from an old Toronto family, and his ancestors live in Spadina House until 1982 when was turned into a museum; he was inspired to write this book from receipts and other ephemera found in the Spadina collection
• Author is a regular speaker on history topics, and plans a series of lectures and presentations on the topic of this book

James A. Thompson is a writer and history instructor, who teaches at various universities in Toronto in continuing studies courses. In 2000, he republished a book written by his late father, Austin Seton Thompson, Spadina: A Story of Old Toronto. He lives in Toronto.