How Ben Mulroney spends his perfect Sunday in Toronto

Canadian media icon and host 640’s newest radio show, Ben Mulroney, might have his work cut out for him when it comes to delivering breaking news over the air waves, but when it comes to his personal life, it’s all smooth sailing.

Now airing Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., on 640 Toronto, the Ben Mulroney Show is the long-standing Canadian media darling’s chance to tell it like he sees it after years stuck behind the teleprompter.

After joining the station a year ago as their weekend show anchor, Ben’s moving on up, heading up 640’s workday programming with his show, which he tells blogTO, is his opportunity to voice his own opinions while opening a space that allows those very opinions to be challenged.

“There’s still so much that I don’t know, and stuff I’m still learning, but that’s a good thing,” Ben tells blogTO.

“I enjoyed everything I did in TV, but, […] the producer’s voice or the network’s voice was as much a voice you heard as mine, and a lot of the stuff I did on TV was to convey information, right?” he says. “It absolutely wasn’t to convey opinion.”

Now, his new gig is offering him the opposite.

“It really is the undistilled, unvarnished version of me,” he tells blogTO.

While it might mean more work on the Monday to Friday grind for Ben, it also means that his weekends have opened up, and he’s making the most of his free weekends.

Here’s how Ben Mulroney spends his ideal Sunday in Toronto.

The weekends have opened up for Ben Mulroney thanks to his new gig — but how does he fill them?

Pound the pavement

The proud father to not only his three human children, but a Golden Doodle named Ms. Bruce Wayne (the spot on her chest resembles that of Batman’s suit,) Sundays for Ben usually kick off with a neighbourhood adventure alonside his canine companion.

“I love my neighbourhood,” Ben, who lives in Moore Park and is currently sharing the area with an influx of residents in the form of inflatable Santa Claus decorations, tells blogTO.

In the days of the weekend show, Ben would come home around 10:30 a.m. to hit the streets with Ms. Wayne, exploring the Rosedale Ravine, Charlie Park and Evergreen Brick Works, which he particularly enjoys in the summertime, but plans to make time for this winter, too.

“And then, on the way back, gotta stop at Summerhill Market and pick up some banana bread or something like that,” he adds.

The Family Man can

“We always love cooking and doing something in the kitchen, either lunch or dinner with the kids,” Ben tells blogTO, noting that “big meals” with the family are non-negotiable pillar of his weekends.

“Whatever we cook as a family, we eat as a family,” he notes.

In addition to teaching his kids the value of a meal shared among family, he’s also attuned to the art of cinema, making it a regular tradition to take them to screenings at the Yonge and Eglinton Cineplex.

“My boys and I have been going to the movies since they were two,” he tells blogTO. 

“I’ve been training them since they were two.”

Rosedale’s Quanto Basta is a go-to for Ben and his wife, Jessica.

Dolce Vita

While home-cooked meals are a staple in the Mulroney house (Ben tells blogTO that family trips to the movies are frequently followed up by yet another big meal), some special occasions call for a dinner out, and he’s got a few staples that keep him coming back.

Italian food reigns supreme for Ben, who loves to take the family out for dinner at local favourites Terroni and Quanto Basta, where he and wife, Jessica, love to sit at the bar and dig into the grilled calamari stuffed with spicy sausage, which he proclaims as one of his favourite dishes in the city.

While you might think it’s all fine dining for this Canadian media A-lister, he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, either. 

“They just opened up another St. Louis Ribs and Wings by my house, and my kids and I love that,” he adds.

The day ends quite where it began, snuggled up in bed with Jessica, binging the TV show du jour. What’s the latest fixation, you ask?

“We’re doing Nurse Jackie again,” he laughs, “they’re rebooting it.”