Archive for the 'food' Category

Episode 18 » March 4, 2009

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by
Blair
on March 8, 2009
in city, food and theatre
. 2 Comments

Is there anything better than sitting down to a delicious meal with friends or family and enjoying the amazing flavours of the food sitting infront of you? We don’t think so. On Wednesday, Katherine and I sat down with Chef Jamie Kennedy at the Gilead Café to talk about the Slow Food Movement, why buying locally produced food is important to the economy and the environment and the new Thursday night Local Food Movement Dinner Series at the Gilead Cafe. It was an inspiring chat - and there was so much to be said that we decided to include the full interview as a separate video.

We had some time to kill before heading over to the Berkeley Street Theatre to see Une maison face au nord, so we took off to the Distillery District which is just down the street from the Gilead Cafe and grabbed a delicious turkey chili to fill up on from the Brick Street Bakery. We took some time to chat and catch up and split a delicious cookie as desert.

At 8pm the curtain was raised on Théâtre français de Toronto’s latest production:

OSCILLATING BETWEEN FAMILY DRAMA AND A COMEDY OF MANNERS, A North-Facing House takes on some serious subjects, such as the rural exodus, the integration of immigrants, and generational conflict, all of which are dramatized with the author’s humour spicing up the text. Between a son pursued for money laundering, a young Guatemalan worker, and an elderly Pole, a man in his twilight years (played by Guy Mignault) feels at a dead end despite the kindness and good sense of his wife (played by Louisette Dussault). He sees the heritage that he created and the country of his dreams inexorably losing its sense and future. Far from witnessing the collapse of a microscopic world, something quite different happens, which allows us to tackle questions of spirituality confronting today’s reality. Jean-Rock Gaudreault, whose work TfT first presented in 1999 with La Raccourcie, has since become a definite pillar of Canadian francophone theatre.

We got the chance to chat with one of the stars of the show and TFT Artistic Director, Guy Mignault. It’s not easy being the Artistic Director and one of the actors in the show, but Guy did a fantasitc job - along with the rest of the cast.

All in all another excellent night in Toronto.

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Episode 17 » February 25, 2009

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Blair
on February 27, 2009
in art, city, food and theatre
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It was a beautifully warm-ish day in Toronto on Wednesday - perfect weather for a skate down at the waterfront at arguably one of the best rinks in the city, the Harbourfront Natrel Rink (it is also the city’s largest rink!).

Katherine and I took off after work, threw on some skates and took to the ice - something Katherine hadn’t done in almost 7 years! We had a blast skating around and enjoying the music being pumped into the cool evening air. It was a perfect way to finish off a long day of work.

All that exercise made us hungry so we decided to chow down on some delicious Thai food at Spice Thai Cafe across the street from Harbourfront. But on our way over, we wandered through the York Quay Centre to check out some of the free public art on display at the various galleries. There is some great pieces on display which you can see in the video.

Dinner was delicious and inexpensive (always a bonus) and the wait staff were as pleasant as always. But we were on a schedule as we had to get over to the Fleck Dance Theatre to see That Night Follows Day, part of the World Stage Festival. The show was conceived by the group Campo in Belgium and is only here until tomorrow (Saturday). Here’s a brief description:

You feed us. You wash us. You dress us. You sing to us. You watch us when we are sleeping. You make promises that you think we won’t remember.

Featuring a cast of 16 children between the ages of 8 and 14. That Night Follows Day is the creation of revolutionary theatre maker Tim Etchells of the UK’s Forced Entertainment.

From the acclaimed theatre company that brought Toronto audiences Aalst, That Night Follows Day examines the systems of parenthood, upbringing, discipline, care and welfare that define the worlds of children and adolescents. A play with children written for adults, That Night Follows Day playfully yet poignantly highlights how adults project their worlds onto the lives of the children around them.

This original production promises to be one of the most talked-about of Toronto’s theatre season.

It’s a really amazing piece of theatre - not your typical dramatic piece of text. We got a chance to speak to two of the actors in the show to get their perspective on what the show meant and their experiences.

That rounded out an excellent evening. There’s so much to see and do at Harbourfront year round, and a lot of it is free (which is amazing!). We certainly advise you to take a walk, bike, TTC or, if you must, drive down to the waterfront and explore the hidden treasures awaiting you.

That was a bit cheesy, wasn’t it? :)

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Episode 11 - September 13, 2008

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Blair
on September 14, 2008
in Visual art, food, music and photography
. 0 Comments

We’re back!

Yes, it was a little touch and go there for a while after our last vlog, but we’re back on the air - this time in HD! Woot! Thanks to our brand new Canon HG10, you’ll be able to enjoy TNIT through the magic of HD - it’s almost as if you are actually there with us! (Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration …)

On Saturday, Katherine and I decided to check out the Queen West Arts Crawl, a favourite weekend event amongst many Torontonians. What’s different about this vlog is that we filmed it BEFORE 5pm! That’s right - this is not about a night in Toronto as much as it is about a day in Hogtown. As that was the case, it only made sense that we grab a bit of brunch because c’mon - it’s Saturday morning!

We made our way over to Squrily’s which neither of us had been to before (for brunch). It’s an incredibly eclectic restaurant in its décor. There’s a lovely patio in the back where we sat (well, we sat on the edge of it because there was a great big red couch that Katherine wanted to rest up). The brunch was delicious and pretty darn cheap, if you ask me. Only $20 for the two of us (incl. tax and tip!).

Then it was off to Trinity Bellwoods Park to take part in the artist fair and to take a peak at some of the amazing artists who live in this fair city.

You’ll have to watch the episode to see how it all went down. :)

We’d like to say thanks to Megan Hamilton for providing her song “Detroit” as the music for this episode! If you’ve got some music that you think would work well for for TNIT, drop us a line!

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What we talked about in this episode:

Photo of Trinity Bellwoods Park by Katherine Grainger.

Episode 10 - August 27, 2008

Published
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Blair
on August 29, 2008
in Visual art, food and theatre
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It started out as an excellent night.

Katherine and I met at City Hall to check out what installation was in the Rotunda. We found a great piece from Vietnam - 300 (out of an original 1,303) painted lanterns by school children about how they viewed the country. Some of the paintings were amazing for such young children! The piece was only on for a few days, and we weren’t allowed to film it, but Katherine took some great photos!

Then it was out to Nathan Phillips Square to take a look at the art on the square. Some people might not know that we have a Henry Moore sculpture right there! And how many of us have taken the time to actually read about the Peace Garden (how many of you knew there WAS a Peace Garden)? From the City’s website:

The Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square consists of a simple cube with a pitched roof, an eternal flame, a pool and stone platform walls. The roof has a damaged appearance, which signifies conflict and evokes the theme of civilization’s frailty.

The eternal flame appears to support the structure, symbolizing the hope and regeneration of mankind.

Former Mayor Nathan Phillips presented the sundial located in the Peace Garden to the citizens of Toronto. It is inscribed with the words, “In appreciation of the opportunity to serve.”

The sundial, which was installed on Nathan Phillips Square in 1969, was designed by G.R. Johnson (in consultation with City Property Commissioner H.H. Rogers and architect John C. Parkin) and fabricated by F. Caruk, Master Welding Limited.

On March 5, 1984, during the City’s Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebrations, then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau turned the first sod for the Peace Garden’s construction.

In September of the same year, His Holiness Pope John Paul II lit the eternal flame with an ember from the Memorial for Peace in Hiroshima, Japan. The Holy Father poured a vial of water from the rivers that flow through Nagasaki into the pool.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II formally dedicated the Peace Garden in October, 1984.

Then it was off to the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre to see Avenue Q - but on our way over, we decided to investigate the flying Canadian Geese at the south entrance to the Eaton Centre. The piece, called Flight Stop, is by internationally renowned Toronto artist Michael Snow. This is another wonderful piece of art which many probably take for granted. But it’s a rather significant installation as there was some interesting controversy surrounding it.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat at Sushi Q in the Eaton Centre food court (to tie us over), we made our way over to the Elgin to pick up our tickets to Avenue Q. Before the show, we checked out another installation on the Palladian level of the Elgin by Theatre Museum Canada (yes! We have a theatre museum - it just doesn’t have a physical home … yet). They have some lovely costume and set designs on display at the moment. Make sure you check out what’s on display next time you’re there.

Here’s a quick peak at a song from Avenue Q:

It’s a hilarious show! We laughed and cried (from the pure joy of some of the songs). But then drama struck … you’ll have to watch the video to find out what kind of drama exactly … ;)

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What we talked about in this episode:

Photo taken of the Toronto skyline by Blair Francey.

Formats available:MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)

Epsiode 8 - August 12, 2008

Published
by
Blair
on August 13, 2008
in food, music and theatre
. 0 Comments

Have you missed us Toronto?! While it seems like forever since we’ve been on the air (well, it does for us) - we’re back! Katherine has moved into her new abode in the West end and I’m … well, still here. I was in Montreal for a few days over the long weekend, but I digress.

Last night we took to Queen St. West to partake in this years Summerworks Festival. We began our night at the Gladstone Hotel with 7 mini shows (we saw 3 of them) - all of which are under 15 minutes max. The shows take place in some of the rooms on the 2nd floor of the Gladstone which makes for some very intimate and interesting theatre - definitely worth checking out, in my opinion. AND, it’s PWYC (Pay-What-You-Can) … so for only $5 you could go see some really great new Canadian work!

Our next stop took us to the Factory Theatre where we took in the opening performance of Until June by Jane Maggs - a gritty new work about the relationship between two sisters. A great performance by the cast and wonderful writing by the relatively new Maggs.

Starving, Katherine and I headed west along Queen and grabbed a bite to eat at one of our favourite restaurants - Fresh, by Juice for Life. We gobbled down some delicious vegetarian food before heading over to our final destination of the night - The Theatre Centre - to take in some music and talk to Michael Rubenfeld, the Artistic Producer of the Summerworks Festival.

New to the festival this year is the Music Series - nightly performances by some great indie artists in Toronto including Matthew Barber, The Bicycles, Claire Jenkins as well as the two performers we saw, Julie Fader and Peter Elkas. Both performed great sets which we enjoyed thorougly. Sarah Harmer even made an appearance playing drums for Julie and we saw Ron Sexsmith in the audience!

At about 12:50am, we decided to call it quits as we were both exhausted and full to the brim of culture! It was an excellent evening. And thankfully, you too can still check out some of Summerworks as it’s on until August 17 (this coming Sunday)! Check out their website for more information on upcoming events …

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What we talked about in this episode:

Photo taken of traffic on Queen St. West and Dovercourt by Katherine Grainger.

Formats available:MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)

Episode 7 - July 23, 2008

Published
by
Blair
on July 27, 2008
in food, music and photography
. 3 Comments

Katherine’s leaving the east end for the west end of the city and in homage to her tenure as an east ender, That Night In Toronto takes you through some of her favourite spots along Queen St East between Broadview and Logan Ave.

The night started off at the Dark Horse Espress Bar (not Café as Blair keeps referring to it), located at 682 Queen St. East (just west of Broadview). It’s a great place to meet up and have a coffee or tea. The atmosphere is relaxing and inviting. The large communal table with all the daily and weekly papers is one of our favourite reasons for visiting. And they display local artists’ work on the walls.

Speaking of art, Queen St. East has a great network of artists called the Artists’ Network of Riverdale (due to suspicious activity, Google has advised against visiting the site as it may harm your computer … we’re not sure what’s wrong - but hopefully the problem will be remedied soon). One of the galleries we walked by is the Hangman Gallery which is a great space to visit and support your local artists.

One of Katherine’s hang outs is Kubo Radio (894 Queen St. East) - a great restaurant sharing the joy of Asian cuisine. The vibe is cool and funky, the food is delicious and the $5 martini’s on Wednesdays is a REAL treat to get over the mid-week blues (the martini’s are made with sake … mmm mmm good!).

Our evening ended off at The Opera House where we took in a performance of She & Him - the group formed by actress Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. A quick and quirky bio on the group:

The She & Him story begins when in 2006 , renowned one man band M. Ward, recorded a duet with a girl named Zooey Deschanel. A delightful recording session, the experience lead to a dialogue between the two about collaborating further. This, in turn, led to Deschanel admitting to secretly making dozens and dozens of home demos and hoarding them like acorns for the winter. Sick and tired of being stingy and secretive about music, Deschanel realized that if songs were acorns then this was indeed her wintertime: she sent the recordings to Ward and these demos became the basis for their first record, entitled Volume One.

Here’s a little sample of their music (and music video)

The concert was fantstic! We had a great time chillin’ and hanging with some friends we saw at the concert. Overall it was a very good night.

Katherine had one last surprise to show Blair before they left for the evening … to find out what it was, watch the video. ;)

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What we talked about in this episode:

Photo taken of the Toronto skyline by Blair Francey.

Formats available:MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)