Tag Archive for 'food'

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 15 - January 30, 2009

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by
Blair
on February 4, 2009
in art, city and theatre
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It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to put up a new post, but finally, here it is - the first episode of 2009!

Katherine and I took to the cold last Friday night to witness the first performance of the new Close Act show titled PI-LEAU. Close Act has been in Toronto before a few years ago with another show, but they out did themselves with this underwater exploration and struggle between good and evil. The show opened the 14 day festival, WinterCity - a favourite among Torontonians at this time of year.

Not only does the city embrace the cold and snow for these two weeks, we also gorge ourselves on food during Winterlicious. Many restaurants book up quickly so if you want to take advantage of some of the amazing world-class cuisine Toronto has to offer at affordable prices, best to book now!

What are your thoughts on WinterCity? Do you embrace the cold, or hibernate for 6 months?

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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
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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

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Blair
on August 29, 2008
in Visual art, food and theatre
. 0 Comments

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 1 - June 10, 2008

Published
by
Blair
on June 15, 2008
in film, music, photography and theatre
. 9 Comments

Our first vlog!

Katherine and I are really excited to show you our first attempt at putting our first video blog together!

On June 10, 2008, we began our night at the Mille Femme exhibit at Brookfield Place, biked up town to see Black Watch at Varsity Arena, stopped off at Hart House to observe Slow Dance, grabbed a bite to eat at Queen and Spadina before rockin’ out at The Horseshoe Tavern with Sebastien Grainger And The Mountains.

Here’s how much we spent tonight: approximately $47.

Unfortunately we couldn’t take any footage of the Black Watch performance - lucky for us though, there’s a great preview on YouTube - check it out here:

We hope you enjoy the first of our vlogs about culture in Toronto. Do you know of an event or exhibition or show we should check out? Give us a shout!

Did you see one of the events we saw? What did you think of it? Leave a comment!

Also check out us out at iTunes!