Looking Back

As the years go by, it's harder to reconnect with old friends from out of town. On Wednesday, I went to NeXT in Stittsville for dinner with only 2. The rest were away for the holidays, busy with family, or incommunicado. This venue used to be an event centre for weddings and so on. The new owner still does these catering events but have also create a space for a sit-down restaurant. There are no places in downtown Toronto that could be this large or have so many parking spots.

NeXT does casual dining with a more refined palate. Tonight we tried Yukon fries ($8), Grinch's gobbler ($19), Crispy chicken ($25), Berkshire pork belly ($28), lamb shank ($33), and BC ling cod ($37). It was all tasty but rather heavy in the aggregate.

It's interesting that the chef Mark Blackie is cited in articles as being a hot young chef in culinary competitions circa 2006. Because I ate like this a decade ago: truffle mayo for the fries, Asian-inspired sambal sauce on the chicken, and so on. Maybe there are still restaurants that still do this in Toronto. I can't think of any and I certainly don't eat at them. Which is to say NeXT feels like someone staying in their comfort zone.

I can understand that. I'm all about routines and regularity in my daily life. But as 2017 winds down, I think 2018 should be different. Life-changing 180 degree turns aren't me. But developing new patterns, updating some familiar ones, and discarding out-dated cruft, gradual change is probably more beneficial than staying the same.

Yuletide Carols

On Saturday I was at The Burdock for The O'Pears Christmas show. The opener was a trio fronted by Danielle Knibbe. Although her songs were typical love songs, she was a charming performer with some good lyrical instincts. Her song Absence of You had a nice what-if, Sliding Doors, vibe. In keeping with tonight's theme, they ended with a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's (by way of Sarah McLachlan) Song for a Winter's Night.

Tonight, although they sang as a trio, The O'Pears were joined by a full band for a number of songs. They concentrated on songs that had a winter or Holiday vibe. So from their own repertoire they chose the quieter numbers like Lose The Sun and Dream About You. They also lent their beautiful, intricate harmonies to covers like Joni Mitchell's River. For the grand finale, both bands joined together with the audience for Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

Si Si

Little Sito is a new dining spot in the Bloor and Ossington area. With its wood panels, indoor plants, and sliding garage door, it resembles other trendy restaurant/bistro in Toronto. But with a focus on Lebanese food, it looks to be different than the rest. Along to Tavoos and other sit-down Middle-East spots, it demonstrates that there's more than shawarma and pita wraps to this region's cuisine.

However, I was here for a Saturday brunch specifically for 1 dish: shakshuka. Unlike the Egyptian variant at Maha's, which is closer to scrambled eggs, the Lebanese version is closer to a stew. So the shallow bowl that greeted me was warm and richly fragrant with tomato, eggplant, and other herbs. The dish was $15 but I added some lamb. You don't get a lot (it's only an extra $2), but the few portions added a nice smoky flavour. Along with some warm pita, a soft poached egg, and sharp feta, this was a tasty entrée for a cool December morning.

Satan's Little Helper

About 2 hours later on Thursday, I was back at the Burdock for the late show. The venue was already full for opener Steven Lambke. My guess was that there were a lot of Burning Hell's fans/friends but also some The Constantines aficionados. Though he was later joined by his band, Lambke's solo material was more introspective overall. But there were hints of some Constantines bombast in a few of the tunes. I quite enjoyed the lyricism of his songs, but the frequent off-key vocals was surprising.

Knowing how rowdy, or at least rambunctious, a Burning Hell show usually is, I moved from the back to the front and side just before their set. A good thing too, as several people sitting in the middle rows suddenly found their views blocked off as a large mass pushed themselves forward right up to the stage when the band started playing. Though mostly known for intricate word-play from lead singer Mathias Korn, their music can also be quite catchy and danceable. So I was curious to see if that playful spirit could be maintained now that they were a trio instead of a 5-piece. Well, they still have it in spades such as when they snuck a Rage Against The Machine bridge into their song Barbarians. No one was surprised that Darren Browne can also shred the bouzouki and lay down bass grooves. But the fact that Ariel Sharratt, still doing harmony and playing her bass clarinet, can play a mean drum in the latter half of their set was an eye-opener.

 So the 76th show of their current 78 show tours was the same as their previous visits to Toronto: fun, witty, and had plenty of opportunities for sing-alongs.

Measure For Measure

Thursday night, I was at the Burdock for an early show with Autorickshaw, an Indian-Jazz fusion trio composed of Suba Sankaran (vocals), Dylan Bell (bass, vocals), and Ed Hanley (tabla). Originally a going-away show before their tour of India, it became a vinyl release party for their latest album Meter.

This intimate venue was perfect for the kind of close listening this trio deserves. Let's not debate about typical technical chops between musical genres. But it is undeniable that the virtuosity and skill of these performers are quite high. Suba, with her perfect pitch, transitioned seamlessly between precise singing, Jazz scats, and South Asian ragas. Bell was on the right side of bass-playing wankery (no wonder he also plays in a The Police tribute band), and added some great vocals and beat-boxing. Hanley anchored every song with her intricate hand drumming.

With 15 years of playing and 5 albums, Autorickshaw's set spanned their whole repertoire instead of just concentrating on their latest release. They also had plenty of stories tied to the songs, and even small lessons about various musical techniques and traditions.