The Office

On Thursday, I was busy with work most of the day. My team had ambitious goals for the quarter, but as usual we were strapped for time. But it wasn't my call to make regarding our roadmap. In theory, my position at the new company did give me that leeway but I felt it was a case of "job inflation". I wasn't unqualified but I didn't really have the corporate track record to exert any authority. In the evening, to get out of the house for a bit, I went to Szechuan Noodle Bowl for their 3rd-most popular dish: braised beef noodle. For the first time, I wasn't served by the foreign student graduate. It was a tasty bowl for dinner but it was confirmation for me that their spice level was not excessive. The only negative: only a few morsels of the advertised bamboo shoot.

Snow came again overnight but I was heading into the office on Friday. Our old CEO had missed the Christmas lunch and wanted a re-do. People actually came for work this time and the floor was busy and buzzing. But even discounting the various chats I had with folks I haven't seen in years, I didn't get as much done as at home. All that face-time didn't translate to productivity so I'm skeptical of the back-to-work mandates given by the various branches of government and the large companies.

For lunch, we went to an Italian restaurant called Remezzo at Sheppard and Warden. I knew of it from my previous visits to that plaza for noodles (Eight Noodles) and sushi (Mika Sushi). Similar to Mangal Kebab House, Remezzo tried to evoke Old World charm in a suburban milieu with its murals and wooden furniture. Since it has been around for decades, it was a bit dated and ersatz.

I found out in the new year that HR was strict with the holiday reimbursement. It wasn't 3 days of travel but only before and after the Holiday meal. My trip was early by 1 day so I had to pay out of pocket for that night's stay. There were also no compensation for some of my meals since they were cash-only and had no receipts. To "get some of my money back", I ordered a minestrone soup ($7.95) and rainbow trout on pilaf rice ($24.99). The former was mostly tomato broth and not very tasty veggies or pasta. The latter was better with a firm fish and rice.

There were more office gossip. Maybe I had forgotten the announcement, but the CEO had moved to our Swiss office 3 years back. The other founder, who came to meet his ex co-workers, took the buyout package and had retired. Both were in their 70s and were happy with their choices. However, given his many meetings including a recent trip to Davos, it seemed a matter of keeping a "power broker" lifestyle rather than money that motivated my old boss. His son, who was the nepo-baby at work, had a major career shift: he was now a pilot for Porter Air. He achieved this in just 1 year from to pilot school to employment. How did he get the required 1500 hours of flight-time experience? He bought a Cesna plane. When it comes to the "nepo-baby" discourse in popular culture, it was never about talent or drive. On a grimmer note, the CEO and my current boss had a falling out around the time of the acquisition. Details were not forthcoming, but this boded ill since they were still heavily invested in our product.

I was heading back to Ottawa to visit my mom on Saturday so I called it an early night. I spent some time looking for sublets or permanent rentals with my budget in mind. I knew I was looking at smaller bachelor or studio apartments, but it was depressing that a $1700 cap yielded only basement units. Or I could pay around $1300 to share with 2-4 roommates. This prospect did not appeal now that I have re-discovered the joy of single living.

Human Resources

I was back at The Tranzac on Thursday for another monthly session with The Holy Oak Family Singers. It wasn't as packed as "Toronto Plays Toronto" because of the bland theme title of "Team Building". Johnny Spence explained how this all fit in. Back in 2010, Spence along with Carmen Elle and Stephen Foster attended an open mic night at this venue. Unfortunately, their professional musician chops got a few side-eye from the other folks there who were amateurs. So they started Team Building (a corporate-speak jargon to deter non-musicians) night at The Holy Oak. So although it was never part of the Family Singers tradition, tonight was a full circle moment.

Both sets comprised of new songs (some were only finished only hours ago) that were being work-shopped or never played live. Later on, Ivy Mairi ("artist wrangler") revealed the dirty secret of the Family Singers: they didn't usually rehearse or only in the car. So those musical improv skills came in handy to turn songs into performances. There was an eclectic mix of folk jazz, ambient experimental, americana, spoken word (a revision of Rilke's poetry) and other genres. It was a similar line-up as last time but Kieran Adams was behind the drums. A guitarist named Rudy, just moved here from NY, made his Toronto debut after meeting Josh Shabason. The evening ended with the 3 strongest performances of the night: Caitlin Woelfle-Obrien's emotionality on a "you cheated" song, the pure tone of Felicity Williams on I Am The Arrow (written for a song-of-the-month challenge issued by Robin Dann), and Alex Lukashevsky (along with Adams, Shabason) on a driving number with a jaunty riff.

All You Need is Grill

For my birthday, I decided to split my usual celebratory dinner (aka Groundhog Day) into two outings. Sunday was a visit to Taverniti North to reflect my first dinners at Black Skirt. On Monday, I made my way to the food court at College Park to get food at BHK Roll. The last time I was there, I was disappointed with my meal. But luckily, chef Saha was in the kitchen tonight instead of subordinates.

My experience with the chef went back several decades. But specifically as a birthday dinner, I did go to his last "fancy" restaurant called Spice Indian Bistro. Tonight's order didn't hit the pocketbooks as much but it was just as delicious. The chicken changezi ($21) was enough for 2 meals. The rice was moist and fragrant, the sauce had a hint of sweetness and spice, and the chicken was tender yet retained a good chew. Based on its red coat, I wondered if the pieces were cooked in a tandoor. I had chosen the to-go option instead of eating in the food court. But the meal was still warm when I got back home in part due to a speedy TTC subway and bus. In fact, it was so tasty I wanted to add BHK to my weekly rotation despite its $20+ mains (though the chicken biryani dish was only $14).

Pasta La Vista

The 1st day of February was warmer than most days last month. I started Sunday by paying rent and covering expenses in Ottawa. That ate up most of my budget so it was a bit demoralizing. Also a downer was the state of my investment after the recent stock market bloodbath. Lunch was a pesto sandwich made from my fridge ingredients and a fresh bun ($0.70) from Progress Bakery (or rather Mel's). The afternoon offered a free show at Walter Hall from the University of Toronto New Music Festival. But it combined my two least favourite genres: improv music and Jazz.

In other years, I celebrated my birthday with an indulgent meal. At first, I wanted to go to Zia's Place, a restaurant co-owned by Jess Maiorano who started Pasta Forever. Its Southern Italian menu would be a callback to the first such dinners at Black Skirt. But with my budget in mind, I decided this year to split it into 2 modest outings. The Sunday dinner was at the last remaining neighbourhood spot I haven't visited: Taverniti North.

The inside had exposed brick on one wall and wooden slats and fake grape leaves on the other. A few booths shared space with small tables and two larger round family tables at the back. Its' menu was similar to the short-lived Tav's (which has been merged into the original Taverniti). I chose the bread ($5) and a Pappardelle Bolognese ($25). The verdict: it was better than Sugo but didn't compare to Enoteca Sociale. True, my first visits to Enoteca weren't home-runs but they were making an effort.

The toasted bread was crumbly, bakery-bought (I sure hope they didn't have their own baker), and forgettable with run-of-the-mill balsamic vinegar and olive oil. You got complementary fresh, chewy slices with quality oil at Enoteca. The pasta was better: al dente with a rich sauce though I would like the pappardelle to have a slightly thicker mouth-feel. Still, I would come back for more carb-loading at this spot if the mains were $5 cheaper.