Eat, Pray, Love

Batifole was on my radar about a year ago. I learned about the french bean stew called cassoulet after buying a small cassoulet pot as a Christmas present. This was one of the few French restaurants in Toronto that has this dish on the menu. But various attempts to schedule a dinner here fell through and I had forgotten about it. This past Friday, since I was attending an AIDS/HIV benefit in the East End, an area I rarely venture to, I decided it was about time I checked out Batifole.

As the snow came down,  I settled into this cozy bistro on the edge of Chinatown East. There it was on the menu, Le Cassoulet Royal: "Rustic baked white beans with duck confit, sausages & crispy pork belly." As I sat there waiting for my stew, sipping my scotch, watching the slender short-bobbed waitress in a slim black dress sashaying back and forth, and listening to French ballads piping in through the speakers, I wondered why I didn't move to Paris in my 20s.

The dish seemed to take a bit longer to come out than I thought, but the bartender refilled my scotch for free so I wasn't complaining. Finally, the food arrived. The beans were delicious, soft but not mushy. I enjoyed the slices of sausages as well as the chicken, though it wasn't listed in the ingredients. The duck was decent but it seemed a bit dry with the skin not sufficiently crispy. But the pork belly was odd, and not in a good way. The outer skin was so overcooked that it was a hard shell, yet the inner side of that was too soft and gooey. It was like chewing a toffee, with the typical result of having it stuck to your teeth. I enjoyed my first cassoulet, but unless the duck and pork were better done, I would replace them with more "peasant" meat.

I then made my way to the Live Love Large Benefit Concert which took place just around the corner at the Metropolitan Community Church. This church was the first in Ontario to have a same-sex wedding 10 years ago. The benefit was to raise money for the PWA (People with Aids) charity. In addition to the concert, there was a bar with booze donated by the restaurant Big Mamma's Boy, a 50/50 draw, and numerous items for both a live and silent auction. Not being particularly religious, I was still bemused at the idea of alcohol and money inside a church, but this part of the event took place in the community hall at the back.

The altar was set up for the concert. The first three singers were Kimberley Ann O'Connor, Sarah Gerber (the organizer of this event), and The A-Men, an a capella male quartet. I have to say this portion of the concert was strictly easy-listening classic top 40 karaoke music which seems to match the average age of the attendees. To be fair, they were doing covers for this concert. After the 1st intermission, Hooded Fang came on. This young septet added some needed energy to the proceedings, prompting some people to stand up and boogie. But oh, no. It looks like the female bass player, April, has been replaced. This band is skewing more and more male as time passes. This is a shame since when I first saw them over 2 years ago, one of the fun things about them was their 50/50 gender mix. It also wasn't their best sound mix, as their mike requirements overwhelmed the small set-up available at the Church. But they still sounded good enough to attract some new fans, or at least CD buyers. I bought a Hooded Fang t-shirt and an older Gentlemen Reg CD to also support the artists.

After the 2nd intermission, Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers and Gentlemen Reg were scheduled to come on. But the scotch and beans have put me into a stupor, so I hopped onto a Broadview station-bound streetcar and made my way home.