Sing For Your Lunch

Saturday morning was bright and sunny. I briefly regretted not getting beach volleyball tickets for today instead of sitting through a rainy afternoon. But after 10 minutes in the sun, I didn't think 3 hours would be much fun. After looking through eating options in the Queen and Coxwell area, there weren't any compelling choices. So I stayed in the West End and stopped by new diner Starving Artist at College and Ossington.

This 3rd location is more spacious and gleaming than its cozy, slightly run-down parent on Lansdowne. As their specialty is waffles, everything comes with the fluffy confection. I ordered the Monte Cristo ($14). The ham, turkey and melted havarti cheese gave it salty smokiness. The waffles were a little too thick, especially as 2 of them were used as "buns" to hold the meat. But liberally applied syrup added some sweet flavour.

Well-fortified, I headed over to Woodbine Park in the East End for the Beaches Jazz Festival. Although since the group was 80s a capella band Retrocity, calling it Jazz may be a stretched. A group associated with the Sing! Festival had secured a small stage to promote a dozen or so a capella bands (a rather niche genre). It was a bit forlorn sitting alone near Kingston Rd and Queen East (not a beautiful area away from the park). But the audience received the music with enthusiasm. Since many were also singers, sing-a-longs were particularly pleasant. From I Need You Tonight to Never Surrender to Killer Queen, I was familiar with Retrocity's kitschy but fun set. The bonus today was that after almost 10 years, they have finally released their sophomore album entitled Mixtape. With releases hot off the presses (they had received the delivery on Friday), I snapped up a copy.