Dine on Dundas

Monday night, I met up with a friend for dinner at Enoteca Sociale. He remarked that he had never been to this area of town, despite growing up here. It's a bit ironic since unlike my recent visit to the Hearn Generating Station, Little Portugal is not some far-flung industrial corner of Toronto. But of course we all tend to frequent the places we know. With gentrification over the last 10 years, it's certainly a hipper stretch than it was when mostly Portuguese men sat around local bars to drink and talk about football.

Enoteca, now a "neighbourhood spot", as it was part of the first wave of trendy arrivals, specialize in a short menu of classic italian dishes. So even on a Monday, it was full and lively. I ordered an Arancini ball ($4), in memory of dearly departed Black Skirt, some chicken liver mousse ($7), and an entrée of Bucatini All'amatriciana ($14). The arancini was a nice balance between the fried rice and tomato sauce. The grilled bread with the mousse was perhaps too much, since the pâté was already rich enough. The pasta was excellent, a perfect balance of toothsomeness, sauce, and little bursts of salty richness from the guanciale. The great meal here reminded me that I've been thinking if I should just stop cooking dinner altogether, especially in the hot summer months. Instead, I could just become a regular at a number of restaurants. The only concern is to keep a balanced diet and minimize the heavy sodium and oil of a typical "restaurant flavoured" dish.

End of The Road

For this year, arts festival Luminato has relocated all its events to the Hearn Generating Station, a decades-old abandoned ruin. On Wednesday, I made my way there for a multimedia show called Song of Extinction. But really, I wanted to see a part of Toronto that I've never seen. To be fair, there are attractions in the area like the Portlands or Cherry Beach that should have provided sufficient motivation.

In any case, local transit stops at Cherry and Unwin so I had to walk the rest of the way along the dirt shoulder with greenery and an abandoned railroad track on one side, with the station's smokestack rising in the distance. It reminded me less of a rural area, and more like the sparsely occupied decommissioned military base near my childhood home.

I had arrived right at 5 pm for the day's opening. Unfortunately, my hope of snagging a walk-in spot at pop-up restaurant Le Pavillon, housed inside the control room, disappeared. A last-minute private party booking scuttled many people's plans. I suppose a feel-good "mission statement" about holding at least 50% of the seats open couldn't compete with well-connected money. After entertaining myself eavesdropping on disgruntled (but justified) complaints, I explored the numerous art exhibit scattered throughout.

But none of them could compare with the station itself, a majestic cathedral full of rusted metals girders and decaying concrete. Only the 10m disco ball could compete in scale. It was finally time for the show. The music, somewhat in a "classical pop" mold, was played by Music in the Barns Chamber Ensemble, members of Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, and VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto. The libretto evoked the environmental catastrophes of the "Anthropocene". It was accompanied by short clips which one attendee dismissed as "derivative". I wouldn't be quite as harsh, but the videos of slow-motion animals (perhaps to imply some sort of sadness or reproach), industrial activities, and snippets of war were a bit "on the nose".

I was quite famished after the show. But the forlorn Biergarten did not entice. After a long wait for the festival's dedicated shuttle, and an equally long drive through congested traffic, I finally made it back to Union station.

Mmmunchies

There's been an influx of Mexican restaurants into Kensington Market though this area has always had its share of Hispanic stores. But unlike the numerous burrito or tacos joint, casual diner San Cosme's specialty is the Mexican sandwich known as the torta. On a sunny Saturday morning, I dropped by for some. Luckily, I came just before the noon-hour rush because the place filled up quickly.

My lunch consisted of conchinita ($10.50), a side order of house chips Papitas con Chile ($3.00) and a cup of watermelon juice ($2.50). Everything hit the spot. The combination of pulled pork and fried plantain made for a messy but tasty bite. The chips were nicely greasy and crunchy, but I might skip the lime and chili sauce, even if that's part of the offering. It was too acidic and hid the chips' flavour. Along with the cool, fresh juice, sunlight streaming through the glass storefront, and people watching, it felt almost as if I was some place much more tropical than Toronto.

Mid-week Madness

On Wednesday, I was at The Monarch Tavern for an early-ish show. This bar doesn't figure prominently on the music scene but lately they've been booking some fairly well-known (in the indie music sense) acts. It looks like they've beefed up the sound system and stage since I was last here.

I have mixed feelings about Dave Bidini's set. As a long-time musician (and a member of defunct 90s group Rheostatics), he's got a wealth of musical and personal experience to draw on. Notably, he had several songs about a musician's life from the nostalgic (Let's Go On Tour) to the slightly macabre (Desert Island Cannibal). Head-liner The Burning Hell wrote about about their first record purchase (Men Without Hats), Bidini chronicled the numerous life-changing concerts he's been at (I Was There). But twice he climbed onto the bar tables and sang acoustically. It was obvious that he did that to to shut down the loud bar chatter. Sorry dude, you have some good songs but if you're pissed because people who were toddlers in your hey-day don't care who you are, that's life.

The Burning Hell handled the talkers with more grace, and these were actual fans. Though they were front and centred, they also kept up a continuous stream of chit-chat and glad-handing. Lead singer Mathias Korn did scream "shut up" (silently and only to his band) once, but only because he forgot the lyrics to one song due to the distraction. It was understandable though as a typical Burning Hell song (Realists, Amateur Rapper) has an album's worth of words. But their set was too upbeat to dwell on a few early negatives. You dance, you laugh at the wry lyrics, and you sing along (such as the offbeat love song Fuck The Government, I Love You). Korn's verbiage may be the defining characteristic of this band, but the other members had immense technical chops, too. There were plenty of guitar, drum, sax and even bass solos to make a rock band jealous.

Monday Music

Tonight, I was at The Burdock for a low-key show. Because of a schedule change, head-liner Raleigh went first. I was slightly disappointed with their set, if only because I enjoyed their oddly structured songs the last time, and I was hoping that the full band would play tonight. Their music sits on the edge of pop music with strange diversions.

L.T. Leif was more in the confessional songwriter mold. She calls her music drone folk and certainly on her album there's a lo-fi tech feel. With just a guitar tonight, it felt like sitting on the couch with a friend as they put their thoughts to lyrics. She added just enough flourishes to her playing to keep the songs from sounding too much alike.

Music On The Street

Although there were bands playing all day at Dundas West Fest on Saturday, it was really too bright and hot for me. This was a surprise because the forecast called for thunderstorms all week. In any case, by the time it was cool enough for me to venture there, I had arrived to see the final band, Montreal-based The Dears. Although with half the band now living in Toronto, aren't they really a hogtown band now?

A while back, they posted winkingly on social media about a survey that ranked them in the top 5 "most pretentious" Canadian bands. It's also true. Like the gig at Lee's Palace, their set comprised of long, symphonic-pop songs with multiple tempo and melody changes. But most of the crowd were long-time fans, and sang along with every tortured verse and crescendo-ing refrain. I liked them more than last time, probably because of, strangely enough, the weaker sound system of a community outdoor stage. Without massive speakers that assault me relentlessly, 7-minute tunes were more palatable.

Charles In Charge

I had a great time at the CBC First Play show featuring Tanika Charles but on Friday, her CD release show was even better. One, the Rivoli is possibly the best-sounding small venue in the city. Two, she had an even larger band this time around including horns and back-up singers such as Janelle Monique. With only 1 full-length release, Charles played mostly from the new album although there were a few older songs like Parkdale. With funky beats, lovely harmonies, and even some coordinated dancing, her set evoked that girl-band Motown/soul sound. But with tunes about stealing a jeep and driving away from a farm (and an imploding relationship), she was firmly set in modern times. Charles had a great old-school presence on stage and kept the energy up the whole night. The music was even better live, and that's saying something. Because they are good enough on the CD to get her a Polaris nomination.

Nelson Munch

It's been awhile since I've been to Kanto the filipino take-out at Bathurst and Spadina. So when I heard they were have a special BBQ event on Thursday, also known as an Ihaw Ihaw, I decided to head on over. It was a mess. They didn't anticipate the number of people that showed up. So both the purchase line and the food line were long, slow, and chaotic. It took me more than hour before I got my special plate ($17) of grilled goodies.

It was good but perhaps not given the effort involved. Best was the pork and the monk fish. The chicken was middling. The squid was underdone and too chewy. Without better organization, it wasn't worth the trip.

Glitter Is Coming

On Wednesday, I went to the Danforth Music Hall to see Miike Snow. Anticipating a lot of upbeat songs, I positioned myself to the side where there was more space for dancing. Sure enough, his set was full of fun numbers that encouraged wild gyrations. Although he played his biggest hit Genghis Khan only 4 songs in, he had plenty more hits for the large crowd. Alternating between synth and guitar, as well as a high falsetto and a regular voice, Snow kept the room's energy and vibe up for the entire evening.