Two cents of compilation, views, digression with gab

With the near total shutdown of the urban landscape lately due to COVID-19, there hasn't been much to document for social activities. So this post is just some observations of the last two weeks.

I had already booked a short vacation to visit family in Ottawa. With the postponement of a concert by Men I Trust for Sunday and the numerous shutdowns over the week-end, I decided on Monday to move my trip up to Wednesday. A good idea as VIA Rail cancelled a large number of trips. This revealed the patchwork technology that even a large company couldn't manage. First, refunds and trip changes were free because of the situation. But their online booking still enforced the $25 fee so I had to contact customer service for a manual update. Second, I had to get reprinted tickets from an agent at Union Station since neither their email service can resend e-tickets nor their electronic kiosk can issue paper ones from telephone bookings. Finally, I still received an email informing me that my (previous) booking has been cancelled by VIA and I could receive a full refund.

It was a sparse train where everyone got a free bottle of water and a granola bar. This went over well with those on board since you normally pay for sandwiches, juices, and snacks.  Reviews for Porter Airlines always included raves for the complimentary food and drink in their airport lounge and on the planes. So it baffles me that companies cut back on such low-cost boosts to customer goodwill.

I finished out my work week in Ottawa amid a background of increasing bad news and drastic measures. The financial hit to my personal investment and the larger economy made me re-assess my goals and plans. Email newsletters from Yoga studios tracked their switch to virtual classes using Zoom meetings. By the week-end, social distancing came to grocery stores. A short, but well-spaced, line-up greeted me at the nearby Your Independent Grocer. But luckily it was due to restrictions on the number of shoppers inside instead of panic buying.

My week off didn't have any personal visits. I kept in touch with relatives via phone and organized a virtual Skype lunch with some friends. This app had head-scratching quirks and behaviour. Is there no technology that works as expected? Digital newspapers kept me abreast of the global meltdown because I avoid talking heads on any platform. I had an argument with my mom where I opined that inclusion of a camera didn't make it different from someone who talks to themselves on a park bench. It was a steady diet of books, Netflix shows, and the occasional afternoon nap.

Artistic groups like theatre companies and performers began to offer live stream shows. I watched a few including a long-time absent Sarah Harmer, an album debut from Basia Bulat, and a showcase with Jacquie Neville (The Balconies). Musicians are usually gear-heads or at least they understand the need for quality instruments, pedals, monitors, and other paraphernalia. So it's a puzzle why they use poor equipment like their (slightly better) phones to stream to Instagram and their (definitely worse) laptop for Facebook.

As the week wound down, my thoughts kept returning to the various proposed government subsidies, the financial straits many people find themselves in, and the topic of rent. All corporations and businesses large and small, investors, share-holders, and notably workers have suffered loss of revenue and income. Yet both commercial and residential landlords expect that the current crisis must not impact their rental income. It isn't surprising that "rent-seeking" and "rentier" are used as pejoratives. I wonder if the new book by Thomas Piketty examines this ideological viewpoint.

At Contra; Bite Fuss

The local wave of COVID-19 related news started Thursday night. Numerous live events scheduled for the week-end on my social calendar were canceled. On Saturday morning, at my laundromat, a regular complained that it took her an hour to get through check-out at the grocery store yesterday. I told her that I do my errands right after laundry so I'll be in good shape. How wrong I was. By the time I made it there at 8:00 AM, the aisles were packed with shoppers. Luckily, I was only doing a regular restocking of a few non-perishable items and was able to get out quickly through the self-checkout service. The streets seemed less busy that morning as I finished my to-do list. With a cold, cloudy day and even alternative options scuttled (the list of cancelled plays, dance recitals, and so on grew), I stayed home.

By Sunday morning, with Yoga studios and the YMCA finally shuttered overnight, I decided to take a walk instead. I visited Contra Café, a small shop nestled in the residential neighbourhood at Shaw and Yarmouth. I noticed it during my constitutional last week-end. It was still busy today, but traffic trickled off during my time there. To get through all the digital newspapers, I ordered an Apple Gruyere Scone ($3.09), a Pear Brioche ($3.09) and a Peppermint tea ($2.65). The scone was good: crusty exterior and a soft interior, a slight earthiness from the cheese, but alas not much apple flavour. The brioche was blandly doughy except for the tasty top third which was stuffed with sweet pear chunks; not sure why it wasn't better distributed. The tea packed a refreshing punch and likely came from the Social Tea and Coffee company.

I made my way down Shaw to Little Italy. A small cafe/deli (called Hot Pastrami?) had just replaced a Churros vendor (Pancho's Bakery) near College and Grace. What bad timing to open right now so maybe I can buy lunch to support them. It turned out to be a mixed blessing. Their menu was simple: coffee, pastrami sandwich, salad, and some ice cream dessert at night. I opted for the $12 combo which included the sandwich, coleslaw, pickle, and chips. The first mixed results: the pastrami was great but the coleslaw and pickles were too sour and soggy.

The second mixed results: the Italian owner had some friends visiting. The older one, straight out of central casting, was convinced the current situation was caused by a "China problem" hence the solution was obvious. The younger couple pushed back against his xenophobic views. The woman was peeved because she had relatives under quarantine in Italy. No minds were changed though and it ended in an impasse.

But it was too nice an afternoon for gloomy thoughts about the state of human nature. So I left for home basking in the sunshine and humming a few tunes.

 Update: Turns out after some months that the little Italian deli was christened Papuccino Espresso Bar.

Fun's Kitchen

The grounds of the former Honest Ed's at Bloor and Bathurst have been dug up for major construction. The facade of a few buildings was retained, probably to be later incorporated, though I'm not a fan of this ersatz approach to historical preservation. But next to the site, there were still small businesses. I stepped inside one such place for dinner on Thursday night, an oddly named Her Chef.

It turns out that this was a double-pun. The owner and chef was named Hwa Hur. And his passion for cooking was a factor in wooing his wife and the in-laws so he calls himself "her chef". When Hur first came to Canada, he would feed his fellow foreign students "food from home". So he finally decided to open this tiny fast-casual restaurant offering comfort food. Interesting as both in real life and online, I'm aware of some (male) amateur chefs whose culinary skills were a romantic or social asset. But amateurs don't usually go pro and if they do, it's likely to be disastrous.

The menu was Hur's own take on Korean food and rice dishes with a smattering of Pan-asian offerings like Chirasi/Poke bowls and Japanese curry. They had cute names or deliberate "Konglish" misspellings. I chose the Drug Salad ($3.99) and an S-Box ($9.99). The former was because "it was so addictive" but I wouldn't go that far, even if the sprinkling on top resembled cocaine powder. Primarily chives, green and red onions, it honestly looked like grass clippings. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't taste "grassy" at all but ultimately it just served as daily fibre content. It did make a good side dish to the rice bowl entrée.

The S stood for shrimp (and a play on words of the X-Box?) and I got a generous 9 pieces. They had a good chew and were nicely grilled. It wasn't fried rice but there was enough oil mixed in to be a tasty replacement. The pickled radish was a crunchy palate cleanser between bites. For the choice of sauce, I picked basil and sun-dried tomatoes which contrasted beautifully with the other ingredients. This was a great dinner with nicely balanced flavours.

The clientele were either students hanging out with friends or young professionals dropping by for a quick meal. Hearkening back to those university days, you and up to 22 friends can book the restaurant for a personalized meal for a cheap $10/person. This private event called One Table can happen on Wednesday between 6-7. That's not for me but I'll be back to try the rest of the menu of this cozy restaurant.

Would They Do It Anyway?

I was at The Tranzac on Thursday for an early evening show. Jessica Stuart has been hosting this monthly showcase for 2 years. One stipulation: each performer must premiere a new song. Perhaps that new number will appear on the next album or even be a radio hit. I wonder what the hit-to-miss ratio was.

Sabine N'dalamba was a late replacement. The two had met a few weeks ago at a Burdock show. She played electric guitar instead of acoustic tonight and generally, I didn't think it added much. In fact, I often felt the fiddling around with effects and looping detracted from her songs. There were 2 numbers that did benefit: Just Because which had a radio-friendly, sing-a-long chorus and chords combo and Tidal Wave where the overlapping guitar loops enhanced the song's mood.

Jessica Stuart played differently as a guitarist than koto player. Price of My Love, Nobody's Business, and Lemonade had more straightforward melodies. Having to write a new song every month forces her to be less perfectionistic in her approach. While tonight's premiere of Dream Town was a work-in-progress, "Wobbly For Mayor" (about the travails of Doug Ford) from a few months back had promise even if Stuart felt it was a novelty tune.

She included Love Somebody from her new pop persona Jessa. She was frustrated that as an artist that straddles multiple genres, it's hard to get noticed. So this project was an attempt at radio play. A number of local artists have made forays into pop including Austra, Kashka, and Ivy Mairi. On the other hand, some like Charlotte Day Wilson found immediate success. It seems like a luck of the draw to me.

A Chorus With No Name

On Sunday, I had tickets to the final show of experimental music for the Women From Space festival. But I wanted more structured music tonight so I went to an early show at The Burdock instead. It was sold-out and there was definitely a buzz in the audience.

Opener Tyler Emond started with a more avant-garde composition on his upright bass. But for the rest of his set, joined by percussionist Matias Recharte on doumbek (hand drum) and tambourine, it was a mix of jazz, blues, and Middle-eastern influences. Recharte demonstrated some South Asian drumming as well. Emond admitted that it was odd to name instrumental numbers. He usually based it on whatever was in his environment during the composition. So we got the groaner Hof and Gas (Wim Hof). The genesis of Phantoms was more straightforward; it was inspired by the soundtrack from the movie Phantom Thread, composed by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.

I haven't seen Ozere in 3 years. Tonight they were releasing their new album and has also been renamed to Jessica Deutsch and Ozere. This band was also influenced by different traditions. It was a more cohesive fusion whereas previously each song would highlight a particular sound. They played the entire album with Emond (electric guitar) and Recharte joining them for a few numbers. Overall, this set was interesting, complex, and enjoyable.

I liked the unusual sound of violin and cello improvisations. But generally, like many jazz shows, I thought there were too many solos: 3 on every number felt repetitive by the end. The few songs that had words were beautiful, not only lyrically but because Deutsch and cellist Lydia Munchinsky had good voices. Bones of the Clouds (lyrics by Deutsch's roommate Michelle Willis), Wyoming (with poetry from Eliza Deutsch), and an encore cover of Wayfaring Stranger were highlights for me.

Pokey Chew

Sunday was another beautiful, sunny day so I walked through the areas between Davenport and St. Clair. In general, the homes were quite nice. With the current real-estate market, I won't even guess their selling price. Depending on the steepness of the street, the houses were often elevated with long climbs to the porch itself. I thought Springmount Ave. was even more unusual. The East side of the street was normal but their West-side neighbours were pretty garages with some possibly housing a small apartment above the car-hold. The actual houses attached to those structures seemed to be set way back and up on the ravine of adjacent Glenholme Ave.

I used to frequent St. Clair when I began to practice Yoga more seriously at a studio around Winona in 2010. It was large for a "boutique" (i.e., 1 teacher) studio but quite spartan. Snobs might call it more "authentic" compared to chi-chi offerings like Sweat and Tonic nowadays. The affordable building, first a Jewish synagogue then the Hungarian-Canadian Cultural Centre for decades, also housed other small businesses including a boxing gym in basement. It was taken over by condo developers in 2012.

It seems like the site has been unused for almost 8 years because construction has only just started. This was a full demolition with nothing saved. On the other side, where I used to reward myself with a post-Yoga croissant or pastry at Café Patachou, the stores have vanished too. The entire south-side block is now a condo. It did house a few street-level businesses like What a Bagel.

I stopped for lunch at a Thai restaurant called Chai Pochana. I had the, in hindsight dubious, idea of ordering like a "typical mid-town resident". As such I chose some spring rolls ($6.95) and a veggie pad thai ($11.95). The rolls were adequate but the noodles were inedibly sweet. I forgot how bad mainstream-calibrated Thai food was especially "regular" pad thai. This place didn't offer interesting fare like whole mackerel but maybe you'd have better luck with the street-style (tamarind) pad thai or one of the curries.

As I made my way back to Oakwood Ave., I noticed signs for 2 more condos.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Just after lunch on Saturday at The Paradise Theatre, there was a charity concert organized by Moscow Apartment. The proceeds from the show were going to help with Wet'suwet'en challenge of the oil pipeline. Meanwhile, money raised from a raffle and auction were for Climate Justice Toronto. Since both Pascal and Brighide were teenagers, and it was an all-ages show, there were plenty of young folks here including toddlers with their parents.

As tomorrow will be International Women's Day, almost all performers were women. Whether because of the aim of the show or their own personal interests, I liked that very few love songs were sung. The exception was Caroline Brooks (The Good Lovelies) but even her lyrics described the measured tone of mature love and not the melodrama of most songs.

I arrived as Kritti Uranowski finished a solo set of upbeat Lavender Bruisers number. Mimi O'Bonsawin led with a reggae-esque Black Clouds that segued to Get Up Stand Up (Bob Marley). She switched out her guitar for a hand drum for the remaining numbers. They were quite interesting as I've never heard an Indigenous singer composing English lyrics over tribal rhythms.

Caroline Brooks did several brand-new songs while praising the girls of Moscow Apartment and their generation. The Good Lovelies were essentially surrogate parents for them when they toured together. She was joined onstage by most of the singers to cover Anais Mitchell's sublime Why We Build A Wall. I couldn't believe I haven't heard this song until now. Brooks was bang-on to describe it as a modern "classic folk song".

Andrea Ramolo took over with a small wooden pallet for percussive foot tapping and her electric guitar. She gave us gritty numbers like Wild Town and Deeper Well (Emmy Lou Harris). Skye Wallace joined her for Fleetwood Mac's Dreams.

Wallace then used her vocal range and propulsive guitar and thrilled the audience with Swing Batter (inspired by the domestic abuse case of Angelina Neapolitano) and Blood Moon. There was a 10-minute break so people could stretch their legs, get refreshments, and buy raffle tickets.

After intermission, there were a few 1-song guests. The final performers were 2 full bands. First up was pop-punk Tange. This trio was comprised of women (Luna Li, Deanna Petcoff, Sabrina Carrizo Sztainbok) with solo careers. In addition to harp, guitar, and violin, it seems that Hannah Bussière of Luna Li can also play drums. They played fun, punchy songs like what was i wearing (the day I destroyed the universe) and victories. After being the hosts all afternoon, Moscow Apartment closed out the show with pointed songs about cat-calls (New Girl), best friends (Halfway), and body image (Annie).

Organizing the concert, getting sponsors, and other tasks were greatly aided by their moms since for all their passion, they were "still teenagers". But as Pascal's mom pointed out, "these girls (and their generation)" were much more engaged with the pressing issues of the day than her when she was their age back in the 90s.

"Try Chicken," Grinned He

Before a matinee show on Saturday, I took advantage of the sunshine to walk around the neighbourhoods belonging to "Dovercourt Park" just north of Bloor. There was a number of quiet streets with a mixture of older homes and a few recent constructions. Dupont St itself has always been more industrial with its storage warehouses, auto shops, and the train tracks. There are gleaming condos a bit closer to Christie St. but even among the grittier section, it looks like gentrification will arrive soon. The Sobeys at Shaw is slated to become 9-story condo. The run-down glass building at Ossington has a proposal for a 13-story building. Locals are likely to welcome the latter development, though they might fight over the height. But I wonder how the current tenants feel about their changing fortunes.

I stopped for lunch at Vinny's Panini. This tiny joint has an equally small menu: your choice of panini or pasta. I picked the breaded chicken sandwich ($9.95) and a bottled water. It came out as two huge cutlet stuffed inside soft buns. This wasn't the pressed, crunchy sort of panini. I liked it except next time, I would pick either the sweet or hot sauce topping instead of the milquetoast medium version. Yes, the large size of the cutlet was achieved by pounding flat that chicken, but it was still quite a lot of meat for me. During my visit, I only saw regulars dropping by. This was like California Sandwiches on Claremont except the view wasn't as picturesque. But Vinny's did edge them out on flavour.

The 2-store building containing Vinny's is unlikely to be redeveloped soon. So it might still be around once those condo dwellers move in.

A Night at the Museum

When The ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) expanded with the geode-like Michael Lee Chin Crystal extension, opinions in the city were divided. Though I have seen it from the outside, it was one of those "I'll go see it some time" thought that eventually encompassed a decade. But on Friday, with The ROM hosting a monthly after-hours party called ROM After Dark, I finally found my way inside.

The first sight of the atrium with a gigantic multi-story dinosaur overhead was impressive. The museum had divided up the space into multiple themed exhibits. It didn't feel different from typical construction until I moved along the walkways connecting the rooms. Then I could see the sharp angles and slanted walls.

The galleries included gems, minerals, dinosaur reconstructions and an exhibit about The Age of Mammals. I only felt abstractly the age of the collections since they were numbers too large for me to comprehend viscerally. One thought kept returning: "Animals seemed much bigger in the past". For our current age, the flora and fauna were grouped into ecosystems under a theme of Life In Crisis. So while I marveled at the variety (there are butterflies in the Arctic!), I also felt an overall sadness. The human inventions from armor to utensils were also interesting. A reliquary, which happens to be exactly 800-year-old this year, struck me as truly antique.

But it wasn't just about stuff on display. In conjunction with International Women's Day, this edition of RAD was named Sisterhood. Throughout the evening, I experienced various women musicians, artists, fashion designers, and scientists plied their craft. In Bronfman Hall, Lisa Odjig (a former Hoop Dancing champion) demonstrated an Eagle dance, a Fancy Shawl dance, and a Hoop dance with 12 hoops. She was accompanied on the drum by a good-natured Steve Teekens.

In the shadow of a T-Rex, cuban-jazz group OKAN kept people dancing with some high-energy songs like Mas Que Nada. Tonight, they were joined by Carlie Howell on bass, Sarah Thawer on drums, and Jeremy Ledbetter on piano. The 3 guests added a lot of groove and fun. Additional vocals came from Eliana Cuervas who took the lead with some excellent scatting on El Tucusito.

Early on, Mr. Teekens opined that all cultures have drums. So it was appropriate that the evening ended on the main floor with Raging Asian Women. These taiko drummers got the crowd cheering and hollering throughout their set. Each song didn't just incorporate a variety of rhythms but choreography, too. It was mesmerizing to watch. I think some audience members will take up their offer to attend a taiko workshop at The Toronto Taiko Festival in August.

Spaced Out

On Thursday, I was at The Burdock for the sophomore year of the Women From Space festival. The organizers wanted to focus on women playing creative, jazz, and improv music. Tonight was the first of 4 nights and it was a bit of hit and miss for me.

The stage was decorated with the psychedelic logo and people got face markings from the face-painting station. A few black lights scattered about made some clothes glow.

Elisa Thorn was one of two performers who debuted new material. Both suffered from a lack of familiarity with their composition. That might seemed strange given that it was improvised music but as an audience member, you can feel whether someone has had time to fully live and experience their songs. I'm also no longer enamored with numbers relying heavily on looping. But I liked the range of sounds Thorn got from her harp. With the 20-minute undulating soundscape, I took the opportunity to meditate.

Amy Brandon also got a wide variety of sound effects from her acoutic guitar although it was pre-recorded. It started with scratchy ASMR-esque creaks and scrapes which wasn't unsurprising. But then proceeded to ocean waves, rain, lightning crackle, and even a sudden clap of thunder. For the live part, Brandon gave us a glimpse of her improvisation prowess on her guitar.

Using a drum sampler and some synth, Claire Yunjin Lee gave us a looping collage of designed sounds. Unfortunately, she only made them recently and it showed in her weakness to coax a coherent feel from her set. This was not as fun as her set with Mingjia.

Susan Alcorn was the highlight of the night. A veteran musician of the steel-pedal guitar, she regaled us with stories from 40+ years of playing music and touring. She "transformed" her instrument from the twangy country guitar into a theremin, a synthesizer, and even a piano without effects or looping. The first half was more experimental including her tribute to Messiaen's Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum called And I Await The Resurrection of the Pedal Steel Guitar.

The latter half of her set was an arrangement of songs she titled Liberation Suite. Inspired by an anti-fascist march in Mantua while on tour in Italy, and feeling tired from the rhetoric of her very fascist local roadie, she played a snippet of Bella Ciao during her concerts. Some thought her out-of-touch, but she received emails thanking her for including this old protest song. From that came this suite which encompassed several songs including Víctor Jara's El Arado, Vitali's Chaconne, and ending with Oscar Peterson's Hymn To Freedom. After a short take on Quartet for the End of Time, Alcorn dedicated the last song, a beautiful rendition of Song of the Birds, to exiles and refugees. She explained that its composer Pablo Casals was a refugee from Franco's fascist Spain and never returned to his homeland.

It was a wonderful close to a so-so night. I was glad I changed my mind about leaving the show before the end.

Mama Bowl's Best

Walking through Koreatown after a morning concert on Thursday, I decided to have lunch there. I've been watching Youtube food-tasting videos and realized it's been a while since I've enjoyed Korean banchan, that spread of tasty side dishes that accompanies most meals. On the way, I passed by Mrs. Kim (Jean Yoon) of the TV show Kim's Convenience.

There were so many choices along those blocks including Soon Tofu, Tofu Village, and Imonay. I finally stepped inside Mama Chef because their window display promised cheese bibimbap. I didn't get that unusual dish today but did pick a kimchi and tofu bibimbap ($14.99). I haven't had this stone bowl entrée in a while because I developed an allergy to sesame oil. So sauces like bibimbap or Middle-Eastern hummus and tabouleh were out. But it seemed to have diminished lately so fingers crossed.

The bowl came out hot with the rice still crackling and cooking. There were six side dishes including kimchi that were all tasty. In fact, the whole meal was wonderful: soft tofu, crunchy radish, carrots, and cabbage, slightly burnt pieces of rice at the bottom of the bowl. The only drawback was the amount of food. Good thing I was planning on walking home.

It turns out I still have the sesame oil allergy but only in a mild form. But a few itchy bumps that lasted about 40 minutes was worth it. Mama, I'm coming back for that cheese bowl and your special "pies".

The More You Know

Tafelmusik had concerts this past weekend titled The Indigo Project wherein they used the history of the indigo dye to showcase both baroque music and South Asian music. The concerts were mostly sold-out with only the pricey seats still available. So when I found out that there was a free, abbreviated version on Thursday morning, I made my way through the sunshine to Trinity-St. Paul.

It turned out to be an educational outreach program. But because of the teachers' strike, class trips have been canceled. Wednesday's show was packed with kids; today's event had mostly retirees, families with pre-kindergarten children, and a smattering of preteens. Congenial hostess Cynthia Smithers introduced us to the world of Louis XIV, and the instruments of his musicians (with quick demonstrations from Tafelmusik members) including familiar ones like violin, oboes, bassoon, and cello, and more unusual ones such as the double-bass, harpsichord, and the baroque theorbo or lute. His court's penchant for blue attire led to a discussion of the making of blue dye from the indigo plant in India.

Suba Sankaran and her father Trichy Sankaran then gave the audience a taste of Indian raga (melodies) and tala (rhythms). She got the crowd singing the Indian scale including microtonals, while Trichy led us clapping with correct palm positions through the 8-beat ardha taal.

Smithers told us the story of Charles Spencer, a foundling who was reunited with his mother Sarah thanks to a torn strip of sewn cloth.They had each held on to one of the two halves. This decorative sash included an indigo square taken from a hand-me-down dress gifted to Mrs. Spencer by her former Duchess employer. This true tale raises the question of "what stories do our own clothes tell?" and gave program director Alison MacKay a way to talk about the modern issues of cheap clothes, slave labour, fair wages, and environmental sustainability.

This hour-long show had some music and even a short dance, but not much compared to the program notes for the 2.5 hours concert. Yet I suspect the latter had less interaction and crowd participation. So in the end, it was fun and informative and I even learned a few things. The droning you sometimes hear in yoga class, which is now mostly done with an electronic app or recording, is the overlapping tones of the 4-string tanpura.

Some Oldies, Some Goodies

Just a quick follow-up to a few new places that made it on my regular rotation. Firstly, I returned to the Thai restaurant Crystal Thani in Little Italy. Their lunchtime billboard clarified that the items in the seafood section were $14 for lunch. Fair enough since they regularly go between $18-20. But they have also dropped the lunch special by another dollar to $11 for all other dishes. This time, I had the Malaysian-style fried rice dish Nasi Goreng and it was definitely a good lunch.

Nasi Goreng

Murgh Khas Awadh

Likewise, Spice Indian Bistro still impresses. An independent confirmation: a co-worker took her meat-and-potatoes partner and her elderly mother and they had a great dinner. My own second visit was slightly disappointing only in the sense I chose the "wrong" dish despite chef Saha's warning. The Murgh Khas Awadh was tender chicken breast, lightly spiced, and stuffed with cottage cheese. It was wonderful but too delicate and mild on its own, and would best serve as a "side main": something to cleanse and reset the palate between rich dishes. White chicken and cream on white byriani rice and naan, I felt like a one-person dîner en blanc.

I'm not feeling the love for Mediterrania. It wasn't quite the make-me-a-pasta lunch, but I did get one portion of oven-baked pasta. There was hardly any cheese and the rigatoni fell apart. I was scooping up broken, soggy fragments from the take-out container. Also considering how much plastic is used from bowl, lid, fork, and bag, I felt like a rolling coal-er. I'm giving it one more chance with the homemade (grass-fed) beef lasagna. Then we'll see if it's better left in the past or not.

The Words In The Tones

St. Anne's Anglican Church is a heritage building on Gladstone Ave near Dundas St. W. in Little Portugal. Although it has been part of Toronto's Door Open festival, and I suppose open to any worshiper, I have yet to step inside. I'm not usually motivated to visit a building simply to look at it but to experience it in use.

So on Sunday afternoon, with a concert being held there, I found my opportunity to have a peek. The main space was dominated by a large dome decorated with paintings and murals. It was certainly the most ornate, "ordinary" church I've seen and inspired some amount of awe. The British woman behind me remarked dismissively to her friend that the ostentatious display was unsurprising (and perhaps a bit gauche) for Anglican churches. I guess I haven't set foot in too many of them.

The Toronto Beach Chorale is a 60-member community choir based in The Beach neighbourhood. This was their first concert outside of their home base. The show was divided into two parts. Before the main showcase of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, we heard a collection of mostly Hungarian folk songs with English verses and 2 short piano pieces. The songs (Brahms, Bartók, Seiber) were representative of the interest in "authentic" folk music with the rise of 19th nationalism and the piano pieces demonstrated Orff's influence on 20th century composers (Scarponi's Lullaby Song and Glass' Étude no. 4). This was the milieu in which Orff's folk primitivism found success. I wasn't fully convinced of the examples today. This first half had the whiff of filler material. But it was a pleasure to listen to un-amplified singing and musical instruments.

For the showcase cantata, the chorale was joined by 3 guest soloists (Christina Lamoureux, Michael Dodge, and Matthew Cassils) as well as the TorQ Percussion Quartet. It started off electrifyingly with the famous O Fortuna passage. The remaining 60 minutes or so couldn't quite compete at that level of attention. There were moments of beauty but 2 pianists instead of a full orchestra made some sections a bit bare-bones. But Orff obviously knew you need to close out strong so O Fortuna returned at the end, leading to a standing ovation from the audience.

With this show, the chorale hoped to attract new audiences from outside its turf. I do wonder how many west-enders, for example, came by. Given what I know about shows with "local bands", I suspect with 60+ performers, most of those in the audience were friends and family. Nevertheless, looking over their history, it looks like they have become more musically ambitious over the years. So kudos to them for continuing to grow.

Wave-Particle Duality

Saturday night, I went to see The National Ballet mixed program. The classical short Marguerite and Armand was book-ended by two contemporary pieces: a remount of Wayne McGregor's Chroma and the world premiere of Crystal Pite's Angels Atlas.

Firstly, the middle piece seemed the odd-one-out for tonight. But supposedly Karen Kain acquired performing rights for it as a retirement gift for principal dancer Greta Hodgkinson. A dying courtesan relived events from her past: notably the tempestuous love triangle with Armand and the duke. I'm not so fond of these dramatic stories revolving around male anger and possessiveness. Also I thought Liszt's piano sonata in B minor was wonderful but the orchestration was so-so. But the dancing between Hodgkinson and Guillaume Côté was beautiful.

Both contemporary pieces used light as metaphor and physical force. In Chroma, the dancers' were inside a white box-like enclosure and brightly, almost mercilessly, illuminated. To orchestral arrangements of The White Stripes' songs with elaboration, they moved with inhuman speed and contortions. On this second watch, I was particular taken with a sequence where the light had shifted to blue during a pas de deux. The spotlight on each dancer created a sharp shadow twin on the floor. I wished when the dancers joined up that one of the spotlight could have been turned off to maintain that crisp projection instead of a blurring of the shadows.

For the last piece, Pite's new work was supposed to showcase innovative light manipulation. It wasn't quite as cutting-edge as the hype but it was undoubtedly a critical component. The backdrop often had slowly moving clusters and showers of light arcs. It was like watching a lightning storm or a meteor shower slowed down to human-level perception.

When the piece started, the dancers laid prone on a darkened stage as tendrils of light drifted down toward them. Perhaps emotionally primed by Tchaikovsky's Opus 41 No. 6: Cherubic Hymn, it felt to me like watching the moment when the spark of life, whether a supernatural gift or a metaphorical representation of human awareness and intelligence, entered their bodies. Throughout the piece, the light-work seemed to be generated from the life-force and movement of the dancers.

It was unusual to see pairings in Pite's work given the insectile synchrony in her piece Emergence. But these gave room for vigorous spins and lifts. There was still exciting sequences of formation dancing performed with precision and power. At first, it was vibrating arms and torsos in time to electronic crackle. Later, body undulations animated the dancers. Often, a quick wave of movement would propagate rapidly back and forth among the group. There was a slower transmission near the end where human contact created a branching cascade of fallen bodies. I watched this spread of shared grief or perhaps more ominously contagious death and couldn't help but think of the current headlines about pandemics and quarantine. It was an engaging new piece in The National Ballet's repertoire.

Crunch Time

Each Christmas I try to minimize my search for gifts by buying for most people on my list from the same store if possible. Usually, I pick one that is only found in Toronto. One year, it was Uniqlo; another year: Muji. Last year, with the opening of Italian food emporium Eataly, about half of my family got fancy olive oil, imported pasta, and tasty spread. Since this 3-story shop also had several restaurants, I thought I would return to try their fresh food.

On Saturday, I came in just before noon. I only had one hour to spare so I thought a quick pasta or pizza might do. But all the restaurants were full up. I finally settled on the Romana-style pizza at the by-the-slice Pizza Alla Pala counter. I had it to go because even general seating was packed. I got two slices: a radicchio e cipolla ($5.20) and a margherita ($4.90). The latter was pretty bad with heavy, congealed cheese. The former was better with a mix of red and white onions, mozzarella, and radicchio. A sprinkling of parmesan balanced out the bitterness of the "Italian chicory". There was a sweet aftertaste of balsamic vinegar to cleanse the palate.

So that was a hint of how good it could be even if overall, it still wasn't great. These slices suffer from 2 fatal flaws. Firstly, roman-style pizza is crusty with not just a thick, crunchy edge but a firm, browned bottom, too. I first had it at (defunct) Lo Zingaro a few years ago. I'm doubtful this style of pizza should be reheated. Secondly, this counter doesn't even warm up the slices in the pizza oven. They used something underneath the check-out. It was probably a small oven and not actually a microwave but it didn't turn out much better. It only made the crust harder while leaving the cheese still cold.

Yes, the chef was constantly putting out new pizzas. I suppose you could be a shrewd/hard-nosed customer and always pick and insist on the newest slice. I also saw a lady walk by with an entire box. If that wasn't just for convenience because she got several slices, and you could order an entire pizza, then that could work. Otherwise, with some slices at almost $8, I wouldn't consider that a good deal for this mediocre food.

I didn't expect my first taste of Eataly to be so poor. I'm pretty sure the actual restaurants are better. Certainly, my purchases from groceries/dry goods turned out great. So I'll probably give it another go but realistically, it's low on my list.