Get It To Go, Joe

Earlier in the year, I noticed that the coffee shop in the residential area of Shanly and Gladstone was being replaced with a taco joint. With Tierra Azteca, Tortilleria, and Latin World nearby and on the main street, it was stiff competition. Then the pandemic happened. Recently, on my early morning run to shed that lockdown weight gain, it looked like Gus Taco has finished renovation. On Wednesday, I decided to drop by for lunch.

In any case, it wasn't strictly a taqueria per the signage but also offered other dishes including quesadillas and burritos. During my time there, there was a good-sized crowd waiting for their orders. I don't know if they were curious like me or fans of their main location in Kensington Market. I opted for 2 beef tacos ($5/each) and a chicken torta ($10). With no sit-down options at this time, I skedaddled south to Dufferin Grove Park to get a bench underneath a shady tree.

The tacos were stuffed full of fragrant beef, onions, and parsley. I squeezed on some lime and added hot sauce. It was delicious with the soft taco providing just enough chewiness. The tasty corn undertone blended nicely with the earthy meat. The sauce had quite a kick so I decided to cut back and save some for dinner. You may want to ask for the mild, medium, or peanut sauce.

The torta was also a great choice: soft bread, golden chicken, and a messy mix of black beans, avocado, and other ingredients. I had to keep the sandwich in its paper wrap like a shawarma to keep everything from spilling out onto my lap.

It was almost too much lunch and I was glad I did my workout this morning. If I had to choose, the torta would be the better choice for a budget lunch.

What They Do In The Shadows

With the slightly loosened COVID-19 rules, I was invited to a brunch on Saturday with a small group of people. Along with a multicultural selection of dishes, I was treated to a tour of alternative world views. There were wellness advice from 60s home cure such as onion juice to newer discoveries like the anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric or keto diets. But the main topic was the danger of vaccines, specifically for the corona virus.

Vaccines may have helped in the past against smallpox and polio, but modern ones likely caused problems such as autism and ADHD. It was due to Big Pharma manufacturing lab-based pathogens so they can profit by medicating us. Consider how quickly a coronavirus vaccine was announced. The main culprit was Bill Gates. He wanted to force people to veganism with lab-grown meat; supplied India and Nigeria with vaccines that caused accidental paralysis and deliberate infertility; was willing to accept 1 billion deaths from adverse reaction in order to vaccinate everybody worldwide for COVID-19; and advocated for a vaccine passport to restrict people's movement.

The coronavirus vaccine will change our DNA while implanting a tracking device. The 2 metre social distancing rule was put in place to make it easier to do the latter, along with the installation of 5G. Some sort of vaccination proof or ID will be required to access services like banking and create a two-tier society. It was time to plan for countermeasures. Perhaps naturopaths can formulate a mixture to flush out the vaccine. As a last resort, people must be prepared to move to non-compliant areas even if it was in another country.

The gathering ended as some people had to go to an anti-lockdown rally at Queen's Park. I recalled that on my way to brunch, I passed by a wedding preparation. Bride and groom, and their witnesses, were getting ready to depart to the ceremony in a 50s classic car. With the rules against large gatherings, their friends (more casually dressed for the warm weather) congregated along the sidewalk to wish them well. The world was bright and full of optimism.

The Wise and The Foolish

Most people are probably missing conversations but I'm enjoying the silence. The longer you talk to someone, the more likely they will say something to reveal that they are wankers. So it was pleasure tempered with wariness when I ran into an acquaintance. We talked about innocuous topics like the nice weather and the plants and flowers for sale. They eventually asserted that the many COVID-19 deaths in Long Term Care facilities were due not to systemic neglect but weakened immune systems caused by flu shots.

Our stroll made me aware that The Saj Wraps at Bloor and Dovercourt has finally opened. Perhaps they will do better than the sex shop that hung around for a few years. I'm not sure if this was a second store or a relocation from College St. But starting a business during a pandemic was a stroke of bad luck. So on Friday, I gave them a try.

Their main business was Middle-Eastern wraps. But unlike other stores in the area like The Empire and Laziza, you could choose something other than a pita. They also hedged their bets by offering pasta, pizza, manakish, and pide. Since it has been almost a decade since this area had a pide shop, and Pizza Pide in the East End was too far away, I opted for the spinach and feta pide ($9.50).

It came out piping hot and I settled on a nearby stone bench to have a taste. The dough was a bit too thin to hold comfortably. Each slice threatened to flop over and spill its toppings, no doubt a highly anticipated outcome for the pigeons and sparrows that have descended close by. The ingredients were also too bland. They should have chosen a sharper feta variety to add piquancy. Perhaps the meat choices would be a better mix. But they're not standing out from the local eateries.

Slean In

Although musicians continue to offer live streaming on Facebook and Instagram I haven't tuned in since the early weeks. The low-quality audiovisuals made them more frustrating than enjoyable. I made exceptions for Molly Tuttle as her phenomenal guitar skills still shone through. I had tickets for her Toronto debut as opener for Hiss Golden Messenger last November. But she cancelled at the last minute.

On Sunday afternoon, I decided to try again with Sarah Slean's second home concert on Zoom. It seemed like the preferred platform for the various paid concerts. There were a number of positives about this experience. First, more than a third of the 540 attendees had their camera on. Zoom handled that well (at about 25 people per page) and it was interesting to watch other people during the show. At a live event, you wouldn't have this view unless you were up on stage. Second, fans were listening from all over the world. Most of these locations an indie performer like Slean would (or could) never tour be it a small town in Canada or a faraway place like Uruguay. As such, many attendees were thrilled to be (virtually) there. Going forward, artists should offer these concerts as part of a tour since there's obviously a demand. As for myself, I satisfied a yen I've had way back in 2012 as I waited for a late start. I finally "astrally projected" myself to a live show while lying comfortably in bed. I wonder what other people thought of my prone position since no one else (at least on camera) did the same.

The main downside was the audio. Slean had a professional set-up with several high-quality mics, patched equipment, and even 3 cameras. But Zoom was likely built with audio quality as a bottom-tier feature. It made sense with laptop mics to compress that audio signal and dedicate the bandwidth to video. This was better than IG streaming from a phone but nowhere near what a program like OBS can do with that set-up.

Since this was a request show, a lot of the songs were from Slean's early catalogue including Book Smart Street Stupid, California, and John the 23rd. There were some newer cuts like Cosmic Ballet and Get Home. Before she played the encore Universe from her debut EP, Slean jokingly asked if no one liked her work since 1997. There were anecdotes about her recently deceased grandmother, the old but cherished piano, and dating in the mid 2000s. After she covered Butterfly, she surprised fans by talking about hanging out with Brian Bell while Weezer was recording Pinkerton just down the hall.

Over And Out

I have been grocery shopping on Spadina Ave. to avoid the line-ups at my local chain store (and also to grab a hot slice of pizza from Fresca). As noted, I'm seeing closures throughout both Kensington Market and Chinatown. Pink Canary, Fresh Collective, Hibiscus are closed while St. Andrew Poultry and a few others have shuttered for years. With empty storefronts and a hollowing out because of Airbnb, Kensington felt more derelict than boho. Perhaps the lack of the usual busy crowd revealed its true state.

Chinatown also felt precarious to me. Ever since the loss of some major stores, foot traffic has diminished. Now there were several billboards proposing major redevelopment including the building housing dim sum favourite Rol San. This area never had the social cachet but with its local stores gone and nearby Kensington possibly failing, I'm curious as to what the condo dwellers expect when they move in. That is, what are the selling features here?

I decided on Wednesday to get a pick-up pizza from Garfield Eats. I was previously on the fence about its lasagna and many people find its business plan a bit "out there". But I wanted this sort of weird store to survive in Toronto. Despite its link to a commercial product, a "franchise" of one was hardly a threat.

I found its claim of "farm-to-table" to be credible since the ingredients did taste fresh. But the pizza failed for 2 reasons. First, they botched my online order and missed several ingredients including green olive and broccoli. I'll allow a possible computer glitch since my email confirmation did not include the add-ons. Ultimately though, a pizza's reputation depends on its crust. In this case, a soft and bland thin crust that brought no joy.

April Cower Brings May Glower?

This week marked the end of April and signs of Spring were everywhere. With mostly cloudy days, working from home was no drag for me with a midday break to get lunch from local restaurants. The early evenings often had brilliant sunshine. Sometimes I do venture out again to catch a few rays, but usually I had an afternoon nap. I noticed that more shuttered coffee shops and other eateries were re-opening. Not sure if it was boredom or economic necessity (May rent is coming) that forced their hand.

During my walk through Little Italy and Kensington Market, I saw numerous vacant businesses. A few were expected: "boring" long-time tenants like laundromats and general stores that could no longer sustain enough business in gentrified areas. One was a simply a mistake: an attempt to replace a Korean restaurant with an old-school breakfast diner. But there were several For Lease or papered over storefronts that were a surprise. They may not be directly caused by COVID-19 but it feels like the shutdown was the final nail. Eventual tenants for condos being built along College at  Manning Ave and Concord Ave may not find the happening neighbourhoods touted in their brochure.

People stood in line for the LCBO and bakery Prairie Boy; wine and bread: essential items since forever. I've been spending more time in the parks and so have other people. Previously, it was folks with dogs who could excuse their presence despite the city ban. But kicking around a ball or throwing frisbee at Trinity Bellwoods was surely flouting by-laws. With the nice weather and the longer days, those stay-at-home sentiments had less hold on people.

I preferred those "outlaws" over the bikers (literal not cyclists) at Dufferin Park. They were vocal in their disbelief about the pandemic. Just before then, I was at Pam's Roti picking up my lunch. Another customer was loudly scoffing at the news reports, obviously just "conspiracies", currently showing on the TV above the counter. The store-owner and I wore similarly deadpan looks. We both had the same thoughts: "Don't encroach on my personal space because you don't believe in the news." Between "pandemic fatigue" and no-big-deal unbelievers, subsequent waves may impact just as badly.