Southern Comfort

Near the corner of College and Rusholme is a stretch of storefronts, 974 College St has been a restaurant in two previous incarnations: The Pantry - a prepared food store and a tea and crumpets place. Neither one inspired me to stop by more than the one time. Recently an Italian restaurant called Black Skirt opened there. It specializes in Sicilian and Calabrese fares. This restaurant used to be on the Yonge strip and got fairly lukewarm reviews.

Wednesday night, during a giant snowstorm that was more of a mild one, I decided to drop by to check out the food. The restaurant's decor is going for the rustic feel. They had retained the clear display case to sell some prepared dishes as well as cheeses. Dark wooden shelves stock pasta and sauces. Two large communal tables dominate the front while a row of small tables run the length of the open kitchen in the back. A gate is bolted in the back to suggest a backyard and toilet supplies are stored in wooden crates in the washrooms.

The complimentary bread came in a smooshed brown paper bag accompanied by a sicilian dip in a wood pestle and mortar. The olive oil,  basil, tomato, and garlic mix was a tasty start. For an appetizer, I had a pani cunsato. It was panini-like affair, stuffed with salted anchovies, sundried tomatoes, basil and parmigianno cheese. I enjoyed it, though it was a tad light on the filling. For the main, I chose a Domenica penne. The penne came out in a separate dish from the veal, meatballs, and italian sausage topping, though you are encouraged to just pour the toppings onto the pasta. The veal was hit and miss: the first piece was soft and tender, but the second was overcooked and tough. The meatballs were dry and had to be improved by mashing them up to mix with the tomato sauce. The italian sausage was lightly spiced and delicious. The quality wasn't quite as good as Enoteca Sociale but the portion size was satisfyingly full. But the heavy touch on the meat makes me unsure if it's worth it to try the more expensive meat dishes like osso bucco or the rack of lamb.

There was a good list of wine from which I picked an earthy Italian red. I was too full to try the dessert. There was pizza on the menu but the pizza oven wasn't ready yet. The menu also included panini and other italian sandwiches. Overall, not a bad addition to the neighbourhood.

Musique Plus

(c) Geoff Thomlinson

It was a Saturday night of Montreal indie music at Lee's Palace as all 3 acts made the trip from La Belle Province. Additionally, all three like to combine rock music with other genres.

First up was Valleys. A 3 member band comprising of 2 male guitarists, one of whom sometimes does double duty on a floor tom, and a female synthesizer player. The lead guitarist and the pianist often sing together in soft breathy tones. The other guitarist spent most of his time staring at his array of effects pedals, which is no doubt why they classify their own music in the shoe-gaze genre. It was dreamy, ambient music with occasional sonic bursts from the guitar or drum.

Next was Suuns. This all-male band can best be described as dance music/electronica meets hard rock. The pianist typically lays down looping samples and fat beats (all the while twitching like mad) backed by the drummer. Eventually the other 2 guitarists come in with cacophonous chords, riffs, and pedal effects. The energy level was very high, and they were the highlight of the night for me.

The main act was Besnard Lakes. I'm a bit surprised at the ages of the group's husband-and-wife leads. It's a bit strange to see people in their 40s/50s still tour the smaller clubs. But if you still have passion for the music I suppose you keep at it. Their music was in the same vein as the previous two bands, mainly rock with lots of layered effects. They did bring their own light show. But for some reason, I wasn't as into them. After a couple of songs, I realize why. If you strip away the guitar effects and other accoutrements, the bass, drums, and arrangements have a very middle-of-the-road "classic" rock sound. Besnard Lakes are at their best when the male lead, Jace Lasek, plays the piano and uses his falsetto voice. This really elevated their atmospheric music to something unusual and interesting.

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.

Vajrasana

The Facebook grapevine told me that 2 people that I practice yoga with, Ryan and Claire, will be part of a Smashing Pumpkins tribute night this Friday at the Piston. Intrigued, I made my way to this local bar where I had last listened to Otouto. I timed my visit too early. Apparently 9 pm is only start of sound check and with 2 bands bowing out for various reasons, the first act won't come on until 10:30 pm. With so much time on my hands, I drank too much beer and don't recall much past 10. That's it for this post.

Seriously though, I met up with Ryan and Claire. We had an interesting chat about the vagaries of being in a small indie band. The consensus is that even with crashing on the floor in someone else's place while touring because you can't afford a hotel, it's still better than working a 9-5 office job.

First up was a solo performer who sang exactly one song. I think he might have been the organizer trying to fill some time. In any case, while I do admit to only knowing the more popular Pumpkins songs especially from their Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness double album, this seems to be the first of the night's trend to sing obscure Pumpkins songs. Next came Luau Or Die, a local surf-rock band who covered two songs before playing 3 of their own material. Then came a 22 year old male singer, since he was all of 10 years old when his hot camp counsellor gave him a Pumpkins concert t-shirt. He didn't say his name though he had some merchandise for sale at the back. I don't know if that was his normal singing voice, but he had Billy Corgan's irritating nasally whine down pat.

The highlight of the night was the one-night-only "super-band" of 4 musicians who play in other groups. I didn't catch the drummer's or other guitarist's name. On bass was Claire, who is the bassist for the all-girls pop punk group Tuuli. They probably had the biggest success in the early to mid 2000s. On vocals and guitar was Ryan, who is usually behind the drum kit with the drum-and-synth duo Lovely Killbots. They brought the energy of the room way up with their tight set including the hit Bullet With Butterfly Wings. That song was thrown in at the last minute and they had never practiced it together but it sounded great. Destructicus, a last minute band name in reference to the Killbots' video Hello My Dear, did a great job as evidenced by the many (ironic) cries of "Destructicus!" that echoed through the crowd. MJ Cyr was up next but being past 12:30 am I was ready for bed.

It was interesting to watch people that I usually interact with in more serene settings scream and thrash on stage. An amusing contradiction? Well, in yoga, you're supposed to be able to hold a contradiction in your head. Ommm. But maybe it wasn't such a contradiction in the end. What is the ultimate goal of a live music performance and a yoga class? To be fully in the present moment with no thoughts of the past or future. So I say, "It's time to rock out with your coc(cyx) out!"