My Name Isabel

Not having eaten dinner yet, I was famished after Autorickshaw's great concert. But despite the strong restaurant culture, Toronto's eateries don't open much past 10 except for pizza take-outs and a few restaurants in Chinatown. Newly opened Bar Isabel aims to change that with the kitchen staying open until 2 am.

This trendy and well-reviewed spot sits on the edge of Little Italy at College and Shaw, replacing venerable Grappa. When I stopped by at 11:30 pm on Friday night, the lights were dim, the music was loud, and the booze was flowing. Looking over the menu, there was not a chicken wing or taco platter in sight.

First up was a Swiss chard with raisins and anchovies ($6). I liked the sweetness of the raisins but thought the vinaigrette was too tangy. I would have preferred more bitterness in the salad or that the dish plays up the saltiness of the anchovies. The small plate of scallops ($18) was a bit of a sticker shock when it came out. But this was a perfectly balanced dish: tiny spears of wild asparagus, earthy mushroom, tender scallops, and a great textured finish from the Spanish blood sausage. What a wonderful dish.
You can't go wrong with roasted bone marrow ($9). The soft, gelatinous and very fatty marrow went great with the toasted sourdough and a verde sauce. Finally, I had the Basque cake ($8.50) for dessert. Made with pastry cream, it was moist with a crunchy outer shell. The warm sherry cream was poured on top of the cake when it is delivered at your table. Amazingly, it wasn't overly sweet though you might feel a twinge of guilt indulging at such a late hour. A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!

Bohemian Rhapsody

Friday night, I went to a yoga space called Bohemian Palace, tucked at the back of a church on Roncesvalles. Indo-Jazz group Autorickshaw was having a small concert. There were some benches and chairs, but most people sat on yoga bolsters and cushions. I took advantage of the yoga props to do some stretching and twist before the show. If only all live performances had such a relaxing atmosphere.

Autorickshaw, currently composed of Dylan Bell (bass), Ed Hanley (tablas), Suba Sankaran (vocals) was joined by guest guitarist Justin Abedin. Appropriately enough for the venue, they started with a mantra invoking the Hindu deities. Their music is truly fusion: combining jazz, Indian rhythms, ragas, and traditional folk songs such as Saraswati and Snake Charmer. They arranged pop songs (Bird On A Wire, Me and Julio Down By The School Yard) into complex South Asian pieces. For me, they were at their best on Jazz  songs, whether standards (Night In Tunisia, Caravan) or their own (So The Journey Goes) done with South Asian flair. In particular, Caravan was a tight, propulsive performance to end the night.

There were also forays into Bollywood and it seems that their new songs on their upcoming 4th album have a playful, comedic feel such as The Trouble With Hari. Since both Jazz and South Asian have strong improvisation tradition, there were lots of extended solos and free-form playing. I felt some of it got a little tiresome in the aggregate, especially the bass solos. But Suba's vocal improv, from Jazz scats to micro-tonal Indian chants, was quite impressive.

Royal Feast?

The over-abundance of fried chicken the other night reminded me of that "dark" time when I first moved to Toronto. I spent 6 months eating greasy fried food every night at the Dufferin Food Court. No wonder I packed on 30 pounds so quickly. The only bright spot was the vegetarian White Lotus Garden on the week-end which gave my diet a semblance of health. This spot on Dundas is long gone but King's Cafe in Kensington Market, another stalwart from that era, is still around.

With its large space, it still resembled a cafeteria. Although with an upgrade to nicer tables and walls, perhaps a cafeteria in a Scandinavian store. A beautiful tea-shop, a store-in-a-store, took up some wall space to one side. I ordered the Lo Han Chai Chow Mein ($9.99) and some pan-fried radish cake ($3.99).

The noodles came out piled high with a selection of greens and numerous mushroom variety. The noodles was crispy on the edge of the plate but softened in the middle where it soaked in the stir-fry sauce. It was a plentiful and healthy dish: garden-variety strip mall Chinese food. There wasn't even the practiced flair of the really popular ones that are packed at 3 am. The radish was a disaster: thick and heavy, without the crispy brown searing of a hot flame.

Come to King's Cafe for a cheap, healthy meal but that's about it. The tea-shop, however, seems to be of much higher quality.

I-Pop

Friday night at Lee's, two dance bands came to party. And they actually got the reserved Toronto crowd to move ... well, more than usual. Though not full-on party rock. Both bands also have interesting and complex lyrics compared to the typical stereotype of dance-y music.

Local band Kashka is the new effort of Kat Burns, of defunct Forest City Lovers. Backed by a guitarist and a second keys, she sang upbeat songs that still carried some melancholia (Vichada, Winterlight). As a new act, this was probably the biggest audience she's had, and primed to enjoy this kind of music. It looks like there were some converts to her brand of intelligent pop.

Young Galaxy came out dressed in white t-shirts. Throughout their set, coloured patterns, swirls, and blocks were projected on stage. By the second song, Peripheral Visionaries, a cloud of marijuana was billowing up from the pit. Stephen Kamp thanked the crowd for this special night: the first live Canadian performance of songs from their new album Ultramarine including Pretty Boy and In Fire. Lead singer Catherine McCandless was channeling a young David Bowie as she sang, strutted, and danced around on stage. Though based out of Vancouver, they had their start here in Toronto and couldn't resist a dig at Crack Mayor Rob Ford (Youth Is Wasted On The Young). Young Galaxy ended their energetic set with their latest hit New Summer, to welcome the warm weather that has finally arrived, and came back for We Have Everything.