One of A Kind Show and Sale

Tonight my dear friend Diane and I took in the One of A Kind Show, spring edition at Exhibition Place. I went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. It's like the farmers' market for clothes, jewelry, bags, etc. You get to meet the people who made the things you see, which is nice (most of the time).

Last year, we started from one end of the hall and wove our way to to the other, so we ended up rushing through the last third, which was tragically the food section! This year I vowed to get to the food a little earlier on. We didn't get to the show until about 7PM, so we only had 3 hours, which sounds like a lot, but isn't really when there is so much to see.

As soon as we got in the door, we saw the candi factory booth. Last year, I bought one pair of funky underwear from here and they are the most comfortable underwear in the world! I don't know how she (Candice) does it but the cut is perfect and the material is impossibly soft. When I only had the one pair, I would save them for a day when I knew I could wear them all day (i.e. wasn't going to the gym, which would have necessitated changing). Whenever I had to take a long flight, I made sure I had them on. Last summer I visited Candice at her studio and bought a slew of underwear for my friends and family. I can't recommend them enough. This year, she made the most adorable baby dresses. I don't even have a shower to shop for and I'm considering buying one anyways.

I took a very papparazzi-style photo of the candi factory booth. I hope Candice doesn't mind. As I went through the show tonight, I took several pictures of various booths and merchandise. For the most part, I asked permission beforehand and I found that I got very mixed reactions. Some people were very pleased, such as sweet Natalie Cannistraro (see picture at left) who makes jewelry under the label T'LOAA (which stands for 'the life of architectural aftermath' -- Natalie was an architect and graphic designer in a previous life). The food people were pretty agreeable too with one very notable exception of the cranky woman at the Bruce County Nut & Fudge Co. booth who demanded to know why I wanted the picture, who it was for, and what my Web site was. I really don't see what the problem is. Like Natalie said, it's free advertising. But, to respect their privacy, I'm only publishing pictures from the artisans who were agreeable to having their goods photographed.

Natalie's jewelry at T'LOAA looked so familiar and after going to her Web site, I know why. I've been to Corktown Designs in the Distillery many times and on a recent trip, I took my sister there. My sister makes jewelry as a hobby and she loves looking at it and buying it. I'm pretty sure that she bought some T'LOAA pieces on her last trip to Toronto. She is coming to visit this weekend with the sole purpose of going to the One of a Kind Show (I got her hooked on candi factory), so I'm sure she will spend ample time at this booth. For me, when I look at jewelry, I either love it or hate it. My mind will say either 'Yes' or 'No' as soon as I see it. I really love the T'LOAA pieces. They hit just the right note with me -- bold, original, well-balanced, and delicate. I don't know if I will be able to resist when I go back on the weekend.

This year, there are booths put on by Canadian art colleges, such as NSCAD where my mom teaches. I saw booths for OCAD, NBCCD, and some CEGEPs, but I didn't see the NSCAD exhibit. I'll have to look harder when I go back with my sister.

Another cool thing we saw was pepper mills made out of natural, barely varnished tree branches. The artisan said that he got the idea when he had to go clear a dead tree while he was in the middle of making his other pepper mills. He made some and they went over really well with his friends, so he kept making them. They are quite regal. They could work in both a country setting or a very modern, minimalist one.

One company was selling notebooks made from old storybooks and textbooks. Basically, they remove the binding, perforate the pages, add some blank sheets of paper, and coil bind the entire thing. I have very mixed feelings about this. I feel like the book is defaced. But, I applaud the effort to recycle unwanted books.

Diane and I were both seduced into buying spices from a Quebec company called Crousset. The lady at the booth had spice mixtures, flavoured salts, and herbal teas. I bought a spice mixture called Thai, which has sesame seeds, coriander seeds, lemongrass, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and red pepper. Diane bought something called Eithopian Berbere and a whole peppercorn mixture. All of the spices smelled delicious and I couldn't resist.

Other foods we sampled were chocolate and brittle from Comfort Food Productions (very yummy), wine vinegar from Mr. Vinegar, and roasted flavoured soybeans from The Bean Ladies (salty and addictive). I bought a 50g bag of dried morel mushrooms for $25 from Forbes Wild Foods. I've never eaten a morel before, and I hear that dried is the only way to go because when they are fresh they're impossible to clean (all those tiny nooks and crannies). I can't wait to try them.

One of the last things we saw were bags by Simon Trudeau. I bought one of his bags at the gift shop at Harbourfront Centre when my mom was there for a conference this past fall. I think he really didn't want me to take the picture, but he agreed and it came out so well that I'm going to show it to you anyways. Photos of his bags are all over the Internet, so I don't see what harm one more can do. These bags are very original and funky, but before buying one, make sure it can hold your stuff. The one I bought it a bit too small and there is no give at all in the material.

At 9:30PM, we still had half the show left to see. We grabbed a quick and delicious lemonade at the Lemon Heaven kiosk and tore through the rest of the exhibits at breakneck speed. This happens to us every year. Great show.

Izakaya for lunch; Dark Horse for dinner - meh

I was way too sleep-deprived last night to blog, so I'm going to catch up on yesterday's adventures before diving into today's.

Yesterday for lunch I met my dearest Darryl, who just got back from a fabulous month-long vacation to Australia and New Zealand, at Izakaya on Front at Church. In Japan, an 'izakaya' is basically a pub (i.e. casual drinking establishment serving cheap appetizer-like food such as edamame, yakitori, etc.). Similarly, Izakaya restaurant serves only non-sushi Japanese items such as dumplings, salads, noodles, and curry.

Darryl told me that he went to a place in Australia that had the same theme, menu items, and service characteristics right down to their practice of bringing out food as it is prepared. So your appetizer might arrive after your main and your companion could be halfway through his meal before you even get yours. Could there be an izakaya kit for restaurateurs?

We ordered the fried eggplant appetizer to share and I had the 'seasonal soba' while Darryl had the vegetable curry. Darryl's curry arrived first and looked carefully plated and skilfully cooked. The vegetables were breaded and deep-fried, but they didn't look limp or greasy. Japanese curry is very different from Indian curry, but it really is delicious in a comfort food sort of way. My mom used to make it when I was little. You can buy the sauce in a package from an Asian food store, but it is pretty easy to make from scratch as well. The packaged sauce is made by S&B and comes in a sort of ice cube tray. You can break off one cube for a small servings or several for a larger one. If you want to make it from scratch, I found a great recipe for it in this year's Saveur 100 issue of Saveur magazine. Unfortunately, the recipe isn't published on their web site. If you'd like to have it, let me know and I'll copy it here along with the appropriate citation so I don't get sued.

Next came my soba, which was also beautifully presented. The broth was light and not too salty, the piece of tempura in it was delicious and crispy, and the noodles were cooked perfectly. It's a very healthy yet satisfying thing to have for lunch.

The eggplant, however, I could have done without. I think the entire vegetable was deep-fried as is, sliced in half, allowed to cool off a bit, and then slathered with tonkatsu sauce. There was too much sauce on the eggplant and since it was slightly cold, it didn't melt into the eggplant flesh. It was like ketchup on a hotdog. The eggplant itself wasn't overcooked though, which was nice.

After work Darcy and I both were completely exhausted, so instead of cooking we went to a pub in Bloor West Village that we used to go to all the time called A Dark Horse. When we first moved to the neighbourhood in 2000, we went there every Friday. The interior was cozy and clean, the service was excellent, and the food was amazing. Then at some point, the management changed and it all went downhill. Darcy was served flat beer from the keg tube twice in a row, so we stopped going. We figured after 6 years we should see what's it's like now.

Now it's pretty grim. The room was packed even though it was a Tuesday evening. It may have had something to do with the great, summer-like weather. So, both the inside and patio were at capacity, but they had only one server working. There was a manager helping out and a barmaid behind the bar, but basically one girl had to serve about 40 or so tables. She did the best she could.

Aside from the service, the food was underwhelming. It's definitely not the worst I've had, but it is nothing like it used to be. We ordered the Thai spring rolls for an appetizer, which they said could be served hot or cold. We assumed that cold meant that they would be like Vietnamese fresh rolls, which is fresh or pickled vegetables wrapped in rice paper. They came deep-fried, dripping with oil, and soggy. Darcy had fish and chips, which he said was good. I had a club sandwich on grilled ciabatta bread with a side salad. I had asked for the mayo on the side, but I guess they forgot. No big deal. The bread was stale, but it was masked by the grilling. The chicken portion was very skimpy and the salad greens looked like they were a week old. Some of it was actually decaying. This is really a pet peeve of mine. I don't know how you can put wilted/rotting greens on a plate and serve them.

So, lesson learned. We'll give them another 6 years and maybe we'll try again. In the meantime, if you're in Bloor West Village and you want some good pub food, you have a better chance at Bryden's or The Yellow Griffin. The best food in Bloor West Village is not pub food though. You won't be disappointed if you go for Japanese at Yama or Eastern European at Amber European Restaurant.

Trimurti was great; e-DENTITY...was not

My company sweetly gave all employees complimentary tickets to e-DENTITY, which is playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre from now until May 20. I'm always up for a free show, so I went with Tanya, Amanda, and Jessica.

Before the show, we went to dinner at Trimurti, an Indian place on Queen West. This is the first time I've gone for Indian food since the trip in November and it was excellent. We had a mixed appetizer plate (chicken pakoras, samosas, vegetable pakoras, chicken tikkas), Murgh Afghani (chicken marinated in cashew paste, cream, and yogurt), Gosht Dansak (lamb with lentils), Chana Masala (chickpeas and potatoes) Saag Paneer (cottage cheese and spinach), naan, and basmati rice. The Murgh Afgani was especially good. The chicken was incredibly tender with a slight tang from the yogurt. The Chana Masala was nice and spicy and the lamb was perfectly decent. The only thing I could have done without was the Saag Paneer, which ironically was my choice. The cheese was a bit tough and the sauce was coarse and bland. The naan, however, was searing hot, flaky, and delicious. Overall, it was an wonderful meal and the bill came to under $20/person.

After such a great dinner, I was looking forward to a great show, but I think that was too much to ask. The show was, in a word, terrible. I think they wanted it to be a cutting edge display of how technology is shaping our everyday lives, but it was so incredibly boring, poorly acted, and miserably choreographed. The 'storylines' weren't even that current. This script could have been written 15 years ago.

The Toronto Star theatre critic, Richard Ouzounian, absolutely hates almost everything he sees, including stuff that I have loved (e.g. Hair at Canstage last year). I can't imagine what he will say about this play. He may have a meltdown right there in the theatre.

It was very nice of my company to give us the free tickets. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but it was shockingly bad. Dinner was excellent though.

Mildred Pierce is Closing

I know. I can hardly believe it myself. Mildred Pierce has been a Toronto fixture for 17 years and they will be closing on July 11, 2007. I read it in James Chatto's Toronto Life blog. So, if you haven't been yet, go. And make reservations. Also make sure to go at least once for Sunday brunch. Get there at about 9:45AM because they don't take reservations for brunch. And if it's cold outside, bundle up because there is no indoor waiting area. Have the Veda's Choice (Eggs Benedict on freshly baked croissant with smoked salmon -- there is no other). If you'd like to see pictures of the brunch items and read my 2 cents, click here.

Left Las Vegas

Since our flight landed on Saturday morning at 7AM, I have slept for 23 hours. After getting home, I slept from 9AM-5PM, got up for two hours, took a 3-hour nap from 7PM-10PM, got up for 3 hours, and slept through the night from 1AM-11AM the next morning. I love sleep.

On our last day in Vegas, we were both sleep-deprived zombies, which made the work day very long. We called it a day at around 4:45PM and then set out to do the last things on our Vegas list, which were to visit Wynn Hotel and Casino and Mandalay Bay.

Wynn is very upscale with the cheapest rooms going for about $400/night so we thought it would be the most beautiful hotel on the Strip. Just like everything else we hyped up a lot (i.e. O), it was kind of disappointing. It was opulent and very well tended, but it wasn't as striking at the Bellagio or the Venetian. However, I think the most impressive parts of the hotel (i.e. $500/round golf course) are exclusively for the enjoyment of guests so you can't see them if you are just wandering through the public areas of the hotel.

After leaving Wynn we took a lovely complimentary shuttle to the monorail station where we hopped on and took it all the way to Excalibur, which is a super cheesy, old casino hotel with a knight-theme (e.g. Round Table Buffet, Sir Galahad's Pub and Prime Rub House, etc.). We had to walk through it and the Luxor (cheesy casino hotel with an Egyptian theme) in order to get to Mandalay Bay.

Jeff stayed at Mandalay Bay when he came to Vegas last year with his dad. It was a very nice, tastefully decorated hotel casino with a sort of water/marine theme. There was a beach area next to the pool, a huge fish tank in the lobby, and an actual aquarium called the Shark Reef on the lower level. Jeff had been to the Shark Reef last year, but he sweetly went in again with me.

I absolutely love watching sharks from a safe environment (I'd die if I ever saw one in open water). There were tonnes of sharks at this aquarium and some of them were quite big. My pictures didn't come out very well, but my videos did. The first one is the longest with a few good views of sharks as well as some other fish. The second one was taken from the glass tunnel, so fish and sharks were swimming above us as well as beside us. The third one is very short and dark with one shark materializing out of the gloom very slowly in a sinister fashion. The last one is my favourite and has great lighting, but it was cut short because my memory card filled up.

We stopped for a light dinner at Red, White and Blue, a casual restaurant inside Mandalay Bay. We had lunch with the guys at the office at 3:30PM so we weren't that hungry, but it was going to be a long trip so we ate anyways. I just had a house salad and it was perfectly fine.

We shared a cab to the airport with a very chatty guy named Brian from Miami. He told us that he comes to Las Vegas at least once a year, so he's been there more times that he can count. He told us about some great hiking trails two hours away in Utah that we must check out if we are back again. He said that he assumed we were into hiking since we looked fit and outdoorsy and I had never been so flattered in all my life. He was probably talking about Jeff.

The flight was very smooth and we even left early. Flying time was about 4 hours. I thought it was so far away, but it's completely do-able to go to Vegas from Toronto for a weekend. Except that you won't get any sleep while you're there and you'll be destroyed for at least two days after getting back.

After I got back I watched Ocean's Eleven (the re-made version with George Clooney) and the Las Vegas episode of No Reservations with Tony Bourdain. It was neat to see all the same places we visited on TV. Tony talks at length about how awful the Strip is because it is basically Disneyland, but he's missing the point. The Strip is not supposed to be real life. It is supposed to be a place where people can escape from reality. Everything on the Strip is about having a good time and everyone is 100% into enjoying themselves. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I can see now why people want to go to Las Vegas.


If you'd like to see more pictures from the last day in Vegas, please click here.

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill at Caesar's Palace, Fiamma at the MGM Grand, O at the Bellagio -- this town is killing us

So, so, so tired! I just got back to my room from seeing O at the Bellagio and it looks like this is going to be my third consecutive night getting only 4 hours of sleep. And we're leaving tomorrow, so I have to pack. Wah!

Today was another fun-filled day in Vegas, but it's becoming a bit of a strain due to all the sleep deprivation. Since tomorrow is our last day in town, I think Cameron should let us leave early and go sleep in a lounge chair by a pool somewhere. Sigh.

For lunch, Cameron took us all to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in Caesar's Palace. I had been dying to go here and I didn't think I'd get the chance, so I was thrilled. Caesar's Palace is an absolutely enormous property. Mesa Grill was excellent. The complimentary basket of carbs contained the most delicious corn muffins that were a swirl of two kinds of dough, studded with crispy whole corn kernels. They fell apart when you touched them and they melted in your mouth. I ate two.

For my main, I had chicken tacos, which were presented in the deconstructed way that Bobby Flay does everything on Iron Chef America. Each ingredient was presented separately and attractively on a long plate. The chicken was charred and delicious, the cilantro and mint were fresh and green, the sauteed onions were lovely, and the sweet garlic sauce went with everything perfectly. Best chicken tacos I've ever had.

Oh, and the waiter seduced all of us into having margaritas with freshly squeezed juices. I had a Cactus and Pear margarita. It was pretty good and very strong, but I've been spoiled for life by the cocktails that Marcelo and I had in Goa. Those were way better.

Since O wasn't going to start until 10:30, we had dinner first. I made a reservation at Fiamma, an upscale Italian place in our hotel. Jeff had gone there on his last trip to Vegas. I had fusilli with prosciutto, peas, and black truffles. It was pretty decent. Creamy. For dessert, I had a little scoop of Sicilian Blackberry sorbet. It was tart and sophisticated tasting with a hint of booze, I think. The food was good, but my tummy was very upset later in the evening (actually, during the show). I don't know what it was, but I had to run out on two occasions. I think I only missed the contortionist, which was okay with me because they creep me out.

So, O was a very impressive production with an elaborate set. The stage was large and round, like usual, but in the middle was a large pool with a perforated floor that was raised and lowered so that the pool could be at different depths during the show or disappear altogether. The artists in the show were synchronized swimmers, high divers, and acrobats. It sounds really cool on paper, but actually in practice it wasn't as good at Mystere. The water limits the types of stunts that can be performed and the result is sort of like watching the Summer Olympics except that everyone is in costume. I don't want to sound jaded. It was a very cool show, but seeing it after last night's show made it a bit underwhelming. If you have to choose between the two, I'd totally pick Mystere.

Well, I am about to drop and I have to get up in 4 hours. I took a tonne of pictures today in Caesar's Palace, MGM Grand, New York New York, Paris, and the Bellagio. If you'd like to see them, please click here. Nighty-night.

Lunch on a patio, Mystere at the Bellagio, dinner at a 24-hour cafe -- we are kicking the ass of Vegas

Another great day in Vegas. I know it's a cliche, but it really is a dry heat. There is zero humidity in the air, so the warmth is so comfortable. Every day feels like a perfect summer night.

Jeff and I partook in the MGM Grand Buffet again for breakfast. We're probably going to keep going here for the rest of the week as it's fast, easy, and affordable. I stayed up really late last night blogging so I was a little rough around the edges today, but it's nothing that another late night can't cure.

It was a quiet morning at the office as we all had our heads down working through some client issues. The funny thing is that our company actually shipped the same office furniture that is in the Toronto office (desks, chairs, couches, coffee table, etc.) down here, so when we are inside and working, it feels just like we're back at the mother ship. Except with a nicer view.

At lunch, Cameron took us to a microbrewery across the street from the office. We sat outside on the patio under an umbrella, sipped icy drinks, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. I could really get used to this.

Cameron doesn't have any connections with the Mystere show by Cirque du Soleil, so we bought our own tickets and went to the early (7PM) show. We took the monorail all the way from the MGM Grand to TI (aka Treasure Island). Apparently, TI used to be a very family-friendly place, but it is trying to re-brand itself with a sexier image. So, now it's become 'TI' and the old pirate display has been replaced by a 'Sirens' show.

Mystere was a spectacular. I've seen three other Cirque du Soleil productions (Varekai, Corteo, and Alegria) and I think this is almost my very favourite one (I'm still partial to Varekai). Even after seeing all those other Cirque shows, Mystere still took my breath away and sent chills through me. The circus acts in this show were incredible. The 'hand-to-hand' act with two impossibly buff men doing stands and contortions while supporting the other's entire body weight was unbelievable. I'm trying to describe the others, but it really is something you need to see. I can't recommend this show enough to anyone who is planning on going to Vegas.

After the show we headed to the Bellagio with the intention of going to dinner at Olives, which is a Todd English restaurant with a view of the fountains. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea because we couldn't get near the place. Instead we walked out front and watched the fountain show up close. Again, it was so beautiful, although I preferred yesterday's aria to the Frank Sinatra that they played tonight. In any case, it was amazing. I videotaped (is there a new word for this yet?) the whole thing and I had wanted to upload it to YouTube so that you could all see it, but the file is too big. I'll see if I can figure something out. Check this space later.

We ended up walking all the way back to MGM Grand to find some food. By this time it was 10:15PM and all the restaurants were closing except for the 24-hour cafe. Poor Jeff was about to faint from starvation. We both had huge sandwiches and fries and I had a very strong vodka and soda. This was Marcelo and my drink when we were in India. I didn't even start drinking it until after I had finished eating and it still went right to my head. I'm such a lightweight.

Well, the most exciting news is that we managed to get tickets to see O tomorrow! I am so excited! We tried to go today, but it was completely sold out. I think I snagged the last two tickets for tomorrow night's late show (10:30PM). I can't wait. I'll blog all about it as soon as I get back to my room. Goodnight all.