Toronto Life articles from April 2003

Toronto Life archives from April 2003

War and peace. (This City).(antiwar demonstrations)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Toronto's participation in what's being touted as the largest one-day protest in history was minor. While crowds of over 100,000 gathered in Montreal, Barcelona and Sydney, voicing their opposition to a war with Iraq, about 15,000 took to the...

Fighting Irish. (Profile).(Vincent Walsh)(Biography)
April 1, 2003... Things came to a head for Vincent Walsh after his third audition for the part of Ernest Hemingway in this month's CBC miniseries. With $40 to his name, he found the nearest boozer and ordered a pint of Guinness. Another pint swiftly followed,...

Licence to shill. (Telling Tales).(Joan Rivers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... On a recent visit to hawk product via a local cable outlet, the Shopping Channel, Joan Rivers allowed her loose lips--the sole remaining oasis of laxity on her otherwise drum-tight face--to flap away. During the live afternoon broadcast, Rivers...

Top dollar. (Telling Tales).(Trump International Hotel and Tower)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Eighteen million. That's the price insiders expect the three-level penthouse atop the forthcoming Trump International Hotel & Tower to sell for. Slated to rise at the corner of Bay and Adelaide, the part condo, part hotel development, designed...

Prodigal returns. (Telling Tales).(Larry Stevenson)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The setting: a convention centre straining to look like the Tuscan countryside. The event: a fundraiser for the theatre company CanStage. The background players: an A-list crowd of 650 drawn from various spheres--politicians (provincial health...

Royal pain. (Telling Tales).(Prince attends Raptors game)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Despite the Raptors' below-expectations performance this season, high-profile types have continued to pack the Air Canada Centre whenever the boys in purple return to town. One recent game against the Orlando Magic drew Olympic golden girl...

Babe in the woods. (Telling Tales).(Pamela Wallin)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The newly minted Canadian consul general to the Big Apple, Pamela Wallin, recently shared a New York moment with Bill O'Reilly, the pit bull host of the highest-rated cable news program stateside. Wallin had her hands full responding to...

Urban decoder.(Column)
April 1, 2003... Dear Urban Decoder: What's with the stone chesterfield visible through the arched entrance to that ritzy new condo on Avenue Road north of Bloor? --Britney Taylor, Yorkville Kick back and relax. Here's the story. When developers...

Storybook ending. (Inside).(Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Only the sound of muffled voices trickles up through the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, eight storeys of paper, ink and glue. Jutting out like a craggy peak from the University of Toronto's Robarts Library, it is the grande dame of special...

Strange animals. (The List).(rock musicians)
April 1, 2003... Their melodies moved us; their fashion sense beguiled us. They represented, if not a golden age, then a gilded era in Toronto rock excess, for which they earned a place in our hearts. As tastes changed, however, our favourites were banished...

From time to time, a young person will ask me how to become a journalist. (This Issue).
April 1, 2003... FROM TIME TO TIME, A YOUNG PERSON WILL ASK ME HOW TO become a journalist. I always say the same thing: get an education. Acquire expertise. Become an authority on something. Art history, nuclear physics, modern philosophy, international law,...

Market correction. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... I've been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from friends and colleagues in Toronto telling me that my former home was on the front page of Toronto Life--that it was famous ["Surreal Estate," February]. I had the article sent to me and...

Firm beliefs. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... I read Katrina Onstad's review of the Casino Rama Entertainment Centre ["Rock Bottom," February] with great interest--particularly the acknowledgement of the concert hall's superior sound quality and sightlines and how much artists enjoy...

Women's glib. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... As an avid reader of the Urban Decoder column, I was disappointed to see Raoul Fernandez's question about the Club Monaco store in the building formerly occupied by U of T's department of household science [February]. Obviously, Mr. Fernandez...

Plane truths. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... John Macfarlane was as ill-informed about the Island airport as he claimed to be about Romanow's study [This Issue, February]. Had he done a simple Internet search, he would have learned that London does have a thriving city airport just five...

Kiss and tell. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... I was born in 1941 and raised in the Beach, and the R.C. Harris Filtration plant [Icons, February] was a big part of my childhood. We tobogganed down the hills, held bike races around the grounds, dove off the high railing and swam to shore at...

Theatre. (This Month).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... OPENINGS Home Is My Road. The playwright whose metier has become cross-cultural appropriation here assesses its pros and cons. In her last play, the award-winning Belle, Anglo-Quebecer Florence Gibson served up the stow of a flight from...

European vacation. (This Month).(See How They Run)(Movie Review)
April 1, 2003... The English title of director Michel Blanc's Embrassez qui vous voudrez (2002) is See How They Run, less a translation than an appropriate variation, given the frenetic pace of this very French farce. The blind mice are played, with varying...

Classical music. (This Month).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... ORCHESTRAL Esprit Orchestra ends its season with this spirited concert featuring the violinist--and concert-master for the Esprit and National Ballet of Canada orchestras--Fujiko Imajishi, performing music by Ligeti (his Violin Concerto)...

Crazy Fingers. (This Month).(Bela Fleck)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The expectations were clear enough for this New York City kid, the child of classical music lovers, who was named Bela Anton Leos after the composers Bartok, Dvorak end Janacek. But at age 15, enthralled with the string-pickin' poetics of...

Dance. (This Month).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... Burn the Floor elevates ballroom dance from a competitive sport to the highest level of showmanship. Since its visit to Toronto two years ago, the Australian-produced presentation has become even more of an international phenomenon by adding...

Op art. (This Month).(John Brown )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Oblivious to the rolling fumes of paint and turpentine in his Spadina studio, artist John Brown gestures with his cigarette toward one of his big, ugly-beautiful paintings. Part of his Disease series, this work features two fleshy,...

Art. (This Month).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... FREE Andre Kertesz. Anomie crackles through the thin winter air and dribbles like condensation down the windowpanes in the photographs of this European expatriate. An avatar of contemporary photojournalism, Kertesz keenly felt the loss of...

Nightlife. (This Month).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... CONCERTS Avril Lavigne and Swollen Members. The Napanee native has said, "I'm gonna dress what's me, I'm gonna act what's me, and I'm gonna sing what's me." Sheesh--it's not like anyone's stopping her. Still, it's hard to blame the teen...

The outlaw. (This Month).(George Jones)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Small wonder George Jones is considered the living embodiment of hard-core country: the music's time-honoured themes of desire, deceit and departure seem etched into the craggy contours of his granite face. Married four times and well...

Jazz and standards. (This Month).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... CLUBS Montreal Bistro. Don Thompson and Phil Dwyer are both accomplished multi-instrumentalists, Thompson moving from piano to string bass to vibes as though each were his first instrument, and Dwyer handling piano duties with the same...

Kids' events. (This Month).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... Blue Grassy Knoll. Given the recent rise in the popularity of bluegrass music--thanks in part to the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?--it seems as good a time as any for Australia's Blue Grassy Knoll to take their show on the road. This...

Diversions. (This Month).(cultural scene)(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... Cinefranco features 36 films from the French-language world, including Seraphin: Heart of Stone, the highest-grossing Canadian film ever; Seaside, the winner of last year's best first feature award at Cannes; and Safe Conduct, a study of life...

The IT spot. (This Month).(Bymark Downtown)(Bar Review)
April 1, 2003... Bymark Downtown, 66 Wellington St. W., 416-777-1144 Where: Upstairs from his latest trend-setting eatery, chef Mark McEwan has placed a sleek and sophisticated bar--a glass vault neatly tucked among the imposing skyscrapers of the financial...

The right stuff: the left-leaning Barbara Hall may have been the early favourite to succeed Mel Lastman as mayor, but the roster of right-of-centre candidates is formidable, and the race is shaping up as the most fascinating since David Crombie took office in 1972. (Politics).
April 1, 2003... FUTURE TORONTO HISTORIans, studying the most anticipated local election since David Crombie's reformers swept into office in 1972, would do well to trace the beginnings of the fight for the right. It culminated in February with the emergence of...

Leading lady: Seana McKenna has played most of the major roles in the classical and modern repertoire, establishing herself as the first lady of the Canadian stage, but her hunger is undiminished. "The most important work," she says, "is what you're doing now". (Arts).
April 1, 2003... ON A HIGH SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO STRATford in 1984, I saw Seana McKenna play Juliet. She was, by general consensus, great--at one moment pure, the next sensual, verging on raunchy--and her costar, Colm Feore, served up a starry-eyed, ascetic...

Varsity blues: a stupefying investigative article about alleged murder at a gold mine in Tanzania, which occupied eight solid pages of The Varsity--and nearly bankrupted it--symbolizes the misguided thinking that cripples many student newspapers. (Media).
April 1, 2003... THE GREAT TANZANIAN GOLD MINE expose seems likely to become one of the enduring legends surrounding The Varsity, the 122-year-old student newspaper at the University of Toronto. "The Men Who Moil for Gold," an unlikely article about African...

Calendar. (Toronto Life).(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... Get the inside scoop on this month hottest events and promotions from the following advertisers: NATIONAL DRAPERY National Drapery kicks off the new season with its annual Sensational Spring Sale. Our decor consultants will help make...

Fear of flying: you're 39,000 feet above the Atlantic in an Airbus A330. One engine dies. Thirteen minutes later, the second engine cuts out. People are screaming, crying, praying. The nearest land is 150 kilometres away.
April 1, 2003... FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2001. A twin-engine Airbus A330, outbound from Toronto to Lisbon, cuts across the empty mid-Atlantic sky. Flight 236 had left Pearson International almost five hours earlier, lifting 291 passengers and 13 crew high into the...

Fertile ground. (Icons).(Don Valley Brick Works)
April 1, 2003... 1882. Down the hill from Chorley Park, where Rosedale's meadows slope gently toward the Don, a young industrialist is driving a fence post into the ground when the unusually fine texture of the clay catches his eye. His family has been making...

As good as it gets: the year's best restaurants and most memorable moments.
April 1, 2003... IT WAS A YEAR OF NUANCES rather than sweeping trends, of details rather than high adventure. The average wine list became a bit broader, cheese courses more common and oysters more mainstream. Chefs, in their unaccountable way, fell in love...

A plague on all your houses. (Rituals).(exterminators)
April 1, 2003... I heard a scratching in the wall of my third-floor office in March. It initially had an industrious, productive sound. After two days, it turned into a desperate clawing. I called an exterminator service that advertised expertise and...

Room for improvement: never mind the cost, the butt-numbing chairs, the fluorescent lights or the taboo against bathroom breaks. For Landmark Corporation's thousands of true believers, this is the one self-help program that actually works. But can you really find happiness at a weekend seminar?
April 1, 2003... Day 1 FRIDAY Happiness is weird. In the flesh, it often resembles stupidity: picture a nutcase, and he is always smiling, as if only the truly unhinged could be happy in this stinking pit we call life. Happiness is for suckers. ...

Finders keepers. (Frock star and a tarte dealer).(golf ball finders)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Golf is somewhat silly: fully grown people whack a tiny ball with a stick, only to lose sight of it once they are successful. But with these clever new Golf Ball Finders, at least lost balls needn't be a recreational hazard. The specs are...

Springtime of youth. (Frock star and a tarte dealer).(Jacadi)
April 1, 2003... Thank heaven for little girls. Without them in pretty smocked sundresses, would we really know it's spring? Here, a lovely version is spicy in paprika red and apricot gingham, with a fashionable flick at hippie styling in a ribbon tie with...

Blend bombshell. (Frock star and a tarte dealer).
April 1, 2003... Giorgio Armani's last foray into the world of scent was the complex, cerebral Mania. His latest, Sensi ("senses" in Italian), goes for the gut instead, richly mingling kaffir lime, cassie flower and Cape jasmine--a potion that evokes the toasty...

Celestin prophecy. (Frock star and a tarte dealer).(Le Comptoir de Celestin patisserie in Toronto, Ontario)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Adjacent to Toronto's hottest new French restaurant, Celestin, is the charming Le Comptoir de Celestin. The tiny, gleaming, white-tiled patisserie serves up what are quite simply the best baguettes in town. Freshly baked every morning by...

Stem sell. (Frock star and a tarte dealer).(Midge)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Midge is the name of Barbie's oldest girlfriend, now scandalously pregnant on toy store shelves. It's also, apparently, a troublesome fly that attacks hibiscus. For Pam Kasoy, owner of Midge, it's simply a cute moniker for her sweet and sassy...

Industrial revolution: an ensemble of Dickensian factory buildings off Parliament, the Gooderham & Worts complex reopens this spring as the city's first planned artist district. How a period piece, was made au courant. (Design).
April 1, 2003... MATTHEW ROSENBLATT REMEMBERS IT AS the day they lost their cool. In May 2001, he and his business partners heard that the Gooderham & Worts liquor factories might be for sale. Their company, Cityscape, specializes in buying, restoring and...

Tasting notes. (Drink).
April 1, 2003... Natural Gascony This region of southwestern France is better known for d'Artagnan (that ardent Musketeer), foie gras and the distinctive brandy called armagnac than it is for wine--which makes it a good hunting ground for bargains....

Wellesley Hospital 1912-2003. (The End).
April 1, 2003... In its Edwardian early days, the Wellesley Hospital operated out of a 19th-century mansion named Homewood. Situated on more than four acres of parkland practically within shouting distance of eternally spiffy Rosedale, the facility could coddle...

Accolade.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Chef David Chrystian restores the reputation of the dignified salon with a seasonal menu that draws tellingly on prime Canadian ingredients. An amuse rouses the palate: two tiny rolls of seaweed and smoked halibut over finely...

Acqua.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... ** 1/2 Cascading water, Venetian poles and great sweeps of cloth, like some kind of leftover from a Cirque du Soleil tour, create a dramatic dining space where the aquatic theme is echoed right down to the acoustics. Appetizers focus on...

Across the road.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... ** 1/2 The look is decidedly young and modern, right for the neighbourhood: purple-stained wainscot panels counterpointing walls of provencal yellow; sunny linens and comfortable, Bauhausy leather chairs. Arugula salad ($9.95) comes with...

Agora.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** Those without memberships or tickets to the gallery are escorted through the permanent collection by a kindly volunteer. Two very different seating areas are offered. The atrium is airy and bright--rather too bright for some of the...

Avalon.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... **** The demure beige decor of the sophisticated room, the impeccable service, the studied detail on every plate advertise a sensibility that shies away from the strident, instead embracing nuance. Chef-patron Chris McDonald is at his best...

Biff's.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 A comfortable, upbeat and handsomely accoutred bistro, by the same team that created Canoe, Jump and Auberge du Pommier. Classic bistro dishes are executed with a finesse that allows opulent, slow-cooked textures and flavours....

Boba.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 In this vibrant Victorian, seafood dominates the appetizers, executed with customary verve. Gorgeous shrimp ($12.95) are sauteed to rare juiciness, and the city's best octopus ($12.95) is admirably tender, crusted from the grill....

Bymark.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Mark McEwan's meticulous imagination takes aim at the financial district and scores a bull's eye. The calm, elegant decor repays attention--from the sleek, Modernist upstairs bar to the lobby's Zen garden plainness to the dining...

Canoe.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... **** On a winter's night, swirling snow outside the 54th floor makes the suave, airy restaurant feel warmer. Polished wood further humanizes the modern decor. The shape of the menu has been established for a while: a page of avant-garde...

Centro.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** Outside, limos idle. Inside, the mood is light, lifted by the ubiquitous glass and the contrast between the room's sophistication and the photos of Italian peasant mugs on the walls. The appetizer roster ($10-$19) is solid. Some of the...

Corner house.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** The pretty, two-storey brick home resembles some romantic little spot from your European honeymoon. In warm weather, the best tables look up toward Casa Loma from the leafy wraparound patio. A page of reds is heavily freighted by...

Crush.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** The latest addition to King West's evolving scene successfully combines the attributes of bona fide bistro, bar and serious wine shrine. Busy in the spacious open kitchen, chef Masayuki Tamaru improvises an $85 five-course tasting menu...

The Fifth.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... **** Past the bouncers in the alley off Duncan Street, on through the hurly-burly of a nightclub, up in the freight elevator to the fifth floor: an evening of opulent flourishes awaits. Marc Thuet, for nearly a year now, has been working...

Focaccia.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Candles cast romantic shadows on soft grey walls, the intimate space expanded by judiciously hung mirrors and chef Sam Gassira's open kitchen at the rear. The scale is small (a wine list of only two dozen eclectically chosen labels...

Gallery grill.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Lunch only, but it's such a civilized affair in the vaulted clerestory above Hart House's Great Hall. One can rendezvous for a fireside cocktail in the drawing room, then linger for hours in the calm neo-Gothic restaurant. The...

Goldfish.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... ** 1/2 The space is a style statement about lightness of being within minimalism. An ambitious and delicious-sounding menu (appetizers $6-$18, mains $17-$28) sometimes underachieves on the flavour side. An eggplant stack sandwiching layers...

Lemon Meringue.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Bloor West Village's bakery-cum-restaurant has blossomed into a neighbourhood hot spot. Pistachio walls, white linen and votive candles keep decor to a minimum in this snug 15-table dining room. The paper menu is brief. Seared...

Mistura.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 The place exudes confidence. An opulent decor nudges flamboyance; lacy tents on the ceiling are cheerfully over the top. The menu nods to Italy but then moves into less ethnic territory. Capers and mustard add zing to a deliciously...

Monsoon.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** Mysterious, futuristic, immensely cozy: these unlikely adjectives all apply to the award-winning subterranean dining room. Though Asian in inspiration, the cuisine sometimes wanders farther afield. The menu proceeds eccentrically,...

North 44[degrees].(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Renovation takes the mezzanine from mineral opulence to understated, angular chic: no longer a piano bar, it's more an extension of the restaurant. Each appetizer ($12.95-$24.95) surrounds a principal ingredient with powerful but...

Opus.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Intimate and comfortable, with a private room overlooking the garden tables, a glass facade for one of Canada's most awe-inspiring cellars. The Amaro brothers continue to play consummate hosts to an imaginative seasonal menu. The...

Oro.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 The nighttime view through tall windows looks like a tourist bureau postcard. Both dining rooms (and four private rooms) are easy-on-the-eye shades of cream with subtle touches of gold. Servers skilfully cosset you, whether or not...

Pangaea.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Pastry chef Joanne Yolles's desserts are sublime. For example, caramel-crusted banana and mango coulis garnishing a dainty-looking, luscious-tasting banana--coconut cream tart in a perfect pastry shell. That they dovetail so nicely...

Patriot.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** Experienced gastronomes understand that the pleasure quotient of a given meal often varies inversely to the flowery print on menus. So when plainly titled tomato soup comes decorated with opal basil chiffonade, smoked tomato and basil...

Prego Della Plazza.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** The busy summer patio is still a place to see Toronto's top lawyers tucking into monster shrimp. Inside, it's casual but swanky, a shade of oxblood knitting together the tabletops, pretty wooden chairs and the little alcoves down a...

Rain.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** Set in those contradictory warehouse lands where the sports of SkyDome meet businessfolk and media sophisticates, the spectacular decor is worth a visit on its own, whether it be to the minimalist bar, glowing a pale, sexy blue, or to...

Rosewater Supper Club.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** Sleek and slick design features have taken a huge space and allowed it to be alternately luxurious, expansive or intimate; private rooms abound. The menu moves outward from a modest core (some eight starters $10-$21, six mains $27-$38)...

Rouge.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... ** 1/2 Minimalist decor lends a sense of airy space to the slim room. The contemporary menu reads well, but the balance of flavours sometimes needs fine tuning. Small, crunchy-crusted salt cod croquettes taste more of salt than cod, served...

Scaramouche.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Plus ca change. The staircase has a new focus--grey gravel under a sail of white fabric--but the dining room looks as suave as ever, angular lines subtly directing attention to the famous view downtown. Timeless treats give the...

Splendido.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** 1/2 Reborn a year and a half ago, Splendido has polished its service to a welcoming, highly professional sheen, and David Lee has established himself as a bona fide culinary contender. The suave room has a masculine elegance, glossy...

Steakfrites.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... ** 1/2 The Oliver Bonacini group is aiming for a neighbourhood vibe with its latest spot, pitching the look halfway between casual and spiffy. Beef eaters lured by the restaurant's name will find a good, lean, tender strip loin (10 ounces...

Susur.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... **** 1/2 Kitsch squeeze dolls in tiny shadow boxes are the latest whimsical touch to the spare, elegant room. A new, carpeted, firelit private room provides a more intimate setting in which to explore Susur Lee's inimitable cooking. Gastro...

Terra.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** It's worth the trip up Yonge to experience this freely tuned culinary machine. An unassuming low-rise hides a warm, sprawling two-level room where contemporary and Old World design create a comfortably pleasing effect. A...

Terrace at the Fifth.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** Five floors above the Easy's throbbing dance floor, the Terrace is more clubhouse than Clubland. French manicures clutch icewine martinis at the covered wooden bar; cigar-smoking men in black lounge on couches beneath crisp white...

Tundra.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... ** 1/2 This dimly lit room is certainly spare (dark wood, stone, concrete)--like its namesake. Prices have shifted downward (now starters are $7-$13, mains $13-$32). Mains are more interesting than first courses. A roasted, spatched...

Xacutti.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** A make-over of the old Ellipsis space paints the floor black and the walls off-white and brown, and crams tiny tables together along a sleek chocolate brown banquette. Chef Brad Moore (ex-Monsoon) returns from a stint in the Caribbean...

YYZ.(Restaurant Review)
April 1, 2003... *** The design is one of stark minimalism: cement floor, pale grey walls, white Formica tables set close together. Louvres of lime green glass open the divide between dining room and bar. Smokers have a glass lounge of their own--like...

Best brunches.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Agora Keeping company with the Old Masters at the AGO, roasted fig, smoked bacon and St. Augur make an earthly still life; sharp-cheddar souffle with warm apple butter seems more ethereal (paqe 6). Gallery Grill Intellectuals are drawn to...