Toronto Life articles from December 2004

Toronto Life archives from December 2004

Dog bites man.(This City)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... It doesn't help their case that 15 per cent of reported dog bite incidents in Toronto last year were attributed to pit bulls (even if as many German shepherd incidents were recorded); nor does it help that their owners favour names like Damien...

Will power.(Profile)
December 1, 2004... At age 20, actor Will Arnett moved to New York, and for the next decade, he endured constant questioning from people back home about the status of his career. Given that he grew up in Rosedale as the middle kid in a wealthy Toronto family--his...

Whining and dining.(Telling Tales)
December 1, 2004... At 6:30 sharp on the evening of September 23, 80-odd guests crowded the sidewalk outside the swish Italo eatery Grano. They constituted a veritable who's who of elite accommodation, complete with limos, liveried drivers, handlers, backslappers,...

Rad school.(Telling Tales)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... When the Ontario College of Art & Design hosted a street party for local residents and supporters at large to celebrate the completion of its flying black-and-white, pixelated pod, the circuslike atmosphere seemed to quell any earlier...

State of the art.(Telling Tales)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... If art lovers browsing the aisles of the Toronto International Art Fair this fall felt some tension in the air, they weren't dreaming: Booth 630 wasn't on speaking terms with Booth 600. After a chilly parting last winter, this was the first...

Urban decoder.(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Dear Urban Decoder: At the corner of Queen and Pape, there's an independent gas station called Stohos that advertises "biodiesel." What is it? --Basil McCrae, East York When Rudolph Diesel unleashed his fancy new combustion engine...

DX marks the spot.(Camera)
December 1, 2004... The Design Exchange's 10th-anniversary bash was a two-toned affair called The Future in Black and White, and guests arrived at the Bay Street art deco building appropriately colour coded: white fur, white gloves, white gold; dark shawls,...

Talking shop: the making of a high-end retail Mecca.(Cityscape)(stores of Yorkville)
December 1, 2004... For over a decade, the facade of the once grand University Theatre stood on the north side of Bloor like some shabby Arc de Triomphe. A teetering structure, it was as much a testament to the street's past glories as it was to its hardships....

Bloor by the numbers.(This City)
December 1, 2004... * 27,692: the average number of pedestrians that cross the Bay and Bloor intersection during the course of an eight-hour shopping day * $30 million: amount needed to pull off pro posed Bloor corridor facelift, which involves revamping and...

John MacFarlane.(This Issue)(Editorial)
December 1, 2004... P.T. BARNUM-THE AMERICAN IMPRESARIO WHOSE DYING words were "How were the receipts today in Madison Square Garden?"--was famously crass, but he knew how to fill a tent. And so do we. It's called service journalism, and it is to city magazines...

Missed a beat.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... I don't know how you could have omitted the Bamboo Club from your otherwise great "Music City" package [November]. Opened on Queen Street in the '80s, the Bamboo's philosophy was to bring black music to Toronto. The owners filled their calendar...

Prize fight.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... In announcing the opening of No Great Mischief by David Young at the Tarragon, your theatre critic, Alec Scott, transforms himself into a literary authority, denouncing Alistair MacLeod's novel as "overrated" and "maudlin" [This Month,...

The cat came back.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... I take issue with Andre Mayer's not-so-subtle mockery of the animal rights protesters at the Toronto International Film Festival's screening of Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat ["Cat Fight," This City: Telling Tales, November]. I do not...

Fat chance.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... I can think of no more joyless an existence than tallying carbs on my carb calculator in the low-carb grocery store before tucking into a soggy, tasteless, Styrofoam-textured, low-carb meal ["Starch Enemy," Food, November]. If my choice is...

Dysfunction junction.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Because Sandra Martin decided that family background was relevant to her article about my father, Stephen Williams ["Murder, He Wrote," October], I thought readers should know my opinions. My father has only ever been concerned about one...

Laugh track.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Katrina Onstad, in her piece on Rick Mercer ["Quality of Mercer," Pop Culture, October], is critical of comedians who emphasize a joke by using a "shameful glance downward" or confused stare into nowhere. But sometimes it's good to let a joke...

News flash.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... I loved David Hayes' "Star Crossed" [October] about the feud between Prichard and Honderich. However, there was one error The story says that the Toronto Star is the only Canadian paper ever to win a Pulitzer Prize, which is wrong. I hate to...

Lords of the dance.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Your assessment of the upcoming men in the National Ballet of Canada ["Hot Tickets: Men in Tights," October] was astute. But I would argue that while there are many exciting women in the company (Tanya Howard, Stephanie Hutchison, Julie Hay and...

Oops!(Letters)(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2004... In the November issue, The Filth's prix fixe menu should have been listed as $85, not $58. We regret the error. The November Entertaining Guide gave an out-of-date phone number for Konditor. The new number is 416-693-7997. In the...

December at a glance.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... 3 Cinematheque presents the biting Tricky Dick documentary Millhouse: A White Comedy. See page 56. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 Things are on the up and up for songbird Feist. She has an album of lounge-worthy tunes, a duet with Jane...

Theatre.(This Month)(calendar)(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... OPENING Aladdin. Producer-actor Ross Petty mounts his ninth annual family holiday romp; this year, it's both a panto and a musical. That tall drink of vodka, Adam Brazier--who starred in the Shaw's Pal Joey this summer--plays the magical...

Another fine Messiah.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... The most popular oratorio ever written, George Frederick Handel's Messiah has been inspiring awe since it was first performed in 1742. Completed in only three weeks, it so impressed the reigning King George II that he rose to his feet,...

Classical music.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... CHAMBER AND SOLO Canadian Brass. One of Canada's superstar ensembles returns to its hometown roots for a family-friendly annual Christmas concert, showcasing Joe Burgstaller and Stuart Laughton on trumpets, French horn player Jeff Nelsen,...

Fresh Fruits.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... At its most hallucinatory and joyful, fashion is a no-holds-barred theatre of the self. In 1994, photographer Shoichi Aoki launched Fruits, a fanzine cataloguing Tokyo's staggeringly original streetwear. Shot mainly at an outdoor mall, it's a...

Break dance.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... The buzz around Toronto-based choreographer Matjash Mrozewski (see listing on page 44) is justified: his works are filled with an athletic, erotic energy that crawls beneath the skin and defies imitation--and convention. Haunting and...

Dance.(This Month)(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... Arabesque Christmas Hafla. Hafla is the Arabic word for "party"; fittingly, belly dancing is most at home in a festive atmosphere. The dancers get up close and personal with patrons in a seductive, tongue-in-cheek interaction that's at the...

Art.(This Month)(exhibitions)(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... [FREE] Janet Hodgson. This British artist's inspiration came while she was in residence at the Oakville Galleries' lakeside estate in Gairloch Gardens. Researching the 82-year-old building's architectural history, she discovered it was...

Nightlife.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... CONCERTS Barra MacNeils. Cape Breton music continues to thrive, despite the fact that it no longer has the music industry salivating in hope of the next Riverdance. The Barra MacNeils, one of the island's most steadfast proponents, are...

Jazz and standards.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... CONCERTS Jim Galloway & Friends. No Toronto jazz musician has done more with traditional Christmas music than Jim Galloway, whose discography includes two CDs of seasonal music, one with stride master pianist Ralph Sutton (The Sackville...

Kids' events.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... And by the Way, Miss... Using a blend of movement, drama and music, Theatre Direct Canada explores girls' relationships with one another; their families and themselves. Written by women, the production follows five adolescents as they come...

Let's get lost.(This Month)(Keith Jarrett)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... When pianist Keith Jarrett was first exploring free jazz in the '60s, Miles Davis asked him, "How do you play from nothing?" "I don't know," Jarrett replied. "I just do it." Like all the best improvisers, Jarrett has the ability to summon up...

Diversions.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... Bill Cosby. After 40 years in the business, Cosby is comedy's answer to Walter Cronkite--a reassuring presence in a whirling world. From The Cosby Show to his iconic Jell-O commercials, Cosby has always exuded a kind of weary gentleness that...

The IT spot.(This Month)
December 1, 2004... The Laurentian Room, 51A Winchester St., 416-925-8680 Where: Saunter through the quietly signed (yet imposing) wooden door, up a dark stairwell and past the coat check window, and you'll step back to a time when Parliament Street looked out...

Honey, I shrunk the cat: desperate to find out what emotional trauma lurked behind my tabby's incessant howling, I forked over $360 for a session with Gary Landsberg, Toronto's pet therapist extraordinaire. Thanks to him, I'm now learning to help Julius help himself.(Health)
December 1, 2004... JULIUS STREN IS NOT HIMSELF TODAY. MY 16-year-old tabby was named for his regal bearing--as a kitten, he had oversized ears that stood tall, like the points of a crown he had not yet grown into--but this morning, sitting in the back seat of the...

Toy story: Air Hogs, Mighty Beanz, Bella Dancerella--some of the hottest toys on the market are made by Spin Master. Founded on a lark by three old friends, the company raked in over $300 million last year. How an unlikely trio discovered the science of fun.(Business)
December 1, 2004... IN THE WINTER OF 1996, JOHN DIXON AND Peter Manning were reaching the end of the line with one of their inventions. Engineers by trade and seasoned toy creators both, they had come up with a miraculous air pump-powered toy plane. They'd been...

Bite me: has the fiercely talented but drug-addled Marc Thuet finally straightened out? After three wives, five kids, seven tattoos and six restaurants--including Centro and The Fifth--the master chef has a lot riding on his king west venture. It's now or never.
December 1, 2004... One Saturday evening last March, some 60-odd patrons turned up for dinner in the casually elegant room at The Fifth, one of the city's finest restaurants. They had come to savour a meal prepared by Marc Thuet, its much-celebrated executive...

Rituals: your place or mine?
December 1, 2004... First the obvious: weed the garden, paint the hall, remove the teenager's bong from its hiding place in the fuse box. But in Toronto, as opposed to in Moose Jaw, or even Montreal, there is a next step. You must have a fluffer when selling your...

Thou shalt covet: 125 gifts that are as good to give as they are to get.
December 1, 2004... New highway-approved Vespa ET4 (top speed of 100 km/hr), $5,500, Motoretta [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Rega Planar 3 turntable, $1,000, Bay Bloor Radio; Bon Voyage magnets, $33.95 for box of 24, and Lego pen with removable beads, $20,...

Sugar shack.(Icons)
December 1, 2004... The Redpath sugar refinery is the last operating industry on the waterfront, and by virtue of its singularity, it has attained a kind of beauty, in a Berlin-gallery-art-installation sort of way. Often, it is flanked on the east side by a...

Things to do in Toronto when you're dead.
December 1, 2004... SAY YOU'RE SHOT or you're flattened by a streetcar or you die of a heart attack: your body will begin a short, strange trip. You might be shipped to the city morgue, where you'll be X-rayed for bullets and gutted like a Christmas turkey. Or...

Mod squad: Toronto's finest never had it so good. Inside 51 Division, the newest, smartest, swankiest police station in the city.(Design)
December 1, 2004... THE TYPICAL TORONTO POLICE STATION works hard at not standing out. Bland, self-effacing, it's so determined to be unintimidating that it ends up virtually invisible. My local station, 51 Division, was a case in point. Built in the 1950s on...

London bridge: from Mosimann's in posh Belgravia to the Spoke here in Toronto, private clubs are raising the bar for their members. But Verity's new restaurant, George, does one better: it opens its doors to the public.(Food)
December 1, 2004... IT SEEMED LIKE SUCH A GOOD IDEA ON paper, such a neat triangulation: to write a column about the restaurants of three private clubs linked by a common theme. Start with Mosimann's in London, England, owned by uber-chef Anton Mosimann. Proceed...

Drink.(wine ratings)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 1, 2004... Sparkling wine Bottega Petalo Moscato *** 1/2 $13.65. Italy Self-described as "vino dell'amore," this new, fair-priced, sweet sparkling muscat is light-hearted at only 6.5 per cent alcohol. Fragrant, slightly perfumed lime...

Bronze age.(Drink)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Where liquid meets glass, the rim of luminescent yellow deepens to inner circles of gold, then bronze, then chocolate at the heart of the bowl. The bouquet wafts molasses, raisins, limes and nuts, and chocolate once again. Satin in texture, the...

A la mode.(Restaurants)
December 1, 2004... Crush *** A wine bar, yes, but one that serves superlative food. The room is airy and bright in soft yellow tones (thanks to the loft's exposed brick walls); hard surfaces make chatter the ambient noise. Since Scott Kapitan took the helm...

American.(Restaurants)(Restaurant Review)
December 1, 2004... Jump **1/2 New renovations have updated this downtown business-crowd favourite. Banquettes have been installed and the wine cellar enclosed to accommodate a separate intimate dining room that seats 16. Small bottles of olive oil and...

French.(Restaurants)(Restaurant Review)
December 1, 2004... La Palette **1/2 This charming boite is a Kensington Market favourite for romantic evenings and family celebrations. With French doors opening onto a patio and a crowded five-seat bar in back, the dining room often takes on the comfortable...

Hotel.(Restaurants)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 1, 2004... Tundra ** A unique, brilliant solution to the flagship dining-room-in-the-lobby dilemma: keep it spare yet warm, with natural textures and the beautiful, understated hues of our subarctic landscape. The menu stays true to the name,...

Indian.(Restaurants)(Restaurant Review)
December 1, 2004... Curry Twist ** Part of the Junction revival, this cozy-comfy room beguiles with an open kitchen and tandoor oven up front and a decidedly neighbourhood casual vibe in the back, emphasized by wooden tables, bare floors and a charming...

Italian.(Restaurants)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 1, 2004... Ferro **1/2 No matter the day or time, this long room buzzes, ever popular among hipsters, couples and families with kids in tow. The back is now much more open (gone are the pool tables), lit by a huge skylight, but the boisterous...

Mediterranean.(Restaurants)(La Maquette)
December 1, 2004... La Maquette ** There's a strong sense of order to this two-storey eatery: small tables, upholstered mahogany chairs, striking ground-to-ceiling windows with frames and mullions in shiny black steel. No wonder it's a popular spot for...

Mexican.(Restaurants)(Restaurant Review)
December 1, 2004... Dos Amigos **1/2 Loyal locals and canoodling couples nosh on crisp house-fried tortillas and fresh, creamy guacamole while waiting for the main event, washing it all down with ice-cold tamarind or blue agave margaritas. The setting remains...

Seafood.(Restaurants)
December 1, 2004... [NEW] Sang's Great Seafood **1/2 This bright, cheery room has no pretensions. Don't even look for a fish tank: specials plastered all over the place are the decor. Sang's eaters to landlubbers, too, but we're here for the seafood. And the...

Thai.(Restaurants)(Restaurant Review)
December 1, 2004... Thai House **1/2 Let's hear it for restaurants that get better over time. When this modest eatery first opened in the Beach, it was just another mediocre spot in a town that craves Thai any way it can get it. Locals packed the joint, but...

Out of town.(Restaurants)(Restaurant Review)
December 1, 2004... [NEW] Lago ***1/2 One of Ontario's best-kept culinary secrets, this gem of a dining room occupies the lobby of Eagles Nest clubhouse, open to the public for lunch and dinner on weekdays. Spectacular sunsets over' the golf course flood the...

The room was ready (funky glam decor aglow), the menu of small fusion dishes had been tested and tried, and the staff looked resplendent in jeans and golf shirts.(Tidbits)
December 1, 2004... The room was ready (funky glam decor aglow), the menu of small fusion dishes had been tested and tried, and the staff looked resplendent in jeans and golf shirts. Everything was a go for the September opening of Susur Lee's new restaurant, Lee,...

Up in the Annex, at Splendido, technology, rather than a technicality, was the issue.(Restaurants)(power failure does not stop festivities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... * Up in the Annex, at Splendido, technology, rather than a technicality, was the issue. The wines had made it through customs, and the menu looked superb. Everything was set for a spectacular private evening honouring Languedoc wine czar Robert...

Seven Numbers has a sib. The popular, bargain-priced, no-frills-at-all, Italian-home-cooking eatery on Eglinton West has opened a second branch (307 Danforth Ave., 416-469-5183).(Restaurants)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... * Seven Numbers has a sib. The popular, bargain-priced, no-frills-at-all, Italian-home-cooking eatery on Eglinton West has opened a second branch (307 Danforth Ave., 416-469-5183). Meanwhile, Esther Benaim and Maggie McKeown are moving up in...

Shopping with chefs.(Restaurants)
December 1, 2004... Bob Blumer of The Surreal Gourmet (Food Network, Mondays at 8:30 p.m.) We Torontonians like to put away childish things when we join the working world. We take things seriously. Bob Blumer, the self-styled Surreal Gourmet, lives in the...

Latkes.(Restaurants)
December 1, 2004... Many centuries ago, Ping Antiochus, ruler of the Syrians, invaded Judea with a sizable army. He was met with unexpected resistance from a small but feisty group of Jews led by Judas Maccabaeus. The Maccabees won (a miracle!) and, flush with...

Calendar.(Advertising & Promotion Events & Opportunities)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... Get the inside scoop on this month's hottest events and promotions from the following advertisers: ALADDIN-THE MUSICAL Imagine you had three wishes and they could all come true. Surely, one of those wishes would be to see wrestling...

A man for all media: Jeremy Brown: April 3, 1932-October 18, 2004.(The End)(Obituary)
December 1, 2004... Brown and I were on a last-name basis for more than 40 years. "Life is good, Obe," he'd assure me. "Live life." If that sounds a little pompous to you, then you never knew Brown nor heard him on the radio. He could turn pomposity on its head...

Wine.
December 1, 2004... AUSTRALIA Australia is quickly establishing supremacy for New World wines in Ontario. It sold almost one bottle for each person living in the province last year. This year, in the all-important red wine category, it posted a 30 per cent...

Worth the drive: best Ontario wineries.
December 1, 2004... The LCBO carries only a sampling of Ontario's crop, and often, the most interesting bottles are sold through the wineries themselves. Herewith, the province's top 10. Cave Spring More than 20 years old, the original riesling and...

Beer.
December 1, 2004... ALES LIGHT-BODIED ALES Softly fruity, sometimes a bit spicy and almost always refreshing, these quenchers belie that ill-conceived stereotype that light ales are by definition bland. They complement light meals and snacks. Coopers...

Best buy: good quality, great price.
December 1, 2004... WHITES Peter Lehmann 2001 The Barossa Semillon ****1/2 $12.95 Australia (page 5) Lurton 2004 Pinot Gris **** $9.75 Argentina (page 30) Marques de Riscal 2003 **** $10.20 Spain (page 33) KWV 2003...

Spirits.
December 1, 2004... BRANDY Bottega Alexander Society Grappa **** $33.60/700 mL Italy Marc of pinot, tocai, verduzzo and prosecco. Crystal clear and colourless, with a pretty, aromatic, perfumed bouquet of hay and raisins. Delicate, clean grappa...

Ale to the chiefs: best Belgian beer importers.
December 1, 2004... Beer aficionados generally fall into one of three camps. Idealists are fond of Germany and its Bavarian purity law-governed lagers, while traditionalists point to Britain's dry and quaffable cask-conditioned ales. Iconoclasts, however, wax...