Toronto Life articles from October 2002

Toronto Life archives from October 2002

Grace notes. (Profile).
October 1, 2002... There is something of the puppy about her. It's that I-am-curious-frisky quality, that inability to quite sit still, a certain eager bashfulness that can melt just as suddenly into an eagerness to please. Which is per haps why Eve Egoyan and I...

Skin graft. (Telling Tales).
October 1, 2002... The Toronto-based kitsch cosmetics company Cake Beauty is just a year old, but it already boasts a cult following: Bridget Fonda is a fan, and so is Kate Hudson, who has become wildly enthusiastic about the fledgling firm's offerings. Last...

Sole asylum. (Telling Tales).(Bif Naked ill-mannered pedicure)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Vancouver's neo-goth rocker girl Bif Naked recently learned basic martial arts for an appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but what she really needed was a lesson in manners. On a mid-summer trip to Toronto, Ms. Naked (whose tattoos number...

Cottage cheese. (Telling Tales).
October 1, 2002... Since being unceremoniously dumped from Yorkton Securities last December, one-time Wunderkind Scott Paterson hasn't been crying into his Veuve Clicquot. The Ontario Securities Commission ordered the deposed CEO to pay a million bucks for...

Pam-demonium. (Telling Tales).(notable people at party for journalist)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Bell Globemedia boss Ivan Fecan hosted a private soiree in early August at the fusty York Club, for one of several adieus to reporter Pamela Wallin. (She has abandoned the media scrum for a plum post as consul general to the Big Apple, which...

Hurt so good. (Telling Tales).(William Hurt, art collector)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... One fine summer morning, the cast and crew of the CBS miniseries Masterspy: The Robert Hanssen Story descended on Forest Hill Village for a location shoot. The show--produced by Norman Mailer and based on the real story of a turncoat FBI agent...

Urban decoder. (Telling Tales).(answers to questions about sites in Toronto, Ontario)
October 1, 2002... Dear Urban Decoder: I've noticed lately that many couriers are riding odd-looking bicycles that appear to have no handbrakes and only a single gear. What are these contraptions, and how do you make them stop? --Gordon Reilly, The Beach...

Model behaviour.(anniversary celebration of Artist Group)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Indecently muscled boys in white pleather briefs and body glitter lolled about at Sunnyside Pavilion on a thick-aired August eve, much to the delight of 1,800 lascivious party-goers. Primed to celebrate the Artist Group's 10th-anniversary bash,...

Schlock value. (Reality Check).
October 1, 2002... When Ken Finkleman's new two-hour movie follow-up to the scathing 1996 series The Newsroom airs this month, it will be his fifth project for the CBC. But before he started to write and direct such highbrow productions as Foreign Objects (rife...

Foxtrot. (Found).
October 1, 2002... Decades before Bathurst and St, Clair was lined with low-rises, a Loblaws and pharmacies advertising tuna-flavoured medicine for cats, the call of hunting horns mixed with the clip-clop of horses' hooves. Here, in 1912, the hounds-no one dared...

My grandfather worked for the same company most of his life. (This Issue).(Editorial)
October 1, 2002... MY GRANDFATHER WORKED FOR THE SAME COMPANY MOST of his life. He was a proud member of its quarter century club. I, on the other hand, have held at least 10 jobs. When I started here in 1992, the longest I'd worked anywhere was at Saturday...

Location, location, location. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2002... Here's an idea for Don Gillmor regarding all those expensive, still-to-be-built production studios he claims will lie barren once the Hollywood heavyweights hightail it back to la-la land ["The Big Picture," September]. How about turning them...

Left, trite and center. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2002... Stereotypes run amok in your profile of Rick Salutin ["The Antagonist," September]. Lefties must relinquish material comforts, feminists don't have sex, and Jewish men have "a thick nose and heavy eyebrows." Your article has convinced me to...

Absolutely not fabulous. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2002... Embarrassing to admit, but I'm a lesbian who reads fab ["Man Bites Man," September]. Before my lesbian activist membership card is revoked, let me clarify: I read fab for a laugh. However, it also makes me sad to see a piece of trash claiming...

Stranger than fact. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2002... I have a grumble with the photograph accompanying Andrew Pyper's superb story in your fiction issue ["Accident," August]. The image was suitable for soft porn, weird sex, David Cronenberg's Crash, but not at all appropriate to illustrate a...

What the doctors ordered. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2002... As legal counsel to the medical staff association of Toronto East General Hospital, I was troubled by the bias in John Lorinc's article ["Ward Games," August]. The responsibility for governing a hospital does not rest solely with the...

Tunnel vision. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2002... You might be interested to know that EPT, a GTA-based environmental transportation group, has an alternative to the tunnel-road replacement of the Gardiner Expressway currently under review by Robert Fung and his people ["Reimagining the...

Oops! (Letters).
October 1, 2002... A couple of errors appeared in the September issue. The release date of Roger Donaldson's Sleeping Dogs was, in fact, 1977. And the upcoming film Sugar, based on short stories by Bruce LaBruce, is to be directed by John Palmer. ...

October at a glance. (This Month).
October 1, 2002... 10 Dishevelled metal lord Alice Cooper captivates with his bedroom eyes and dulcet tones. See page 48. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 12 The hot sands of Tahiti sweep into the AGO with a rare show of Gauguin and Matisse. See page 48. ...

Theatre. (This Month).
October 1, 2002... OPENINGS The Drawer Boy. Michael Healey's award-monopolizing megahit (it's won the Chalmers, the Dora Mavor and a GG) comes back to its native land after a run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. The boundaries between art and life dissolve...

And madness shall reign. (This Month).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... We like our geniuses to have a weakness. If they aren't misfits, drunks or depressives, they should at the very least be raving mad. Heavy-hearted, neurotic Catherine, the mathematics prodigy of David Auburn's Broadway-storming,...

Classical music. (This Month).
October 1, 2002... ORCHESTRAL Sinfonia Toronto. Spirited Canadian violinist Judy Kang, another young stunner, joins the orchestra with Mozart's Violin Concerto no. 4. The group's founder and music director, Nurhan Arman, conducts the little orchestra that...

Trill seeker. (This Month).(opera star Cecilia Bartoli)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... She can sometimes appear to be as astonished as we are by the sounds coming out of her mouth. From Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli (see the listing above), that upfront, guileless joy seems to spell uninhibited good times for audiences accustomed...

Dance. (This Month).
October 1, 2002... Bharatanatyam Festival and Symposium, Through her Kalanidhi Fine Arts organization, Sudha Khandawani has been one of the chief promoters in Canada of the wonderfully rich culture of India. Following the success of her 1999 Kathak Conference,...

Art. (This Month).
October 1, 2002... Ian Carr-Harris. Encyclopedic in his interests, the Diderot of Canadian installation art has created stagy mises en scene, academic text pieces and hard-edged meta-furniture. Books and reproductions have been leitmotifs for this former art...

Nightlife.(calendar of events in Toronto, Canada)
October 1, 2002... CONCERTS Alice Cooper. The Coop (nee Vincent Damon Furnier) descends on Cabbagetown--um, Dragontown--for his first Toronto appearance in three years. His most recent recording, Dragontown, is also the name of an imaginary place where the...

Turn Style. (This Month).(dance music disc jockey Amen Tobin)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Dance music is often regarded as throwaway culture. In providing thrust for avid nightclubbers, its purpose seems more functional than creative. But Brazilian-born DJ-producer Amon Tobin puts the lie to this notion. With a keen sense of music...

Jazz and standards. (This Month).(Directory)
October 1, 2002... Dianne Reeves. With her recent Grammy-winning CD, The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan, Reeves--particularly good at the ballad side of Vaughan's art--has paid rich and telling tribute to the late, great legend. Head and shoulders above the...

Message in a bottle. (This Month).(James Carl, modern art, Mercer Union, and Art Metropole, Toronto, Ontario)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Toronto artist James Carl is a provocateur with an egalitarian streak. One of his most spectacular projects to date was an outdoor installation of vending machines at the Toronto Sculpture Gallery; fronted by a picture of Niagara Falls, it...

Kids' events. (This Month).(Directory)
October 1, 2002... Candy Unwrapped. While it may not blow the lid off the Caramilk ad campaign, the OSC's new exhibit explores the biology and chemistry of candy, as well as the physiological and psychological effects induced by the sweet stuff. At the Taste Bud...

Diversions. (This Month).
October 1, 2002... Celebrate Oktoberfest! All that beer guzzling has a historical excuse. Apparently, it originated with an 18th-century royal wedding feast. Who knew? Oliver Dawson, founder of the Beer Lovers' Tour Company, spills the sodden details to the...

The it spot. (This Month).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Habitat Lounge, 735 Queen St. W., 416-860-1551 What: Riding a royal wave of mod galleries and cookie-cutter condos, that grand old dame, Queen West West, is finally having her jubilee. New to the party is Habitat Lounge, which tries to...

Bland loyalty: the overhauled Maclean's is visually stronger and no longer tethered to yesterday's news. But the prose is still homogenized, controversy is nowhere to be found, and thunderingly obvious ideas are presented as if they were freshly minted. (Media).
October 1, 2002... NOBODY COULD CALL ANTHONY Wilson-Smith indecisive. In March 2001, two days after he became editor of Maclean's, he fired Geoffrey Stevens, 14 years his senior, who had been managing editor and second-in-command for four years. Wilson-Smith had...

Mad about the boys: Locker Room, the world's first gay-themed sports show, fearlessly confronts sexual taboos. On a typical episode, you might find the host talking up the talents of, say, Texas Ranger Ivan Rodriguez. "He makes me wonder why catchers wear a mask--or pants!". (Sports).(television program)
October 1, 2002... LOCKER ROOM BILLS ITSELF AS A PROGRAM for all viewers, "whether you're gay and not into sports or you're into sports but not gay." It's safe to presume, though, that the show draws more of the former than the latter: gay men who'd never dream...

The next mayor: exactly who will be vying for the top job when Torontonians go to the polls next year is not yet clear, but so far the field seems woefully limited. If we had our way, here's who would be running the city--and how.
October 1, 2002... MICHAEL WALKER'S CHEEKY CENSURE motion against Mayor Mel Lastman never stood a chance, and the wily gadfly from North Toronto surely knew its legislative fate when he tabled it at the July session of council. But even without the debate, he had...

Rituals: the ladies who lunge.
October 1, 2002... The Better Living Centre at Exhibition Place might as well be in Oshawa for all the acres of uninhabited concrete surrounding it most of the year. But for a single Wednesday in late October--usually a dreary, ominous one--it comes alive with an...

Little Kabul: on the anniversary of 9/11, Toronto's 20,000 Afghans face an excruciating dilemma: stay here and trade their own futures for their children's, or go home to help rebuild and risk everything.
October 1, 2002... A YEAR AGO, ON A SUNNY TUESDAY MORNING, Daud Saba was sitting at his computer doing some last-minute research for a business trip to India. A geologist with an interest in environmental issues, he was scheduled to fly out in two days, on...

Icons into the woods.(Rosedale Valley Road)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Rosedale Valley Road is a 600-metre strip of pavement that runs like a protective moat far below the southern edge of the city's most exclusive neighbourhood. Before the Road, or the Rosedale, came the Valley. It was formed 10,000 years ago, at...

The divine miss M: Deepa Mehta's themes--from cultural identity to the plight of Indian women--have been daringly bleak. But her latest film is a complete reversal. If comedy is the public face of private tragedy, Bollywood/Hollywood suggests the darkest Deepa yet.
October 1, 2002... IT IS INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY, one of the many manufactured, uncelebrated holidays listed in my daybook. "Should I speak Hindi?" Deepa Mehta asks. She is in the Smash editing suite on Yonge Street making final, minute adjustments to...

Coat tales a bauble thumper. (Super Shopper).
October 1, 2002... Lo de toilette What's slightly pear-shaped, somewhat trashy yet totally captivating? Not only Ms. J. Lo herself, but her hot new signature scent, Glow. A clean, modern blend of pink grapefruit, rose and vanilla, it's a fresh whiff the...

King dynasty: the Nienkamper family has furnished the city's tonier houses and offices for some 35 years. Along the way, they transformed a decaying section of King Street East into Toronto's choice design district. (Design).(how furniture store has influenced interior design)
October 1, 2002... KING STREET BETWEEN PARLIAMENT AND Jarvis is where seekers of good design hope to go when they die. They'll spend eternity strolling from Nienkamper to Italinteriors, Abitare, Ziggurat and other purveyors of top-of-the-line Dutch chairs, Swiss...

Time bandit: while too many restaurants settle into complacency, Xacutti is reinventing Toronto's golden age, with an idiosyncratic style spun from the city's ethnic threads. (Food).(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... MIRRORS ARE POWERFUL JUJU: THEY literally show us the past. The great hyperboloidal primary in the Hubble telescope catches light from the edge of the universe, revealing the 12-billion-year-old status quo. In much the same way, that image I...

Corner House. (A La Mode).
October 1, 2002... *** The vibes here are great, and it's not just because 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...

Patriot. (A La Mode).(Toronto, Ontario)(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... *** Experienced gastronomes understand from empirical observation 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...

Scott Pennock, chef at Pastis for the past three years, has bidden an amiable adieu to owner Georqes Gurnon. (Tidbits).
October 1, 2002... Scott Pennock, chef at Pastis for the past three years, has bidden an amiable adieu to owner Georqes Gurnon. "The man is very talented," explains Gurnon, "and he has been offered a job with the Oliver Bonacini group to take over the kitchen at...

There have also been changes at Toula, the popular Italian resto on top of the Westin Harbour Castle. Executive chef Oscar Turchi could see his home across the lake in St. Catharines whenever he stepped into the dining room; he'll be seeing much more of it now. (Tidbits).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... There have also been changes at Toula, the popular Italian resto on top of the Westin Harbour Castle. Executive chef Oscar Turchi could see his home across the lake in St. Catharines whenever he stepped into the dining room; he'll be seeing...

King West continues its evolution from dot-com wasteland to restaurant strip. (Tidbits).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... King West continues its evolution from dot-com wasteland to restaurant strip. Rumours are rife of a new aphrodisiac eatery, called simply O, opening next to Susur. A block or two east, Peter Tsebelis and his partners, owners of Myth on the...

Huge kudos to Opus and its owners, brothers Tony and Mario Amaro, at news that the restaurant has received Wine Spectator magazine's Grand Award, the first time an Ontario wine list has been so honoured. (Tidbits).
October 1, 2002... Huge kudos to Opus and its owners, brothers Tony and Mario Amaro, at news that the restaurant has received Wine Spectator magazine's Grand Award, the first time an Ontario wine list has been so honoured. That brings Canada's tally to four--with...

Since it opened, Whole Foods Market has aided numerous Toronto charities. (Tidbits).
October 1, 2002... Since it opened, Whole Foods Market has aided numerous Toronto charities. Its latest partner in do-gooding is Eat to the Beat, the October 7 event that brings more than 45 female chefs to Roy Thomson Hall. Of course, Willow Breast Cancer...

Ethiopian House. (African).
October 1, 2002... ** Upstairs, a young crowd splits its attentions among the competing distractions of food, a small bar, TV and loud talk. Formal dining is possible in the charming main-floor room and on the outside patio. The menu has remained the same...

Far Niente. (American).
October 1, 2002... ** For the Bay and Wellington crowd, there's a restorative feeling to this eatery. The vertical huddle of office buildings and banks can hem one in, but here the eye meets expansive horizontal lines, and for the ear there is none of the...

Shopping with chefs. (Restaurants).
October 1, 2002... Monica Chanq of San, 676 Queen St. W., 416-214-9429 Her eyes dart from leaf to leaf as she carefully makes her way through the produce section at Paldo Oriental Food (698 Bloor St. W., 416-537-9939). In quiet appreciation of her prey, San's...

Sammy's Creole. (American).
October 1, 2002... ** The smart money heads for the two enclosed back patios charmingly tricked out like a New Orleans garden terrace. Spanish moss clings to thick-trunked trees that snake to the ceiling. Tiny statuary and red brick floors extend the Big...

Cantine. (Bistro).
October 1, 2002... ** 1/2 [NEW] Settled among a multitude of florists, this long, spacious room is a mix of industrial chic and clubby formality. Brick walls, exposed ducts and trippy computer-generated paintings suggest a grooving ground, while overstuffed...

Nata. (Restaurants).(Toronto, Ontario)(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... This is one well-travelled tart. The monks of the Jeronimos Monastery in Belem (near the mouth of Portugal's Tagus River) are credited with pioneering the sinful little pastry bowls of semi-sweet custard (formally, pasteis de nata) in the 18th...

Le Select Bistro. (Bistro).(Toronto, Ontario)(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... *** Is there a more classic bistro in town? Je pense que non. Not that many Paris bistros hang breadbaskets from the ceiling and refill them with molasses-brown rye. Aside from that trademark eccentricity, though, Le Select cleaves to...

Myth. (Bistro).(Toronto, Ontario)(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... ** 1/2 Quick-stepping passersby may be forgiven if, on fast glance, they surmise this to be more cool bar-club than serious contestant for their dining dollar. Set in the Danforth's souvlaki strip, this sizable space looks more like a...

Brasserie Aix. (French).
October 1, 2002... ** 1/2 Walking through from the casual, sociable front to the inner sanctum, first-timers still gasp at the soaring, peach-coloured ceiling, etched red plaster walls (oblique lighting adding a gilded lustre) and glossy crimson banquettes....

Provence. (French).
October 1, 2002... *** 1/2 Qui va la? Expat French sophisticates, romantic couples, well-heeled locals enjoying the quiet patio on a summer night, exploring the pricey glories of an award-winning wine list (major French crus, but precious little for budget...

360. (International).
October 1, 2002... ** On a clear day, you can see Buffalo. Tourists and locals alike devour the stunning view 1,150 feet up in a pleasantly utilitarian 400-seat room that revolves once every 72 minutes. Two concentric circles are outfitted in white linens,...

Boccacciio. (Italian).
October 1, 2002... *** Although well concealed in the Columbus Centre, the Italian community's very large and modern cultural-recreational facility, Boccaccio asks diners for no membership cards or Italian ancestry. You don't have to be coming from a squash...

Calendar. (Advertising & Promotion & Events & Opportunities).
October 1, 2002... Get the inside scoop on this month hottest events and promotions from the following advertisers: ART TORONTO 2002--TORONTO INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR This exhibition showcases works from Impressionist to Contemporary periods, with...

II Posto. (Italian).(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... *** 1/2 Sunshades in the courtyard give Hazelton Lanes a peaceful piazzetta for summer dining that would merit a postcard home if discovered in Venice. Inside, behind the gorgeous round window, owner Franco Agostino has updated the look...

Mezzetta. (Middle Eastern).(Toronto, Ontario)(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... ** 1/2 While the tapas craze has yet to gain a solid foothold here, the Middle Eastern tradition of mezes--small shared dishes--finds expression across the GTA. This St. Clair West hot spot features an eclectic decor that ranges from...

Little Tibet. (Other Asian).(Toronto, Ontario)(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... *** [NEW] After an eight-month hiatus, Yorkville's dharmic haunt has migrated south to Queen West. The crowd seems less eclectic these days, but the careful cuisine, graceful service and gentle environment remain intact. Saffron walls...

Rhapsody. (Other European).
October 1, 2002... *** Crimson walls display photographs of happy farmhands from the old country, delicately embroidered tablecloths are visible beneath glass protectors, and the gentle strains of Eastern European folk music serenade diners. This comfortable...

Adriatico. (Seafood).
October 1, 2002... ** 1/2 More handsome than ever thanks to some recent renovations, the high-ceilinged dining room bathes in an abundance of natural light reflected off white walls with blue trim. In warmer weather, those in the know book a backyard table...

Benmiller Inn. (Out Of Town).(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... ** 1/2 In summer, flagstone paths take you through a green valley and past a sparkling creek with banks of wild tiger lilies and ever blooming sweet peas. Inside, everything is old (the mill dates back to the 1830s, about as old as it gets...

Escabeche. (Out Of Town).(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... *** 1/2 Despite recent changes (exit chef Lee Parsons, enter Paul Boehmer, ex-Opus), neither the kitchen nor business appears to have suffered. Pre-theatre, the nicest place to dine is under glass, in the sunroom. Some diners may be...

Coffee Mill. ($25 Gourmet).(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... The Saturday dinner hour is a still-thriving Toronto institution--be sure to make reservations. Elegant Hungarian femmes d'un certain age survey the packed, rambling patio, masked by Gucci sunglasses and expressions as cool as their iced coffee...

Fressen. ($25 Gourmet).(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... [NEW] An effort has been made with the decor: snaking twigs and vines, candlelit booths. Likewise the menu; Fressen offers some of the best vegetarian in the city. Helpful servers bring poppy-seed baguette, shot through with tape-nade and...

Mercatto. ($25 Gourmet).(Toronto, Ontario)(Restaurant Review)
October 1, 2002... [NEW] Come lunchtime, the hustle and bustle of Toronto's business district invades this simple but stylish Italian eatery. Not for the shy, marble tables are tightly packed together. The rushed stake out a stool at the bar. A subtly spiced...

The BamBoo: August 26, 1983-October 31, 2002. (The End).
October 1, 2002... With elbow grease from friends and high-interest loans from sharks, Patti Habib and Richard O'Brien transformed a former Chinese laundry on Queen West into Toronto's first high-volume colour-blind club. The surrounding shops--hippie outfitters,...