Black & Blue, Knicks & Spurs, hot & hotter

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Earlier this week I had a work dinner at Black & Blue steakhouse. Lindsay and I had visited the Vancouver location seven years ago* and quite liked it, but I’d heard mixed things about the new-ish Toronto outpost. Here’s what I ate:

  • Appetizers
    • Beef Carpaccio w/ horseradish crema, pickled shimeji mushrooms, crispy shallot, fried capers, shaved parmigiano reggiano
    • Crispy Calamari w/ humboldt squid, lemon, italian parsley, charred jalapeño aioli
    • Sashimi Omakase w/ two each of king salmon, bluefin tuna, hamachi, scallop, and sea bream
  • Mains
    • 10oz Australian Wagyu Rib-Eye
    • Crispy Brussels Sprouts w/ lemon, capers, parmesan, chilies
    • Wagyu rice

* It recently occurred to me that perhaps the two best Wagyu experiences I’ve ever had — that one at Black & Blue Vancouver, and one more recently in Victoria — were on the east coast. I am slowly forming a theory that the Wagyu is amazing when it arrives in BC and becomes slightly less magical as it makes its journey east to Toronto. Still amazing…but just marginally less amazing.

.:.

Because it came amidst the NHL playoffs andthe opening round of the World Cup, I didn’t make note here of the NBA finals. While I have been a Raptors fan since moving here the year after their inaugural season, the two teams I identified with in the 90s were the Knicks and the Spurs. The Spurs had a team personality that I liked, a hall of fame coach, great bigs like David Robinson and Tim Duncan, and they ultimately became one of the more successful franchises of the past few decades. The Knicks had been more of an underdog story, not having won a title since before I was born, in large part because they kept running into the Bulls, or later the Rockets. But I loved players like Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and John Starks and Anthony Mason, and the NY grit they brought. So it was great to see them play in the finals, and even better to see the Knicks win their first title since 1973.

.:.

The past week has been insufferably hot, not just in Toronto but all across North America (and Europe, apparently). I woke up feeling like the heat had finally broken; that it already felt like 27 degrees with the humidex at 9am shows just how hot it was earlier in the week. It was so hot that we couldn’t really even go to the top floor of our (flat roof) house. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Gäster

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Right after I got back from Halifax we had some special house guests: Tess & Aravind (och barnet) visiting from Sweden, by way of Halifax.

We hosted them here for four nights, and it was great fun. We caught up and cooed at the baby. We got coffee and bought gifts. We ate dinner in our backyard and at a few restaurants (Avling, White Lily). We watched the World Cup and had a picnic in Riverdale East Park. The visiting baby delighted in Bianca; the visiting adults did not care for her. The baby also took bites out of some cork coasters and gnawed marks into our coffee table. It was good for our souls to have them here, and we’re hoping to see them again when we visit in July.

A (work) week in Halifax

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This past week I was in Halifax for two different work purposes. Just one day out the five I was there was kind of damp, otherwise it was a gorgeous week.

Sunday: Vino Volo, an easy flight sitting next to someone I knew, a long commute into downtown Halifax because one of the bridges was shut down, the Prince George Hotel (my home for the next five nights), Stillwell (where 2 beers and a large Japanese fries was $21 and I was asking myself why I don’t live there) and then, much later, Rosie’s Burgers.

Monday: classic Halifax weather (fog like a blanket), day one of a conference, lots of trips to the Weird Harbour on Barrington, then EDNA for dinner*.

Tuesday: gorgeous weather, day two of the conference, more Weird Harbour, Gahan House with a big crew, and a sunset sail around the harbour on the Tall Ship Silva.

Wednesday: the other Weird Harbour, a walk down Spring Garden and back through the Public Gardens, a full day of meetings, dinner at Salt + Ash, wine at Peacock (they let me pick the wine, so Slovenian Cabernet Sauvignon it was!) and more perfect weather.

Thursday: day two of meetings, still more Weird Harbour, another gorgeous day, and after the meetings wrapped a colleague and I walked to brother #1’s house for a bbq and the Canada/Qatar match with brother #2.

Friday: hotel breakfast, one last Weird Harbour visit (along with what I think was the Spanish SailGP team), airport, terrible pizza, and an easy flight home.

.:.

Dinner at EDNA

  • Aperitif
    • glass of muscat/grenache gris orange wine
  • Appetizer
    • beet salad: pickled and roasted beets, whipped ricotta, hazelnut, mint, radish, cucumber,
      maple-balsamic reduction
      • glass of pinot noir
  • Main
    • pork collar w/ carrots and apple and dill
      • glass of grenache/syrah
  • Dessert
    • chocolate coconut mousse w/ hazelnut praline, strawberry coulis, chantilly cream
      • glass of sauterne

The Montrachet of Italy

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Last night we had dinner at Carisma, using a gift card that had given to us as a Christmas gift. We arrived to find it nearly empty — I guess everyone was avoiding downtown because of the World Cup?

Anyway, here’s what we had:

  • Cocktails
    • Negroni
    • glass of Falanghina
  • Appetizers (shared)
    • Warm wild mushroom salad w/ organic greens, warm goat cheese, balsamic vinaigrette
    • Scallops w/ more wild mushrooms
  • Pasta & mains (shared)
    • Spaghettini w/ black tiger shrimp, brandy tomato cream
    • Mediterranean sea bass w/lemon, extra virgin olive oil
      • bottle of 2020 Chardonnay Umbria Cervaro della Sala Antinori
  • Dessert
    • Molten chocolate cake
      • glasses of 2015 Recioto Della Valpolicella Domini Veneti

Normally dessert would be a compromise on something not quite so chocolate-y, but I got to choose because Lindsay accidentally fired sauce all over my shirt when she dismantled a shrimp.

I’m the captain now

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I returned home yesterday from my latest trip to Moncton, the first in a while.

Monday I had a coffee meeting at Epoch Chemistry. That evening, my mom & dad, brother #2, and the S-I-L came over for dinner at The Gahan House.

Tuesday I did a full day in the office, before a bunch of us drove over to Shediac for dinner at Captain Dan’s. It was too chilly to sit outside and fully enjoy the shore setting, but a beer, a chicken sandwich, and good company went a long way.

Wednesday we spent the afternoon outside making beds for kids, so felt like we earned beers on the patio at Monk 10, followed by a big team dinner at The Bunker and a nightcap at St. James Gate.

Thursday was another full day of work events, so I was too introvert-tired to do much other than crash in my room with takeout, especially since I had to be up at 4am to catch a flight.

So: nothing groundbreaking in terms of restaurants, but it sure is a lot more fun being there for patio weather.

The end of Hacks & Habs

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This weekend marked the end of two unexpected successes.

Thursday marked the final episode of Hacks (imdb). We only started watching it a couple months ago, but quickly burned through all 46 episodes, and caught up just before the series finale. We’d heard it was good, but couldn’t have known just how good it turned out to be. It was definitely our favourite thing that we were watching. At some point during our watch I pointed out how many parallels there are to BoJack Horseman, so it’s no wonder we liked it.

Last night the Habs were smoked by the Carolina Hurricanes, who look poised to win their first cup in twenty years. As severe as their beating in this series was, the season as a whole has to be considered a huge win. They’re the youngest team in the league, and they made the Eastern Conference Final. No one gave them a chance to beat Tampa in the first round, and they did. Few people thought they’d beat Buffalo in the second round, and they did. Their core is young, their talent pipeline is strong, their contracts are well-managed, and both their organization and their coaching staff are excellent. They learned from their first-found playoff exit last year; they’ll learn from this too. Their season ended less than 24 hours ago, but I’m already excited for next year.

For now, though: let’s go Blue Jays.

Kourts help rid the airwaves of krap

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There are very few songs, or pieces of music, that I find myself utterly unable to listen to because they’re so bad. Sure, I’m judgy about music in general, but there are a select few ditties that anger me. “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys, for example.

Another is an ad that occasionally plays while I’m watching SportsCentre in the morning, relaxing with my coffee, trying to center myself before the day begins: the ad for Kars 4 Kids. The instant I hear the first note, I dive across the couch to grab the remote and hit the mute button, often making a guttural sound to block out the janky little earworm before it can take hold.

Last week I read that, following a California court decision to ban the ad for false advertising. (“A strategy of deception” was the judge’s exact phrasing.) The CBC has since removed the ads from circulation; I can only hope all other channels follow. Not just for using deceptive practices, but because it’s one of the most loathsome jingles ever foisted upon the public.

Why yes, I do feel strongly about this.

Pounded Sour Night Burn

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Brother #1 was in town this week, so we got to break bread together a few times. Monday night Lindsay and I met him at Bar Ardo, which I’d been to once before, but Lindsay hadn’t.

I don’t remember everything the brother had, but Lindsay and I had:

  • Grilled Mediterranean octopus, cucumber, cannellini beans puree, mint
  • Confit artichoke, capers, breadcrumbs, mint, Sicilian pecorino
  • Grilled sourdough bread, whipped butter, Sicilian anchovies (we didn’t order this, but our server accidentally punched this in, so she gave it to us anyway)
    • bottle of Nerello Mascalese
  • Marinated charcoal organic chicken w/ verde salad (me)
    • glass of Soave
  • Lobster pasta special (Lindsay)
    • glass of Sauvignon Blanc
  • Espresso

Not a great dining experience, overall — wrong things ordered, food coming out at random times, Lindsay’s pasta wasn’t great, etc. But somehow it was still $220+tip. for the two of us. Anyway.

Later in the week I was downtown after a meeting, so I met up with the brother for lunch near his hotel at Som Tum Jinda. Cool little spot, and the food was fantastic. I had the Massaman duck confit; I don’t remember what the brother got but he seemed quite pleased with it. He left there and flew on to Ottawa, promising to say hi to his friends who I became close with when I lived with him for a summer.

Also, on the walk there, I tried a new (to me) coffee spot that he’d tried the day before: Black Wolf. It was good — my acid test is always asking for a cortado to see if they get the flavour and temp right, and they did.

That same day, I ended up at a work dinner at yet another new place: Notte. Well, it’s a new incarnation, but certainly not a new location for me: I spent so many dinners there when it was the wine bar, and next door at Hank’s for breakfast, that I couldn’t even count them. Anyway, the food was pretty decent:

  • Housemade focaccia w/ parmesan butter & chive oil
  • Grilled lamb speducci w/ herb marinade, anchovy, spiced yogurt
  • I had the roasted cavatelli bianco w/ roasted semolina, pork & lamb sausage, butter, pecorino, toasted hazelnuts
    • glasses of Orvieto Classico and Lazio Bianco and Cannonau

I brought home a piece of lemon olive oil cake for Lindsay but she didn’t want it, so guess who did? This guy.

And that’s…the end of the Stories

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I uninstalled Instagram from my phone this week. I haven’t yet deleted my account — I do think I get some small utility from local and wine-based accounts — but getting it off my phone solves the immediate problem, which is that the algorithm kept luring me in and fiddling with my brain. I’d been thinking about deleting it for weeks, but pulled the trigger when I was listening to a random episode of Q from last fall where Scarlett Johansson talked about never having been on social. That felt like the universe giving me a sign.

At this point I have no social media left on my phone, having deleted my Twitter account(s) last year, and deactivated my Facebook account about five years before that. I have, of course, never owned a TikTok account. I mean, maybe Reddit counts? But I spend very little time on there.

Early returns are promising. Within a day of deleting the app I’d read more of my current book than I’d read in the previous two weeks.

So high, solo, so low, so high up

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A couple days after we got back from our trip, Lindsay got sick. And then a few days later I got sick. And then, just as I was starting to feel better, Bianca got sick. She had some kind of UTI or something. But I’m happy to report that, after a couple of very expensive vet bills, she seems to be fine again. She’s a very good girl.

So yeah, it was quite a week. We were both pretty excited for a change of pace by the time Friday rolled around, and we were glad that months-ago us had booked symphony tickets — even if months-ago me couldn’t predicted that both the Canadiens and Raptors would be playing critical game 6s that night. Anyway.

We decided to have dinner at Canoe first, which was somehow Lindsay’s first time there. Luckily, the weather was perfect, so had miles of clear view from the 54th floor. We ate:

  • olive oil poached atlantic salmon w/ horseradish, pickled apple, crispy parsnip
  • a half-dozen oysters
    • glasses of Taittinger Brut Réserve Champagne
  • I had the duo of pork: roast tenderloin, crispy belly, kohlrabi, baby turnip, cider jus
    • glass of Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy, 2022
  • Lindsay had the wild BC halibut w/ kohlrabi écrasé, cider cream + roasted squid risotto nero
    • glass of Domaine Fabien Coche, Bourgogne Côte-d’Or, Burgundy, France 2023
  • screeched tarte au sucre w/ wintergreen chantilly + brown butter milk sauce
    • coffee, tea

We rushed out of there to catch our 7:00 show, and realized only when we got there that the show was for 7:30, not 7:00. That was my bad. I was so fixated on how this conflicted with the Montreal game that I just conflated their start times.

Our tickets were to a multipart program:

  • Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3 w/ soloist Lukáš Vondráček
  • The world premiere of Cris Derksen’s short piece ‘STILL HERE’
  • Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70

[UPDATE: tragically, just two weeks after this concert, Cris Derksen was killed in a car accident.]

Obviously I know nothing about Rachmaninoff, or this piece, or piano concertos in general, but it certainly seemed a challenging technical piece. My only other observation was that the soloist seemed to be rushing the music. He seemed to rarely look at up conductor Elim Chan during the most challenging runs, during which he seemed to run away from the orchestra. Chan had to do yeoman’s work to hold it all together, from what little I could tell.

Anyway, we left there and got home to a still-happy cat, and I got to see the final few moments of overtime in the Montreal game in which Tampa forced game 7, and RJ Barrett’s insane-sky-high-bounce-and-in 3 at the end of OT to force game 7 in a series no one thought the Raptors could win.

So I guess I know what I’m doing Sunday.