Author: Dan Dickinson

Rogue One

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Earlier today I revived old memories and went to Park Lane cinemas, a theatre I frequented as a student. It felt…weird in there. Anyway, I was there to see Rogue One (imdb | rotten tomatoes) and it was a great little afternoon escape into Star Wars world. It took a bit to get going, but once it did I really liked it…good action, funny lines from K-2SO, and a sense of bigness that wasn’t even in episode VII. The 3D glasses gave me a headache, but it was worth it.

Also [SPOILERS] seeing even a glimpse of Princess Leia, just days after Carrie Fisher died drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra, had me a little choked up. RIP, Princess.

Scare in the Crow

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I’d barely gotten off the plane from Vancouver before heading to work, then the company’s holiday party, then a sick day or two, then more work. I was ready for vacation.

First, though, we spent Monday night at The Burdock drinking delicious beer (Meube Noir, dark saison, APA) and watching My Father’s Son (fb | bandcamp) do an excellent live set, followed by a Christmas sing-along at The Three Speed well into the wee hours.

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NOW I was ready for vacation. Thankfully I arrived at the farm two days ago. Stay tuned for stories of supreme relaxation.

.:.

Cover photo from the Three Speed twitter feed.

Going left

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For various work reasons I found myself in Vancouver for three days this week. Never a bad thing, I says. In between meetings I found a few opportunities to entertain my taste buds.

Tuesday

I used my last AC upgrade to get myself into business class, so I was well-fed on the flight from Toronto to Vancouver. A little spicy chicken, a little basmati rice, a little white whine. Actually, a lot of white wine, and terribly oak-ridden at that. I struggled through though, whilst watching Jason Bourne (meh), Ghostbusters (fun), and The Wrath Of Khan (which was under the Classics section, naturally).

I landed at YVR, checked into my modest little hotel (the St. Regis), grabbed a capp from Caffè Artigiano, did some work, and had a killer steak dinner at Gotham:

  • dungeness crab cake w/ lemon dill mayonnaise, paired with Pascal Bouchard ‘Vieilles Vignes’ Chardonnay 2014
  • New York strip steak w/ steamed broccoli, paired with Casa Silva ‘Quinta Generacion’ Cabernet, Colchagua Valley 2011
  • 16-year-old Lagavulin

Not surprisingly I fell asleep on my hotel bed, trying to watch Netflix.

Wednesday

Giant breakfast downstairs, a coffee meeting with my work friend William, lunch at the spectacular Hawksworth restaurant (a burger and glass of Freemark Abbey Cab Sauv), an espresso at a different Artigiano, a meeting at our Vancouver office, and then more work and more coffee back in my hotel room.

That evening I had drinks at Chambar with my old friend Amy. At first we tried the Reflections pop-up at the top of the Hotel Georgia, but it was about seven different kinds of awful. Luckily I know and love Chambar (or the previous incarnation, at least); I had a Timmermans gueuze and a Grimsbergen dubbel and we shared some charcuterie and over-truffle-oiled bison carpaccio, and got caught up on…I don’t know, seven years?

Thursday

All-day meeting. Flight was delayed; I killed at time at Vino Volo wine bar in YVR and then got home in the middle of the night.

So cold. So close.

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Despite badly outplaying Seattle (outshooting them 17-3) Toronto FC lost the MLS Cup final last night, falling in penalties on a freezing night at BMO Field. Toronto had a ton of great scoring chances; Seattle didn’t have a single shot on target through 120 minutes. But then it was penalties, and in penalties it comes down to luck. Shit way to lose the championship, in my opinion, but there you go.

I was still lucky enough to see it, with more than 35,000 on hand despite freezing temperatures. I survived the cold pretty well (except for my toes…didn’t plan that part properly) but then the walk home almost killed me. Streetcars weren’t running, the buses were overloaded, and every taxi was occupied. I finally got in one around Spadina and Richmond, and got home around midnight, after 4.5 hours outside. It took me an hour to warm up again.

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Next year, TFC. Qu’est-ce que vous chantez? Nous chantons les rouges allez.

Cover photo by Steve Lyon, used under Creative Commons license

Ye shall make you no idle

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I took a vacation day yesterday. Here’s what I did, in no particular order:

  • read ~200 news feeds
  • did laundry
  • bought groceries at the market
  • got a haircut
  • did about two hours of work
  • dropped off suits for dry cleaning
  • met with my lawyer
  • bought a bunch of Christmas presents, and some bad-ass olive oil
  • went to a bank branch (not by choice, mind you)
  • practiced some french
  • took out the recycling
  • upgraded my flight to Vancouver next week
  • managed my cash flow
  • submitted some work expenses
  • watched an episode of Black Mirror and the Raptors game
  • made a list of the 100 top-rated movies of 2016 and where I could see them
  • ripped two DVDs
  • bought coffee beans
  • answered about a dozen personal emails
  • ordered more Christmas gifts online
  • ate a roast beef sandwich
  • backed up my computer
  • 70 push-ups
  • met with a stager who’s helping me sell my place
  • managed my NHL fantasy team
  • bought a new belt
  • ate 1/3 of a pizza and drank a bottle of wine
  • learned some Toronto FC songs
  • talked on the phone + Skype for almost two hours
  • watched 1/3 of 10 Cloverfield Lane

What I’ve realized in recent years is that I’m virtually incapable of being idle. I can relax — usually on vacation — but my need to feel productive is almost overwhelming, even on my days off. Keep in mind, there was lots of fun stuff happening on that list above so it’s not like it was a shift in the salt mines, but still…I’m realizing that languor is just not in my DNA.

.:.

Cover photo by Steve Lyon, used under Creative Commons license

Slow down, life. Slow down.

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It’s rare that I go this long without posting, but it’s rare that I’m this busy. I’m going point-form this time, just ’cause.

  • Ten days ago, the Wednesday before last, I caught up with my old friend M2 at Batch, which he’d not tried. The beer was fine. The food was good. The conversation was, as always, long overdue and excellent.
  • That Friday a busy, noshy weekend started with an outrageous dinner at Carisma. Bread, burrata, calamari, pasta, white wine, a 100% Sangiovese that almost made me cry, creme brulee, espresso…oy. Barely made it home without needing a nap.
  • Saturday: pastries from XO Bisous, St. Lawrence Market, Arrival (imdb | rotten tomatoes), beers at Thirsty & Miserable (including a Westy 12!), and so much meat at Triple A.
  • Sunday: greasy Sunset Grill breakfast, an entire day grazing on the charcuterie picked up the day before at the market, and gnocchi + sausage + spicy sauce for dinner.
  • Monday: ham & cheese croissants from XO Bisous before I finally gave up and went to work.
  • Tuesday: I had to bail on drinks Monday, and (by choice) bailed on a work event Tuesday, because on Wednesday I was off to Ottawa for meetings.
  • Wednesday: I flew to Ottawa early in the morning, and arrived at my hotel early enough that I had time for a coffee at Morning Owl before my meetings started. I hit Morning Owl two more times that day (once for lunch, once for a meeting that afternoon), then had a fairly generic dinner at the Chateau Laurier.
  • Thursday: Morning Owl (again!) for coffee and breakfast. After my meetings and then a few errands I stopped at Bluebird Coffee in the Byward Market before meeting CB to get a ride with her to their place, wherein GB was preparing homemade fried chicken, which we ate with Dumangin 2004 Champagne. I caught an Uber X back to my hotel and had a glass of Norm Hardie cab franc at the bar.
  • Friday (Ottawa): black bean rolls and an Americano from Bread & Sons, back to Morning Owl for coffee to meet my friend Mark, and then lunch at Union 613 with my friend Dino. Union has an excellent beer lineup, and their fried chicken (yup, twice in two days) was outstanding, as was their corn bread. After lunch it was off to the train station and, from thence, Montreal.
  • Friday (Montreal): after a brief stop at Studio XX it was dinner surrounded by super-loud French bros at Bières et Compagnie, followed by a much better beer place: Pub Pit Caribou. I’ll be honest, I don’t even know what the main beer list looks like, because their menu said they were featuring guest bottles of Gueuze Tilquin. My holy fucking grail. Both kinds, the L’Ancienne and the Quetsche. Deeeeeeeelicious.
  • Saturday: so relaxing, Saturday. Enough pastries to kill a man, then hours of Black Mirror, then another killer dinner at Maison Publique. Seared mackerel, spiced lamb tartare on mint toast, roasted cabbage (better than it sounds, probably because it was smothered in butter), fried rabbit, and a pôt de crème, mostly paired with a Painted Rock Syrah.
  • Sunday: my flight home got cancelled, so I switched myself onto the latest flight possible so as to extend my enjoyment of Montreal. I hit two more spots on my list: Brasserie Boswell, which was really cool and had lots of great beer on tap, and Depanneur Peluso, the top-rated dep in Montreal for craft beer. I bought a few bottles, including a Beau’s One Ping Only, partly because it’s a tasty-looking Baltic Porter, and partly because of the Hunt For Red October reference.
  • Monday: now back in Toronto, I left work to meet up with my buddy Jeff at Little AAA, the second installation of old favourite AAA. A couple of bourbons, a pulled pork sandwich, and smoked chicken wings later, I find myself in dire need of salad and water.

Plus lentement, s’il vous plaît.

Cover photo from the Gabardine site

Gabardine

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With a friend/colleague in town and wanting to meet up for a drink, I scouted possible options near his hotel. Having never tried it, despite a long-standing intention to do so, I settled on The Gabardine. We met before it got too busy, after a Christmas-strewn shortcut through The Bay.

I had a lovely little bourbon + ginger ale cocktail, and (at the bartender’s insistence) a plate of “crispy fried grits, pickled jalapenos, nacho cheese, bacon, and maple” that was decadent and completely delicious.

I am seriously pissed at myself for not trying that place sooner.

.:.

Cover photo from the Gabardine site

 

The bitter drink

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Another weekend. Another epic weekend.

Friday

Christ, it was impossible to get out of Toronto. I’ve never seen Billy Bishop airport like that. A lot of commuter fliers + a few canceled flights = chaos on the island. My flight was an hour late leaving, and sat on the Montreal tarmac for fifteen minutes while we waited for an open slot. I didn’t have much in me but to get in a cab, drop my bags, listen to music, play some poker, and drink some beer.

Saturday

I had a plan. A plan for beer. After driving in a delicious breakfast sandwich it was off to Le Saint Bock — tremendous beer, and tasty frites, but a weird vibe…I’m not used to craft beer places also being sports bars. Anyway, after pints of Hefeweizen and Saison, this was the sample lineup:

  • Malédiction Milk Stout
  • King Kunta Shiraz Saison Noire Impériale Vieillit en Fût de Shiraz
  • Pénitente Blanche Épicée
  • Harvest Ghosts American Brown Ale au Piment Bhut Jolokia
  • Jésus Chéri Ale Brune Impériale Aux Cerises
  • Black IPA (Brasserie Dunham)
  • L’ambiguë Rousse Bitter (La Voie Maltée)
  • Cidre à la Cerise (Vergers de la Colline)

Next up was L’Amère a Boire, just up the street. While the beer here was less impressive (the stout and red were fine, but…just fine) the food was very tasty. Rabbit dumplings? Lamb spring rolls? Yes please. Also: hot butch servers. Anyway.

A delicious, colourful stop at G&G Patisserie and a much-needed americano at Café Sfouf later and then it was time for Station Ho.st, the home bar for Hopfenstark.

It was fricking rammed with beer nerds and stressed servers, so it started off rocky, but got a little better — especially when the flammekueche w/ crème fraiche, oignon, lardon, and emmental cheese showed up. The beer was almost too nerdy, if you know what I mean.

  • 7 Sisters: Mérope Belgian Pale Ale
  • Baltic Porter de L’Ancrier Baltic Porter
  • Saison Station 55 Saison amère
  • Berlin AlexanderPlatz Berliner Weisse

Clearly that wasn’t quite enough booze and food, so after a brief respite it was off to Pullman wine bar for some late-night charcuterie and fromage, and glasses of pinot noir and cab franc and more cab franc and barolo.

I barely remember getting home.

Sunday

Sfouf indeed. Pastries and coffee please. Honestly, not much happened on Sunday apart from some delicious relaxation, until it was time for dinner at Maison Publique…and mon dieu. What a dinner.

First of all, the wine list: it’s entirely Canadian, and it’s easily the best Canadian wine lineup I’ve ever seen. Not the biggest, but certainly the best-curated. When I first walked in I saw bottles on the bar from TH Wines, Tawse, Pearl-Morissette, and so on. I ordered that TH Wines Cab-Merlot by the glass to start.

And then there was the food. Gawd. It was…well:

  • octopus & lentil salad
  • beets in marjoram, aioli
  • ricotta gnocchi in duck + pork ragu
  • magret de canard
  • olive oil cake

For the main meal the sommelier suggested a bottle of 2007 Southbrook Poetica Cab Merlot, which was amazing. After dessert he recommended glasses of Closson Chase chardonnay and Southbrook Triomphe Cab Franc.

The wine, the ambience, the service…it might be my new favourite place in Montreal.

Monday

Time to head up to my work conference in Mont Tremblant. A ginormous yummy breakfast, mimosas, and a péché mortel filled me up until I made the long drive up. Mercy.

Montreal, je t’aime.