It's Getting Better All the Time

We popped into the Rosedale Diner for a bite before going to a New Year's Eve party and were once again blown away by the quality of the food, the warm ambience and the friendly, attentive service. The Diner was one of the first restaurants we went to when we first moved to Toronto in 2007 and it's only gotten better over the years. We almost always order the same combo: hummus and calamari as appetizers and the chicken dijonaisse and a special as mains - a recent special was homemade sausage with truffle frites. We're lucky living right around the corner, but it's well worth a trip!

Http://rosedalediner.com

Single Issue Voter

If I was able to vote in the Toronto mayoral election (which alas I am not, as a non-citizen resident), one issue would top my list of concerns: the abysmal state of the street food situation in Toronto. I've opined about this before (http://yyzine.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-take-it-all-back.html), but my recent trip to Portland, Oregon, named as the top street food city in the WORLD by Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine has left me positively steaming.

Let's run the numbers, shall we?

Portland:
* Population - 582,130
* Demographics - 78.6% white
* The Portland public school system has over 1,800 students who come from homes where over 60 different languages are spoken.

Toronto:
* Population - 2.5 million
* Demographics - 53% white
* Half of Toronto's population was born outside of Canada
* No single nationality or culture dominates Toronto's immigrant population, placing it among the most diverse cities in the world
* 47% of the population has a mother tongue other than English or French
* The city's 911 emergency services are equipped to respond in over 150 languages
* The Toronto District School Board is the most multilingual and multicultural school board in the world. More than 50% of 270,000 students speak a language other than English at home

Where would you expect to find better quantity and quality of street food?

Well, you're wrong.

Number of street food carts in Portland: 500 (e.g, Southern pulled pork buns, Mexican burritos, Korean bulgogi, Thai-style Hainan chicken...) - $25 propane permit and a couple of hundred bucks for a health inspection.

Number of street food carts in Toronto: 310 at designated spots with annual permits costing $5,000 or more. Street vendors are prohibited from selling any meat that isn't pre-cooked, and hot dogs are pretty much the only thing they can legally sell. Also banned are any toppings or sauces that require refrigeration, hence no mayo or cheese. (and no espresso carts with milk, either...)

According to a glowing article in the June 11, 2010 issue of the Vancouver Sun, "Here in Portland, we have a couple of agencies who offer micro-lending to carts who wouldn’t normally qualify for standard business loans...Allow the carts to sell a quality, safe product without the owners having to hurdle red tape with multiple agencies.”

And in Toronto? It's basically socialized street food. A pathetic food cart "pilot" competitively selected 15 street food vendors, the final stage of which involved review by a small panel of food experts who judged the proposed food items from the standpoint of diversity, quality and culinary excellence. Only 8 vendors decided to proceed. The verdict? A recent Toronto Star article cuts to the chase: "ethnic street food offerings bland."

Visit my "Portland or Toronto?" photo album at http://on.fb.me/uX21zw

Destination: Train Station

When the latest issue of Architectural Record arrived in the mail, I paged through it fully prepared to find the usual array of stunning buildings and public spaces in locations I would be unlikely to ever visit. But after seeing the photos of the new Santiago Calatrava-designed Liège-Guillemins TGV Railway Station in Liège, Belgium and googling to find it was only an hour from Brussels where I was going the following week.. and bingo, I hit the jackpot!

And so on March 10 I boarded a train for my first trip planned entirely around seeing a building (I've made my share of pilgrimages for Frank Lloyd Wright, Gaudi and Hundertwasser to be sure, but they weren't the impetus for the trip). The building was as spectacular in person as in the magazine photos, and even more impressive when you see it in the context of the small brick buildings of the surrounding city. On the outside, it looks like a giant spaceship ready to take off, perhaps more what you'd expect for an airport. The inside evokes a soaring cathedral.

With a few hours to spare before my return train, I hopped in a cab to visit the Grand Curtius, which re-opened about a year ago after a 50 million euro redevelopment. The building is an imposing red brick and stone structure overlooking the Meuse River, built in the early 1600s as a private mansion for Jean Curtius, industrialist and munitions supplier to the Spanish army. I was delighted to find beautifully designed gallery spaces with interesting archeology, weaponry, decorative art and religious art collections, most with informative descriptions in English.

On the ride back to the station, we passed a beautiful sculpture of a diver soaring over the river.

Definitely a worthwhile day trip!

Not Quite Ready for Prime Time, Apparently

From today's Weekend Edition National Public Radio program in the U.S. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105064968

"Close your eyes and imagine a perfect vacation. Where you would choose to go if money, distance and time were no limitation? Paris and/or Provence? Rio or Hong Kong? The peaks of New Zealand? Or the pastas, porcinis and vinos of Tuscany? A recent poll says you'd go to Canada. An online survey of people in 20 countries shows that Canada is the place most people would choose to visit if Loonies — were no limitation. Host Scott Simon speaks with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Michael Enright about the new study."

At last! The recognition we deserve! Surely listeners from around the world will come and spend their tourist dollars in Canada this summer!

But wait a minute. What's Michael Enright's first comment upon hearing the news about Canada's standing in this poll? Laughing, he says "my first reaction, being a Canadian of course, is I have to apologize to all the other countries. You see, that's part of our national charater, so I'm really sorry to those folks. "

He goes on to describe "the perfect week in Canada." On Ontario? "Hmm, if you like fishing and hunting and shooting and killing small animals, I suppose Ontario is ok. Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world, the food is varied and interesting." About BC? "Now BC is very interesting because the people who live there know that they've got it made, and they have probably the most beautiful geography in the country, and they never stop talking about it, but they don't tell you about the rain and as you know, it rains all the time." No mention at all of the Canadian rockies. He mainly praised Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, but even there "you set the clock half an hour ahead, 1956."

I should have known better. The story's headline on the NPR website reads, "Your Top Vacation Spot? Canada, Apparently."

If You Have To Say It... What Does It Say?

As Toronto celebrates its 175th year, I'm detecting a bit of a shift in the rhetoric about its standing as a city from an odd combination of self-conscious insecurity and righteous indignation, to the realization that, by jove, we are terrific and we shouldn't apologize for it.

Exhibit D*, from an article about the local literary scene in the Official Guide to Doors Open Toronto (which is celebrating its 10th year and a wonderful way to experience the city - more on that later):

"In the greater scheme of things, Toronto is still a bit of an adolescent. But the confidence that our writers now have to set their work in Toronto and to find their inspiration in Toronto speaks to a city that's coming of age, wanting to be real, not trying to be a Paris or London or New York or wherever." Jane French, Project Manager, Doors Open Toronto

"In the past, we've had this compulsion to compare ourselves to other cities - to say that literature matters if it comes from New York or Chicago or Mumbai or London or Dublin, but if it comes from Toronto it's provincial and parochial and doesn't matter as much. That's been part of the problem. What's changed is that we've started measuring the city against its own merits." Amy Lavender Harris, Geography Professor, York University

*This exhibit business began in my April 9 post:
http://yyzine.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-new-hobby.html

And the Winner is...

A few weeks ago, I threw out the challenge: "I'm anxiously waiting for the day when an article in a popular media outlet boldy praises Toronto without apologizing, looking backwards or making comparisons."

And the winner is... The New York Times. In a travel article on Toronto, posted today but dated for Sunday's issue:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/travel/17hours.html?hpw

My favourite line is about the Frank Gehry-designed renovation of the AGO: "It’s a stunning homecoming for an architect credited with helping other cities flourish, not that Toronto needs a hand."

There's a pretty nice slideshow too (can you guess the location of the photo above?)

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/05/17/travel/0517-toronto_14.html

Bumptious Yankee Alert

Exhibit C, From today's Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090514.BARBER14ART2258/TPStory/?query=toronto

On Richard Florida, "tireless promoter of the so-called 'creative economy,' best-selling economist and famous would-be Canadian":

"Clearly, this man will never fit in to Toronto, no matter how hard he tries...He is relentlessly positive about the city and its prospects. He's all silver linings, no clouds. He's so American!That's what makes him such a great catch for Toronto, despite any eye-rolling that mention of the "creative class" might now inspire among hype-weary locals. The city needs a regular infusion of bumptious Yankees. It wouldn't be Toronto without them."

Well, having just reviewed the definitions of bumptious available online, I'm not going to count myself as one of them. A great catch, maybe!