A Month of Friday Dinners

Since getting to Toronto, I have managed to have dinner somewhere different at the end of each week - finding such a spot was a task I set Kylie, and so began our Friday night dinner catch ups and restaurant discovery endeavours. I love exploring new places, and neighbourhoods, and given this city's vast multicultural vibrancy, we have such a range of amazing options!

The first dinner was really on the Sunday of the weekend I arrived, and ended up being the biggest and most fun night I have had to date. This was at the end of my introductory wander through the CBD with Kylie and Gina, and was at the Cloak and Dagger. This taco fest, and the 27 beers on tap still rates highly with me. Although taste testing such a range did not help me find a Canada beer of choice, and I still dabble in whatever is on offer!

The following week was Kylie and my favourite food place so far, being Guu SakaBar on Bloor Street. We were taken to the tatami area, where shoes were removed and we were seated at sunken tables. The staff were super friendly, and fun, and the whole place had such a buzz to it. This Japanese Izakaya restaurant has an array of dishes on the menu that were drool-worthy just from their description, and even more so on their plates! Deep fried Brie with mango and blueberry sauces....apple cinnamon spring rolls for dessert, a couple of our most memorable. Going to be very, very hard to beat!

Shanghai Cowgirl along Queen Street West with Kylie and Gina was a late night choice at the end of my second work week, and hit the spot with burgers and their hip interior.

I met Kylie and Meg, Chris and Damo in the city near work, at Red Lobster for another Friday night dinner. A chain restaurant, the meal was a seafood feast as the name suggests, and delivers amazing desserts!

In NXNE week, I wandered through Kensington Market area and found Supermarket for our dinner, and Kylie and Meg joined me for Asian tapas, with an international influence - like crispy fish and avocado tacos, which were delicious!

Just last week, we started with drinks at Bang Bang in Little Italy, we being Kylie and Gina and I, before Kylie and I headed for dinner in the next block. Utopia brought Mexican flavours to out palate, with burritos the choice - washed down with one of the few non-Strongbow ciders found in the city.

Very much looking forward to seeing what the next installments of food finds has for us! We are always looking out for suggestions and recommendations - where should we go next?

Toronto's Flatiron Building

The Gooderham Building, stands at the convergence of Wellington and Front Streets, just before St Lawrence Market, and is in that quirky shape like the iconic building in New York City. Actually, reading Why I Love Toronto, it turns out this one here in Toronto was built first, so perhaps I should say that the NYC one is like this one!

The building is so pretty, with it's turret and fire escape stairs running along it's sides. It is also sitting in the middle of a busy area, and stands with the tall CBD buildings behind it. Such a contrast.

The backside of the building has this poster hanging from it, showing you an image of what the inside may look like it the building was sliced opened from that end. It just adds to the magic of this building. A park then completes the oddly shaped city block, and it a lovely leafy space amid the city bustle.

On the bottom floor the building has it's only current occupants, a pub, which I think I definitely need to have a pint in sometime over the Summer. It looks so cute!

NXNE At The Drake

This week the much anticipated North By Northeast Music and Film Festival finally arrived! Since my Toronto plans began developing, I had started researching pretty early on to see what was happening over the Summer in the city, and discovered this indie music festival. I kicked off NXNE on Wednesday night at The Drake with Gina and Vinny.

First up on the bill was Beliefs, which seemed to lack some energy to be honest. Nothing really stood out for us in the set from the local band, which was disappointing given that they had such a great slot to reach a diverse and captive audience.

Eternal Summers were next, and a band I had read a recommendation about that very afternoon. This American 3 piece pulled the growing crowd back with an engaging lead singer, and their indie pop sounds. For one track the drummer took over lead vocals, which was a completely different feel and sound for the band, and was a track that stood out.

The next act was a band neither of us would probably have sought out, and yet the Mac DeMarco set was the pick of the evening - stumbling upon new bands and sounds is the best part of a festival like this! This character with a gap in the front of his teeth arrived on stage with a hillbilly yokel style hat, saying y'all several times, had the crowd hanging on his every word within seconds.

Opening with I'm A Man, and introducing new a song about everyone else from home having babies and getting jobs as a policeman, and that he 'just rolls by', his lyrics and delivery was entertaining and amusing.

Mac DeMarco ended the set with a lap of the crowd, by just kind of rolling onto the stretched hands below, once he announced what he was doing. The most polite crowd surfing I have ever seen, he was carried through the front punters and back to the stage for the end of the track.

This was an act bound to gain some NXNE buzz and fill the rooms of the many sets he has booked across the festival. Definitely worth checking him out!

Metric

To kick off NXNE and to launch their new album, hometown band Metric put on a free show down at Sugar Beach on Monday night. I met Kylie as we both made our way south from work, and we soon found Gina perch at a good spot for the gig.

Kylie and I went in search of food, and found in this tucked away complex behind the sand of Sugar Beach, Against The Grain. Here, we managed to score a table before the rush, and took advantage of the Monday special of a burger and a pint. Perusing the menu has meant we are pretty excited to come back here over summer!

Back outside, we discover that the rain has started, and the crowd gathering for the music are now under umbrellas and soaking in some pretty steady rainfall.

However the rain did little to dampen the excitement from the decent crowd gathered to see their local band play tracks from the album they have released this week, Synthetica.

The new tracks delivered the indie rock edginess that the band is famous for, and lead Emily Haines was chatty between tracks and her synth playing. A busy band on stage, they relayed that they were excited to be doing the show, and for being in town at the start of the massive week long music festival ahead.

How To Dress Well

Ahhh, no, I am not turning into a fashion blogger all of a sudden (if only I had a clue!! Ha!) - How To Dress Well is the name of the band that is Tom Krell, a Brooklyn artist. Natalie put a call out for a gig buddy, and I jumped at the chance to check out a new gig venue and a new band to me.

After work, we headed down Queen Street West and grabbed a table at The Beaconsfield for dinner. Once our meals were done we crossed the road, and found the Underground at The Drake. Canadian music venues seem orientated to seated punters to start, and so we found a couch around the outer edge of the room with the handful of others there.

The second band on the bill soon started, Prince Innocence. Just two of them, the girl's lead vocals were overshadowed by the talent of her accompanying musician playing a host of instruments. They held the crowd's attention, nonetheless.

How To Dress Well arrived on stage without much fuss, and started into his set - electro-experimental tunes, with an R&B feel, and a unique and captivating voice.

Krell was chatty throughout the set, and introduced many of his new songs from an upcoming album release. He really drew energy from the filled room, which added to the intensity of the show. Ending with Decisions as the encore, after contemplating requests from the audience, this was an enchanting set from a band who clearly have a loyal and strong following. One to keep an eye out for!

Jinja Safari

Planning my move to Toronto, I was keen to get into the gig scene straight away, and the show that popped out on last.fm was an Aussie band. On my first day in the city I spotted the venue of this gig, as if it was all meant to be.

Gina and I meant on Queen Street West in time with doors opening on Thursday, and walked down to the Rivoli. We figured out where the bandroom was, and after grabbing a beer, took seats just as the locals were doing. The barman noticed our accents, and made comment that he had never come across so many Australians in Toronto before tonight.

A filled bandroom greeted the support act, Bravestation, and when they introduced themselves as a band from Toronto and seeing most of the crowd really into them, it made a bit more sense to us. This four piece band played 'quirky tribal pop tunes' (according to their webpage), and captured the room completely, and me enough to download their EP (for free here).

This band room was an intimate space, with a mirror down one side. It did empty significantly between bands, which was disappointing for the Aussies, but did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.

Jinja Safari arrived on stage bouncing with energy and excitement to be there. They were chatty to the crowd throughout their funky fun set, and at one point asked how everyone there had even heard of them! Bless!

They were so much fun at Splendour last year, and matched this here in Toronto. Great sound and engagement, but it's the energy and the sheer fun these five lads are having on stage that pulls you in! How many bands do you see pull out a sitar for a couple of tracks!

So amazing to see these guys traveling through North America, a product of Triple J's Unearthed. A great gig to get me started within the full experience of a new city!

Toronto and the CN Tower

When I spotted the iconic CN Tower in the Toronto skyline from the airplane window on Saturday, I must confess, I was pretty excited! I had arrived! And I was seeing that sight that said Toronto for myself.

On Sunday I met up with Kylie and Gina, who took me on a little walking tour of the city. During this, I apologised for taking so many pictures of the tower, but also knowing that unless you grab these unique sights to keep at the start of getting to know a city, they soon become so common place, you totally forget to get any!

On this walking tour we went from our shared neighbourhood area - so fortunate and totally by chance - down to the waterfront. Here, as it was a gorgeous, warm sunny day and a long weekend, it seemed that every Torontonian was out and about soaking in the weather and all the activities on the lake's edge.

The Tower is an omnipresence as you wander through the city, peeking around buildings at every turn. We walked through the Entertainment District and then the Financial District, before heading north to the outskirts of Kensington.

Up on College Street we went into the Cloak and Dagger, for an all-you-can-eat taco special, and many beers. Out in the beer garden we got to chatting with some other punters, one being an Aussie who picked our accents out pretty quickly. Trying out all the Canadian beers on tap, this evening turned into a bigger night than first thought. Surely great for jetlag!

My walk home from the pub, and then from Kylie and Gina's, the Tower was again a presence, with it's constant changing of colours at night.

Monday I walked around the city further, which included checking out the place I will be working, to be sure I knew where to go on my first morning. I also then met up with Natalie, whom I had found in the planning stage of this Summer in Toronto.

I had set out to find a blogger in Toronto, and stumbled upon one who is also doing the MSW! Then, as placements were confirmed, it turns out we are also working at the same place for these 3 months. We met up for a beer and dinner at Sin + Redemption, getting to know each other after our email contacts for the last few months.