Urbanation

urbanation

Life in Toronto Dissected

: y r o t s d l o t n u s ' y t i ss c e l e e m Th o h d n a

ung o Y > day a n i . o . t to our-guide- and eats on the cheap exotic food plus----> ce n e r w a l . t -at-s h s e r f g n i gett

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UrbaNation is an idiot’s guide to Toronto for grown their roots and are ready to make the here and realize they know very little about T same kinds of people it Urbanation

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Fall 2010

urbanation Life in Toronto Dissected

r every suburbanite who decides they’ve outhe move to the big city, or for those who live t The Big Smoke. Our magazine is created by the it is directed towards.

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urbanation Life in Toronto Dissected

in-focus districts guides food & drink

Sports opinion

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7 10 19 32 43 46

Humber College Inistiture of Technology and Advanced Learning School of Media Studies and Information Technology 205 Humber College Blvd.

Toronto, Ontario, M9W 5L7 416-675-6622 http://magazines.humber.ca lara.king@humber.ca Contents page photo by Natashia Fearon.

Cover, inside spread and back cover photos by Tai Duong.

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Fall 2010

contents 29 The Truth: Homelessness Toronto in a day

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21

exotic eats on the cheap Fresh at the st. lawrence

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10

Will anchampong be in?

16

is gaybourhood goin’ down?

41

Cow tippin’ to city slickin’

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that’s good beer, folks 32

fresh Vs. urBan

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pub pints and pot pies

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Ethnic at home

12

Better with Age

14

Beyond Spadina

19

Sleepless in toronto

43

homefield advantage

23

big city, tough love

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The Hybrid question

26

Never miss a beat

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East Vs. West

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Fall 2010

urbanation masthead Publisher: William Hanna

EDITORIAl Trevor Koroll Johnna Ruocco Malorie Gilbert

Editor-in-Chief Executive Editor Managing Editor

Online Tai Duong Alicia Condarcuri

editors note

Section Editors

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n a year when Toronto has hosted the world’s top leaders, and when citizens are set to elect a new mayor who will take the city into a new decade, it is no overstatement that Canada’s largest city will be under the media microscope more than ever. With this in mind, Urbanation Magazine focuses on the diversity that makes this city one of the most multicultural in the world.

Simply put, Urbanation Magazine is a guide to Toronto. Keeping with that mantra, Urbanation covers parts of Toronto life, from the St. Lawrence Market to Korea Town, from what to eat at 4 a.m. to what to see and do if you’re only in Toronto for a day.

But an artsy and vibrant city is not without its problems. That’s why our In Focus section tackles issues such as the declining state of the Church Street gay village, the upcoming mayoral election and what it’s like to be young and homeless in the big city.

Urbanation hopes to serve those new to Toronto, but also those who have made their way to the big city and decided to stay. It is our hope that we have accomplished this, and that this magazine will serve as a guide to explore the city that works during the day, and comes to life at night.

Colton De Gooyer Amanda Graham Emary Johnston Matthew Lopes Krystle Nancoo

copy editors Rachel Yager Amy Douglas Matthew Ingram Sarah Jacob Matt Garcia

research Keith Holland Paul Paquette Deb Sardaneta

ART Kyle Gennings Valerie Bennett

photography Lance Holdforth Natashia Fearon Melesa Narain Alicia Condarcuri

Trevor Koroll Editor-in-Chief Urbanation Magazine Urbanation

visit us online at: www.urbanationmag.com -6-

Fall 2010

with-miller-out...

IN-FOCUS

will-anchampong-be-in?

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Will a newcomer conquer big city politics? words: Trevor Koroll pictures: Natashia Fearon

nagas, looking back at the day. “The place was packed, people were shocked. There was a sense of sadness in the room,” says Wanagas. “A sense of sadness for the city as well.”

Immediately the media started to speculate on people and politicians who were going to run in n Friday September 25, David Miller an election more than a year away. Was it gostood in front of the media at City Hall ing to be John Tory, the former Ontario Progresand announced he would not seek a sive Conservative leader and the runner up in the third term as the Mayor of Toronto. With his family 2003 municipal election? Or maybe George Smitherman, at the time, standing in the backthe Deputy Premier of ground nearly in tears, Ontario. Names were Miller broke the news swirling inside City Hall that had been circling as well. Such councilaround City Hall since

My opponents choose to lors as Karen Stintz, Rob the night before. highlight my lack of experience, I Ford, Giorgio MammoMiller was elected say bring it on. Because, frankly, I in 2003, and again in think we have done things their way liti and Adam Giam2006. After almost sevfor long enough. We’ve had enough brone. The list of candidates grew and grew. en years at the helm of professional politicians running our Sitting in his law office Canada’s biggest city, city into the ground. on the sixth floor of 700 and since being on city

-Rocco Anchampong Bay Street when Miller council since 1994, Millmade his announceer had had enough.

That September day Don Wanagas, the direc- ment, was Rocco Achampong.

A quiet individual at times, Achampong says he tor of communications for Mayor Miller stood right can see how people find him a little mystical. His behind him as he made the announcement.

“The story got out the night before,” says Wa- speech is soft at times, but loud and booming at

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IN-FOCUS

Although confident that he will fare well in the race, Achampong admints that he needs support to win. others. He quotes poetry and philosophy off the top gan.

“My campaign began and I won. I blew out the of his head. In his small, cramped, paper cluttered office he is quiet, calm, collected, but while out on competition,” says Achampong. Why did he win? the streets of Toronto, Achampong appears to be “Because I was better. I could put it nicely and humjust like anyone else. He says he can tell how your life bly, but truth be told I stood beside the guys that will unfold just by looking at you, not from any spe- wanted to debate me.”

The adversity that Achampong faced while runcial power, but strictly from experience. This is Rocco ning for president of the U of T student association Achampong, and he’s running for mayor.

Born in 1978 into a well-to-do family in Ghana, is not unlike the adversity he faces while running Achampong moved to Toronto with his family in for mayor: a relatively unknown outsider, striving for higher office.

1987. They came as refugees But in a race of seasoned poliand spent their first days while ticians, Achampong stands out. in Toronto at a Pape Street There’s only one Rocco He has some political experience, shelter. in the mayoral race with working on John Tory’s campaign “Members of the community “champ” in his name. when Tory ran against Miller in took us in. My mom got on her the 2003 municipal election (with feet. Got her own place,” says Rocco Rossi, who this time around Achampong.

“We were in Malton [then] Mississauga and then is running for mayor himself).

But his lack of experience is something that Achamwe ended up, finally, at 25 Martha Eaton Way, which is community housing. But when you’re growing up, pong plays up, saying in his declaration speech, “if you just feel, ‘I have a home. I have a mom. I have my opponents choose to highlight my lack of experia dad.’ You don’t become aware of the division in ence, I say bring it on. Because, frankly, I think we have done things their way for long enough. We’ve society simply by the fact of where you live.”

Where Achampong started off in Toronto is a long had enough professional politicians running our city way from the Bay Street office where he currently into the ground.

“They all think it’s all about numbers. It’s all about works. Achampong graduated from the University of Toronto and then from Osgoode Hall Law school. a $500 million deficit, $3.4 billion debt. I appreciate While at U of T, Achampong was the president of the that. I’ll have those conversations with the people Black Students’ Association and while in his last year I need to have those conversations with,” says decided to run for president of the student council Achampong softly, but sternly.

Those people that Achampong will have to have (a 40,000 person constituency at the time), and “go conversations with will play a bigger role in Toronto’s out with a bang.”

“There are cliques that hold onto the office,” says municipal politics in the future, says Nelson Wiseman, Achampong, noting that a future school president an associate professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. usually comes out of the office of the past one.

The new mayor will have to essentially “build a Not to be dissuaded, Achampong found himself a few vice-presidential candidates, and the race be- cabinet” and “put a coalition together,” says Wise-

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IN-FOCUS

Achampong stands in front of City Hall where he hopes to work after the Oct. 25 municipal election. man. However, he doesn’t see party politics playing Toronto.

With debtaes and arguments in the future, Achama big role in the makeup of council.

“There has been a lot of left/right politics at city pong is approaching the campaign like a chess hall,” says Wiseman. We’ve seen a “left-leaning match, one he says, where time is on his side.

“It’s not a physical fight necessarily,” says Achamcouncil and mayor.”

Looking forward, Wiseman sees a few issues that pong. “It’s an intellectual one. It’s a test of will. Test of wit. Test of might. If you’re not ready to go through Toronto is facing in the near future.

One is the Toronto Transit Commission, which has the good fight, don’t show up.”

Achampong sits and waits. He observes, analyzes, posted a massive deficit and continues to struggle with its public image. Mayor Miller’s Transit City plan finds a weakness, and then pounces. Achampong is in question as well, says Wiseman. Rocco Rossi, has the same approach to debating Smitherman. thought to be one of the leading candidates, has He says he will attend a speech Smitherman will be said he would scrap the project if he was mayor. To giving and see his style so that he can find a way to help the city cope with the overrun cost of the TTC, work around it.

“It’s a battle and it will test the hell out of me. Do city hall has brought forth a cost sharing agreement with the provincial government, but with the cash- I have it in me to go to the end? Yes. Will I go to strapped province tightening its own belt, any plan the end? I don’t know. Why? Because support is required. It gets to a point where, when you’re the to help the TTC seems to be well into the future.

The second is the city’s budget. The Toronto Board only one involved in this journey, which requires of Trade has forecast that the city’s deficit could in- so many other people, you’re just a guy taking a crease to $1 billion dollars by 2019, unless a plan is walk,” says Achampong.

Achampong is convinced he can run the city and put in place to even out the balance sheets.

Even if the province doesn’t come to the immed- do it well. He’s convinced that his leadership, comite rescue, Wiseman still believes that the new may- ing from outside of the political world, is the right or “will have to play nice-nice with the province” in choice at the right time, in the right city.

As one political heavy weight steps down another the future.

And that is the reason, Wiseman says, that George will take his place, but as Achampong says with a Smitherman (believed by many to be the front run- smile, there’s only one Rocco in the mayoral race ner) may not be the best candidate for mayor of with “champ” in his name.

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districts

Toronto’s di versity is tra districts. Urb nslated into anation Mag its many azine takes ride as it vis you along fo its three of t r the he city’s def ining distric ts.

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Fall 2010

history of food

districts

The St. Lawrence Market caters to multicultural tastes

Patrons enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the St. Lawrence Market.

words: Matthew Lopes pictures: Lance Holdforth

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t’s a sight to behold, and an atmosphere like no other as Toronto’s St. Lawrence market plays host to a unique vibe. Witness Italian men arguing over a card game as a worker from the meat shop walks over to play a hand and settle the score.

Singing “Have you ever seen the rain?” is Randy Dawson, who visits frequently to use the market floor as his stage.

“This is where it all started,” says Dawson. “This used to be the original city hall, it was the jail, it was the courthouse. It was everything.”

All the sights of the market are complimented with the smell of many different foods and the sounds of the street performer.

To Dawson and many other Torontonians, the market is a large part of Toronto’s culture and its history.

The Market has gone through many transformations since being built in

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1803. It was burnt down in 1849, rebuilt in 1851 and most recently rebuilt in 1968.

Just like the Market itself, its loyal customers just keep coming back. In the 1800s before the McDonald’s empire and Loblaw’s superstores came to be, the St. Lawrence Market was one of Toronto’s premier options for food.

Today Front Street is flooded with big name companies from Wendy’s to Starbucks. So how does the market survive with such companies offering cheap products backed by millions of dollars in commercial advertising?

Tim Johnson, who works at Whitehouse meats inside the market which has been open for over 50 years says, “There is better quality service. People seem to be nice in here as opposed to a McDonalds where they’re just getting people through.”

Johnson says that the selection of foods inside the market is like no other. “There’s all sorts of things you can buy, everything from produce to exotic game meats.”

The vast selection is crucial to the market’s sucess as it feeds the needs

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of Toronto’s multicultural population.

Packed into the St. Lawrence market are foods and ingredients from all around the globe, including Chinese, Indian, Italian, and much more.

With such selection, many Torontonians make the Market their one stop shop coming back week after week, or even day to day. “We have quite a loyal customer base,” says Johnson.

“Probably 70 per cent of our income is from those loyal customers.”

Pamela Wachna, a supervisor at the Market Gallery, a public museum featuring Toronto art in the old City Hall at the market says, “It provides an important resource for local residents. There are not many places around the city where you can get fresh food. People are happy with what they receive here so there is no real incentive for them to look anywhere else.”

A day at the St. Lawrence Market is a unique experience. From the early morning cardgame between the Italian men, to the sight of exhausted customers leaving with bags upon bags of fresh food. The sights, smells and sounds of the market should not be missed.

Fall 2010

BetterTHE with age DISTILLERY, aging like a fine wine words: Colton Degooyer pictures: Krystle Nancoo

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eing more than 150 years old has its advantages. The Distillery is a survival story: the suicide of a company founder on its own land, ravaging fires, the First World War and prohibition, and even distinction of being the number one Hollywood film location in Canada.

The Distillery now stands as strong on its foundations at 55 Mill St. in Toronto as it did at one point when it was one of Ontario’s main manufacturers of whisky. Canadians have gazed upon its buildings of Victorian architecture and walked its stone bricked walkways for over a century.

“In the mid 1990s the Distillery was closed entirely. The problem then was what would happen to the unused heritage [industrial buildings]. They didn’t have, at that point, a perceived economic value. There was a great concern, particularly in the Toronto

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heritage community, that this wonderful national historic site would be lost,” says Sally Gibson, renowned historian and author of “Toronto’s Distillery District: History by the Lake.”

After closing, the Distillery underwent

“

There were many major movies shot there [the distilliery] with an extraordinarily long list of very distinguished people.

-Sally Gibson

new management and a decade later was back in business. “In 2001, four partners at the Cityscape Development Corp. bought the entire site with a view of transforming it for cultural use,” she says.

There is a lot to be seen at 55 Mill St. Its various eroded buildings have been chiseled by years of rain and snow.

“It’s a fabulous and very unusual area,” says Gibson. “It has arguably one of

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the largest uses of Victorian architectural buildings still standing in Canada.

It has a school there and a deaf culture arts centre as well as theatres and restaurants. They draw people in at all times of the day and throughout the year, being a part of Toronto that is really outside the mental map of most Torontonians,” says Gibson.

In 1916 prohibition posed a serious roadblock to the Distillery, whose main exports at the time were alcohol and grain. “At that point the Gooderham family, who was a major holder of the Distillery, gave the Distillery over for war use,” she says. “Until the war ended in 1918 they were making a key ingredient for smokeless gun powder to aid the war effort,” she says.

Gibson says that, because both Canada and the U.S. went through prohibition at the same time, and Canada’s prohibition ended first in 1927, the Distillery continued to manufacture alcohol and was involved in supplying Americans with booze.

And then in 1834, the Distillery lost a founding father, James Worts.

“Worts’ wife died in childbirth and about 10 days later he killed himself,”

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districts

Mill Street Brewery has been operating for seven years and opened their brew pub three years ago. she says.

Worts jumped into the company’s windmill well and drowned.

Not too long after that, a fire ravaged the interior of the mill, causing massive damage and causing the city’s fire squad to unite to fight the fire.

“That was a fire that roared through the interior of the stone distillery which had a lot of grain and alcohol around.

The interior was destroyed,” says Gibson. It has since been rebuilt, costing its owners over $100,000.

During the period that it was closed between the 1990s and 2001, it continued to serve Toronto by hosting Hollywood movies.

“I think it made a major contribution to Hollywood North. There were many major movies shot there with an extraordinarily long list of very distinguished people,” she says.

When the distiller district opened as an arts destination, one of the most well known pubs in Ontario was established.

The Mill Street Brewpub is a restaurant and bar inside the Distillery. For a newcomer, it’s hardly recognizable. Its only distinct feature is a red and white sign, which bears the name “Mill St.” Mill Street Brewer Adam Rader says “Mill Street’s been a brewery for seven years, and the brew pub’s only three years old, so we’ve been brewing beer before we’ve even had a restaurant

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open.”

On the inside, large steel vats set it apart from most pubs in Toronto. Encased in a clear plastic box that takes up about half of the pub, the vats can

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The Distillery’s one of the main spots that represents contemporary art in Toronto.

-Gregory Talas

be viewed by those sitting in the restaurant side of the bar. The air is filled with a sweet aroma, and warmth emanates from the machines, keeping the room comfortable and creating a soothing atmosphere.

For beer connoisseurs, Mill Street Brewpub offers five brands of in house beer: Coffee Porter, Original Organic, Stock Ale, Tankhouse, and Wit beer. Anyone who enters the pub can sample the beers for free.

“We were one of the first and only certified organic beers on the market.

Historically the Distillery District itself is a tourist destination and Mill Street was one of the original companies that opened up when the Distillery opened, so we’ve grown up together,” he

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says.

“We just have fun making beer down here and people like locally made stuff nowadays.”

But beer isn’t the only thing to see in the Distillery District.

Gregory Talas, Creative Director at the Kodiak Gallery, makes his living selling a mosaic of various photographic art portraits.

“The Distillery’s one of the main spots that represents contemporary art in Toronto and there aren’t many around,” says Talas.

The Kodiak Gallery has little wall space, but is not cluttered. “I represent artists.

We work together on all our projects.

We have a framing shop and a school for photography and camera training by three highly professional people in their field and we are trying to pass that knowledge on,” he says.

Talas has been working with art for 45 years.

“I think arts make the view of the city more complex,” he says. “Music, fine arts and visual arts make people remember the town for much more than the buildings, but more as part of the soul.”

“There is not enough art in Toronto. It is very slow now. There should be many more places. Even here art only accounts for half of the Distillery District, maybe even a little less,” says Talas.

Fall 2010

A look beyond spadina: words AND PICTURES: Tai Duong

Iron Chef of America, Suser Lee, frequents the Korea Village Rstaurant

Korea Village restaurant There are many stores in Koreatown that started from humble beginnings. Jason Lee, manager of the Korean Village Restaurant, and son of the ower of the eatery says: “I love it when I see students come in because it shows they’re willing to try new things.” The restaurant is covered with pictures and gifts from customers. The 160 item menu features Korean, Chinese and Japanese foods. “Sometimes when a customer is having trouble choosing their food, I’ll suggest for them to put a little bit of each dish onto one. Customers are usually taken aback by this,” says Lee. He says he thinks it’s his mom’s attitude to customer service that helped keep the family business afloat for almost 33 years. At one time his mother cooed a crying baby for some new parents. Lee says the customers were grateful for that. “When does an owner of a restaurant ask to do that?” says Lee, “I think it’s the little things that count.”

This mom and pop Korean bakery shop has been running in Koreatown for more than 17 years. “I’ve seen the Santa Claus parade 18 times,” says owner Jonsik Lee. The smell of brown sugar and grilled cake permeates the shop, as it is famously known for walnut-shaped buns. These tiny creations are filled with mashed potatoes or red bean with pieces of walnuts inside. Through the store window are mounds of walnut-shaped cakes. Lee says customers walk in because of this impressive display, but what truly captures attention is watching the massive contraption that spits out these adorable little walnut copies. At six pieces for $1. 50, it’s almost impossible to not be tempted to try them. Another popular item here are the brown-sugar pancakes and red bean pancakes. These are made once in the afternoon and again in the evening.

NATASHIA FEARON

Red bean and sweet potato “walnuts”

Cutlet House NATASHIA FEARON

Hodo Kwaja

Chris Yoon, the chef at the Cutlet House, says the cutlet is something Canadians and other cultures don’t really specialize in. Yoon says the Korean cutlet is much like the Japanese one, which came to Japan in the early 19th century. The cutlet varies in portions from small to king size. The king size features a massive pork cutlet drizzled with the house special sauce. The traditional modern restaurant, which Yoon says caters to students, has only been in Koreatown for a year. The restaurant itself features a variety of Korean dishes from a hot pot stew of vegetables to a hot plate of stir-fried vegetables, all with side plates of bean sprouts, kimchi and spicy rice cakes.

A delicious king-sized Pork Cutlet

Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu Traditional Korean food, mixed with tofu and soup is the specialty at this restaurant. This always-packed restaurant is popularly known for its simplicity. The seven dollar meal comes with an offering of a Korean stew, with a stone bowl of rice, and several side plates. There are five levels of spiciness and in spite of the simple menu, learning how to eat this traditional Korean meal takes a bit of guidance, which is kindly delivered by the servers.

Selections of soup range from tofu to seafood.

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Fall 2010

The people and places of Korea

districts

town

Bnc CAKE HOUSE

Shaved ice at BNC cakehouse

Korean patisserie’s are a rarity, and grabbing a handful of these treats from the BnC is something you usually only experience in Little Korea. Hyekong Lee, the manager of the bakery, says the treats are prepared differently with a more delicate flavour.

Compared to english patisseries, Lee says:“They are not as sweet.” The bakery itself has been there for about 10 years. The treats range from strawberry butter cream filled buns, to mocha and green tea cake slices, to crushed-ice with a scoop of ice cream and tropical fruit toppings. Lee points to some of the tiny decorated cakes with little mice on each corner and decorative strawberries and kiwis. “It’s very delicious,” she says with a smile. Aside from the sweets are the more salty baked goods, such as a deep fried veggie and ham buns at about $2 a piece. The variety and shape of the pastries are tender, delicious and especially exotic to newcomers.

That is part of the fun,” Hyekong says. “Customers like trying different ones.”

Sake Sushi is one of those spots that captures attention just from the atmosphere. When you walk into the restaurant, the dark hardwood flooring and bright red Japanese lamps with rice paper coverings atop the high stools that overlook the sushi bar, give you an authentic sense of Japan. One difference here is that there are Korean bar style specials at a sushi restaurant. Eva Lee, Manager of Sake Sushi Bar, says the draw is in the combo specials. For $30 you get to choose between five beers, specially imported sake or a bottle of soju (a Korean alcoholic beverage) complimented with 30 pieces of sushi. The sushi is freshly made at the front behind a bar where drinks are written in silver marker across shiny black tiles.

Sake Sushi Bar

Fresh sushi from Sake Sushi Bar

Camto

The second you walk into this Bloor Street East Korean bar on a Friday night you’ll be hit

by Korean pop music and a rowdy crowd of Korean students, all chatting and playing drinking games at their own tables. The food and a variety of side dishes that fill the tables make the bar look more like a restaurant. You can order a five beer combo (a variety of five different brews) or a bottle of soju (a Korean alcoholic beverage that usually contains 20 per cent alcohol) with a plate of Korean food. Dishes range at the bar range from a seafood pancake (similar to a large seafood omelet) to spicy crispy chicken. Chef Yong Seop Lee says one of the benefits of Korean bars are the side dishes which get refilled for free.” The whole bar features a variety of different combos at a broad spectrum of prices ranging from as low as $22 to as high as $30 depending on the selection of food that you desire.

Soju fom Korea is usually made from rice

BMB Karaoke

Ever dreamed of singing your lungs out to your favourite song on a sound system worthy of a live stage performance? Grace Lee, the owner of the BMB Karaoke, says Korean Karaoke bars are for those who love singing, but without a large crowd – at least not one filled with strangers. “I love to sing but not in front of everybody,” says Lee. BMB Karaoke is a place to go if you’re feeling the need to sing songs in almost any language without having to embarrass yourself in front of a crowd. The private rooms, which seats five people a room for $20 per hour, are fitted with leather couches and four speakers.

Larger rooms that include a bar seat about 30 people and cost $80 an hour.

Karake at BMB

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Fall 2010

IN-FOCUS

is-gaybourhood going-down?

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Rent increases cripple the gay community words and pictures:

Johnna Ruocco

C

hurch Street has been rocked lately with a series of business closures and relocations. With leases coming up, a lot of businesses can no longer afford the staggering rent on colourful Church Street.

Toronto is a diverse city in a diverse country. That diversity helped build what is now a cornerstone of the city – the Church-Wellesley village – home to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals.

Robert Knight, co-owner of the bar Pegasus on Church, which has been in the village since 1996, says that 10 years ago the street had an immense amount of business, and that was reflected in the high rents. He says that business has gone down since then, but rents haven’t followed.

Knight says years ago, gays needed a ghetto to be safe. They couldn’t be themselves in other bars around the city.

“People came here to feel safe. But rights and attitudes have changed. Gays are accepted in many parts of the city and as a result of the increased rights, fewer gays have to come here,” he says.

Take Zelda’s Living Well for example, a popular bar that’s been around for 14 years. Zelda’s had a location right at the corner of Church and Wellesley for nine years, but was forced to move location in October 2009 to Yonge and Isabella, which isn’t far from the heart of the village.

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“The rents had continuously gone up five per cent every year since we’ve been there, to a point of becoming unaffordable,” says Dino Magnatta, co-owner of Zelda’s Living Well, “and when we discussed with them about reducing the rent, they said they wanted to increase it about 20 per cent in the upcoming lease renewal in May. So the issue was, we couldn’t afford to stay there and survive.”

Magnatta talks about the landlords raising rent when business was good, but not lowering them when things got bad. “They just became greedier and didn’t make the adjustments on a business standpoint that enabled people to stay there,” he says.

According to Knight, Zelda’s was paying about $25,000 a month, and when the lease was up, the landlord wanted $35,000, so they walked away.

Café California, located right next to the old Zelda’s, had its lease go up about a month later. The landlord wanted to increase the rent, but after the threat of another business moving and leaving the landlord with two empty buildings right next to each other, Café California got a reduction and was able to stay open.

“Il Fornello’s closed because its landlord wanted $19,000 a month. How can you survive?” says Knight. “Now a new restaurant is going in, we have the same landlord, and I know he’s not reducing, so I don’t know how long this new place will be able to stay open.”

Magnatta says when rent becomes unaffordable, there are two options, close or move. “It’s tricky, it’s expensive, but it becomes the best

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tZelda’s provides a carefree and welcoming envrionment to Toronto’s gay community.

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With property values increasing, Couto expects more high-end shops and restaurants to take over the village.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but the theory is that gay men have a lot of money to spend. So, you’re probably going to start seeing a lot of trendy, expensive stores go up there,” she says.

The bottom line is the dollar.

“Toronto has so much potential, but it’s all about money, everywhere you go. No matter what happens in Church Street, it won’t change the demographic,” says Couto.

The future of Church Street may be cloudy, but Couto isn’t worried about losing her home base.

“Toronto will always have a place for gays. If the clubs and restaurants relocated, so would the gays.”

She says that every major city has, and needs, an area like Church-Wellesley.

“These areas are very prosperous and they’re good for tourism,” says Couto.

Knight thinks that, no matter what happens, Church Street will always have a place for the gay community, even if it’s just a little place.

“There’s history here. There’s a good feeling about it, and there’s memories. It’s still home.”

He says that Chicago had a gay neighbourhood, but then a new gay area started up and took over.

The old area still has a small gay population, but not as much. “It took years but it could happen here.”

Gay people travel a lot, Knight observes.

“When gay people travel they look for the gay areas. We’re a tourist destination. We’re a part of the city.”

The village’s transformation is largely debated.

“It’s an evolution into the city, but evolution is good. I think it’s healthy,” says Burke.

But his boss disagrees. Magnatta thinks Zelda’s departure took away from the village.

“It’s going to take awhile, if at all, for it to come back and to be lively like the Church Street it used to be.”

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IN-FOCUS

solution when you have a client base and a business that you’ve developed for a long time then it has certain value and it’s worth relocating. For us it wasn’t that far from the community.”

“There’s a massive city with two and a half million people here, so there’s a lot of city to explore, and we don’t really need to stay in one small area,” says Chirs Burke, general manager for Zelda’s Living Well.

“I think it’s okay to expand into the city more, as the city becomes more accepting, more open in general.”

There’s been an increase in heterosexual couples with children starting to move into the area, which affects businesses.

“Even the last few years when we were on Church Street, we noticed a change in demographic, where the generation that made Church Street what it was in its heyday, started buying condos and moving out of the neighbourhood, and straight people filled their spots in those buildings,” says Burke. “But the straight people knew where they were moving into.”

Knight says businesses just have to adapt and start becoming more straight-friendly, but sees Church Street eventually becoming “just another neighbourhood with a gay flavour.”

Doreen Couto has been around Toronto’s gay neighbourhood for over a decade now.

“I don’t really live a ‘gay’ lifestyle, but it’s nice to have it. When I’m there I’m with my own people.

Church Street has been there all these years. It’s where you can be at home, you can be open, and you can kiss your lover without worrying about people looking at you uncomfortably. It’s our home base.”

Couto is surprisingly happy with all of the closures and relocations happening in the Church-Wellesley village, she’s glad to see some change.

“It never changes, not in all the years I’ve been going there. It’s always the exact same. The same shops, the same bars. We need something fresh,” she says.

Fall 2010

guides

sleepless in toronto How to enjoy the city after hours words: Rachel Yager pictures: Melesa Narain

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ou’re in Canada’s largest city at 2 a.m.

Everything is closing, but you’re not ready to head home. Instead of giving up on your night, step into the streets of Toronto and seek out an after hours refuge.

The city holds a few 24hour venues that don’t give up on nocturnal urbanites in Toronto.

Reggie’s Old Fashioned Sandwiches 571 King Street W. Reggie’s is a rustic venue with both a comfortable and an old fashioned feel.

Its wood floors and wooden bar make

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the place feel as if it has been there forever, even though it opened less than a year ago.

“It’s a really fun atmosphere for people to be in,” says Bryan Burke, chef and co-owner of Reggie’s Old Fashioned Sandwiches. “Especially leaving a bar, you’re all wound up, you come here and stay wound up.”

The ‘80s music and nightclub feel will keep you entertained until the early hours of the morning.

“We are going for a place that you walk into and you feel very comfortable,” says Burke. “You don’t walk into a shiny, stainless steel, white tile, no-life kind of place.”

What sets Reggie’s apart from other venues can be summed up in two words: home-made.

With the exception of the bread, everything on the menu is home-made; from the smoked chickens to the mayonnaise.

Burke says the menu is created in a way that will remind a person of their childhood.

Reggie’s offers more than a dozen sandwiches, the most famous at night

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being the Philly cheese steak sandwich and the pulled pork.

Another signature item is the deepfried macaroni and cheese, which is a hit with many people, says Burke.

“It brings you back to happy memories,” he says.

The Lakeview Restaurant 1132 Dundas Street W. The ‘80s themed music continues on Dundas Street West as Journey plays in the background at the Lakeview Restaurant.

Alexander SenGupta, primary owner of the Lakeview, compares this venue to a hotel lobby where the doors are always open.

“You know no matter what time, what day, you can get that sandwich and it will be consistent,” says SenGupta.

One of the many projects the Lakeview coordinates is having bright, neon post-its covering the walls and tables for customers to write on.

“We wanted to move away from the text message and have it be more of a tangible note like it used to be,” says

Fall 2010

Guides

The Lakeview is just one of a few late night eateries throughout the city, proving that there is life after last call.

SenGupta.

Walking into the Lakeview is like walking into a ‘30s diner. Old fashioned bar stools and booths give the full diner atmosphere, and the menu matches.

The late-night comfort foods often come straight from the fryer.

“Comfort food done well is kind of our motto,” says SenGupta.

The Lakeview offers sandwiches, salads, and even creative appetizers, such as the Poutine Lakeview, which has not only cheese and house gravy, but adds feta cheese, peameal bacon, garlic onion crunch and sauteed mushrooms.

Or, if you’re in the mood for something more filling, burgers and steak are cooked all night.

“To get a gourmet burger at four in the morning, cooked to spec, or a really good steak, you can do that here,” says SenGupta. “You can’t really do that in many other places, particularly not downtown.”

What sets the Lakeview apart from other restaurants is the fact that it has been around for 77 years.

“Because [the Lakeview] seems to rebuild and renew itself so often, and refresh if you will, and the fact that we are

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able to hold onto something that had been,” says SenGupta, “Is really what sets us apart in a big way, regardless of whether or not we are 24 hours.”

7 West Cafe 7 Charles Street W. The three floors of 7 West Cafe on Charles Street West have no trouble filling the 120-person capacity in the late night hours.

The rustic old house is furnished with many church pews and stained glass windows, giving a laid back, warm feeling.

At night, the music becomes dance and house to accommodate people leaving the bars and clubs.

“After two, it tends to get a bit of a bar rush,” says manager Cliff Sardinha.

“Then around three o’clock, that’s when we get hit again because all the bars are closed and the clubs, so everyone comes here to sober up.”

7 West Cafe offers a full menu 24 hours a day. It serves Italian and urban foods such as, pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, and if you’re not hungry enough for a full meal, nachos, hummus and des-

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serts.

“We’re very well known for our desserts, especially the cheesecake and the chocolate banana cake,” says Sardinha. “A lot of people come here just for that.”

other 24-hour venues King Palace 820 Church St. Pho Pasteur Restaurant 525 Dundas St. W. Fran’s Diner 20 College St. Vesta Lunch 474 Dupont St. Mel’s Montreal Delicatessen 440 Bloor St. W. Golden Wheat Bakery 652 College St. Fall 2010

toronto in a day

Where to go and what to see when you’ve only got one day in T-dot words and pictures: Melesa Narain

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owntown Toronto is one of the most well-known tourist destinations in the world, and whether you are a visitor, newcomer or resident of the big city, its vast and diverse culture can easily make you feel like you are on vacation.

There are so many things to see and do in the heart of the city that it can be a bit overwhelming, but just follow this plan and you’ll be able to hit all the must-see hotspots downtown has to offer in just one day.

The first thing to do is purchase a TTC Day Pass. This will give unlimited rides on any TTC vehicle throughout the day, and for $10, it’s a good deal.

Now, let the fun begin!

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9 a.m.- Chow down on some breakfast at Mitzi’s on College.

Take the subway to Ossington, get onto the southbound Ossington bus, get off at College Street and walk to 890 College Street.

Mitzi’s is an all-day breakfast diner with a cozy ‘60s vibe happening complete with great quality and service. The menu changes weekly. Mitzi’s is home to the ultimate breakfast sandwich, which is made of Korean pickled cabbage, bacon, fried eggs and garlic mayo served on sour dough or multigrain bread.

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Guides

10 a.m.- Check out the Royal Ontario Museum.

Take the subway to Museum, walk towards Bloor until you reach the corner of Bloor and Queen’s Park to 100 Queen’s Park.

Michael Lee-Chin’s crystal wonder makes it hard to miss the Royal Ontario Museum. It is one of downtown Toronto’s most recognized landmarks because of its unique architectural design.

For over a century, the ROM has showcased exhibits of different cultures and wildlife from around the world.

Adult admission is $22 but, on Tuesdays, students enrolled full-time in a Canadian post-secondary institution receive free admission with a student card.

1 p.m.- Grab lunch at Il Fornello on the Waterfront.

Take the subway to Union, board either the 509 or 510 streetcar west bound, get off at York Street and walk to 207 Queens Quay West.

Il Fornello is located inside the Queen’s Quay Terminal right by the Harbourfront. Indulge in some incredible Italian cuisine and enjoy the spectacular view of the waterfront. Its Athens-style look is alluring and very inviting, You can walkin or make a reservation if you are coming to dine with a group of friends.

Menu prices start at $5.50.

2 p.m.- Head over to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Take the 509 or 510 streetcar back to Union Station, exit through Brookfield Place and follow the signs overhead for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

True Canadian pride lives here. As home to Canada’s beloved sport, there are many great moments to take in at the Hall of Fame. Highlights include the Stanley Cup exhibit and the replica of the Montreal Canadiens dressing room.

Slapshot practice happens at the interactive zone.

General admission is $15.

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4 p.m.- Explore Kensington Market.

Take either the 509 or 510 streetcar west bound and get off at Nassau Street/Kensington Market.

Kensington Market is a very diverse and close-knit community where everyone who lives here knows each other. Most of the stores and restaurants inside Kensington are independently run and one-of-a-kind. In a place like this, it’s very unlikely you will find the same thing twice.

6 p.m.- Do some shopping along Queen Street West.

Take either the 509 or 510 streetcar eastbound and get off at Queen Street.

Queen Street West is known for some famous landmarks, such as the Eaton Centre and Nathan Phillips Square and CTV. But it is also better referred to as the fashion district.

All of the small named designers got their start with stores on this street.

8 p.m.- Go up the CN Tower and have dinner at Horizons Take the subway from Queen to Union and walk down Front Street West until you get to 301.

The second tallest tower structure in the world stands beside the Rogers Centre, formerly known as the Sky Dome, and across from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation centre. It stands above the competition of five-star hotels and financial buildings. At night, the CN Tower lights up the sky with a kaleidoscope of colours.

Observation Sky Pod Experience (Look Out, Glass Floor, Sky Pod) $26.99Horizons’ menu prices range from $6 to $32.

10 p.m.- Swing by the legendary Horseshoe Tavern and kick back with some beer and listen to some live music.

Take the subway from Union to Osgoode and walk down to 370 Queen Street West.

The Shoe has been around since 1947 and has seen some famous names in music, including The Rolling Stones, The Police, The Foo Fighters, The Tragically Hip and Blue Rodeo. The Rolling Stones were broadcast live from the Horseshoe Tavern when they performed at the MTV Video Music Awards in the ‘90s.

Domestic beer is $5.50 and Premium beer is $6.50 On Tuesday the Edge 102.1s Dave Bookman’s Nu Music Nites are free.

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big city, tough love

Guides

A short guide to dating in the urban jungle words AND PICTURES: Amy Douglas

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here are about two million people living in the big city, but that doesn’t necessarily make finding the one any easier.

Dating is a complicated thing, and for many, finding love is not at all about the brief and romantic chance encounters we see in the movies.

And now the dating process is undergoing some changes.

Online dating, speed dating and singles’ events have gained prominence and promise.

Enter Serge Guschin. Guschin is 25, single and lives in Toronto. He dates often, but has in many ways given up on conventional dating. He long ago stopped frequenting late-night hang outs in the hope of finding the fabled ‘one’ because it wasn’t getting the results he wanted.

Instead, he is an active member of the online dating community and has been for a while. He wanted a girlfriend, he says. “I wanted to go on more dates.

Just kind of expand my pool. Because going out Friday, Saturday night with my friends to a bar to spend money

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on drinks, spend money on cover, and you know, ‘hook-up’ with a girl as they say, it wasn’t who I am. It’s not my persona.”

Since he was about 19, Guschin’s been frequenting online dating sites like PlentyOfFish.com, and MeetMeinTo.com, and briefly experimenting with eHarmony. He says he tried the free sites first, and then, once he’d gotten the hang of things, moved onto paysites. Some of his best experiences, he says, came from the free ones.

“I didn’t have a lot of money so I tried all the free sites first, just to see what it was like,” he says. “And it actually spun off a whole chapter in my life that was somewhat interesting,” he says.

Dating, Guschin says he’s had most of his success online and he says it comes easily to him. “Finding someone on the Internet is very easy. Meeting someone in person, or getting to that point is a little more difficult.” He describes himself as being socially awkward, and the idea of actually approaching a girl was a daunting one.

“I was shy. English was a second language to me. I had a speech impediment,” Guschin says. “When I was a kid, approaching a girl I felt that I liked and starting a conversation with her… it wasn’t in me. And it wasn’t for me.”

Online dating, in many ways, has

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made dating simpler. It’s expanded the dating range in ways typical dating couldn’t, creating a massive pool of single and actively looking people.

Online dating has created a more open and comfortable dating environment for singles and for Guschin, it’s what he prefers.

“It’s that whole idea of interacting with another person. In real life, people fear rejection, especially in a social setting like a school. A typical guy will take his time warming up to a girl, whereas online, if you see a girl that you like you message her right off the bat and if she doesn’t respond, she doesn’t respond,” he says. “You don’t take it as rejection. You take it as fact. Not everyone is going to like you and you move on. Whereas in real life, you’ve still got to see that person… so things get awkward.”

That fear of rejection can be part of what Christine Hart says can make dating so difficult. Hart is a dating coach which, she says, is similar to a life coach, but her goal is to bring people results in their romantic lives. Hart has been in the business for a while. Her site, yourdatecoach.com, has been incorporated since 2007 and from what she’s seen and heard, dating can be difficult, especially if you don’t go about it the right way. Hart says that when

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And though the concept of speed also made for a lot more sorting and people just throw themselves out there, dating can be strange – an event sifting, something that can seem a little and into the world of dating, it’s easy where you’re “dating” several people daunting and a little overwhelming. to get lost. There’s a lot of hit and miss, in several minutes – most of the people All that choice means you’re going she says. A lot of trial and error. who attend speed dating usually end to have to date smarter, Hart says. You “They’re just experiencing so much up really enjoying it, Seifert says. need to start with a plan otherwise frustration,” she says of singles who find If you look on the Single in the City you’ll find yourself muddled in the mire themselves lost in love. “They put themwebsite, under events, you’ll see a of online dating. selves out there and they hope that long list of speed dating events, usu“Put all the people who interest you what they’re looking for finds them, ally running around $45, that cater to onto a favourites list or onto a hot or they can turn somebody into what almost every age group. The speed list, but then don’t contact anyone,” they’re looking for. dating events, Seifert says, are held at she says. “Sleep on it. Kind of whittle So, if that’s how you date,” Hart says, “ Milestones around the city, and she it down. Start reading more profiles.”

It can be very frustrating because your describes the basic night as one that Guschin says he’s good at online datego is tested; your values are tested.” starts off quietly as people are shy and ing, particularly because of his mastery But Hart says there is a smarter way. unsure of what to expect, but by the of effective messaging, knowing what She has based her entire busines – with end it’s much louder, bustling one 60 minute session running with conversation. upwards of $160 [plus applica“It’s really just kind of a social ble taxes] –on teaching people night out,” Seifert says. “Speed how to date, and how exactly dating,” she says, “is for social to get what they want out of a people looking to meet peorelationship. ple.”

Hart says her client base is Seifert also says these events equally male and female. work for shy people too, beSome are divorced, some are cause it’s a structured event. separated and some have Everything is organized for you been single for a long time. The and there’s no fear of having thing is, all of them are looking to approach people. for something, but are having Seifert says it’s not necessarily trouble getting there for whatdifficult to date, you just have ever reason. to do it actively. You can’t put “Everybody has different things dating on the back burner that they want to work on, so and expect results. Most of the part of my job is finding out people who come to speed things that they’re doing right, MELESA NARAIN dating events are those who and really help shed some light The city is full of people looking for romance. are looking actively and that’s or illuminate on some areas that what it’s designed for. he’s looking for and his own unique they need to work on to bring a lot betWell versed on the topic of speed datprofile. ter results in their dating,” Hart says. ing, having once owned a speed dat“The first message is key. You’ve got to Hart helps people take that step back ing company herself, Hart has written impress the person, or say something and figure out what they may want in an entire e-book about speed datthat’s not just the typical ‘Hi, how are a relationship, and from there how to ing. She knows thatspeed dating can you,’” Guschin says. “In real life, you get out and into that relationship. Beseem gimmicky, but says it’s another know, you say hi and then you give cause, Hart says, “without a plan it’s way to meet people. Like any other them a smile… There’s magic. Whereas frustrating.” kind of dating, it is something that can online there’s none of that. You have to And while a lot of Hart’s business has produce results if you know what to create everything from the ground up, basis in conventional dating, she does be prepared for – knowing specifically and it’s a skill. I have that skill.” acknowledge that dating as a whole what it is you’re looking for.

Speed dating is another outlet that’s is changing, and she’s opened up her While there is no real miracle answer to making dating simpler. services to accommodate that. dating in the city- whether it’s online, in Melissa Seifert is co-owner of singleiHart now coaches people on how to a structured event or just conventionalnthecity.ca, which launched in early get what they want out of their online ly- your best bet in working through the 2002. One of the first of its kind, Seifor speed dating experience, because trials and tribulations in love is to date ert says, Single in the City hosts singles regardless of where a person goes often and date smart. Have a plan of events and speed dating events for loto date, according to Hart, there’s a what you’re looking for, and when you cal singles. She says some clients may smart way to go about it. want it by, as well as your strengths and be people who have tried online datWith online dating in particular, though weaknesses, and the whole process ing and want to try something where it’s made a lot of things easier by procan be a little bit easier. they meet in person. viding more in terms of choices, it’s

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Fall 2010

? ?

Casa Loma is one of the only real castles in all of North America

Toronto's first commercial batch of ice cream was sold in May 1893

did you

Lakeshore Boulevard is know built largely on a landfill

did you know Toronto

fun facts

Yonge Street is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest street in the world stretching 1,896 km

Toront oi Ontari s located al on o, freshw one of the la g Lake ater la kes in rgest the wo rld

Toronto is the 5th largest city in North America

More people live in Toronto than in Canada's four Atlantic Provinces combined

e th e s l ha tab ly e l r nt trac o fu en u e t e yo s C st r tes op w did you r did e e o og rg inu know n k e R s la 0 m The entire soundtrack for the 1964 animated Th orld es 2 TV movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer� w ak t t was recorded in a studio just off of f. I o Yonge Street Designed By Natashia Fearon ro Urbanation

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Fall 2010

Never miss a beat Your fan guide to Toronto’s music scene words and pictures: Valerie Bennett

I

f you’re new to the city and want to check out local shows but don’t know where to start looking, Urbanation has you covered.

Here’s a starters’ guide to falling into the Toronto music scene.

Maintain social networks. Social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter, are main sources artists and bands use to keep fans up to date. Artist development companies strive to maintain a high presence on media and social networks as a means to promote, says Sari Delmar, the general manager and founder of Audio Blood Inc. The company, which is based out of Toronto, encourages the artists they are working with to do the same and stay current with sites that build a connection between the artist and the fan.

These sites allow musicians to post status updates, tour dates, video blogs, Urbanation

announcements and upcoming appearances.

Consider becoming a fan on Facebook, friending them on MySpace, following them on Twitter and subscribing to them on YouTube to receive notifications with important information. This gives you access to future concert date postings, pre-orders and pre-sales on albums and cool contests or giveaways.

Scope the media. Pick up a copy of your local street daily or weekly and peruse the events listings, suggests Matthew Parrish, founder of the Torontobased Truth Explosion Magazine. Weekly editions of papers with entertainment listings, such as Eye Weekly and Now Magazine, can offer valuable information about the shows taking place around Toronto with details regarding location, time and ticket price. Parrish says he clips postings of upcoming concerts and keeps them on him to look ahead to future events. Though on a daily basis he relies on online magazines for the most up to date information.

Online music magazines Truth Explosion, FAZER Magazine and Dose provide album reviews, artist interviews, and show listings.

Also check online music blogs for a more personal reading experience of -26-

other fans’ postings of album and concert reviews and useful links to artists’ own websites. Some bloggers will list local shows or touring dates and act as mini-promoters for the artist. You’ll likely discover some fun facts or information from fans worldwide and in the city.

But as Parrish notes, “as far as staying in the loop, I wouldn’t say there’s one resource that has everything. If you check out a bunch of different websites or music blogs, there’s always going to be someone who’s passing on a tip.” So keep a watchful eye over every outlet available to you and you’ll be less apt to miss out.

Be a part of the scene. Don’t just sit at home – go out and immerse yourself in Toronto’s music scene, recommends Travis Porter, founder of the local promotion company We Got The Movement (WGTM). WGTM is a Toronto company active in major markets in southern Ontario that focuses on bringing metal and hardcore bands to Toronto. Porter says people genuinely interested in getting involved, should hang out where events are taking place.

“You will take way more out of it,” says Porter, as being a part of the scene will result in a better experience.

Attending shows on a regular basis will also provide the opportunity to meet Fall 2010

new people, both players in the industry and fans alike. Networking can give access to promoters and artists that can keep you personally in the loop with anything that’s coming up, before a formal announcement has even been made. This helps you become the ultimate insider.

Get involved. Now you know all of your favourite artists’ music inside and out. You know every lyric, song title and breakdown. You know when and how the band formed, its complete discography and trivia that would leave other fans in awe. You’ve followed the social networks, kept an eye on the media, and have become a member of the scene. You’ve got the knowledge and the connections so become a member of the band’s street team.

This involves putting up posters in the community, posting to band forums and message boards online, maintaining sites and fans pages dedicated to the artist and basically helping promote. Though it’s usually an unpaid role, that’s not to say you’ll be left without rewards. Porter points out that street team members can gain free access to local

shows and free merchandise. You’ll also be in the know with upcoming album releases and, in some cases, have access to them before they hit stores. Getting involved in Toronto’s music scene is the ultimate way to stay in the know

“

Guides Roles of a street team member Putting up posters and handing out flyers around the city

If you check out a bunch of different websites or music blogs,there’s always going to be someone who’s passing on a tip.

- Matthew Parrish

Calling local radio stations to request their favourite band’s tunes Posting to online forums and blogs Creating and upkeeping magazines or websites dedicated to the band

Toronto is a diverse city, as is its music scene. So whether music to you is an interest, a passion or a lifestyle, immerse yourself in it. Read up, stay in touch, get out there and enjoy it.

Encouraging friends to come to the show Convincing friends and fans to buy band merchandise

Skittlebrau perform to an intimate crowd at the Sleeping Giant Gallery in downtown Toronto.

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Fall 2010

IN-FOCUS

The-truth: behind-homelessness

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It isn’t always what it seems MELESA NARAIN

words: Emary Johnston pictures: Lance Holdforth

”After class, most of you will head home to res or your parents house or your place with your roommates, but I’ll be going to the YWCA for a bed and a warm meal.”

An upbringing in a dangerous environment with a bipolar and abusive mother has led O’Connor arlier this year, Samantha O’Connor sat at to where she is today.

“My mother used to have something she called a table in a common area of Guelph-Humber University creating a long to-do list that the ‘board of education’ which was a 2x4 she used to beat me and my consisted of assignbrothers with when we ments required of her were bad,” O’Connor as a third year Media says.

Studies student.The list Homelessness just happens.

O’Connor kept herself included handing out

-Judy Leroux busy with multiple jobs, resumes, studying for school, and friends durmidterms, and many ing the years she was other things a normal forced to live at her 20-year-old student mother’s home in Otwould do. She wore a tawa. When she graduclean, nicely put together outfit and her long hair was neatly pulled ated from high school, she decided to move back. Weeks earlier, O’Conner had to present to Toronto to continue her education in hopes a speech for one of her classes. Jaws dropped of getting as far away from her parents as poswhen she stood at the front of the room and said, sible.

E

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Fall 2010

“

Your feet are in so much pain and you can barely walk sometimes. I remember the hardest part was trying to get the feeling back in my feet when I got up in the morning.

- Art Tsang

in Etobicoke. “It can happen to anybody. Something terrible has happened in their life that has caused them to be in the situation that they are in.

They come from all social, economic and cultural backgrounds,” she says. Cases like O’Connor’s are common.

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“Many of the youth that stay in our shelter go to schools all over the city but they don’t normally share this with their peers. What [O’Connor] said in front of her class speaks very well to people who have this idea that homeless people always live

“

My mother used to have something she called the board of education which was a 2x4 she used to beat me and my brothers with when we were bad.

- Samantha O’Connor

out on the streets,” she says.

Art Tsang is the Planning and Evaluation Manager at Youth Without Shelter.

When he was 17, Tsang’s abusive father relieved him from constant beatings by throwing him out of the house. Without hesitation he left and spent the next two years sleeping in abandoned cars and construction sites. He says one of the worst things was trying to survive the cold winter.

“You don’t get much sleep, and you are never really warm,” he says.

“Your feet are in so much pain and you can barely walk sometimes. I remember the hardest part was trying to get the feeling back in my feet when I got up in the morning.”

The entire time Tsang lived like this, he attended high school and worked in a grocery store. He managed to salvage all of his belongings by storing them in five different lockers around his school and he would do his homework while riding back and forth on the subway. He kept his homelessness a secret from most of the people in his life.

Eventually, a co-worker caught on when they noticed that Tsang seemed to have a never-ending cold. The co-worker brought him to Youth Without Shelter. Step by step, things got better for Tsang.

He worked and saved up enough to move out of the shelter and into his own apartment, and then eventually he was able to put himself through post secondary school. He graduated from the Social Service Worker program at Humber College and went on to obtain a degree in sociology at York University.

Despite some of the hardships he faced while being homeless, Tsang never regretted leaving his father’s house. He believed that living on the streets was easier than living with an abusive parent.

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IN-FOCUS

During her first year of university she lived on campus. During the second, she resided with a boyfriend. When they broke up, he kicked her out and she was forced to move back to Ottawa for the summer.

“I didn’t last three weeks [there],” O’Connor says.

Her mother had a bipolar attack and, without telling any friends or relatives, O’Connor packed up her things and spent the rest of the summer living in a small shelter with three other women. Her stay stretched into the Fall and when she was ready to get back to school the shelter called around and was able to find her a bed at the YWCA in Toronto.

O’Connor’s appearance, work ethic and high marks all go against the stereotypical description many people have of a homeless person. Her situation has caused her to be different than a lot of her peers as well. Most students can’t wait for Friday afternoon to come. O’Connor can’t say the same.

“As much as I love seeing my friends and doing stuff on the weekends — I’m upset when the weekend comes. I am excited to be in school and doing the things I do because I feel like I’m succeeding,” she says.

Although O’Connor is constantly around people who have the advantage of a supportive family, she does not feel envious of them.

“I’m lucky because I don’t have to prove myself to any one but myself. I am my biggest motivation.

I’m the one driving myself. I don’t have anyone else on my back. I just do what I want to do. I’m free,” she says.

“Homelessness just happens,” says Judy Leroux, the Development Manager of Youths Without Shelter, a homeless shelter for young people located

Fall 2010

“

We need to isolate the specifics that have to be worked on, such as access to education achievement and resources for mental illnesses,

IN-FOCUS

While other students head home, O’Connor heads to YMCA for a meal to eat and a bed to sleep in.

“You never knew what was going to happen when you walked in the door, and that constant fear was gone when I left home,” says Tsang. “As tough as it was, living with the freedom was very appealing.”

Tsang’s unpleasant path has given him the opportunity to solve the issue of homeless youth on a macro scale.

“What we do here is only a small part of a really huge issue. A lot of kids fall through the cracks and end up in jail, or dead,” he says. Leroux also believes that the issue is a significant one in our city. She says that in Canada, an estimated 65,000 youth are currently homeless.

“In one year there are an estimated 10,000 youth in

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-Art Tsang

Toronto who need a safe place to sleep. On any given night, there are 1,500 to 2,000 who need shelter,” Leroux says.

Although the numbers speak loudly, the voices of the homeless are not always heard by the government and by the community. Leroux, O’Connor and Tsang all believe that the need for more resources for people without a home is high.

“I think people in general have the mentality: out of sight, out of mind. Just because you don’t see homeless youth wandering the streets with signs doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist,” says Tsang. ”I don’t think throwing a lot of money at the issue will solve it. We need to isolate the specifics that have to be worked on, such as access to education achievement and resources for mental illnesses,” he says.

O’Connor says the issue of homelessness needs to be looked at more specifically.

“The word needs to spread about who these people are that live in shelters. They are just classified as ‘homeless’ but what types of people are they?”

O’Connor says. “Homeless should be the last resort.

There needs to be more resources for abused kids and immigrants and the different people who find their way to the shelters.”

A number of misfortunes have led O’Connor to her shelter. However, she doesn’t regret what has happened to her and where she is.

“I have never been as motivated as I am right now.

I’ve never worked so hard on school, ever, and my marks have never been so high,” she says.

O’Connor says she also has never done so much with her art, a passion and coping mechanism that stems from being locked in her room as a child for hours.

She also loves singing and dancing. She recently did a performance at Ryerson University in a talent show.

In the future, O’Connor wants to travel the world and experience every different culture.

“I want to go experience what is out there, and find the real truths of the world for myself.”

She feels that in the near future, her experiences of being homeless will be just a memory.

“The city is my boyfriend,” she says.

Fall 2010

food & drink

fresh food

for the urban herbivore

Affordable fast food, fresh and from the garden at your finger tips Words: Malorie Gilbert pictures: Lance Holdforth

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f tempeh is a staple of your diet, or you know how to make at least 10 dishes with bok choy, you’re probably a lover of everything vegan and vegetarian. In this story, UrbaNation goes into two popular vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Toronto, giving you the dish on both so you can decide which tofu tickles your animal free fancy.

The first restaurant, Fresh, operates out of three locations in Toronto: Spadina, Crawford and Bloor, all in the centre of downtown.

The menu is mostly vegan, but dairy products, like cheese, may be added to some dishes to make them vegetarian.

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cook at Fresh’s Spadina location, “[Fresh is] expensive but you have to consider where they’re operating out of. Any business that wants to be in the Queen West or Queen and Spadina area is paying a huge amount of money for their rent so the prices do get jacked up because of that,” he says.

The restaurant has a lot of Restaurants don’t last very long in followers, and according to this town.

Woeller, it draws in “trendy people who work around the

- Corey Mintz area ... the lunch rush crowd.”

“It’s a pretty fast turnover and people come there because they want to eat healthy and it’s reliable,” he says.

Corey Mintz, a food critic with and coconut milk. The average shake a column in the Toronto Star called costs around $7 for a 16 ounce size, but ‘Fed,’ and a former Fresh employee, says the restaurant is respectable bethe most expensive drinks are the protein shakes, which will cost $16 for a 32 cause it has been operating for a long time. ounce serving.

According to Jacob Woeller, a prep “They’re still around. I mean, the resAlong with its food menu, Fresh maintains a complete juice menu featuring power shakes, vegetable juices and immune elixirs, some of which contain ingredients such as kale, chywanprash

“

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Fall 2010

taurants don’t last very long in this town. You know, you’re lucky if you make it to your first year.”

The next restaurant is another popular meat free eatery in Toronto.

Urban Herbivore is a fully vegan restaurant located in Kensington Market with traditional, comfort food style dishes and treats like sandwiches, soups, muffins, salads, juices and grain bowls. Urban Herbivore has the same owner as Fressen, another vegan restaurant in Toronto.

A grain bowl at Urban Herbivore can feature anything from rice to millet to quinoa, and salads are offered on different types of lettuce, including arugula and spinach. Diners can pick six out of multiple ingredients to put in their grain bowl, salad or sandwich. Ingredients include but are not limited to: avocado, sweet potato, beets, onions, tomato, carrots, barbequed tofu, tempeh and various seeds and nuts. The salads and sand-

“

Customers are greeted by the friendly staff at Fresh..forth

It’s really easy to lead a vegan lifestyle but when you’re going out to eat it’s hard to get food that doesn’t have any animal products.

- Coral Khoudatova

wiches are large, and cost $8.50.

The restaurant has counter seating and operates in an efficient manner.

According to Dim Ulch, the manager of Urban Herbivore, the restaurant picks out all of its ingredients specifically, but not all are organic.

“As far as our vegetables go, pretty much none of it is organic. Some of our grains and our flours are organic.

I think some of our nuts may be, I’m not sure. Our boss goes to the food terminal every week and picks out the vegetables for all the restaurants,” says Ulch.

“I think he prefers to try to buy local as opposed to organic, just so it’s fresher.”

Urban Herbivore has a distinct following, according to Ulch.

“I think [the crowd is] pretty diverse, young indie kids, older healthy people, crazy people… all of them,” he says.

Both Fresh and Urban Herbivore have a generally herbivorous crowd, though many non-vegans enjoy the cuisine.

Coral Khoudatova, a vegan and Toronto resident, says she is pleased with being able to eat vegan in the city, and appreciates what Fresh and Urban Herbivore have to offer.

“It’s really easy to lead a vegan lifestyle, but when you’re going out to eat it’s hard to get food that doesn’t have any animal products,” she says.

If you’re looking for an ingredient rich, health-conscious vegan dish, both Fresh and Urban Herbivore will you give you something delicious for a price that won’t kill your wallet.

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Tasty vegan treats help give your conscience a break..orth

Tofu is the cornerstone of a healthy vegan diet.

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Fall 2010

food & drink

pubs, pints and pot pies The luck o’ the Irish in the heart of Toronto

words and pictures: Lance Holdforth

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rish eyes are always smiling on Toronto as a variety of pubs in the city provide traditional music, food and the darkest pint of them all.

The Brazen Head at 165 East Liberty St, evokes the spirit and the history of the first documented Irish pub (The Brazen Head est. 1198 in Dublin).

“We take pride in trying to be the best at what we’re doing,” says Even Cheung, The Brazen Head’s co-manager.

The Brazen Head has a rich atmosphere with traditional dark wood wainscoting throughout the seating area and a hand-carved bar stocked with all the stouts, ales and whiskeys Ireland produces, and top name domestics. If you visit the Brazen Head on the right night for a Guinness Cheddar and Beef Pot pie or the Halibut and Chips, Irish dancers will be providing authentic dance.

As a modern twist to the Irish pub, the Brazen Head retains the elegance of its traditional decor while incorporating two roof top patios which expose a panoramic view of the city.

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While some establishments try to mimic the standard of a pub, Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub at 150 Eglington Ave East, could boast it is a piece of Ireland itself.

After you walk through the doors of Scruffy Murphy’s, the dark mahogany bar and the framed pictures of Irish families from the 19th century are enough to make you forget where you are. Built in the purest recreation of a Public House, Scruffy Murphy’s is a place where everyone will know your name and the staff will treat you like family. Even Clare Gaskell, who has been the manager for 10 years, says that she feels at home when she walks through the door. In addition to a bar stocked with Irish whiskeys like Bushmills, Blackbush, Jameson and Tullamore Dew, Scruffy Murphy’s offers a wide variety of beers. If you’re sitting at the dark Mahogany bar watching a soccer or rugby game you can’t help but notice the brass taps of Irish and domestic beer.

With solid wood archways matching those of a Catholic church as the entrance way, the dining room is both a relaxing and historic place to enjoy a steak and kidney pie, lamb shank or stew recipes from cross the pond.

The dining room walls are lined with

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historic pictures of Oscar Wilde, C.S Lewis and James Hoban, the designer of the White House. Illustrations of some of Ireland’s famous landmarks, such as St. Patrick’s cathedral, KilKea Castle and the Blarney Stone all contribute to Scruffy’s tribute to Ireland.

The ambience matches the halls of an old Public House which will surely inspire patrons to stand and sing a few bars of a traditional song with the evening’s band.

Stop by Scruffy Murphy’s for a pint of ale

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Scruffy Murphy’s is a great place for young and old alike to grab a pint.

“We have a rotation of bands every Saturday usually every six weeks, and then Sundays we have an open jam,” Gaskell says. “The calibre of music is really unbelievable.”

When a live band comes to Scruffy Murphy’s, expect to hear some modern rock ‘n’ roll, but the fiddle and mandolin are never far behind. And if you didn’t know the song when you came in you will when you leave.

If your travels around Toronto take you to the Air Canada Centre or the Fairmont Royal York, you will be in range of The Over Draught Irish Pub at 156 Front

St, West.

In one of the purest traditions of an Irish pub, The Over Draught has gone underground in the cavern-style of pubs of Northern Ireland.

Underneath Joe Badali’s restaurant is where you will find The Over Draught waiting to show you what an Irish pub experience is all about. At the bar the staff will be pleased to recite the long list of traditional drinks the pub has to offer.

“Really the goal is to create a warm inviting atmosphere,” says owner Paul Watts. “I think Irish pubs have an atmo-

sphere people are looking for.”

The Over Draught’s environment is one to be admired. Book shelves filled with classic novels and glass displays of old photos line the walls adding to the relaxing atmosphere.

“It’s a comfort zone,” Watts says.

Traditional meals cooked with Irish ales, lagers and stouts are mixed with some classic Canadian cuisine.

“We try to have many items on our menu that stick to the tradition of being an Irish pub,” Watts says. “We use things like different beers in our cooking methods such as Guinness, Kilkenny and Harp.”

The Over Draught was designed to represent everything embodied in a cavern-style Irish pub.

“I think everybody has a preconceived notion of what they’re walking into,” Watt says. “So obviously when you’re building a pub you look to Ireland and some of the pubs that are there and try to do what they do well.

From the grand hall pubs or the local thatched roof pubs of Ireland, the pub has taken on many forms.

“Certain people think an Irish pub is a little bit more down and dirty and other people think it’s a little slicker,” Watts says. “I think we hit somewhere around the middle.”

Relaxed staff and comfortable surroundings make Scruffy Murphy’s a great place to take a load off.

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Fall 2010

Food & Drink

ethnic at home Worldly cuisine straight from Toronto’s big backyard Words AND PICTURES: Natashia Fearon

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raving something more than just the same old steak and potatoes? For the adventurous wanting to try something different, Toronto is a great place. Every day in the city, chefs from around the world cook up multicultural feasts.

“You can eat around the world and all you need is a day pass,” says Toronto food critic, Jim Bamboulis. A TTC Day Pass gives you unlimited one-day travel on all regular transit services.

Bamboulis says that growing up in a Greek house meant food was always delicious and nutritious. As he got older, Bamboulis learned how to cook and began to put some of his own personal twists on dishes.

Throughout the years Bamboulis has been a sportscaster on The Score TV and a talk show host on Rogers TV. With his knowledge of food and his writing abilities, Bamboulis’s transition into food writing was “natural,” he says. He’s been writing for Dine. T.O, an online website about Toronto’s food and restaurant industry, since May 2009.

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Toronto, he says, has plenty to offer when it comes to cuisine. “We’re really lucky to live in a city where you can find anything you want around the block,” Bamboulis says. “Jamaican, Italian, Greek, Vietnamese all lined up together.”

According to Statistics Canada, half of Toronto’s population was born outside of Canada. One of the most multicultural cities in the world, Toronto is home to approximately 2.5 million people.

“Here, everyone immigrated many years ago and the traditions are passed down. If you know where to look, you can find the best quality from the old country,” says Bamboulis.

For Mexican food, Bamboulis suggests La Tortilleria, located in the heart of Kensington Market, with four other locations across the city.

La Tortilleria’s marketing manager, Juan Roman, says the authenticity of

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any ethnic dish is the most important part.

“People really love our authentic nachos. We are the only ones in the city who make the nachos from the real tortilla.” Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Toronto Mayor, David Miller have eaten here. “It was a really good experience,” Roman says, Harper “ordered nachos with green hot salsa.”

Mexican cuisine is often confused with Tex-Mex. “People come in asking for the burritos, asking for the lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream, and that’s not Mexican food.”

Tex-Mex is a fusion of Mexican and Texan cuisine, but it’s not authentic Mexican food. “If we talk about Mexican food, basically the base for almost everything is corn and it’s the tortillas because everything is made with tortillas,” says Roman. “So we make our own tortillas everyday here. We make more than 5,000 tortillas a day.”

Fall 2010

In one taco you can find more than 10 ingredients, including vegetables, and meats, such as chicken, beef or pork.

The average price is about $10 a person.

Craving something spicy? African cusine won’t disappoint.

Somalia is an East African country bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, but you can find an authentic Somali dish right in Toronto.

Hamdi Restaurants is a great place to try something new. If you see lots of bananas don’t hesitate to ask for one.

It’s a Somali tradition to eat a banana after every meal. Manager, Ahmad Farah explains.

“The banana is actually from the old country, from back home,” Farah says.

“Traditionally, back home in Somalia people eat bananas with their lunch or dinner.” They’re normally sliced and eaten raw with rice.

Established in 1996, Hamdi Restaurants became a landmark to the Somali community and newcomers.

“We serve mostly Somali dishes.

Our customers are from everywhere,” says Farah.

With more than 50 dishes, you’re bound to find something right for you but, for starters Farah says the chicken sukar is a must have.

“Chicken sukar is a boneless piece of chicken, pan fried with tomatoes, onions, garlic and green peppers,” Farah says. “Our main dish is lamb. It’s oven roasted and it’s very tasty, and quite popular with customers. We have individual plates, and then we have plars, big plars that people can share.”

A plar is a large serving platter designed to plate a serving for two or more people.

Hamdi is located on Carlton Street near Sheppard Avenue in the downtown area.

Every great city has a Chinatown, and Toronto’s Chinatown overflows with a number of great nooks throughout the Spadina Avenue area. People from all walks of life and cultures are drawn to Chinatown because of its vibrant and exotic atmosphere.

Whether you’re feeling the urge for bubble tea or Chow Mein or fried rice, or if you’re craving something with a little egg, like egg drop soups or egg

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rolls or egg tarts, Chinatown is the perfect spot to get your fix. You can spend anywhere from $5 - $30 for a belly full. Rol San Restaurant specializes in Dim Sum, which is a small steamed or deep-fried dumpling. If you’re looking for a great vegetarian meal, Vegetarian Haven has an avocado apple sprout wrap, and at King’s Noodle you can find the classic Wonton Noodle Soup. But, Bamboulis says “part of the experience is venturing off and trying new things without the recommendation. That’s the only way to recommend a place to someone else.”

From Chinatown to Greektown, Bamboulis says you’ll find great authentic Greek cuisines on the Danforth. He says Messini serves excellent gyros.

Messini owner, Marinos Dafnas says the gyro is a pita that is served throughout Greece at almost every corner.

“It’s almost like the Greek hamburger. It’s a pita wrapped with meat, usually with pork, but here you could get pork, chicken, or lamb,” says Dafnas.

“It’s very basic like a sandwich, but to get it where you want to keep the taste very authentic, you must have, I would say three items really well prepared. That would be the tzatziki (a Greek sauce) which is 100% yogurt base, the Greek pita, and the meat, spiced properly.”

Dafnas says you can find gyros throughout the Danfoth, but he says the Messini gyros recipe dates back from 1969. “Obviously everyone has their own recipe I have my own recipe,” he says. “If you spice it properly and you combine all those items, you get the authentic taste that you would get back home ...

If you keep the original flavour, you can’t go wrong,” says Dafnas. “I do 100% Greek.”

An open concept kitchen is a Greek tradition and at Messini you can look

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on as your food cooks.

Customers are from all ages, and Dafnas said it’s cheap. “Lunch time until about three o’clock, you don’t spend more than seven dollars which includes a drink,” says Dafnas.

Georgian Hamilton, also known as the Caribbean Queen of patties, will have you wanting more after tasting her homemade Jamaican patties.

She’s been making her famous patties for over 15 years, and if you’re looking for a light snack, a Jamaican patty is a great choice. Hamilton serves beef and veggie patties for only $1.50 each. You’ll find this cozy nook on Bloor Street between Dufferin and Lansdowne. You can also experience great Jamaican food around the Eglinton West area, but if you don’t try one of the “Queen’s” homemade patties, she says, “You’re missing the best beef patties in town.”

Toronto is home to some of the best authentic cultural cuisines from around the world. And, as Bamboulis says, “all you need is a day pass.”

Hamdi Chicken Sukar

La Tortilleria Burritos

Fall 2010

food & drink

Dining out on the cheap A guide to thrifty, quality eats words: Sarah Jacob pictures: Natashia Fearon

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eople work hard for their money, but after bills are paid, there may not be much left over to enjoy. Dishing out $40 or $50 per person for a meal is not a luxury everyone has. Here’s a guide that will give you options for great meals under $10.

Living downtown doesn’t mean you have to spend half a day’s pay on a cup of coffee. The rich businessman who lives in the $2 million condo may be able to, but the average Torontonian may not. The 2006 census determined the median household income for Toronto in 2005 was $52,833, which was a drop of 4.9 per cent from 2000.

Consider an average Torontonian, like 24-year-old Larry Caceres, a designer who resides in downtown Toronto. He moved from the suburbs in 2007 and is still having a hard time making sure he has his living expenses tended to and has money left over for recreation.

“After my bills are paid, there’s not

too much left over to do anything with. Sometimes that gets me mad because I’d like to do more than just work,” he says.

Even if Caceres doesn’t have much money left over after taking care of his expenses, there are some places for him, and others in the same situation, to try out.

Phil’s Original BBQ

Phil’s BBQ was voted the best barbeque on Toronto.com’s Best of T.O. The owner has traveled all over America in order to perfect the art of barbecuing. Phil doesn’t use gas barbeques, he uses wood smoke to cook his meat.

The meat is covered in homemade sauces and then slow cooked. Diners can find sandwich meals for about $8 per person.

King’s Noodle House

Walk by this place and you’ll notice a BBQ hanging outside the window.

It’s not the fanciest of places, but it is good. Food critics have called the food here “the best Chinese food

you’ll ever eat.” The restaurant is closed Wednesdays, but meals can be found from about $7. With prices like that for good Chinese food, we’ll let Wednesdays slide.

Leroy Campbell, a first-year York University student working and going to school, says going out to eat is a luxury not many people have. “I find it’s not something a lower-class family can take advantage of,” he says.

After being told about meals under $10, Campbell says, “A lot of the cheaper restaurants are usually less healthy.” For the skeptics like Campbell, the next few options will definitely change your mind.

Young Thailand

The manager is friendly and always checks up on you to make sure you’re enjoying the meal. A meal starts at about $8 a person, and Young Thailand also has cheap specials for diners to choose from. Diners can enjoy mango chicken, curry beef, coconut soup and much more.

King’s Noodle House serves healthy Chinese dishes under $10.

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Fall 2010

order up!

Phil’s Original BBQ 838 College Street

Sammy’s One and only

70 University Avenue and 200 Wellington St. West

King’s Noodle House

296 Spadina Avenue

A cook at King’s Noodle House puts the finishing touches on an order.

Sammy’s One and Only

Sammy’s will get you thinking healthy.

Diners can choose from an array of healthier foods including salads, stews and chicken marinated in tasty, interesting flavours from around the world. A great cheap eat is a falafel platter with potatoes and salad for under $5.

Avenue Cafe and Bistro

The Coffee Mill

99 Yorkville Avenue

Avenue Cafe and Bistro

Here’s a place you’ll only be able to dine at during the week, as it’s closed weekends. The very trendy and modern interior looks like a room transformed on a home makeover show. Don’t judge a book by its cover though. Just because the place looks expensive doesn’t mean the food is. The price for one person is about $10. Diners can choose from breakfast entrees, sandwich combos, soups, baked goods and more.

80 University Avenue

Ramy Yousif, former direct banking manager at the Bank of Montreal, says despite the hard task of working every day to pay bills, people definitely need to have some time to relax and cheap dining is the way to go.

“People need to balance work and relaxation,” he says, “If you can find a meal for $10 then why waste $20 on a meal?

It’s all about managing money and finding the best deals you can.”

Campbell says he’s seen his fair share of overpriced food. “Places like Baton Rouge and The Keg are overpriced. It’s like Nike, you feel like you’re just buying the brand!”

Yousif recommends people set aside a small amount of their paycheque per month for recreation. He also says to look for bargains and special rates.

“Use coupons. People sometimes think coupons make you cheap, but you’re actually being smart.”

The Coffee Mill

Young Thailand 285 College Street

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This place is kind on the eyes and wallet. It has a cozy interior to make diners feel like they’re right at home.

There’s also a patio and courtyard outside. It’s been around for almost 50 years and hosts live music and entertainment every weekend.

Coffee starts at $1.50. Diners can choose from an array of salads, soups and entrees, most of which are under $10. The most expensive thing you’ll find there is the wine, which ranges from $6 to $32.

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Fall 2010

IN-FOCUS

From-cow-tippin' to-city-slickin'

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Making the change from the country to the city

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words: Keith Holland pictures: Natashia Fearon

ife in the big city can be tough. From changing trains, to just changing the garbage, adjustments come in all sizes when moving from rural towns to a city like Toronto. But is the city all that it’s cracked upto be? Is the grass greener in the urban jungle?

People move to the city for a multitude of reasons. Some come for school or for work. Some just come on a whim. Ivan Raczycki, 21, came to Toronto in 2006 from the small town of Clinton, Ontario to pursue his dreams of becoming a writer.

After three years in York University’s professional writing program, he has experienced much of what Toronto has to offer. From living in North York, to living in his car, to living downtown, he has no regrets.

“Some people, when they come from the country, say they don’t feel safe. As far as I am concerned, there are good and bad people everywhere,” says Raczycki.

The youthful optimism expressed by Raczycki is echoed by another new resident of Toronto.

Ellerey Lorentz, 18, moved to Toronto to attend

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Humber College’s film and television program this year. She is from the small theatre town of Blyth, Ontario and she will be the first to admit that living in a rural community may require some additional acting skills.

“I feel like I can be myself in Toronto,” she says.

“I have found a group of friends with whom I can be super outgoing. If I want to wear a bright red poncho I can. I no longer have to worry about being bullied or ridiculed just for being myself.”

Many who move to Toronto are indeed attracted here by its perceived acceptance any and all people, but for some people the familiar is too attractive of an option. For some, living in the city requires a leap of faith that they are not quite prepared for.

Curtis Lobb, 21, a second-year film student at Humber College from Tuckersmith Township, lives in a cabin that runs on solar power and in winter is nearly inaccessible. The shock of the city life was a bit too much for Lobb who on his first day in the city was abandoned by a TTC driver who misdirected him. The first impression has yet to wear off for Lobb.

“As a resident I feel I can’t walk home without feeling like I am on guard, which is the opposite of home. Even though there is always something to do I feel like I am in a constant struggle to just brave it out, and that’s not home,” he says.

Transit is a major stumbling block for many of

Fall 2010

IN-FOCUS

The hustle and bustle of Toronto can be intimidating to someone not accustomed to city life. those who move to the city. The Toronto Transit ing my own vehicle.” says Lobb, who had to leave Commission (TTC) was established in 1954 and has his prized Mercury Sable Wagon in the driveway been moving Toronto’s residents to and fro ever at home. since.

Once you learn the ropes of Toronto Transit you Such transit systems can begin to experiare not practical in rural ence Toronto’s famous towns and the lack of downtown. It seems no familiarity shows among matter what your opinnew residents of Toronion of the city of ToAs a resident I feel I can’t to. ronto is, new residents “City buses can be and visitors of Toronto walk home without feeling so confusing,” says can’t get enough of the like I am on guard, which is first year Sheridan studowntown core. the opposite of home. Even dent Krista Rozendal, “I love the vibe of 19. Currently residing in downtown Toronto. I though there is always someOakville, Rozendal oflove the nightlife,” says thing to do or whatever I feel ten travels all across the Rozendal. Her homelike I am in a constant strugGreater Toronto Area town has just two bars. using the TTC and will One is a members only gle to just brave it out, and admit she hasn’t quite hunting club and the that’s not home. got the hang of it yet. other is a Godfather’s

-Curtis Lobb “Between the GO Pizza. trains and the TTC busRaczycki has plenty of es, it can be frustrating suggestions for those just getting from point A to point B without being who are headed downtown. either very early or very late. It really is a guessing “You have to check out the Dance Cave at game sometimes.”

Bathurst and Bloor and The Lakeview Restaurant But it’s not impossible, according to Raczycki. at Dundas and Ossington is a great 24 hour res“I had to figure the TTC out, which was a bit of a taurant with amazing milkshakes,” he says. There is challenge at first,but the TTC’s website was very almost always something going on in Toronto. useful and very thorough,” he says.

“There is an amazing diversity of experiences.

But for some it’s not about the difficulty of the TTC There is literally always something for anyone to do but about leaving a piece of yourself at home. in Toronto,” adds Raczycki. But, no matter where “Learning the TTC was no big deal. I just miss driv- you live you only get out what you put in.

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Fall 2010

Sports

home field advantage Teams are only as big as their fans words and pictures: Alicia Condarcuri

your particular cup of tea, a positive live experience can be entertaining, especially when the team is winning.

All it takes is some dedication, spirit, and maybe some merchandise.

The live game experience is easy hris Bosh dribbles to the basket, to get involved in and addicted to dekeing out an opponent at says Jasmine Ghafour, social networkthe free throw line before huring specialist at Whotheman.com, a tling his 6’9” frame towards the basket.

Vaughan-based sports He runs with the basketball debate website. in his hands, taking a few “To be considered a steps with every fan in the true fan means a lot of Air Canada Centre on their things,” says Ghafour. feet, silent with anticipation.

To be considered a true fan means a lot “You buy the swag, you As the All-star launches over of things... You buy the swag, you know know about all of the two defenders and, while about all of the players... but most impor- players, you know the soaring through the air, tantly you support your team in person. stats, you know what’s slams the ball into the rim, -Jasmine Ghafour always going on with the he throws his head back league, but most imporand lets out his signature tantly you support your deafening roar. Somehow this triumphant bellow is heard over the atmosphere help a team’s psyche to team in person.”

Interaction with other fans is a big win? What are the advantages – to roar of 19,000 leaping fans.

The fan voice in the city has always the team, the city and the fans – of benefit, Ghafour says. With the Raptors attendance at the ACC capping been a strong one. Toronto sports hold home stadium advantage?

With stadiums all across the city, there at just over 19,000 people, it’s a big via unique niche in the world’s athletic market. Known for the unrelenting are many ways to get into the sports sual to see that many fans supporting fans of Leaf Nation, and the country’s scene in Toronto. Even if sports isn’t the team. Being included and sharing

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only NBA and Major League Soccer teams, Canada puts the fan fate of the nation in Toronto’s heavy hands.

But when the city’s beloved teams are under-performing, the fan voice becomes weaker and, in Toronto, negatively stronger.

How does that affect a team? Further, how does a positive live game

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emotions with the entire arena brings people together.

“Being involved in a sport is a very inclusive feeling which is why it’s so popular,” says Ghafour. “If we look at hockey, for example, it is a very Canadian sport to be interested in. In a country of 30 million where the majority are minorities from other countries, learning about and enjoying hockey offers a feeling of inclusiveness with your peers.

Sports bring people together in a positive way.”

During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, while the NHL was on hiatus, the Toronto Raptors got their first chance to play a Saturday night game at the ACC since 2002. This time around they won against the Washington Wizards in one of the best displays of fan affection the ACC has ever seen, says Eric Smith, colour analyst and official Raptors broadcaster for the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto. Smith says there were crowd waves going around the

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“Would a player on the bench be booing his team mates when they’re down?

- Eric Smith

stadium even with their franchise player, Chris Bosh, sitting on the sidelines with a sprained ankle. Smith had never seen the fans more vocal, more enthusiastic, more supportive and hopeful.

These same fans want to help them advance to the second round of the playoffs, want to help them use their home court advantage, and want to help them reach the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings to secure that advantage. These fans want to see a winning team, and right now, it seems this basketball club is the only hope that Toronto has in seeing playoff action and possibly success.

Basketball has more live input than any sport, says Smith, purely because of the physics of the basketball arena.

In no other sport are the fans so close to the game on the court. There is a degree of fan separation from the game

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In their fifth season, the Marlies are still taking initiative to grow their fanbase. in hockey, baseball, football and, to a degree, soccer. In a basketball game, there are actually people sitting on the court with the players towering right in front of them. Because of this fan closeness, says Smith, the fan reaction is said to be like a sixth man on the court.

“The ACC was built primarily as a basketball arena,” says Smith. “It was only at the last minute that Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment came in and made deals to play the Leafs, but that’s what makes the ACC one of the best places to play basketball in the league.”

The reaction of the fans can also have a connection to the play on the court. A positive reaction can pump up a game, the players and the atmosphere in the stadium. It can also spell trouble for distracted opponents, says Jesse Gross, long time Toronto Argonauts season ticket holder. “(The fan’s response) psychs the team up and gets them going, knowing 25,000 people are behind them,” Gross says. “But, it can directly affect the game. When the crowd is making lots of noise when the opposing team is on the field, it can cause the players to mishear calls on the field and make the wrong play.”

In Toronto, fans have a tendency to boo their teams when they’re not doing well. But Smith says, if they’re a winning team, which the Raptors currently are, they should be providing the support of a real sixth man. It’s the one thing Smith says he has a problem with about Toronto fans.

“Would a player on the bench be booing his teammates when they’re

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down?” Smith asks, “No. They’d be trying to encourage them. Booing doesn’t encourage anyone.”

Despite being able to “hear a pin drop” when the Argos are losing, Gross enjoys being a season ticket holder and having the luxury of having a pass to every game of the season. He has been attending Argos games at the Rogers Centre, previously the SkyDome, for more than 15 years with his father and grandfather. It’s something that keeps him connected to his team, faithful to his players and excited for every game.

“Being able to say that I support this team enough to want to commit to them for an entire season is amazing,” says Gross. “One, it is a guaranteed seat in the spot of my choice. And two, it is just the pride and knowledge that I’m a supporter of the team and will be there regardless of the good or bad, rain or shine.

“Also,” he adds, “the discounts on merchandise aren’t bad.”

That’s what leads fans in the city to get season tickets or game day tickets to sports in the city. To see their favourite player on the Argos receive a wide pass and slam the football on the turf for a game-winning touchdown. To see the Leafs slap shot the puck into the net on a power play to take the lead with one minute left in the game.

To be there celebrating when the Raptors are bumping chests in the air after a home win against the Lakers. To high five your friends, raise your glasses and cheer, clap, and holler for your team.

This is our city’s games, after all. They belong to everyone.

Fall 2010

opinion The-hybrid-question words: Kyle Gennings pictures: Lance Holdforth

Day and night we are bombarded with guilt producing ad campaigns aimed at our relationship with mother earth, our abuse of her fragile bounty, our rape of her natural resources and, most importantly, the hole our sport utility vehicles are punching through her beautiful ozone layer.

The inevitable solution is to wave good-bye to the shower, embrace hemp with open arms, waltz into a dealership and swap the Hummer for something smaller and friendlier. Then we’ll sing kumbai-ya around a fake fire until the world heals itself.

But the fact of the matter is that living ‘green’ is so much simpler than that.

For starters, the love affair with the Toyota Prius and its hybrid brethren will be a fling at most. The technology only serves as a rebound for the automotive industry as it starts its emotional break up with fossil fuels. “The current focus on hybrid-electric vehicles is only a transition technology,” says Dr. Joshua Pearce, an assistant professor of engineering at Queen’s University in Kingston. “In the medium term we need to completely eliminate the use of oil for transportation, so having a hybrid that still burns petroleum is not a solution.”

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We know the consequences of burning fossil fuels, but many hybrid owners might be shocked by the price of their batteries. The nickel cadmium batteries that are used in most hybrid vehicles are composed of two metals, which must be mined, extracted and smelted before they can be used in a battery. This process is by no means green.

“I think the vast majority of the population do not really get it,” says Dr. Pearce, who specializes in the research and development of technologies to harness solar energies. “We need to reduce our use of fossil fuels by at least 80 per cent to reduce the risk of global ecological collapse to somewhat acceptable levels.”

So, to save Mother Nature, we’re going to have to dig a little deeper than investing in an ugly car with a split personality. “Many hybrids are less efficient than compact cars,” says Laura Matheson, an environmentalist and professor at Humber College. “The problem runs much deeper. It is the way our cities are planned.”

The idea of building out, rather than up, is very much a western trend and one that is hugely evident right here in the GTA. Take Hong Kong for example, one of the world’s best examples of the up vs. out theories. The city covers just over 1,000 km2, and has a population of a shade over seven million people. The GTA in comparison covers over 7,000 km2, but has a population of just over 5.5 million, says Matheson.

“The dependency on commuter

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vehicles has resulted from urban sprawl,” says Matheson. “Cities must be built up not out. This way the population could support an extensive public transit system.”

The TTC offers commuters extensive options for getting around the city, options that are about to improve with the Commission’s latest expansion plan, called Transit City.

Transit City will extend existing subway lines and add a new Light Rail Transit system that will reach every corner of Toronto, making the commute a little easier for millions of Torontonians.

“Expanding rapid transit will achieve strategic intensification of land development which will enhance the quality of life for Torontonians,” says Ryan Bissonette, media representative for the Transit City initiative. This plan is grounded on a foundation of fuel-efficient vehicles. “Electrically-powered light rail vehicles will travel in reserved lanes providing a smooth, fast and comfortable transit experience,” says Bissonnette. “It will enable residents in each transit corridor to make a better choice and choose public transit over the use of a private automobile which results in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”

We can, however, make a difference from the safety of our own couches by simply living smarter and more efficient lives, organizing our trash and insulating our houses better.

“This is the biggest secret that the energy industry is keeping from the consumer,” says Pearce. “For example, if you insulate your basement – you can cut your home heating bill by up to a third.”

Green living is so much more than driving a smug-mobile. We have to look beyond the green ads and the words ‘eco friendly.’ So the next time you hover over the garbage can with your empty bottle of Coke, toss it in the recycling bin and get back to insulating your basement.

Fall 2010

opinion words: Amanda Graham pictures: Lance Holdforth

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crowded street car destined to head west quickly fills itself to capacity with patrons all headed to the same place. With the recent opening of The Garrison on Dundas West, music fanatics are finding a home away from home in the western area of Toronto. The bell is rung and skinny legged patrons step off the street car flooding the side walk. West is definitely where it’s at.

For now anyway.

The movement is based on the scene’s obsession with change.

Nothing good ever sticks.

Look back ten years and the west is a far cry from what it has grown to be. Mental patients who were released from hospitals were once placed quietly in Parkdale. Now, the quaint area west of the shopping district is home to high-priced clothing and luxury pet accessories.

As the goods came in, so did the even better music.

Within the past few years a trend (like fringed denim) passed through the downtown core as Torontonians saw music venues open up within the western area.

Venues moved west, as did the trendy folk that follow the incessantly growing scene. Toronto based band Brides’ front man Elliott Jones recalls when he first made the move to the big city.

“Everyone just seemed to get the same memo to head west. Venues started popping up by the day,” says Jones.

Starting in the ‘80s, venues began moving further down Queen Street pushing those sad characters that Parkdale once was home to even further west. Although many of the mental patients had a love of punk, those with classical taste had no choice. As music and art has always lived hand in hand, the art scene made the move with it.

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east-moves-west Is Toronto’s music scene moving west for good?

Author, musician and co-creator of Toronto’s (former) Wavelength music series, Jonny Dovercourt remembers his Doc Marten wearing teenage years when Toronto’s western area was getting its first taste of the music scene.

“I used to go to punk shows at the Drake in the ‘80s and it was kind of this desolate place, there were always mental patients hanging around, it was just such a crazy scene,” says Dovercourt. “The Drake was this sketchy hotel and unknown things happened in the rooms, if you know what I mean.”

Fast forward 30 years and here we are, paying seven bucks for a whiskey sour and 20 to see a show at the four-star Drake Hotel.

Today it seems as though you can’t walk a block down Queen St. West without passing a music venue. The scene has settled in quite comfortably, but as history tells us, it won’t last long.

“It could grow even further along west,” says Dovercourt. “The Junction has some great potential but there are yet to be any seriously dedicated venues—except for open stages.”

I may not know everyone within the music scene but the ones I do know are quite frugal with their cash so hiking up to High Park to see their fa-

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vourite band play for $50 a pop just doesn’t seem to be in the cards for these skinny-legged folk. As long as venues like the Garrison continue to offer cheap admission, the people will be waiting at the door.

“It’s just that the west has the art, it has the fashion and the music; it’s already all here. Why change a good thing?” says Toronto music fanatic Tereza Salerno as she waits in line to see Dinosaur Jr play live at Sonic Boom. “To be honest, I think it’s not a case of whether or not people want to move, it’s whether or not venues will be able to handle us all as the scene continues to grow.”

It’s quite apparent to see that both the people standing in front of and on the stages are growing at the rate of beans, both in a numerical sense and physical. As years pass the music scene seems to recycle its members. In with the new, out with the old seems to be the motto.

As another show concludes a crowd billows out from the doors of The Garrison, leaving behind a cloud of cigarette smoke and fumes of spilt alcohol. They don’t go far but head around the corner to see a second performance at The Ossington. The stages have been set, the musicians take their positions, the scene is here and it’s not straying. It’s a west coast thing.

Fall 2010

IN-FOCUS

ALL-ABOARD!

Urbanation

COURTESY STEAMWHISTLE

Steam Whistle serves up more than just good beer words and pictures: Matt Garcia

sioned in 1988, says Maubert. The Roundhouse’s status as a historical landmark saved it from being turned into a parking lot by the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Steam Whistle moved city like Toronto loves it when businesses into the C-shaped building in 1999 and began fixtake the fading memories in old archiing up the one third of the facility they occupy. tecture and make them relevant once When the work was done, the brewery began again. Steam Whistle Brewing has done just that, doing “one thing really, really well,” as their sloconverting part of an old Canadian Pacific Rail gan goes. Four all-natural ingredients are used repair hall into a modern brewing facility. A fleet in making Steam Whistle’s pilsner, says Maubert. of restored classic automobiles accompany the The first is malted barley, which is lightly roasted to building, painted in Steam Whistle’s distinctive produce the golden colour of the beer. A beer green and blue. The visual bend isn’t just for kicks, like Guiness would use a however: there’s more chocolate-coloured a philosophy and malted barley, says Maubranding push bebert. The second ingredihind the flair, and the ent is fresh spring water Lager in German basically good folks at Steam from Caledon Springs. The means store; the longer you store third ingredient, a natural Whistle put on tours the lager the more delicious it’s to showcase it all. preservative, is hops. going to taste. We leave it in Chantelle Maubert “They also are a distant there to develop the flavour that is part of the Retail cousin with the cannawe need. & Events Crew at bis family,” says Maubert, Steam Whistle, and is “they look a lot like a green

-Chantelle Maubert responsible for guidflower, but they grow on ing visitors through vines.” the twists and turns The hops are turned into within the brewery. The 81-year-old building, pellets in Germany and imported to Toronto, says known as the John Street Roundhouse, was sold Maubert. Three different types are used – two for to the City of Toronto for $1 after being decommisbittering and one for aroma.

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IN-FOCUS Urbanation

The fourth and final ingredient is yeast, which transport using a crane. while vital to the creation of beer didn’t make the Bottles are washed by passing through a gigantour. Yeast takes sugar from the barley and protic, blocky machine called “MAG”, a name Mauduces carbon dioxide (the fizzy part) and alcohol bert treats like another member of the crew. The (the part that makes you fizzy). Yeast brings everythick-walled bottles pass along conveyor belts thing together, but being a microorganism means through various stations being filled, labeled and it’s a bit hard to show off, says Maubert. inspected. The final step involves a device resemAfter learning what goes into the beer, the next bling a cross between robots from The Matrix and stage of the tour rea cow milker, which COURTESY STEAMWHISTLE spirits bottles away volves around shiny objects. The constant into appropriatelydrone of machinsized boxes.

Cans ery can be heard as have a similar proMaubert explains the cess, although the journey of barley from equipment for their grains to a kind of porfilling is located a bit ridge, eventually befurther into the faciling separated from ity. Pallets of bright liquid which then goes green boxes line the on to mix with the rooms around the hops. The mixture sits production areas for a while in brew ketwaiting to be transtles which are heated ported to a wide with steam power. array of stores and When the gleaming consumers. tanks and mazes of But Steam Whistle pipes are done their isn’t just about makjob, the proto-booze ing the beer and heads to the fermenshipping it to customtation and aging ers. In just over a detanks. Here the yeast cade, the company is added to the liquid has gone from startand allowed to do its up to distribution all microscopic work. This over Ontario, Alberta process takes about and B.C. in addition five to seven days, to sponsoring 250 to says Maubert. At this 300 events in those point about 95% of provinces each year, the alcohol has been says Steam Whistle made, but the beer is Marketing’s Sybil Tayleft in the tanks for 21 lor. days to age properly.

“The way we’ve “Lager in German built our business is basically means store; by having a presthe longer you store ence in the comthe lager the more munity,” says Taylor, delicious it’s going to Steamwhistle combines old style with new taste. “sponsoring events, taste. We leave it in being part of arts and there to develop the flavour that we need,” says culture; being a visible presence and not just a Maubert. product.”

When the aging is complete the beer is almost It all ties into the retro philosophy at the core of ready, but it still needs to go through a three-step Steam Whistle. Images of whistling milkmen defiltration process to remove particles which cloud livering goods to families, or customers taking the the drink. time to talk to the person behind the butcher shop Once it’s all said and done, the beer is piped counter, helped shape the company’s vision. through a variety of machines before making its “Life was slower and simpler, but there was more way to consumers. For kegs, the beer goes to a engagement between product and customers. station named “Keg Boy,” which can fill up to 50 We loved that about the era, and sort of wanted litres in one minute, says technician Glen Archer. to make Steam Whistle based on that,” says TayOnce filled, the heavy kegs are hauled away for lor.

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Perhaps the best visual example of this lies with the company’s vintage motor fleet; the eight delivery vehicles from the 50s and 60s have all been retooled and repainted to become eye-catching symbols of the “Good Beer Folks” message.

Taylor says the brewery was designed with this community interaction in mind, which led to a large event space in the building itself. At the time of this writing, the facility is currently under construction while the company improves on that space (at the same time, a train museum in part of the remaining Roundhouse is being constructed) . An expanded second floor for social events will help improve the flow of things around the brewery, says Maubert.

Aside from renovations, Steam Whistle’s future is slow and steady, says Taylor. The company

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IN-FOCUS

Brewing beer is a technical and delicate process, making the use of computers a must. recently placed a salesman in B.C. and started shipping there, and right now Steam Whistle is waiting for acceptance to sell in government liquor stores in the province. Taylor says Steam Whistle currently operates in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario, although shipments of the pilsner make it to areas like the Yukon.

“We don’t want to spread ourselves too thin by starting to sell in every province at the same time.

We’re just slowly building the business,” says Taylor.

Taylor says the ultimate goal of Steam Whistle right now is to become Canada’s premier pilsner, in the same way that Heineken or Guiness are known to be their nation’s beer. With people turning more and more towards buying locally, Taylor says the future of Steam Whistle looks solid.

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