Ticking off the districts: Toronto Day 4 (24 April 2014)

We’ve already written about visiting Liberty Village and Kensington Market, passing through Chinatown, and spending time Downtown (at the Eaton Centre). So Day 4 was the Distillery District‘s turn, but first …

Free lunchtime concerts

Hannah has been doing a good job of providing ideas for our sightseeing while she’s been at work. One of these suggestions was the free lunchtime concert series at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in the Four Seasons Centre, home of the Canadian Opera Company. We decided to give one a try, and it happened to be Rick Sacks, Solo Percussion, Polar Bears and Lullabies: New Works for Malletkat. We sussed out the location and then, having some spare time, stopped in at a cute little cafe called the {eat}ery for a cuppa. So many cute and interesting places to eat at here – but then this is a trend in most cities isn’t it? Near the cafe we spied – well, you couldn’t miss it – a dynamic-looking and rather dragon-inspired (it seemed to us) sculpture. It’s by Chinese sculptor Zhang Huan and is called “Rising”.

Anyhow, over to the concert. The little amphitheatre – which we guess seats about 150 – was pretty packed for what was a rather unusual concert. Rick Sacks, the artistic director of Arraymusic, a contemporary/new music centre, started by describing his instrument – a malletKat which was hooked up to a Mac laptop, hard drives and speakers. This was going to be challenging music we expected – but we Griffyn Ensemble followers were of course up to it! Interestingly, we had only just a few days previously been discussing new music with Carolyn. She told us that she’d read that humans respond best to music with repetition. Well, most if not all of the music Sacks played did have repetition, which is perhaps why we found it rather accessible, even though some of the sounds and sound combinations were unusual. One piece, for example, used the tones between those on a piano keyboard.

There was a rueful laugh from the audience when Sacks introduced his own “Polar Bear” which he says recognises the fact that in Toronto “we don’t get spring until May”. We’d kinda noticed! He entertained us with his noir-inspired piece “Dragnet” and a music concrète piece titled “Golem” that was composed for him by Vancouver composer Giles Gobeil. Sacks’ final piece was a premiere of his latest work which he described as still in development. This is perhaps the nature of his style of music, as at least one other piece, for example, included improvisation (like you find in jazz). Titled “Andronicus”, it is an homage to opera. Sue plans, if she can find the time, to write a little more about this concert on her personal blog.

Distillery District

Then it was onto the streetcar – we are experts now – to go down to the Distillery District, which is another historic part of Toronto.  We should add here that Toronto is, like Australia’s oldest cities, not that old, but we’ll discuss that a little more in our Day 5 post. It was established when the Gooderham and Worts Distillery was founded there in 1832. By the late 1860s, Wikipedia says, it was the largest distillery in the world. However, as these things always go, the distillery finally closed down and the area fell into disrepair, with the current revitalisation starting in the early 2000s, based on the existing old distillery and associated warehouse buildings. They are lovely to look at and fun to be in. It’s not surprising when you discover that the area has been used as a set for hundreds of movies, including Chicago and X-men.

Anyhow, it was after 1.30pm by the time we got to the district so we were hungry. We checked out the restaurant recommended by Hannah, El Catrin Destileria. It looked good – and Len has been hankering for Mexican – so we opted for it. Len was, though, a little disconcerted when Sue suggested we join the outside diners as it was only 10°C. However, with a brazier going in the centre and heating overhead, Len was soon down to his short-sleeved t-shirt. The menu was interesting as they marked the food choices that DID have gluten! That made Sue’s choice a little easier, though in the end there were only a few that didn’t have cheese and tomato. She settled for the pulled pork tacos lunch special – and of course a margarita. Len chose the shrimp tacos special and a class of tempranillo, one of his favourite softer reds.

After lunch we wandered about the district checking out, among other places, the famous chocolate maker SOMA, the huge and fascinating Bergo Designs, and the retailers in the old Case Goods Warehouse. We also stuck our nose into the Mill St Brewery which still brews beers. It was, in fact, a lovely day for wandering about – cool, but clear and sunny, with no wind, just like a lovely Canberra winter’s day! We had coffee at another place recommended by Hannah, Balzac which prides itself on being Artisanal (the in-word here and at home it seems), Sustainable, Local and Natural. Len tried Coffee Canadien which was like a latte flavoured with maple syrup. Sue should have tried the Atwood Blend, dedicated to author and environmentalist Margaret Atwood, but she didn’t realise it was an option until too late. Next time! She’s sure that if Atwood likes it she will too!

Dinner and a movie

And then it was back on the street-car as we were to meet Hannah outside the Cineplex and Milestones (nearby restaurant) for our evening’s entertainment. Milestones is a chain we understand but the food and ambience were fine, and the service more than pleasant. There was a little issue when Hannah’s steak was brought out “medium-well” not “medium-rare”, something we put down to accents. However, they didn’t demur as, really, the customer is always right, nest-ce pas? Hannah took advantage of one of the Thursday drink specials, $1 per ounce of Prosecco, by ordering 3 oz, while Sue opted for another of their drink specials which was to have one of their selected cocktails for $7 intend of $9. She chose the one comprising gin, prosecco, lemon and cane syrup. It wasn’t bad – for a cocktail!

The movie we chose was The Grand Budapest Hotel. Len had been keen not to see it having seen its trailer back in Canberra, but hearing that the film has in fact received some good ratings and knowing by experience that trailers often tell the wrong story, he gave it a go. We all enjoyed it. Neither Len nor I could call ourselves Wes Anderson aficionados, but we liked the fact that the zaniness contained a story about friendship and loyalty, wealth and greed, but also about the grace of past times. The story is a silly madcap one involving a challenged inheritance, and a stolen painting, but political unrest – impending revolution and authoritarianism – is intimated, to remind us that it’s not just fun. Based on writing by Stefan Zweig, it was particularly relevant for Len to see as his current German language novel – left at home – is by Zweig.

And then, it was back on the streetcar for us all, with Len and Sue leaving Hannah a few stops down to transfer to our southbound train. It wasn’t much after 9pm so we were happy that Hannah was safe to continue on her few more stops to her home. And, after all, when we’re not here, this is exactly what she does.

Today’s slideshow …

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