The Jamie Kennedy Experience: Lunch @ Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner, Dinner @ Jamie Kennedy Restaurant

I did both them in a single day.

1. Lunch

Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner is on the 3rd floor of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. Its a really nice room, there's lots of light. The dining area is set up like a T. So there is the main room that you see when you walk in and then a dining area that crosses the T that cuts across. The furniture is nice, really modern and clean looking. None of it looks tired, and i guess it shouldn't because it's only recently opened. The servers are dressed in a minimalist kind of way, black shirts and parts. So no stupid looking uniforms or outfits. The floors are really nice too. They have a darker stain to them and a really nice grain to them. They could be oak, but perhaps someone more knowledgeable (like those experts at Commute Home) could you give you a more definitive diagnosis. They look like planks, but it could some sort of cork flooring. In any event it doesn't look like cheap laminate flooring.

The first time I scouted the room I saw a large number of good-looking women, the kind of the high heels with pointy toes, having lunch here. I kind of got my hopes up, so i was a little let down when i saw the old people. But at least they keep them in a back corner. I think it would hard to get rid of the old people, particularly since this is a museum. (By the way I will say the women working at this museum are a lot better looking than the ones at the AGO). There were still quite a few women there, and most of them are good-looking if not a bit on the older side 30-35 and older. A few suits, but mostly chicks who lunch.

I split the Yukon Gold frites to start. I've read that these are the signature thing here. They did not disappoint. They are addictively good. What makes them even better is the mayonnaise that that they serve them with. They might as well as put a crack pipe in your hand, because you'll be so hooked. I was almost tempted to ask for another order, but i had to go for dinner so i opted for the moderation approach. I had the John Dory as my main. It came in a sauce with a few stuffed peppers. This was really tasty.

I was with two people, one of them rated the soup they had as exceptional (I can't remember what the special was that day, something vegetarian, --- i should bring a notebook along). They both thought that the salads they ordered were pedestrian.

I had a cappuccino, it was well executed. I also split a chocolate pot de creme. It was a really rich chocolate pudding. It was good, but i didn't finish it. I was looking ahead to dinner.

Overall, this is a nice place. I've heard some reviews comment that its a touch on the noisy side, but i didn't feel that. Its a nice room where you can get good food.
This is a solid place and I really want to explore the menu here.

The bill for 3 was $97, i left $15 as a tip. So it won't break the bank.

Rating: 1 Bunny


Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

2. Dinner

Jamie Kennedy restaurant is located at church and front. It has the same entrance as the wine bar. I think the restaurant is just the main dining room for wine bar, but i don't know the history of the place that well (except the wine bar was there first).

We were there on a monday night.

It's a kind dim in terms of the lighting, but in a good way. They take you to the dining room off the main entrance. The tables in the room are spaced out a good distance, so you're not packed in together. They have this light fixtures that are like clear glass spheres, but have this little globes inside. The floors are really nice too. Again, i'm no expert but it had a really nice grain to it with a fairly dark stain (it looked a lot like what they had at Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner, but maybe a little darker), so it could be oak. The dining room we were in was kind of half full. Mostly a younger crowd, although there was a table of old people. The wine bar is pretty much a young scene, lots of good looking chicks in that 27-30 years old sweet spot.

The sommelier/bar guy came by to ask for cocktails and bring the wine list. I ordered a campari and soda and he asked how much soda i wanted with it. This is what i call thoughtful service, he must have been a campari drinker. The wine list had a relatively deep selection and the mark-up was quite reasonable. We ordered a bottle of the Niagara Teaching College, Warren Classic Chardonnay (i believe this is the one that won the awards) to start. I had a glass of Domaine d'Andezon Grenache with my main. The chardonnay was really good, the grenache was fine when i was eating my main, but i was enjoying it as much after i finished eating. I would have prefer to get some sort of cabernet sauvignon (i had the venison osso bucco) but they didn't have a great selection of things by the glass.

The server we had was polite and she smiled. She explained everything on the menu because some of the names weren't transparent and she answered questions. She was also good looking, dark and exotic in a middle eastern or perhaps eastern Mediterranean sort of way.

I started with what they call the "streets of toronto", which consists of three dishes which is supposed to represent the diversity of the city. It had a cabbage roll, a putin (spelling??) and something else i forgot (i should take notes). The best of the was the putin, the other two were fine -- nothing incredible, but the putin just makes the combo. This was like the food equivalent of crack, you just needed to have more. I ended up dipping my bread in the gravy that was left over. I traded part of each of the three dishes for what they call the white and black, which was a terrine that had a layer of beef carpaccio, truffles and some cheese served in a bone marrow consomme. This was very good as well, i ended up tipping the plate to get all of the consomme. I would recommend either starter.

My main course was the venison osso buso. this was really good as well. I had to play with my knife and fork before i could get to the marrow, but i ended getting all of it. It served on these mash potatoes of some sort, with a sauce. It was a really nice complement to the venison. I also had a scallop or two from someone else at the table. The scallops were really good, they had a Japanese name (which i forgot because i didn't take notes). They tasted so fresh. These were really good. I would definitely consider having this if they are the menu on my next visit. I didn't try the vegetarian dish, it was a sampler with three or things on it. The person who had was really impressed (she was a vegetarian).

The desserts are first rate here. I had the fig and walnut tart. It comes warmed up with a scope of ice cream. This just had so much going for it. It was really full of flavours that complemented each other. The toughest thing about ordering it was trading it for another dessert. In the end, i swapped part of it for hazelnut millefeulie. This was also very good. It's a much lighter desert than the fig and walnut tart. In a way, it has a refreshing quality to it. If you're looking for a desert that's on the light side then this it. The third desert i sampled was the hot chocolate cake. Its like a white chocolate cake and a bowl of hot chocolate. I didn't have any of cake, but the bowl of hot chocolate was like some chocolate melted into some milk. It was really rich.

Overall, I have no complaints about this restaurant. The service was excellent, the food is great, its a nice looking room and there aren't many old people hanging around. This is a must eat place in Toront0.

Rating: 3 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Lunch at the Gallery Grill

The Gallery Grill is in Hart House on the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto. The crowd is mainly faculty and staff from the UofT, perhaps with some people with the Ontario government mixed in.

The room is gothic/medieval in style, with extra high vaulted ceilings in the main dining room. There are some smaller rooms, with lower ceilings but its basically got a castle/manor house feel to it. Since its a university crowd, expect a lot of old people and it to be light on the chicks. I had two ladies with me who are easily the hottest ones in the place (they're good looking and slim, so its not like they would not have been contenders if the crowd was different). There might be some seasonality to this, I would expect that some of hot chicks starting to work at the UofT might be on display during the christmas lunch season. These visits are in January, new faculty recruitment season. I made two trips.

I was really surprised that they had real silverware. Not all of it matches, I guess some faculty/staff have been adding to their personal collections over the years.

There were seasonal soups of the days, the girls liked them. They had them on both visits.

On the first visit, I skipped on the starter because I had to go dinner that night as well. On the second visit I had the duck prosciutto. It was really yummy. I guess they cure the duck breast as is, because the slices were not overly big. It had a nice balance between the lean dark meat and the fat. I would have this again.


The first time I went for lunch I had the cassoulet. My benchmarks on the upper end of the quality scale for this dish in Toronto are Pastis and Le Select Bistro (when it was on Queen). The cassoulet at Pastis is, at least when i tried it a few years ago, on the heavier and richer side. You can also feel your arteries clogging up as you eat, and i mean that as a compliment. At the other extreme, the cassoulet at le select when it was on queen was not as rich, but just as hearty. As a digression, the cassoulet at le select in its new location on wellington is clearly inferior to what they used to serve on queen street. In any event, I think that both of them (pastis and the old school select) had very good cassoulets and both were hearty (i.e., they filled you up) -- so they have reasonable amounts of duck confit, sausage and pork.

The cassoulet at the gallery is somewhere in between these two, but probably leans toward something on the lighter side. While you get a duck leg, you get a pretty small piece of sausage and not nearly enough beans. I think they took something like $16 for it, but from my perspective it was priced like a main but served in an appetizer size. I think the whole point of the cassoulet is that is should be hearty . The other point of the cassoulet is that it has its roots in peasant cooking, which the select bistro seems to have forgotten when they moved locations. I would rate the gallery grill's cassoulet below the ones I had a pastis and le select when it was on queen, but well above that served by le select bistro in its new location on wellington.

The second time I went I tried the salmon rillette. I wasn't too crazy about it. I was expecting to see a salmon fillet or something along those lines, maybe i should learn how to read french so i can actually understand what i'm ordering. i wouldn't recommend it, but the wild salmon looked a lot better. One of the girls had it on the earlier visit and she liked it.

The girls both had steak (spice grilled flat iron) on their second visit -- they both like them. I think they were flank steaks, but i can't say for sure. I probably should have ordered this instead of the salmon. But I've been trying to lay off the read meat to a certain degree with all this eating out over the last few weeks.

I skipped on the desert the first time I went, but i did try someone's upside down apple cake. It was good ; they served it hot with some maple syrup flavored ice cream. Nice touch. The second time I went I ordered the upside apple cake and traded part of it for the lemon tart. It was pretty good, but I preferred the upside apple cake.

One thing I've always liked about the gallery grill is their loose leaf teas. They have both green and black teas, they come in like a french press (french coffee thing). I had one of the black teas, it was like caramel flavoured black tea that has the label russian caravan. I would definitely have it again. On my second trip there I had the black tea they called the whispering heaven, it was even better than the russian caravan. It had a bit of citrus smell and taste to it, i think it was orange. It was really good. This would be like a must try.

The service is pretty good. The guy at the door checks your coats and takes you to your table. The waitress we had was really friendly and she had a nice smile. She remembered the girls from the first time and acknowledged them. She was alright looking, but she extra points for having a nice fat ass with a good shape to it. Definitely tag-able.

This is decent value for the money. I'm not sure how the brunch menu rates, but lunch is fine. The food is pretty good and the service is fine. It might be a little stuffy, so its not for everyone. It's worth a visit.


Rating: 1 Bunny


Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Big Bunny's Girl of the Month: Maria Ozawa

Maria Ozawa, part japanese and part french-canadian porn actress.

see the link.
http://scanlover.com/maria-ozawa

the link was jacked from the leah dizon versus maria ozawa thread on superfuture (in supertrash), props to denimdestroyedmylife.

Dinner at Pangaea

There were two visits. The first was on a Monday night, it was an early reservation but we were there for quite a while. The crowd was kind of mixed, some suits, not many old people, a young couple with the chick in jeans the guy dressed kind of business casual. The second visit was on thursday night, it was also an early reservation but it was during the Winterlicious promotion. Being winterlicious, the crowd can differ from what you might see when winterlicious is not running. One thing i liked second time, in fact the only thing, is that there were a lot of good looking asian chicks in the place. However, we were sitting the back room, so as we walked to the front of the restaurant to leave, there were are incredible number of old people sitting near the front entrance.

The room is big with very high ceilings. Over the heart of the main dining room its metal (steel or zinc) with a sky light. I kind of like the mission chairs, although they might not be to everyone's taste. They kind of dimmed the lights after a while. It might have been for the guy with the chick in the jeans. Didn't have a big impact on me. They might want to invest in some cork flooring the next time they update the place. I don't think the pale laminate flooring really provides the right backdrop to the vibe they want to give off. Something with a darker stain would frame the chairs and rest of the room better.

The first time I went they had a selection of breads to pick from. I took a little whole wheat and baguette. You have the option of spreading butter or some pumpkin butter. I chose the pumpkin better. It tastes like pumpkin. The second time, during Winterlicious, they just brought the bread and a roasted red pepper spread. The spread was ok.

The food.

The first time I went I had the calamari to start and the venison as my main. The calamari there is excellent. I love it. I have it every time I go there. I could eat all night. Even better is dipping bread in the oil that remains at the bottom of the dish. I think that they did cut down on the size of the portion though. I always remember it being a bit on the supersize serving. I can remember some one saying it is was main sized in some review I saw of the place, but this is definitely starter sized now. The venison was done competently and I dipping the venison it the gravy/juice in the dish made it taste even better. I originally wanted the caribou, but this was the substitute. It was fine. I was tempted by bouillabaisse, several people had it. It looked good, no one complained. I remember it coming in a bigger portion, but it still looks like a good choice.

The second time I went I started with with pappardelle and sweetbreads and I had the tuna.
The pappardelle and the sweatbreads was excellent. Sweetbreads is one of my favourite foods. They are so delicious. The tuna was uninspiring. It was supposed to line-caught, they must have gotten a small one. I got a couple of chunks of raw tuna that was seared. It came on a bed of arugula, with a few potatoes. Borrrinnnng. My dad grows arugula in his garden, so i'm used to the taste of the fresh and organic arugula, which has a bit of a spiciness to it (but not in a hot way). The arugula they served was tasteless. I've been to Kultura and they have a arugula and shaved parmesan salad that's quite good, the arugula they use tastes like the stuff my dad grows. I talked to one of the owners (Hanif) about the arugula and he told me they use organic arugula. The confit of potato, I think this means that the potatoes are supposed to be cooked in duck fat. If they were, they must have been running out of duck fat because I didn't think they were rich in the way a duck confit is. This dish was a major disappointment. It was in many ways appalling.


The wines.

The first time we started with a US McManus chardonnay, it was oaky and full-bodied. Quite good. We also had a Zin from Cali. Noone can remember what it was. But it was definitely memorable, you could smell the berries -- so there was no doubt it was a true zinfandel.

The second time we went we started with the McManus . The red was a zinfandel, it was either the '03 Cline Sonoma or the '02 Pedroncelli. I'm 95% sure it was the cline sonoma. This may have been the wine we had the first time there, but again i don't have detailed notes or the bill to check. The McManus was also fine the second time around. I had a problem with the zinfandel. I couldn't smell it, so I think the bottle we got was off. I didn't sample it, so i don't for sure. Part of the problem is that the served the red wine in a white glass (again .. more on this below).

The first time I went I didn't have desert. I was out for lunch. I did try a bit of someone's mocha dacquoise. I was not impressed. The following comment was made about it "its not a dacquoise". I had their chai tea. I've had this before on previous visits and I would recommend trying it, I quite like and I wasn't disappointed this time around. However, on the second time around the bonehead waiter didn't bring me a sieve for the tea (its loose leaf), so it wasn't as good. I didn't have any desert the second time and I didn't bother sampling anyone's.

What I did find to be extremely disappointing here is the service.

The first time I went the waiter was some guy with a french accent, he may not have even been french (more on this in a bit). One person indicated they only wanted a little bit of wine, but he still filled up the glass of wine. What a waste of wine. No real french man would do something like that. When they brough out the food mine did not come with them. The waiter had to come by and check and then send it from the kitchen. Finally, the waiter (the alleged frenchman) brought us white wine glasses for the zin. I was absolutely appalled. They have red wine glasses for a reason, to drink red wine. White wine is for white wine. The other diners were drinking their red wine in red wine glasses. This is inexcusable. The zin was good, but with the right wine glasses it would have been even better. For the price point that this restaurant is charging these things should not be observed.

The second time the service was even worse. This can probably be attributed to the winterlicious promotion making the place a lot busy than normal. Our waiter was some small tall dickhead. If you're running a business you should plan for these things. If you claim to be a high end restaurant then you can't skimp on the service, you have to treat the diner with respect and make his/her dinner experience the centerpiece of the evening.

The food is ok, but the service was real disappointing. In fact, the service is just bad. For this kind of price range you have to invest in the service. This is supposed to be a high-end restaurant.

Total cost for 5 (3 of the cheaper appetizers, 5 mains, 3 deserts, 4 coffees and my chai tea), $540 with the tip for the first visit.

The second visit was in the same price range, but there were 4 orders off the winterlicious menu and three bottles of wine.

You're better off saving your money. If you want to go then go during winterlicious or summerlicious. Their winterlicious and summerlicious menus are quite good (eg., they have sweetbreads on the winterlicious menu) given the price range. The service will be bad, but there will be some hot chicks there for the special menus.

Rating: 0 Bunnies


Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Dinner at Splendido

The dining room on the main floor is quite large. Its somewhat dark, with really high ceilings. There are a lot of mirrors on the walls, they're bevelled on the edges with no frames. I guess the mirrors would look better with some frames, especially since the room is so dark. You definitely take a girl here and she would be really impressed, but it would be like using the nuclear option. Probably best suited for anniversary's and things along those lines.

We went on thursday night the crowd was a little mixed. Some guys in suits. A guy came in sneakers and jeans with a couple of chicks. A guy brought his chick; she was looking hot in a business casual outfit (pointy toed high heels etc). I didn't really spot a big contingent of old people, not sure if its beyond their price point. I have seen some really hot chicks going into this place, so i think a lot of guys with trophy wives and girlfriends go there.

I started with a campari and soda. They filled a tumbler with a generous amount of campari and brought the soda water on the side. I like that approach. I would have been appalled if they had free poured the soda water, like they do in so many other restaurants that do not understand the nature of campari and how it is drunk and what its role is prior to eating. The staff at this restaurant obviously know the score.



We were there for the three course dinner. Its like a fixed price, you have some options in each course.

They gave us some canapes after we order. These were tasty. I can't remember everything. But there was a foamy thing, something with leeks and a third thing. I would've eaten all the ones that were left over if anyone wasn't on their toes.

These were my selections for dinner:

first course: Confit of Nova Scotia Lobster, Niagara Pancetta
Cauliflower Couscous, Truffle Vinaigrette

second course: Duck Confit Stuffed Savoy Cabbage
Poached Bone Marrow, Beef Consommé

main course: Hard Shell Nova Scotia Lobster, Brier Island Sea Scallops
Butter Poached Gnocchi, Lobster Vanilla Bean Foam

They have a selection of three breads: 7-grain, french baguette and rosemary and potato. I had the rosemary and potato, it was a bun. I really like it.

The food was first rate. The lobster was out of its shell so i was easy to eat, no issues with getting to food. There are really unexpected twists with the food, in the sense that they mix stuff that you might not necessarily think of hand, but it all works. But i guess you can do that with lobster, i think people generally dip it in butter and stuff when they eat it (at least that's what it looks like what they do in the red lobster commercials). But i guess when you use duck fat to make a confit of lobster, its a more extreme, richer and much tastier take on that approach. I really like duck, so i was into the second course. The broth it was served in was really tasty. I tipped my plate to get all of it. The main course was delicious. For me there three textures of the food, firm, somewhat firm and soft. So you could mix and match on that. All three courses were beautifully plated. Of course, the portions were somewhat on the small size, but that means that its easier to get desert to fit. I had the grand marnier souffle, with chocolate sauce. I can just say yummy here. Again, the chocolate sauce came on the side so you have the option as a dinner to use as much as you want.

We had two wines that night. We started with a Canadian chardonnay. It was quite good. I have found that Canadian chardonnay rarely disappoint, and they are at a very affordable price point, given the quality we get. We kind of conflicted on the second choice. We initially picked a primitivo from puglia (italy), but after every one was going for fish we decided to switch to a white. But the sommelier suggested that we could stay with a red because even though we were eating fish, there were enough flavors infused in the food that a red wine wouldn't be out of the question. He made a number of suggestions, a barbera d'asti, a california cab (i forget the vineyard) and california pinot noir (i forget the vineyard). With hindsight we should have gone with the barbera d'asti, but i pushed for the pinot noir. I love the taste of the pinot noir, but then i've drank some good burgundies that are responsible for me developing that taste. This pinot noir was ok, but nothing spectacular. It did match the food well. But the sommelier gave us the heads up on that, he pretty much said its pedestrian but it would work with the food.

The service was unbelievable. They tuck in the chair each time you get up, not only when you get there. I got up to go the washroom after the main course, when i came back to the table my napkin was folded and one of the staff tucked in my chair when i sat down. Now that's class. The waiter we had was very knowledgeable. He answered all the questions that were put to him on the food. When there was a question about the wine, he suggested an up-market bottle. When we pushed back and revealed our budget he went for the sommelier immediately. The sommelier was professional, knowledge and efficient. Once he knew what the budget was he didn't fuck around. He went right for the things that were in the price range. I was really impressed. I haven't really dealt with many sommelier's (besides the one at Kultura, who's picked a really good collection of wines), but this guy was impressive. He knew the wine list and the food so he knew what would work. Once you reveal the budget, he's really discrete and makes the appropriate suggestions in a way that if you were there with a chick or something, no one would catch on that there was a budget. When one of us was looking at the wine list he even came and shined a flashlight on the list (which was very impressive), because we were in a corner the light wasn't great. I remember stuff like that because you don't see service like that in this city.

This is upscale and fine dining in Toronto. The bill came out to almost $900 for 5 people, and we did go cheap on the wine (we had two bottles in the $55 to $60 range). The price is really at the upper end. I think this is most expensive dinner I have ever been too. I would have been disappointed if it was for the first-class service. If you charge prices like that, you have to treat the diner very well, which they did. The only negative thing i would say about the place is that some of the chairs looked like they could be replaced. But other than that, nothing disappointed me that night. I would have given this place a higher rating, but after I went to Jamie Kennedy restaurant my expectations for the price point changed.

Rating: 2 Bunnies


Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Reflections on Boxing Day and January End of Season Sales in Toronto

Holt Renfrew

This is the worst sale I've seen there in the last 5-years. Almost no knits (merino wool or cashmere) this year, except for the really high-end stuff like Piano Loro. The total lack of the in-house knit wear is a real turn for the worse. They used to make really nice merino wool and decent cashmere, V- and crew neck sweaters and the long sleeve polos, for the price they clear them out at. This loss is magnified by the fact that Bananna Republic has decided to make sweaters with no cuff details, which are not my cup of tea.

Bananna Republic

They had a nice cable knit sweater in a grey-brown wool-angora-cashmere blend. It had nice details (cuffs at the wrist and the waist) and it was the only nice thing in the store. I'm sure the angora part of the blend will shorten the period that the sweater doesn't have those little balls, but its holding up ok for the last few weeks.

Nomad

It was picked clean in the pre-Christmas sales that they ran. I did manage to get a couple of Wings and Horns hoodies (a tiger fleece and a slim fit one). I wear the tiger fleece around the house, the slim fit one is paired with my Nom de Guere M-65. They were doing 30% on the outerwear and 50 % on the clothing. The pre-Christmas sale had cleaned out most of the stuff I had my eye, like a pair of Supreme cords. I don't know what I was thinking. On the one hand, I have such a huge stock pile of stuff I think why should I buy something that I won't wear very often. On the other hand, I keep buying denim that I won't wear for another year, so what difference does it make anyway. Oh well ....

TNT Blu

I picked up an Earnest Cut and Sew flannel shirt. I only bought it there because Zeb (from Nomad) didn't have my size. They were running a pre-boxing day sales too. I had my eye on some things (a Junya Watanabe shawl collar sweater with eagle print and a blue shirt with strips and some other detailing). The sweater was $800 so I gambled and waited to see if I could get 50% off, but someone picked it before I did. They have nice looking girls working there, but they have this big bald guy that bugs me. He's really bad with questions, he expresses contempt when you ask them. "No problem buddy, I'll just go to Nomad and get my dope shit there." But the girls are really nice looking.

APC Sale on the Website

If I knew before I placed my order that the US postal service shipping would have meant no brokerage fee, except for $5, I would have bought a lot more stuff. By the time I got my order most of the stuff in my size was gone. I got a brown cashmere V-neck and a shirt. There's no point in buying the APC stuff at holt, even with the exchange rate its via cheaper mail order (either at regular or sale price). I'm going to keep an eye on the summer sale.

Klaxon Howl

I went there on boxing day. They were running a sale, but they didn't have what I was looking for -- Sugarcane 1947. I did manage to get a pair last week, but it wasn't on sale. This is will be last pair of jeans from there for a while. I've been eyeing a pair of Oni Blues form Blue and Green in NYC. That will be the next pair I snag.

Top pick ups in 2006

1. A.P.C Rescue

(via mail order from NYC store) These are great. Its a loose fit, but not too overly baggy. They drape really well across pretty much all the sneakers I have. I messed up on the waist sizing, but I know better next time around. If they made these in 14 or 15 oz denim they would get the vintage look even quicker. I only got about 3-4 months wear on these before I starting working on my sugarcane's, but I'm hoping to wear them a little more and get them that more complete finish.

2. Gucci wallet

(at Holt Renfrew on Bloor Street) I know its kind of like going nuclear. The wallet is just plain black and slim. There are no logos, except for a small embossed Gucci in a corner. So for something so plain why did I go all out? Because I was out for dinner a few years ago and my date (who was hot) told me "I would have thought you would've had a nicer wallet." I bought the last wallet I had on the recommendation of this meathead I used to talk to. This time I didn't fuck around.


3. Nom de Guerre M-65 Field Jacket

(at Nomad) Its a black wool with a herring bone pattern. It's dope and it looks rugged. Worth every cent.

4. French F-2 Field Jacket

(at the Army Surplus store on Yonge just above Wesley) It was $17 dollars and change. Shirt jacket, perfect for summer and not overly cool Fall days, with a hoodie layered underneath. I have total contempt for those guys walking around the city with the Ben Sherman version. They look like pansies. The A.P.C. version is none existent in this city.

5. Sugarcane 1955

(Klaxon Howl). Although they are baggy and loose, they had incredible wear and fading after 3-months of almost daily wear. It had to be the 14.25 oz denim that produced this accelerated results. They have a taper on them, even though they are baggy. So they don't look as good with some shoes that are bulkier (in my opinion).

6. Visim Kiefer Lo

(Nomad) These shoes are basically Chuck Taylor's with orthopedic inserts. They are great on the feet. They are made from deer skin. They are so soft and supple, buttery. I got them in three colours (ivory, black and brown). They look great with the '55 canes when they are cuffed. I can wear the Rescues with them without cuffing.

7. Lumix FX-9

(Henry's) Small and sleek, but still has a 2.5 inch display. The black looks really sharp. 6 mega pixel's and a Leica lense produce some really sharp pictures.

8. Altius Minerals

( ALS on the TSX venture exchange) I wish I didn't gamble so much on these junior oil stocks so I could've put more money in this one. I cashed out in the last week of December, so I don't have to pay tax until April 2008. Sweet.

9. Cutler and Gross frames

(Spectacle). They look like vintage way farers. These glasses defintely get a reaction. Some examples, include "you look like a ...." i) DJ, ii) artist, iii) architect, iv) photographer, v) Corrado Soprano. I know I can go up to a chick on the street an talkt to her and she'll take me more seriously with these glasses than the oval metal frames I used to have. I have mixed feelings about Spectacle. The asian woman who helped me was rally nice and friendly and somewhat hot. They also have a nice darker skinned woman there (she must be south-east asian or middle eastern extraction), that's really nice to look at. But some how the whole experience wasn't just right, even with hot chicks. The guys who work there really bug me. I'm not sure if I'd buy anything else there, but they have some eye candy hanging around the store most days.

10. Gieves No. 1 Saville Row Cotton Cable Knit Sweater

(Holt Renfrew on Bloor) I picked it up on sale. It's preppy in a really O.G. way, that you don't see in Ralph Lauren Polo Stuff. Pushing the limit again.

Honourable Mentions:
a) American Apparel short-sleeve leisure shirts

They just look really sleek, with the 4-buttons and the straight edge collar.

b) Eddie Bauer Parka

With global warming do I really need a parka that's rated for -29 degrees Celsius? I don't know, but its got a real gangsta look to it. Its black, with faux fur trim, two big cargo pockets and two zip up F-2 style pockets.

Dinner at Bodega

They changed the room. They moved the bar to the side and put in like a long bench where the bar was. It looks a lot nicer than it did before.

They have really nice bread. I think it was like a 7-grain or something like that. They heat the bread before it comes to the table, so I think that makes you crave more.

They had a decent selection of wines. I couldn't try any because of the cough syrup I was taking, but I picked a out a 1/2 litre of a cab for H. and S. and they really enjoyed it.

The food was pretty good.

I had a paella, although it wasn't a really a paella -- it was more like a seafood risotto. As paella's go it wasn't really good, but as a seafood risotto’s go it was fine. Really big serving. I started with the white fish mousse, which was really really good. I would definitely recommend the white fish mousse.

The rack of the lamb got a mixed rating. They use Ontario Lamb, so it really depends on how you feel about Ontario versus New Zealand lamb. If your taste is more towards something more muted, like the Ontario Lamb, then you would really like it. On the other hand, if you want something with more zing to it, like the New Zealand lamb, you might not find the dining experience thrilling.

The New York Steak, how can you go wrong.

No deserts. The coffee was really good, but the waitress messed on the cappuccino and latte (they weren't hot enough).

The waitress was nice: friendly and knowledge, but she's not the greatest barista around.

Overall, it kind of reminds me of what the Select Bistro was like when it was on Queen. I'd say its pretty good value for the money, with a nice room and not many old people hanging around.

Rating: 1 Bunny


Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool