Big Bunny's Girl of the Month: Sunny Leone

Since its so cold today why don't we warm up around the super hot Sunny Leone.

Sunny' real name is Karen Malhotra and she was born in Ontario. Her parents are Indian.

It looks like she's all stock, so no augmentation or anything like that -- kind of adds to her appeal, as does the piercing in her belly button.

She's a Vivid contract girl. However, she only does girl-girl stuff. Although, its rumored that her new contract with Vivid involves some chewing some knob on screen.

Spotlight on Gear

How about this to keep you warm on those cold winter days: an N3B Jacket.

This rugged parka comes with real fur trim -- coyote or wolf, which will stay dry in snowy weather. Its got the snorkel hood, so you can pretty head off into your own world with it on.



You can even see the faint outline out the US Air Force patch on the shoulder.


The History Preservation Society has a nice write up on this, which is over the top:

"This year is set to be yet another fall/winter season with fashion-chic imposter parkas found in all the big stores, though none of these parkas will ever protect or insulate as did the original USAF styles they pathetically fail at emulating. The N-3 design is renowned for its comfort and insulating features that provide warmth at extremely low temperatures, most notably the snorkel-style hood."

Dinner at Boba

Checked it out on a Thursday night. It was kind of busy, but not frantic.

It's in a house/building. The first floor is like the main dining room, while the second floor looks like it's a private room. I think the idea underlying the design is that it was supposed to a french chateaux or something like that. The got like this fluere de lille pattern on the wall up to the second floor. The first floor has got like these things in the corners that look like the edge's of stucco walls on houses. They also have these light fixtures where there is a circular fabric shade. The ceilings are kind of too low for the sort of fixtures they got. Its kind of got like a cream colour to the main room. I took a peak into the private room on the second floor and its kind of got this purplish red colour to it. While certainly not on the cutting edge of interior design, the place is infinitely better looking than the freak show that is Mistura. I don't find the place offensive or anything.

The crowd tends to be on the older side, 50 or there abouts. But I did see a couple of couples that were younger, they looked like they were late-20s. Given the quality of the food, which I will discuss below, it might be a popular date spot if you got the money.

There is a certain formality to the service here. If you don't put your napkin in your lap, the waiter will do it for you. However, they don't fold up the napkin if you leave the table. The waiter we had was really helpful. He answered questions about the menu and made some suggestions about some wines by the glass. They're really polite too. I guess they have a sommelier or perhaps a well informed hostess -- she was wearing a different outfit than the waiters and the servers. The table next to us had some guy complaining about the bouquet of the wine he ordered. Apparently it wasn't up to snuff. So it wasn't off, it just wasn't good as he expected. So in this really polite way the sommelier tells him that he doesn't know what he's talking about after she sniffs (i.e., "It smells fine to me sir."). People like this should just stick to table wine or take a course in wine tasting.

The wine list is actually quite good. They have quite a good selection of wines available by the glass. The best values in terms of quality for price are going to be the Canadian whites, which are in the $50 or so range. The reds will be a little harder to work. The corkage fee is $25 and includes decanting. We brought a Dead Arm Shiraz from 2000. It was incredible. (They had a dead arm shiraz from 2003 --not as good as the 2000 -- on their list and it was $125 to give you a benchmark.) If you're going to with a red, its probably better to bring your own and go all out and pay the corkage fee. If you like the whites you can probably go with one the good Canadian ones they have.

The food here is really top notch. I've been here before and it looks like there is some turnover in the menu -- always a good sign. I think they're signature dishes are the crab cakes in the starters and the ostrich in the mains. I've had both of them and they are really good. The ostrich is basically like steak, but a lot leaner. This time around I tried something different. I started with the grilled octopus. I guess everyone does grilled calamari, so octopus is a bit of an original choice. It came with fennel, potato, olives and arugula as an accompaniment. It was a really great balance of flavours with some contrasts. It wasn't oily, like some grilled calamari dishes -- it was just right. Well plated too. I would definitely have this again. The other people at dinner had the sea scallops and there were some favourable comments made about them. For my main course I had the veal tenderloin. The veal had this nice grey shade. I really like the accompaniment they plated it with a spaetzle (a short rounded egg noodle) with corn, bacon and a clump of butter sauce. Again another well executed dish. The side is really different, but it really meshes well with the veal. In terms of the other people at dinner, the rack of lamb looked good and the New York steak with frites looks like it's the thing you can't go wrong with on the menu. I tried some of the frites, I was eyeing them quite hungrily after I finished my dish. They were pretty crispy, but not oily, and they give you quite a few.

For desert, I shared what they call the grand desert, which has a little bit of everything -- an apple pie, a creme brullee, some sorbet, a chocolate tort with ice cream, etc. For like $14 you can't go wrong with this. I did a close inspection of the creme brullee, the crust wasn't too thick and you could see the vanilla bean trace at the bottom. I also like the apple pie they do there, it's a signature dish for them. I also had an americano, so like most places in the city coffee is going to be an issue.

In terms of the price point, most of the starters are in the $15 dollar range and the mains are in the low $30 range. Our bill, for 3, came out in the $250 range. I would guess if you don't bring your own wine, it would be $120-$130 per person for dinner.

Overall, other than the pedestrian look to the place there's no problem here. If they did some serious rethinking of the interiors you would probably start thinking of the next level. But as it is right now this place is really good high-end choice.

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

Dinner at Mistura

Checked it out on a Monday. I was surprised it was pretty crowded, almost like a Thursday.

The place has a room with bar in front, a little private dining room off to the side and then another room that is offset from the main room. They have these curtains so they can separate it from the main room. The night i was there they were using it for a party.

I'm not sure how long the place has been in this location, but it has a real '80s look to it. It's really tacky. There are like these light fixtures that have like a new york loft skylight detail and then they put a cheap chandelier in them. This run the length of the main room. I guess when they first built the place they had the pot lights that were more recessed, so there is kind of like a cylinder (recessed into the ceiling) and the light is in the cylinder. I guess someone changed their mind and decided to put in some of the new pot lights that are more flush with the ceiling. The only problem with that is that they didn't take out the old pot lights, they just put the new ones in at the end of the cylinder. So they kind of look like these little spot lights. Along the left wall they have these booths that run the whole length of the main room. But they super-sized the seating, so the backs come up really high (like 6-8 feet). The walls have a lot of these mirrors, with no frames. They have some tables in the middle of the room and a more traditional banquette at the back of the main room. I found the banquette to be somewhat cramped. This place is definitely not going to win any design awards, but it is so ugly that is actually worth a look.

The crowd can be best described as white guys in their 40s and 50s with a lot of money and no taste and the women who have sexual relations with them.

There was no back ground music in the main room, but they do play some jazz in the washroom.

The wine list is relatively big. There is quite to pick from. If you're on a budget you're going to forced to pick from the California and Australian and New Zealand stuff for the most part. We had a California Chardonnay that was adequate and an Australian Shiraz that was OK. I think they have a sommelier. I would probably recommend talking to him to get some suggestions.

The menu is Italian. It looks like there is some seasonality to the menu. I've been here before (3 and 5 years ago), the menu each time is really different, so the chef (some hardcore italian guy called massimo) really changes it up. The chef seems like a pleasant enough guy, he worked the room a bit.

To start I shared a couple of things. I had a bit of the crispy artichokes with caponata and then mushroom trifolata. Both of the starters were really light. I was somewhat disappointed with the trifolata. It was supposed to come with a parmigiano tart, but I could hardly taste any parmigiano in the tart. I had someone else taste it and they had the same assessment. They had these lamb ribs as starters, I probably should have had those. They got some favourable comments form someone else at the table.

The mains they are substantially better. This is where the chef's skill is really on display. I had the wild boar agnolotti. This was so good and really rich. It came with the roasting jus as a sauce it was so good. I also had a bit of the wild beet risotto. This is described as classic mistura -- i've had this here before. If you want to see a well executed risotto then have this. Its creamy, and it has these hints of parmigiano and its not too sticky or too runny. It's just the way its supposed to be. All of the pastas and rissotti can be ordered in appetizer or main size. The main sizes are quite big though. This guy does go cheap on the serving sizes.

I didn't go for the any of the meat or fish dishes on the menu -- i was trying to go light. But there is a quite a bit of selection. My sense is that these will be pretty well executed given the two I sampled. Oh and they will be really filling.

The deserts are interesting. He gives them all these italian names. I shared what they call the modernist, which was supposed to be plantain and chocolate. When I got it was like three filled dumplings with chocolate inside. It was pretty good. I order an americano with desert. Like most places in the city, they didn't make it properly. This also indicates that there will be problems with the espresso.

In terms of price. This place is going to really expensive. The starters are generally in the $15-$20 range, the pasta and risotto (main size) are in the $25 range, and the mean and fish mains in the low-$30 to $40 range. Given the price range I would expect the waiters to be all over you, but you don't see a really high standard of service (like you would at Splendido). However, the waiters did seem to be quite knowledgeable when questions. I'd figure dinner with wine would be like $130-$150 per person here.

Overall, the mains (and some of the appetizers) are going to be really good here; but the room and the crowd are going to be incredibly disgusting. But I think that adds to appeal of the place in a weird twisted way. So this kind of place to go if you want to have really good food, but in a completely tacky -- in both a decorative and social sense --setting. That's kind of ironic I suppose. But after you've been there once, there really isn't much reason to go back unless you really enjoy the show. So this place gets a split rating.

Rating:
1 Bunny if its you're first visit
0 bunnies after that

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

Hot Chicks with Douche Bags

I found this website its really really quite interesting. The guy who runs it posts pictures of hot chicks with douche bags and if that wasn't enough he also provides commentary.

I was really blown away by the top picture -- the carrot like look of their faces, but it wasn't even one of the guys award winners.

The guy marks his award winners with these little trophies in the corner -- i've got a couple down here.

This one was an award winner. Look at the plunging neck line on the blond guy. Both of them seem to have a lot of sweat on their chests, but the girls look relatively dry. I guess they spray water on themselves.


This guy didn't win an award, although its hard to believe given the leopard skin cutoff outfit he's wearing. You can just imagine the intensity of the competition.

Like this guy. Look at the batman theme he's got going. He's got the belt buckle along with the tattoo of the bat signal on his chest. This is truly the next level.


He closed out 2007 with a series of awards. This is definitely worth a look.

Dinner at Tati

This place is at site formerly occupied by Kensington Kitchen, which shut down at the end of the summer. Its a French Bistro.

I went on Thursday night. The place is kind of dead up until about 8:00 when it really picks up and get a lot more bodies in there. I've walked by the place on a Saturday night and its pretty busy. The crowd is a bit of mix -- some couples, women out for dinner, some old people. I'd say its probably a 30-40 crowd for the most part. The weekends seem to lean heavily to a woman clientele. I'm not sure if its local crowd or people from uptown.

The choice of music in the background is a little odd. Before 8:00 they were playing this techno/electro lounge music that was somewhat annoying. After 8:00 they started playing some kind of indie rock stuff, which was a lot better. Why there was such a difference in the selections is like really hard to understand.

The service is kind of casual, but they'll do things like change the cutlery after the starters as well as clean the table.

They cleaned up the place a bit. On the main floor they've repainted the walls and they put this colour accents on walls where they hung prints -- really HGTV. They also put in a bar, with some stools. Gives the place a really different look than its previous incarnation. The floors look nice, but when I was checking them out I noticed that the baseboards are kind of crappy. Some of the walls have these little 2 inch baseboards that you see in basement apartments, while other places have something like 4 inch baseboard. They put in a banquette on the left wall and a mirror above it, although looks kind of cheap (there's no frame and if you sit at the end of the banquette you can see that the mirror sits on top of some particle board). The lighting is kind of dim though, and that helps a little. I didn't see the second floor. I remember there being a bar and a two smaller dining rooms as well as the walk out to the patio.

I ordered a campari and soda to start. The bar guy/waiter butchered it -- too much soda water. I suppose he's spent a lot of time watching Cocktail and he believes he's the master of the free pour.

I shared the escargot with mushrooms to start. This was really tasty. The sauce/gravy it came with really good. I kept dipping my bread in it. The waiter/bar guy brought an extra basket of bread for the dipping. I had the lamb shank as my main. It came with some grilled vegetables in a sauce that was was kind of liquidy. I found my lamb shank to be a little disappointing. It was not adequately cooked because the meat wasn't falling off the bone. You had to tear it a bit to get the meat off the bone. You could also tell that lamb shank is not a choice cut of meat. I guess that's why you cook it until the meat falls off the bone -- so you won't notice its not a great cut of meat. I sampled a bit of the gnocchi, which came in a bit of a butter sauce. They were OK.

I ordered an americano and shared a creme brulee for desert. The americano was typical of what people pass off as coffee in this city -- so it was bad in other words. The creme brulee was kind of good. It didn't have a really thick crust so its not like you would have to really pick to get threw the crust on top.

In terms of the price point, its in the middle range of the mid-range restaurants. So dinner for two will probably run into the $120-140 range if you order wine. If you just have a few drinks with dinner you can get out of there for $90-$100.

Overall, the place isn't that bad, but its not that great either. In terms of its comparators. while Messis, just across the street, might be a little too much to stomach because of the over 50 set, they do the little things right -- e.g., they can make a good campari and soda and know how to cook a lamb shank. In terms of other bistro's I've checked out I would say that both Pastis and
Le Select Bistro are better choices in terms of the food. So while the place isn't a total disaster I don't think I can give it a bunny right now.

Rating: No 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

Catch Phrases in Real Estate Signs

I've noticed some real estate signs have these catch phrases on them. I guess these are supposed to help market the property and make you feel more confident in the ability/credentials of the agent or brokerage.

For example, look at this sign I spotted in a shop window.



Here you can expect "Higher Standards". Wow that's impressive at first glance. But then you start to wonder in what? Its certainly not in the choice of the suits the agent wears or his ties.


Then you can have the self-styled real estate divas.


Wow. That's a really powerful phrase. When I hear the word diva I think of some famous opera singer or prehaps someone like dianna ross or madonna. So I'm visualizing a woman in some some elegant gown or costume. In music the phrase has a pretty clear meaning. In real estate I guess the definition of diva is open to a much more liberal interpretation.

Lets have a closer look at the real estate divas.

First, there's the younger one. She kind of looks like the years of teasing out her hair in the '80s has increased the volume of her despite straightening it with an iron. She looks to be wearing some sort of top that could have picked up at a Portuguese fashion boutique near some sports bar on dundas.



Then there's the more senior one. She's kind of got the caked on makeup -- notice her really bright red lipstick. Based on the turtle neck and blazer (in neutral tones), I would guess that she doesn't wear high heels -- unlike her partner.


I'm kind of disappointed. I don't know what sort of service they provide, but when I hear diva I get all excited. Then I look at the sign, and i see a Peg Bundy wanna-bee and a frumpy women in her 50s.

I wonder if they've trademarked the phrase "real estate divas". If they haven't then I guess other agents could use it or variants because it is a real attention grabber.

Look at this sign.

The agent's picture kind of looks like a graduation picture, where they tell the female students to wear a crisp white blouse to get best results for the photography.

So the sign looks really kind of boring. But if she were to include a catch phrase like, "The Original Diva of Real Estate", "A Diva with Higher Standards" or "Real Estate Diva", it might add some life into it and improve her branding potential.

Musical Selections

I have this thing for '70s soundtracks that I've been indulging in recently.

I checked out Alan Tew's Drama Suite parts 1 and 2. This really obscure but it's got really nice '70s vibe going -- the wah wah rythmn guitar that is usually associated with porn soundtracks does feature quite prominently. I thought I heard the theme to the People's Court on this or the original sample of what became would become the theme.

Another little obscure thing I took a liking to was Michel Colombier's soundtrack to the L'Heritier. Again a big '70s sound to it: the wah wah guitar, the Fender Rhodes piano and the heavy bass. It's really short, something like 12 minutes; and it has this little theme that keeps reappearing -- it kind of sounds like the opening to Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun. Even though its really short there's a pretty good balance between the uptempo and slower stuff.

Why is that the Japanese so frequently take things to the next level? Well add this one to the list: Toshiaki Tsushima's soundtrack for Cops vs Thugs. This little gem, its only about 14 minutes long, sounds like a blaxplotation soundtrack -- except that its better. Its got heavy doses of wah wah guitar, flutes, a horn section, james bond theme style guitar runs, etc. The wah wah guitar holds the whole thing together, it runs through the whole soundtrack. Most of it is pretty fast paced, but there are some slower bits that seem to have a more reflective quality to them.

I checked out the second part of Radiohead's In Rainbows. I had this one for a while, but only just got around to listening to it. The audio quality is a lot better than the first instalment. The whole sound is also similar to the instalment. Also like the first part, it's really well done.

I also managed to get my hands on Freeway's Free At Last. I really like this. Its kind of got a harder edge to it, and its really refreshing change of pace from most big label releases. It's sound is distinctly unsouthern. When you listen to this you can tell that Freeway is not going through the motions. Take a listen to When They Remember, and you'll know exactly what I mean. I doubt that this has been played much on the radio, but I like it.

Event Ad

This is actually from last year, but its still relevant.

Its for their Holiday party. They have a bit of a winter theme going, with the ice and the christmas tree decorations.

They call event naughty or nice and they ask you which category you would fit into.

Here's the image that suggests you're nice. Lots of exposed skin, but not in an overly obvious way. She still has a relatively wholesome image.


But if your naughty, you get a get a fur trimmed string bikini. Look at how she's smiling. She's ready to party.



I like how they put the pictures of the girls in the ornaments. It kind of reminds me of those cartoons where you get the angel on one should and a demon on the other. And the devil is like urging you to be evil, but the angel is trying to get you to be good.

Of course the designer of the ad covered all his bases. So just in case you don't believe that you'll get some super hot girls you can still get really cheap beer. Six dollars for a pitcher is a real bargain, although you'll probably feel really bad the next morning.


The guy who put this ad together did a really good job. He, or she, should be teaching advertising.