culture – Page 2 – Tiana Feng

Burgers at Buskerfest 2012

August 27, 2012October 13, 2012Food, Restaurant Reviews, Street1 Comment

Last weekend was Scotiabank BuskerFest in Toronto. While most people went there to see performers such as magic shows and silver Elvis, I visited for the food.

There was various vendors for food: ones that you normal find at fairs selling nuts and cotton candy and the fatty delicious foods. However on the first day me and Nash passed by the festival on the way to a concert we stopped by Yes to Fresh’s stand where they offered up Burgers with an Asian twist.

I accidentally ordered a portobello mushroom burger, not realizing the meat was the mushroom until Nash pointed it out. Luckily he ordered the pork tenderloin and we each had half of each other’s. They were both pretty delicious. The pork had some Thai corn that added a nice sweetness and the mushroom burger had crunchy onions of some sort. Both were served with a green salad.

Friday was my last day at work and we went to Buskerfest for lunch. We started with this Moroccan smoked meat sandwich from Berber.

The meat was really good but I wish there was more of it. There was an abundance of bun. The little pickles were a nice touch also. They were sweeter than usual.

Lastly we had a burger at Great Burger Kitchen. I wouldn’t say it’s the best one I’ve ever had but it wasn’t bad.

I’ll definitely stop by the actual restaurant to give their real burgers a try. Their menu has some drool inducing ones for sure.

We also found trucks giving out free slivers of pizza. The Mozzarellissima sponsored slice definitely highlighted the cheese.

I’m in love with the food at Toronto’s great festivals. However neat year, I am going to definitely make time to check out some of the performers at Buskerfest too!

Healthy Eating at By the Way Cafe

July 22, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

A few weeks ago, my stomach was a little iffy so I opted to find something healthier (that wasn’t burgers) to eat. From random window browsing, we made our way to the By The Way Cafe located in the Annex. I had walked past it a million times in the past but never wandered inside. The restaurant is really bright and has a homie feeling even though they do consider themselves a fine dining restaurant. I was actually quite surprised to find that it served middle-eastern cuisine. I always thought that it served sandwiches or generic coffee shop food because of it’s name.

We ordered light, mainly because we wanted an excuse to get froyo after. We opted for the combination platter which contained hummus, tabuleh, babaganough and Israeli salad. We also had the spicy and crunchy calamari which lived up to it’s name. Ok, I admit the calamari is not considered “healthy”, but whatever it was delicious.

The platter was basically like bread and dip but it was flavorful and we finished every drop of it. It’s a tiny bit pricey though ($12) for how much there is. There’s definitely a ton of choices on the menu for those who choose not to eat meat (never) including a vegetarian lasagna. At least I’ve finally eaten something besides sushi in the Annex!

Novo Horizonte and the X-Everything Burger

June 23, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

I heard of Novo Horizonte because a friend posted this Spice City link on my wall. As a burger aficionado, I had to try the place Since I was heading to the Drake for a concert it was the perfect pre-concert meal.

Located at 1430 Dundas Street West (at Gladstone), it’s a tiny little place where you’ll see a bunch of Brazilian’s hanging out and drinking. We seemed like such foreigners walking in. At first glance, it simply looks like just a bar. The waitress politely asked us what we would like to drink and we had to specifically ask for the menu.

The menu consisted of only burgers, which were very decently priced. You could get a burger of under $4, if you weren’t picky. Of course we opted for the X-Everything Burger (not the X-Challenge because we still needed to live) and I also ordered this mango orange juice thing. It was a pretty sweet nectar like juice in a mini container I probably could have drank in 2 gulps.

The X-Everything Burger was a glorious combination of things. It consisted of hamburger, chicken, bacon, ham, egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, corn and shoestring fries (which were hickory sticks). They all combined together really nicely with some interesting textures.

It was easily devoured and this is what was left of the burger less than 10 minutes later:

We had 2 X-Everything Burgers, the mango orange drink, and a Moosehead beer and our bill only came up to $24. I don’t get it.. that would mean the beer costs close to nothing here! We’ll definitely be back, for drinks and more burgers. Perhaps, we’ll take on the X-Challenge next time.

Fusion Hot Dogs and Manic Coffee

May 19, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

I found Fusia Dog one day when I was wandering downtown. We decided to try it. Located in the Entertainment district, this mini joint puts an asian fusion twist on the hot dog.

I ordered the Fusia Dog which had kimchi, daikon carrot salad and coriander wrapped in a paratha. For a hot dog, it was very light and refreshing. There was a wasabi mayo that had quite the kick. For some reason I thought the hot dogs would be over $10, but it was only $6.95. I finished it in less than 5 minutes.

Nash ordered the Boston Dog. It had more American toppings with baked beans, cheese, crispy bacon and fried onions. I stole a bite and it was delicious and surprisingly not too heavy.

It was another concert night and since we finished our hot dogs way too fast, we decided to hit up another local coffee joint. We ended up at Manic Coffee at College and Bathurst. I ordered a mocha.

It’s amazing, how many coffee joints there are in Toronto that aren’t chains. I think I’m going to make an effort to support more little places. Not only are they cheaper than Starbucks, but can be more delicious too!

The Future of Music- A Book Written in 2005, Read in 2012

May 17, 2012Books, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

I won the Entertainment Marketing award when I graduated Metalworks Institute and it came with a $300 gift certificate to Music Books Plus. I’m slowly plowing through my books, but I recently finished The Future of Music- Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution by David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard.

I read the entire book, but it didn’t take me long for me past the prologue to ask “When the hell was this written?” It was written in 2005.

While the book had some interesting points, such as music should be as easily accessible as water, there were predictions that were hilarious. Napster with a legal streaming service that works? Sorry, it was dead since it was sued. In 2005, Facebook was only a year old and the iPhone wasn’t even released for another 2 years. It’s strange to see how much has changed in 7 years, or even in my lifetime. I lived through vinyl, cassettes, CD players, MD players, mp3 players and now that has all shifted on to one device.

While the book does mention how our entertainment hubs will combine into one, it rarely mentioned Apple. It’s a well written book for someone who isn’t as knowledgeable about the music (or even entertainment) industry, but for someone like me who’s been through schooling, it was a little redundant and stating the obvious.

While technology has changed a bit, there are things that remain somewhat similar. Media companies are still trying to fight the consumer for downloading media, which as stated can only have negative impact. In addition, the book stresses the revolution of streaming music, which last year at every digital music summit, still seemed like a big deal. However, as some artist’s have stated, it takes thousands of listens to make a couple of bucks.

Even though there are a lot of things in this book that are laughable. I really liked the idea of future music being as ubiquitous as water. We pay for water without thinking about it. It’s routine. We even pay for premium water (in bottles, Evian etc..), with the guarantee that it is better than what comes out of taps. iTunes and streaming services are closer to a way of music being so easily accessible but not everyone is ready to pay for it like we do for our water yet, nor the most simple way. Whatever lies in the “future” of music, isn’t going to be a singular solution.

For your entertainment purposes here’s a list of other things that didn’t exist in 2005:
– Twitter
– iPad (or any other useful tablet for that matter)
– Youtube was a baby
– Hypem had only just started
– PS3
– rdio
– Justin Bieber

Acrobatic Mother’s Day

May 13, 2012May 13, 2012Entertainment, Family, Life, MusicLeave a Comment

I had no idea what to get my mother for Mother’s Day. On Thursday, I decided instead of something superficial, I’d give her a night of entertainment, an experience. That’s how I live my life! Somehow I had managed to score tickets to the National Chinese Acrobats’ Saturday evening show at The Sony Centre. We had pretty decent seats for last minute.

We were actually much closer than this photo makes it seem.

The Acrobats were collaborating with the Kitchener-Waterloo orchestra, the same group that I had seen perform the Final Fantasy Distance Worlds concert for my birthday. The acrobatic stunts kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Man, did some of those feats make me nervous!

Even with all the visual distractions, I was really appreciating the classical works performed by the symphony. They played some classics like Stravinsky’s Firebird and Berlioz’s Hungarian March. It irked me a little when people clapped (although understandable) during some of the beautifully quiet string solos and passages. It was an experience that was both aurally and visually appealing. Mom enjoyed it, and I hope to take her to experience more of what Toronto’s entertainment scene has to offer!

Here’s a Youtube video I found of the acrobat troupe rehearsing.

Brazilian Star Steaks and Nova Era Mocha

May 7, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Another concert trip led us to the unfamiliar territory of Dundas West. There were a bunch of bars and expensive looking restaurants around. I wanted to continue on with my personal goal this year of delving into something new. We opted for Brazilian Star Bar & Grill based on it’s price and quality rating on Yelp.

We ordered the Alcatra (I think that’s what the word was) for 2 for $27. Alcatra is a type of thin steak. It was full of flavour, but a bit difficult to cut because it was fibrous. However, if if you google the definition of Alcatra, that is actually part of the definition, so it wasn’t any fault on their part.

The order came with rice, fries, salad, beans and what I think are bread crumbs. It was like a home-style meal where you just scoop things on your plate and eat it. I wasn’t really sure what to do with the bread crumbs (tell me if you know), so I spread them on top of everything and it had a nice crunchy texture. For the price, it was a lot of food. I assume it’s the kind of things Brazilian people would eat at home with their families. We were probably the least Brazilian people in the restaurant, but it was a pleasant experience.

After dinner, we were still too early for our concert so we decided to try another random local coffee shop. This led us to Nova Era Bakery. I had a lovely little mocha. We were too full, but I definitely think I want to come back and try one of their pastries!

Honey Garlic Ribs

April 30, 2012Food, RecipesLeave a Comment

I found these beautiful racks of ribs one day for sale so I decided to figure out how to make Honey Garlic Ribs. By figure out, I basically just made it up with items I had in the house. We also had a bulk load of honey, so I thought I might as well use it.

Continue reading ➞ Honey Garlic Ribs

Rotis and Gelato Mochaccino

April 18, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Life, Restaurant Reviews3 Comments

As I previously mentioned, I want to eat at least 25 new things this year. I wasn’t sure about how to go about it, but then I realized Toronto is full of culturally unique restaurants that are worth the visit. So instead of opting for burgers and poutine all the time, I will venture into the unknown.

Yesterday, I tried out Bacchus Roti Shop located in the Parkdale area downtown Toronto. A roti is a type of south-asian wrap but it also consumed in areas such as the Southern Caribbean and Guyana. I ordered the jerk chicken roti which also contained spinach and squash. At $12.50, it was deliciously filling with a fiery kick to it. Nash ordered the shrimp roti with spinach and cheese. It had a nice creamy texture to it.

After dinner, we had a ton of time to kill before door times for a concert. Instead of searching for the nearest Second Cup we decided to try one of the local coffee shops. We ended up in The Boreal Gelato Company. I ordered a mochaccino and they made it with a scoop of chocolate gelato! It was had a lovely aroma and chocolate taste. We also got a hazelnut gelato that was to die for. It was like Ferrero Rocher (my favourite chocolate by the way) in ice cream form!

So far my food adventuring has taught me to try new things, because you never know what delicious things you are missing!

The Rest is Noise: New Appreciation of 20th Century Music

April 17, 2012Books, Entertainment, MusicLeave a Comment

The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross is an interesting summary of 20th century (classical) music. I purchased this book in my first or second year of University but was too intimidated to read it. I’ll have to admit, it is written in very flourished language and sometimes I had to look up the definition of some words. If anything, this book has given me a greater vocabulary to become a better music writer. At almost 600 pages, it took me well over a month to read. I purposely read it slowly so that I could absorb and retain as much of it as possible.

The book begins with a mention of Richard Strauss’ Salome and ends with an epilogue that mentions how minimalist influences have spread to the likes of Bjork and Radiohead.

The vividly written narrative highlights the lives of 20th composers; from life to death and their take on each other’s music. They are just like us in the sense that they often don’t understand each other’s music.The book beautifully describes some of the most important works of each composer and the society’s reactions to them. It’s funny because you learn who was in with dictators like Hitler and learn what happened after their reign was over. It dances around everybody who’s helped shaped the 20th century from painters, writers to the events and wars that molded what we are today. In a book about music, I think I learned more about 20th century history than I have ever known.

And if the book wasn’t enough Alex Ross also runs http://www.therestisnoise.com/ which has more to do with 20th century music as well as listening samples.