Miscellaneous photos: Toronto

June 11, 2015 • 11:30 am

I had very little time to do anything but talk yesterday, but I did manage to snap a few photos from the rapidly-growing city of Toronto.

This we what we need: MORE STREETS NAMED COWBELL!

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A bobblehead from the local CfI office. Although I don’t watch the t.v. show, I was told that the family dog, Brian, is an out atheist. First ere’s a clip of his shameful admission:

and the relevant doll (he’s carrying a copy of The God Delusion under his arm (shouldn’t that be The D*g Delusion?):

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Eric Adriaans, the genial and efficient head of CfI Canada, took me to lunch at a place where I could get genuine and endemic Canadian noms. I am, of course, referring to poutine, which at Smoke’s Poutinerie, come in a variety of fancy flavors. I had the chili cheese with beef (fries, gravy, two kinds of cheese, including cheese curds, chili, and sliced beef on top).  This was a mistake, for I was unable to eat anything for the rest of the day, including my fancy dinner. But it was good!:

The menu:

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Lunch (I will tolerate NO food fascists here: I have had poutine exactly twice in my life). This is the “meal sized” portion, but I should have ordered the “snack size”:

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Immediately after lunch, with my belly feeling like a lead sinker, I went several doors down to the CVO studios to be on The Agenda t.v. show, which comprised a 25-minute one-on-one, live-to-tape interview with Steve Paikin. I think it was a very good conversation: Paikin had read my book and had reams of good questions to ask. I’ll put up a link when it’s archived. But before the show they took me to MAKEUP, and when the makeup person briefly left the room, I snapped myself for what is probably a once-in-a-lifetime photo:

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It was a busy and exhausting day yesterday, beginning with me filming several spots for CfI Canada, and ending with a round of drinks at the local pub with the energetic young CfI volunteers. Thanks to Eric and all the others for giving me such a pleasant day in Toronto.

 

 

87 thoughts on “Miscellaneous photos: Toronto”

    1. On a Food TV show of some sort (maybe an episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate) a gourmet duck confit poutine was featured. It looked fab – u – lous. Unnnhhh. I would really like to try it.

      I’ve only had rather basic poutine a couple of times, from diner type restaurants in Quebec province.

        1. I can definitely see the possibilities of a lobster poutine. What was the “gravy” like? Thermidor-like? Bisque like?

          Some chefs get pissed off if they hear of cheese being used in a seafood dish. Personally, I can’t think of much that cheese of some sort wouldn’t be good on.

      2. Our local place (north end of the St. Paul / Minneapolis area) serves the classic version, with or without seared fois gras on top. Yummy!

        1. I’ve never even heard of poutine – another addition to the bucket list. (At this point I’ll have to live to about 937 to fit everything in.)

    2. I’ve had vegetarian poutine. It’s just vegetables and cheese over fires. It reminded me of pico de gallo. It’s not bad.

  3. “Guess what? I’ve got an urban-planning fever! And the only prescription, is more streets named cowbell!”

    1. Since the harriers have to evade passerine persecution through flight alone shows how the harrier could not possibly have been designed.

    1. Brian is a cool character. He is the only rational character on “Family Guy.” He has some of the funniest lines on the program.

      1. I like the episode where he hammered out a BS self help book full of sophistry and ended up on Real Time with Bill Maher and Maher and the panel call him out on being a fraud.

      2. That ‘God on a jet bike’ sequence in the clip there was a steal from ‘Flash Gordon’. I just re-watched it and the technicolour sky backgrounds (filmed with ink in water I believe) are as spectacular and beautiful as I remember. The rest of the movie is quite fun to watch, too, it was made in the only way possible – comic-book camp and over-the-top.

  6. I am sorry but that photo of what you are calling “Poutine” is sacrilegious and offends me. As it is my right to ask… no, to Demand! that you take it down post-haste, I Demand! that you do so.

    pou·tine
    noun: poutine; plural noun: poutines
    a dish of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.

    Now if you will excuse me I need to go get the deep-fryer ready 😉

    Cheers,
    M.

    1. Well, there is (in the Montreal area) a tradition of so-called “Italian poutine”, which is with meat sauce in addition to the curds and gravy.

  8. Not intended as a food nazi comment, but hope the poutine didn’t impinge on the interview.

  9. Great stuff!

    Our local place makes poutine! And it’s very popular. Their’s is the classic fries with gravy, which you can get with our without seared fois gras (we always get it with).

    That poutine looks scrumptious! And I imagine it did take a while to digest!!

    MORE COWBELL! 🙂

      1. She looks PG. I guess its my great,great………………….great, great…..grandparent.

  10. Love your makeup photo! Certainly needed a good chuckle. Can you use that for your book jacket photo on your next book?

  11. Yes, the Hitch (for Hitchens) should have been re rigeur for you. Next time. Toronto has now taken to naming back lanes. One intersection you might have enjoyed seeing (I don’t have a photo) is Gore and Clinton.

  12. I am shocked that Prof. Ceiling Cat could visit T.O. and not say anything about the most exciting thing ever to happen to the town (uh, besides his talk, of course) — namely,BABCOCK!

  13. When I lived in Toronto my roommates were… understanding of my lack of enthusiasm for poutine. There was a small food court nearby (I think it was Village at the Grange) and when they got poutine I’d get fish and chips. It smelled nice, but yeah, it looks like something than sits in you like a bowling ball.

  14. I attended the event and got my book signed (with cat photo). It was a great talk outlining the major themes for the book. Thanks for a fun night. I was a little disappointed there was no theist push back in the Q & A like at previous talks. Would have been interested to see how you handled yourself after a bit of practice.

    One pet peeve in the Q & A, which seems to be so universal based on the constant reminding by the moderator to keep it short and ask your question, is no amount of Q & A warning can prevent the pre-question ramble. When chosen to ask their question, some people simply cannot bring themselves to just get to the fucking point and ask a question without babbling on for a minute to preface their question. Man that’s annoying. /rant

    1. and got my book signed (with cat photo)

      JC’s drawing skill must be phenomenal if you are mistaking his drawing for a photograph.

    2. Diana and I were there, too. Great talk, Jerry, and great kitteh drawings. We also enjoyed the dinner, though I believe Jerry was too poutine-stuffed to photograph the noms. Someone at the table mentioned that Our Fearless Leader (Stephen Harper) referred to Vlad Putin as Poutine. I don’t think he was trying to be funny;-) I guess it’s no worse than Dubya’s Pooty Poot.

      1. Harper probably was trying to be funny. That’s what it looks like when Harper is trying to be funny, which is weird and awkward.

        He is also terrifying when he smiles. It’s all opposite with Harper.

          1. It would be great to open a Twitter account as Harper’s Cat. You could tweet about trials and tribulations of being Harper’s cat but also make cat perspective observations about him and his cronies.

      2. My favourite comment from Jerry involved difficulties with defining what religion was. Every time he tried, he was dropped into a pool of “yammering theologians.” There’s something very evocative in the phrase.

    3. I was in T.O. last night about two blocks away and I had my copy of the book but was engaged in a prior commitment. So sorry I missed it.

  16. I’ve been a reader of your blog for several years, and it was a pleasure to hear you speak last night. Thank you for taking the time to visit Toronto and speak at a CFI Canada sponsored event.

    One small correction: You were interviewed in the TVO (TV Ontario) studios.

    I also want to thank you again for your regular contributions to this website. Several of your posts on secularism informed a few of my arguments I had in a public debate a few months ago with a Catholic scholar.

    It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to meet you last night. Thank you.

    Leslie

    1. You must be thinking of putain. It’s a common mispronunciation of poutine among Anglophones that Francophones find amusing.

      1. Are you one of those women that either fall in love with us or we fall in love with and then cry? I think I heard about you in the news recently!

          1. Does anyone know if something on the autism spectrum might explain his comment? I don’t quite understand how an educated person could say what he did without considering the consequences (unless there are other factors at play.) It just doesn’t seem reasonable.

      2. I’m a native francophone, hispanophone, lusophone and germanophone- btw. My grandparents had four different native languages, and then I was sent to school in a country that spoke English 🙂

    2. Poutine is arguably the “national dish” of the working class (Francophone) Quebecois, so it isn’t actually terribly surprising it sounds rude.

      2. Said the anglophone upper-class Quebecois? 😀
        In France we get subtitles when Canadians speak French on television. They make very unusual and unnecessary sounds which must actually be harder to enunciate than the original versions.

        1. So maybe you know the answer to this…

          I’ve been told (by an Acadian-French Canadian) that Acadian French is closer to French in France than Québécois French is. Is this true?

          1. Both sound foreign to me 🙂 But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. People in Paris speak French in a completely different way than people in the Toulouse region, which is where I live.
            Although, Québécois does take the whole thing a whole step further. I’m naturally inclined to try to understand and communicate. Bearnais, Catalan, even Galician etc. I do my best. The Québécois sound doesn’t ease into my ear. It takes a mega-effort to make sense of what’s being said (for me.) For comparison’s sake my partner’s mother was from Liege and that’s where he learnt French- and our only linguistic argument is the pronunciation of ain/en in French 🙂

          2. I need subtitles for French Canuck movies, yet have no problem with movies from France, Suisse, Belgium, French Africa or the French Caribbean. Here in Ontario I can converse, en français, with my Haitian friend and my Ivoirean friend, but have a helluva time with any quebecois.

          3. “Closer” is vague when it comes to languages. I don’t know how to tell. What is likely is that it is more “working class” than certainly (say) “standard Parisien”

            I do find it interesting to listen to, since it is a different accent and (some) vocabulary.

            (And I’m not upper class – pretty middle, actually. But yes, I’m an anglo. :))

  18. Please, more recommendations for eats in Toronto! I’ll be in town for Rush at the Air Canada Centre on the 17th and would appreciate any heads-up on places I simply cannot afford to miss. Many thanks.

    2. tgczarny,

      What type of dining do you want to do?

      Fine Dining: Canoe.

      Although there are lots of great fine dining places in Toronto, the reason I’d suggest Canoe to someone visiting is because it’s near the top of the Toronto Dominion Centre tower, making for absolutely spectacular views of the city while you are dining (especially watching the sun go down, and the CN Tower light up). And the dishes tend to highlight Canadian ingredients, done with a high level of skill.

      Alternates: One of the Momofuku restaurants, or the current “foodie” darling restaurant, Bar Isabel. Also: fantastic farm-to-table style Italian at Buca, which is pretty central downtown (or it’s more casual cousin, Bar Buca).
      If you want to whoop it up in a gorgeous space and feel like Gordon Gecko: The Chase.
      Cheaper, casual “foodie-worthy” dining at Richmond Station Restaurant, very close to the Air Canada Centre. It’s super popular, really fun, with the winner of Canada’s Top Chef TV show, who took his winnings and opened this restaurant to acclaim.

      Mid-Level: 416 Snack Bar.

      It’s one of those gems that people who go there don’t want others to know about, because it’s small…and so great. It’s basically a small gastro-pub type place with great drinks and truly fantastic food, tapas style (among the many great items: order the Korean Fried Chicken and the mini Reuben sandwich, and thank me later). It’s right downtown, not that far from the Air Canada Centre.

      Alternate choice The Harbord Room. (For it’s amazing burger, but also for similarly upscale grub in a casual setting).

      Tummy-filling: Toronto has some great Roti places. My favorite: Bacchus Roti (Guyanese style). Though you’d need to drive more to the west end for it. Competitors: Gandhi Cuisine’s rotis, more central queen and bathurst.

      Toronto is such a huge and great place for food, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

      2. I tried to get into Canoe a way back when they were having the annual food fest thingy but it was too popular so I was out of luck.

        1. Diana,

          I’ve found that simply taking a slightly out of prime time reservation seems the golden ticket for getting into many places, even with little notice – e.g. 5 or 5:30 seatings. And then often enough, once you are booked to eat, restaurants seem to give deference to you, so if I phone at a later point closer to the meal and ask if I can switch the time to something more convenient – e.g. 6:30, 7:00 or whatever, they usually suddenly “find a table” for me.

          I’ve taken this approach again in booking my meals for my San Francisco trip next week and have easily gotten excellent seatings in places people complain “they can never get in” or take months to book.

          FWIW..

      3. Those are all excellent recommendations. I could add a few: Byblos for (eastern) Mediterranean cuisine, Yasu for (high-end)Japanese, and Santouka does very, very nice ramen. Kingyo is also good for izakaya.

        1. Agreed, I love Yasu. It’s such an intimate, peaceful “trip to Japan” type experience.

          If a visitor has time I’d also highly suggest a stroll through Kensington Market – a little “town of it’s own” – in the middle of downtown, and right in the heart of Toronto’s wonderful main Chinatown. You can stroll all the funky shops and it’s got excellent eats all through the market: highlights like Pizzeria Via Mercanti (some say the best Neapolitan pizza in Toronto),
          Seven Lives Tacos Y Mariscos (THE best tacos, fish and otherwise, in Toronto. They are the only ones I’ve found in T.O. that not only compete with what I’ve had in South Cal, but which I actually prefer), and a couple newer places people seem to frequent:
          Moo Frites for take out gourmet fries and crazy toppings, and The Grilled Cheese, for giant hipster-approved grilled cheese sandwiches of many varieties.

          1. Just east of the parking garage in Kensington Mkt there’s a hole in the wall which serves delicious Japanese crêpes and gelato ( try the blood- orange).

          2. That sounds intriguing, I’ll have to try.
            Blood-orange gelato sounds great. Thanks.

          3. It was! There’s a special name for those Japanese crepes, but I can’t remember it, nor the name of the joint. It’s on the south side of the street (Baldwin?) that runs north of the parking garage in Kensington Market, and just east of the garage. That area is great fun to wander around it. There’s one restaurant that’s a Hungarian/Thai fusion, or something weird like that.

        2. Bar Raval at College and Palmerston. Loud and crowded but incredibly good and authentic tapas. Beautiful carved bar. No reservations.

    3. Many, many thanks for all of your kind recommendations. Looks like my budget and waistline are going to be shot to hell.

  19. My son loves poutine and I enjoy some now and then. Smokes is good, but everyone is doing it now. My favorite poutine is at a place called the Combine Eatery in Toronto.

  21. I wrote a review of Jerry’s presentation in Toronto that may be of interest to those who couldn’t attend.

    Overall, I was impressed and agreed with most of what Jerry had to say (though I was surprised at some of the statistics he quoted about the beliefs of Americans). It was definitely a friendly audience, but I was somewhat disappointed in his response to a question about whether religion is really the worst form of irrational belief and the greatest threat to our civilization.

    http://www.canadianatheist.com/guest-post-jerry-coyne-in-toronto/

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