Toronto – Originally, I was going to tack this on to Brian’s post but given my tendency to blabber on about things, I decided to spare his article from my drivel and create my own. Basically, me and Brian were both invited to the Sony Centre‘s Opening Night performance of Cirque Eloize
I love food. I love free food. I love hor deourves. These little finger size trinkets of deliciousness usually make my night at any media / pr party I am in. The pre party had five separate food stations set up representing various parts of the world. Each countries relation to this night is unknown. I was going to guess why each country was there, but that would make this article racist so instead I shall review each food station.
Russia: Caviar and Chicken Kiev + shot of Vodka
Caviar’s one of those foods you think should be good because only rich people seem to eat it, but for me, I didn’t get too much out of these little bits of fish egg. It’s just the bigger version of the roe you get when you order a dynamite roll or something. The chicken kiev was pretty tasty as there was a nice liquidy surprise for you when you bit inside it. It wasn’t so nice for people who didn’t know about the said surprise though. I skipped the shot of vodka, provided by Absolut, who probably sponsored the event.
Chinese – Spring Rolls and Various dimsum + sweet vodka drink
I hate how spring rolls is associated with Chinese food since its mostly a Vietnamese thing. No self respecting Chinese family would order spring rolls at a restaurant, let alone put it as one of the foods that would “represent” their country. This shocks me even more since the food was done by some dude named Stephen Lee. However, I am sometimes reminded that some people named Lee are actually not Chinese so maybe this is the case. Regardless of my complaints, the spring rolls were pretty good, I think they had duck in it. A more appropriate dish would have been Peking duck, I guess.
India – Shrimp on stick and Vegetarian Samosa + tamarind vodka drink
Shrimp is always good, so I wholly agree with this decision. The vegetarian samosa was most likely an attempt to appease the vegetarians in the crowd, who would have nothing else to eat otherwise. Curious decision by the chef to include only one tiny vegetarian dish for an artsy gathering. I think if you poll most vegetarians, I think most of them are in artsy industries. I wonder if samosa is to Indians as spring rolls are to Asians in terms of it just being a food to appease to colonials.
Japan – Sushi + Pear/Ginger/Vodka drink
Easily the longest lineup of the night, because you know, there aren’t enough sushi restaurants in the city. If I jump off a moving bus on any major street, do a tuck and roll and walk into store/place where I landed, there’s a 1/3 chance I would have landed in a space occupied by a Japanese restaurant. The lineup for this was nice and slow, because when people were finally up to the front, they would ask the servers what everything is. Everyone appeared to be going for the sushi (not the California rolls), which is what we did. I believe we got one red tuna, one white tuna and mackerel. It was tasty but not worth the long wait.
Canada – Meat Pie + Rack of Lamb (with crusted cheese) + some cranberry vodka drink
Of course Canada would have the best food of the night. The rack of lamb here was ridiculously delicious. I went back for seconds. Wanted to go back for thirds. I honestly just wanted them to give me an entire rack, and then I could just go sit in the corner and eat it. Lamb is so hard to get right, but props to Stephen Lee, because it was cooked just right and the spices were perfect. Easily the best bit of hor deourves I have had at any party.
Now here is my bit about the show. Brian already has given you a nice professional well written review on the night, so here are my thoughts.
– Some of the feats the performers do are astonishing. It makes me want to work out more. The one tumbler who did all the crazy strength stuff was so ripped he had muscles coming out of his muscles. Definitely, if I was to get into a fight with him. I would lose. But then again, I would have a gun. So I would win. That’s kinda the problem with society today isn’t it? I mean, you can work out all you want, take all the martial arts class that you can, eat the right diet, and if you ever get into a confrontation with someone, all that training goes nowhere if that other person has a knife or a gun. It’s not like the good ole days anymore.
– As much as I liked the female contortionist, every time she bent herself in an odd way, I could feel my back hurting and my hamstring crying. It’s such a weird sight. On the flip side, if she ever wants to travel for cheap, she can just curl herself up into a moving box and just ship herself with Fedex.
– It’s a testament to how much influence urban hip hop break dancing/poppin/hip hop dancing has had on our culture lately when a show featuring mostly that genre opens up one of the most prestigious venues in Toronto. To think it all came from a Julia Stile movie.
– I really really want a trampoline. I could potentially put it in my living room and use that to jump up into my bedroom on the second floor. How awesome would that be?
Overall, quite an amazing night with good food, good company and good show. I felt quite physically inadequate after the show since everyone in the act was stronger, bendyer and generally in way better shape then I am in. It inspired me to think about working out more, stretching more and maybe take up gymnastics or something. However, that inspiration was short lived as the night was capped off with some midnight mac & cheese along with a pint of beer. Still, good times.