I took some time off from the rewrite today to take in not one but two terrific meals. The first was brunch with the lovely Jane McLean (Charisse in The Time Traveler’s Wife, Tammy Okama on Dexter, Jane Richards on Terminal City, and – soon – Fiona Rivers on The Transporter) at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen in Liberty Village, a quaint little neighborhood in the city’s west end. Our chat veered from the personal to the professional, covering everything from food and family to producing and pitching for television. Jane is smart, talented, ambitious but, most important of all, well-grounded, and I have no doubt she’ll be accomplishing much much more in the not too distant future.
After brunch, it was downtown to run errands. Among the things I had to pick up today: an electric tea kettle, a gift for Keiko, new sweat pants, and –
So the other night, on our way to have dinner with Mike, we happened by a restaurant called Marben that was advertising a monthly pig roast dinner. I immediately thought of the wonderful Whole Hog dinners I enjoyed at Fuel/Refuel over the years and wasted no time in making a reservation.
Well, tonight we went in for our pig feast. It was family style serving – a pork platter of various cuts including shoulder, belly, crispy spin, and select pieces from the head and neck area – accompanied by several side dishes including some amazing baked beans, just fine green beans, and marvelous swiss chard. As for the pork – delicious! I was working my way through the feast when Akemi warned me to slow down and save room for the next dish. “What next dish?”I asked her. “This is it.” She thought I was kidding. “There is no next dish,”I repeated. She still thought I was kidding. Three more rounds of this and it finally dawned on her that THERE WAS NO NEXT DISH. She was evidently expecting the meal to play out along the lines of the aforementioned Fuel/Refuel Whole Hog Dinner – several different plates featuring different parts of the pig (ie. crispy pig ear with salsa verde, pig tail consomme, crispy brain with fried green tomato, birch syrup milk chocolate pie with candied bacon, etc.). While she may not have loved the meal, I thought it great and will definitely be making a return visit.
Also in attendance that night, coming in about an hour after our seating…
It’s a veritable Stargate reunion in Toronto! And it just keeps getting bigger. The cavalry heads into town tomorrow night in the form of my buddy Carl Binder who’ll be riding in to lend us some much-needed support on The Transporter. Also got word from Michael Shanks that he’ll be coming back into town to film a guest spot on another locally-shot series – well in advance of his planned return for the August Fan Expo (August 25th-28th) with wife Lexa Doig. Get your tickets now!
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