We gotta impress Sean

#2 BLOOR WEST VILLAGE

Somewhat upscale but never far from its Easern European roots. Bloor Street West’s real strength lies in its restaurants and pubs. Be sure to arrive with an appitite.

DATE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009.

TIME:  ~6:15pm – 9:06pm (with a dinner somewhere inbetween)

 - start time is approximate as Monica took the 1st picture and doesn’t  have the time and date set on her camera

Bloor West Village. I love this area. One of my favourite restaurants is on this route ( it’s not on this card) – QUEEN’S PASTA. Anyhoo, it’s a beautiful evening – not too hot or cold. And we have a guest on our walk today. My Botany buddy and friend – Sean. Funny cause this is the first time Alma and Sean have met, but they both know so much about each other from my ramblings. Alma and I sure did feel the pressure before this walk. We carefully selected which walk we did today knowing he’d be joining us and wanting to impress him. 

So the walk at hand is an interesting walk. It starts at Runnymede Station, and ends at Runnymede Station, making us walk on a particular side of Bloor street each way and hitting up the highlighted venues on route. While Sean and I wait for Alma, we hang out at Runnymede library which is a nice building, with an ancient "boys" entrance and "girls" entrance that now serve as employee entrances. Sean tells me some ancedote about the library and he is suprised that it’s not on the card.

I didn’t hear about this… You can’t mention an anecdote without actually dictating it! Is it because it’s not an actual spot on the card?! Or is it cause Sean mentioned it? 

If you’re reading this Sean…  I’ll have you know, that if you had told me about the story, I would’ve posted it. 

The only reason I didn’t post is because I couldn’t remember it. I tried looking it up but wikipedia (which I forbid my students to use) didn’t have any info to offer me.

1. Green Mango (2180 BLoor St. W.)

A Thai cafeteria known for heaping, cheap-eats plates…

Well, it’s not like neither of us have ever been to a Green Mango. Reminds me of 1st year, when I lived at Loretto. Even though we had all meals provided it was one of those places we frequented (the ones at Yonge and Bloor that is)… particularly on "goat" night….

… dare I ask what happened on "goat" night?!

No crazy stories about Green Mango for me… I went there about 3 months ago though and I had ordered an eggplant dish. The serving size was enough to feed at least 3 ppl. So when I had brought it to the front to retrieve a styrofoam container, the cashier dude tried handing it to me but my hands were completely full and there was nowhere to rest my tray. There was probably 10 seconds of me thinking what to do, until some lady beside me took the container for me and rested it on a table 2 meters away. (sorry that was a boring story)

2. Swan and Firkin (2205 Bloor St. W.)

The pub’s second-story patio is a great place to get your bearings.

Famished and ready to eat, we step in for a bite. Nice place. We enjoy the second storey patio a lot – though we are too far away from the edge to get a good look at the street. Kind of reminds me of the patio at the Maddy- though much smaller.

So… Mon is notorious for touching her nose when it comes down to making decisions. I think there are times where I’ve touched my nose first and I still end up having to decide where to eat. Anyhow, we ended up eating at the Firkin cause somehow Sean caught on about the nose thing pretty quickly

I wore my sunglasses throughout dinner cause the setting Sun kept finding my eyes.

Note: Sean didn’t like how the sun was in the picture

Sean purelling before dinner.

or doing the cha-cha

CHEERS! We split a pitcher of Ricker’s Red… someone (I’m not saying who) got a bit tipsy.

 It wasn’t me. 

Not me either. Do the math…

We ordered the Irish pub fries to start us off. Good, but not as good as the ones at Finn McCool’s. Where did the tomato come from Alma?

Is that a real question? My goat cheese, portobello mushroom wrap was quite tasty, but the house salad that came with, was kinda gross. I know… you’re thinking how can a salad with a balsamic vinaigrette not be good. I dunno, but I hardly touched it. The tomato is from mon.

Aww… 

Those kids in the background looked way too young to be in a pub

I like how the light illuminated the bottom of that lantern to give a soft

 This is a picture of the pub when we were coming back from the walk. Kinda like how the pub has a florescent, cool lighting vs. the West End building having a yellow, warmer tone to it. 

I’m curious how Mon envisions the tavern from the Harry Potter books… sorry I don’t remember the name of it.. I’ve only read the books once and well… mon… she’s insane when it comes to HP. I know they served Butter Beer… or something with a similar name…. which I tried at Chapters when the last HP book came out. It was good, Mon probably wouldn’t have approved.

I first thought you were talking about the Leaky Cauldron – the gateway into the wizarding world and Diagon Alley from downtown London. That I imagine being pretty dark, with drab wood everywhere. But when you mentioned Butterbeer I realized that you meant The Three Broomsticks. I imagine it being packed, cleaner, polished wood. A long bar running vertical on the left side with plenty of tables in a crowded open space across from them.  Alma, you made an unprovoked Harry Potter reference!

3. Chapters Bookstore (2225 Bloor St. W.)

…look at the flourishes of what was Toronto’s first vaudevillian theater. The hertitage interior is one of the three remaining examples of "atmospheric" theater architecture in Canada.

We were all excited to see the Chapter’s after reading the card description. And it definately lived up to the hype. Very cool. Of course, being me, I’ve done some supplimentary research. So some background info. Nicknamed "the Runny", it opened in 1927. With the death of vaudeville, the building was converted into a  movie theater in the 1930′s. In 1999, it was converted into a Chapters. As you can expect a lot of local resisdents weren’t happy with this. Not only would a big chain bookstore take away business from the small, charming independent vendors on the street, but also it was a local historic site. But in the end, Chapter’s was the only company willing to make the $5 million investment into restoring the building and its historical aspects.

I appreciate your "nerdiness" mon! I guess that’s the whole point of our walks too… to learn something new. I mean, I probably would have bypassed this Chapters, if it wasn’t for the cards.

Wow… 5 million buckaroos… that’s insane. I wonder if they have old pictures of the building before the conversion inside the store. I think it would’ve been nice if they did that.

The building is a lot bigger that you might think from the outside. I guess the same can be said of the theater formerly known as the Phantageous Theater.

The back portion of the theather.  Obviously the stage is where the magazines section is now.

As an atmospheric theater, the interior of the Runnymede was designed to transport its guests to an exotic place. The painted blue sky ceiling was adorned with clouds, where a complex lighting system projected an array of stars and airplanes. The walls were decorated with a mural, which produced an illusion of being in a courtyard.

 I didn’t notice that there was a lighting system that projected stars and airplanes. Now I want to go back to take a look. Sounds like you should be writing these cards, Monica.

Well, not sure if this lighting system is still there. Didn’t notice that either. They should restore it if not. 

Ooo! A built in Harry Potter reference. The books that I’m holding are Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages. These books were published years ago, inbetween the 4th and 5th book. They are suppliments -actually Fantastic Beast’s is supposedly one of the textbooks at Hogwarts and Quidditch is a library book. Both books are refered to throughout the series. I have been looking for these books for years. Back when they were published, I’m not sure why I didn’t buy them… they were created in comic relief for Comic Relief (a non-profit organization that helps impoverished kids in Africa). Anyhoo, haven’t been able to find copies anywhere. I was so suprised to find them here - I was convinced I had searched online every bookstore in Toronto. As it turns out, these are reprinted editions – published this year. Can you tell I’m excited????

I love the lighting


 Mon thought it appropriate to take a picture of the digital camera section

You know, cause we’re using digital cameras….i know, I don’t always have the greatest ideas.

 

Is that what I look like taking a pic… 

  I know that’s what Mon looks like when snapping a sometimes blurry shot of me.

Sean looks like he’s really taking in the building. Hopefully he’s enjoying himself…

 Madame… your seat. Nice little touches

One last bit of reserached info on the former theater. It is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl who was killed by a falling sandbag (used to control curtain movement). Cinema staff believed they could hear the ghost sobbing behind the screen of the main stage. But there is no evidence to suggest that this story is nothing more than an urban legend.

I’m kinda glad you didn’t tell me this story before we went into the theatre… although, it’d be interesting to have asked a sales person if they’ve heard/seen anything… that just reminded me of your don jail story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runnymede_Theatre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runnymede-Bloor_West_Village

After leaving Chapters, we continue on our walk "checking out the various eateries and boutiques" (from the outside) as the card suggests.

One of the businesses we pass was a hair salon, who’s name we can’t remember and god knows why we DIDN’T take a picture of it. It has a banner advertizing that it was named one of "Ontario’s best hair teams for 2009". Everytime someone would comment that they were still open so late into the evening, or that another salon was not, I would remind them of that little tidbit.

  i think i took 5 pictures of this sky. love the colour of it and the transition from blue to pink and its reflection onto the cars. very pretty.

A pylon, shoved into the grass!
Actually, this pylon was at a street corner, and Sean said that their was a house down the intersecting street that had astroturf for lawn.

4. Amber European Restaurant (2372 Bloor St. W.)

Offers the cuisine of the area’s Eastern European resisdents- cabbage rolls, borscht, and the favorite "Grandma’s Pierogies".

  I wish I could crop out the sky. anyhow, did anyone check out the menu

5. Say Tea (2350 Bloor St. W.)

Though you can’t enjoy your brew on-site, it sells more tha 128 varieites of loose teas and 40 types of coffee.

Too bad it’s closed. Would like to come back some time.

Me too! (btw Mon… the tea that you gave me for my bday is quite refreshing! i like the citrusy taste)

Hey, you know Sean was with me when I picked that tea out.

  Mon is taking more pictures these days! Isn’t she a pro.

 Well, I’m getting a lot of practice taking pictures of a certain adorable baby nephew.

6. Book City (2350 Bloor St. W.)

…a popular bookstore known for it’s broad selection and deep discounts.

 

They sell the cards here. But only the Toronto ones. None of the other cities. Hmmmmm…

There was another picture of book city that I took, but mon deleted it. Maybe she didn’t like how she looked. But Sean, you were also in it!

D’oh! I just thought they were pretty much the same and the world dosen’t need to see yet another pic of awkward me. If you send it to me again Alma, I’ll repost it after digitally remastering it (ie photoshopping me out of it. When I say photoshop I mean )using my unprecidented skills with Paint. That’s right, I use Paint. )

**Note to self**  – this shoppe had "the story of ferdinand the bull" with a cd! very tempted to purchase it but held back

You totally should have bought it Alma! It was fate. I got my Harry Potter books… you should have gotten this.

7. Sweet Gallery (2312 Bloor St. W.)

A European cafe that has dished out delicious cakes, Dobos torte, and apple strudels for decades.

  I don’t think I noticed you took that pic of me

 Doesn’t this shoppe look delightful?! I like their old french patio chairs… We have to come back here…

 Cam-face… the picture that i took of you and sean turned out really dark. so it didn’t make it in the post. i hate using flash.

     

Lady on a stick! This was at one of those dollar convience stores we passed.

yeah, that’s not creepy. Sean and Mon pointed out there were 2 other ladies on a stick in the store.

8. Yellow Griffin Pub (2202 Bloor St. W.)

The pub carries a countelss array of hamburgers.

Kind of interested in coming here some time and seeing how many different burgers they actually have.

Yum.. burgers. Were there over 100 kinds?! that seems too many… maybe over 50?! I can’t remember. Wonder if they have any good vegetarian ones though.

The card doesn’t say how many… so I looked it up on their website. Over 35. And they do have vegge options. Also Salmon. And bison.      http://www.yellowgriffinpub.com/

 

The walk is over. But before we go our separate ways we stop into Baskin Robbins to share some mint chocolate chip ice cream.  

… can we mention how deliciously inviting the waffle cones were?! goodness, you get a good whiff of it once you enter the store and you’re sold… even though we ended up with a small one scoop cup. well whatever. Was so full though…

Mmmm!!!!

Monica Rating:   I enjoyed this walk. It was a beautiful evening, and a lot of fun having Sean tag along. We were so worried about impressing him, but we needn’t have worried – we picked a good walk for him.   4/5 historical theaters – it was that highlight of the walk for me after all.

Alma rating: I’ll give it a 3.5 almost a 4… 

The theatre was definitely a highlight for me too.. i think it would’ve been a 4 if we got to go into the tea shoppe and the pastry place. it was my fault though. I had an emergency case before meeting up with Mon and Sean… so it set our walk back. It was a pleasant evening, all in all.

okay…  cause Sean was there and we got ice cream!