La Ceneretola

Ceneretola was the last of this year’s presentations of opera live from the Met. You have the opportunity of seeing the encore presentation on May 25. Don’t miss it. I get such a rush when I hear the announcer say,” Maestro to the pit.” It is such a thrill. You are sitting in a theatre in Toronto and the camera takes you back stage as close as if you are standing there. The audience is shown the backstage sets and then it is time for the opera to begin.

I loved the simple set used for this production of Ceneretola. The musicians were all great. Not only did they have magnificent voices they were called upon to be fine actors. The two sisters, Clorinda and Tisbe were so funny. Their funny facial looks and body antics must have been difficult considering they were also singing arias.

During the intermission we had the pleasure of meeting Elina Garanca who played the role of Angelina. She is so beautiful and every note was perfection.

The story is the fairytale of Cinderella. The delightful story and Rossini’s fantastic music made for a perfect afternoon. The opera does differ from the traditional tale. There is no glass slipper. There is no coach. Yet, the story is very familiar. The poor Ceneretola is forced to do all the drudgery in the household of her father and step sisters. The father has spent all of her inheritance and keeps her in poverty while he and the step sisters live a pretend life of finery. The father tries to marry his two other daughters to the prince. Meanwhile the prince sets his valet up to pretend to be the prince so that he can observe the stepsisters to see if he should marry one of them.

The stepsisters compete for the love of the valet who they think is the prince. Meanwhile the prince acts as the valet and falls in love with Ceneretola.

We all know how the story ends. In this case Ceneretola makes up with her family and they all attend the fancy wedding.

How privileged we are to have this wonderful opportunity. The Met opera is brought to you live. The quality of the sound and pictures is excellent. You have a close up view that isn’t even possible at the Met.

I can’t wait for next year’s productions. Tickets will probably go on sale in August. Many people purchase their tickets for the whole season at that time. Most productions are sold out well in advance. You also need to arrive over an hour before the production. At 10:30 a.m. yesterday I was not the first in line. The film began at 12:30 p.m. It is always worth the wait.

L'Espresso

This was a good week for me. I ate at this favorite spot twice this week. Earlier in the week I was rushing to a film in the Hot Docs Film Festival. My friend and I wanted to grab a quick bite before the first film. In the morning L’Espresso has a menu available at the front desk. The order took only a few minutes and it was delivered with a smile to our table. We actually shared a delicious sandwich of tomato and three cheeses on wonderful artistry bread.

Today is Mother’s Day. My sister, a friend and I were out for an early brunch before all the Mother’s Day festivities later in the day. By 11:00 a.m. the place was packed. I couldn’t believe it. It was so wonderful to see all the families, couples, friends enjoying this bright spot. There is an energy here that I love. Part of it is because I always feel so welcome. Everyone is greeted at the door. The servers are delightful. For breakfast the food is ordered at the front desk and delivered to the table. Sunday Brunch and in the evening full table service is available. There were so many choices from which to choose. My sister opted for the Poached Eggs on Spinach. A fruit salad was also on the plate. Our friend ordered the Classic Tuna Panini. In my opinion this is the best of all. Seared yellow fin tuna with spinach, onions, tuscan bean spread, brie cheese and balsamic vinegar melt in your mouth. A lovely green salad of fresh arugula was on the plate. I enjoyed my favorite Nicoise Salad. The fresh arugula and vinaigrette blended so well. The green French beans were perfectly cooked. Fingerling potatoes also graced the salad. I loved every bite. I felt satiated but knew that I would be ready for my Mother’s Day dinner later in the day.

During the week at lunch the food is ordered by checking your option on a list and the food is delivered to the table. In my opinion the Paninis are the specialty. The Vegetarian Club Panini is filled with bocconccini, zucchini, spinach and roasted peppers. The artisan ciabatta bread is the best.($9.95) Crab Club Panini offers crab and shrimp cake, avocado, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and scallions on artisan baguette.($11.95)

The Nicoise Salad is featured daily and is the best in town.($12.95) Caesar Salad is prepared with heart of romaine lettuce with a classic house dressing.($7.95)

Soup, Crepes and Entrees are listed daily. If you are not counting calories you will be tempted by the desserts at the counter. The cakes are so tantalizing. I still love good biscotti. Purchase some sweets to take home for another time.

My ambition is to invite 10 people for dinner in the quiet charming private room. At this time of year the outdoor patio is always filled and is away from the noise of the street. Most important is the quality of the food. It is always guaranteed that it will be fresh, appealing, tasty and beautifully presented. I feel the expertise of the managers when I enter this restaurant. It makes the guests have confidence. It is obvious that all involved love good food. That is why I keep coming back.

For a change of pace I am also addicted to the wonderful food at Bar Mercurio across the street. These are both owned and run by the same family.

Mogette Bistro

I knew I would love this new hot restaurant. My friends Max and Sybil have been raving about this establishment. Max told me that the brownies are the best in the city (maybe the world) I promised them I would try it.

Yolanda and I dine out each month. She told me she had found a new restaurant, Mogette. Now I knew I had to go. I was thrilled from the moment I arrived until we finally had to leave. This charming restaurant is a new one on the scene. The very handsome and charming Gino makes all the guests happy at the front of the restaurant. It was like being at a party. He seemed to know all the patrons. No wonder. Once you have been there you will want to go back. Gino’s wife Rachele does all the baking. I was so upset that they were out of those fantastic brownies on this evening. I will definitely go back for the brownies and more of that delicious food. Their son, Daniel is the chef in the kitchen. I could tell you he was trained in France or some other gourmet training facility. I think it is even more amazing that he trained himself. Phillipe is the other chef in the kitchen.

The restaurant has a warm sophisticated atmosphere. The lines are clean and simple. The wooden floors and dark furniture are balanced with the pictures on the light colored walls. There is a wonderful ambiance.

Our charming servers were Chris and Adam. I felt as if I was their friend by the time we left. Chris placed a small thimble sized white object on our plate. He poured some hot water with lemon on the object. It began to bubble and expand until we had a lovely wet cloth to wipe our hands. What fun! How creative! How sanitary and useful!

The bread was warm and delicious. I loved the white bean dip with sun dried tomatoes. I should be ashamed to say that we asked for more bread. Tomorrow would be soon enough to think about dieting.

Yolanda ordered her favorite dish Moules Bleu Mariniere.($18.00)The mussels were the largest I have seen. There was an enormous quantity. The sauce was a white wine Roquefort sauce with parsley. Yolanda said they were the best in town. I hope she doesn’t mind me saying that she enjoyed dipping the bread in the exotic sauce at the bottom of the plate. A side order of frites was absolutely scrumptious. I never eat fries but couldn’t control myself from sharing these minute crispy frites.

I started with the Dungeness Crab Cake.($11.00) Four small crab cakes were artistically placed on the plate. A delicious arugula salad with a perfect vinaigrette complimented the taste of the crab cakes. The sweet corn and roasted red pepper salsa was perfect. I loved every bite. I then opted for the Fricasee of Mushrooms.($10.00) I must try to duplicate this recipe at home. A circle of sautéed mushrooms was served with reduced balsamic vinegar. It was topped with a baby arugula salad and oven-dried tomatoes. Every bite was wondrous.

Pan-seared Rainbow Trout Amandine is served with haricot vert salad, brown butter and fingerling potatoes. ($24.00) Noisettes of Lamb with Merguez Sausage is prepared with a ragout of mogette beans.(25.00)

This restaurant was bustling. At no time were we rushed. Our servers always had time to chat and make sure we were content.

Yolanda and I were more than content. This is one fine restaurant in mid town. I love the idea that a family is working together and each member is providing the best of their skills.

Three Monkeys

Bleak! Dark! Well worth seeing! This film is co-produced with Italian, French and Turkish assistance. Turkish is spoken with English sub-titles.

You are reminded of the well known picture of the three monkeys representing; see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. I think this film better represents the phrase; the monkey on my back.

All the characters do indeed have ‘a monkey on their back.’ Nobody is happy and the black and white cinematography captures the mood. There is no color throughout the whole film. The camera often lingers on a character’s face in a close up so that you literally see every hair and every pore. Even more important the emotion expressed on the face is very powerful so that you know their inner most feelings. The only relief seems to be the pastoral scene from the window of the apartment of the main characters.

Eyup lives with his wife, Hacer and son Ismail. Their apartment is very small and in a poor area. Eyup is a driver for an aspiring politician. One night the politician is driving late at night. His eyes are closing as he drives. He hits someone on the road. He can’t take a chance of being caught because of his aspirations in politics. He convinces Eyup to take the rap and promises to pay him.

Eyup’s life goes from bad to worse as a result of these events. He does indeed go to jail. His wife becomes involved with the politician. She is a fascinating person to watch. At times she is very beautiful. Other times she is stern and plain. Throughout she performs well. The son becomes aware and it takes a toll on his life. When Eyup returns from prison he also becomes aware of what has transpired. His son has a car and his wife wears a decorative negligee. He quizzes them about the source of the income.

The film takes twists and turns in the plot. Nobody escapes high drama.

When I left the theatre one woman commented,” That certainly made me very depressed.” I replied that I felt good because this was not my life.

The film did win the Director’s Award at the Cannes Film Festival 2008. It would not have surprised me to learn that it had won an award for the cinematography or for the fine acting. It seemed so appropriate that I left the theatre into a heavy rain storm.

Lemon Tree

I found this film to be very emotional. Maybe because I have family living in Israel I saw it from a personal perspective. I was surprised that it was an Israeli made film and it surely will cause some embarrassment to Israel.

Salma Zidane lives in her 50 year old lemon grove. Her house is modest and she works with an older Arab to keep the grove going. It has been in her family for years and she has an emotional attachment to the grove. The problem is that she is on the Palestinian side of the green line at the Gaza border.

The Defense Minister of Israel builds a modern magnificent house on the other side of the barbed wire fence. His security men worry about his safety and want the lemon grove demolished. They are afraid it will provide access for terrorists. There is no attempt to understand Salma’s predicament. There is no discussion or meeting. She is promised some retribution but her Arab neighbors forbid her from accepting money from Israel. The beautiful wife of the Defense Minister shows some empathy and wishes she could be a better neighbor but is thwarted from any attempt at meeting with her neighbor by the secret police.

The relationship of the Defense Minister and his beautiful wife provides an interesting sub plot. She is so lovely and he doesn’t give her enough attention.

Salma decides to fight the order. This is a David and Goliath story. She virtually takes on the Israeli government. Media builds up the issue to high drama.

I did find that her young lawyer provided the one unbelievable part of the plot. He is much younger than Salma. They seem to be attracted to one another. They do kiss a few times but it doesn’t develop into an affair. She is warned by the local men of authority that she must not shame the memory of her dead husband. In my opinion this part of the plot ruins the rest of the story and is distracting. I can’t imagine the young lawyer kissing the older Arab woman. She dresses in traditional garb and always has her head covered. This distraction would have been better left out.

The court case becomes very dramatic as the young lawyer pleads her case. It seems as if the safety of the Defense Minister and his beautiful house are more important than human rights.

The Defense Minister throws a large party when his new home is completed. The fashionably dressed people at the party, the excess of food and liquor and the loud music provides a contrast to Salma trying to relax in her quiet little run down house on the other side of the barbed wire fence.

At one point a large sturdy high wall is built to separate the properties. That wall makes quite an impact on the viewer.

Both sides of the argument were presented and it did leave me with an understanding of the tense situation of living on a border. I did find myself cheering on Salma who you know is fighting a losing battle.

The ending can be interpreted in several ways. You will want to discuss the film after viewing it.

Le Pain Quotidien

I am so grateful to the JCC member who recommended this new spot. I get a real rush from trying a new establishment and finding it in favor. This is as close as you can get to a French café without leaving town. The servers have that delightful French accent. When you enter the establishment the counter with the cookies, cakes, bread and tarts calls out to you. The restaurant is on a corner so one side is all windows. There are shelves within the restaurant filled with goodies for sale; olives, jams and other French food products.

The tables, chairs and floor are all wooden. One large communal table is in the midst of the dining area. Other tables are well situated so that nobody is crowded. I was most impressed with the quality of the salt and pepper placed on the table in glass jars. I have just become interested in using fine salts with my food. A touch of a good granular salt can enhance the flavor of the food so much. On other tables I noticed bottles of fine balsamic vinegar and jars of quality jam. I felt as if I was on holiday the minute I walked in. Apparently they do a large take out and catering as well. I had not heard about this place and discovered that they have three other locations as well. I like this spot looking out on Yonge St.

All the soups and salads are served with organic bread. I had one slice of French bread and another was an olive bread that almost brought tears to my eyes it was so good.

I ordered a Nicoise Salad. ($13.50) The fingerling potatoes and thin green beans were perfectly cooked. A large scoop of tuna was placed on a mixed bed of fresh organic greens.

The restaurant strives to use organic and local ingredients whenever possible. The Goat Cheese Arugula Salad is served with parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil and lemon.($15.25) The Atlantic Shrimp Salad offers avocado, mango and salsa over organic mesclun.($14.95) All the salads are listed on a blackboard as well as presented on a menu.

The Tartines (sandwiches) are also listed on the blackboard and offer an extensive list of choices. I intend to make that my decision on my next visit.(hopefully very soon)

Tuna Salad with Olive Tapenade and roasted peppers sounds great to me.($8.95) Aged Gruyere with 3 Mustards is offered at $9.95. Atlantic Smoked Salmon with dill and scallions is a popular choice at $12.95.

There are plenty of choices. Several breakfast selections such as yogurt, fruits, cheese and charcuterie are available all day.

This is a charming busy café. I loved the atmosphere. The food is fresh and tasty. I want to go back. Let me know if you are interested.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

The AMC Young and Dundas is my least favorite cinema in town. It looked like rain and I felt the need for a walk. I headed north to the theatre and then up for 4 flights on an escalator to reach the auditorium. When you see me please thank me for saving you from wasted time and money. I do have to admit that Mathew McConaughey is adorable and Jennifer Garner is a beauty.

McConaughey plays the part of Connor. He comes home for his younger brother’s wedding. Connor is one lousy brute. He has only one thing on his mind. He has seduced all the bridesmaids in the past years. He even makes a play for the mother of the bride. He is afraid of any commitment and leaves all the girls after a short fling. His oldest friend Jenny is one of the bridesmaids.

We learn that Connor and Jenny (Garner) were childhood friends. They were always attracted to one another. Throughout the years they had met, tried a liaison and separated because of his lack of commitment. He says that marriage is an archaic, oppressive institution. He states that love is a myth.

The bride is a silly young thing that got on my nerves. I suppose it was supposed to be humorous that her father was a military man and did nothing but tell about his battles and used army talk all the time. What a bore!

Connor’s actions threaten to ruin the wedding. He flirts with all the girls. He drinks too much scotch and even knocks the wedding cake over the night before the wedding. Jenny seems to be always there to try and put things back in place.

Connor and his brother had been brought up by a wealthy playboy uncle. Uncle Wayne is played by Michael Douglas and you can almost believe that he is playing a part he himself lived a few years ago.

The night before the wedding Connor is visited by a series of ghosts that show him past wrongs. He is revisited with his youth and high school days. It is pointed out to him why he acts the way he does. He wakes up in the morning a new person. He becomes loving and thoughtful and responsible.

Of course all of this is a play on the plot of A Christmas Carol. Frankly I found it offensive to parody a fine piece of literature with this trashy little film.