1H12 (First Half of Summer) Report: Generally Good

 Halfway through my 18 week summer (and internship) and things are certainly looking up. At a neighborhood Italian restaurant, someone remarked how most people would only come here ‘on occasion.’ My review of Ciao Wine Bar, on OpenTable, was positive but rather subdued. “Average” is clearly in the eye of the beholder:

“A rather non-pretentious restaurant in a rather pretentious neighborhood (ONE is across the street) makes for a comfortable and chatty food experience. The bare wood tables and focaccia in olive oil are traditionally inspired in an otherwise modern "bar", a stark contrast to the much more laid back Nervosa down the street. There is nothing spectacular about the food and yet still above average enough to merit return visits. Prices aren't spectacular but I'll take it in Yorkville.”

The same can be said of our monthly escapades to Aquaterra’s Sunday brunch ($22). There is a lot of luxury built into our average perception of life. I say that as I plan for 17 days of foodie-galore via summerlicious. The plan is to make 34 reservations and see how many of them I can attend. All are Toronto Life recommended and include such hallmarks like Canoe, Auberge, Colborne Lane and North 44. For those two weeks I expect this blog to be on fire. I am doing this because this will be the last summer in a long time (presumably) when I can restaurant-hop with such hunger. The monetary ramifications will be dire, likely $1500 over two weeks. I’m most interested in seeing where the point of diminishing returns is on such an expensive food regime.

Thankfully, Financial Management Institute of Canada heard my dire need of funding today and provided a $2500 scholarship (http://www.fmi.ca/pages/ontario/FMI_Ontario_Chapter_Scholarship.shtml). With the administrative mess associated with rankings calculations, this may be the only success this summer. This story brings back the recurring topic about happiness. At 8:36AM I received electronic notice that I had won. At 8:37, the previous email was “recalled”. Though the situation had not changed since 8:35, I felt much worse. In finance, I believe this is the bird-in-hand theory. At 10:35, I received confirmation that I did indeed win, and I probably felt better than I did at 8:36AM. The role expectations play is ever so consuming. Losing something you thought you had is way worse than losing something you never knew you had. I learnt last night that lowering expectations, though, does not improve happiness (http://www.ted.com/talks/tali_sharot_the_optimism_bias.html).  The reason stated was zany (along the lines of blaming yourself for not trying hard enough) but the correlation is still there. And to change an expectation is ever so difficult. 80% of people have an optimism bias. I would like to think I fall into the other 20%.

The last several weeks in pictures

Lucien: this place keeps on getting worse. We’ll see if summerlicious does anything for it. I’m going for lunch. (Pictured are trout and pork).

Sam James Coffee Bar: This place was opened by some bohemian who despised overpaid, overworked gears in the economic machine (like you & me) and is now being scolded by his own patrons for turning away from the artsy and unemployed, gini coefficient expanders. Sigh... everyone ends up on Bay Street like it or not.

Mercatto: Terroni’s but more modern

South of Temperance: This place is a consistent let down. The food simply does not do the atmosphere justice.

Ethiopian House: This is the first time I have eaten with my fingers. I must say I prefer Indian food do this. The delivery vehicle (akin to the Indian Naan) was “Injera” which was soggy and unsightly. I would think that humans, regardless of culture, take issue with eating soggy things. 

Francofete: I felt like a cultured Canadian doing this. Last year Coeur de Pirate came. We listened to her songs in French Class (“Comme des Enfants”). This year was decidedly worse. The headline song was “oi oi oi” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNARDxZguDc&feature=related) which really speaks to Spanish (Latin American) Culture more so than French. I’m a little concerned that this cultural confusion is so widespread. I thought the French took their culture seriously. In France 2AM is time for poetry and art (Midnight in Paris – great movie) and not the time for oi oi oi.