Looking Back: Why T.O. should be very proud of Pride, 44 years after the original picnic

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9:23 am

It all started in 1969 when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau uttered those famous words, “the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation,” and the federal government decided to decriminalize homosexual acts. Since then, the LGBT community has come a long way. The Pride Parade is a direct result of the efforts put forth by those in support of equal rights for all people, not to mention the fact that it has exploded onto the Toronto summer festival scene to become one of the city’s most popular and successful events.

The idea began with a Gay Pride Picnic in 1971 at Hanlan’s Point, and because of the success, it sparked a movement. The picnic became an annual event, attracting hundreds of people, eventually evolving into Pride Week, but for the next decade it was an on-again, off-again event until things got very political with the legendary Barracks bathhouse raids that galvanized the community.

The Pride events gained momentum and took on a more political tone that culminated in 1984 when Church Street was closed down for the first time.

Another important milestone was in 1991 when, finally, the city actually officially proclaimed Pride Day for the first time.

During the current 10-day Pride Week period, June 19 to 28 this year, attendees celebrate the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities as well as honouring those of different cultures, religions, and histories.

Pride events actually overlap with Father’s Day, and many attend to support family members.

The Pride Parade is the main attraction slated for June 28. This year’s grand marshal is David Furnish, a Toronto native and filmmaker who happens to be married to Elton John. No word yet if the Crocodile Rocker will hit the after-party stage.

Restaurant Review: Bar Raval aims to seduce us with its ode to Barcelona

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Andrew Mannsbach

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12:38 pm

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Grant van Gameren’s new tapas bar is being lauded as Barcelona’s gift to Toronto. And it is. But life is complicated and Toronto isn’t Barcelona. Oh well. We race to dine at Raval but guess what, they don’t take reservations. That’s no surprise; but the chairs are. Or should I say lack thereof.

And that’s where the rubber hits the road. Toronto isn’t Barcelona. In Barcelona people crowd into tapas bars after work, they stand three deep at the bar and munch on tapas, quaff a dry sherry or three…. And then move on. Barcelonans aren’t eating dinner at tapas bars.

Are we? Is our eating culture the same as theirs? Does it matter?

It does to me. I just wasn’t sure about dining standing up. Even for Grant.

The room is a spectacular homage to Antoni Gaudí, designed to recall the fanciful grand curlicues of the master of whimsy and joy.

And it does. Go for the Gaudí, if not for the food. The Partisans design team turned van Gameren’s love affair with Barcelona into glorious homage to its master architect. The great swooping curves and cutouts, all executed in lustrous mahogany, make the room swooningly gorgeous — walls, bar and ceiling.

Image: CJ Baek

Van Gameren, of Bar Isabel, has two partners at Raval; they make the bar hop. But the food is his vision: The menu is all finger food, designed to be speared with toothpicks. No cutlery, no chairs, no fuss, no muss. It’s pintxos — small bites either speared on toothpicks or on great bread.

Grant has always adored pickles. His crunchy dills and chile-pickled green beans jazz spears of melt-in-the-mouth sous-vide tuna. Lightly pickled tender white anchovies play nicely with marinated red peppers on bread.

Image: CJ Baek

Small clams which are canned as soon as they’re harvested in Spain are the best thing I’ve ever had from a can. Similarly charming and delightful are small chunks of grilled octopus. Same deal with tender fried sweetbreads for spearing. Less exciting: scallops in uni sauce, the sauce too buttery and soupy for the context; and shrimp and cream on toast, the cream a francophilic mousse from yesteryear.

The regulars say breakfast at Raval is their fave. I can see it. Croissant stuffed with moist salt cod is divine. Grant’s fresh flaky dulce de leche doughnuts are the sexiest carbs in town — especially the one topped with crisped jamon. Pintxos like morcilla sausage topped with a fried quail egg make bacon ’n’ eggs seem antinque. Try it on the terrace, you’ll be several steps closer to heaven.

Daily Planet: Milkweed is the key to saving the monarch butterfly

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10:08 am

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In late summer, monarchs in southern Canada and the U.S. northeast take flight, travelling over 5,000 kilometres to alpine forests in central Mexico.

The monarchs’ journey north is every bit as remarkable as the epic southern migration. Three or four successive generations fly to breeding grounds, lay eggs and perish. The resulting caterpillars transform into butterflies and then take on the next leg of the trip.

Monarchs arriving in Canada in late summer are often fourth- or fifth-generation descendants of the butterflies that flew south.

What may be the monarch's most striking quirk is its caterpillar’s reliance on milkweed as its sole food source, a phenomenon called “monophagy.”

Milkweed plants contain small traces of cardenolides, bitter chemicals monarchs store in their bodies to discourage predators, which associate the butterflies’ distinctive colouration with a bad taste. But relying on a single type of plant for survival is a risky strategy that has put monarchs in grave danger.

In the mid-1990s, the eastern monarch population was more than one billion. In winter 2013, the population had dropped by more than 95 per cent to 35 million, with a modest increase to 56.5 million this past winter. As University of Guelph post-doctoral research fellow Tyler Flockhart notes, a single severe storm could extinguish the monarch population.

Much of the monarch butterfly decline has been pinned on the virtual eradication of its critical food source throughout much of its migration path by profligate use of a glyphosate-based weed killer called Roundup, which corn and soybean crops have been genetically modified to tolerate.

Blanketing fields with the herbicide kills plants like milkweed. As a result, several U.S. Midwest states — the heart of monarch-breeding territory — have lost most of their native milkweed, causing monarch reproductive rates to drop by more than 80 per cent.

A recent study suggests glyphosate is merely the first of a one-two toxic punch from industrial agricultural operations.

The second is neonicotinoids, the controversial nicotine-based insecticides that have been identified as a chief culprit in the decline of honeybees, along with a host of birds, bees and butterflies.

It appears that even at one part per billion these chemicals can affect monarch caterpillar development, delivering a potential knockout blow for the imperilled insects.

The good news is that many jurisdictions are catching up with the science. Ontario’s government has proposed regulations to reduce neonic use by 80 per cent over the next couple of years. I hope this marks the turning of the toxic tide, but time is running out.

What can you do to help? A lot of milkweed must be planted over the next few years.

Planting milkweed in your backyard or balcony garden is a great start. Be sure to call your local garden centre or nursery to ensure they stock native milkweed plants this season, or make a trip to the Native Plants nursery in Pickering.

David Suzuki is the host of the CBC’s The Nature of Things and author of more than 30 books on ecology. (With files from Jode Roberts.)

Jason Collett’s basement revue at the Dakota is a star-packed highlight of Luminato

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10:05 am

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As a festival, Luminato has, in just a few short years, made a big splash in Toronto’s annual arts calendar, bringing in internationally renowned artists and projects like Marina Abramovitch, Philip Glass’ Einstein at the Beach and the Roots. But for all its success, there’s been occasional blowback from the local arts communities at the perceived lack of significant local involvement in the festival, which has benefitted substantially from public funding.

Many in the local arts community grumble that local involvement in the festival seems to be an afterthought after all the big-name international acts are programmed.

When it comes to bringing together those out-of-town artists and local talent, Luminato’s best offering is also its least formal: a special festival edition of Jason Collett and Damien Rogers’ Basement Revue series. Each night special unannounced guests entertain the packed crowd with unusual stage offerings. Past performances at Luminato and Collet’s December Revue have included anything from Margaret Atwood collaborating with country rockers the Sadies to Michael Ondaatje partnering with Feist.

Collett, a lifelong Toronto area resident, is best known for his own music career and as a core member of Broken Social Scene, the sprawling indie rock collective.

His musical career has allowed him to perform alongside other artists in intimate venues across the city and develop connections to an ever-expanding spiderweb of artists. Those connections are what make his Basement Revue series so popular as the show, which is always held at one of Collett’s favourite spots, the Dakota Tavern, is always sold out.

“I drink coffee at the Common, eat and drink wine at Union,” says Collett. “And the annual Basement Revue is every December at the Dakota — I can walk to all those places.”

Collett describes the revue concept thusly: “Our template is an old school revue show where the acts are short: some poetry, some music, then maybe a story, then music with poetry and so on — and a house band, so by the end, it turns into a frivolous dance party.”

Their first edition of the revue for Luminato in 2013 featured, in addition to many Luminato artists, Hydra, a collaborative project between fellow Broken Social Scene-ster Feist, Daniela Gesundheit of Snowblink and Ariel Engle of AroarA. The house band was fierce feminist cover band rockers Vag Halen.

“I’m a big fan of mining the cover band scene in Toronto,” explains Collett, “cover bands of musicians who play in other well-known bands.”

Lately, the success of the original Basement Revue (and the ensuing Luminato editions) has had Collett and Rogers programming versions of the revue outside of the city.

“We just did a festival at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa,” Collett says.

And the concept has evolved as the pair have continued their association with Luminato.

“Like a lot of festivals, they have an after-party for their artists,” Collett explains.

“Most often, those after-parties are related to the top floor of whichever hotel the artists are staying at, and they’re usually stale — I’ve been to many myself,” he says, referring to his extensive worldwide touring experiences with Broken Social Scene.

“Damien Rogers and I, we bring to the party the curating and hosting skills we’ve developed. It’s a salon for the artists, and for the public, you get to see a really interesting variety show.”

The scale of the Luminato version of their revue has also changed since the first one in 2013.

“This year we’re at Pecault Square in a spectacular tent — they’re transforming the grounds,” says Collett.

“We wanted that outdoor feel. It’ll be interesting for our show to be at ground zero for the festival.”

As for the format, that’ll remain the same — with surprise guests every night from the Luminato roster and a wide range of local artists Collett and Rogers are familiar with.

“We augment Luminato talent with local talent. You don’t know who you’ll get, but you know you’ll see different dimensions of artists that come to the festival, another side of them that they may not be known for.… A great thing about having an international festival like this in Toronto is that you get to also mix in and showcase some rich local talent.”

At the end of each night, the locally sourced house band will get the crowd of diverse attendees moving.

“It’s almost like a wedding reception, muses Collett, “which I really love. Weddings are one of the few times as a culture we gather intergenerationally.”

And as with a good wedding, that exceptional house band will run through some standards, with many different guest vocalists.

“We extend the invitation to our guest artists to treat [the house band] like a live karaoke band. They may be here without their regular backing band, so we give them a ready-made one, with a large set list to choose from, so they can jump up onstage and sing.”

Collett has been busy with all this revue programming, but his own music is also proceeding apace, after several years of focusing on other work. (His last full solo album, Reckon, was released in 2012.)

“I’m working on a new record, yeah, after putting it off for a few years now. I’m happy to be in the studio again.”

When asked if he’ll be previewing some of the new material at the Luminato Basement Revue, he seems to pause to consider the idea.

“Yeah, I think I will. I tend not to play much myself at the revue, because I’m so busy wearing my producer hat, but maybe I’ll slide some in, as a way of introducing people.”

As for the artists appearing, when again pressed for some hints as to who might be onstage in the tent, he laughs.

“You have to look at the Luminato brochure and make some educated guesses. That’s part of the fun, the mystery!”

It’s no mystery as to which act at the festival he’s most looking forward to himself, though.

“There’s a lot of great music this year, of course. But I’m most looking forward to David Byrne’s project [Contemporary Colour, featuring Byrne’s frequent collaborator St. Vincent, Nelly Furtado, Tune-Yards and many more]. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”

Restaurant Review: Don’t believe the hype for R&D, it’s not at all masterful

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Andrew Mannsbach

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1:51 pm

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I’m thinking of getting a publicist. Here’s my plan: I’ll hire an internet-savvy PR person to paint the town red with the news of my upcoming concert at Massey Hall (keepin’ it small and personal). My PR person will plaster the (virtual) town with news of my international reputation and musical virtuosity. Everyone will believe it because it’s in the news. They will then flock to my equally well-publicized debut Toronto performance.

It may be a bit of shock to the avid music fans at Massey Hall that I can’t carry a tune to save my life. Maybe some of them won’t even notice — or they’ll think I’m so avant-garde that they just don’t understand.

Isn’t hype interesting? All over town (including in this space) food writers have been extolling the virtues of the culinary team that opened R&D on Spadina in the home of Strada 241. None of the excited writers seem to have actually tasted the food they were hyping; but that’s how hype works: It needs the new new all the time, it chows down on anticipation.

And it has been so effective that it’s tough getting a table at R&D. Which begets more buzz. Who cares about the taste of things?

The lobster chow mein at R&D has nothing to lift it above its cheaper Spadina rivals.

One ought to. It’s so meh I wouldn’t go back if you paid me. The famous Red Star Punch, which comes in a smoking teapot thanks to dry ice and costs $45 for two to four people, is a too-sweet girly cocktail of gin with oolong, hawthorn, mandarin, lemon and rhubarb bitters. Tastes like sweetened gin. The equally hyped lobster chow mein is about as good as any chow mein I’d get for less money on the Avenue. Same deal with spicy Szechuan lamb buns: The wrappers are dry, the innards under-seasoned. Better dim sum exists elsewhere and cheaper on the Avenue. Ceviche of prawns and scallops tastes as if they put the seafood in its acid bath so far in advance that the acid “cooked” the seafood… and it’s bland.

The media heroes who bring us all this finery are Alvin Leung and Eric Chong. Mr. Leung was working as an engineer in Hong Kong when, aged 42, he switched to restaurants. He has a Michelin three star restaurant in Hong Kong and, according to the R&D website, “multiple restaurants to his name.” His partner Mr. Chong, also an engineer, is a TV chef who won MasterChef Canada, apprenticed for Leung in Hong Kong and at Buca in Toronto. Unlike the olden days, cooking on TV and a brief apprenticeship seem to suffice as credentials for opening a restaurant.

Who cares that the General Sanders chicken (a cute play of General Tso’s chicken) is overcooked and its coating is thick and hard? Or that their go-with Hong Kong egg waffles are doing a good job of mimicking the horribly dried-out frozen waffles we serve at camp?

Do the flocking crowds mind that the poutine is weird and uncrisp? That the so-called umami Caesar is bland? The octopus boring? The egg rolls pretty low octane on the flavour chart? The scallops are properly cooked, but we can’t find the promised Szechuan hollandaise anywhere.

Meanwhile, the room is crowded and the people are happy. Which makes me ever more confident about my impending musical debut.

R&D, 241 Spadina Ave., 416-586-1241
$70 dinner for two

Retail Recap: Lit Espresso, Local Public Eatery and Rococoa Chocolates open new locations

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1:13 pm

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Lit Espresso Bar has relocated its second location from College to Bayview, south of Eglinton, after establishing itself as one of Roncesvalles’ hippest neighbourhood retreats. Proudly brewing Pig Iron coffee, owners Nicole and Joe Angellotti have created the perfect atmosphere to sip, chat and chill 1517 Bayview Ave., 416-519-1884.

New to Leaside is Local Public Eatery, the most recent addition and seventh location added to this chain’s roster. With its laid-back venue, this chill spot has the feel of a local pub with the quality of a great neighbourhood restaurant — allowing for a fresh take on all the pub favourites and a weekend brunch menu 180 Laird Dr., 416-696-6226.

The boutique chocolate shop Rococoa Chocolates opened its new location along Yonge Street north of Lawrence on April 27. Owners Daniel and Elliot Feld specialize in gourmet chocolate truffles and other scrumptious confections made with the freshest ingredients 3237 Yonge St., 416-829-9821.

Ron White is celebrating its fifth Toronto location in Leaside. The store’s designer shoes have been worn by various Hollywood A-listers, like Celine Dion, Matt Damon and Kim Cattrall. Being a longtime resident of Leaside, founder Ron White has said he feels a strong connection to the new store 1553 Bayview Ave., 647-347-5550.

Studio D is a welcome addition to the Yonge Street and Briar Hill Avenue neighbourhood, opening its first location on May 2. The new shoe boutique offers European designer brands and Canadian accessories. Owner Derrick Adams also carries designer Ela Handbags 2570 Yonge St., 416-486-7693.

Benefit Cosmetics recently celebrated the opening of its first official Canadian store on May 15. Manager Maxine McLachlan oversees the store’s signature brow shaping, waxing, threading and tanning 2614 Yonge St., 416-440-2769.

Taste Test: Grant van Gameren tastes Toronto’s top bar snacks

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Andrew Mannsbach

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9:48 am

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Joanne Kates recently said bar snacks were taking over T.O.’s resto scene, with hot young chefs offering up unique takes on artisanal nibbles. So we had our resident chef, Grant van Gameren, give them a taste. Whose snack is the most scrumptious? Find out here.

GRANT’S PICK: Fried chicken
Bar Fancy, 1070 Queen St. ., $18
“It smells delicious,” says van Gameren as he picks up the dish. “It’s got a smoky sweet seasoning on the outside, which is really nice. This one is very good.”

Crab cakes
Citizen Restaurant & Bar, 522 King St. W., $22
“It’s actually pretty tasty,” says van Gameren. “You can definitely taste the crab, so that’s always a bonus with crab cakes, and it actually tastes like real crab, too.”

Crispy duck wings
Drake One Fifty, 150 York St., $15
“You don’t see duck a lot in Toronto, and you sure don’t see them as crispy bar snacks, but this one is delicious,” says van Gameren. “It’s still moist. This one is definitely fresh, it’s really nice.”

Korean fried cauliflower
Carbon Bar, 99 Queen St. E., $9
“I love cauliflower,” says van Gameren, before taking his first bite. “This one is really good, and I like that it still tastes like cauliflower.” (He initially suspected it might be a chicken dish.)

Chorizo verde
Bellwoods Brewery, 124 Ossington Ave., $15
“The salsa tastes really good, really good flavours there,” says van Gameren. “Everything about this dish is right up my alley. It’s really nicely done and whoever made this dish is super-talented.”

Shrimp lettuce wraps
Little Sister, 2031 Yonge St., $10
“It’s got a really nice spice to it. I’m getting a nice crispy contrast from the cucumber and crispy shallots, and the shrimp tastes really nice,” says van Gameren.

Sesame ahi tuna
Miller Tavern, 3885 Yonge St., $14.50
“There’s a really nice freshness to this one,” says van Gameren. “It’s got really good ingredients, nice greens and watermelon. Perfect for summer.”

Son in law eggs
Hawker Bar, 164 Ossington Ave., $7
“It tastes good and the flavours are there,” says van Gameren. “The presentation is cute, too. I haven’t seen a banana leaf used on a dish in a while.”

Lunchables
Small Town Food Co., 1263 Queen St. W., $5
“It’s an interesting bar snack. Everything tastes fine here,” says van Gameren. “The salami tastes nice, but I feel like it should be crispy on top of a cheese pizza.”

Chicken curry rolls
Tickled Toad Pub & Grill, 330 Steeles Ave. W., $7.99
“I like the breading they have on top,” says van Gameren. “I’d be super-happy to get this as a snack. It is basically a roti in a deep-fried vessel. It’s supercool.”

Theatre: Talented Torontonian takes the helm in Titanic

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1:27 pm

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World-renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner returns to his vocal stylings this summer as he takes to the stage in the Mirvish musical production of Titanic.

The 58-year-old has taken about a year off from the stage and is now ready to cannonball back onto the scene. Starring in Titanic will be Heppner’s first onstage performance since the spring of 2014.

According to Heppner, he had to take some time off due to “temporary unreliability” in his voice, but it seems he just can’t part ways with his passion for performing.

“I hate the term “retiring.” I prefer to think of it as leaving myself room for something new,” he says, of his alleged retirement. “I don’t think I could ever fully retire.”

Well, something new is certainly what Heppner is in the middle of. Having performed solely opera for the duration of his career, Heppner is playing the lead role of Isidor Strauss in Titanic.

“I just love the story. The love story between Isidor and Ida is just beautiful,” says Heppner.

“I’m very excited to be playing such a strong character.”

Before the famed blockbuster film Titanic hit the big screen in 1997, the story of the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic actually began on Broadway.

The current production has won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and has now acquired the talented Ben Heppner to join this critically acclaimed cast.

According to Heppner, he had met David Mirvish last spring and jokingly mentioned performing a small role in one of his upcoming productions.

“I told David if he ever wanted me to be part of one of his shows or even make a cameo, I would be on board,” says Heppner.

“I didn’t really think he would take me seriously.”

Heppner began his study of music at the University of British Columbia. It was there that he first received national attention after winning the CBC Talent Festival in 1979.

Heppner’s musical gift as an opera singer allowed him to become one of the most prominent and respected tenors in Canadian history. Heppner is no stranger to the studio.

After exclusively signing a contract with Deutsche Grammophon (DG) in 2001, he was awarded a Juno Award for his first solo recording of an album, called Airs Francais.

Heppner’s career has made him an avid traveller as his performances often take him to some of the most prestigious venues for opera. The Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera Covent Garden and Opera National de Paris are all venues at which Heppner has had the opportunity to showcase his operatic talents.

“I just love going to places. But my heart lies with Paris,” says Heppner of his travels.

“It’s the one city I could probably convince my beloved wife to move to with me.”

Despite Heppner’s quickly filling plate, he is still determined to continue hosting both of his CBC Radio shows, Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and Backstage with Ben Heppner.

“I love doing the show. It’s not meant only for those who love opera,” says Heppner, explaining that there’s a bit of everything in the mix with his two radio programs.

Between songs, Heppner likes to educate the audience with random classical music facts about composers or tell stories of his many experiences.

When asked what Heppner hopes for his highly anticipated production of Titanic, he says, “I just want the boat to float!”

The Mirvish production of Titanic runs at the Princess of Wales Theatre until June 21.

Kitchen Confidential: Is Uncle Tetsu’s cheesecake worth the weight?

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Andrew Mannsbach

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9:34 am

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Have you heard of Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese cheesecake? This oh-so-popular dessert from Tetsushi Mizokami, a 67-year-old entrepreneur, has appeared in T.O., and the hype has yet to die down.

Customers will wait for hours for this just-baked six-inch cheesecake, finished with the hot stamp of a caricature of its owner. Pure heaven costs only $8.88. It smells of eggs and sugar and is lighter and less sweet than any cheesecake I’ve ever tasted. There is no crust, and the moist soufflé-type texture comes from folding beaten egg whites into the batter and then baking in a water bath. However, you can’t stock up; there is a one per person rule. And those who just want a piece are out of luck as single slices are a no go. But don’t devour the entire cake — that would amount to almost 80 grams of fat (over 120 per cent of your daily intake and close to 1,200 calories).

Nutrition Facts: Whole six-inch cheesecake from Uncle Tetsu
Serving size: one cake (401.2 g)
Calories 1168
Total Fat 79.6 g
Sodium 648 mg
Carbohydrates 85.2 g
Protein 28 g

ROSE’S HEALTHY TAKE:
You can occasionally afford to down a quarter of the Uncle’s cheesecake, coming in at 292 calories and 20 grams of fat. It’s worthy of the indulgence! But, for a quicker way to get your cheesecake fill at home, try my miniature New York–style cheesecakes for a similar taste and texture.

New York–style mini cheesecakes
Serves 12 • Prep time 10 min • Cooking time 20 min

Ingredients
1 3⁄4 cup smooth light ricotta
1⁄2 cup low-fat cream cheese, softened
1⁄2 cup low-fat sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2⁄3 cup granulated sugar
fresh berries
icing sugar

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper muffin liners.
2. Combine all ingredients — save for the berries and icing sugar — in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Divide the mixture among the prepared muffin cups.
3. Set the muffin tin in a larger pan or on a baking sheet with sides. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come one-third to one-half up the sides of the muffin cups.
4. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the muffin tin from the water bath and cool to room temperature on a rack. Chill one hour.
6. To serve, remove the paper liners and place on individual serving plates. Garnish with berries and a sprinkle of icing sugar.

Nutritional analysis (per serving): Calories 130, Protein 6.2 g, Carbohydrates 17 g, Fibre 0.1 g, Total fat 4.7 g, Saturated fat 2.9 g, Cholesterol 35 mg, Sodium 120 mg

Capitol Theatre block purchased for $19.9 mil, tenants wonder what will come to the site in the next few years

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12:16 pm

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A three-storey strip of Yonge Street at Castlefield Avenue was recently purchased by Madison Homes, a Toronto-based developer known for its high-rise condominium and commercial developments — leaving residents and tenants to wonder what will be coming next.

The site at 2490-2514 Yonge St. and 12 Castlefield Ave. was purchased for $19,938,163 in February from Ronald Buildings Limited, owned by the McClelland family. It consists of stores that stretch from Pinto Gold to the southernmost Kailyana store and includes the Capitol Event Theatre (formerly known as the Capitol Theatre and now leased by a separate owner).

Although part of the property at 12 Castlefield Ave. is zoned by the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA), Terry Mills, planning consultant for Arris Strategy Studio pointed to the high-rise condo at 30 Roehampton Ave. as an example of how a developer can negotiate with the TPA to incorporate parking into a development.

“[The TPA] had a surface parking lot there, and they were quite happy to negotiate with Minto to have it put in a floor below ground,” he said.

As for the potential height of a future project, Mills mentioned that zoning only allows for 16 metres along Yonge Street but noted that developers don’t always abide by those rules.

The Capitol Theatre at 2492 Yonge St. has been in the McClelland family since it first opened in 1918, featuring vaudeville shows and silent films. Most of the property’s current tenants arrived in the last 12 years, when president of Ronald Buildings Limited Ian McClelland and his brother were running things. The block was run by their stepfather before that and grandfather before that. Ian McClelland would not say why the family had decided to part with the property but noted that it was due to a “family matter.”

A representative from the purchaser, Madison Homes, implied “something” was coming but could not share what that might be. Tenants of the building are anticipating a change, and both McClelland and his brother have renewable contracts to look after the property until January of 2016.

“They wouldn’t have bought it if they couldn’t do something with it,” said Penny Bedford of Stychin Tyme, one of the tenants of the strip. Bedford also said that “word on the street” was that the developer was contemplating putting up condos, but she acknowledged that it was all just hearsay at this point.

When asked if he’d like to see the Capitol Theatre building remain standing, McClelland replied, “You can have your fanciful dreams, I guess, but these things happen in business.”

“They were out doing surveys the other week,” said McClelland. “They’ve got to develop some sort of a plan for the property, and then it has to go to council and be reviewed. These things take two to five years to jell.”

Where are they now: Scarborough native Stephanie Beard from YTV’s The Zone show

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12:27 pm

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For a long time, Scarborough’s Stephanie Beard, otherwise known as Sugar, was one of the most recognizable people in children’s television, thanks in part to her almost unbelievably high squeaky voice.

In addition to voicing Rini on Sailor Moon, she was one of the hosts of YTV’s The Zone from 2001 to 2007 along with a fella by the name of Carlos Bustamante.

Where do you take your career after becoming such a recognizable part of kids’ TV in Canada? Why, Hollywood of course.

Since leaving YTV, Beard, who now goes by Sugar Lyn Beard, has slowly but steadily been stringing together some fairly impressive projects south of the border. And it looks like things are going to get even hotter for the pint-sized thespian.

Beard is just wrapping production on Aloha, a new blockbuster Cameron Crowe film that stars Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper and Rachel McAdams.

The movie, which opens May 29, is about a former military contractor who returns to Hawaii, the site of his greatest triumphs as part of the U.S. space program.

In addition, she is currently filming Sausage Party. Now, before rolling your eyes, this is the latest project from Seth Rogen and James Franco. In the raunchy animated movie, Beard plays a character named Baby Carrot. It’s slated for release in June 2016.

OK, maybe roll your eyes a bit.

Poker’s $25-million man Daniel Negreanu ready to battle the world’s best this month

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You know you’re doing something right when you lose and still take home $8.3 million. That’s the enviable situation Toronto-born poker star Daniel Negreanu found himself in last July after being bested by 23-year-old Daniel Colman at a big-stakes event in the World Series of Poker.

That day, Colman won $15.3 million — an enormous sum even for the world of high-rolling poker — at an event where just getting a seat at the table cost $1 million.

By any measure those are mind-blowing figures. For those of us who are used to more modest paydays, it’s almost impossible to conceive how it would feel to stake life-altering amounts of money on a handful of playing cards.

But to hear Negreanu talk about poker, you’d think he was on about a game among buddies over some beers. The pressure, he says, just doesn’t get to him.

“Even when I had no money, it was never about the money for me,” he says. “I always had confidence as a teenager that I would be wealthy, so the minor setbacks never fazed me.”

Frequently sporting a baseball cap, usually with a scruffy-ish beard, there’s an everyman style to Negreanu that has endeared him to the game’s millions of fans. In his 20 years in the business, he has become one of the game’s most recognizable faces. In large part because of his performance at the table, ranking number one on the all-time cash list with $30 million in winnings. But it’s also because there’s an openness to the man known as Kid Poker that has made him so popular with fans.

He tweets incessantly, blogs regularly, appears on TV (even in some unlikely places, like a cameo on CBC’s Mr. D) and last month made his debut on online poker streaming service Twitch, where he has over 300,000 views on his channel.

That openness may seem unusual for a man who makes his living in a game famously based on giving away as little as possible, but Negreanu believes that there’s an innate skill to great poker players that can’t be learned anyway.

“Anyone can become a decent player,” he says, pointing out that it’s easier than ever to learn the fundamentals of the game and to practise risk-free online. “But there are key areas that just need to be there. Emotional intelligence, or self-awareness, is the number one most valuable trait a poker player can possess. If you can be aware of how you come off to others and how they perceive you, they can no longer beat you.”

That awareness of self is among the reasons Negreanu does yoga and meditates. Mindfulness techniques are becoming increasingly popular among high-stakes poker players as ways to not only put losses into perspective, but also help keep calm during high-pressure situations like when they’re bluffing. Negreanu takes meditation so seriously that he even teaches courses on it.

With this year’s World Series of Poker getting underway at the end of this month in Las Vegas, where he now lives, getting in the right head space will be Negreanu’s key focus in the coming weeks.

“There is only one player I focus on before WSOP: myself,” he says. “I know when I play my game and trust in the strategies I’ve developed over the last 20 years that I’ll be successful.”

“At this point in my career, I don’t focus much energy on learning how to play better, instead I focus on how to improve my mental state and preparation.”

These days, Negreanu has the luxury of picking and choosing his tournaments, tending to focus on the two months of the WSOP.

When he was cutting his teeth, however, things were different. Having started playing poker in his friends’ basements as a teen in Toronto, Negreanu moved up to charity tournaments. Never a particularly diligent student, he dropped out of high school and concentrated on the game, eventually deciding to try making it as a pro around the age of 22.

“I woke up one morning and just thought to myself, ‘Well, I guess this is what you do for a living,’ then I made the move to Las Vegas, and it’s all worked out amazingly well.”

Although he advises young players to be more cautious than he was.

“I would warn them of playing outside of their bankroll. That’s what I always did. If my bankroll was only big enough to play $20 to $40 limits, I would be seated at a $100 to $200 table,” he says.

Away from the poker tables, Negreanu spends a lot of his time on the golf course. It’s one of his great passions. Gambling on the game, he says, is the only area in his life he’ll take a big risk; otherwise, he says he’s quite calculated in what he does in both life and poker.

Though he makes it back to Toronto regularly — recently to see the Raptors play, and lose, a game in the playoffs — there is one area that really makes him miss home. If there’s one thing Las Vegas is not, it’s a sporting town, which means there’s no hockey.

Like any good Canuck, Negreanu is a big fan of the game, and so he has recently been making moves to drag Sin City out of the hockey wilderness. With the NHL’s Western Conference having two teams fewer than its Eastern, Negreanu is promoting the idea of bringing an NHL team to Las Vegas.

“I am personally quite excited about the prospects of an NHL team in Las Vegas, and I believe strongly that not only will we get a team, but that hockey will work in this sports starved city,” he wrote on his blog, Full Contact Poker.

Negreanu is working hard to realize the dream, promoting the idea and reportedly having met with others interested in bringing a team to the city. Whether he will succeed or not is a moot point, but in his passion for bringing a team to Vegas, it’s clear Negreanu isn’t bluffing.