Saturday, April 30, 2011

The Toronto experience

Apologies again for how long this has taken to post.  The Canadian tour has come and gone and it was an amazing time.  We are in Europe now but I still want to cover the biggest city in Canada.  Toronto, as most major cities do, have plenty of options when it comes to Vegan dining.  I'll start with a place that opened up just a few months ago called Hot Beans in the Kensington market neighborhood.  I got two tacos.  One with the TVP strips and one with jackfruit.  I liked the jackfruit idea as its this fruit they marinate that has a very meaty or faux meat type of texture.  I had a side of rice and beans which I got smothered with their nacho 'cheese' and guacamole.  Certainly will be going back here next time I'm in town.
Hot Beans!

One of my favourite places to go for breakfast in Toronto is Sadie's Diner.  It is not fully vegan but there are many things that can be done vegan there.  I always get vegan Heuvos Rancheros as I tend to be a creature of habit with my favourite breakfast spots.  They also make a lot of different fresh juices in house which is always a great addition to any breakfast.

Huevos Rancheros with Beet juice at Sadies Diner
I wanted to try a few of the raw vegan restaurants that Toronto has to offer so right before the show at the Mod club I took the 40 minutes walk by myself up the the Live Organic Food Bar.  I got the Raw combo which is a great if you want to try it all.   It comes with beet ravioli, falafel, pizza and a spring roll as well as a side salad.  My experience with raw dining thus far has been amazing.  If you are not too familiar with it I think most people usually thing it will be pretty bland but this is not the case.  Raw vegans are generally very passionate about there food and there's no doubt they are here.  It was amazing and I'd go back in a heartbeat. So good but prepare to dig deep cause it is not cheap.

Raw combo at Live Organic Food bar
Cruda cafe is another raw place but it's more of a quick takeaway type of 'fastfood place'.  I've been here several times and it and have never been disappointed.  It is located in the basement of the St. Lawrence Market.  
Enchilada wrap at Cruda
Fressen is another higher end vegan restaurant.  It is centrally located on Queen Street.  It's another place where you have to be prepared to spend a little more which while on tour it's what you want to make a habit of but at the same time it is totally worth it.  The food is amazing here and you know you are getting what you pay for.


Another raw place that I checked out was Rawlicious.  I got the nori rolls and pizza. The nori rolls basically tasted like a salad wrapped in seaweed which didn't do too much for me but the pizza was amazing.  One of my favourite things about raw food is I find I don't overeat as much and not for lack of enjoying the food.  It seems when I'm eating pasta or other cooked food I can very easily gorge myself.  I think when my heavy touring days are over I'm going to transition to raw veganism as I'm convinced this is the healthy way to go.  I don't find it hard being vegan on the road but definitely take my hat off to those that can pull off raw veganism while traveling extensively.

Raw Pizza at Rawlicious


Nori rolls
All in all Toronto has so much to offer and I have many more places to check out next time I get back.  It also seems like there is always a new place or two to check out every time I come back which is exciting.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Life on the road...

Sometimes are busier than others, sometimes it's hard to find reliable internet on the road that doesn't frustrate you to tears but if it seems like I've fallen off the wagon I haven't.  Just been somewhat affected by the aforementioned.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Kingston and Ottawa

Downtown Kingston, Ontario, Canada

The Mini Canadian tour we are on right now kicked off in Kingston.  Having never had the opportunity to play there before we were stoked to finally get something booked there.  It was a really nice town to walk around in as I had some time to check out the area that we were playing in.  As it was a smaller city there were no straight up vegan or vegetarian restaurants but I was able to find one called The Sleepless Goat which is a workers collective that was definitely in the know and were ready to accomodate the vegan and vegetarian diet.
The Sleepless Goat
I had the Sleepless Shepherd's Pie which was their vegan version of the pub classic which was made of lentils, barley, brown basmati rice, and mushrooms topped off with mashed potatoes and wild mushroom gravy that comes with a side salad.  Certainly did not disappoint and I would go there again in a heartbeat.

Sleepless Shepherd's Pie
After the Kingston show was Toronto but since Toronto was a home base for us for a few days on the tour I will just do one full Toronto Blog rather than several small ones.  Ottawa was up after this and we were excited to play a venue that we hadn't played there before.  Mavericks was the perfect size for us and the show was one of my favs this tour for sure.  I took a walk around the city for a bit and stopped by the Parliment buildings to take a few pics.  
It is election season in Canada now as Canadians will be going back to the polls in may to elect there MPs and new Prime Minister.  I do follow politics to some degree and am somewhat disappointed that I will be out of the country during our elections as we have a tour booked in Europe during that time.  My job when I'm home is to find a way to cast my ballot before I leave the country.  I don't want to get into heavy politics on this blog but do want to say that I'm putting myself behind Elizabeth May and the Green Party of Canada as they represent what I feel is the best direction for our country of the 5 main parties vying for our vote.

Elizabeth May and I when I got a chance to meet and talk with her at the University of Manitoba in October 2009
This is where I hope the people of the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding will put Elizabeth May
As for food I ended up going to Freshii before the show which is a quick healthy place to grab food when you're in a bit of a rush.  The next morning before we left for Montreal we stopped at a Vegetarian buffet called The Table was a 'pay by weight' buffet(so you have to be careful if you're hungry) that had a great selection of vegan items as well as food that would satisfy the ovo-lacto vegetarian as well.  I was in a salad mood so I stayed heavy on the greens that morning.
There is more but this was part of the buffet at The Table in Ottawa
Still mid-tour and I'm finding it hard to blog while on the road but please be patient with me.  There is much more to come.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Earthlings

Just thought I'd share this with those that have not come by this before.  Very powerful documentary! Here's the trailer...
...or the full length feature film, Earthings