Blogs HICKS ON SIX

Graham Hicks’ review of Penny Plain, from the Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes playing at the Citadel Theatre through October 9, 2011.

I have to admit I was let down with Ronnie Burkett’s first Citadel appearance, the world premiere of his Billy Twinkle: Requiem for a Golden Boy.

The astounding puppeteer/playwright/designer/performer went autobiographical on us.

I’d been telling anybody who’d listen of puppeteer Burkett’s quite profound pessimistic world-view that manifested itself in unique bleak, but comedic plays. Since the ’80s, Burkett would make Theatre Network his Edmonton stop for his one-man mega puppet shows, the Cirque du Soleil of the puppet world.

But Billy Twinkle was a lightweight life-story romp in the park that may have left much of the quite sophisticated Citadel theatre audience wondering what all the fuss was about.

Well Burkett is back to what he does best, portraying an apocalypic world where humanity is down to survival of the fittest. Pestilence and fear and hunger stalks the formerly nice, safe, once-comfortable world.

Everywhere, that is, except in Penny Plain’s boarding house, where civility and manners and decency still rules. At least at the beginning of the show, for what transpires, with so many moments of sharp humour, is the steady invasion of the “real” world into Penny’s world … until by the end, all is lost.

The best of Burkett, and Penny Plain will is definitely be at the top of the canon, is layered with meaning and symbolism. So much so that different aspects of his show reveal themselves to the viewer after the fact.
What appears to be mad-cap and practically stream of consciousness is actually extremely well crafted.

The inhabitants of Penny Plain’s boarding house all have some representation. And the invadees, the people – puppets – who barge in from an increasingly hostile outside world all have dramatic function.

Dogs are human, with all too human traits. The “lead” dog becomes a terrifying metaphor for what mankind could be capable of. An old woman with a scatalogical obsession is civilization’s decay personified. You wonder why Burkett has a woman character hanging around the fringe, begging to boarder Geppetto (Pinocchio’s dad) to make her a baby that can come to life and she can love. Geppetto obliges, but not quite the way she expects.

Burkett’s shows are often without hope. But here’s the contradiction. For the audience does not leave the theatre in despair because there has been so much intense humanity of the better sort in so many other aspects of Burkett’s Theatre of Marionettes.

If you’ve not seen a Burkett show, simply the technical aspects of what’s happening on the Citadel’s Maclab Stage is worth the admission.

Suffice it to say you forget, within minutes, that these are puppets, that the entire world on the mini-stage is coming from the mind of the man on the “catwalk” above, that Burkett is doing all the movements, all the voices. It’s actually fun, from time to time, to steal a look “upstairs” and watch Burkett’s facial acting. He “becomes” each character no matter how rapid-fire the dialogue.

It’s a beautiful – in a manner of speaking – show.

If you enjoy theatre and you’ve not seen a Ronnie Burkett show, go. You’ll have done your theatre-going experience one great big favour.

I’ve been asked many times since I retired from the Edmonton Sun at the end of 2010 how “retirement” is going.
So here’s a report.
To begin with, it was a great run and I loved my 30 years at the Edmonton Sun, 20 of them as the Hicks on Six daily columnist.
But during those 20 years, the column pretty well owned my soul.
I ate, breathed and slept Hicks on Six. I was out four to six nights a week, because “conversational journalism” was where I got the stories. Maria did at least 90% of the parenting of our three daughters.
There is a great sense of liberation, of not having to “be” Hicks on Six any more. I can converse without worrying about who else is in the room that I ought to talk to before they leave.
I made the right decision. It was a great run, but, on turning 60, it was time. I don’t miss the column, don’t miss the deadlines, don’t miss the lifestyle. At the same time, I’ve been lucky enough to continue an association with The Sun, still blogging from time to time, and doing weekly restaurant reviews. The Weekly Dish appears on Wednesdays.
What I’ve been up to:
… going for nice long walks, catching up with my dear patient wife Maria, finally giving our relationship the time it richly deserves.
… Working two days a week as communications and corporate sponsorship advisor at TEC Edmonton, a very dynamic social enterprise doing a superb job helping budding entrepreneurs create new knowledge-based companies in Edmonton.
… Having more time to spend with enduring friends: beers with friends David + Ruth Norwood; Sports and sports bars with Pete Koziol and his posse; Harmeet Kapur at New Asian Village; slurping pho soup with Giuseppe Albi; coffee with our friend Elexis Schloss; being entertained by my bro-in-law Rino Yatco on poker nights; Heading to Vancouver to hang with my buddy Sam Yehia from time to time, as I’m doing now; Heading to Calgary to enjoy my godson Jonathan McLean’s band.
… going out with Maria to events that aren’t about work but about interests.
… Cooking on Sunday afternoons for our weekly family & friends Sunday evening dinners.
… Working on my computer, social media, communication and business skills, and learning all I can about Alberta’s energy sector in preparation for the formal launch of Hicks Communications in early 2012. Taking time to determine my best and most satisfying fit when I return to the work force … four days a week!
… Working out three times a week, trying to run two to three times a week.
… Working on my golf game, so I can consistently beat my bro-in-law Ay Ay Jimenez.
… Expanding my garden, keeping up with the yardwork.
…Thoroughly enjoying every moment of having our three daughters Liza, Salina and Cynthia all at home (off and on) this summer, before Liza leaves for fourth year at Ryerson University in Toronto. Thoroughly enjoying watching the growth of all three into remarkable, graceful and caring young adults.
… Serving on the board of the River Valley Alliance.
… Still involved with the Sun Christmas Charity Auction as honourary chair.
… Working with Catholic Social Services Sign of Hope campaign.
… Worrying that the less-than-lucky teens won’t get Christmas presents, so we gotta keep Adopt-A-Teen the Christmas gift program for under-privileged teens, alive and thriving.
…. Back-packing in the Rockies with bro-in-law Ferdie.
… Canoe trips with my outdoor buddy Ron Hiebert.
It’s all been great fun. And Maria sure likes having somebody around the house to share the day-to-day chores!

This ‘n’ That from Edmonton’s food world.

* Fantasia Gelateria: The Fantasia Gelateria, on the very open main floor of Enterprise Square (the original Bay Building at 103 St. and Jasper) really ought to have a storefront window.

Its display of just 24 of the 75 different gelatos (Italian-style ice cream) the company actually makes on site. Since 1999, James Fiorillo has made Fantasia gelato using bases and flavourings from Italy, lemons from Sicily and milk and sugar locally.

Fantasia gelato is found, outside of the gelateria, at the Italian Centre shops and the Sunterra Market in Lendum.

Finally, James (Giacomo, but he was actually named, in Italy he says, as James) will be spreading the world. The Fantasia Gelateria will be one of the featured restaurants in the Taste of Edmonton’s new Taste of Dessert section, inside the Art Gallery of Alberta.

Meanwhile drop by Enterprise Square for some of the best gelato, and one of the best-kept secrets, in town. Great coffee and pizza too.

*Foodies (dare I use the word, see previous blog posting) fondly remember Flora Corazza from Pan e Vino in St. Albert, Via Vai in the west end, and Boulevard in Scotia Place. Flora’s on a break from the demanding business of running a restaurant, working as the supervisor of the excellent deli at the downtown Save-On, and running a home-catering business on the side. Another restaurant? “Never say never,” she chuckles.

*I wouldn’t be the least suprised if Sutton Place Hotel is soon home to the first Chop Steakhouse in the downtown. The new owners of Sutton Place also own the Chop Steakhouse restaurant chain, plus the Sandman Hotels, a good chunk of the Moxie’s and many other hotel/restaurant brands. Chop would be a natural fit and would offer a third steakhouse downtown, after Lux and Ruth Chris.

After I retired as the full-time Page Six columnist in the Edmonton Sun at the end of 2010, publisher John Caputo asked if I’d like to take on a new column, a once-a-week restaurant review called the Weekly Dish.

Which I was happy to do, food having always been an interest, and having the utmost of respect for inspired chefs who, I’ve always thought, are much closer to artistry than to tradespeople.

In the three months I’ve done this, I’ve had three different confrontations, the likes of which I would never have expected. And I must add this is just three people, compared to dozens who have mentioned they enjoy the Weekly Dish, follow its recommendations and generally have not been the least disappointed.

But to these three, from their point of view, I am not fit to be a restaurant reviewer.

I don’t know enough about food. I ought to be world-savvy, to have dined in top restaurants around the world to know what the best is all about, in order to encourage Edmonton restaurants – which to their minds are very backward and unsophisticated – to be world class.

They were aghast that I called, that the chef at Zinc called, his risotto made from orzo past “risotto” not “orzo risotto” because a true foodie knows that all risotto must be made from certain kinds of rice.

And how dare I say cream was used in the risotto, because any good foodie knows cream isn’t an ingredient of risotto. Far be it for me to be somewhat puzzled, as I never said there was cream in the risotto, but that it had a delicious creamy-like texture! Far as I’m aware, there’s many ways to create a creamy texture without using cream!

And how dare I say a restaurant’s truly delicious steak tartare was spoiled, because the way it was presented, it looked like cat food. Here we are, they say, trying to raise the level of Edmonton dining to enjoy a steak tartare, and you spoil it all by saying it looked like a tin of cat food!

That the chef might have looked at his presentation, and said, yes, it does look a little cat-food like and perhaps the presentation could be changed … didn’t seem to occur to these folks.

So here’s the skinny. I’m not a world-class food expert. I’m a guy who’s lived in Edmonton for 33 years, thoroughly enjoys everything this city has to offer, will never get to all the plays I want to see, hockey games I want to watch, and restaurants I’d like to try.

I’m not a sophisticate, but I’m well-rounded enough to articulate why I like something, and in tune enough with those who read my writing, I hope, that they would generally agree, or at least acknowledge the argument.

In fact, I don’t care about world-class! I care about what’s excellent and good here in Edmonton! In fact, I can’t stand it when people start putting down Edmonton by saying it’s “backward” or “uncultured” and how they just can’t wait to get to New York City for some culture.

My standards for what’s good and bad in the restaurant world are bounded, in general, by comparisons to other Edmonton restaurants and meals I have eaten outside of restaurants in this city.

I think that’s what 99.9% of Edmontonians are all about.

And if .1% want to wring their hands in anger over using “creamy”, I’m not going to loose any sleep about it.

(My Weekly Dish column from the Edmonton Sun published on Wed. May 25, 2011, about the 22-restaurant Bridge District on 109 Street at the south end of the High Level Bridge)

On 109 Street, from Whyte Avenue (82nd Avenue) to the High Level Bridge (88th Avenue), are now 22 restaurant, bars and coffee houses.

Walk up the west side of 109th Street from Whyte to the High Level Bridge: You pass Original Joe’s, Happy Joe’s Pizza, La Tienda Cigars & Coffee, Bubble Zone Tea House, the Garneau Pub, Plato’s Steak & Pizza, The Upper Crust Café, Transcend Coffee, Whimsical Cake Studio , La Poutine, Kabuki Sushi & Grill, Da Capo, Sugarbowl and Highlevel Diner.

Cross the street and head south. The Urban Diner stares at the Garneau Theatre, then an ugly strip mall where the food – Kyoto Japanese Cuisine, Domino’s Pizza and Phobulus Vietnamese – transcends the location. Then The Remedy Café, Bad Ass Jack’s, and, if you must, KFC and McDonald’s.

There are those who fret about too many restaurants. The heritage Highlevel Diner appealed the zoning for the new La Poutine on that very point, and fortunately lost.

Fortunately, because La Poutine’s take-out/eat-in 15 variations on French-Canadian poutine (hand-cut fries and cheese curds, doused in beef gravy) doesn’t steal customers from other outlets, but adds to the total pedestrian traffic crucial to a dining district. There’s line-ups most evenings at La Poutine.

The Bridge District, as Tomato Magazine Editor Mary Bailey so aptly named the area, has now taken off. The tipping point occurred when the re-developed Garneau Theatre retail spots were all leased by eateries – The Whimsical Cake Studio, La Poutine, Kabuki, and, in the old Pharo’s Pizza corner, the indie coffee house Transcend.

There’s something for every possible taste. The Bridge District has become a mini-Old Strathcona food fair.

Hungry? Just park on 109 Street north of Whyte (there’s always a space) and start walking.

One couldn’t eat at 22 restaurants in one week without facing obesity. Maria and I sampled a few Bridge District outlets during the week (La Poutine, Kabouki), then, on last Friday’s first summer evening, took a grazing tour with stops at Urban Diner, Sugarbowl and Kabuki. Of the others, Da Capo is already a favourite. When in need of a cupcake fix, my daughters head to the Whimsical Cake Studio. The 25-year Upper Crust and the 28-year-old Highlevel Diner have heritage status.

Biggest surprise: The Sugarbowl, just west of the Highlevel Diner on 88th Avenue. It’s busy, bustling, indoor-outdoor ambiance, superb food at ridiculously low prices and over 100 bottled beers. Outside, under the avenue’s lovely trees, folks gather while waiting for tables or for the addicts to take a nicotine fix. The Sugarbowl renaissance began when chef Nate Box (who now owns the Elm Café) took a burger ‘n’ beer menu from the mundane to the sublime. Chef Brayden Kozak carries on the gastro-pub tradition. A red curry coconut seafood laksa – shellfish and veggies over linguini in a Thai curry – was the best I’ve tasted, for $12! Warning, it can get loud.

The tried and true: The Highlevel Diner is known for “healthy” food. The Upper Crust forever reminds me of an English tea house – though its menu is deli and desserts.

Will the family-friendly, back-to-basics ‘60s menu at the second Urban Diner, in the old Fiori space, be a hit?

Specialty: La Poutine, Da Capo Caffe for modern Italian atmosphere, gelato, coffee, wines, beers, salads and thin-crust pizzas, Whimsical Cake Studio for those cupcakes.

We are witnessing the birth of a destination neighbourhood. Please, bore me not with whines of Deadmonton. This city is vibrating with new life.

P.S. Art of Conversation LVII happens in another lively district, that of our Francophone 91st Street north of Whyte, in Bistro La Persaud on Thursday, May 26, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.