rik maclean has been making chilled electronic ambient music as mara’s torment for over ten years now and has independently released over twenty CDs during that time. He likes to eat out and he hates to write about himself in the third person.

You’ve got $10 to buy lunch - where do you go?

Mmmmm, I live near Church and Wellesley so my first choice would be Ethiopian House (4 Irwin Avenue). Their vegetarian lunch special is only $6.99 and I get enough injarra and other delights to keep me satisfied until dinner. Second choice would be the Garage Sandwich Company in the back of Pusateri’s Fruit Market (497 Church Street). Great sandwiches at great prices, all made to order before your very eyes. I’m quite fond of a toasted rye bread with hummus, sauerkraut, pickles and red roasted pepper, but that’s just me. Of course if I’m feeling like something a little sweeter instead, then I can’t resist a visit to Crepe It Up (507 Church Street). I’m very fond of the Paris crepe, a lovely mix of hazelnut, chocolate and banana for only $3.95. I’ll often follow it up with a home-made Toblerone chip cookie for only $.75, ’cause, y’know, hello, Toblerone Chip Cookie!!!

The budget’s unlimited, someone else is paying and the choice is yours - where do you pick for dinner?

Is the space in my tummy unlimited too? If it is, I’d say that starting at Vegetarian Haven (17 Baldwin Street) would be a good choice. They specialize in vegan cuisine and they offer a really wide range of options using tempeh and seitan (the tofu-ham is particularly notable, as are the veggie wings). Most impressive about Vegetarian Haven though is their selection of desserts. I know we’re going to be eating a little more afterwards, so let’s get a slice of either the vegan chocolate fudge cake or the vegan Black Forest cake to go that we can eat when we get home. After that we can walk over to Biryani House (25 Wellesley Street East) for Indian food. They have a really nice menu of beautifully presented meals, all very tasty and richly flavoured. I’m a big fan of saag paneer and they do a lovely job of it. They also have really nice samosas that just melt in my mouth in that perfect spicy slightly burn-y type way.

Once we’d finished there I’d probably suggest that we go for some Thai food, so best bet would be to go around the corner to Just Thai (534 Church Street) where I’m crazy for their Mango Tofu. I always order it with a side of Pad Thai and a plate of spring rolls. Mmmmm, I’m drooling just thinking about it! I’m also very fond of the Lychee Lemongrass Tofu, which is a very refreshing summer dish, a little lighter in taste than the Mango dish. Light eating is important in the summer, ’cause I like to eat ice cream and there’s a very conveniently located Baskin Robbins right next door. You should understand that this isn’t just a Baskin Robbins though, it’s more of a social centre where locals congregate and shoot the breeze with owner Sam. Think of it as Cheers but with ice cream instead of beer. Sam knows everybody in the neighbourhood, he’s like the Al Waxman of Church and Wellesley. After a double scoop of Chocolate Mouse Royale and Raspberry Cheese Louise I’d probably call it quits. Oh wait, we’ve still got that vegan cake to go, don’t we? Grab a fork, let’s get to it!

Tell us some of the food shops you frequent when buying groceries to cook for yourself.

Wherever possible I try to buy things from smaller stores like Pusateri’s mentioned above. They have lovely fresh produce and I like to support the stores in the neighbourhood. We also buy things in bulk at Noah’s Natural Foods (667 Yonge Street) and we’ve been known to drop by St. Lawrence Market (92 Front Street East) on occasion. My experience is that I can get anything there, and I’m trying to buy locally these days for environmental reasons, so it works nicely. I’d like to check out some of the other local markets around town, I’m told that there’s one every day in the downtown core, so I shall report back to you with my discoveries.

When ordering in for a quiet night at home, what’s your favourite place for take-out or delivery?

Garlic Pepper (578 Yonge Street) is always my first choice for take out, they do the most divine honey garlic tofu dish. It’s cubed tofu chunks served piping hot in the thickest tastiest sauce you can imagine. You get a huge serving so my girlfriend and I are quite comfortable sharing an order of that. I’m also fond of their snow peas with three mushroom dish but I’m afraid that I’m not nearly the fungal specialist needed to identify what the three types of mushroom are. If we’re feeling particularly hungry we’ll also order the eggplant in black bean sauce. Very very nice.

Oh, no, relatives are coming to Toronto from out of town - where do you take them?

Uh, er, quick, everybody head over to C’est What? (67 Front Street East)!
They have a nice menu of pub style favourites with a nice gourmet twist and their beer selection is quite good. The atmosphere is great too, lots of dim lights and wood so it’s quite inviting. A nice place to take the folks.

Your favourite place to grab a couple of drinks and hang out where everybody knows your name?

Without question, Volo Cafe (587 Yonge Street) is my favourite restaurant in the city and has been for years. Right on the corner of Yonge and Dundonald, Volo is well known as having one of the best beer selections in Toronto, but I’ve always gone for their great selection of pizzas and pastas. The Melanzana pizza with tomatoes, eggplant, red peppers, and goat cheese makes me salivate just thinking about it, and you can’t go wrong with either the Putanesca and the Verdura. I’ve watched the world go by from their patio on countless occasions and though I can’t vouch for anybody knowing my name there, I can certainly vouch for it’s being my favourite place to get a meal.

What’s coming up?

I’m playing a show with my good friend Akumu at The Drake on Tuesday, July 31st (set time 8:15pm) as part of the AMBiENT PiNG series. The show coincides with the release of a new compilation I’m putting out called mt96061 that features music from the last ten years worth of releases along with a bunch of new stuff I’ve been working on. My friend Sarah Grant will be doing video for the show so I’m looking forward to see what she comes up with for that. After the show I’m working on new material and hope to have a formal new release ready for the fall. You can visit my website to keep up to date with anything else that comes up.

Photo – Scott McKenzie