Pink Diamond Fundraising Gala Luncheon

I interviewed Alicia Vianga, owner of Premier Jour Lingerie, 4 years ago, and I had no idea that we would have developed such a deep connection.  I was pretty much drawn to her warmth, positivity and upbeat nature.  So much so, that we’ve stayed in contact years after the interview. 

Not just a successful business owner, Alicia is a passionate philanthropist and happily lives by the pay it forward philosophy.  She does this by devoting her time to helping others.   A few years ago Alicia started the Bras for Congo program where she collected over 1000 bras for physically abused women in the Congo. 

Her latest cause is her work with breast cancer survivors. She founded the charity After Breast Cancer (ABC), which provides women who have limited financial resources after breast cancer, with a bra and prosthesis. A bra and prosthesis are not only important for basic health of a cancer survivor; they also allow women to regain their self esteem and confidence.

To kick off breast cancer awareness month, Alicia will be throwing the Pink Diamond Fundraising Gala Luncheon on Sunday, September 29, 2013.  Attendees will also be treated to a cocktail reception, three course meal, silent auction and a chance to win a trip on Porter Airlines. Guests will enjoy performances by pianist Peter Nun, singer Angelica Di Castro and Olympic gymnast Mary Sanders. Breast cancer survivors will strut down the runway in the latest Brian Bailey Fashions.

If you are interested in attending this very important event, please click here for more information or call 416-560-3835. You can also visit the website at www.afterbreastcancer.ca or send an email to abcprogram1@hotmail.com.

 

Michelle

 

My interview with Dalton Higgins

One of the perks of being a writer/ blogger is that I am able to write about whatever and whomever I want. I am definitely in my interview phase of my career right now and I am trying to meet as many people as possible. There are a lot of individuals that fascinate me, and I plan on meeting them all. I have created a lengthy list and I am gleefully working my way down it and joyously scratching off the names of the people that I've interviewed. Yep, I’m gettin’ my Oprah on. Lol!

One of the people that I have admired for the longest time and tracked the career of is Dalton Higgins. Dalton is an outrageously talented writer. He holds the auspicious title of being Canada's sole expert on hip hop culture.  He’s written for Now Magazine for 10 years, and he has freelanced for Source Magazine—widely considered to be the hip hop bible. He is an educator, speaker, father, husband and an incredibly talkative dude.

Dalton has 5 books under his belt. The latest one called "Far From Over:The Music and Life of Drake, The Unofficial Story. “  Some might think that I reached out to Dalton because I wanted to get one step closer to meeting my boo Drake.....but they'd be wrong. It’s Dalton I wanted to meet.   I've been in awe of Dalton for so long, it was an absolute pleasure getting to know him and talking about everything from old school roller-skating jams, Chris Rock’s Good Hair movie to Spike Lee.

So without further ado, meet Dalton Higgins.

When did your love for the written word begin?

I grew up in a very Caribbean household….my parents are from Jamaica.   My mother has a voracious appetite for literature and reading.  Growing up in the Higgins household, there were magazines and newspapers everywhere.  Lots of Caribbean literature—everything from Miss Lou (she popularized nation language- patois).  I also collected comic books when I was younger. I was into X Men, Spiderman, Iron Man, Green Lantern.  I had a very large collection of comic books.

When did you start writing?

When I was at York University, I volunteered at Excalibur—the York newspaper.  It was a great opportunity….it was like a free education.  At Excalibur it was hands on training. So I was reporting, editing, snapping pics. I would go and check out the York Lions (the basketball team). I covered some of their games for Excalibur.  I interviewed the players, wrote about what transpired in the game and took pics.  It kicked off my interest in journalism.

How did you start writing for Now Magazine?

One day I was checking out the launch of this Rastafarian magazine called I Rasta Facts. I got to cover it for Excalibur.  I was hanging out with this journalist, Ali Sharif.  He was a reporter with Now Magazine.  We got to talking…hit it off.  We were talking about Now Magazine and he introduced me to Zuhair Kashmeri.  He was a senior editor at Now Magazine.  We all went for coffee one day, and talked about ideas.  I have a lot of ideas.  That’s what I do, I traffic ideas.  He was like, “Man, you have some pretty strong ideas!  You’re writing for Excalibur, but do you have any interest in writing for Now Magazine?”  I was like, “Of course!  I can get paid to do this!”  So he threw me my first story. I made about $75. I was writing for Now Magazine while I was at York.  It helped to pay my tuition. I wrote for them for about 10 years.

Do you feel that your education has helped you become a better writer?

I did a joint program with Centennial College while I was at York—The Book and Magazine Publishing Program. I completed a degree at York; I studied English Literature and Mass Communications.  While I was at York, one day of the week I was at Centennial doing the publishing program.   The program was new at the time.  I think I was part of the first year they had it.   Parts of the Book and Magazine program did help me in writing feature stories for magazines—what I ultimately ended up doing a lot of.

Also as a writer, you have to read a lot and also write a lot. You have to be into language.  I am constantly wanting to expand my vocabulary.

How does it feel to have the title Canada’s expert on hip hop culture?

I’m into hip hop. I live it. I study it. I document it.  I’ve been documenting the culture before it was sexy and saleable. There’s a lot of bandwagonism.  People are jumping on this talking about Drizzy is great!   Kardinal Ofishall, K-os, K’naan, Michie Mee, Maestro….  I was documenting their lives and careers well before it became fashionable. Because I grew up around the Eglinton and Oakwood neighborhood, which is affectionately referred to as little Jamaica, I know Michie Mee – Canada’s first lady of hip hop.   I knew her before she was Michie Mee. When hip hop was in its infancy, I was documenting the culture almost since its inception.

I was in it before people cared about hip hop culture like they do now that Drizzy’s blown up.   I was always doing interviews. One of my proudest moments is working on the Hip Hop Summit (2011). I was able to take that skill set, those connections I have across Canada to get most of the artists that have done great work that is historically significant as far as black music in this country, and get them all on one stage.  I was the content manager for The CBC Hip Hop Summit.  I was able to get Red One from the Rascalz, Ghetto Concept, Reema Major, K-os, Kardinal Offishall, K’naan, Maestro, Michie Mee, Shad. I was one of the people that worked in the shadows of it. Imagine being able to get Michie Mee, Kardinal Offishall, K-os, K’naan, Dream Warriors on one stage. It was fantastic seeing everyone on one stage. It’s one of my shining moments as far as using my connections in the hip hop industry.

Why did you decide to write about Drake?

Drake is an interesting character.  Whether you love or loathe Drake, he’s somebody I always felt you need to be paying strict attention to. The question I wanted to have answered in the book is how in the hell does a biracial black Jewish kid coming from Forest Hill (an affluent neighbor in Toronto) …how does he end up topping billboard charts? Given that historically, Toronto has not had a chart topping rapper / hip hopper, or any rapper here that can say they have recorded with Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West. His story is an interesting one. He’s only 26 years old and he seems to have captured the imagination of this generation. At a time where people don’t buy CDs, people buy his CDs. 

What do you respect about him?

Drake made it okay to dream and dream large.  He’s a kid from Toronto and he sits atop billboard charts. He’s won a Grammy.  We have this inferiority complex—musicians and artists that come from Canada.  He made it okay to think big.  He gives hope to Canadian musicians.  For up and coming, burgeoning music talents from Toronto, that they can one day become a billboard chart topping rapper or musician. 

I also respect his social media game. He’s popularized using social media. He’s been able to leverage his social media to generate a ton of revenue. He released tracks online through his mixtapes. He cut out the middleman.  People are always waiting on their record company to blow them up.  Drake and his camp didn’t really care about that, they were blowing up on their own.   He had a lot of followers online.  He didn’t need a company to give him a stamp of approval to release music.  He had crazy buzz online. 

What are your thoughts on the Canadian urban music industry?

It’s a very tenuous relationship hip hop practitioners have with the industry here.  There doesn’t seem to be a real infrastructure to support rap, reggae, soul and r&b music. So what ends up happening is that a lot of artists end up getting the hell outta dodge.  That’s the story with most Canadian artists.  All of our success stories- k-os, Melanie Fiona, Deborah Cox… got their first break in the States, they didn’t get it here.  In the book I blow up that romantic notion of the Canadian urban music industry.

What advice would you give to budding writers?

DIY.  Do It Yourself.  It’s an acronym that I live by.  Rather than wait around for people to endorse you, or to endorse your work as a writer or musician, you need to go out and do it. Strengthen your social media game.  Blog your ideas.  There are communities of people that will appreciate what you have to say. Use the web. 

Sadly, our meeting came to an end after Dalton received an important phone call. We are both chatty people, so I’m sure the interview could’ve lasted for another 2 days!  Even after meeting and getting to know Dalton, I am still in awe of him. Truly one of the coolest brothas! Thanks for the cool vibes, Dalton!

Michelle

Carl Cassell- The Man behind Harlem & Harlem Underground restaurants

Carl Cassell's name has been on my "people I'd like to interview" list for the longest time. I’m a fan of his Caribbean/ Southern fusion restaurants – Harlem (67 Richmond Street East) and Harlem Underground (745 Queen Street West), but truthfully, I really wanted to meet the mastermind behind the place that serves up the yummiest southern fried chicken and waffles in Toronto.

I eagerly reached out to him in late December 2012 for a possible interview. Although he was gearing up for his holiday rush, he was extremely polite and courteous and told me that he was busy, but we should connect in the New Year.

As soon as the New Year rang in, I emailed him and asked to meet up. He said yes!

Harlem Underground

I entered Harlem Underground—a space that conjures up the cool, artsy movement of the Harlem Renaissance, and watched a few patrons chow down on their late afternoon lunch.  Jazzy, funk music was playing in the background while I waited for the infamous Carl Cassell.  As I waited, I perused the menu and pondered how professional I would look if I ordered the chicken and waffles I love sooo much, and ate it while I interviewed him. I sadly decided to not get anything.  I didn’t think licking my fingers and having chicken grease smeared on my lips would be a good look, so instead I opted for a cup of coffee :(

A few moments later Carl introduced himself to me, and we moved to a quieter spot in the restaurant, and began the interview.

I learned so much about Carl during our hour and a half meeting. First of all, I learned that he understandably lives and breathes food, secondly he has mad love for Toronto, and thirdly, he’s an easy going, down to earth, chill dude. But don't dismiss his chill demeanor as a weakness. He’s a savvy businessman who's doing what he loves.

Here’s a just a snippet of our amazing conversation that we had on that chilly Friday afternoon. 

When did you develop an interest in food?

Growing up in Jamaica, I always had an interest in food.  I enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time with my neighbour back home—Miss Kathleen.  She cooked at the local school. I used to hang out with her son...he was a good friend of mine...and I was at the house constantly.  She had an outdoor kitchen—that’s how I learned to cook the basics.  I learned how to cook rice properly, how to cook meat properly and how to fry chicken properly. That’s where my interest in food began.

When I came to Toronto, I worked in restaurant kitchens for 5 years.  I was a waiter and a bartender. Most of my roommates were chefs.  Living with chefs, one of the things you realize is that chefs don’t cook at home.  They instruct, but don’t cook.  It enabled me to learn a lot about food.

Why did you and Carl Allen (former business partner) decide to close the Irie Food Joint and rebrand it as Harlem Underground?

Irie Food Joint opened in 2001 and had been around for about 9 years. Harlem opened in December 2006. It was doing very well...extremely well.  One of the issues I’d constantly face would be running two different menus.  Running two different menus created problems in terms of staffing....my kitchen staff...I couldn’t transfer my staff from one restaurant to the next because it was two completely different menus. Running one that dealt with Southern cuisine (Harlem) and the other dealt with Caribbean cuisine (Irie Food Joint). 

Having Irie and Harlem made sense in covering the Diaspora, but from an economic standpoint, it didn’t make sense to run 2 separate menus. It was difficult to retain new staff.  Caribbean cuisine is very specific, not everyone can cook it.  Every couple of years I found myself back in the kitchen retraining people.

Harlem and Harlem Underground share the same menu.  Why different names for the restaurants?

To create a distinction between both restaurants.  The distinction is the vibe.  Queen Street is its own animal.  Anything on Queen Street falls within that Queen Street vibe.  Harlem Underground tends to skew a younger, hipper crew, and at Harlem we get a slightly older crowd.

Your fried chicken has been called one of the best in Toronto. What was the process like perfecting it?

It was a collaborative effort between Tony (former chef Anthony Mair) and I.  We had a similar approach to food because we are both Jamaican. 

I read that you wanted the restaurant to be a place for creative types. What do you do to facilitate this?

Carl painted the picture on the wall and created the Red Stripe sculpture

I think it’s the vibe. I’ve primarily been around artists my entire life.  I’m an artist as well.  I paint and sculpt; I do a lot of things.

What would you like to accomplish with your restaurants?

I want to give my community a place that they can call their own for as long as I can possibly do it.  So people can talk about it like they talk about the Underground Railroad restaurant being the first of it’s kind (pssst...the Underground Railroad restaurant was one of the first soul food restaurants in Toronto).  We’re following in that footsteps.

Have any celebs visited the restaurant?

There have been a lot that have passed through- Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Beenie Man, Wyclef, and Giancarlo Esposito among others. 

Do you watch the Food network ?

No, not really.  I used to follow Anthony Bourdain’s TV series. I met him a few years ago.  He’s a really cool cat.

Well guess what, Carl? You’re a cool cat too! It was such a pleasure talking to him—not just about restaurants, but everything under the sun.   I love that he is dedicating himself in providing a funky, down home vibe with his restaurants and educating patrons on the flavours of the Caribbean and the South.  Thank you, Carl.

When you're in Toronto, or just looking for a delish meal, go to....

Harlem Underground Restaurant

745 Queen St. West
Toronto ON M6J 1G1
416.366.4743
info@harlemrestaurant.com
www.twitter.com/harlem1920

 

Harlem Restaurant

67 Richmond Street East
Toronto ON M5C 1N9
416.368.1920

info@harlemrestaurant.com
www.twitter.com/harlem1920

Michelle