A trip to the Middle East right in St-Henri

Anyone who has been looking for a restaurant on the Notre Dame strip in St-Henri over the last couple of months may have noticed a new place called Sumac, west of Atwater near Rose-de-Lima.  The place is already packed every night, and the first time I dropped by I was told the wait would be 30 minutes… so we decided to try Sumac again last week, and this time we were seated quickly.

This Middle Eastern restaurant is the creation of Raquel Zagury (formerly at Prohibition) and David Bloom (Tuck Shop) who may already be familiar to foodies in the area.

If it’s your first time there, someone may have to tell you a little bit about their concept.  Like Villa Madina down the block, you walk in and order at the counter.  The menu is posted on the wall to your right as you’re standing at the register, which makes it difficult to see if you're waiting in line.  You may not even know you are supposed to order from the counter until you get right up to it because unlike Madina, people don’t walk away from the counter with any food, nor do they pay at the counter.

I ordered a chicken shawarma ($9) and a side of fries ($4), and my friend had the sabich platter ($13)

Once you place your order, you are given a number and invited to sit wherever you can find space in their dining room.  It’s a nice space with minimal décor and a beautiful brick wall on one side.  The in crowd definitely likes this place, there are lots of good looking people, people on dates, groups of friends and even families enjoy the fare and the ambiance.  There are a few tables and then there is a large counter right in the middle where diners sit with other groups of people. We sat there and were treated to a steady diet of rock and roll blasting on the house speakers. I happen to be a big rock guy, so I enjoyed this, though it made chatting during dinner a bit of a challenge.

In about 3 minutes our appetizer hit the table, baba ghanouj with a single pita sliced in 4 ($8).  The presentation was amazing, as it was with all the plates I saw being brought out while I was there. Also, it was a huge helping, and my friend asked for more pita so we could finish it I wasn't surprised.  I was a little surprised they dinged us another $2 for the second pita bread though. While I wasn't thrilled about that, the baba ghanouj is so good, I guess the people running this place know customers will pay extra to have a delivery device for all that eggplanty goodness.

After we demolished that, the main course hit the table.  The Sabich platter had some terrific fried eggplant and a poached egg on top, more pita, awesome marinated carrots that had great texture and flavour.  Only downside: the hummus was very dense and dry, difficult to spread it on pita.

My chicken shawarma was also beautifully presented, and I was offered some kind of Middle Eastern salsa verde for my fries which was nice and spicy.  Only problem: getting my mouth around this huge sandwich!

Sumac is a trendy spot with good food.  I live in the area and I could tell most of the people in there travelled from another neighborhood to try the food.  Which is a good sign.  It’s a place to drop in for a quick bite and be seen, but not the type of restaurant where would spend more than 30 minutes… it’s pretty much in and out (assuming you don't have to wait!).  It’s perfect if you're on your way to a show at the nearby Corona Theatre for example and want to stop for a bite.  The concept is cool once you understand it.  It’s designed for a certain demographic.  Sumac may be better suited for neighbouring Griffintown or Westmount, as they are the only place in St-Henri charging $4 for fries.

Service 3.5/5

Food 4/5

Ambiance 4/5

Value 2/5

What a long strange trip 2011's been!

Happy holidays everyone… it’s been some time since I’ve shared a blog with you and what better time than the holidays to take stock after what’s been a crazy year all around the world.

Though hurricane season was a little calmer than usual in the Atlantic, earthquakes in places like Turkey and
New Zealand caused widespread damage and loss of life.  These of course paled in comparison to the quake off the coast of Japan back in April which triggered a massive tsunami and caused widespread devastation in Japan, and brought that country to the brink of a nuclear disaster as well.

Closer to home, 160 people were killed back in May when a tornado struck Joplin, Missouri.  There were heat waves, shark attacks, fires, infrastructure failures and many more tragic events that caused damage and loss of life.  However most of 2011’s biggest disasters were caused by man.

Of course topping that list has to be the European debt crisis.  After bailouts for Ireland and then Portugal, the state of Greece’s finances has been the focus of the EU for well over a year.  Greece however is somewhat of a different story that their fellow PIIGS, as it has come to light that they Greeks joined the Euro fraudulently and with the help of US investment banking giant, Goldman Sachs.  While the collapse of the Greek economy in and of itself would not be enough to bring down the mighty Euro, it would clearly create a crisis of confidence which would lead to a chain reaction causing major problems for Europe’s larger economies and eventually crippling the economies of the Euro-Zone. 

What we’ve seen in 2011 is that creditors have been increasing the spread (the amount of interest they require) on debt from countries like Italy and Spain.  This effectively raises the borrowing costs of these countries and when the rates get high enough it becomes difficult for the borrower to service their debt… thereby increasing the likelihood of their own default.  France and Germany have now acknowledged that this would lead to a chain reaction that would eventually have consequences for them and Merkozy has finally decided to take steps towards solving the problem.  This after much encouragement from Harper, Obama and their counterparts in Japan, the UK and elsewhere.

Goldman’s actions have caused governments to take on record levels of debt, while companies are making record profits, but won’t spend or create jobs because they don’t have confidence that their profits will last… meanwhile, banks are tightening credit, making small and medium scale stimulus form the private sector more and more difficult. This has given rise to the “Occupy movement”, which then spread from its roots on New York’s Wall Street, to cities across the US and all around the world.  While many of these protests have since been dispersed, they are seen by many as the first sign that even citizens in “rich” western democracies are frustrated with the state of global affairs and are beginning to mobilize in an effort to take some power back or affect positive change for the “99%”.

Amid all this turmoil, here in Canada, there was a political “feel-good” story for a change this year… there were elections in nearly every province and territory in 2011.  Ironically, several incumbents were re-elected in this year when so many are demanding change.  Perhaps the most notable change in Canada’s political landscape was the rise of the NDP, particularly in Quebec where the party had virtually no footprint at all before now.  Jack Layton, born in Hudson, Quebec and long-time Toronto city councillor led the party to official opposition status, while Harper’s Tories finally got the majority they’ve been chasing after successive minority governments.  The by-product of this was the virtual annihilation of both the Liberal Party of Canada and the Bloc Quebecois as major players in Canadian federal politics.  Sadly Layton lost his battle with cancer this summer and the NDP is no in the hands of a few veteran MPs, and dozens of young political rookies.  They’ll have a few years until the next election to grow into their roles and it will be interesting to watch their maturation during that period.

What is clear is that the times are changing.  US has now withdrawn from Iraq, NASA shuttle program is over, poverty in the US is very high, perhaps shockingly so.  2011 has also seen an alarming rise to a right wing, anti-immigration movement in Europe.  It has been building for some time but when Anders Behring Breivik massacred young Norwegians this summer, his beliefs and the question of how to address this type of xenophobia drew global attention.

People of all walks of life seemed to be reaching a breaking point in 2011; many of these individuals sadly are reacting with wild acts of violence and extremism.  And one of the biggest movements actually began in late 2010 in Tunisia when Mohammed Bouazizi decided to set himself on fire rather than carry on with life as usual in this repressive Muslim state.  Bouazizi could never have known what this lone act of defiance would create.  Not only did his home country of Tunisia quickly overthrow its dictator and proceed to free elections… but similar revolutions sprung up across the Arab world.  Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria have seen blood spilled as their people yearn for social change.  Not even Saudi-Arabia was immune… however the house of Saud was very quick to grant changes that would appease the people while solidifying its own power.  This kept the uprising in their kingdom to a minimum.

The world also lost some big names this year, from politics, business and the arts.  Many of the people on that list helped change the world we know today, be it through revolution, classic performances or providing space aged products no one would have dreamed of just a generation ago.  Others were more infamous, but still had an impact on the world, or at least their corner of it.

Though there was a lot of gloom and doom in 2011, it wasn’t all bad news.  Just ask people in Winnipeg who got their hockey team back after 15 long Manitoba winters, and they’re about to open a new football stadium there as well.  There’s also the story of a young girl who was presumed killed in the tsunami there years ago, and has now been reunited with her family after so many years.  Sports provided a big boost to earthquake ravaged New Zealand when their All-Blacks won the 2011 rugby world cup… and the Japanese women’s soccer team seemed to have magic on their side this year and would not be denied in winning the FIFA women’s world cup 2011.

Difficult to concentrate on the positives with so much turmoil both here at home and around the world.  Who knows what 2012 will bring as well… we do know there will be an election in the US that will dominate the media in that country for the entire year.  It looks now like Russia might be the next political powder-keg overseas. Somehow, many people seem to be optimistic, even though more and more of them are struggling to make ends meat.  “Disposable income” seems to be a thing of the past for many people, as wages in most western economies haven’t been keeping up with the cost of living, and people are increasingly going into personal debt to buy the things they want and need.  But somehow there is a positivity, and optimism among many that they will overcome these obstacles… that things will get better, so long as they keep fighting.

And so I’ll leave you on that positive note… that yes, the world is in dire straits in many respects… (And the author has consciously omitted environmental issues from this posting), however, each day new children are born into our world of now more than 7 billion.  Each day more of them are attending school.  The internet and social media allows the people to communicate now with anyone in the world, sharing ideas and concepts in ways that were never possible until recently.  The future may indeed be very bright as the human race seems to slowly be gaining the upper hand on the AIDS epidemic and is creating new ideas on renewable energy and conservation every day.

So it seems we’re in the midst of a difficult period for now… but have faith in yourselves and in your fellow man… things will get better for us all, and you too can play a part.

Here’s 2011’s top good news stories,

Have a great 2012!

Isn't technology great!

Happy new year everyone.  It’s hard to believe that 2011 is already here, weren’t we all supposed to be driving floating cars like George Jetson by now?

While the financial crisis may have set the flying car back a few years, the information age we live in has come through with some pretty incredible technology.  And it appears we are just scratching the surface. 

Take Canadian cable company Cogeco.  In partnership with CHCH Television, they are testing targeted and personalized television commercials.  Using software by Invidi Technologies out of New York, advertisers are now able to send tailored messages to specific viewers.  The system breaks down audience demographics based on TV watching behavior, making any time prime time for advertisers.

On the social media side, a relatively new player is making noise in a similar fashion.  Toronto based Sysomos is making a big splash with their products, Map and Heartbeat. 

Heartbeat is an incredible tool that allows marketers a level of detail never before possible.  This one tool allows a business to monitor virtually all the conversations taking place in cyberspace covering the company, its products or its people.  The data is then broken down into positive and negative buzz, and can be broken down by source location as well.  What’s more Heartbeat even measures how much influence each individual posting about your company has in the blogosphere.

Map also allows you to drill down into the social media space and learn who is saying what, and most importantly why they are saying it.  It’s a level of targeting so specific that marketers can now literally target individual people.  This virtually makes each individual his or her own market segment.

Nearly 100 years ago, in 1922, retailer John Wanamaker said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted – the trouble is I don’t know which half".  It has taken some time, but it appears that thanks to these latest innovations of the information age.  Well Mr. Wanamaker, marketers of the world... your problem is now solved.  The recovery is under way... now get out there and sell!  Good luck in 2011.

What's going on in Ottawa

So, new session, same old routine.  Within days of beginning this year’s fall session of Parliament, one in which all parties agreed to behave in a civil manner, they already at each other’s throats.  We can only imagine what the atmosphere on the Commons might be like in late November… assuming it’s even still in session at that point.

Wednesday’s vote on the long gun registry didn’t help matters much.  The two main parties in direct opposition on the issue, with the NDP perched precariously somewhere in between.  This is an issue of urban versus rural.  But it's even more divisive than that.  People in cities and towns all across the country are in a huff over this, and right now the country doesn’t really need another issue to be divided on.

Which brings me to the bigger issue here.  Why is this the first order of business for our Parliamentarians this fall?  Why is it even on the agenda at all?  Do we not have enough problems that need to be resolution?  The registry is clearly not very popular in some circles, but it has been in place for seven years, and its opponents seem to have largely accepted defeat on this issue.  Is this really the time for us as a country to dig up old issues?  What’s next Prime Minister, repealing same-sex marriage?

It seems the government is a bit out of touch on this one.  How many people in Canada own guns?  The number might actually surprise you.  There are just over 1.8 million valid gun licences in Canada.  That’s the same number of unemployed we have in this country.

Maybe I’m the one who’s out of touch, but it seems to me that we should spend more on getting the economy on track, and putting people back to work.  Watch this video again, and look at the board behind John Baird.  It doesn’t say guns on there.  But instead, billions are going towards fighter jets.  Another billion for a photo-op at the catastrophic G-8 summit in Toronto.  More corporate tax cuts… the list goes on.  How does any of this, including the de-registration of firearms, improve the lives of Canadians?  Anybody want to talk about veterans’ health, or aboriginal rights?

Aren’t Parliamentarians supposed to be making policy that makes society run better?  Laws that help foster innovation and create jobs and wealth within our boarders?  Shouldn’t they be held to a higher moral and ethical standard than the ordinary Joe?  I’m looking at you Helena Guergis & Max Bernier.

The government initiative to repeal the registry failed, again.  And rather than moving on to resolving any of these issues, our Prime Minister promises to waste still more of his time on this going forward.

Mr. Harper, your country needs leadership.  We have many problems we need you to solve.  That’s why we’ve elected you, twice.  You might consider focusing on things that are a bit more fundamental to Canadians if you intend on being elected a third time.  All Parliamentarians should take a step back and look at what makes sense, instead of blindly pushing an agenda that doesn’t really accomplish anything.  And for the love God, behave yourselves while you do it, it’s only been 2 days!

Will new Google OS be a hit with the masses, or is their head in the clouds?

New OS due out this year may be a step towards another computing revolution 

The concept of Cloud Computing is not a new one.  It’s a way to run your computer remotely, with software and infrastructure provided as a service via the internet.  For many, infrastructure as a service is the next logical step following software as a service.  Presently there is a mix of players offering different cloud computing services, but it hasn’t really gone mainstream at the level of the individual user… yet.

Enter Google, which in just 12 years has grown from two guys in a garage with a vision, to a company of over 20,000 employees, and arguably the world’s most recognizable brand.  This is a company that has accelerated the pace of innovation to a point that would make even Thomas Edison’s head spin.  And it’s in that spirit that the folks from Mountain View plan to launch their new Chrome OS for cloud computing later this year.  Based on their existing browser, Chrome, the company is promising this OS will bring tremendous speed and ease of use, and work towards the company’s long standing goals of organizing information, making it useful and more easily accessible.  Because everything is done online through the browser, it challenges the structure of personal computing as we know it today.

While ISP’s all over the world are promising the faster internet access and pouring billions into infrastructure like “fibre-to-the-home”, cloud supporters believe that changing the OS on your machine and operating remotely will provide the added speed we so crave.  Not everyone is on board with this, there are some dissenters in the industry who don’t believe it will change much, but their perceptions may be skewed by what they have at stake.  However many players agree cloud is the way forward.

So the question becomes, why does it fall on Google to take the initiative here?  They’ve got a pretty good thing going and their products seem to be very popular, so why would they risk damaging their otherwise bullet-proof brand on this? 

Well, there are many reasons.  Remember those two guys in the garage back in 1998?  Their vision was to improve the way people access and retrieve information on the internet by organizing it and making it more accessible.  That remains the driving principle behind the company today.  They want information to be easily accessible to the masses, and for it to be organized in as useful a way as possible.  This is the company’s core philosophy and it is directly tied to the development of the new Chrome OS.

Faster

First, Chrome OS is targeted specifically at those who use the web for most of their computing.  In fact, the initial version of the product will come pre-loaded on certain netbooks as a first step.  Prototypes of the Google Chrome OS have netbooks starting up in 7 seconds.  How long did it take you to start your machine this morning?  No more clicking furiously on the Explorer icon during start-up, anxiously waiting for something to happen.  Chrome OS product demos have seen users online within 10 seconds of a cold re-boot.  Anything that works on the web, in a browser, will work with Chrome OS.  That’s, e-mail, games, chat and all your favourite applications at your fingertips in just 10 seconds!

Less expensive, easier to use, more accessible

Netbooks and tablets are smaller, lighter, less expensive and more mobile than your standard laptop.  Yet with Chrome OS they would be able to provide all the functionality of a traditional PC.  This works towards the Google’s goals of making information more accessible and useful to all, by reducing the cost barriers people face to getting on the net.  They also run faster without the bulk of a whole software suite or moving parts slowing them down.

Beyond that, Google has been a driver of innovation since it was founded, whereas the OS market has fallen well behind the pace of innovation in the industry.  A lack of competition and a tremendous change in the way people use computers over the last 20 years has left existing operating systems out of date.  Google sees an opportunity here.

The long term potential is almost unlimited.  It takes far less time to develop apps, and it’s less costly.  Security is enhanced with the cloud model because there’s far less risk of viruses and other bad stuff attacking your machine.  Yes, there are risks, but this technology is in its infancy and the long-term benefits clearly outweigh the risks.

This operating system also capitalizes on 3 growing market trends.  Consumer demand for faster internet access, the trend towards increased mobility in computing and the growth in popularity of UNIX or Linux like operating systems for personal use.  This of course includes Android, which Google Co-founder Sergey Brin suggested may converge with Chrome OS over time.  Chrome OS allows users to access their files online from anywhere.  Furthermore, once in place, those fibre optic infrastructure upgrades discussed earlier in this article will allow data to travel to and from the home fast enough to run everything online through the Chrome browser and Chrome OS.

Give Google some credit here, they have a vision and they are pursuing it.  This is an organization whose products are often at or near the top of the pyramid in quality and ease of use, which should help Chrome OS gain trust quickly in the marketplace.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, so there may be some growing pains.  But given Google’s track record, and continued dedication to its core values, many industry experts agree that Chrome OS just might take off.  It could be a first step towards another computing revolution.