Constellation of stars lights up foodie fundraiser

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This article was published 02/02/2015 (4248 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STARRY, STARRY NIGHT: Date With a Star, the Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba fundraiser on Jan. 28 at the Fort Garry Hotel, ended its swanky cocktail hour with “The envelopes, please!” Prior to that point, only the shining stars of sports, arts and media knew which sponsor group they’d be dazzling as a table host and at which top-flight restaurant they’d be dining.

LDAM raises money to provide services that benefit young people with serious learning challenges. After happy hour in the Provencher Room and short speeches, people jumped into their vehicles and headed out for their starry dinners.

The Winnipeg Free Press table and guests zipped out to Provencher Boulevard to Shea Ritchie’s Chaise Café & Lounge to rendezvous with Energy 106 FM’s musical director/show host Steve Adams.

Ritchie, a competitive chef, served multiple courses on sharing platters: three kinds of salad, gourmet pizzas and pastas, meat and veggie entrees and long plates of to-die-for desserts.

Stars included Shaw TV’s Tracy Koga; footballers Obby Khan, Kelly Butler and Doug Brown of Winnipeg Blue Bombers fame; beloved kids entertainer Fred Penner; comedian Big Daddy Tazz; the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s André Lewis; musician JD Edwards, Free Press humour columnist Doug Speirs; and radio stars galore.

Participating restaurants included the Palm Room, Cafe Carlo, Deer+Almond, 295 York, two Keg restaurants, Mise, Inferno’s on Academy, Food Evolution, the Gates on Roblin, and many more.

One of the coolest moments of the night was a report on the new neuroplasticity program called Arrowsmith, which helps people between the ages of 10 and 20 retrain their brains for learning with a series of cognitive exercises that address their particular problems.

“Our new second-year students are unrecognizable from their first-year selves!” says the program.

 

DON’T MISS THE BATHROOMS! At the new kosher Italian restaurant BerMax Caffé + Bistro at 1800 Corydon Ave., you’ll see biscotti cuddled up to knishes and lighting that looks like stars from outer space.

But the bathrooms are the real bomb, sporting crazy sinks that both wash and dry your hands. Walls have wrap-around murals that make you feel (blush) as if you’re sitting on a throne outdoors on different streets in Italy.

The men’s decor? A wrap-around mural of the Colosseum in Rome at night. The women’s mural puts you on an Italian street by the river, with a giant white bird taking off right beside your feet.

Israeli-born co-owner Max Berent, 25, says everybody wants to hang out in the bathroom. One female customer said, “I’ll just take my laptop into that bathroom and you can bring in my coffee, because that’s where I want to work!”

Why kosher Italian? “Well, we knew we wanted to do kosher,” says Berent, and they wanted a great café. “So where do you get the best coffee in the world? Italy!”

The restaurant quietly opened recently and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in funky café surroundings.

BerMax is the same name as the family-owned company known for its fancy millwork, lighting and design inventions. That part of the family biz is owned and operated by his parents, Oxana and Alex Berent. They will be opening a shop behind the restaurant soon, so naturally the café must dazzle, like a kind of showroom.

Cruise by to see the sparkling glass “stars” hanging in the air over the serving bar — romantic for couples, fun for buddies, with casual meals, snacks and drinks. A great Valentine’s spot!

 

SEARCH FOR YOUNG TERRY SAWCHUKS: Danny Schur, the local writer-producer best known for his play Strike!, has a new project. For his new documentary Terry Sawchuk — the Winnipeg Years, Schur’s putting out a call for young actors to play the famous goalie at ages 10 and 17, and a third male actor to play his older brother.

The half-hour film will use historical re-enactments to tell the story of Sawchuk’s formative years in Depression-era Winnipeg.

“I don’t so much need hockey players as I need skating actors. We can dye the eyebrows, but we need facial expression and wide cheekbones — the Slavic look.” (Sawchuk was affectionately known as Terry “the Uke” Sawchuk.)

“They’re emoting roles, but not speaking roles, but when it’s acted out, they can do all the speaking they want, to motivate themselves. They’ll still be getting ACTRA rates, still the higher rate, even if they don’t speak,” says Schur.

While acting experience is not a prerequisite, skating and goaltending skills are a definite asset. Interested people should email photographs and resumés to Schur at dannyschur@hotmail.com.

For an online synopsis of Sawchuk’s life, see http://wfp.to/axw.

 

COMIC ON THE HOT SEAT: Aboriginal comic Chad Anderson, who entertains in hometown Winnipeg and on reserve tours, does two entirely different shows, depending on where he’s performing. Yours truly caught his Winnipeg act at the Handsome Daughter on Sherbrook Street, near Wolseley Avenue.

On reserves, Anderson teases the crowd during his time onstage, he says. But in Winnipeg, especially after the recent Maclean’s article that called Winnipeg the most racist city in Canada, Anderson has a renewed purpose. He makes the audience laugh by examining his own prejudices.

Anderson, who will be a plumber one day, says the recent activism and the magazine story have done some good.

“Even if there are a lot of people who disagree, now everybody’s talking about it, and we can start fixing the problems.”

 

Got tips, events, special events going on? Call the tip line at 204-474-1116 or write Maureen Scurfield c/o Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave. Winnipeg, MB, R2C 3BX.