For a band on tour, what's the next most important thing to performing? Eating, of course! Every band that has hit the cold roads of Canada has its favorite restos, diners, coffee shops and steakhouses. Tastes of the Tour Bus features these road-tested recommendations. Today, from Hamilton, Dan Griffin of The Arkells.
Dan Griffin is a road warrior. He has been a major part of the Juno award winning modern rock outfit, The Arkells, and he fronts his own band called Dan Griffin and the Regrets.
These groups are relatively new to success, so in the last few years they have dined on quantity and bang for buck. They have combed the cold roads of Canada looking for the best greasy spoons, local dives and surprising hole in the wall mom and pop shops that can withstand the hunger of growing boys whose job it is to rock. Griffin's band mate Aaron Goldstein added a few of his favorites as well.
So put down the wine list and say goodbye to fine dining under candlelight, it's time to top up with some heavy food fuel, the bigger and greasier the better.
HAMILTON, ONTARIO (HOMETOWN)
486 James Street North
Griffin: "Harbour Diner is one of my favorites. It has one of the best breakfasts in Canada. Period. They do it right, and cheap. It's just like getting home cooked meals if you had a really great chef for a Mom."
201 James Street South
riffin: "Bronzies is a classic little pizza shop, Italian pizza. It's very Hamilton. It's the people and the servers there. It's a local spot. It's not a spot you would take people from out of town, it's a spot that people actually go that live there. It's got a lot of the character of Hamilton that you can imagine."
Listen to the audio conversation by clicking the PLAY button
PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
378 George Street North
Griffin: "Hot Belly Mama's is some of the best Cajun food you can get around. No matter how many year's we've been going there, we will call and be like 'hey we have a window of 45 minutes between sound-check and whatever, can we get in there? and they will say, 'I don't know if we have any tables, you will have to come and see.' But we love them so much we can't stop! That's another favorite."
Listen to the audio conversation by clicking the PLAY button
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO
215 Red River Road
MONTREAL, QUEBEC
3895 St-Laurent
Griffin: "Montreal we have had some of the best smoked meat. It's probably more known now for its consistency and its historic value, but I remember it was pretty damned good. I remember the lighting being really bad though, office lighting. Thinking, they haven't changed this and no one has said anything."
Listen to the audio conversation by clicking the PLAY button
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN
632 10 Street East
Griffin: "That's like the best spot.
"I guess that you might call it Saskatoon's Horseshoe, except that it's also a badass restaurant, Tex Mex Style. ... It's actually a great place to play.
"It's a little gem in Saskatoon. It's so strange that one of the best Mexican restaurants is in Saskatoon, but it's true!"
Listen to the audio conversation by clicking the PLAY button
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
371 East Broadway
Griffin: "I just remember this massive, being from out here, the quantity and quality was so different because it was so much more available and they don't have to truck it in. There is so much more of it around, so they can part with more of it."
Listen to the audio conversation by clicking the PLAY button
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
1665 Argyle Street
CHARLOTTETOWN, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Bandmate's step-mom
Griffin: "It was some of the best food that we had. Rich's step-mom cooked us a very traditional Lebanese dinner. I think that was our best East Coast food experience. We took coolers full of this stuff for day. It looks like a log of ground beef and all these spices."
Listen to the audio conversation by clicking the PLAY button
ST JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK
49-51 Charlotte Street
Goldstein: "It was so good that I followed them on Twitter."
ST JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND
8 Highland Drive
Goldstein: "It's been open forever. It was the craziest seafood feast. Deep fried seafood. The biggest pieces of fish piled on a paper plate with a mound of brown fries on the side."
Listen to the audio conversation by clicking the PLAY button
Related:
Tastes of the Tour Bus: Patrick Watson
Tastes of the Tour Bus: Be Good Tanyas
Tastes of the Tour Bus: Jim Cuddy
Tastes of the Tour Bus: Cold Specks