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| - If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything.
OK, so I'll start with the nice part. As a performance venue, Free Times has welcomed all kinds of acts to the city. From book readings to jazz concerts to the ever-popular Yiddish Cabaret theatre, Free Times has given a voice to all kinds of acts that don't fit easily into what can be a cliquey club scene.
The space meanders between storefronts. The lighting is dim and the walls suitably grungy despite consistent attempts at upkeep, but Free Times is what it is: a defiantly bohemian watering hole/coffee shop for waves of U of T students taking their first steps along the path that Churchill described. "if you're not a Liberal in your 20s, you have no heart. If you're not a Conservative in your 40s you have no brain". Irony abounds, as newly minted hipsters wear their Che Guevara T-shirts and keffiyahs to chow down on old school Jewish favorites and Israeli fare. But then, if Fidel Castro can state his support for Israel, why can't a bunch of nascent Canadian lefties?
So, Free Times has atmosphere in spades, even when you come back with a harder heart and softer brain. Wait staff are young, cute, artistic types. Easily flustered, but when they toss their hair back you don't mind that your plates are mixed up. There's a good selection of draft, and the coffee is free trade and fabulous. Given the crowd's student bent, you'll forgive FTC for limiting refill, or charging if you plan to hog a booth and watch the show. The blintzes are as close to homemade as you'll get here; crispy golden on the outside and sweet and creamy on the inside. Latkes are tiny and crunchy. Sided with blah applesauce, they owe a debt to the golden perfection that is the MsDonalds hashbrown.
The Bella, Did You Eat??!!?? weekend brunch is a hoot if you like sing-alongs in dead languages. Sometimes, the entertainment is enthusiastic with the mic, leading to awkward call-and-response moments. The brunch presents classic opportunities for schednfreude, such as when the mic gets passed to non-Jews who foolishly wandered in off the street for bacon and eggs, or to multigenerational families. Middle-aged parents look uncomfortably at their parents, who return the look; these are kids who grew up thinking their parents spoke the mamaloshen perfectly, only to find out now that when used in song, nobody knows what the heck they're signing about. The frazzled owner tries to lead the room in a crash course in Yiddish culture, which is basically a series of variants on the theme of "Oy" ( "Oy", "oy vey", "oy gevalt"). Whether this is comedy or cultural exchange, it rests uneasily with the program as a whole, and sounds a slightly stereotypical note.
That is what Free Times does right.
On the other hand, dinner service is slow, awkward and often flat-out wrong. Dishes are sent to the wrong tables, orders incomplete, ingredients missing. The menu walks a thin line between "eclectic" and "off-putting"; loosely organized between standard Canadian bar food, Jewish European soul food, and quick-and-dirty Israeli cuisine. Hamburgers are cooked past dryness, although toppings are fresh. Middle Eastern offerings are well-intentioned, but one wonders how much experience the kitchen has with these ingredients; it's all overcooked, and the flavors are off compared to what you get further up Bathurst. Respectfully, there is also no excuse for charging over $10 for a plate of falafel, etc. This is street food, Israeli cucina di poveri. It's made from chick peas and sold to undergrads, for crying out loud.
A final note, Free Times has recently entered the smoked meat wars, perhaps out of concern over the emergence of Caplansky's Deli just a few doors down. You can see the merit of two different approaches to food and restaurant management. Caplanskys does very few things, but does them to the best of his ability. Nothing is wasted, as precious smokey brisket trimmings find new life in soups, gravies and knishes. It's all made fresh. Free Times offers a more ambitious menu, but their meat is brought in from XXX, direct from Montreal. Among hardcore montreal deli enthusiasts, this might be a selling point, but by now they've largely migrated up to Centre Street by the Promenade. Mall. Caplanskys relies on the fresh, local nature of its ingredients, which Free Times does as well, if more selectively (a more expensive, organic burger is testament to this attempt). Ever taken the six hour trip from Toronto? Know how it feels when you exit the car at the hotel? If not, try the cryovac smoked meat and you'll see what I mean.
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