Where food and community converge late at night
When it’s late at night and parties end, stomachs start to growl. Nightly cravings arise and people demand something tasty to satisfy their hunger.
When it’s late at night and parties end, stomachs start to growl. Nightly cravings arise and people demand something tasty to satisfy their hunger.
Despite the chaos of flashing lights, machines clanging and engines roaring, the construction workers remain calm, including Robert Kemp, supervisor of roads and sidewalks.
It’s 4 a.m. and Trevor Dubois strums his guitar in the basement he rents at a home in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood. It’s pin-drop silent outside as a cool mist settles on the city. A passionate artist, Dubois pays his rent by covering other artists at gigs at local bars and restaurants.
Dispatchers are the hidden gems of the trucking industry. They’re the behind-the-scenes players who make sure truck drivers are delivering their loads at the right time to the right location.
It’s 4:30 a.m. as Daniel Rodic steps outside of his apartment into the crisp morning air. A few hours from now, he will make his way downtown to his Harbour Street office, where he is the CEO and co-founder of advertising and marketing company Exact Media.
The gentleman was sitting down on a bench in one of the hospital lobbies, looking out of sorts, tightly gripping what looked like a carpet cutter in his hand when security guard Ricardo Hernandez reached him. He approached slowly and chatted to the man for several minutes before asking him to hand it over. The gentleman accepted the request.
Taylor Trudel, 23, walks along the produce aisle, her black shopping basket swinging lazily at her side. The voice of Canadian singer Bryan Adams floats down softly from the speakers, not quite loud enough to drown out the buzzing of the fluorescent lights. Trudel reaches her hand under the spraying mist of the produce shelf and carefully places some lettuce in her basket.
Lounging in the backroom of the Painted Lady, red light beaming down on her sweat-soaked skin, Rosie Hunty, 27, speaks about her love of burlesque.
On a Saturday at 4 a.m., muted conversations and the occasional shuffle of feet can be heard inside the Sistering drop-in centre as women rest on mats and reclining chairs.
As the dark sky lingers, the screen from a laptop installed on the passenger seat brightens the inside of Peter Mills’ black Jeep.