Where else can you go for a pleasant afternoon of haggis eating, record shopping and absinthe sipping – all topped off with an inquisition by the U.S. border control? Yup, Windsor, Ontario, just a hop, skip and jump either over or under the Detroit River.
Like Detroit, Windsor’s more obscure, hidden jewels are spread out, so it’s best to take your car across the border and explore on wheels. Once in Canada, tune in to FM 91.5, CJAM, for non-mainstream music – Ska, punk, jazz, Indie rock and every sound in between – as you cavort through three hip neighborhoods: Olde Walkerville, Via Italia, and downtown. These funky districts are replete with food to nosh, beers to drink, and grand old junk to be purchased.
OLDE WALKERVILLE
From downtown, follow your nose or the landscape two miles east toward the Canadian Club silos, landing in Walkerville, aptly named, of course, for Hiram Walker who started making hooch in this neighborhood 150 years ago. The neighborhood has cool row houses, single-family homes, a tiny retail district, and a couple of the best pubs in town.
Victoria Tavern (519-254-1535) at Chilver Road and Assumption St. is a quintessential neighborhood pub where the working-class ilk and suit-sect commingle in the name of a hardy lunch and properly drawn draft. On the brick exterior, a sign reads “Ladies and Escorts Entrance,” harkening back to Victoria’s christening as a tavern in 1897. Introduce yourself as a Michigander, and you’ll likely be regaled with the story of Henry Ford and Gordon MacGregor sealing the 1904 deal here to produce Ford cars in Canada. The “Old Vic” hosts live music on weekend nights and Saturday afternoons.
A few blocks away at Kildare House (519-252-4003) on Wyandotte St. East, indulge in the best fish and chips in town in the coziest of Windsor pubs. It’s so warm and welcoming that you’ll find multiple reasons to linger, like sampling pan-fried haggis, bangers and mash, or Scotch pie. This house-turned-pub is divided into little rooms with wooden benches and booths and floors covered with salvaged barn board. Live traditional Irish and Scottish music on Tuesdays and Wednesdays draw fans, and folkies play their stuff on weekends. Every night of the week – blizzard or heat wave – Kildare is open until 2:00 a.m., reliable as your oldest friend.
Further along Wyandotte St. East, you’ll be able to spend more American dollars at Windsor’s only vintage shop, Jones & Co. (519-252-6448). Everything from jewelry and glassware, to loafers, boleros, neckties and pillbox hats, are on display in this kitschy little store. Here you’ll find a red vinyl pocketbook just like your grandma’s or that 1970s Western cowboy shirt that will impress all your friends at holiday parties.
Before departing Olde Walkerville, imbibe in tea and sweets at Taloola Café
VIA ITALIA
Windsor’s Little Italy is a six-block stretch of Erie St., the heart of it running from Howard Ave. to Langlois Ave., where you can stock up on ciabatta, buy Italy-made housewares or freshly made pasta, or, at night, feast on an Italian dinner that will put you over the border five pounds heavier.
Despite the somewhat touristy draw of the restaurants, the neighborhood is Italian through and through, evidenced by the dark-haired women choosing artisan bread and pastries at Italia Bakery (519-252-7066) by day or the old men who down espressos at Sorrento Café (519-971-9696) well before sunup.
Sorrento’s, open from 5:30 a.m. until midnight, is by far the most authentic, unpretentious café on Erie St. – a great place to sip an afternoon cappuccino and practice your Italian with the owners or by reading one of the Italian language newspapers scattered about. Neighborhood residents are in and out all day. Young Italians gather here for lively debates; middle-age guys often play cards at the table under the front window.
For the completely opposite ambiance, but hip nonetheless, try Noi. Here, upscale and sleekly presented dinners put a novel twist on traditional Italian standards. The results are barely recognizable, but interestingly tasty – like the gnocchi with chili pepper, tiger shrimp and gorgonzola cream sauce.
DOWNTOWN
Since the coming of the casino, downtown Windsor’s retail business has dwindled. But many of the remaining stores are worth visiting, especially if you’re allured by used books and records, home-spun art or Indian sweets.
Works on Paper (519-258-8583) on Maiden Lane – complete with that coma-inducing musty book smell – is the place for inexpensive, used books on history, art, travel, cooking and gardening. And, the selection of literature and children’s books is nothing to snuff either. Here you may find a Chaucer poetry book, vegetarian cookbooks, the latest Bill Bryson tale, and plenty of bedtime stories for the wee ones.
A few blocks away on Chatham St., Rogues Gallery Comics showcases colorful comic books and attracts nerds of all sorts to its friendly, colorful space. Downstairs, it’s books, comics, games, toys, action figures and the like; upstairs, it’s a gathering space – a geek magnet of sorts – for customers to read, surf the Internet, chat about superheroes, or play games.
More fun than the store itself, is a side project called the Comic Book Syndicate, which is a one-hour comic book review talk show filmed live, with you as the beer-drinking studio audience, every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. at Pogo’s, (519-256-9844) a bar conveniently located two blocks from Rogues Gallery. Three hosts debate a topic, like how to get more women interested in comic books, and review comics using a make-shift talk show set. It’s funny and mainstream enough to be broadcast on a local cable TV show. FYI: filming on hiatus through December, but Rogues Gallery is open, even on Christmas day.