Patria comes to Toronto

Patria has always had a special relationship with Canada, but now there is literally a Patria in Toronto: Patria Restaurant recently opened at 480 King Street West in Toronto's so-called "Entertainment District". It's a Spanish (i.e. from Spain, not Latin America) restaurant that re-creates a Barcelona tapas bar.

Patria (the restaurant that is, not the micronation) actually received fairly good reviews in the Toronto Star, Yelp and UrbanSpoon. It was also featured in a BlogTO photo essay. You can even follow them on Twitter @PatriaTO and like them on Facebook. It's worth a visit if you're craving, say, jamón ibérico de bellota (cured ham) and the variety of snacks and appetizers known as tapas. But it's not real, traditional Patrienish cuisine. Patria's national dish is Patria Wings - similar to Buffalo chicken wings, but cooked Tandoori style!

Don't expect Patrienish food at Toronto's Patria restaurant!

J-Stew leaves the Jungle

Jim Rome's legendary Jungle sidekick Jason Stewart (aka "J-Stew", "Mr. Automatic") announced his resignation from the Jungle as of March 8, in order to pursue other as-yet undisclosed interests. A graduate of Cal State Fullerton, J-Stew has a number of appearances on made-for-TV movies on his résumé, but his best known role was as a contestant on the reality TV series Blind Date. From humble beginnings as a listener and caller on the Jim Rome show circa 1995, J-Stew's reputation soon grew and Jim Rome took him on as the Jungle's call screener and "booker" (responsible for finding and scheduling the many sports personalities who gained Jungle Karma by being interviewed on the show). His official job title for the latter role was "Talent Coordinator". As the Jungle's call screener, his was the first voice a potential caller would hear on 1-800-636-8686. And often the last voice if the unfortunate schmuck's take was too weak or sucked too much to make it to air with Jim Rome.

J-Stew was a member of the Jungle Party caucus in Patria's Congress. But his seat will be up for grabs in 2014.

A tribute song to J-Stew, by a Houston, TX garage band called Three Day Weekend has been a Jungle favorite from the first time it aired in 2005.



Follow J-Stew on Twitter.