With ‘No Exceptions': This London band is about to Rock the Park
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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
A British restaurant is launching the U.K.'s first water menu
Water "sommelier" Doran Binder has curated the water menu for the French-style restaurant in northern England. (courtesy Doran Binder via CNN Newsource) London — The French are known for their love of fine wines. La Popote, a French-style restaurant in northern England, is no exception. The Michelin Guide-listed eatery in the county of Cheshire offers diners the choice of almost 140 varieties of wine. But now the business is taking a bold step to cater for discerning non-drinkers by offering an entire menu of bottled water. Diners will have the choice of three different bottles of still water and four sparkling beginning Friday, as well as complimentary tap water. La Popote is tapping into a global trend away from alcohol. For example, based on a Gallup poll last year, 58% of adult Americans drink alcohol, down from 67% in 2022. A growing number of Americans are giving up alcohol, whether permanently or temporarily, while many restaurants are offering a bigger range of mocktails, and sober bars and non-alcoholic bottle shops are becoming increasingly popular. Water menu The restaurateurs decided to launch the water menu after a tasting experience at the water bar owned by Doran Binder. (courtesy Doran Binder via CNN Newsource) Chef Joseph Rawlins, who founded and runs La Popote with his French partner Gaëlle Radigon, said they had initially been approached about the idea by Doran Binder, who was already supplying the restaurant with their 'house' water under his Crag Spring Water brand. A water sommelier, certified by the Fine Water Academy, Binder first suggested the idea of a water menu to the couple three years ago. 'I laughed it off,' Rawlins told CNN. 'I initially thought it was a ridiculous idea.' But when Binder invited the couple to a tasting at the 'water bar' he owns in the Peak District, a national park in north-central England, they were sold. 'It was mind-blowing,' Rawlins said of the experience, adding that he now believes that 'water isn't just water.' At that first tasting, they tried five or six different varieties. 'Then we did a second tasting with exactly the same waters but we paired them with certain foods – like Manchego cheese, Comté cheese, chocolate, Parma ham, olives. Like with a wine, the taste just changed.' The restaurant is the first in Britain to offer a water menu, according to Binder, and one of only a handful in the world. Binder curated La Popote's water menu, which features a selection from across Europe, including Britain, France, Spain and Portugal. Prices range from £5 ($6.80) for a large bottle of his Crag brand to £19 ($26) for The Palace of Vidago, a Portuguese sparkling water. 'The measurement of minerals in water is what drives taste and flavor,' Binder told CNN. That measurement is called Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS, he said. 'Distilled water is zero TDS. It's brilliant for cleaning windows, brilliant for electrical appliances, brilliant for your car battery – rubbish for the human being,' he said, noting that sea water is at the other end of the spectrum with 30,000-40,000 TDS. The restaurant's range goes from 14 TDS in the Lauretana sparkling mineral water from Italy to 3,300 for the Vichy Celastins from France. The French water initially tastes rather salty, Rawlins said. 'Then you put it with something that's quite salty like a Parma ham and they both naturally balance each other out, so the water is not salty anymore and it's a longer-lasting flavor of the ham in your mouth.' How the water is served is also important, Rawlins said. 'We recommend it at room temperature with ice and a slice of lemon. Water is like wine – if it's too cold, it kills all the flavor.' The water menu is giving diners 'another dimension,' he added, noting that 'a lot of people are drinking less now.' Binder, who has never drunk alcohol, agrees. 'There are more and more people who don't drink alcohol, like me. I'm a massive foodie and when I go to a restaurant they can't wait to throw a wine menu in front of my nose, which will never be of interest to me. 'But put a water menu in front of me and now you've opened up a whole new revenue stream. It's appealing to restaurants and it's appealing to more and more health-conscious people and really it's all about the epicurean experience.' Jordan Valinsky contributed to this report.
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
A must-visit hub for Canadian culture and identity in Charlottetown: ‘It's such a gift'
Alan Doyle was still a young musician when he shared a stage with East Coast icons Lennie Gallant and Jimmy Rankin at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, PEI. Was it the storied venue or his stagemates that left him more starstruck? That's hard to say. 'It was such a big deal for me,' says Doyle, who would go on to lead platinum-selling folk rock band Great Big Sea. 'But things like that happen [at the Confederation Centre] all the time. It's like a beacon. To get the chance to [play] there is like going to Madison Square Garden.' Doyle says that for a kid like him, who grew up in a fishing village of just 500 people in Newfoundland, taking the stage at the Confederation Centre meant a lot. It bucked the long-prevailing idea that the Maritimes didn't have the facilities to support a career in entertainment. 'It's the story of my people. We get on a boat and we go to the mainland,' says Doyle. 'We have to leave Atlantic Canada if we want to be professional artists. We certainly can't do it here… right? Well, yes you can.' This summer, Doyle is starring at the Centre in an original Canadian musical, Tell Tale Harbour, a feel-good East Coast tale that he also co-wrote. It's a full-circle moment for Doyle, who is now an honorary chair of the Centre's national revitalization campaign that will support the Centre's mission as a gathering place for Canadians to discuss important issues. He says the current national mood has made him even more proud and excited to be involved and wants Canadians to know that the Confederation Centre is more than just for the arts – it's a place to have your say about Canada's future. 'I don't feel like I've lived through a time like this, where Canadians are really looking inward, real hard, with love and passion,' he says. 'Global events have made us all go, 'Well, what have we got?' And that's cool.' Built to commemorate 100 years since the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, which led to Canada's confederation, the Confederation Centre of the Arts stands next to the building where leaders once began planning the creation of a new nation. True to its spirit, it was funded in 1964 by contributions from provincial and federal governments totaling 30 cents for every Canadian. In the years since 1964, the Centre – which takes up an entire city block and houses arts education and heritage programming, a contemporary art gallery and theatres that rival anything you'd find in Toronto or New York – has stayed true to its original vision as a national hub for celebrating Canadian culture, creativity and community. A pivotal institution fostering Canadian unity, dialogue and cultural innovation, the Centre welcomes more than 260,000 visitors a year and houses 17,000 cultural artifacts in its collection, including L.M. Montgomery's original manuscript of Anne of Green Gables. The Centre has launched over 80 original Canadian musicals through its flagship event, the Charlottetown Festival, and hosts important conversations about Canadian identity through the annual Charlottetown Forum. Each year, the Symons Medal Presentation celebrates Canadians who have made an exceptional contribution to Canadian life, with notable recipients including author Miriam Toews, human rights activist Stephen Lewis, environmental champion Dr. David Suzuki and the late Senator and Justice Murray Sinclair. 'The people [who developed] the Centre had the foresight to say, 'How do we build a monument to this country that lives on and continues to be relevant?'' says Confederation Centre of the Arts CEO Steve Bellamy, who grew up attending theatre productions there as a local kid. 'And what better way to stay relevant than by exploring our most important issues as a diverse country through conversation, art and storytelling?' Bellamy says he considers it a privilege to work at the Centre. 'It is an honour to work in this place that was built by every Canadian, and to share it with Canadians and visitors from around the world,' he says. It's a vibrant blend of Canadian culture and creativity. This summer, a deep dive into Eastern Canada's hip hop history shares gallery space with the first-ever retrospective of Black New Brunswick artist Edward Mitchell Bannister. Just steps away, kids can jump into workshops to dance, paint or perform. Down the hall, you can take in the smash-hit musical Million Dollar Quartet or a pay-what-you-can performance of The Creator's Plan by the Mi'kmaq Heritage Actors. Then, book your ticket for a historically costumed walking tour of Charlottetown and get an immersive look at Canadian history. With all this and Doyle's Tell Tale Harbour on offer, there's never been a better time to visit, says Bellamy. The Confederation Centre of the Arts is embarking on an ambitious $71.5-million-dollar rejuvenation project, designed to ensure it can support Canadians through culture and conversation for another 60 years. Bellamy points out that, by coincidence, this effort is coming at another inflection point in our country's history. 'Given everything that's going on in the world, we're re-connecting with the pride in just how lucky we are to have this country and to be together,' says Bellamy. Canadians are being invited to contribute to the project, which will fund a new cultural leadership institute where individuals from across Canada can come together for dialogue and discussion, as well as expanded facilities for artistic development and training. These new facilities will help the Centre do what it does best, says Bellamy: Foster an understanding of Canada's past and present while building a stronger future. 'Building spaces and programs for new Canadian work, innovation and leadership development is one way we can do our part to strengthen and improve the country for the future,' Bellamy says. Alan Doyle says he's excited to see what the rejuvenation project will mean for the Centre. 'I always say the same thing about this place: I can't believe we have it where we have it,' he says. 'I'm grateful it's getting a fresh coat of paint.' He adds: 'I never in my life thought I'd get to do half the stuff I've done, and I certainly never thought I'd get to do it this close to home. It's singular and it's a blessing. It's such a gift.' Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Confederation Centre of the Arts. The Globe's editorial department was not involved.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Taylor Swift's new album comes on cassette. Who is buying those?
New York — When Taylor Swift's releases her new album, 'Life of a Showgirl,' in October, it can be heard on the usual places, including streaming, vinyl and…cassette tape? The cassette tape was once one of the most common ways to listen to music, overtaking vinyl in the 1980s before being surpassed by CDs. But the physical audio format has become an artifact of a bygone era, giving way to the convenience of streaming. Or, that's what many thought. In 2023, 436,400 cassettes were sold in the United States, according to the most recent data available from Luminate, an entertainment data firm. Although that's a far cry from the 440 million cassettes sold in the 1980s, it's a sharp increase from the 80,720 cassettes sold in 2015 and a notable revival for a format that had been all but written off. Cassettes might not be experiencing the resurgence of vinyls or even CDs, but they are making a bit of a comeback, spurred by fans wanting an intimate experience with music and nostalgia, said Charlie Kaplan, owner of online store Tapehead City. 'People just like having something you can hold and keep, especially now when everything's just a rented file on your phone,' Kaplan told CNN. 'Tapes provide a different type of listening experience — not perfect, but that's part of it. Flip it over, look at the art and listen all the way through. You connect with the music with more of your senses,' he said. Influence of the 'super fans' Leading the trend are so-called 'super fans,' who account for 18% of music listeners in the United States, according to a recent report from Luminate. 'Super fans' engage with their favorite artist in at least five different ways, including streaming, attending a concert, and physically purchasing their music (like cassettes or CDs). Also, they spend $39 per month on those purchases, 105% more than the average fan. These hyper-engaged fans are mostly Gen Z, with the top-selling cassette sales in 2025 coming from top 40 artists, like Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX, Luminate's data revealed. Gen Z is also the biggest demographic of US music listeners to buy cassettes, with 9% purchasing one in the past year. Kori Fuerst, the owner of Retrospekt, an online store that revives retro technology, said that a 'vast majority' of buyers for cassettes are millennials, Gen Z and Gen Y — all of whom 'are looking for more opportunities to put their phone down and interact with music in a way that doesn't require streaming.' 'With a cassette tape, it's not easy to skip around between songs,' she told CNN. 'You have to listen to the album all the way through, stopping to flip the tape halfway through. These tangible experiences are a nice reprieve from the perfect curation of a streamed playlist.' A 'deeper connection' But music fans are not ditching streaming. Rather, cassettes and other physical media are seen as complementary components. 'Fans are looking for a deeper connection to artists and their work, much like other forms of collectible artist merchandise,' said Matt Bass, vice president of data and research for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). RIAA stopped tracking cassette sales as a separate category in 2008, but Bass told CNN that sales of physical formats (including vinyls, CDs and cassettes) rose 5% to $2 billion in 2024. Swift, meanwhile, isn't breaking ground by releasing an album on cassette. In 2023, re-recorded versions of '1989 (Taylor's Version)' sold 17,500 copies and 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' sold 11,500 copies, according to Billboard. Kaplan said he's not surprised that one of the biggest artists in the world would release a new album on cassette, adding that he's seen this trend on the rise since opening his store about a decade ago. Buyers are a mix, he said, from older people rebuying albums they had as kids to younger folks just getting started. 'Just like Taylor Swift, tons of new music is coming out on cassette too, not just reissues,' he said. 'It's not just nostalgia anymore, it's its own little scene.'
