Photos by Catherine Goce

In 2013, Culantro Peruvian Cookery opened up on King William Street, hoping to help Hamiltonians discover Peruvian cuisine. Three years later, the restaurant moved locations to Main Street East, but the new venue has not changed its goal to cook up authentic Peruvian food for the residents of the city it loves.

The restaurant’s chef and owner is Juan Castillo, who has a long history of working in restaurants. When his family moved from Lima, Peru to San Francisco, California when he was a teenager, Castillo began working in restaurants as a dishwasher. In time, he realized that the kitchen was where he wanted to be.

Castillo’s love of cooking, however, didn’t start in San Franciscan restaurants but in his mother’s kitchen. The recipes that he uses belonged to his grandmother and mother. He was raised by and among chefs, with his family currently operating the Limon Rotisserie restaurants in San Francisco and Fresno.

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Cooking was an inspiration… growing up. My mom used to cook all the time… Sunday was the day that everybody in the family would come over, uncles [and] aunts. My mom was one of the best cooks in the family so everybody asked her to make things for Christmas or birthdays... Growing up we always [had] people cooking in the house,” Castillo explained.

Castillo left California for love over 10 years ago and settled in the north end of Hamilton with his wife and daughter. The city has always felt like home to him as it reminds him of San Francisco and has hot summers like Peru.

Culantro is the only Peruvian restaurant in Hamilton. Castillo recognizes that the cuisine of his home country is largely undiscovered but, in his research before opening the restaurant, found that many Hamiltonians have experience with Peruvian or Latin American food.

Castillo wants all patrons to feel comfortable in the family-friendly restaurant, regardless of whether or not they have tried Peruvian food in the past. Not only is the atmosphere welcoming to families and students alike, but the affordable menu is too. Most appetizers are under $10 and most main courses are under $20.

In the last year Culantro has added new items to the small menu including the slow-roasted lamb shank and the Peruvian platter. Castillo also enjoys exploring new ideas in the kitchen.

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“[I like] the inspiration that you get from people. A lot of people come over here asking you for certain things that you don't have or… they give you feedback. I think that's what I like, the challenge of having something new when I come over to work, having a kitchen that I can make whatever I want. That day if I want to change it, I'll change it… [T]he liberty that I have with that is amazing,” Castillo explained.

Culantro aims to use the freshest and most authentic ingredients. Key Peruvian ingredients are sourced directly from Peru such as the Peruvian aji peppers, Peruvian soft drinks and the purple corn for Chicha Morada, a Peruvian corn drink. For other main ingredients, Culantro tries its best to source locally from places such as the Hamilton Farmers’ Market.

It is not just local farmers that Culantro supports but local charitable organizations as well. They have supported churches and fundraising events, such as the Annual Salsa for Heart in 2016. The city has inspired Castillo to give back.

The cookery is also a place where members of the community can gather. The restaurant regularly hosts open mic nights and live music performances. There have also been special celebrations for occasions such as Peruvian Independence Day.

Culantro is currently operating with a small staff consisting of Castillo, manager Susan Abbey and waitress Julianna Lachance. But don’t let the small venue, menu or staff fool you this restaurant is serving up big flavours, big passion and big heart to the community.

 

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In a few weeks, the question of whether Hamilton should host private cannabis stores goes before the city’s planning committee.

Within the year before marijuana was legalized, the number of marijuana dispensaries operating in Hamilton had nearly tripled. With nearly 80 dispensaries popping up around the city, Hamilton had the most dispensaries per capita across Ontario, a testament to how huge the weed market really is in our city.

Right now, the only legal way to buy recreational cannabis is through the Ontario Cannabis Store’s website. Come April 2019, the province will roll out a tightly regulated, private retail model which will see the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario granting licenses to private retailers.

Until then, effectively speaking, cannabis dispensaries in Hamilton are illegal and unregulated. But what will happen to the remaining 21 dispensaries that the city has left?

In a presentation in January 2018 by Supt. Ryan Diodati, head of Hamilton’s police’s investigative services, Supt. Diodati noted that nearly 130 hours of staffing time had been invested in one investigation that had taken place in December 2017.

In many cases like this, that same dispensary could reopen the next day, ultimately demonstrating that overall, raids and closures resolve to be ineffective ways to shut down the climbing number of dispensaries across the city.

Municipal governments have until January to opt out of private cannabis stores within their jurisdictions, and there has been lots of talk within city council as to what will happen in April 2019.

Many councillors have put forward their concerns about the fate of dispensaries in the city. Namely Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla, who put forward a motion surrounding the fact that a lack of sustainable revenue sharing from the province in relation to the retail sale of cannabis to municipalities will amplify the regressive downloading crisis in Hamilton.

Considering the effect of nearly 130 hours of police staffing time that goes into one investigation and considering just how obsolete this work really is in shutting dispensaries down, where do we go from here?

Is there a reasonable point in shutting down the remaining dispensaries in Hamilton if they have the resources to open up again within hours? Is there a point to reallocating resources from our police department towards something that has proven to be ineffective?

As of April 2019, storefront dispensaries will have to be licensed by the province, but there will be no cap on the number of outlets within the city. Instead of wasting resources, energy and money on eliminating existing dispensaries within Hamilton, providing these businesses with a license would mean a more accessible and regulated approach to legalization.  

The city’s planning committee will decide whether they want to host private cannabis stores on Dec. 11.  

 

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By: Antonio Vianna

Some cities are too big, some cities are too small. Some cities are neither big enough to be too big, nor small enough to be too small.

This statement points to the existence of one specific kind of town that is clearly not a small one, but might display some characteristics of a tiny village.

At the same time, it can have access to certain resources that are commonly associated with a huge metropolis, such as different cultures from abroad, advanced technology and complex urban structures.

These big little cities, among which I include Hamilton, define a phenomena that I call regional cosmopolitanism.

Regional metropolis  are not new.

Since Marshall McLuhan’s cosmovision of the global village, many dreamed of a future where the whole world could feel like being part of the same community.

When the Internet made this dream come true in certain senses, people from not-so-big cities had already experienced a similar feeling.

In both cities you can see densely populated urban landscapes living side by side with nature and laid-back sceneries, like Campinas’ green hills or Hamilton’s waterfalls.

Living in a big city that feels local has its perks. Although it may have a really large area, it is very likely to meet people you know wherever you go.

It doesn’t matter if you move through the different regions within these cities. Everywhere feels like an extension of your neighbourhood and you are probably going to find that guy that studied with you in high school, that friend of your family whose name you’ve forgotten or familiar faces downtown.

I am from a city in Brazil called Campinas, which is as close to São Paulo (our biggest city) as Hamilton is close to Toronto in distance and in size.

Like Hamilton, Campinas is fairly large, but the fact that there is a world-class metropolis next door sometimes overshadows its greatness.

I can’t say my city has as many things to do compared her big sister, but there are still a lot of different places to go, restaurants from all over the world, more than one sports team to support and those weird local stories that, somehow, everyone that lives there knows.

For example, Campinas is also known as Princess of the West due to its important role as commodity producer in the past.

Hamilton has the title of Steel Town for similar reasons. In both cities you can see densely populated urban landscapes living side by side with nature and laid-back sceneries, like Campinas’ green hills or Hamilton’s waterfalls.

The cosmopolitan regional cities blends things from the countryside with things from capitals in a very idiosyncratic way.

It is possible that some of these characteristics of the city are reflected in its inhabitants. The realm of psychogeography studies that.

The Ancient Greeks, for example, developed a much more fragmentary political mind than the cosmopolitan Romans, following the geographical isolated formations of their land.

This also helps explain the stereotype that people from the countryside tend to be more small-minded and provincial, whilst people from central towns usually are more snobby and individualistic.

Cosmoregional cities defy these stereotypes, being home of people that can have good and bad qualities of both.

If you live in a big city that feels like a village, it’s probably easier to gather up your friends and maybe harder to be alone even when you want to.

Everywhere is like an extension of that central square, the common place where people meet to hang out, feed the pigeons and gossip about someone else’s life.

In Hamilton, I have learned to recognize, love and participate of a cosmoregional polis. People from my city in Brazil have developed the unhealthy habit of complaining about their own town.

The only exception being a significant population who have never lived anywhere else.

I do think that criticism is important for a democratic life, even in small and not-so-small communities, but Hamiltonians showed me better and more efficient ways to do that.

Hamilton gives more space to local media, listens to the voices its people, supports local magazines, newspapers, TV channels, participates in local assemblies to discuss common issues and supports local businesses and artists.

This is good for the regional culture and economy as a whole, among many other things.

Finally, I think that cosmopolitan regionalism is a distinctive feature of the geography cities like Hamilton and Campinas share.

These cities should share more stories, to see how much they have in common, learn from their differences and be proud of their uniqueness: after all, neither super-big nor super-small cities are capable of being as cosmoregional as we are.

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Kacper Niburski / Silhouette Staff

My bike is hardly fashionable. Each time I ride the metallic mammoth, the gears remain a curious experiment long forgotten, the chain rattles back and forth like the coming of the Grim Reaper, and the seat shifts, slithers and shakes uncontrollably.

I’ve had it since I was eleven and I remember the same things it remembers. The bright sun. The blue sky. Birds singing. Cities fading. Races. Friends. Dares. Accidents. Sadness. Pain. Happiness. Smiles.

I’ve also forgotten what it has forgotten. In the cascade of time, my bike and my memories have corroded. Somewhere in between the kaleidoscope of recollections and the imaginary games of knight jousting with pool noodles, I became bigger than my bike. Mountains became hills; hills became lumps; lumps became flat fields.

I’ve grown, and with my growth, the mysticism and thrill of everyday – like the vibrancy of my bike – has been lost. Salt now licks the wounds of both each winter, and I wonder if my bike will survive until spring. I wonder if I will too.

Because nowadays when I ride, my knees buckle, I feel uncomfortable in my seat and the timelessness I once felt has been replaced with the realization that time always passes. I’m getting older and my bike is too. It, like me, is becoming a fossil that’ll one day be dug up in somebody’s garage.

Yet despite looking no different than the functionless disaster of two hula-hoops strung together, I still maze my bike to school everyday. It’s not because of what my bike has been through nor is it because I hope to rekindle that childlike majesty of freedom. Though I could argue that I still feel like I’m flying through the guileless air while I’m cycling, this wouldn’t be the truth. I just don’t have brakes anymore.

Instead, I cycle every day because besides being the most efficient, healthy mode of travel, it is incredibly accessible. Sure, I’m far from the ideal, Hollywood-esque hip cyclist; I wear sweat pants and clothes that could easily get stuck in the cranks, I drift along with no hands on my handlebars and I’m an organ donor waiting to happen. No doubt.

But in a city like Hamilton, even with such inept cyclists as myself, I feel as though biking should be the norm if only because cars seem so entirely superfluous. Bikes are the engines of invention without the need for pollution. Grant Peterson said it best: “Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world.”

I’ll grant there are geographical, topographical and economic considerations to be taken into account when deciding on bicycling. In Hamilton alone, one cannot easily cycle from the Mountain (where I live) to McMaster. But these are not good arguments against biking; in fact, they suggest the opposite. They are consequences of a city trying to backpedal in an attempt to go forward.

Hamilton has rarely had pro-bike policies. Take Main Street West or King Street West as examples. Despite being the main roads for a zoo of students, both fail to accommodate cyclists with bike lanes. Even in the core of McMaster, bike lanes are not indicated by signs but by basic suggestion. This is commonplace throughout the city. In the downtown core, a report by the city of Hamilton, “Cycling Network Strategy”, found that the most common accidents happen in those without bike lanes. More importantly, however, was the finding that people do not cycle due to a combination of lack of convenience and perceived safety concerns without bike lanes.

Certainly, these concerns are pertinent to a would-be cyclist. At the same time, however, it is worth asking whether bike lanes are the best measure for all Hamiltonians. Without a doubt, it improves cyclist’s accessibility by slowly developing a well-integrated network that is both perceived to be safer and convenient.

Yet while increasing the perception of safety, some studies have found that bike lanes make riding less safe as they follow loosely fitting vehicular policy. This forgets that reconstructing roads with segregated bike lanes removes parking lots in front of already struggling downtown businesses, which suggests an equity and economical regression for the whole community.

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut answer in this debate. Yet even with such ambiguity, the biking culture seems to be growing in Hamilton and McMaster especially.

This is seen in the development of the Arts and Science class 3BB3, where students have the chance to investigate the political, social and economical ramifications of the bicycle. In the coming weeks, they will present a “Bike Rodeo” in front of University Hall that is meant to engage both the McMaster community and the broader city with pro-bike spirit and knowledge.

While a small accomplishment in its own right, the Rodeo is the tricycle wheels needed to put Hamilton’s cycling zeitgeist on the right track – one that even my clunky, dilapidated, jarring stead, with all it’s bumps, scratches and memories, will be able to fit into. At least, until the next winter.

In preparation for Hurricane Sandy’s anticipated effects on Hamilton early this week, which include high winds and potential flooding, the City has taken some measures to contain the heavy rainfall forecasted for the region.

The City says the high amount of rain has the potential to overwhelm Hamilton’s sewer system and may cause basement flooding.

Road crews have inspected and cleared storm inlets and outlets, catch basins, culverts and outfalls.

The City advises residents to do the following:

If severe weather conditions arise, the University may have to close as per its storm closure policy. McMaster officials would strive to confirm a closure by 5:30 a.m., and the decision would be posted on the Daily News website.

The weather conditions would have to pose a danger to students, staff and faculty on campus or prevent large numbers from entering and leaving campus.

Hamilton is forecasted to get between 20 and 30 mm of rain between Monday and Tuesday afternoon. Currently, severe wind warnings are in place for cities in the GTA. Winds are expected to gust between 60 and 100 km/h in Hamilton starting Monday evening.

Farzeen Foda

Senior News Editor

Imagine making your usual half-hour trek to school in five minutes.

Imagine tackling this journey to school not on your own two feet, or with your bike, not even with the loyal but often tardy HSR transit bus, but with a cross-breed vehicle- a mix between a bus and a train.

Hamilton’s proposed Light Rail Transit (LRT) is expected to be a rapid line of transit directly linking the City’s downtown core with the McMaster campus.

This rapid mode of transportation does not have to be a figment of the imagination, and as of Oct. 14, Hamilton City Council re-established their commitment to the project that has projected gains for McMaster students and the City of Hamilton.

Numerous groups, including the Chamber of Commerce and Metrolinx, as well as individuals heavily involved in the project, shared their insights in an effort to promote the prospect of the LRT.

A concluding vote saw almost unanimous support for the LRT.

The criticisms of the project revolve primarily around the cost to taxpayers, calling for a more careful     analysis of the plan’s benefits.

“There have been no funding promises, but it is something the City is going to pursue,” said Alicia Ali, MSU VP (Education).

She explained that the prospect of a Light Rail Transit system through Hamilton began in 2007, when the province committed $17 billion toward the funding for the facility, to be established within the GTA.

The project gained immense support at the time, giving way to many groups that began looking to the finer details and logistics of the matter, who were met with a shock this summer when the LRT was facing reconsideration.

“There was a lot of talk as to whether the city would actually pursue the LRT, or if they were going in a different direction,” said Ali.

Discussions surfaced because Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina openly stated that his focus would be the implementation of a GOTransit system running from Hamilton to Toronto.

Both the LRT and the GOTransit system would serve McMaster in different but equally important ways, noted Ali, outlining the benefits of each transit facility, however the payback will not be seen for another 15 to 20 years.

With a significant number of McMaster students commuting from various cities around the GTA, a trend that is not expected to reduce, a GOTransit system running between Hamilton and Toronto would certainly lead to substantial gains.

Meanwhile, the LRT would ease the integration of McMaster students into the city, consequently increasing the likelihood of graduate retention, and contributing to the revitalization of the City’s downtown core, a strong long-term priority for Hamilton.

To put pressure on council to follow through with their re-affirmed commitment, the MSU is in the process of launching a social media campaign to give students a say in the matter.

“When you’re standing at a bus stop and four buses pass you by, or you’ve been waiting an hour for a bus, all you have to do it is tweet that you’re waiting for the bus, and hash tag ‘#WeNeedLRT’,” said Ali.

Although the implementation of a Light Rail Transit system through Hamilton will not be seen for at least another 15 to 20 years, the project will only gain momentum with pressure on the part of the University and its students to make it a reality.

Careful evaluation has finally concluded that such a facility would benefit all parties involved and would be neatly in line with the goals of the University and the City of Hamilton.

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