The Carleton Restaurant

Sick of listening to lame, piped-in restaurant music? So is Mike Campbell. He's got big music-related plans for his new business, The Carleton Restaurant (1685 Argyle). "We've got lots of speakers, so it's not too loud in one place and not loud enough in another; I can control the sound everywhere; I can make different playlists for every day of the week," says Campbell. "It's a lot of fun for me...it'll be like programming my own private radio station." All this makes sense, of course: The Carleton's the venture of Campbell and co-owner Mike Rhodes. Back in the day, the pair used to host Mike & Mike's Excellent X-Canada Adventures, on MuchMusic. Campbell's also hoping to recruit his musician friends to craft their own playlists for the restaurant: "Music could be at the suggestion of John K. Samson from The Weakerthans," he teases. The restaurant will also be hosting a super-impressive live show each month. There's solo sets from Joel Plaskett scheduled for May 25 and 26. Next month: Jill Barber. The Carleton's also no slouch in the food department---watch for a wide variety of eats, including pork tenderloin with a pork-and-stilton-cheese sauce, maple-blackened salmon, vegetarian dishes, daily risottos and more. The decor's pretty swanky, too---each table has its own dimmable spotlight, the floors are covered with acoustic-friendly cork,and the super-fancy stone walls are laden with tons of memorabilia from the Mike & Mike days. My walls are laden with pictures of my cat. Give the restaurant a call at 422-6335.