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NEWS photo fen Smith

TONI’s favourite place is Victoria but our 23 year old’s perfect holiday would be snow bound in a cabin for a

romantic weekend.

SGAP NEWS

Waliace knows rejection

DAVID WALLACE, who portrays Tod Chandler on ‘‘Days of Our Lives,’? knows that just because you’re working steadily doesn’t mean that you’re permanently employed.

Wallace’s role as Tod started out as a two-week stint, but it has since netted the handsome blond actor a three-year contract.

me

DAVID WALLACE

I’ve been in show business for 10 years,”’ says Wallace, ‘‘and I think one of the first things you see is stars in your eyes after you land your first acting job. I landed sev- eral small parts very fast, (in such films as ‘The Coach’ and ‘Money to Burn’), and 1 thought, ‘Hey, I’m going to be a movie star.’ Then 1 didn’t work for a very long time, and that really humbied me. The experience brought me back down to reality.

How does Wallace handle the praise and quick fan adulation he’s garnered from his appearances on ““‘Days’’?

By NANCY M. REINHARDT

**My ego doesn’t get fed through ‘Days’ and my fan mail. | know about rejection. One day you are a big shot, and the next day you’re nobody. I just want to work and to do a good job. 1 want to be remembered as a good actor.””

“My attitude about working on ‘Days’ is that I’m dispensable. They can get rid of me any time they want. You can be replaced tomorrow by someone else, and they will do that little insert at the beginning of the show that says, ‘The role of Tod Chandler is now being played by Joe Blow.”

Expressing his feelings about his “Days’’ character, Wailace says, “T think Tod is a nice guy. He cares for people. I like his sensitiv- ity. What I dislike about the char- acter is that sometimes he's too nice.

“IT was concerned when Tod dropped out of sight a few months ago after his arrest in a drug scam,”’ admits Wallace, ‘but Tod should have a new story line com- ing up this month.”’

Although dedicated to his ca- reer, Wallace, who’s single, doesn't spend every minute of the day honing his craft. He has been taking a little time out to date his ‘Days’? co-star Lisa Trusel (Melissa Jannings).

Rick’s Hideaway caters to working man’s taste

UPPER-middle Lonsdale folk represent the white flour and Wonder bread heart of the Canadian palate.

From 13th Street north to the Upper Levels Highway, restaurants along the Lonsdale strip churn out the steaks, ribs, burgers, pasta and French fries upon which the staid mid-section of the Canadian tum- my has been traditionally weaned.

Try anything fancy up in those parts ‘‘mon sewer and your fan- cy-pants e-scar-golts and patty de fois will be sent packing faster than you can say pardonez-me.”’

Rick van Rikxoort learned the hard way that you don’t mess with things near and dear to the taste buds of Canadians.

He slogged his way up the res- taurant success ladder from delivery boy to manager to owner of the Bravo's restaurant. 1985 Lonsdale, over 242 grueling years,

As owner, he took a long, hard look around and saw his contem- poraries heading off to such energetic and vital new cateries as Earl's Tin Palace, where ap- pearance and atmosphere are as much a part of dining as are food and service.

Bravo's pseudo-medieval pizze- ria and leatherette motif, he fig- ured, was several steps behind con- temporary gastronomic environ- ments.

He commissioned a design team to overhaul his restaurant's interi- or, and traded in its pizza parlor moniker.

Two months ago, the coordi- nated pastels and clean Sines of Rick's Hide-A-Way replaced the dingy Italian Rib and Pasta mish-mash of Bravo’s.

But van Rikxoort went too far. Along with the restaurant’s old look and name, he turfed out the rib, pasta and chicken cacciatore standards revered by area locals.

Bravo’s regulers looked at Rick’s new baby blue menu, wrinkled their noses at the high falutin likes of Poached Salmon, and retreated to eateries with more familiar fare.

In order to stem the quickly receding tide, van Rikxoort fetrieved Bravo's menu from the trash bin and embarked on a nightly campaign of two-for-one entree specialities. His clientele made a tentative return.

Though it featured the 30-odd pizza selection, the manhandling ted meat items from the Charcoal Pit, and the pastas that have sated a generation of after-hours ap- petites and conservative palates, Rick’s Hide-A-Way retained the ambitions of its owner to drag such selection one step up the culi- nary ladder.

To that end, van Rikxoort has unveiled a new menu that he says will satisfy the ribs-lasagne-steak brigade, while slipping in an audi- ble whisper of haute cuisine.

Along with the unsinkable Bak- ed Lasagne ($6.95), the menu now includes Popeye’s Favorite ($7.45), baked spinach and cheese tortellini; the White Anglo Saxon Protestant gastronomic meal-for- all-seasons, Barbecued Ribs with Baked Potatoes ($8.95) and a Seafood Casserole on a bed of fet- tucini ($6.45).

Pizza section has been toned daw to a more workable four main offerings ($6 small to $13.50 large) and a build your own department.

Aware that he might be treading on some sensitive cultural toes, van Rikxoort remains convinced that the restaurant times are a-chang- ing, even in the Canadian heartland.

Prior to my usual Friday even- ing’s round of video sports at nearby Circuit Circus, I wandered

into Rick's Hide-A-Way, lured by the promise of all pastas two for $9.95 and Pizza Burgers two for $5.99,

N

by Timothy Renshaw

With those prices, I threw fi- nancial caution to the wind and opened with Rick’s Hot N’ Spicy chicken wings ($3.95).

Though f had no complaint with the portion, the wings themselves were underdone, while the much

Lt:

Pas Dawes.

vaunted hot n’ spicy sauce was far too tame and far too simple to qualify for cither hot or spicy status.

But a Pizza Burger, complete with ample side of pre-salted French frics, was above average and well worth the $2.99 invest- ment.

Rick’s Hide-A-Way is attemp- ting to add a spark of life to the sleep-walking pace of rib-chicken- steak-n-pasta cuisine and has begun to carve out a reputation in the careful culinary zones of mid- die-upper Lonsdale as the poor man's Earl's.

A good place to go between pay cheques, when appetites whisper for familiar fare in contemporary surroundings. Open every day from 5 p.m. onward, with all menu items two-for-one Monday to Thursday.

In last week’s column, a literary lapse brought on by indigestion had a raft-load of mussels confus- -ed with a ‘‘raft-load of muscles’’. The gaffe was suitably pointed out by a renowned Vancouver Sun columnist, who, in his zeal to dance a humorous jig around it, reported the error to have ap- peared Sunday. The column, such as it was, appeared Friday. Oh well, we all make mistakes.

For those in the middle of com- posing stinging letters to the editor pointing out the erroz, 1 apologize in advance. To my old English teachers, 1 get down on hands and knees. To Doug Collins, I look forward to seeing the gaffe in your next column on journalistic il- literacy.

fe Waka old ADDING 4 bit of pizzazz to a meat and potatoes menu, Rick van

Rixoort of Rick’s Hideaway displays a popular seafood dish. The res- taurant serves up healthy helpings of steak, pasta and pizza.

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