The Culture Vulture

She lives and breathes Brahms, summers at Stratford and won’t leave the house without at least two Penguin Classics in her purse.

10 a.m. Begin your day with a latte ($2.75) and melt-in-your-mouth ham-and-cheese croissants ($3 each) at Clafouti. Bring The New York Times along and let Mom have first crack at the crossword.

11 a.m. Browse the best-sellers at Type (883 Queen St. W., 416-366-8973), the city’s coziest book shop. A Memoir of Friendship: The Letters Between Carol Shields and Blanche Howard ($35) will please Canadiana completists, while hipper moms will gush over the new Haruki Murakami novel, After Dark ($28, available May 8).

Noon. The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art hosts the Contact Photography Festival’s central exhibit, The Constructed Image. The free show features compelling work by Thomas Demand, Sam Taylor-Wood, Scott McFarland and others.

2 p.m. At the Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, check out a matinée performance ($10) of Anthony Minghella’s first play, Whale Music, the story of friends who bond over the unplanned pregnancy of one of their members. The all-female cast and crew includes director Rosemary Dunsmore, as well as actors Rosa Laborde and Melissa-Jane Shaw.

6 p.m. Catch your breath and indulge in some culinary art at Coca. The tapas—everything from mackerel dressed with orange and arugula to cedar-pressed horse meat, $5–$15—are perfect for sharing.

8 p.m. Beguiling Toronto-based folk and jazz vocalist Lori Cullen performs a special Mother’s Day show ($17) at Harbourfront Centre, including songs from her Juno-nominated CD, Calling for Rain.