We now return to your scheduled programming…
As previously mentioned my trip from Santa Fe to Toronto was less than ideal thanks to United Airlines deciding to sell my seat to someone else and then proceeding to send my luggage off to Washington to see the president. The following day however started off promisingly with a cold wet nose wake up call, and news from Mardi that my luggage had been located and was currently arriving in Toronto to be delivered to me some time that day (hopefully with Tim Tams unpillaged).
School Bakery and Cafe
The day continued as well as it began, with a delicious brunch at School Bakery and Cafe, where we were joined by Krys of Rosewood Estates Winery. Well, it was a largely delicious brunch although I made an error in my dish selection which I blame on Mr Neil. I was tossing up between the eggs benny and the egg white shrimp frittata, and he told me to go with the benny but I rebelled and went with the frittata. It was good, and I loved the sweet potatoes on the side, but overall the dish was a little lacking in flavour and I wished that Neil had tried the old reverse psychology on me.
Egg white frittata of shrimp with oven roast tomatoes and spinach with lemon tinted greens ($18)
The others were far more decisive in their breakfast selection, and were all very happy with their choices. I was not surprised. Mardi went with the “overstuffed popover” – yes, OVERstuffed, not just pleasantly stuffed – while Krys and Neil went with the “super cheesy french toast”. I really should have known about my ordering error due to the lack of hyperbole in the description of my dish.
Overstuffed popover with Gruyere, smoked bacon and greens
Super cheesy French toast with smoked bacon and greens ($13)
The restaurant had a pretty cool setup, with the school theme being expressed in the serving of maple syrup in little beakers, various things written up on blackboards, the waitresses dressed in school attire (leaning more towards the Brittney Spears style than my Catholic school getup) and a hopscotch path leading you up to the toilets where you have to identify with either Dick or Jane. I was easily able to figure out that behind Dick’s door I would be faced with unpleasant smells and startled men, unlike some places where the toilet door symbols are some sort of aptitude test, paralysing you with uncertainty about which of the funny pictures or phrases is meant to represent your gender.
Jane's counterpart
After we had all passed the gender assignment test, it was off to The Village Cheesemonger to test my claims of being unable to face another gram of cheese as long as I shall live. I surprised myself by not only tasting a few of the local and international cheeses on offer but also rather enjoying them. I guess they were so far removed (like chalk and cheese) from the grated unidentifiable yellowness that had been filling my arteries in Santa Fe that I was able to mentally separate them (like curds and whey).
The afternoon carried on swimmingly, consisting of going for a walk through Mardi and Neil’s neighbourhood where we found a local bar spruiking the afternoon’s world cup game of “Germany vs. Austria”, then finding ourselves wishing this was actually true as we then watched Germany thrash us. The loss, combined with the drone of vuvuzelas and my continued separation from my suitcase of Tim Tams must have been a bit too much for me because I then had a wee kip, during which time my luggage was finally delivered and Mardi got cooking for our contribution to the latest international incident – noodles!
OK, so perhaps “our” contribution is a bit of a stretch, given that all the assistance I offered was to remain asleep whilst Mardi did all the hard work, though I did manage to emerge in plenty of time to socialise over a few drinks and eat the fruits of her labour.
A top day all round, and the good times continued the next day…
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
I just want to point out that the cold wet nose waking Conor up did not belong to me!
And you are right – your dish at School must not have been the best choice due to its lack of superlatives. Why didn’t we think of that???
Ah yes, perhaps I should have been a little clearer about that :D
I am not to blame for not noticing the lack of superlatives! I was still recovering from Uniteditis! Oh foolish me and my lack of yolky ordering..
I hate to mention it Connor but it looked like your dish lacked a certain amount of cheesy-ness that the other choices contained!
Patty, you are totally right. I think my body was rebelling against the thought of any possible cheese. Any possible yolk either, apparently.
Oh travel dramas… I can’t imagine how annoying that all would be.
I love the concept of this cafe! …. and the overstuffed popover looks damn fiiiine :P
Shellie, the answer is super annoying. In fact, it was as annoying as that popover was fine :D
I will say one thing that your dish has over its competitors (or the popover, at least): it doesn’t look like it’s vomiting. Now that’s a win, surely?
Hurrah hurrah hurrah, travel posts! Hurrah!
A ha!! Brilliant! If only I had thought of that at the time. Non vomity food, oh yes.
More on their way! Hurrah you like them! Hurrah indeed!
Overstuffed popover with Gruyere, smoked bacon and greens!!!!!!!!! I am just jealous that you get to spend time with Mardi!
You should be jealous, Penny.. it was awesome! You should come next time! Imagine all the overstuffed things we could eat!
Is it just me or do the slices of super cheesy French toast look incredible huge and remarkably like pizza? They look like very generous servings too.
They were incredibly huge, and yes quite pizza-like also. My was remarkably unpizza-like. Still pretty huge though!
Glad your luggage turned up. I am an eggs benny fan myself, so I would have had that.
Thanks! Yes, well, I think we can all agree I was an ordering fool.
You had me at super-cheesey-french-toast. I would have asked for extra cheese on the side! ha! greedy or what?
Haha, I would’ve liked to have seen the result, Amy! Maybe they could have stuffed it with cheese for you too.
Well you can’t really attach very many appetizing superlatives to an egg white anything can you? It’s super whitey! It’s not too eggy! Nope, that doesn’t work at all. I hope everyone shared with you!!
Mmmmmmmmm, not too eggy. Nope, don’t think we’ll be reading that on a menu anytime soon.
I actually ate all my breaky, so no sharing was required. I don’t think I ate it too begrudgingly either.
That cheesy French toast would be most welcome right now, as I’m snuggling beneath a blanket on the couch.
And, hey, no photo of the cold, wet-nosed alarm clock?
Funny you should say that.. I’m reading this snuggled underneath a blankie on the couch. Let me know when it’s spring.
Ah crap, I’ve dropped the ball again with the photos! Didn’t have the brainpower when woken to grab my camera, and somehow I managed to go the whole visit without photographing the superstar Cleo!
Oh shame about your dish being lacklustre, but at least now you know to go for the dishes that have exaggerated names!
I’ve learnt my lesson, Betty!
Hi Conor,
Hope that you had a lovely time in T.O.. I haven’t been there in ages, it’s definitely been a while. Mardi’s breakfast was insane! I love me some popovers. Sorry to hear that your breakfast was underwhelming :(
hahaha… glad you had some cheese. You just can’t say no. It’s so hypnotic.
I surely did, thanks Jenn! Hopefully won’t be too long before I’m back there again.
You’re right about the cheese. There’s no point resisting.
Another fun read to brighten my boring work morning! You must have a good memory to get all of that down, or were you so traumatised by the lost luggage and seat bumping that you’ll never forget?
Hooray! :) Oh, I’ll never forget that day despite trying my best to wipe it from my memory. Luckily I have better memories to try and overwrite them with.
Look at that French toast!!! It certainly looks super, and cheesy.
I have never been able to get my head around the maple syrup on bacon thing though so I wonder how I would far in Canada!
Jo, I was definitely looking at it, that’s for sure ;)
You know, I didn’t quite get the maple syrup bacon thing either, until I tried it. It’s weirdly good. Certainly a “sometimes food”, in the words of the Cookie Monster.
Too bad it didn’t have enough flavor – it definitely looks good!
I guess that’s half the battle, but not the half I was after.
Very nice article, thanks! I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed. Please keep up posting.
My pleasure, thanks very much for reading and subscribing!
hmmm, more cheese! Never had cheesey french tiat, but that looks damn good.
Adrian, I was filled with orderer’s remorse when I laid eyes on it.
Always go with the cheese, Conor. Always go with the CHEESE!
Denise, why weren’t you around to guide me? Actually, never mind, I clearly was in no mood to take advice. Just as well you weren’t there too, I would have really rebelled and ordered nothing at all!
We were there yesterday for brunch as you know and I ordered the egg white frittata and can confirm that whilst it was very delicious (and just the light sort of breakfast I was looking for) it does, indeed lack cheese. Neil had a sausage, potato and brie omelette which did not!
Yes, Mardi, I do indeed know this. I knew this very clearly when you were there, wishing myself also there to join you so I could get some upstream benni in my belly. Continually thwarted by the bounds of space and time, that is I.
Maybe if you want to have it again later you could smuggle in some cheese.
I find the idea of a sausage, potato and brie omelette somewhat alarming. There’s a lot going on there!
And just “for the record”, the wet nose did not belong to Mr. Neil, either…
Someone needs to take ownership of this wet nose. If only Cleo could use a keyboard.
MEOW!
Cleo wants to know…is that your pink nail polish in the bathroom?
(Cleo, do you need me to take the rap for you? Not allowed to use nail polish yet hey?)
Yes! Yes, it is mine! I uh, left it there when I was replacing the toothbrush and little tube of chalky toothpaste. Oh gosh darnit, it was my favourite too. What a shame. I guess you’ll just have to hang onto it. It is best to store that particular type of nail polish in an airy yet humid environment – say, like near where a cat might keep her water bowl and other belongings, for instance.
P.S. I wish I had known about the CMC blog when it was in its heyday.
Aww you guys are so lucky to have met up! I would have jumped at the chance to meet either of you! :D
Aw thanks Lorraine, same to you :) If only we could have had a mega rendezvous in Montreal!