10 FEB - Saving Grace / Updates in Facebook.

Nat, sign your arse up!

I'm on facebook! so is Jen. I started a bananacake brunch league group.

I'm a slacker!
It's almost time for our next brunch and i haven't posted about the last one, ah well, it's been a busy month..(excuses excuses).
I felt a bit like 'Toast' out here at queen and carlaw...but i thought i'd try to find somewhere that NONE of us have been before. So I picked 'Art Square Café'

Art Square
334 Dundas W at McCaul
416-364-9611
www.artsquare.ca

I kinda cheated, it was in Now magazines 'ultimate brunch guide' and it starts with 'A' so it's at the top. Hey this is from the girl who picks wine based on how ugly the label is...at least i'll try anything! It's also close to the art gallery and I thought maybe we could hit the Ansel Adams exhibit afterward if we felt like it.

Anyway, Art Square is cute: there's a little gallery at the front. The art wasn't my cup of coffee but we aren't writin' about art here are we? The little creperie in the back seats around 20 is decked out in grass green and lime green and orange...a pretty startling colour combo first thing in the morning, but the black tables and chairs balanced it out a bit. The menu was interesting. It's a Creperie so you pretty much don't have a choice in that department. But the choice of differrent crepes, savoury or sweet, is really interesting. (you can se the menu on their website).


Both Nat and Sue raved about the 'Grilled chicken and mayan dark chocolate" that they had, i'm sure they'll post more detail. In a flash of patriotism i had the 'Canadian Breakfast', it was good but it arrived well after everyone else had finished their breakfast. It could have been the best brunch in the world, but leaving one person sitting there throughout the meal and bringing it that late is pretty inexcusable. Warning: the buckwheat crepe option is insanely filling. But it WAS fun watching nat vehemently tackle her breakfast, determined to finish the last bite.

It's funny though how the service can completely overshadow the food, which is a real shame. Something i've experienced a fair bit around toronto at places that would otherwise be fantastic. I wonder when people will start to understand that when you have a restaurant (or a store, or a business of any kind for that matter) the EXPERIENCE is just as/or often more imortant than the product or service you're providing. I know, i'm ranting off a bit but...We did watch one couple leave without ordering (they had been waiting a long time for anyone to even talk to them). And the large group at the next table (6 people!) seemed to have the opposite problem to our table. One person was served and everyone else got their meal about 15 minutes later, leaving him with a cold breakfast.

On a positive note, the Mayan Hot chocolate is out of this world, it's dark chocolate tinged with a bit of spicy heat.
If they figured out their service, i'd probably go back again (and give the chicken and chocolate a try). But i'm not convinced this isn't a regular occurance.

Joel and i kept the 'brunch' vibe going all day: we went with nat to the Ansel adams exhibit across the road at the ago after (sue had school work, jen had work work). Then nat ran off for a lunch date (my god that woman can eat!). Joel and i killed time with magazines and beer at the rivoli, then Jen met us at the Paramount for a back to back crap movie marathon. I know we're not reviewing movies here either but 'Children of Men' really sucked, so we felt justified sneaking into 'Holiday' so we could lighten up but MAN did that suck too! The vodka from jen's purse didn't lighten the blow at all - just made joel sleepy, seeing as we didn't pay for the second movie it was okay that he snored through the whole thing. Well he did wake up once or twice to sigh, roll his eyes twitch, then go back to sleep.

I really look forward to getting together once a month. 'Bananacake' brunch day has become a real highlight in my calendar. Okay jen....what's next. You or Farhan are going to have to show me that map thing...it smacks of windows though, this mac girl might get a bit overwhelmed.

In support of our friend Farhan's product...

Our brunch spots all mapped out. (just in case you wanted to know where they were) http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=3DB5A5D5093FF0B2!1034

Hey gals (& Joel)!

Just a note to wish everyone a very happy holiday and New Year! And in keeping with our brunch theme....if anyone happens to have a good holiday brunch story, make sure to post it if you can. (ie. Christmas breakfast stories)

Until our next brunch in the New Year! Can you believe it's gonna be 2007? :)

Sue

Upcoming Brunch Schedule!

January 13th – Dana (cake)
February 10th – Jennifer (banana)
March 10th – Natalie (cake)
April 14th – Sue (banana)
May 12th - Joel (cake)


Rules of the bananacake brunch:

• Every 2nd Saturday of each month
• Date can be changed if we have conflicting plans.
• Significant others / BF / Non-Bfs / BFFS are allowed, but each of us must be there.
• Brunch is at 10am
• We rotate on who picks the place. We’ll start alphabetically by first name
• Enough of the overview enteries. Person who picked the resto, must write a brunch review in this blog.
  

One day someone will have to order bananacake for breakie.

Any objections? please comment.

Yay Nat! Your first blog posting ever! I'm proud of you girl. I'm still amazed at the fact that you've made it this far (33 years ladies and gentlemen!) in both life and career being blissfully aware of technology trends of the past decade (aka total time wasting/overcomplicating). Being that you are an opinionated girl, the blogging thing should catch on nicely.

Time to write on Verviene while it's still fresh in my mind!

December 2006 - Joel's (honorary caker and one of the girls) pick.
Verveine Bistro (verveine.ca)



Located on Queen Street East in the heart of Leslieville It's a 10 minute walk from our place. One of the reason's Joel' picked it because we were frantically trying to clean house before hosting a 'small' party on saturday night. The rest of us girls had dinner there, i believe it was for sue's birthday one year? (correct me if i'm wrong...spring or fall?). We really enjoyed dinner and i've had brunch there before the new management took over.

I had a breakfast wrap with eggs and cheese and crumbled sausage...it was pretty simple but i enjoyed it a lot. It's always the same story though, i'm so into catching up and chatting that sometimes the food barely registers. Like nat said, toronto is a crazy brunch town and i've rarely had a bad brunch. SO i'm going to review the fashion!

Jen of course rolled out of bed and skipped to the restaurant complete with makeup on and wearing accessories. Nat is never without lipstick and i'll give her props for looking fantastic even though she HATES waking up before noon on saturdays. Sue is perfecting the intellectual student look with a pink sweater and looked fresh faced even though she's been burried in books all week. Joel and I on the other hand are trying our best at starting the trend of disheveled and bedheaded. Joel's morning hair is spectacular.

With this bunch occupying tables in the 'hood, it's no wonder Leslieville is 'up and coming' and 'queen east is the new queen west'. I may have to continue the easterly trend in the new year and pick Hello Toast because it's been MONTHS since i had their eggs benny. Or I might take it out of the east end to be nice: maybe Saving Grace for nostalgia and their awesome french toast...or ...or...Petit dejeuner (are they going to change the name now that it's open for dinner?). I still occasionally yearn for their granola/yogourt fruit bowl...with the bittersweet memory of 'breaking up' with sue there over brunch. It really wasn't you girl, it was definitely me.

Happy New Year everybody. 2007 is the year of the brunch!
maybe we'll let nat plan ludinner so she can sleep in on her turn.

We're close to the eve of another Bananacake Brunch. Like sue said 'tis the season for parties and libations....I do wonder if it will be the Banana's or another Caker down for the count this saturday. The good news is that we're going to Verviene...which i have had brunch at before...hungover...a number of times. And they do serve the best cure for a hangover...a fantastic Spicy Ceasar just loaded with horseradish!! This girl is draggin' her ass to the last BCB of 2006!

Excuse the writing...i'm the Art Director in this little 'family', my writing is a little rougher than the Writer/Student (Sue) but it looks like we're the only one's bloggin' anyway so suck it up!. The Marketing Manager/Travel Consultant (Jen), the Director of Brand Integration and Communication (Nat) haven't posted yet and neither has the Vice President of Client Services and Training (Joel)....i'm thinkin' the longer the title, the less time for BLOGGIN'...i'm sticking with 2 words.

JULY '06 LeSelect Bistro
432 Wellington Street West



image courtesy of their website: www.leselect.com

The one that started it all. Four girls who used to see each other EVERYDAY (at one point or another) are now in their early 30s, desperate to see each other even once a MONTH. How does it happen? High falutin' jobs, entrepreneurial ventures, traveling, bookclubs, university courses, various men taking up all of our time!? The tragedy!

I don't remember what I ate, but i remember it was a beautiful sunny day, and we had such a great time that Jen made a schedule....in ALPHABETICAL ORDER!!

So my pick was next (D is for Dana!)

AUGUST '06 The ONLY Café
972 Danforth Ave (at Donlands subway station)



I used to spend a lot of time here when I lived in the neighbourhood. It's not THAT bad of a neighbourhood sue!! The Only was like a home away from home with a million types of beer and a pinball machine. Of course there's no beer at brunch but if anyone is listening...

They make a fantastic brunch Huevos Rancheros is my fave...or the Cowgirl breakfast...they lace their coffee with cinammon and you can bring your hangover and wear your trackpants...it's ENCOURAGED. Our dear girl sue laid her head where so many have done before. (ooh, that sounds bad).

OCTOBER '06 BarOne * picked by Jen
924 Queen Street West



Great spot jen, the food was awesome and it was a lot quieter...oh wait, nat wasn't there. We had a great time calling her, but we couldn't get her to drag her sorry arse off the bathroom floor. I'm wondering if maybe we should start 2007 brunches at an AA meeting??

OCTOBER '06 By The Way Café *Nat's pick
400 Bloor St. W.



Lucky it was Nat's turn to pick...she bought brunch for everyone as a penalty for missing two in a row...if one of us had picked we would have gone all upscale on her ass.haha, just kidding. It was nice that the four of us got together, one of those days when i really realize how much i miss you guys!!!


NOVEMBER '06 Insomnia Cafe
563 Bloor St. West



* Supposed to be Grapefruit Moon, but nat made us change the time to 11 (lineups girl!!). We didn't get in...Sue was sick, ahem, hungover...for HER OWN BRUNCH. Joel and I stood outside Grapefruit moon staring in the window at the nice people eating their brunch...trying to make them uncomfortable enough to leave but to no avail. Nat and Jen met us, with a BCBL guest Nabisco. We wandered down to Bloor and wound up at Insomnia, which is across the street from Amnesia...what IS it with the Annex?? Jen, you should tell Jo to open a club near there: Therapy? Not the best food but the company was great. Lot's of great talk about traveling based on Nat's impending trip to London/Oman/Dubai -Maybe she'll post a link to her awesome pictures if you ask nicely!

So that's my post...all about the pics baby! See you after Verviene!!

What's ailing the Brunch League?

There seems to be something going around the Bananacake Brunch League. Hmmmm.....let's call it....THE HANGOVER BUG.

Okay, so let's take a tally of all the people who've shown up (or not shown up - ahem) either drunk or hungover to our monthly brunches:

August 2006:
Our very, very first Bananacake Brunch ever! The inaugural brekkie-fest! Hosted by The Only in that oh-so-swanky-in-a-if-you're-a-girl-don't-walk-by-yourself-at-night-kinda neighbourhood. Dana, Joel and Jen looking forward to a nice, leisurely meal of eggs benny and homefries. And who shows up STILL DRUNK? Sue. Yes, me. (Who knew the wee Asian girl could hold her liquor? Er....and beer.... and shots...and more beer. Hee.) I faintly remember spending most of the meal with my head on the table, staring at the bottom of the pepper shaker. Painful.

September 2006:
Our second Bananacake brunch! At the very swanky BarOne on Queen Street. To make up for my shameful outing the first time around, I'm there early - the only body spread across a table made up for six. Hmmm.....greasy old man giving me strange looks from the bar, annoying glances from the waitresses....frantic phone calls to the rest of the League: "Where the hell are you guys?!?" Jen's nice synopsis of the environs and our meal pretty much covers it. But I can't resist again naming Nat as the person who didn't quite make it to the resto this time. Although, I think she got a good long look at the tiles that surrounded her toilet that morning though.

October 2006:
Okay, this one is a blip on the screen. I mean EVERYONE showed up! And not a hangover or whiff of alcohol in sight! This is the pinnacle we all need to strive for ladies. I mean, so far we're 1 out of 3. That's not even a pass! (And oh yah, the By The Way Cafe in the Annex on Bloor was pretty good. And cheap! Great coffee was definitely a plus.)

November 2006:
Okay, I was really gung-ho for this one. I had picked out my brunch place way in advance, and had sent out the email (complete with detailed TTC directions) to everyone. I was patting myself on the back because I thought my brunch place pick was going to be a hit with everyone. I was pretty darn sure. But wouldn't you know it? Somehow, somewhere I got sick that morning again. (Hmmmm, I wonder how that happened?*inquisitive finger to lip*) My pitiful phone call to Jen in the morning telling her that I had just gotten sick was taken with surprisingly little fanfare. There was actual sympathy in her voice! But I should've known that that was going to be short-lived. As soon as word got out that "alcohol" was the name of the sickness that I was feeling, no more sympathy from anyone. Only yelling. And threats of retribution and humilation. Lots of it.

So the official hangover/drunkenness tally for the Bananacake Brunch League is....(drumroll please):
Dana: 0
Jen: 0
Nat: 1
Sue: 2 (Can someone play "We are the Champions" and do a jig for me? Thanks.)

I wonder what will December's brunch bring? How many bodies will go down? It IS the beginning of the season of holiday parties and alcoholic yuletide. So who knows? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure I won't be disappointed. But definitely entertained. :)