Parkette

I got duped y’all.

Sunday morning Mom and Dad were all ‘remember the Dakota?  Get ready!  We’re going dancing Henry!’  We haven’t been to the Dakota in months, and as soon as they mentioned it I was jonesing for some bluegrass brunch.  And then … my Grandma and Grandpa had gotten there early to get us a prime spot, and they called us to let us know the wait was going to be over an hour for a table.  Boo.  I think you can all imagine that the little sis was not going to be waiting patiently in a brunch line for any length of time longer than 5 minutes.  Me on the other hand, well … :)  In any case, my Dakota dreams were sorely dashed.

So we agreed to part ways right as our fam approached Queen West in the car.  Mom and Dad parked and thought we could try for a spot at Swan or the County General, but alas, foiled again.  We ended up peering in the window of a new-ish spot, Parkette, and decided to give it a try when we saw an empty table just begging for us to sit down.  (Please forgive me for the less than stellar pics folks … Mom had forgotten the camera so it was iPhone or bust.)

Digging in.  Note the intense fork concentration.

Noon Mark Diner

Umm … hey y’all.  Lots has happened since we last chatted.  Most importantly, I turned 2, and had a mad birthday party, complete with balloons, Yop and a new balance bike.  We also went to Ottawa to visit my Bama and Grandpa Dal and got wild at the annual Metcalfe Fair (more on that later).  Shortly thereafter we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with my newly Toronto-based grandparents, and then summer faded into a chilly, stormy (and Sandy!) fall.  And finally, last week Stella turned 1 (when did that happen?!).  So, yes, it’s been ages, and this is an oldie but goodie.

When I realized I’d totally dropped the ball on posting I was just gonna skip a few places, but then something (Thanksgiving?  Pumpkin pie? :) made me think about pie, and well … I knew I had to dig back into the archives for this one.

Summer and cottages and hula hoops, oh my!  And, I’m 1 now … whaaaaat?!)

So flash back to this past summer:  the fam headed to the family cottage for a few weeks.  For us this means northern New York State … a lovely spot in the Adirondack Mountains that has been in Dad’s family for … well, basically forever.  It’s a bit of a haul from Toronto; it takes us almost 8 hours by car, including a quick lunch and a few leg-stretching stops, but it’s totally worth it.  In fact, there’s so much to do (lakes, swimming, cousins, wagons, sandboxes … and the list goes on) that I think the only time we actually went anywhere else was to hit up the Noon Mark Diner in Keene Valley, New York.

Pho Hung

Howdy y’all.

So last we talked, I was all cinnamon bun this, and cinnamon bun that, and I think I failed to throw it in there that my Aunt Jess was in town.  Remember her from Fresh?  I know, I know, confusing … she was living here for awhile but now she’s back in Victoria finishing up her degree.  Boo.  To her not living here anymore, not the degree.  The degree gets two thumbs up because when she’s done rumor has it she’ll head right on back here and hang out with me all the time.  Did I mention I’m kind of obsessed with her?

Anyways, she had one very specific lunch request during her trip.  Pho Hung.  Sound familiar?  I mentioned it way back before Christmas (here) when I lamented that Mom and Dad had tried restaurant after East end restaurant in search of bun that could hold a candle to the one they used to get at Pho Hung.  You know, when they were West-enders and took for granted all the great places they could walk to in 15 minutes or less.  In any case, it was a request Mom was happy to oblige, so we packed into the car and headed over for a weekday lunch.

Giddy from the fawning.