And when things get hectic, one of the best things to do is eat out. Who has time for chopping, dicing, grilling and reducing? unfortunately not me- at least not at the moment. But I am planning on getting reacquainted with my kitchen once the fall really kicks in and it's all about cooking delicious comfort food.
But while we were globe trotting this summer...err.. okay perhaps not really "globe trotting" more like a quick and dirty visit to "the rock" to visit some relatives of mine. The rock is otherwise known as Newfoundland. A beautiful yet rustic part of Canada's east coast. I've never really thought of St. John's as a culinary destination. A great place to get screeched in, or kiss a cod, enjoy some cod tongues, go on a tear on George St., enjoy a bit of jigs dinner or fishy graw, but never anything that didn't involve some serious heartburn or hangovers afterwords. Then again, I'm a mainlander so what do I know?
Well on this last visit I was pleasantly surprised by a few new additions to the city. And now that we have a two year old, going on pub crawls really isn't on the top of my top ten things to do while visiting St. John's Newfoundland.
First stop~The Rooms~Newfoundland and Labrador’s newest
public cultural space. It's the Provincial Museum, Art
Gallery and the Provincial Archives all rolled into one. Plus the Rooms cafe. which is really the main reason we were there.
Set overlooking the skyline of historic St. John’s, its unique (and
from what I understand, slightly controversial) design mirrors the
“fishing rooms” where families came
together to process their catch. Which is one of the reasons I knew I
had to order the Fresh Atlantic Salmon cakes topped with tarragon aioli and a creamy slaw. Was it the best fish cake I ever had? No not really, but it was pretty damn tasty. Even better was the Roma tomato & Juniper berry soup to start. Big daddy had the Island blue berry hazelnut rocket salad with candied pork and toasted hazelnuts.
It was according to him- decent. But more importantly, the view was
spectacular. The service was a tad slow, but then again that's how they
do things out east. Slow and relaxed. Or at least compared to here in
Toronto. A.K.A. the center of the Universe. Anyhow If you happen to get
out to St.John's I would highly recommend The Rooms. Also because
really, there is really nowhere else to go for a decent lunch with a
view.
Oh and Auntie Crae's is definitely worth mentioning as well. It a
great little spot with fresh breads, preserves, pie and fair trade
coffee. (which I unfortunately spilled on a sleeping Lulu...don't even
want to revisit that particular memory from our visit)
But they do
custom sandwiches with organic ingredients and the bread is as good as
it gets. Warm, fresh and delicious. It's a cute little cafe/ deli that
is definitely one of the most popular lunch spots around.
So I know this is a "Toronto" blog, but if you find yourself in st. John's , be sure to stop into these local gems. You won't be sorry. St. John's is not exactly the most exotic of locations, but the people, the landscape and the easiness of it all makes it worth the trip out east.
The Rooms
9 Bonaventure Avenue
St. John’s, Nfld.
709-757-8000
Auntie Craes
272 water st.
709-754-0661
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