Brunch: Czehoski & La Palette

Posted: June 25th, 2010 | Filed under: Restaurants | Tags: brunch, czehoski, la palette | 5 Comments »

I’ve always aspired to be a regular bruncher. There’s something about a combined breakfast and lunch that draws me– a sort of implied easy elegance, a promise of a gigantic meal with no guilt whatsoever (it’s TWO meals combined into one!)

But where to go in Toronto? Reviews are always hard to gauge, since even the most highly recommended place will still have a daunting pack of naysayers floating behind it. I have a few friends that I trust implicitly with food (including GB, but he’s a vegetarian so his word is limited), but brunch seemed to be uncharted territory.

So, after a night out, my friend SM and I were determined to have a lovely Sunday brunch.

Honestly? It was everything I had hoped for. Maybe it was because I was used to spending Sunday mornings hungover in bed, wishing that Starbucks delivered, flashing with irritation every time my phone would ring. But being forced to get out of the house in a nice outfit, actually getting that cappuccino I so often wished for, and walking downtown to a cute brunch spot was exactly what I pictured a breezy Sunday morning to be like.

We ended up at Czehoski, and the atmosphere was perfect for brunch. Food reviews for Czehoski turned out to be abysmal, I found out later, but my Eggs Benedict were fine, and SM’s arugula omelette was yummy. Still, the food paled in comparison to the great seating environment.

We sat by the door at the bar with tons of natural light flooding into the place. The mix of white walls, hardwood, abundant wine bottles and art gave a very cosy gallery feel, and the service was friendly and laid back. All in all I thought it was a great success.

I was new to brunch, though, so I could have been easily getting ahead of myself.

Determined to try out more places, I checked out another restaurant that I had specifically picked out: La Palette in Kensington. I was debating between La Palette, Bar One, Peter Pan and a few others, but after weighing the supposed pros and cons of each place, I placed my bet on La Palette. I hoped it was good– it was my boyfriend’s birthday brunch, and I wasn’t sure how excited he was about brunch in the first place (aka not very).

Small and quaint, the paisley handkerchief tablecloths with the Bonne Maman jam jars filled with brown sugar (my favorite jam brand!) reminded both of us of Paris.

Despite the overall rave reviews, there was a mixed blog review (at A Glutton in Kingston) featuring shadowy pictures of the food, and complaints of how the mains were good but that the sides were lacking. They also mentioned how their omelette was mushy– but I didn’t care too much, as I’m really not an omelette fan in the first place and had no intention of ordering one. I could see from the blogger’s picture, though, that the omelette indeed looked a bit mushy.

However, when the waiter revealed that the omelette du jour was made with boar rib, cherry tomato, BRIE, and caramelized onions, I couldn’t resist. I thought, “sogginess be damned, I want brie this morning”.

And it was heavenly. Our omelettes looked nothing like the one from the other blogger’s picture– its edges were crispy, the egg was thin but resolute and quietly complimented the bursts of flavor in the sharp cherry tomato, the decadently creamy brie, and the exotic boar rib.

I don’t doubt the other blogger’s review when he complained that his salad was overdressed, I truly believe it probably was that morning. I personally also really dislike overdressed salad. But that morning it had a perfect amount of a light oil dressing, and the fries were delicious with crispy outsides and hot, soft insides– accompanied by a fresh mayonnaise.

It had actually been showering just before we arrived to the restaurant, but the moody sky and rainswept floors gave an unexpected cinematic grace to the whole experience. By the end of the meal, though, the sun was in full force and while I enjoyed the way the light was reflecting all of the tiny rain puddles, I think my boyfriend was dying of a heatstroke.

The coffee was also excellent, so much so that I drank it black.

Verdict:

La Palette really raised the brunch bar for me, and I look forward to my next brunching experience. Excellent food– food that moves you– and lovely atmosphere. Okay, I hate to rain on my own parade, but the boar rib in the omelette could have been a little more tender. Seriously though, overall, amazing food.

Czehoski had “good” food, comparable to breakfast from chain restaurants like the Pickle Barrel – but it was really the feel of the restaurant that I appreciated.

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Czehoski

678 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M6J 1E5, Canada
(416) 366-6787

www.czehoski.com

La Palette

256 Augusta Avenue
Kensington Market, Toronto
(416) 929-4900

www.lapalette.ca

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