Shy Coffee Co

 Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

July 2024 - Toronto ON

King St. West Toronto ON

We had our usual lazy, hang around kind of weekend that we like. 

Monday - John had an appointment downtown so we met up at Wellesley and Yonge. These are some photos he took on his walk up Yonge.

We walked along Wellesley and discovered this park, relatively new, that had been on my To Do list.

Named for one of Toronto’s most prominent and accomplished First Nations women in recent memory, Dr. Lillian McGregor Park sits right downtown in a forest of condo towers, several of which helped fund its creation. 

The park itself is quite beautiful, with huge sculptures of birds and feathers scattered around the space, and entrances to the underground parking lots fairly well-hidden by the landscaping. The park’s main paved area includes the iconic circle symbol associated with many aspects of aboriginal culture. A quick glance west and you can catch a glimpse of the U of T campus, where Dr. Lillian McGregor served as Elder-in-Residence of First Nations House.

We were killing time until our lunch reservation.

Of all the weird statues in Toronto, this 12-foot-tall donkey with casts at Clover Hill Park might be as cute as it is strange. 

But Primrose, which is the name of this piece by acclaimed Canadian artist Myfanwy MacLeod,  why the heck is there a donkey on U of T property, and what happened to its front legs? 

The work is based on an actual baby donkey named Primrose who was born prematurely in 2012 at the Bind Equine Veterinary Practice in Shropshire, England.

Primrose's underdeveloped bones would have led to permanently bowed legs, so local vets put some custom pink casts on her to straighten them out.

It took about three weeks for the foal to start walking on her own, but not before the adorable ass had captured hearts worldwide as the "wonky donkey" from England. 

We had reservations for the lunch Summerlicious menu at Gatsby in the Windsor Arms, another ✅on my list.

The Windsor Arms is a boutique hotel in the southern part of the Yorkville neighbourhood. The hotel includes a restaurant, tea rooms and a spa.

The neo-gothic style building was designed by architect Kirk Hyslop of Toronto and built in 1927. It was listed as a historic property by the City of Toronto in 1983, and designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1992. Run down by the 1980s, the original hotel closed in 1991. After purchasing the property in 1995, developer George Friedmann commissioned architect Sol Wassermuhl of Page and Steele to rebuild the hotel as a skyscraper that included condominium suites while maintaining the St. Thomas Street façade.

The Toronto International Film Festival was founded at the Windsor Arms in 1976, and the hotel's involvement in the festival continues to this day.

The hotel has been known to be frequented by celebrities such as Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Woody Allen and, more recently, Richard Gere, Britney Spears and Tina Turner. The location was featured in the 1973 film The Paper Chase. It has been used twice by Atom Egoyan in films – Speaking Parts in 1989 and Chloe in 2010.

The venue is quaint and charming. 

Set menu $48 person.

John had the tomato salad.

I ordered the crisp calamari, I tried one and it was so chewy and John tried it and agreed, so I sent it back. Both servers came back and said they had tried it too and it was very overcooked.

 I was asked if I would like it grilled instead. I was astonished by this offering and very pleased. It came out grilled and delicious in a light broth. That they could pivot like this impressed me.

It slightly amused me, when the other server, Jamaican, addressed me as "aunty" when saying she agreed about the calamari!

The servers were pleasant and very efficient. I had the steak, a very generous portion (the server kindly wrapped the remainder for me) and John had the mussels which he enjoyed immensely.

 The pavlova ✅was to die for! My mother had made meringue when I was a kid but I hadn't thought much of it until I started watching Australian cooking shows!

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert. Originating in either Australia or New Zealand in the early 20th century, it was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Taking the form of a cake-like circular block of baked meringue, pavlova has a crisp crust and soft, light inside. The confection is usually topped with fruit and whipped cream.

 John had the fruit and sorbet. 

Ladies' room.

You can select your hat for afternoon tea.

I didn't realize John took this while we were waiting for the bus! I had lost one of bottom heels of my shoe, so I sounded like a horse that needed reshoeing. When we got home I had lost the other one, what are the odds? I'll take them to the shoemaker next week.

Tuesday was a hot, muggy day.

I went for a mani-pedi ($50), house on my way.

I picked up some groceries in Rabba and ice cream (sassy sea turtle and almond raspberry $24! Yikes they used to be $5 each before the pandemic) from Lola's, a local shop.

This drove by me on the way home.

I baked a lemon blueberry loaf and some other chores and then read. 

Wednesday golf hair trim was a washout with heavy rain as a result of Hurricane Beryl. Up to 60mm of rainfall expected by Wednesday evening: Environment Canada.

Thursday it was warm, the air conditioning wasn't working. We remembered this happening before, I was thinking a battery. But John removed the cover, no battery (hardwired), hmmm, put the cover back on and it is working so far. Stopped again. I put in a work order to the office and of course, it started working again.

I went to the Eaton Centre as I wanted a pair of black Sketchers to replace my old ones.

We waited for the 4PM shuttle which arrived around 4:17, still in plenty of time to catch the King St. streetcar to the Distillery District for our 5:30 dinner reservation ahead of our 7:30 Soulpepper theatre production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Wandering around before dinner.

The Lavazza IncluCity Film Festival (ICFF) is taking over the Distillery with its iconic, cozy couches and red carpet for 25 days of films, concerts and events.

The festival will be paying tribute to a number of icons, such as Federico Fellini, with a tribute showcase of his most famous films, and Norman Jewison, with screenings of his greatest accomplishments like In the Heat of the Night and Moonstruck.

Cluny's for dinner. We always enjoy this French bistro.

I didn't realize they also had a Summerlicious menu! Dinner for $55 was a good deal. I chose from it.

Salmon tartare (me) delicious!

Mussels, again, for John, he loved the tarragon sauce! Delicious fries!

My poached turbot in a mushroom broth.

We shared my Paris brest ✅! 

Washroom doors!

The set for Streetcar.

This is a 3.5 hour production, intermission took place at 8:49, and we had had enough of Blanche's everlasting moaning. The cast and sets were superb, but this just wasn't for us.

We did leave, sorry, not sorry!

The streetcar journey home ended with us catching an Uber at Roncesvalles, after waiting too long for our transfer to Humber Loop.

Friday we went to College Park to DUCK for duck noodle soup. Blogger won't let me upload the photo, I'll try later.

Then John bought a golf wind jacket at Uniqlo and we picked some croissants, custard and honey citrus.

Maintenance came to look at the air conditioning, which of course has been running fine.

Seems we're not the only ones interested in Summerlicious. Our mayor dropped by to sample our building restaurant's, Velouté, Summerlicious menu. Again, stupid Blogger!

COOKING

Saturday CURRY NIGHT lamb vindaloo and aloo gobi

Sunday chicken wings and potato salad

Monday out to lunch - popcorn

Tuesday coconut shrimp and Caesar salad

Wednesday GOLF liver, bacon, onions, mashed turnip

Thursday out to dinner/theatre

Friday STEAK NIGHT with sauteed green peppers, onions and mushrooms

WATCHING

We were left hanging at the end of Iron Reign, so there will be a season 2.

Obituary is a 2023 Irish black comedy television series that John had started watching and then decided that we should watch it together.

 In a small Irish town, a young woman obsessed with death becomes an obituarist for the local newspaper. Seeking more interesting deaths to write about, she begins to murder local people.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners is a 2023 Irish action thriller film directed by Robert Lorenz and written by Mark Michael McNally and Terry Loane. The film stars Liam Neeson in the lead role, alongside other Irish actors including Kerry Condon, Jack Gleeson, Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds. 

A disillusioned hitman comes out of retirement for one last job when an IRA bomber on the run from the law arrives in his sleepy Irish village in 1974. We really enjoyed this.

One Ranger is a 2023 American action thriller film. Recruited by British intelligence, a Texas Ranger must track down and stop a dangerous terrorist from attacking London.

We watched an old one, Gaslighting, which I really enjoyed. And another old one, Victim.

READING

I read Remember Me? in an afternoon, it was a good read until it wasn't, I did not like the ending at all. It seemed a little ridiculous.

Three Sisters is not capturing my total interest but I am curious about the outcome.