All posts tagged with: Cafe

Located at 35 Church Street in Toronto, the Hot House Cafe has one of the best people watching patio’s around. It’s located near theatres, music, hotels and night clubs, making it an awesome location to stop in before heading out for the evening. They’re also open for Sunday brunch.

The Hot House Martini is their signature martini on their menu. It’s rich, thick and sweet – you’ll love it.

• 1 oz Pomegranate Liquor
• 1 oz Blueberry liquor
• ½ ozSimple syrup
• ½ oz pomegranate juice
• ½ oz blueberry juice
• 1 oz Lemonade

Fill a martini shaker half full of ice. Add in all ingredients. Shake until the shaker begins to frost. Pour into a chilled, sugar rimmed martini glass.

Photo Credit: Raymon Wong

Best-known for her fresh-baked muffins and scones, Holli Wilson has brought her passion for baking to the new casual Truffles Café now open at Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Garden.

“I love to bake,” Holli said. “I make everything from scratch and put a lot of love in it. Love is my favourite ingredient.”

Located in the new Living Building, the casual café was established after Nin Rai, owner of Truffles Fine Foods and L’Abbatoir Restaurant, successfully won the bid through an exhaustive RFP process.

The café features floor to ceiling windows that overlook the Woodland Garden and Livingstone Lake. Seating ranges from small tables and chairs to comfy lounge chairs and a couch – providing a casual and relaxing ambiance. It is also the only location at VanDusen Garden with WiFi access.

The casual dining café will include fare made from fresh, local ingredients. Breakfast will include croissants, parfaits and burritos. For lunch there will be a hot item feature, two soups, salads, sandwiches, fruit salads and desserts. The affordable price menu has most items at $5 or less, with the most expensive item coming in at only $8.

Once spring comes around, this April, Truffles will offer Afternoon Tea, with traditional savoury sandwiches, sweet treat and black and organic teas. There will also be picnic baskets to take out into the garden this summer.

Truffles Café is open daily from 8:00am to 5:00pm in the new Visitor Centre at VanDusen Botanical Garden, located at 5151 Oak Street between W 33Avenue and W 37 Avenue in Vancouver, BC.

Tucked inside the River Market along the shores of the Fraser River in New Westminster, BC, is Crepes Des Amis, a sweet and savoury crepe café.

Each day, fresh whole-wheat crepe batter is made from a selection of quality ingredients. The fresh, made-to-order crepes are served hot and come in a variety of traditional Canadian and European varieties. There are even Asian inspired crepes on the menu!

Crepe Des Amis also serves frozen yogurt and tofulati (lactose free), organic coffee, and an assortment of other beverages.

Getting to Crepe Des Amis is easy on SkyTrain; it’s just a few minutes walk from the New Westminster station. They are open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 6pm.

Overall Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)

Since 1996, Tree House Café on Salt Spring Island has been turning out wholesome, homemade fare. The restaurant is located in the heart of Ganges village. What makes this restaurant so cool is that it is literally build around a real, live plum tree!

The building was originally constructed in the 1920’s as the first electric generation station on the island. Over the years the building has been converted for many different purposes. It has served as a private residence, smoke house, crystal shop and music school.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the indoor-outdoor restaurant serves up both causal fare and a special menu they call A Taste of India. They also offer a wide selection of vegetarian dishes.

The heated outdoor patio is open year round and hosts live music almost every night.

The Tree House Café is one of the only restaurant in Ganges with a kitchen open past 8pm.

Overall the food is served hot and fresh and its decent value for made-from-scratch dining. The service is generally slower over dinner and late-night.

Overall Rating: ★★ (out of 5)