I had 1 yoga class left on my pass from back in March so I headed down to the old studio on Ossington. Of the regulars there on Sunday, I was only on nodding acquaintance with a few. It was a typically hard class and the new faces beside me in the back row seemed shell-shocked by the end.
The Strip was filling up with the lunch crowd as I made my way to Dundas St. West. I stopped by Honey's at Gladstone and got a peanut cup scoop ($5.75) of vegan ice cream. Their frozen ice cream sandwich was so-so but this was excellent. The warmer temperature of the ice cream allowed the flavour and creaminess to shine. Amazing that no dairy was used. Arabesque was closed on College St. so I grabbed some tofu meals from Le's Sandwich and headed back to Dundas.
I was hoping to get a slice from Slow South Pizza, which had just opened in April, but they were closed until the evening. It was embarrassing at Cygnet Coffee that I asked for the pasta lunch as I had mistaken the coffee-shop for Pasta Forever. So I purchased a veggie breakfast sandwich ($6) from them.
The pasta shop was just one door over. Once a pandemic hustle gig by chef Jessica Maiorano to deliver fresh pasta and host online classes, she finally opened bricks-and-mortar store. I followed her journey on social media and wanted to finally try the food. The eggplant pansotti ($20) was exquisite: large ravioli stuffed with cheese, sitting in rich, smoked tomato butter, oil, and parmigiano. The confit cherry tomatoes and purple basil added fragrant burst of palate cleanser. I wasn't sure where the eggplant was (maybe it was an adjective?) but this was a lunch to savour.
It was enjoyable to walk around busy and pedestrian-friendly streets. The gentrification of Little Portugal and Brockton (Village) was only possible because the old buildings still existed. It will be interesting to see whether this neighbourhood turns into a Potemkin-esque streetscape surrounded by high-rises like Queen St. West or Yonge.
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