One in Yorkville was voted best patio for highrollers, I believe that what they meant was tourists. Either that, or we made the mistake of going at the beginning of September on a Saturday afternoon, a few weeks before TIFF kicks off. Or maybe it was because it was a long weekend, the air show happening overhead was not helping matters. Either way, we managed to snag a seat on the patio thanks to a little note left with our online reservation.
As we walked to One, ominous storm clouds overhead threatened to rain on our lunch date on the patio. We had looked up the hour by hour weather and they said rain between 1 and 2pm, our reservation was for 1:30pm, smack in the middle of the forecasted rain. At least, we thought, it would scare people away from the patio. Wrong, the patio was packed. We were worried we wouldn’t get a seat and would have to come back again next year. As she led us to our table the suspense was killing me: would we get a table on the patio? was it going to rain on us?! Only one raindrop ever fell on us, so it worked out for the best.
Brent’s co-workers had warned us that everything on the menu tasted of butter. They were right. I had the world’s greasiest chicken club sandwich. Towards the end there was grease rolling down my arm. The first few bites were amazing, but about 3/4 of the way in it gets to be too much- and then you look down and see the other half of the sandwich and think “Oh God!” But thankfully we were swapping dishes halfway through and I traded up to a lobster carbonara (read: lobster in sauce on noodles and an egg on top). It was way better than the sandwich… until it also got to be too much.
The surprising stand-out was the red pepper bread that we got at the beginning of the meal. It was so light & fluffy, and still a bit warm. Plus, there were actual pieces of red pepper in it.
Towards the end I was desperate for something sweet to offset all the salty and greasy. Every time I looked up, I looked over Brent’s shoulder at Summer’s Ice Cream. Even after eating such a heavy lunch, I could not resist capping off summer with a scoop of Toronto Pot Hole (chocolate ice cream with nuts, marshmallows, ripples of fudge).
Inside My Head 