Week 11: Sunny Side Up

I took 2 weeks off from the Breakfast Blog during a trip to Manitoba.  There are plenty of great places to eat and blog about all over Manitoba but time did not allow.

This week we ventured a small distance from Calgary to Cochrane, AB to a lovely little breakfast spot called Sunny Side Up. It's located at  519 1 St W.

Full Breakfast 

Tuscan Benny

Bill at the front entrnce

When you walk into this restaurant the first thing noticed is that it's bright, modestly decorated and very clean (that's a big plus for me)!  The menu has an expansive offering of Bennys, omeletts, and "perfectly poached" eggs.  It's obvious that "fresh" is the name of the game and the coffee is a special blend from a local roaster, Cochrane CoffeeTraders.  A special shout out to the potato wedges that are fresh, elegantly spiced and just the right amount.  

There's a huge blackboard in the restaurant that includes suggested menu items and a premature homage to spring, "April showers snow brings May... snowmen"! Having had a front row seat to Saturday's impromptu snow storm, we enjoyed the reference! There's plenty to do in Cochrane if you're interested in a stroll after breakfast including a beautiful walk along the river.

My breakfast partner is away next week golfing in Arizona so I'll be back with a new post sometime after May 8th!  In the meantime, enjoy one of these great books.....

We as human beings have the amazing capacity to be reborn at breakfast everyday and say, “This is a new day.” -Jack Kornfield

                                 THE BOOKS

Since my last post I've read two very good novels.  The first was Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller.  I found this gem at a book shop, Talisman Books & Gallery on Pender Island, BC. This is a very intriguing story about an elderly grandfather, Sheldon, who moves from New York to Oslo with his granddaughter and her Norwegian husband, Lars.  Sheldon, a former Marine sniper in the Korean war, witnesses a murder and escapes with the eight year old son of the deceased woman who is being hunted by the perpetrator.  The story weaves between the past and the present to tell a magnificent intriguing tale with humour and a snap shot of great humanity!

The second book was Don't Let Go by New York Times Bestselling author Harlan Coben.  Coben's protagonist Detective Napoleon (Nap) Dumas happens upon a clue that may solve the mystery surrounding his twin brother's death fifteen years past. The story includes a suspiciously abandoned military base, a murdered corrupt local police officer and the reemergence of a presumed missing or dead former lover.  

Week 8: OEB Breakfast Co.

The OEB Breakfast Co. is located in Bridgeland at 825 1st Ave. NE.  There are 2 other locations in Calgary one downtown and the other in Mission.  When asked, our waitress told us that OBE stands for Overeasy Bacon and Eggs!  However, the OBE Breakfast Co. website describes the values upon which the business is based:

  Outstanding People
  Embracing Evolution
  Bold Food Integrity

I expect the "over easy" explanation is considerably easier and generates a lot less questions!  The restaurant is busy and vibrant. The decor is a little intoxicating with modern furnishings and bright yellow and white counters and chairs.  The menu is very different with a unique selection of crepes, benny's, waffles and omelettes. We were fortunate to be seated next to the kitchen line where the servers pick up their food and were impressed by the colours, variety and portions of the delicious looking breakfasts!

I chose the ARTISANAL BAGEL SAMMY with fried hen eggs, white truffle mayo, haas avocado, lyalta watercress, semi dried cherry tomatoes and market fresh fruit!

This was singularly the tastiest breakfast bagel I have ever had!  The truffle mayo was sooooo tasty and the semi dried cherry tomatoes added the perfect juicy addition to the combo.  The fruit was fresh and included kiwi, strawberry, apple, pineapple and orange pieces.  Just every once in a while a perfect meal appears and whatever altered state of consciousness it creates is sublime.  This was one of those occasions!  The website describes the experience as "leaving you soul-full".

My husband chose the SMOKED BOAR SPECK Benny with
Haas Avocado, Semi Dried Tomatoes.  The smoked boar speck is a cured bacon that is cut like prosciutto.  A healthy serving of "twice fried herb potatoes" afforded a generous sharing which I genuinely appreciated!

Bill commented on the freshness of the ingredients and then went silent, as people do when they enter that altered state of eating a perfect meal!

We both agreed that this was our favourite breakfast since we started this eating "tour" and blog!

And then the book....

This week I finished reading Peter Robinson's Sleeping in the Ground, a compelling read with a dramatic, unexpected twist in the plot.  I had taken this novel with me to Victoria and reading it wholly swallowed up two 90 minute flights!  

My next couple of reads will be Gregg Braden's Human by Design and Michael Connelly's The Wrong Side of Goodbye!  

Week 7: Victoria BC Floyd's Diner

We have spent the past week in beautiful Victoria, BC.  We are staying at a hotel on Menzies St. across from the Provincial Legislature and a half block from the Victoria Inner Harbour.  While out walking we noticed a very purple house with white trim and awnings.  As it turns out, it's an eatery called Floyd's Diner. It was Sunday and there was a long line-up of people waiting to get in so we decided to wait until Monday (today) hoping that the wait was a weekend phenomenon!

We arrived at 9:30 am and were seated next to a large window facing the street, a perfect spot for people watching and enjoying the morning sun.  By 10 am the restaurant was full!  The menu is very interesting with dishes named after regular customers, historic locations (The Berlin Wall Omelette, You'll Be Liberated After You Eat This) and well known phrases (Listen To Me While I'm Talkin' To Ya Son), the two we selected.

The portions are beyond ample and the food tastes fresh and delicious.  True to Victoria's "hidden gem restaurants", the ambiance is casual, welcoming and the staff are very upbeat and attentive. The decor is eclectic yet reflects the overall theme of the menu.  Altogether, a clever overall vibe!

We are leaving Victoria tomorrow, returning to Calgary.  A quick mention of a couple of great places to eat: Fifth Street where the rotisserie chicken is "eyes rolling in the back of your head" delicious and Pizzeria Prima Strada. These are both places we return to each time we visit this beautiful city.

And then, there were the bookstores!

My husband is the consummate tour guide and is always on the lookout for local attractions and especially those that meet our individual interests.  He discovered that there were five independent bookstores in Sidney, a town just a short drive north of Victoria.  We decided to visit each one (a self-directed tour) and see what this concentration of bookstores was all about!  We checked out Beacon Books and new home to the Military and History Bookshop (overwhelming number of stacks of used books), Tanner Books and The Haunted Bookshop.  We didn't get to Galleon Books and Antiques as they had moved locations and we ran out of time.

Haunted Bookshop Sidney

The Haunted Bookshop, advertised as Vancouver Island's oldest antiquarian bookshop, was our favourite!  We purchased 3 fairly obscure books, one being a Biography of Vilhjalmer Stefansson's Explorations of the Canadian Arctic and a travel book titled A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush.  Neither of us had any indication that the shop was haunted but we were drawn to some rather unlikely reads!

In Victoria we visited Bolen Books which is Vancouver Island's largest (and to my mind, best) independent bookstore.