life's a beach

The rain had poured all weekend, leaving Toronto dreary and gray. I felt like spending the entire day snuggled in my bed, but Hoz was only in town for one weekend -- so, I dragged myself from the warm and dry comfort of home to venture out to the Beaches.

A fifteen-minute drive along Queen Street later, we catch a glimpse of Lake Ontario and pull up next to a small restaurant called Spiaggia Trattoria. The restaurant is nestled on a quiet corner of Queen Street East, next to summer homes sloping gently towards the beach.

The restaurant is cozy and warm, the menu impressive (I had the Veal Marsala - grilled Provimi veal, mushrooms, leeks, dried apples, sweet Marsala wine sauce with garlic butter capellini), and the service impeccable. The best part, however, is the sweet old lady who owns the restaurant. In the middle of dessert, she joined us for a little chit-chat and was so flattered we had come all the way from Markham (at least Hoz did) that she gave us a round of drinks and a potted plant to take home. How's that for personal touch? You never get that in the bigger restaurant chains nowadays.

And, in the tradition of How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, I'd like you to meet our... erm.. love flower. (Iris is taking care of it for her future husband. :P)

So purrrty.