Starting the Day at the End of the Line

Nothing starts my day off with a bang like a solid breakfast. It’s the one meal that that rules them all so I have a hard time understanding how people are ok with skipping it. I go pretty nuts if I don’t get myself some brekky first thing in the morning!

I am still jet-lagged from my Aus./Nz trip, so I was up all night drinking Zubrowka and apple juice. At 7 am, that shit didn’t cut it no more, so I went downstairs to the End of the Line Cafe to grab some breakfast. This was a historic occasion as I have lived in DT yyc for a total of SIX years a stone’s throw away from this place but never actually managed/had the time to check it out. The best thing about EoL is it’s super-nice patio and 4$ domestic beers, but from what I had heard, they also serve up a decent breakfast.

The interior is nothing pretty to look at, but gets the job done. There’s a mish-mash of furniture overlooking the large windows that let plenty of natural light in. The view isn’t anything spectacular – the cafe overlooks the 10th St station – and it’s even worse now that the downtown line is being extended past the 10th St station westwards. EoL’s most common patrons (from my personal observation) are typically blue-collar workers working at nearby construction sites. They are open pretty much all day (6 am – 10 pm M-F) so it’s a perfect place for a weary soul to grab a decent meal before heading home.

There’s a large menu selection that covers the gamut from breakfast bagels to Vietnamese subs. They also have 5$ vodka shots if you are so inclined. I decided to get the “Western Bagel” for $4.50: eggs with red/green pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, and ham (for non-vegetarians) served on a toasted multi-grain bagel.

 

Despite the soggy/rubber-y bagel, the sandwich was actually pretty delicious. The omelette was thick and fluffy and you could taste the sweetness of the red & green peppers through the eggs. I could have used onions and some bell peppers in there, but that’s more of a personal preference, and something that was easily solved with some Sri Racha hot sauce!

So, all in all, a pretty decent first experience with End of the Line. It is too bad the latter moniker won’t apply once the West LRT segment is up and running, but I am still really looking forward to spending some quality time on their patio once warmer weather comes around! Nothing better than $4 beer, a quite patio, and hot summer days.

Stay tuned for the detailed review!

-Kiran

Review of Sesame Sourdough Bread – Sidewalk Citizen Bakery

If you haven’t heard of the Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, then you must ask yourself, “Why not?” You clearly aren’t in touch with the local food scene if you didn’t know that Calgary has a baker who delivers freshly-baked bread every Tuesday…as long as you are downtown.

Aviv got his start in Nov 2008 baking ten loaves of bread every Monday, and then donating the proceeds from his sales to CODE. He eventually became so successful that he decided to become a full-time baker. According to his website, he only makes:

“A variety of naturally fermented sourdough and Levain breads baked with local, organic flours with no additives. The dough is shaped by hand and undergoes a long fermentation and retardation to ensure full-flavoured loaves that delight the eye.”

This week, Aviv baked a sesame seed sourdough bread, which immediately caught my attention as sesame is new “it” thing for me. I had so much sesame-infused Asian cuisine in NYC, I was shitting out sesame seeds.

Anyway, moving along, I picked up the bread at around 10 am and immediately opened up the packaging to find this gorgeous looking loaf inside.

I was too excited to wait until I got home, so I immediately ripped out a chunk to use as a side with my soup. You could definitely smell the sesame and pick out some of the seeds inside the bread. It tasted delicious.

For the more curious, the ingredients used to bake the bread were: organic, local unbleached flour (from Highwood Crossing Farm), organic whole-wheat flour (from Heritage Harvest Farm), organic sesame seeds, Brittany sea salt and water.

After getting home, I immediately raided my fridge to find a packet of sliced gruyere. My mouth started watering. For some reason, I felt the immense need to pair the two together to create a simple snack as shown below:

I don’t know what others would say about the pairing, but I thought it was delicious – the “earthy” flavours of sesame and gruyere complemented each other well. I also washed down this snack with additional liquid calories in the form of Sorachi Ace beer. Delicious.

So, this is how it works: say you are a busy professional (me) who doesn’t really have the time to go to artisanal bakeries and buy bread made from local, organic sources. This is clearly a #firstworldproblem, but it is indeed a problem nonetheless. What is one to do?

Fear not, all you have to do is go to sidewalkcitizen.com and sign up for the Tuesday bread delivery mailing list. When you get the email advertising that week’s creation, reply back saying you want a loaf and leave your phone #. Tuesday arrives, and you receive a call from a number you don’t recognize. Pick it up; don’t ignore it even if you are in a meeting as it will likely be Sidewalk Citizen delivery. Go down to your main lobby and pick up the bread for $6.

BAM! Just like that.