I met my friend Nyla for dinner on Friday night at a spot called Kalendar (on College Street at Euclid). It’s a restaurant that seems to have been there forever and although neither of us had been there for a while, we both knew it well from the past and were keen to go there again. And it ended up being a very good choice.
Not to go on and on about the frigid weather we’ve been having here in Toronto, but I must mention that it was the coldest of evenings. It was clear and fresh out though, and having been inside all day I decided to bundle up and take the 25 minute walk to the restaurant. Needless to say I welcomed the warmth I was met with as I walked through the door, both in temperature and the friendly greeting I received from the server, who let me pick whatever table set for two that I wanted. I went straight for a cute round one in the corner by a bay window that was all fogged up, making it feel all the more cozy inside.
Nyla arrived soon after and we both decided to begin by having one of the hot drinks they offered, a mulled cider with a shot of rum. It was perfect.
To eat I went for one of their (very) thin crusted pizzas, with pesto, mushrooms, onions, sun dried tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese. Nyla chose a half order of their chicken ‘Schroll’, which is like a roti and which came with a green salad on the side.
The food was plentiful and good. I couldn’t get through my whole pizza but let me assure you, I did my best!
↑ One of the nicest servers in town ↑
Nyla likes to save room for dessert and was very tempted by their list of sweets (we both agreed that their Lemon Meringue Cake sounded dreamy) but instead decided to join me in a second mulled cider, which we sipped slowly while chatting.
She is a very bright, active and well-read person and we always have lots to talk about when we get together. You may remember that she is one of two of my friends who is a published poet and I posted about her book launch in this post. (That was also the same night that I first met Julie C, who is my second talented poetry writing friend and a very skilled knitter.)
↑ I am wearing a boa-scarf that my mom made. ↑
↑ The bar area at Kalendar. ↑
Did you notice that there were three old clocks in these pictures, each showing a different time? None of them were right, giving the place an air of timelessness.
We were in no way rushed for our table so took our time and lingered over our drinks, but of course all good things must come to an end and soon enough it was time to wrap scarves around necks and don hats on heads and go back out into the cold.
