Readers here will know that I hang out with my friend Meghan pretty frequently — I checked my diary and we’ve gotten together at least twice a month for the past several years. So, when I tell you that she has now left the city for a whole year, off on an around-the-world adventure, you can imagine how much I will miss her.
Pictured here is our last date, shared with our mutual friend Julie. Well, we did see her one more time before she left, at her going away party, (which I’ll tell you about next week), but this was the last time we got the chance for a long talk in a relaxed environment.
Of course, I’m happy for my friend because this is an exciting trip of a lifetime, and we’ll be keeping in touch online, but, no doubt, the absence of her company in-person will be greatly felt.
We went for lunch at The Drake Commissary, which opened this past June in The Junction Triangle. I’d not had the opportunity to go there before but had heard it was really good. Those accounts turned out to be completely accurate.
It’s a 8000 square foot space located on Sterling Road (west of Landsdowne, south of Bloor). Arriving at the former pickle factory, which was built in 1908, you wouldn’t know what was in there from the outside. In fact, Nick drove me over and dropped me off on the street. As he drove away, I worried for a moment that I wasn’t in the right place. I was standing in what appeared to be an industrial park, with not much going on. There wasn’t a single person in sight. Now, being in the wrong place would have been no major issue for most people, however, I choose not to carry a smartphone so would have had to scramble about to find a public phone in order to let my friends know that I’d be late, because I was somewhere, on foot, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.
But I saw that the building said Commissary on it, with Drake in small letters, so I walked around to the other side, waiting first for a big tractor trailer to inch its way out of the driveway. Then I spotted the entryway and got kind of excited about the location. (I love old buildings, and going inside one is always a treat!)
I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking …
↑ At Julie’s recommendation, I had the Veggie Banh Mi Sandwich. She had the same. It was delicious. ↑
↑ Meghan had the steak tartar sandwich and soup of the day. ↑
Although the place was bustling, the friendly server kindly offered coffee refills, and allowed us to linger after we’d eaten, because the area we were seated in had been booked for a large party later that afternoon, so they wouldn’t be needing it for a little while.
We sat and talked about all kinds of interesting things, enjoying this last afternoon together before Meghan set off for her big adventure.
↑ I’ll treasure this photo for the next year and beyond. Come to think of it, it might be the only one of the two of us together. ↑
↑ There will be many good times for Julie and me in the coming year, though! ↑
As mentioned, there was a going away party for Meghan last week, which I’ll write about after an Easter post. I hope you’ll be back to read it!
Thank you, as always, for your online company.
xo loulou
