Sunday in Toronto/Niagara

On the Sunday of the holiday weekend, Allison and I escaped the city for part of the day, heading down to the Niagara area to do a little wine tasting.  We had fine weather for it:  mildly warm, mostly sunny.  The traffic was all going the other way it seemed, either in to the CNE activities as we headed out of Toronto or out to the Niagara area for a last gasp of summer escape as we drove back home.  We weren't too ambitious, either, opting for two wineries and a distillery.

First up:  Pearl Morissette. 

A name I know from trying their wines but also because their restaurant has an excellent reputation.  Lovely to sit in Adirondack (not Muskoka, Allison!)

chairs out on the lawn and sip a tasting flight. 

The wines were interesting.  Not entirely to my taste, all of them, but interesting.  Allison and I agreed that we each liked the rose the most, and so we each bought a bottle.  A fine start to the day.

Next:  180 Estate Winery.  Allison had never been there before, but she stumbled upon it by chance.  A nicely serendipitous choice - we liked all of the wines we tried, and - even better - we had an enjoyable lunch of a charcuterie board. 

I bought a bottle of a Cab Franc white there, wishing I could buy a little more but limited in what I could pack home.

Finally:  Dillon's Small Batch Distillers. 

Not the first time there, and Allison has gifted us with things from there as well over the years.  Allison was driving, so I was the only one of us to do the tasting.  A few gins, an amaro, a couple of other items.  I liked the variety of the gins, and I settled on one for Allison to bring in November.  I also bought the amaro for her to bring down and give to Van.

We came back into the city, and Allison dropped me off at the hotel where I took a nice little nap.  Once I was up, I got ready and walked up Yonge to Terroni to meet her, Brenda,

and Catriona.  We sat on the rooftop deck as the evening cooled off.  I had a spritz,

zucchini blossoms,

garganelli with sausage and dandelion greens,

and a butterscotch budino. 

Brenda and I walked most of the way home together, and I got a cute little reminder of Conrad, back home.

The weekend wrapped up there, aside from two flights the next day (connecting through Chicago)

that got me home in time for dinner.  What a nice, mellow day to end a long weekend on. 

Paso Robles weekend

Rather than parcel this post out day by day or meal by meal or some other way, as is my usual wont, I'm going to hit you with a lengthy post.  Get out some popcorn there, and let's go!

We set out from Pasadena late on Friday morning,

heading up by way of Los Olivos on the drive.  Yes, I dozed off a bunch with Olive next to me in the back of the car. 

Los Olivos was our stopping point for lunch, and it was a fine choice for a stop:  The Inn at Mattei's Tavern. 

Ah, we should try to stay there some time.  If the lunch menu and results were any indication, they're doing things right.  Good fried chicken club sandwich for me. 

We walked the grounds a little,

poked in the lobby shop, then got back on the road, making it to our room at The Piccolo

in Paso Robles late in the afternoon.  Not too late for the wine tasting in the hotel lobby, happily!

Friday night dinner took us over to the train station for a meal at Junction.  Nice place.  The food came out perhaps a little too quickly, but that's not a terrible thing.  I liked the place, and I would go back for those canelones, filled with venison. 

The other things we had were all decent,

and the service was really great.  Nice to find a place we hadn't yet been to.

I was up before the others on Saturday, out for a wee walk, getting a few photos of places we would eventually end up dining or shopping in. 

I grabbed a latte at Spearhead, and then parked in the hotel lobby

and relaxed.  Conrad and Olive came down eventually, and the three of us went out again into the damp day (ooooo... a rainbow!). 

After Olive had done her business, we came on back for the breakfast in the lobby. 

It really got wet outside after that, though. 

Actual rain that made us feel all the cozier in the lobby in comfy chairs near the fire. 

Back up in the room after that, and while Van slept in very late, Conrad sacked out on the couch with Olive for company.

Van made it out of bed at long last, and the rain had stopped, so we walked down to Thomas Hill to grab lunch. 

A classic for me:  tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich. 

Quite a rich lunch!  And then we poked in stores around town a while, picking up stocking stuffers.  We enjoyed wine in the hotel lobby again before dinner, then went back out for a meal at Parchetto, another place we hadn't been before.  The sister restaurant to Il Cortile, the restaurant features a bar doing fine work. 

The food was good as well,

but the cocktails (a Vesper for me with drops of a fennel and basil oil)

were the star.  Great space!

Sunday morning came, a socked in morning

that burned off after a while.  We once again took the little girl out

and once again got some Spearhead to enjoy. 

Van was awake earlier than the day before, which was good because we had a 12:00 appointment for tasting at Epoch.

Ah, Epoch.  What a delightful winery. 

We ended up tasting ten wines that afternoon over the course of two hours,

and they were all delicious.  We came home with a nice haul, some of which will make for good Christmas gifts.  Oh, look - wild turkeys or maybe turkey buzzards on the drive back toward town! 

Cool.  We headed to Tin City next, a part of Paso Robles Van had not seen and again poked in shops as well as stopping in at Calwise for tasting spirits. 

Once again, we shopped from among the selection.

And then it was home to the hotel to wind down before popping next door to Il Cortile for dinner.  The polenta with parmesan fonduta, poached egg, and truffles was the best thing I ate all weekend. 

My fish was good as well.

Sunday night was a terrible night of sleep for me and Van, alas, and I dozed off a bunch on the drive home, waking up in time for lunch at The Habit. 

We were in the door at the condo by around 3:15, a lovely escape concluded.

And now I am at home, fighting a cold or something.  Ugh.  But nicely timed in between a fun weekend and Christmas next week!