A Hamilton blog about the places I explore & love + all the reasons why I love this city
No doubt spring is in the air! What better way to celebrate the romantic nature of spring than with these vintage postcards. A few years back when I travelled through Belgium I picked up some cheesy love postcards in the small and picturesque town of Bruges.
I love corny old postcards and that crazy artificial sky-blue.
And my favourite: the head tilt chin lift. “Look into my eyes”.
I’m a lover of breakfast. Well, more specifically brunch. I think that I can safely say that my favourite brunch in Hamilton, and perhaps anywhere can be found at Papa Leo’s on Concession. First off, I consider myself a bit of lower city dweller, I don’t often go up the mountain, and when I do, I generally feel lost in the suburban headlights -everything looks the same! However, I am willing to stifle my disdain for suburbia for a trek to Concession Street.
I feel like Concession is a little strip of downtown in a not so downtown world. It has store fronts with street parking, not strip malls with football field parking lots. It is home to a movie theatre (that I hope will open again one day soon), a bowling alley, escarpment views, and Papa Leo’s.
Breakfast was delicious and has not disappointed during any of my visits. Here’s the rundown for this particular brunch.
The Big, which consists of three eggs, with bacon, sweet chorizo sausage, and buttermilk pancakes, served with fresh cut pan fried potatoes and toast! That’s what I ordered. I wanted to marry my pancake, it was so yummy!
Next up was Papas Egg’s: two poached eggs served on fresh avocado and smoked salmon with a fresh cilantro cream sauce.
Just thinking about the texture of the eggs, avocado and smoked salmon melting in my mouth is enough to make me want to cry. Amazing!
No brunch is complete without freshly squeezed orange juice or a fresh smoothy, which they serve both of.
Go to Papa Leo’s you will not regret!
*Papa Leo’s, 638 Concession St, 289.389.7227
One thing I love about Hamilton… are people who love Hamilton too.
When I was taking a French night class a little while back for an assignment we were asked to think of someone we admire to discuss for our next class as a conversation piece. People talked about Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, their mother or their fathers. I came to the next class and launched into how much I admire local Hamiltonian Matt Jelly. I had just moved to Hamilton and was inspired by Matt’s love and passion for this city. I admired his civic involvement and take-action mentality to get things done and create change. I like people who do what they say, and while they’re at it get other people motivated to do the same.
I live downtown, and close to the “International Village”, where I usually rarely make it past Dennigers heading east on King. I have always thought of King Street as a place with a lot of potential but just a little empty or dare I say vacant? More recently I have happily noticed new stores popping up in the neighbourhood like MODify Your Closet and Accoutrements. What pushed me further along east on King was that I really wanted to check out Matt Jelly’s recent art exhibition of Hamilton maps at Freeway Coffee House. So off I headed east on King past my usual landmark destination.
On my walk to Freeway I discovered so many new places like Tundra Leather -a one stop shop for all things related to leather and working with leather (tools and all!). It’s been open since 1963! How had I never noticed this gem? There’s a new bookshop (J.H. Gordon Books) that’s being primed to open too.
AND then there’s Freeway Coffee House. What an awesome space! They serve local Hamilton roasted Red Hill Coffee, they host events and parties, and they have huge windows that stretch nearly the entire length of the vast space between floor to ceiling overlooking the parkette across the street.
I loved Matt Jelly’s Hamilton map exhibit. I enjoy seeing and experiencing things that I have a direct connection to. So of course my favourite map was my neighbourhood’s map.
I had a friend that told me that when she was younger she’d always giggle and say “cooties” instead of “Cootes”. Haha Cooties Paradise.
Matt’s exhibit is showing at Freeway Coffee House until May 11th. If you’ve never been to Freeway or that neck of King Street go and check it out. Grab a coffee at Freeway check out Jelly’s maps, and then head over to J. H. Gordon Books, which is scheduled to open this month.
*Freeway Coffee House, 333 King St. East
I enjoyed my first spring meal outside in our backyard the other day with a friend.
I made a carrot, sweet potato, ginger, and coriander soup -perfect for keeping warm from the slight chill still in the air.
I grilled up some yellow zucchini with honey for our mixed green and spinach salad, and pan-fried some homemade potato chips until perfect crispy golden brown.
“The Gore on King Street,” as I’ve learned, was once what Gore Park was commonly known as by Hamiltonians a long time ago. It sits grandly in the middle of Hamilton’s downtown core and has done so for over a century.
I walk by Gore Park every day, and love the fact Hamilton has a park carved out in its heart. When I first moved here I heard from others of its “bad rap,” but I have never seen much trouble there anytime I’ve been by day or night. I wouldn’t be a stranger to having spent some time in Gore Park either. I’ve happily sat on a bench and eaten my sandwich at lunchtime watching the crowds go by. It’s a great spot for doing just that, taking a break, people watching, and just letting the day pass.
Gore Park is a lovely downtown park. It’s lined with trees, home to an ornate Victorian fountain, and three historical monuments! Not to mention it is a pedestrian haven in what is otherwise known as a car-dominated throughway among the numerous one-ways that cross downtown. You can walk for three blocks through the Gore feeling at ease, away from the busy road, shaded by the trees in summer time and beneath the Christmas lights and snow-covered trees in winter. It always reminds me a little of Europe.
Five years ago I spent a summer living in Berlin, and I adored the downtown neighbourhood pockets with their market squares surrounded by old buildings. Everything seemed to slow down in those public spaces. They were gathering places for weekly organic vegetable fruit markets, Sunday antique, arts and crafts and flea markets, and ice-cream shops and cafés that surrounded the public square with their chairs and tables overlooking the park. That summer I spent a lot of time relaxing in parks that were spattered generously throughout the city. My attraction to Berlin is not strange at all knowing that I chose Hamilton as the place where I want to live. Berlin — like Hamilton — is a city going through transition. It has a very young population of artists and those of the creative kind who have been choosing to remain in the city and to attract like-minded people invested in helping to transform the city into something really quite inspirational.
One thing I like about Gore Park is how old it is and the unique history that it holds. From its early beginnings nearly 200 years ago, The Gore on King Street was an unsightly dirty dumping ground for local and surrounding businesses. It was in such a state of dirty disarray that many proposals were made to remove the park to make room for new building developments. However, due to the consistent public outcry to keep the space a public one, we still have a lovely square in the middle of our city. The history of Gore Park has been a tumultuous one. A park gated and kept under tight lock and key in the 1860s; a massacre of “pesky” starlings and pigeons gunned down by hunters in the 1950s; expansion, and proposed diminishing of the park’s size; a clear-cutting of the tree-lined park 1970s; and still, all these years later, there is ongoing planning and talk of what to do with Gore Park.
On a short visit to New York City this past month, I couldn’t help but take note of the many old squares in that city too. On those glorious sunny and unusually warm March days, New Yorkers flocked to these sun-soaked patches to enjoy a break from the Manhattan daily grind. I like our public space at Gore Park. It can be our little piece of New York and Europe right here in Hamilton.
This article was printed by the Hamilton Spectator and can also be found here.
Since Philly is so close to NYC it was worth a little jaunt over to visit some friends and check out the city.
When we got off the bus at around lunch time our number one priority was to get a Philly cheesesteak sandwich stat. We were strictly advised not to get one from any of the touristy locations, as we’d be surely disappointed AND we wanted nothing but the real deal. Directions were given to go directly to Paesano’s in the Italian market. So that’s what we did, and this is what was ordered; The Paesano -beef brisket, roasted tomato, sharp provolone, horseradish mayo, the signature fried egg all stuffed into a hot and fresh hoagie bun. A delivery of hot buns arrived as our order was being taken, so you knew everything was going to be fresh and melty good. Steve took one bite of his sandwich and nearly died right then and there -it was so damn good!
Besides the awesome sandwich, and fantastic Italian market, Philly is rampant with about a million murals that spread throughout the city. It’s actually really gorgeous, and a lot of them depict specific historical figures and events that occurred in that particular area. One of my favourites was this pixelated mural of trees in blossom coinciding perfectly with Philly’s early spring tree blossoms. You can see some of the fabulous murals of Philadelphia here -you gotta love cities that invest in community and art projects like this one: The Mural Arts Program.
We ended our afternoon in the city of brotherly love in a gorgeous 1800 Victorian themed brew house called the Farmer’s Cabinet, where deliciously unique and exquisite beers were sampled.
I definitely want to come back again to Philadelphia to spend a little more time checking out all of its history and secret dug-out spaces.
There’s a definite consistency to what I like and find intriguing about certain places. I think part of my love for places like this has something to do with industrial spaces that are in transition -one half still a little rough and industrious while the other is moving into new transformative territory. I believe that Red Hook is one of those places. Located in south-west Brooklyn a little off the beaten track it’s home to many new businesses like the outstanding gourmet Fairway supermarket, the Lobster Pound -lobster bisque sandwich shop, the Good Fork, Hope & Anchor diner, Fort Defiance café, and the Bait and Tackle bar. Hmm there seems to be something going on here. It is a mixed neighbourhood sandwiched by loading docks, and warehouses on one side, government subsidized housing on the other and gorgeous brownstones neighbourhoods just a short walk up through Carrol Gardens to Cobble Hill.
One section of the many beers from around the world sold at Fairway market. Why oh why Ontario are your restrictions and regulations on alcohol so strict? Why do you limit the possibilities of potential sampling and tasting all those delicious beers out there?
Local Red Hook watering hole; Bait and Tackle.
Off a side street behind some warehouses we came across two gorgeous buildings home to Cacao Prieto chocolate factory, and Botanica wine bar. The murals painted on the fences are for both of the spaces. I believe they are open seasonally and were slated to open up in just a few weeks.
We spent a lot of our time in Red Hook and it was where we called home for the duration of our visit. Thanks Andrea for graciously hosting us in your lovely apartment! I loved being able to see places that as a tourist I wouldn’t know about. My highlights of this trip really were just walking around Brooklyn.
It’s true. I love ramen! When I lived in Japan I even joined an I love ramen club. We sampled ramen in various different cities and small towns wherever there was ramen, and it was everywhere.
Over the past few years I’ve seen multiple ramen shops open up in Toronto, but I find that they’re never quite right; the soup’s too salty, not hot enough or the noodles are too soft… I know, I know, I’m a ramen snob.
So whenever I’m in New York, where all food is just better, I always scope out the ramen shops.
Here’s the run down.
We checked out Hide (he-de)-Chan Ramen, which is a Japanese-run mid-town Manhattan ramen house.
I loved how you could choose your noodle firmness! A ramen lovers dream come true! I went with medium firm.
We could not pass up draft Sapporo beer and the classic deep fried chicken karage, which was to die for -crispy, gingery, lemon zested, and delicious!
I went with the Hakata Kuro Ramen, with roasted garlic. It was rich and delicious. The noodles were skinny and perfectly firm.
*Hide-Chan Ramen, 248 East 52nd Street New York, 212.813.1800
Our next ramen stop was to Ramen Misoya another Japanese-run ramen house on the lower east side. It was actually on a strip of other ramen noodle shops all in a row.
The ramen was good- well I’d say alright. Half a potato on an already heavy bowl of noodle soup with 3 honking slices of pork!? That wasn’t necessary.
*Ramen Misoya, 129 2nd Ave, New York
My all time favourite NYC ramen has to be Rai-Rai Ken‘s. We actually had this ramen on our last visit to the city. This east village beauty of a ramen shop could not go without an honourable mention. The establishment itself stays true to form as an authentic sit-at-the-counter ramen house, although some might argue that their ramen is not so traditional.
I ordered the Mapu Dofu Ramen, which was Chinese meets Japanese ramen. Not your traditional bowl of Japanese ramen, but it was amazing!
*Rai Rai Ken, 214 E. 10th St., New York, 212.477.7030
I have sampled Ippudo Ramen too. Which was also good, but it was a long line and wait considering it’s a large chain ramen shop.
I think I will absolutely die if an authentic ramen shop opens up in Hamilton.
One of the perks of getting back into the teaching profession is March Break holidays and trips!
Steve and I headed down to New York City over March break to visit some friends, explore more of Brooklyn and indulge in some NYC art and food.
On a visit to the big apple last year, we checked out Chelsea and decided that we really wanted to go back to do some more exploring (I really did want to go to Chelsea!). We actually ended up spending a few days hanging around there. We walked the High Line, which was in glorious spring form.
The High Line is a 2.5 km park that winds around Chelsea. It’s actually an old raised rail line that has been transformed into a pedestrian walkway with natural vegetation, flowers, wild grasses, urban landscaping, and amazing city views.
On this particular day the sun was shining, and all the early spring foliage was already budding and blooming.
We also checked out the contingency of contemporary art galleries that are concentrated in Chelsea -nearly a whole 5 city blocks worth! The galleries are privately owned but occupy huge industrial spaces, representing some major players in art like Georg Baselitz and Roy Lichtenstein.
In terms of art we arrived in perfect timing to catch the last day of The Armory Show. It is one of the largest international art show and sales in the world and is only open to the public for four days. We concentrated mostly on the contemporary art section that took nearly 3 hours to walk through. It was a lot to take in visually all in one go and I left with my head in a bit of an art spin.
Once the art fix was satisfied it was on to the food! That’ll be my next post.
My first Doors Open Hamilton three years ago got me an exclusive peak into the secret space of Capri Pizza; an old Hamilton themed restaurant from the 60′s (the main floor is still open to the public and operating as a restaurant). The restaurant on the 2nd floor was paper mâché-ed sculpted to resemble the interior of Grotta Azzurra or Blue Grotto of Capri, Italy.
Back in the day you could dine in the atmosphere of its blue tranquility with the trickling sounds of a real river running through the middle of the restaurant. If I can recall correctly from that Doors Open, the owner said that they had not opened it to the public since it closed 30+ years ago. It was literally frozen in time and it was such a treat to see!
If I were to ever require throwing an under the sea themed party, like in Back To The Future, then this would be the place that I would need to have it in. Check out Young Rival’s video that was filmed in that very space.
I love the aqua blue colour of the back of the building.
I have yet to eat at Capri Pizza; I’m saving my visit for the day they reopen the 2nd floor…
This year Doors Open Hamilton is taking place on May 5th and 6th!
*Capri Ristorante Italiano, 25 John St. north, 905.525.7811
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