Le Petit Dejeuner

A Slice like Home

By: Anna Ryabtsun

If good, organic breakfast, yummy belgian frites or steamed mussels are calling your name, you may want to check out a small but delightfully tasty spot in Toronto. Le Petit Dejeuner is that little hidden place that you probably wouldn't even know existed unless someone happened to mention it. Well, the way that I found out about its existence was completely different, yet it did the trick. I saw someone at my work eating very nice looking frites (yes frites, those very thin french fries, not the thick ones you usually get), and very nicely fried sandwiches along with a salad that could just draw you in. So, I asked where the food came from, and the next day I went to check the restaraunt out for myself. The menu is definetely not too big, but the choices are amazing, ranging from brunches to pastas to homemade onion rings along with homemade mayonaise. When I ordered steamed mussels, the chef who is also the head waitress said that the mussels they received were too small, so they didn't want to dissapoint the customers with them. I thought that was very honest of her, because it's not often that one can go to a restaurant, order a dish and be told that the dish cannot be prepared since the ingredients are not A-class...After ordering poached eggs on a bagel with lox and capers, along with the famous frites, I was very satisfied and very full. Another unique fact about Dejeuner is that they actually tell you on the menu where they get their food from! You can see on the menu that all the places are local, and most of the food they offer is organic.
OveralI, I think the place has an amazing vibe, because the staff care for you on an individual level, which is important when you are explaining what you are in the mood for. I would definetely reccomend this spot anytime, be it for breakfast, lunch or savvy dinner!

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The Griddle Cafe

With its inventive pancakes the size, and thickness of the plates they are served on; craveably good meaty strips of bacon; and arguably the best French Toast in Los Angeles, the Griddle Café knows how to do breakfast right. Just ask the hordes of people lined up outside the Sunset Blvd. institution, who are waiting for a table as early as 9 am on any given Saturday or Sunday morning.

If the Griddle Café is a scene, it's a scene that is actually worthy of both the eclectic crowd it attracts, and the buzz that surrounds it's epic pancakes, like the brown-sugar baked banana, caramel, walnut, streusel-filled "Golden Ticket" stack, or the always popular "Black Magic" stack that is bursting with Oreo cookie crumbs. Sound more like dessert than "the most important meal of the day?" The Griddle's fare is not for dainty appetites, but no one – not even the emaciated starlet seated in the corner booth—seems to be complaining.

Individual carafes of strong coffee, pots of tea, and real 100% maple syrup are just some of the details that make the Griddle Café so appealing to the tourists, celebrities and fresh-faced 20- and 30-somethings who frequent this casual diner-esque joint. The décor, though somewhat deconstructionist, works, charming the customers as much as the model good-looking wait staff does with their killer smiles.

Regulars know to order a single pancake, as opposed to the whole stack, and delight in watching the Griddle "virgins" attempt to get through four of the massive 'cakes. This is gluttony at its finest, but everyone's biting. Despite the lines that rival the uber-trendy night clubs like Area and Les Deux, there is something transcendentalist about the Griddle Café. Everyone is welcome, and everyone leaves with a full belly, and a big smile.

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