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| Watermelon & Buffalo Mozzarella...with a dash of pepper @The Living Room, 514 17th Avenue, SW |
My new favourite room in my new apartment is my living
room.
It has everything you could ask for: a view, a bank of
windows facing east, so that I can see from the west side of the city all the
way past the downtown core to the airport; it has comfortable seating and is a
great place to sit back and relax; and it’s connected to the kitchen, so a
glass of deep red cabernet or a club soda or a coffee and a full fridge with a
range of possibilities are all only a few steps away.
And so is the one down on 17th.
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| The patio at the Living Room |
The The Living Room, which can be found at 514 17th
Avenue, SW, has a great big outer courtyard with a fireplace in the corner, a
dozen or more tables scattered at a good distance from each other (allowing for
private/intimate/personal conversations without being overheard); it’s one of
only a handful of spots on the Mile with outdoor spaces that has more of a
barrier to the street, which is nice—especially on a Saturday evening, when
Melanie and I decided to grab a bite.
Friday and Saturday nights on 17th are super
busy, with bars and clubs and restaurants, and the streets—packed with diners
and partyers and street people and everyone in between—can get pretty loud.
So it’s nice to have a sanctuary in the middle of the
Mile—kind of like sitting on your own urban back patio.
The Living Room has indoor dining as well (there’s even a
room for private dining that can hold up to 32 people, so a nice space to
celebrate life or something more serious), but I’m embarrassed to admit I
didn’t even go in to take a peek. It was
too nice outside, and I guess I didn’t need to use the bathroom. Oh, well. All
the more reason for a return visit (the inside, not the bathroom…although I
have to say I have seen some pretty fascinating bathrooms on this quest).
What I did take in was the atmosphere of the patio, the cocktail
and (extensive) wine list, and the dinner menu.
Melanie and I had a couple of cocktails, and I chose two
appetizers—fresh mozzarella and watermelon (two very mild flavours that needed a
hit of black pepper to spice them up) and pork belly on polenta, served with a
dash of caramelized popcorn—odd, but oddly good. Mel had a beautiful big beef ribeye steak,
served with mushrooms, potatoes and an eggplant puree.
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| A perfect dinner.... |
Great food—we were full enough that we skipped dessert. We also had plans to meet up with Karen and Jim at Betty
Lou’s Library, so we needed to pace ourselves. But
I’d definitely go back for another meal.
Great conversation too, which is an even better reason to venture out
again.
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