Frings

This month started with a trip to London, which I will write about soon, and was obviously the highlight of the month (and year!). We almost don’t need a separate recap for November, except for a couple special things (coughFRINGScough):

  • Back in September, Drake surprised us all with the grand opening for a new restaurant in partnership with Susur Lee and all his hot sons. There was no word on when it would actually open, or what would be on the menu, but I was immediately obsessed. When my friend Sarah gave me the heads-up that they were finally accepting reservations, I made one in about 5 seconds. Let me tell you, Fring’s is everything I hoped for and MORE. The vibe is so chill, the food is incredible, and you kind of just have hope while you’re sitting in there that Drake will roll through at any minute. The menu is tapas/sharing style, even with a dedicated TOASTS section (so on trend! I expect nothing less from Drizzy), and here is what we had: avocado toast with preserved lemon, pistachios and olives, kale caesar, sweet and sour meatballs, and spicy maple fried chicken.  Also, LOL at our waiter for so somberly letting us know that the truffle shipment didn’t come in the day we were there, so we’d have to make do without freshly shaved truffles on a few of the dishes. Amazing. I can’t wait to go back.
  • Nicole took me out for birthday brunch at Union Restaurant, and I totally had menu paralysis – everything sounded so good and I and couldn’t decide what to order! I ended up getting their basic breakfast with scrambled eggs, potato rosti, thick cut bacon and toast and it was perfect. Nicole got the croque madame, and we got a big huge apple pancake to share. Need to go back!
  • Speaking of Nicole, she came over last weekend for our 6th (!) Annual Baking Day, and I made her a Pinterest board to prepare. She selected Smitten Kitchen’s Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Pistachio Sables from Bon Appetit, and we always make the Buckeyes from Baked Explorations.
  • I cooked a few things at home this month that I loved and will share soon, but wanted to give a special shout out here to my blog crush Kiwi & Bean and her Pumpkin Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal. This is a revelation! I made it on a Sunday and ate it for breakfast all week long. Actually I should make it again this weekend.
  • I also made a triumphant return to Gastropost! I hadn’t done a mission in 10,001 years, so it was nice to get back in the paper with my Butternut Squash Risotto for the rice mission.

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • On the way to London I watched Inside Out on the plane, one of the few movies I missed in theatres this summer and absolutely LOVED IT (and not just because Mindy Kaling is the voice of disgust). Super clever, funny and heartwarming.
  • Missy Elliot released her first new single in like 10 years and I can’t.stop.listening to it. (Yes, I know everyone else was listening to Adele this month).
  • On October 30th ESPN shut down my favourite website Grantland, and I didn’t get to mourn it properly until I got back from my trip. Seriously now there is nothing good to read when I eat lunch at my desk. I miss it every day.

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