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| - Karelia Kitchen is a "Scandinavian style" bakery and cafe that my Finnish partner is now utterly in love with. We've been twice now since they opened last week: our first visit was for coffee and sweets, while our second was for full on brunch.
It is abundantly clear that an incredible amount of care has gone into the planning and execution of Karelia, and that the vision of the owners isn't exceeding their considerable talents as chefs and proprietors.
The food here is -- for the most part -- all pre-prepared, cafeteria style, and you're able to mix and match as you please. Each item is priced between $8 and $12, more or less, and include at least one side of your choice (either cold salads or warm cooked vegetables). We splurged and, for two people, enjoyed the following:
* Roast chicken open-faced sandwich with tarragon mustard and frisee. Delicious!
* Apricot stuffed pork loin with, I believe, onion gravy (though I may have misheard). Tender and flavourful, though the butter knives provided weren't up to the job (I expect that will be remedied).
With warm sides of braised cabbage (sooooo good!), rutabagas (melt in your mouth, sweet, yum!), and cold salads of cucumber//radish/dill, potato/red pepper, rainbow beet/barley, and celery root/carrot. All were excellent, fresh, refreshing, with the cucumber and beet salads being our clear favourites.
Our cappuccinos, though ordered as "wet caps", came out pretty standard frothy Italian style. Minor quibble, as coffee isn't the focus. We still enjoyed them, but the amount of care that's gone into the food makes me think they should seek further barista training. If the coffee were as great as the food, I'd have a hard time passing by without stopping in for a nibble and a cup.
We took home a cardamom sweet cake and a slice of "country" apple tart. Both were outstanding! My beloved Finn adored her cardamom cake and, for my part, I think the apple tart would pass muster with the very best down-home-American-apple-pie-connoisseurs. Seriously. Sweet, cinnamony, simply amazing, with more apple than crust. Perfect.
And to top it all off, they gifted us a couple housemade biscotti to try! One very traditional and very tasty, the other with a hint of anise that made me perk up and say "WOW!".
What a great experience -- thrilled to have them open up in the neighbourhood... here's to hoping we can always get a table for Saturday morning brunches!
Last note: not sure if they cater, but they definitely should. Looking for someone to satisfy discerning diners at your wedding? This style of food is perfect, and the quality here is remarkable.
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