Latkes with a Heaping Side Order of Hipster

Stupid Whatever S phone!  I took pictures of this musical buffet brunch and then the stupid phone lost them.  Actually, it lost a whole bunch of photos.  I had no idea where they were, but I knew I hadn't deleted them.  I had to mount the stupid phone onto my machine to retrieve the damned pictures.  Stupid Whatever S phone!

All this to say that I didn't get around to writing about this brunch until now.

Back when The Spousal Unit and I were young and child-free, we used to go to this place for shows on a semi-regular basis.  It's in a "bohemian" (read: filthy and decrepit) neighbourhood that is quasi-famous in Canada thanks to a short-lived early-80s sitcom.  Of course in the 80s the neighbourhood was "ethnic" and there was an actual market.  Or so I'm told. 

Now the place is just filthy and full of hipsters who long for an "authentic" "ethnic" experience.  Of course, I never realized this until I went there for brunch recently.

The World's Tiniest Latkes shared the table with The World's Tiniest Slivers of Dessert

I was there to watch a friend's band play.  They're really good and they aren't hipster authentic by any stretch of the imagination.  They're actually old guys who've been playing together for ages and are probably the farthest things from hipsters you can get.  I have no problem with them or their music. Hence why they're my friends.

Anyways.

The brunch.  It's a "yiddish" brunch.  And a bunch of hipsters go there for an "authentic" "Jewish" "experience".  It's very ironic and meta.  Everyone's there in their fanciest shitty cloths, eating The World's Tiniest Latkes and The World's Tiniest Slices of Dessert, feeling all self-congratulatory about their choice of eating establishment because it shows that they're, you know, urbane and shit.

The food was OK, but I was woefully inappropriately dressed for brunch.

The Smells of Eastern Europe

That's maple syrup, from happier brunches.

I made latkes for brunch over the weekend.

They were potato and sweet potato baked latkes -- or at least they were supposed to be baked. 

Spousal unit decided that the latkes "weren't turning out right" baked and fried a few.  The problem with that is that you can't fry latke batter made for baking; it absorbs way too much oil.

The long and the short of it was that the latkes ended up being revolting oily masses and the whole apartment stunk of fried food.  Spousal Unit (who is kinda Polishy/Russianesque) joked that the place smelled like Eastern Europe. 

At least the coffee was good.

Not Avocado and Cheddar Crepes

We were supposed to have avocado and cheddar crepes.

Whaddya mean "Ewwwwwwwww"? Hey! Come back here!

Lacking a certain je ne sais quoi.

Avocado and cheddar crepes are tasty! They aren't as good as brie and avocado crepes, but they're pretty damned good. The coolness and firm creaminess of the avocado counters the hot, salty oiliness of the cheese, making for a very satisfying taste experience, whether in a crepe or in a sandwich.

And avocado and cheese crepes are even better when smothered in maple syrup.  Though in all fairness even cardboard tastes awesome smothered in maple syrup.

OK.  Are we good now?  You're gonna try this at least once, right?  No?  Well, too bad, this is my blog and my food.

Anyways, all the avocados were bad despite looking firm and being bought only two days prior, so we just had cheese crepes.