#Instaweekend | From Ossington to Florida

Might have been a quiet long weekend for some, but we here at View the Vibe have a hard time staying down even during down time. From a tour of the Ossington strip to a night out in Mississauga, a Florida fantasy to a dim sum jam, we got around… as per the usual…

Adam’s Eats and Treats | Twitter: @amazerall | Instagram: amazerall
I unfortunately started the long weekend off with the sniffles and a dry throat. No bother, I said. I’ll be fine, I said. I was wrong. I spent Friday out in the West End with the lovely Ms. Samantha Millar. Knowing the kind of trouble the saucy Brit and I tend to get into, I should’ve taken a double dose of vitamin C to help bolster my immune system. This was not going to be a quick meet…

We started off at The Samuel J. Moore, where I arrived 45 minutes late to the table of two. (Sorry again, Sam!) Even though I’d eaten not long ago, I couldn’t pass up the chance to have some flapjacks. Thin and fluffy, and covered in a delightful blueberry compote, these pancakes were more refined than anything that ever came out of my mom’s kitchen.

Next, we decided more drinks were in order. And really, I needed to keep hydrated anyway. Cough. We marched over to Bellwoods Brewery, left our names on the list, and took a few steps up to Reposado where we had our first patio drink of the year. Gotta love their Hot Ruby.

Bellwoods Brewery called us back just as we took the last sips of our patio palatables, and we sauntered back to the brewpub to try out some of their crafty concoctions. Delightful, says I!

Next up, The Saint Tavern seemed like the perfect way to end our little jaunt. Neither of us had been (for shame, I know), and I can easily say I’ll be back… if only for this wine…

Well, not only for the wine. Their pork belly pierogies and sesame chicken wings were both tops. Seriously, they sous vide their chicken wings low-n-slow to lock in incredible juiciness. Next time, I’m not sharing.

Since I’d obliterated any semblance of energy left in my body by Friday evening, Saturday was spent attempting (poorly) to recuperate. No matter… Sunday, still feeling worse for the wear, I met Ms. Valerie Stachurski at my home-away-from-home, The Combine Eatery, to have an Easter brunch of chilaquiles and mimosas. And, not surprisingly, I ended up staying the remainder of the day and having Easter dinner there as well. Like I said, it’s my home-away-from-home…

Nicki’s Eats and Treats | Twitter: @viewthevibe | Instagram: viewthevibe
No matter how great the rest of our weekends were, none can top Nicki’s. She started Thursday night with a special partner to help her pack for her trip Friday morning…

And then, on Saturday, from the warmth of Key West, she imbued us with envy as she drank poolside with trash mags and cocktails.

I’d be envious if I didn’t know how deserved this li’l respite of hers was. Well… more envious, at least.

Jason’s Eats and Treats | Twitter: @j_finestone | Instagram: finest_one
Jason’s weekend was one of family and food. Friday night, he and the fam cooked up a “Tot Shabbat” dinner with an eclectic mix of ethnic foods, starting with bowls of homemade tom yum soup with shiitake and oyster mushrooms, spinach, and carrots. Lookin’ good there, Finestone…

They followed with a culinary world tour of roasted asparagus with garlic and sesame oil (Japan), roasted taters with lemon and parsley (Greek), and some pescado Veracruzan (Mexico) – a dish he learned from the chefs at Frida. Looks like the restaurant world has some stiff competition.

After a Saturday night spent trying the few dishes on Oddseoul‘s menu he’d yet to taste, his hangover Sunday was dedicated to dim sum at his home-away-from-home, Sky Dragon. It may not have been as busy as usual thanks to it being Easter and all, but a few traffic jams were still spotted around the guests…

Tanja’s Eats and Treats | Twitter: @TanjaVTV | Instagram: tanjabeg
Ms. Tanja started the long weekend of with a long Thursday night. She and a few ladies gathered at Mississauga supper club &Co. for some bites, bevvies, and booty-shaking. (Watch out for the vlog coming up later this week!)

Afterwards, and of no surprise to us here in the office, they made their way over to Fiction Nightclub which was home to a big Serbian part-ay (yeah, I wrote that) by Absolute Entertainment on Thursday night. Luckily for Tanja, what happens at Fiction stays at Fiction…

Fast-forward to Saturday night, when she started with a bottle of this…

…that’s our girl! Then Tanja et. al. made their way over to Zam, a Serbian hotspot, to groove out and continue the long weekend festivities in Eastern European fashion. (Well, as Eastern European as you can be without a bottle of vodka.)

Luckily for us, she did indeed resurface after her rowdy weekend.