Equal parts local, fancy, delicious and Valentinesish!
I miss 
So, come tag along on a Valentine's brunch shortly after the latest lockdown in my small town.
This is what Revival House https://revival.house looks like from the parking lot on a cold and snowy, mid-February day in this small Canadian town. Most of my pictures have been from within the 100+year old church or in the simmer when the blooms are spilling from every corner. This is Valentine's Day though so we will have to enter through the door to get any warmth.
Closed for a Ticketed Event
Normally, this grand dining room hosts dozens of dining parties luxuriously spaced from eachother, or a packed house for a lively concert. Today, it is off limits as the https://www.innerchamber.ca/ is setting up their instruments and supporting technology for the Kindness Concert https://www.innerchamber.ca/kindness
The description reads like something out of a #thoughtfuldailypost, "Kindness is courage, kindness is trust, kindness is truth. It’s easy to dismiss kindness as a dream, the naive province of fools, but it is the work of heroes, the work of giants to mend this torn garment and bridge the vast expanse with the labour set before us: to fill our homes, our communities, and our world with kindness.
Songs and stories of kindness curated by Glynis Ranney and Mike Nadajewski and arranged by Ben Bolt-Martin"
For now, the familiar musicians attend to their setup and the only musical sound is the tuning of the grand piano.
Can I start you with a Drink?
I am going to break from my regular script and come right out and admit I opted for coffee. I worked the bar for a burlesque show the night before in the main room of this restaurant. This meant for a very late night, and I was 30 minutes from having just woken up when we arrived. You probably get sick of the constant beer theme so I will give you a break for this one. You want beer? Go splash a nice tip on #beersaturday post @zekepickleman/beersaturday-week-242-brewing-and-monkeys-and-shorties and get your hops on.
For now, I am behaving.
The Belfry
Tucked away at the top of 3 separate sets of stairs is a neat little lounge called The Belfry Bar. It is only little compared to the grand room but is actually about the size of most other restaurants in town. It is quaintly decorated like a mix between a tea room and perhaps an old English martini bar? Perfect for a little brunch!
The Menu
With all of the windows and lights in the room, you would not believe the contortions I had to do in order to get a shot where something wasn't shining out the words on this menu. You know you are in good when there is a whole eggs benny section, a half dozen awesome sounding sandwiches, and another 18 other Brunchy Lunch selections.
To Start
We started off with the Caramelized Brie and, if you look closely enough, you might see that we tore into it before I could get a picture. I positioned the house made olive bread crostinis into formation and threw the garnish back on top. This review will still make enough to pay for the meal because being a foodie on the Hive Blockchain is awesome like that.
For My Better Half
There was less than 5% odds she wasn't going to take a run at the Revival Eggs Benedicts section. I think I saw her eyes give a cursory glance down the Brunchy Lunch section and another to try and guess what I would order. In the end, the oddsmakers had it right and she opted for Eggs Avocado Benedict.
The noises she made while enjoying it tell me it was something else. There was even half that couldn't be finished and was boxed up to share at home with the family members who were not invited to our Valentine's date.
And For Yourself?
My brand, early on in the food blogging business, was quest for the best burger in town. Mainly because I loved burgers so much, it would often be what I ordered for a special lunch and all I had pictures of. Again, I am burning the script as I couldn't resist the Maple Rueben.
As delicious as the sandwich was with its reasonable ratio of meat to sauerkraut and tangy house pickles, those fries were just as good. There was none of this going home as I happily destroyed it.
All in all...
One of the perks of having some of the fanciest places in town as clients, is the chance to visit them and get the VIP treatment as a patron. For Valentine's Day Brunch, Revival House was perfect. I think I earned a good amount of Wifepoints© while genuinely enjoying the place and the company myself. WOULD RECOMMEND!
I am honoured to curate for:
How was your Valentine's Date?
https://shopstratford.ca Obligatory website link for search engine optimization! ;)
Restaurant Information
Revival House Stratford
70 Brunswick St, Stratford, Ontario Canada
Revival House Brunch! - A Zeke Tasteem Review©
This post participated in the Hive contest Take-Home Awesomeness
BRING BACK TASTEEM!
