Craving Canadian Cuisine?

While searching for friendly restaurants I could potentially use in future stories, I stumbled upon Le Vespe - a quaint little caffe that serves up Canadian breakfast with a healthy twist. I figured Canadian breakfast has to be pretty similar to American breakfast, which I was starting to miss desperately, so I decided to give it a shot.

I'm so glad that I did.

For starters, I ordered a simple espresso. Caffeine was a must as I struggled to stay awake in my morning class, and I figured that any caffe in Florence (Canadian or not) had to have decent espresso. Now, I'm no coffee expert or snob. In fact, many of the espressos here are a little too bitter for my taste. But this particular shot was delicious. Not too bitter, full of flavour, and perfectly sweetened with a little brown sugar, I knew right away that this espresso was probably my favourite thus far.

For my lunch I ordered The Parkdale - eggs with spinach and feta, home fries, and toast. Scrambled eggs are always a favourite of mine, but I'm often a little skeptical to try them at new places. Once upon a time, when I was about ten, my family took a vacation to NYC and I had ordered scrambled eggs at the hotel and immediately got sick. Since then, ordering eggs from new places scares me. But I was craving the fluffy, yellow breakfast food so I took a risk.

The eggs were absolutely delicious - possibly the best eggs I've ever tasted. Fluffy and creamy, but not too heavy. The feta cheese and spinach paired perfectly with the eggs, adding a rich flavour that made my mouth water with every bite. I felt like I was eating little tasty clouds, as I floated on cloud nine. I made a note to myself to go out and buy fresh spinach and feta when I got home so I could scramble up these delicious eggs on my own.

The toast was also wonderful. It's surprisingly easy to mess up toast, something you wouldn't expect for something so simple. It's literally just a cooked piece of bread, but I've been places too often where my toast was burned, not browned enough, left cold, too buttery, not buttery enough, etc. Toast is one of my favourite breakfast foods (lame, I know), so I'm rather critical of restaurants who serve poor toast. Le Vespe is not one of those places. The bread seemed to be some sort of whole wheat bread, toasted perfectly to a nice golden shade and buttered just enough to add a little flavour but not so much that butter was all I was tasting. It was even better when I shovelled a little bit of egg on top.

Now, I'm not much of a potato person. My roommate Kelley finds it crazy that I don't really like potatoes. To me, though, they're often too bland and the texture is too weird. Mashed potatoes are often too squishy, and I hate when they have chunks in them. Baked potatoes are often tougher, but theres something about the starchiness of them that I cannot get over. And I'm VERY picky about my fries (no steak-cut for me, I prefer them shoe-string, crispy, and with lots of salt). Hash browns and home fries are a little different. When ordering breakfast, I often go for the meals that are all inclusive: eggs, bacon, toast or pancakes, fruit, and potatoes. While the potatoes are often my least favourite portion of the meal, I can appreciate crispy hash browns or seasoned home fries. And I definitely appreciated Le Vespe's home fries. I'm not sure what type of seasoning they used, but it was delicious. The potatoes had a nice crispy lining, the seasoning add a tasty flavour, and they were perfectly salted as well. Honestly, the best potatoes I've had in a very long time (I am still partial to my mother's cheesy potatoes, but that's more because I love cheese more than anything).

Eating lunch at Le Vespe was a wonderful experience, and I know I'll definitely be going back there before I leave. I'm really hoping to try their pancakes with Canadian maple syrup next time. Or maybe their french toast. Or their grilled cheese with bacon, spinach, and caramelised onions... I'm going to have to go there every day I have left in order to try all their delicious-sounding meals!