ARTS & CULTURE
18 Obiter Dicta
Jurisfoodence: In Search of Toronto’s Best Brunch
Food Adventure #11: Rose & Sons
kate henley & karolina wisniewski ›
staff writer & editor-in-chief
Rose & Sons
(176 Dupont St.)
K ate: Though I have heard amazing things about
Rose & Sons over the past few years, the location
and rumoured wait time prevented me from trying
it (remember, I used to live at Passy, where brunch
is nothing but a fantasy). Having been so impressed
with Big Crow, I had very high hopes for what I will
call this “greasy spoon with a twist.”
K arolina: I feel about Rose & Sons the way I feel
about The West Wing or Kendrick Lamar: they all
come critically and popularly acclaimed, and (considering my love for greasy food, Aaron Sorkin, and
hip hop) I should love them all. Alas, something
just doesn’t click, and despite my continued efforts
to immerse myself and fully enjoy the experience,
I walk away feeling a little meh. My introduction
to R&S was an absolutely mind-blowing dinner. I
should note that this fabled meal was one I enjoyed
before I became a vegetarian; herbivores are likely
to be more limited at R&S than most restaurants,
so I fear I might not feel the same way if I were to
return now. At any rate, since that evening, I had
been to R&S for brunch once before going with Kate.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed to see how mediocre the overall experience was, and how it ranked
far below my dinner. But in spirit of wanting to be
proven wrong, I suggested (some may even say zealously advocated) that we dedicate a Jurisfoodence
adventure to R&S.
K ate: What?! I literally wrote this review while listening to the new Kendrick Lamar album. So. Good.
K arolina: *hangs head in shame*
Brunch Hours
Rose & Sons is open for brunch from 9 p.m.-3 p.m.
on Saturdays and Sundays.
Wait Time/Service
K ate: We both assumed that R&S would require a
bit of a wait—it is very small and seats maybe twenty
to twenty-five people—so aimed to be there for 9:30
a.m. on a Sunday morning. However, I was pleasantly surprised: I arrived late, and Karolina already
had a table when I got there—a very good start.
K arolina: Obviously, calling a meal that you eat
at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday “brunch” is somewhat of
a misnomer. However much our outrageously early
meal time probably resembles my future as a retiree,
it saved us from having to spend an hour standing
outside on an uncharacteristically freezing midMarch Sunday morning in order to snag a coveted
table at R&S. So don’t judge.
K ate: We had a few different people serve us while
we were there; though one had a bit of an attitude,
ê Sadly, the anticipated flavour of clothbound award-winning cheddar from PEI was upstaged by the dominating,
and mediocre, olive oil.
our main server was very nice and polite, and even
brought me a free coffee (more on that below).
K arolina: Agreed, our server was lovely (and not
just because she never charged us for those hash
browns, either!), while the table runner was unfortunately unpleasant. I suppose it shouldn’t come as
a surprise, though—R&S is destined to have at least
one blasé American Apparel cast-off on its staff; it’s
basically par for the course with trendy restaurants.
Atmosphere
K at e: I like the old-school diner feel and cozy
atmosphere at R&S, but the waiting area is far too
small considering how popular the restaurant is;
the number of people squished into the doorway
at nearly all times has got to be a fire hazard… Also,
though I initially really liked the booths, there
was an unfortunate bro reunion happening at the
table behind us; the result was loud, obnoxious,
and, luckily for me, my bench was getting jostled
with every movement. At one point, our server got
trapped between the bros (as they welcomed more
friends and switched up their seating arrangements)
and the kitchen; the result was both unfortunate
and hilarious.
K arolina: The music, which was a combination of
old-school soul and funk, was awesome. The sparse
and minimalist interior of R&S works, given its nononsense greasy spoon thing. However, given its
small size, it’s impossible not to be freezing all the
time; wherever you sit, you are never more than a
few feet away from the door. The seating arrangement is cool, though; while you might be forced
to sharing a table with a group as obnoxious as
the above-mentioned bros, I generally like the
idea of shared tables; it’s cute and adds a feeling of
community.
Coffee
K ate: So there is no drip coffee here, which I think
is a bit of a faux pas for a brunch place (especially
when the alternative, an Americano, costs $3.25).
Further, the milk that I was given had gone bad and
split once I added it to my drink; I was brought a
new one by a second server, who informed me that
she had checked the milk and it was fine. As someone who almost never sends things back at a restaurant, I found this infuriating; not only was the fact
that it split plainly obvious, what happened to the
good ‘ol saying “the customer is always right”? Also,
it split again in my second drink. Luckily for me, our
first server mistakenly brought me a third coffee and
gave it to me for free.
K arolina: Thankfully, the cream I added to my
Americano neglected to curdle, and I was spared
from verbal sparring with the table runner, unlike
poor Kate. It seems as if restaurants in the R&S
family have a habit of refusing to serve basic
and cheap drip coffee (remember Big Crow and
their cowboy coffee?). This is annoying, but the
Americano was really good, and only about a dollar
more than I would expect to pay for a plain-old
coffee, so I’ll let this one slide.
LLBO licensed
K ate: R&S has cocktails: a Caesar will cost you $13
and, though mimosas are advertised, there is no
price listed. However, after the delicious and cheap
cocktails at The Bristol, I couldn