Brother #1 was in town this week, so we got to break bread together a few times. Monday night Lindsay and I met him at Bar Ardo, which I’d been to once before, but Lindsay hadn’t.

I don’t remember everything the brother had, but Lindsay and I had:

• Grilled Mediterranean octopus, cucumber, cannellini beans puree, mint
• Confit artichoke, capers, breadcrumbs, mint, Sicilian pecorino
• Grilled sourdough bread, whipped butter, Sicilian anchovies (we didn’t order this, but our server accidentally punched this in, so she gave it to us anyway)
  • bottle of Nerello Mascalese
• Marinated charcoal organic chicken w/ verde salad (me)
  • glass of Soave
• Lobster pasta special (Lindsay)
  • glass of Sauvignon Blanc
• Espresso

Not a great dining experience, overall — wrong things ordered, food coming out at random times, Lindsay’s pasta wasn’t great, etc. But somehow it was still $220+tip. for the two of us. Anyway.

Later in the week I was downtown after a meeting, so I met up with the brother for lunch near his hotel at Som Tum Jinda. Cool little spot, and the food was fantastic. I had the Massaman duck confit; I don’t remember what the brother got but he seemed quite pleased with it. He left there and flew on to Ottawa, promising to say hi to his friends who I became close with when I lived with him for a summer.

Also, on the walk there, I tried a new (to me) coffee spot that he’d tried the day before: Black Wolf. It was good — my acid test is always asking for a cortado to see if they get the flavour and temp right, and they did.

That same day, I ended up at a work dinner at yet another new place: Notte. Well, it’s a new incarnation, but certainly not a new location for me: I spent so many dinners there when it was the wine bar, and next door at Hank’s for breakfast, that I couldn’t even count them. Anyway, the food was pretty decent:

• Housemade focaccia w/ parmesan butter & chive oil
• Grilled lamb speducci w/ herb marinade, anchovy, spiced yogurt
• I had the roasted cavatelli bianco w/ roasted semolina, pork & lamb sausage, butter, pecorino, toasted hazelnuts
  • glasses of Orvieto Classico and Lazio Bianco and Cannonau

I brought home a piece of lemon olive oil cake for Lindsay but she didn’t want it, so guess who did? This guy.