What I Order: Piatto

This Saturday, my mom kindly watched T so that Greg and I could go out and celebrate my birthday. We chose one of our favourite casual places - Piatto. It was a delicious and fun meal with my dream date, what more could a girl ask for? Thank you Gregory for a beautiful birthday.

Piatto Pizzeria + Enoteca, 377 Duckworth Street, St. John's, NL
Monday - Thursday 11:30 am - 10:00 pm / Friday - Saturday 11:30 am - 11:00 pm / Sunday - 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Antipasti
Olive Brushetta
Prosciutto Pacchi - fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto and baked in tomato sauce

Pizze Rosso
Della Terra - fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, mushrooms, olives, artichoke hearts + grana padano

Drink
San Pellegrino

Dessert
Limoncello Tart

Images via Piatto.

Raising a Baby in St. John's: Enjoying George Street

One of my city's most famous tourist attractions is a pedestrian street lined with pubs, bars and dance clubs -- George Street. If you're entertaining guests, want to catch a live concert during the summer or have a bachelorette party while pregnant or nursing, chances are George Street might be a part of your plans. To enjoy a night out there (or anywhere) if you're pregnant or nursing or simply don't drink, here are some great mocktail recipes. Any bar should be able to whip up one of these for you! They're so much more fun and tasty than a diet 7-Up.

Mocktails cartoon designed by Alyson at Unruly Little Things.

Our Favourite Places: Rocket Bakery & Fresh Food

Our favourite place in St. John's for a casual lunch and chat? The Rocket! We fit in at least one meal a week at this bakery. Images by Lisa Moffat and Matt Jiggins.

A way to share our favourite places (shops, restaurants, hangouts, vacation spots etc.), I'll be posting images of the locations where we make (and have made) our favourite memories occasionally here on Horizontal Stripes.

Local Business

This building has been vacant in downtown St. John's for years (post-reno). I'm so curious why something hasn't opened in it yet. The space looks amazing and the facade is so much fun! Image via Rebfoto.

Speaking of local business, Greg and I daydream about all sorts of businesses that we'd love to see in St. John's such as:

• A casual and current men's clothing store that targets the young professional
• More restaurants with patios and ocean views
• A modern housewares and furniture store
• An antique shop focusing on mid-century modern pieces
  
• A true diner
• A blowout salon
  

Do you think about the same? What businesses would you like to see open in our community?

St. John's

This is where we call home. See what I mean about remote, windswept, frosty and exotic? Photograph by Sally LeDrew (our amazing wedding photographer!).

What I Order: Chinched

Chinched Bistro, 7 Queen Street, St. John's, NL
Dinner: Tuesday-Saturday, 6:00 pm to Close

Appetizer
Potato Bisque with bacon and cheddar fritter and chive sour cream

Entree
Flatbread with olive oil poached local cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and arugula

Dessert
Chinched Pavlova: Swiss meringue, poached pears, chocolate sauce and walnuts

Images courtesy of Chinched Bistro.

What I Order: Aqua

Aqua, 310 Water Street, St. John's, NL

Dinner: Monday to Sunday, 5:30 - 10:00 pm

Raw Bar

Salmon Sashimi - wasabi miso dressing, pea sprouts, soy beans, pickled carrots and tempura crisps

Appetizer

Pear and Rocket Salad - red onion pickle, candied walnuts, blue cheese and honey curry dressing

Meat

Southern Fried 1/4 Chicken - old fashioned potato salad, collard greens, buttermilk biscuits and spiced cajun honey

Dessert

Roasted Parsnip Cake - caramel cream cheese icing and crispy parsnips

Cocktail

Sweet Apple Martini - vodka, Disaronno and granny smith juice

This post is the first in a new series of entries detailing my favourite meals at my favourite restaurants around St. John's that will appear periodically on the blog. I'd love to hear your recommendations as well. xo Images via Aqua Restaurant.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to all from our frosty corner of the world! xoxo

Pictures of Christmastime in St. John's from Derek, Stephen, Andreas and Zach.

Real Estate

MLS troweling is a shared hobby at our house. Though we've bought two homes in two years, we continue to take a peak at what's available in our neighbourhood on an almost weekly (um, daily) basis. In 2009, we bought a home in the spring and in 2010, we bought a home in the fall. However, after paying close attention, it seems summer is most definitely the time to buy, if you're looking for volume (meaning having lots of homes to choose from). There are so many great homes available in our broad neighbourhood right now at a wide variety of price points. Thankfully, we're smitten with our own house, so we're not looking to change up any time soon, but that doesn't mean we don't like to keep an eye on comparable (and step up!) properties in our town. All images above of houses presently available within walking distance of our current home.

Picnic

Two blocks from our house is the Victorian-style urban park, Bannerman Park complete with a playground, public swimming pool, baseball diamond and lots of places to set out a blanket under a tree for a picnic. It is actually the oldest park in Newfoundland and Labrador. As a child, my grandmother (who lived literally across the street from our current house for more than 30 years) would take me and my cousins to that very park while caring for us while our parents were at work. I've bookmarked the same walk I took as a child with her as a regular routine for our son and me once he makes an appearance. This chevron picnic basket seems the perfect DIY to stash in the carriage to use to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack in Bannerman Park. Photo and DIY instructions via Twig and Thistle.

Redfish

This evening, post-work and pre-dinner (as per habit), Greg and I soaked up a little evening sun (after a quick rain shower) while strolling the thoroughfares of downtown St. John's. On our journey, I spotted the most beautiful baby kimonos in the window front of Gingersnap. Aren't these pieces beyond beautiful? Images via Redfish.

Mothers

In honour of Mother's Day (Happy Mother's Day Mom, Grandma, Nan and MIL!), here's a round up of some of my newly found favourite resources for parents of babies and tots in and around St. John's. If you're aware of other fun links, I'd love to hear about them, so please do leave a comment.

Other St. John's ParentBlogs:

• St. John's Mom
• St. John's Toddler
• Kids NL

Out and About Town With Baby - fun locations and activities for tots:

• Anna Templeton Centre
• Arts and Culture Centre
• Bowring Park
• Bumble Beats
• Brighter Futures
• Family and Childcare Connections
• Geo Centre
• Lester's Farm
• Munchkin Music Factory
• The Rooms

Baby Gear:

• Baby Gear to Share
• Bellies and Bundles
• Coo Chi Coo
• Gingersnap
• Kijiji
• O'Baby Swap and Shop - St. John's and Surrounding Areas (search on Facebook)
• The Tickle Trunk

Other Resources:

• Doula Collective NL
• St. John's Baby and Toddler

Image via Abby Sharp.

Neighbourhood

I forgot to mention: Horizontal Stripes made the front cover of The Current back in December. Though I spent years writing for newspapers during my undergraduate studies, I hadn't published anything in years. However, when I suddenly found myself a spokesperson for the revival of St. John's neighbourhood names at every cocktail party I was attending, I thought it time to write something about the need for a revival. You can check it out here: Won't You Be My Neighbour?

Corner Stores

In finding the perfect photos for my mummering post, I came across the most fantastic series of photos of small-scale commercial life in Newfoundland and Labrador - a collection of our convenience stores. Erected to sell milk and bread to neighbourhood patrons, to exchange allowance for candies and chocolates with school-aged children, and to create an alternative location for the purchase of beer (yes, you can buy beer in NL at a convenience store), these everyday haunts have a certain beauty, and Bojan has captured them fantastically. I've included some of his works that are in our neighbourhood.

Mummers

Tonight is date night at the Clarke household, and we're kicking off our formal Christmas celebrations with paninis and a public lecture on mummering at The Rooms. Images of last year's St. John's Annual Mummer's Parade via Bojan.

Colour

Little boxes, little boxes all the same...

We officially live in the 12th most colourful city in the world - St. John's, NL - which is perfect for Greg, because his favourite compliment for anything tactile is that it has "great colour". The other colourful city contenders, you ask?

Cape Town, South Africa

Manarola, Italy

and Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway.

Town

Right now, there are plenty of reasons for St. John's residents to be excited. I'm particularly pleased with the following developments:

1. The Possibility of a Good Burger - Hopefully sometime soon, Greg and I will have a chance to check out Basic Burger Joint, which is set to open in the former Mustang Sally's. Greg's always on the hunt for a delicious burger, and I adore homemade fries. Apparently, the restaurant will only be open for five weeks, at first, to test the waters. Here's to hoping the fare is good enough to warrant sticking around. St. John's sure needs a burger replacement with the closing of Folly last week. Image via Dublin.

2. The Possibility of Recycling Glass - With the long-desired emergence of public curbside recycling has come a decision to not collect glass and plastic bags. Atlantic Blue is stepping up (for $5 a month) to collect those glass bottles that the city has prohibited from its program.

3. The Possibility of Great Pizza - Piatto Pizzaria and Enocteca is now open. Dining there is on my to-do list. For more thoughts on local pizza, check out this blog.

Scope

St. John's friends, have you filled out this year's The Best of St. John's yet? I'm struggling with some of my answers.

Abode

Big news on the Greg and Katie front... there's opportunity for another housewarming party in our future! We've bought a new house! I'm excited to share details on our new home, and second round of adventures into the world of decorating here in the coming months (we've already splurged on another large Nelson Saucer lamp!). Images of our new street via Double Photo Album (who by the way has many amazing shots of our new neighbourhood, Georgestown).

P.S. Greg's super excited about the move, and his reaction is so adorable (there's talk of joining the neighbourhood association and we've already met our new next door neighbours, who were super friendly).

P.P.S. Fun fact - my grandma was born in number 88 Circular (the red house above).

Raymond's

Greg and I love to eat at home around our coffee table, in fine dining establishments and at casual mom-and-pop diners. I'm beyond excited about Raymond's - the newest culinary gem on the St. John's restaurant scene that's set to open this fall in the former Brother TI Murphy Centre. A menu similar to the original Atlantica paired with a location that assists in the further revitalization of East Water? Oh yeah, and a view of The Narrows to boot? Perfect. I'm already considering wardrobe options for a date night there this fall when it opens. Images via The Scope and Signal.

P.S. I'm also keen to try Chinched and am pretty excited about StitchUp - finally someone is recognizing St. John's street style!