Numerous LUNCHES  March and April 2010

I miss Brasserie Brunoise. It wasn’t the best restaurant downtown, but the food was good, the  prices were right, and there was always a  bit of a crowd just a five minute walk from the office. Since its demise I haven’t found a worthy successor, so it was with great interest that I  heard news of the refurbished Dominion Square Tavern. It promised to serve upscale pub fare in the sort of atmosphere only an Anglophile could enjoy, the whole within a stone’s throw of my office. The old Dominion Square Tavern, renowned purveyor of pig’s knuckles, was a bit rough around the edges and not the type of place in which a sophisticated fellow would likely be found. So stepping into the new place is quite the surprise. Open, bright and  airy, with electric chandeliers, vintage tiling, a long copper bar set off by timeworn lead backed mirrors and the original plaster coats of arms on the wall.  It doesn’t look so much like an English pub as it looks like what a rich Japanese might imagine an English pub to look like. Still, it is a beautiful space: one of those rare places that make you feel a little more hip for being inside  it. Continue Reading…