Restaurant Watch: Osteria ciceri e tria

Osteria ciceri e tria (Osteria, if you don't that kind of time) is a fantastic little restaurant on Victoria Street. Their menu is lean and bossy, much like its mother ship, the three Terroni locations across Toronto. It's important to give in to the whims of the oste (host, chef) and take the recommendations of the servers. They have a giant wallet-friendly wine list (sourced by and unique to the restaurant) and the atmosphere is loose and relaxed. Big harvest tables and industrial-chic stools, ultra-cool lighting fixtures. So worth a visit.

Dinner for two, with wine and dessert: $150

(I had this delicious maccheroni with braised short ribs and pecorino cheese in a beauuuuutiful tomato sauce. Good lord. Taken with my iPhone.)

Sunday Dinner

Natasha made the most amazing dinner last night. A rustic roast chicken with carrots and potatoes with creamed spinach. Oh. my. god.

She is far and away the greatest cook I know: she comes from a long line of Italian and Polish ladies who have the culinary arts in their bones. Every meal she makes is from scratch. Like, real scratch. No sign of anything but raw ingredients. If she had some agricultural space, she'd grow her own everything too. She's also the only person I can share a kitchen with. She and I can circle each other effortlessly, one slicing and dicing, the other seasoning and stirring.

Coming up soon: A house tour of the apartment she shares with her husband Nick. They live with such style, just you wait.

J(ason) Crew

A reader sent me this image, wondering if it's me. Ha ha. I like to think I look a little less 42-years-old, but I see what Tommy is saying.

Your Roving Eyes: Bonjour Celine!

I could read this blog all day.

Lovely photos, recipes, DIY's and adventures. And just soaked in such kindness. Such politeness. I don't know who this Celine is, but she seems so awfully nice.

(A beautiful photo from bonjour celine)

In Sheer Amazement

One of my favourite parts of our apartment are the drapes and sheers. They were a bit of an investment, but they're perfect and so worth it.

Like having a suit altered to fit your body, perfect window coverings add a couture quality to your home. Nobody else has these drapes (hand-picked eggplant corduroy!) and, unlike some ready-to-hang panels from a big box store, these are made-to-measure and one-of-a-kind.

Like a crisp shirt under a gorgeous black tux, sheers are something special. Ours are a champagne colour (versus a pure white, which was too bright and too blue) and they soften the glaring 26th floor light.

Elements like these are a finishing touch that sometimes go unnoticed, but add up to a complete and thoughtful product.

Fall Fashion Roundup

There's always a strong correlation between decorative style and personal style - it's easier to spot in some than others, but it's usually no accident that people who wear big hats and florals can't seem to let go of their balloon valances.

My own style varies throughout the year. I tend to get pretty lazy when the seasons are at their extreme (who wants to worry about dressing when it's 40°C or wet and cold?) but I go full-tilt in the spring and fall. In this climate, it's our brief chance to pull out our suede shoes and our mid-season coats, to layer-up and accessorize.

I like simple clothes, clean lines, well-fitted. I like being comfortable. Sometimes I like wearing my most basic items with my most flamboyant shoes. Or socks. I think I always liked classic clothes (an 8-year old me in suspenders). There were periods when I wore nothing but dress clothes, and years of the black T-shirt and jeans thing. Now I tend to wear a culmination of all my style-eras.

This fall I'm wearing sweaters and jeans and more colour than I'm used to. I like a chunky sweater (I call them my Bing Crosby sweaters) and a slim pant. I've been big into chambray since springtime. I have ties and shirts and even a vest. Tucked, untucked, casual, dressed-up. It's classic and a bit throwbacky. Comfortable and easy.

A tour of my closet tends to look a lot like a tour of my house. Pops of colour, textures, and mostly-classic elements. Does your closet reflect your home?