School Bakery Cafe

http://www.schooltoronto.com

We went to explore our neighborhood on a sunny Saturday morning. Liberty Village is surprisingly quiet - the offices are closed and bars not yet open. Our quest was for a breakfast place and it took us a bit of time to find an interesting spot.

APPEARANCE
The School Bakery Cafe is visible from afar with a sizable lineup in the morning. A school bell at 9:30 signaled the restaurant opening. Definitely a nice touch, but kind of late for a breakfast place (8:00 during the weekdays).

NOSE
We were seated by Dean, our waiter and started looking around. The School Cafe is of a very considerable size especially including the patios. Yet it filled up in no time. Other interesting elements capturing our attention inside were the bookshelves, lights with sticking notes, wall clocks stuck at 15:30 and custom blackboard-imitating upholstery. One more thing, each table had an apple ready for "students" to sink their teeth in (although ours appeared in need of a wash which was promptly addressed by Dean).

SWIRL
The staff was in a great mood, helping to brighten the atmosphere further. Their menu has a long list of dishes and descriptions, some sounding quite complex for brunch. We decided to order Mini Cornbread-Jalapeno Muffins while waiting, followed by Smoked Salmon Scramble and Black n' Blue Flipjacks.

PALETTE
Cornbreads and coffee arrived in a matter of minutes. The little baked goodies were flavorful and the side of vanilla butter was a unique touch. At the same time we could not feel, but could see, the jalapenos. Next, our salmon scramble came very nicely presented. A bit of a heavy dish with a much needed green salad on the side. The salmon was very flavorful and fresh, there was quite a lot of biscuit though. Cream cheese and the house pickled onion also added a lot. The egg crumble itself was not forming a major part of the dish - more of a supporting role. To be honest, we ran out of steam when it came to our flapjacks, which was unfortunate. They came stacked up high with blueberries, QC maple syrup and brown sugar butter and a side of whipped cream - looking mighty delicious. We, of course, plowed through, but should have left more space to fully appreciate them.

FINISH
School is definitely a place to visit if ever in Liberty Village. The are not open too late pretty much imitating school hours and shutting doors at 15:00 to 16:00 depending on the day. The unique interior is not too busy and does not distract from the delicious meals. At the same time, some interesting touches are present, if your eyes are also hungry in the morning.