Brunch at the newly-open The Federal

Had a wonderful leisurely brunch with Geoff this morning/afternoon at the newly-opened Federal on Dundas West and Gladstone. He had the Ploughman's Lunch (delicious, though I forget what the daily selection of meat and cheese was. A blue cheese and a summer sausage type deli meat?) and I had the Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich (Chicken Confit, Pear, Curry Aioli, and Arugula on Walnut Raisin Bread), complete with green salad and Rosti. We concluded the Rosti are the real Hash Browns.

Photos - Hearn Generating Station

I managed to capture only a small portion of the giant smokestack protruding from the decommissioned Hearn Generating Station in Toronto's Portlands area. Originally a coal-fired plant starting in the 50s, it was later converted to a natural gas-fired facility in the early 70s. Hearn ceased to generate power in the early 80s. Here's an analogy, or thought experiment. How many of us experience frustration and the futility of waste when our smartphones (apparently worth $600) last us a year? Scale that up to the humongous (650 000 metres cubed) power generating facility that is Hearn, which fulfilled its function for roughly 30 years.

On Track!

Toronto didn't have a winter this year. The number of snowfalls worth mentioning and days below -10°C I could count on my hands. What that meant was joyrides all through the winter. Bike rides, that is. The latest took Geoff and I east of the DVP and down near the coal plants where we had antics on the train tracks.