Hangover Brunch, Alice Waters, and Pages Project

So, what does The Local Cook do on her day off? Today was a splendid example.

DH and I wanted to go out to eat, so we headed out to Gaia’s for breakfast. Unfortunately it was closed, since it was New Year’s Day. What restaurant is closed on New Year’s day? Apparently a lot of them. The other restaurants in the area had long lines. So we headed over to Hop Cat, which had sent me an email earlier in the day advertising their “Hangover Brunch.”

HopCat is one of our favorite places to go with out of towners who like beer. They have like, a bazillion beers on tap. It has a bit of an upscale feel to it, so the crowd is a bit older than the regular bar crowd, which for us is a good thing. We’re a bit too old for bar hopping.

When we arrived at around 12:30 PM, we noticed it was really empty. Usually we go on a Saturday night when it’s packed, so this was a nice surprise. We were given the Hangover Brunch Menu as well as the regular menu.

I had to laugh at the title. This is probably the first year in about a decade that I haven’t had a hangover on New Year’s Day! I wasn’t in the mood for breakfast food, as the crack fries were calling my name, but I did order the Peach Mimosa just because it sounded interesting.

It was made of peach lambic and orange juice, and was perfectly delicious!

DH and I both ordered from the regular menu, turkey wraps. He also ordered the macaroni and cheese. Wow! Everything was super tasty, and we enjoyed looking at the beer can collection while we waited.

After we finished lunch, we had some time to kill before my friend’s PagesProject started, so we headed off to Barnes & Noble and I was able to buy a book that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. Even though I probably have half a dozen books started, there’s always room for one more!

That mission accomplished, we headed over to The Sparrows for the Pages event. The Sparrows is a cozy little coffee/tea shop/bookstand.

I love how they have all kinds of blends of tea, and serve them in little presspot type things.

Unlike Hop Cat, The Sparrows was packed! Probably for my friend’s Pages Project. This is my friend Holly:

from her website: the pages project was started by holly bechiri in 2009.  the first phase of the project was an installation at ArtPrize 2009, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan in September and October.

the installation was shown at 45 Ottawa, and included pages hung on the wall, three books filled with beliefs, doubts, and observations by the artist, and a table with blank books for the viewer to fill with their own beliefs, doubts, and observations.

stage two will be the placement of blank books in coffee shops.  you are invited to visit the coffeeshops and fill your own page with beliefs, doubts, and observations.  papers for collage will be provided along with the blank books, please bring along any pens, markers, or other materials you would like to use for your page.

the pages project will make its first appearance at the sparrows coffeeshop and newstand in january 2010.

I feel so privileged to have been at the inaugural event! I filled out my very own page, as did several others.

What a great beginning to the New Year.