Saturday morning. The few hours we wait for all week. Sleeping in, torrential flows of coffee, running errands at a snail’s pace, and of course, brunch.
As of late, I’ve discovered another reason to anxiously wait for the weekend: the breakfast sandwiches at Toslow. Why? They only serve ’em on Saturday.
Chris Scott, along with Jessica Gibson and Glen May, opened Toslow in June 2018 as a speakeasy-like bar pouring intriguing craft beers and natural wine in the tiny space tucked
underneath what used to be Fixed Coffee and Baking by the War Memorial downtown. In April 2019, Toslow started its Saturday brunch service.
Like the establishment itself, the kitchen staff is small but mighty — Catherine Roberge helms the pastry side, Becky Gibson spearheads the savoury side along with Jessica Gibson —producing donuts and sandwiches galore every week.
Toslow is open seven days a week, but patrons “settle” for fresh pastries outside Saturday. The donuts at Toslow, cylindrical delicacies ranging from pumpkin spices with pumpkin brown butter curd to Earl Grey Boston creams, are slowly reaching celebrity status amongst the city’s pastry-eating glitterati.
Just before Christmas, my dining companion and I descended the stairs off Duckworth Street and arrived at Toslow for brunch.
It was not yet noon, but the place was packed, filled with university students home for the holidays and families munching on donuts, so while we ordered our meal at the cash I tried to scope out a spot for two.
The vibe at Toslow is effortlessly cool.
The small space feels like the basement of the cool kid from high school’s house, verging on intimidating, but the vintage flowered couches, cat figurines and a variety of other tchotchkes could make anyone feel at home. There is a wooden ledge lining two whitewashed stone walls with stools serving as the main dining seating and while we waited, “Ceremony” by New Order drummed on in the background.
The brunch menu is simple at Toslow, and we ordered two breakfast sandwiches from the five or six options. As we paid, the server pumped fragrant 49th Parallel Coffee from a large carafe into two souvenir mugs, one with a Newfoundland dog, the other with the Toslow logo cat. The holiday espresso blend from the Vancouver roastery started waking me up as we sidled up on two stools that just became available.
Within 10 minutes, the breakfast sandwiches arrived on mismatched vintage china. My Buffalo Chicken on a Touton ($12) laden with dill ranch sauce, dill pickles, bacon, a plentiful layer of cheddar and a fried egg on a crispy touton. The tangy ranch was full of dill, but not overpoweringly-so, a great combatant to the heat of the saucy buffalo chicken. Two bites in, I could feel the burn as the buffalo sauce ran down my chin. That good kind of burn with great flavours.
I love a sloppy sandwich, but those who don’t might prefer to use a fork and knife.
My dining companion devoured the Big Mac Combo on a Bun ($9) with a fried egg (tofu patty option available as well), mac sauce, tomato jam, lettuce, dill pickles, cheddar and potato patty. There was so much flavour going on inside the breakfast sandwich, not even the biggest carnivores would miss the meat — but you can add sausage, bacon or coconut bacon for two bucks.
After a quick stop to the bathroom to clean off my face, we ventured out into the cold to finish our Saturday errands. On the way out the server put my coffee in a to-go cup and topped it up. However you like to spend Saturday morning in St. John’s, popping into Toslow for a donut and a coffee-to-go or a breakfast sandwich to stay should become part of your routine. Thanks a brunch guys.
The Details:
183A Duckworth St.
St. John's, NL
A1C 1G3
Hours: Monday 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Tuesday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Friday 7:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Accessibility: Not accessible. There are two sets of stairs to reach the front door and its close quarters inside with different levels.
Noise level: Depends on the time of day, but always average with music.
Reservations: No
Take-away: Yes
Meal for two with coffees with tax and tip: $28
Gabby Peyton is a freelance food writer based in St. John’s. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @gabbypeytoneats.
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