Vegan Brunch at Rise Above in St. Catharines, ON
First of all, what took me so long to have brunch at Rise Above? How? Why? It’s awesome. If I had a drivers license and an endless supply of gasoline, I would drive down there every week just for some brunch (though the GoBus is still an option…)
This past Thursday JC and I tried fresh Rise Above donuts from Sadie’s Juice Bar, and they were (obviously) quite amazing, so it inspired this Sunday Brunch mini roadtrip.
After a very wet and foggy drive on the QEW, we found free parking 100m away from Rise Above, and happily wandered over. The streets of St. Catharines were empty and it seemed the only open business was Rise Above. I realized as we walked up to 120 St. Paul Street, that when I came to St. Catharines the first time in early 2011, it was known as Pan Cafe, and just sold Rise Above donuts. How things change!
The brunch menu was on a chalkboard above two fellow diners, so I didn’t take a picture (since that would be a bit rude and weird) so we had choice of the following:
- Deep Dish Pizza
- Crêpes
- French Toast
- Scrambled Tofu
- Chili Quesadilla
JC went with the crêpes. They were the tasty fluffy thin pancakes my mom used to make (deliciously). With a sweet filling, and topped with whipped cream and chocolate. And aren’t they just gorgeous?
I ordered the Chili Quesadillas. I don’t think I’ve ever even had real quesadillas, but I don’t think I’m missing anything. These were fantastic and filled with vegan cheese and chili, paired with a salad.
We wanted to leave with a big box of donuts, but in case your wondering – they don’t make them on Sundays (which makes sense, they’ve got enough to do on Sundays!) But we did take home a brownie, a blondee, and two peanut butter cup cookies.
With our snacks in tow we wandered around downtown St.Catharines, and down some of the side streets to look at the graffiti. I was really impressed with the quality and vibrancy. Maybe street art isn’t your cup of tea, but I’m often so impressed with the style and colours chosen or just the message shared. I’ve mentioned my love of the Toronto scene before, I didn’t realize there was also one in St.Catharines. Here are a few of the pieces we saw this weekend:
After a stop at the GIANT Wholefoods in Oakville and lunch at the East Indian vegetarian restaurant Cholan in Mississauga, we went home to start our first training day at Totum Fitness. So far so good!
Rise Above
120 St. Paul Street
St. Catharines, ON
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