Lola Rosa Café

Today's post will be about Lola Rosa Café, the McGill student favourite that I promised a review of weeks ago.  Lola Rosa Café is a small, quaint vegetarian bistro located in the heart of the “McGill Ghetto”.  My Information Systems class required my group and I to consult for Lola Rosa and evaluate how best to leverage social media in their business model. Our proposals and a short introduction to Lola Rosa were contained in a video presentation that you can now find on YouTube.  

Like most people I know, I wasn't really sure what to expect from Lola Rosa, considering it was my first fully vegetarian experience. Fortunately, any uncertainties or bias you may have towards a vegetarian establishment are wiped clean as soon as you walk in the door. In the back of your head, there’s still that voice telling you a meal completely void of meat seems illogical, but by now you’re completely blinded by Lola Rosa’s overwhelming charm. The atmosphere is rustic and cozy, yet beautifully refined by nothing less than an artists touch. Supplement this with a warm, welcoming team of waiters and the lively buzzing of student conversation and you can see why this little bistro is making itself known in a big way.

At this point in the post, I've already talked myself into wanting Lola Rosa for lunch tomorrow and I haven't even gotten to the main attraction - the food. I opened with one of the day's specials, a rich, creamy butternut squash soup, but this wasn't just any old soup. Lola Rosa took a heart-warming classic and turned it up to eleven with a unique flare of spices. It was this not-so-simple soup that provided the initial insight into how this bistro was keeping vegetarian food interesting and relevant.

For my main course, I was lucky enough to be dining with a couple of friends that were open to the concept of letting me eat their food. On my first visit I got the Lola Rosa salad and the quiche on the second, but I've gotten to dabble in a taste of quite a few dishes. From what I've had, my top two recommendations would have to be the cutting-board platter of nachos and the lasagna. Both are true examples of how Lola Rosa can take the simplest dish and transform it into a symphony of vegetarian cuisine.

 

Lola Rosa Café on Facebook

Lola Rosa Café on Twitter

Lola Rosa Café Blog

The Belated Beef Roast

         Figured I may as well show the world our Beef Roast from last week that never made it onto the world wide web. I seared the six massive sides of this roast for about 2 minutes a side in a cast iron pan before baking it at 350*F right in the pan for 30-40 minutes. A few knobs of butter in the pan before baking does wonders for the flavour, as long as you remember to baste every 10 minutes or so. Once you've cooked the meat to a succulent, pink medium rare the rest of the preparation is up to you. Here, we just had steak subs, but the possibilities are endless. It is meat after all.

A Knight's Feast

           Tonight's dinner was something that simply had to be shared with the world. My roommates, Marc and Evan, and I chose to dine like crusaders to the faint memory of our traveling roommate, Will. He was surely missed, but we substituted his absence with a hefty plate of roast pork and garlic mash. This might have been one of the simplest meals we've made so far, but it rendered some spectacular results. The four inch-and-a-half thick pork chops cooked in the oven at 400*F/200*C covered in onions for about 35min to a perfect juicy white inside. Garlic mash consisted of simply cooking the potatoes in boiling water for 10-15min until soft in the middle, draining, and adding milk, butter, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Mash and whip the potatoes until creamy and soft, adding milk as needed, and salt to taste. Paired with some steamed broccoli so as not to miss out on those greens, and you've hit all your necessary food groups. Enjoy

Update

Midterms are over!!!
        It was a long and grueling 3 weeks, with the majority of my time devoted to my dearest McLennan library, but it's finally over. McLennan you will be missed, but not to worry, you will surely find your way back into my heart when finals start to loom overhead, which is realistically only a couple weeks away. The worst part about the past two weeks is that all the food I've been eating has been nothing but filler. Scraps of unhealthy junk food that had one purpose, sustain me, while more importantly absorbing my generous daily intake of coffee. Needless to say, the past few weeks have been cold and heartless, and I'm disappointed in myself, as a foody, to admit that this attitude has weaseled its way into my diet.
        In any case, the next few weeks will hopefully be my shining comeback to the world of food blogging. My road to redemption will be paved with the likes of a succulent Beef Roast, pan-fried seafood filets (fish recommendations are appreciated), and, if all goes well, I'll be trying my hand at some sort form of dessert. I simply can't wait to get back in the kitchen and get my hands dirty. Also, look out for a review of Lola Rosa Cafe coming up by the end of next week.
Lola Rosa Cafe
http://twitter.com/#!/LolaRosaTweet
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lola-Rosa-Cafe/138714289472478?sk=wall

        For now I'll leave you with a few images from a lunch I indulged in a few days ago. My attempt at the Italian Sausage, a Chicago favourite. I was lucky enough to visit Chicago this past summer to experience the real thing and try my hand at eating the wealth of delicacies the windy city had to offer. Like any sane person, my mouth waters at the thought of fried peppers and onions piled high atop a pork sausage captured between a toasted sub. The pictures don't even begin to do it justice.

It was as easy as pan frying the sausage and vegetables....

...and then constructing.