Kalendar Restaurant & Bistro

In my neverending quest to find the best places in Toronto for brunch, I decided to try out Kalendar, a restaurant in Little Italy. Lush and intimate, the interior design features dark oak, antique chandeliers and mirrors.

Looking for the perfect Valentine's Day restaurant? I'd definitely recommend this place. If you can get in, that is.

The reason it could be a challenge to get a table on Feb. 14th: Kalendar doesn't take reservations; they offer seating based on first come first served basis ... and it's already a popular spot with couples.

Kalendar was created by childhood sweethearts and started out as a small coffee shop but has since expanded into two small dining rooms. I loved the cozy atmosphere and colour scheme, and felt immediately comfortable.

I opted for the Banana and Mango Stuffed French Toast ($10.95) with the Honey-Glazed Ham add-on option ($2.00):

It was delicious, but I did wish there could have been more stuffing (banana, mango and cream cheese) and less bread. Jeff enjoyed his scrambled egg special ($11.95) with black forest ham, mushrooms, asparagus and red onions:

You can find the Kalendar brunch menu online. Next time we have brunch here, I think I'm going to try one of their "scrolls," which apparently is a Kalendar specialty: vegetables wrapped in a crepe style roti. "Scroll Seven," for example, sounds incredible: mara curry, a 7 vegetable spicy curry with chickpeas, potatoes, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms & onions. You can request it to be mild or spicy. $9.95 for a single scroll, or $14.95 for dinner.

Their brunch menu is served from 10:30 am to 3 pm on weekends and holidays.

Kalendar also offers a lunch menu from 11:30 am to 4 pm on weekdays, and includes lots of sandwich options as well as the scrolls, snacks, quiche, soups, salads, and "nannettes" (I have no idea what these are, but I'm going to find out!).

Kalendar's dinner options (served from 4 pm to 10 pm, and to midnight on Thursday, Friday and Saturday) expands the menu even further. I SO have to try the Ginger Butter Swordfish ($16.95) sometime.

They also have a wide variety of drinks and a drool-worthy desserts menu.

If you don't want to fight the crowds, you can always call for takeout, and Kalendar offers delivery through Orderit.ca. Check the Web site for more info about the location,hours, parking and menus.

When warmer weather comes, the restaurant will also be offering patio seating (see below) and weekday breakfasts -- but somehow I don't think I'm going to be able to wait that long to go back again.