Those years are a bit of a blur.
I had just moved from Montreal, fresh out of university and fully aware that my arts degree was not a skeleton key for the doors of corporate riches and spoils.
I worked in restaurants tending bar, managing front--of-house, working with wine and generally feeling like a bit of an anti-establishment big deal. My nights were late, so late, in fact, that they spilled into mornings and it was not uncommon for me to be shedding the requisite slim fit, black F&B industry pseudo-uniform and crawling into bed just as others were gearing up for their workday.
In those days, breakfast was an important meal indeed as it was a daily reacquaintance with the living world, a segue back into the normalcy that “civilians” experienced as a matter of course, but in which I only dabbled over eggs and toast.
On the North Shore, I tended to wander into The Moodyville Café, a no-nonsense greasy spoon on Lonsdale Avenue and First Street that provided generous portions of straightforward, oftentimes fried morning grub that nicely replenished my empty tanks.
Moodyville Café was a North Shore institution that closed when plans were announced to redevelop the entire block in which it was situated. I was sad to see it go and had visions of some generic, boxy condo development taking its place.
My vision was wrong, as it turns out, as the buildings along that block are now among the nicest on the entire Lonsdale thoroughfare, thoughtfully renovated to preserve character and design heritage but with enough contemporary updates to make them efficient and functional. Would that this approach informed more of the North Shore’s ubiquitous developments.
For many months, the old Moodyville Café space, renovated with giant windows and wooden accents, sat mysteriously empty. Then, as reported in this paper and mentioned in passing in this column, a note appeared in the window of the space announcing the arrival of a new breakfast spot by chef Jane Copeland, whose resumé included stints at some of the world’s heaviest hitting dining destinations, including, most notably from my foodie nerd perspective, Feran Adria’s legendary el Bulli as well as the three Michelin-starred Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain.
What felt like an eternity passed before the doors of Copeland’s fun and approachable eatery, Lift Breakfast Bakery, finally opened in late April. The lengthy opening process paired with Copeland’s culinary pedigree seems to have created a considerable buzz as evidenced by the snaking line out the door of Lift on a recent weekday morning, a time I chose to visit following two consecutive failed weekend visit attempts, abandoned due to absurd wait times and my inconvenient, borderline neurotic, but still very real intolerance for queues of any kind.
Copeland’s Lift, named for the initial rise of baked goods in the oven, is refreshingly simple and honest with no trace of the microgastronomic flourishes that must surely have informed her time in Spain.
My breakfast at Lift, experienced with my friend Gil, suggested to me that what Copeland retained from her work in world-renowned restaurants was a devotion to thorough quality and not an obsession with mind-bending plating configurations or use of unconventional ingredients like stabilizers and flocculants.
For example, my breakfast selection, Eggs Benedict with Maple Smoked Bacon and Roasted Tomato, came with a small, unassuming bouquet of greens.
As I tasted them, it became evident that they were tossed in a delicate, tasty vinaigrette that elevated the leaves without overwhelming them. Two spot-on soft poached eggs broke open with my fork atop exceptionally well made, crispy and succulent potato roesti and ripe tomato.
Bacon, thankfully subtly tinged with the potentially overbearing flavour of maple, was also crispy and portioned in a way that offered just enough of a salty, slightly smoky counterbalance to a dollop of luscious and rich Hollandaise.
Gil got right down to basics, choosing the so-called Breakfast 101, a classic plate of two eggs any style, bacon or sausage, whole wheat or sourdough bread (made in-house, naturally), and potato roesti. His meal did just what it said on the box, supplying a basic, nicely executed breakfast with particularly good toast from the dense, chewy, super fresh bread.
Two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice accompanied our meals, along with coffee.
As Lift is a bakery too (breads and pastries are available to take home) I felt compelled to grab a couple of goodies for the road, including a weighty Pecan Sticky Bun, an excellent accompaniment to strong coffee with its toasted nutty notes and caramelized sugars, as well as a light and crumbly currant scone.
Tables turn over fairly quickly at Lift, but you should still be prepared to wait for a seat, especially on weekends.
The small space allows you to see everyone else’s selections as they arrive at the table, so you can make an informed choice about what to have.
On the morning of our visit, a sign reported that the kitchen was producing only a limited selection of the regular menu as the back-of-house was undergoing some upgrades, presumably to better streamline service in this very busy new space.
Our breakfast for two, including OJ and coffee (but not the takeout pastries), was $40 before gratuity.
Lift Breakfast Bakery is located at 101 Lonsdale Ave. liftonlonsdale.ca
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. A self-described wine fanatic, he earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. He can be reached via email at hungryontheshore@gmail.com. North Shore News dining reviews
are conducted anonymously and all meals are paid for by the newspaper.
