A beautiful Spring day, not a cloud in the sky, and the first day where it’s been warm enough to walk around the ‘hood without a jacket. We walked down to Hintonburg and didn’t even bring one along just in case. As long as you stayed in the sun, it was positively delightful. Lots of new things happening today. There’s Allo Allo Cafe, Carbonation, and the new laundry place in the old laundry place location is due to open on Monday.
New in the hood:
We saw this sign on Wellington at the corner near the Royal Oak. We were curious, but decided to wait to check it out until our way back. On the way back we walked down the street and saw that Allo Allo Cafe has finally opened in the former Monte’s Cafe. We’d seen work going on in there for a while and wondered what was up. We strolled by slowly and decided not to go in because it was just staff sitting around in the chairs. Hard place to get customers. Maybe they should take the “Monte’s” sign down from the north side of the building.
Rob uses the wheely basket to shop at GT Express. No fashion finds for me today … : ( Think he’s dressed like a tiger? But really, it’s a free rugby jersey from one of the schools he coached at. Really am enjoying the new layout. Much less crowded. Rob and I separated for our shopping experience and ended up helping the same women with two young kids. He helped her carry the stroller down to the basement, then I helped carry it back up!
But our main destination today was the opening day of Carbonation. See the balloons? Too bad they weren’t giving away iPods, right? At long last the new computer store for Macs has finally opened in Hintonburg in the former Bingo Hall. Lots of Mac geeks were there for opening day today. Wow, seeing some of the new iMacs is pretty amazing. The ads don’t do them justice. People were lining up in the back to try something, couldn’t tell what, but when you tried to walk to the back to see, everyone gave you the evil eye.
This is the art gallery (not sure of the name) that opened in the other half of the building that Chick Pea is in. Rob thinks it’s the same artist who has her paintings at the Foolish Chicken. It’s been open a while, but I didn’t have a pic until now. I’ll try to add the name later. Don’t think I’ll ever buy anything there though. The paintings at the Foolish Chicken around around $300 on average. Yikes!
Fabgear 64 is moving from Westboro to Hintonburg, likely because of the huge increase in rents in Westboro. Not sure when the move date is but the windows are papered over and there were people working hard inside. How do we know? the door opened, that’s how.
The Piccadilly progresses … no scaffolding … all the front balconies are done. Wonder what they’ll put up where the red tarp is above the main entrance? Must look at the artist’s rendering again to see if it’s there…
Childfree 
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April 7, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Steve Cara
I can confirm a couple of things for you…Allo, Allo has great coffee and excellent spinach and filo pastries…fresh sushi as well but get in there early as it gets snapped up fairly quickly. Not huge on decor, the owners are very personable and making a good go of it.
The artist above Chick Pea Children’s Boutique is Allison Fowler and the gallery is called Ali Cat. she just opened the gallery space at the end of February and is a very welcome addition to the neighborhood. Her paintings are hanging in the Foolish Chicken on Holland St. and, I can confirm, are priced at a range that is palatable for everyone.