Nelson and the Seagull

Posted by Degan on October 23rd, 2012

Nelson and the Seagull arrived quietly on the Gastown scene last year and soaked up a large percentage of us neighbourhood folk who like to spend afternoons typing on Macbooks and gazing out the window with hands wrapped around a big mug of coffee. The decor encourages this, with wide open spaces, natural light streaming in the windows and whimsical details like a wall-sized apothecary cabinet full of drawers and pennant flags hanging over the kitchen. But the best part is the smell. The bread is made in house daily so in addition to the rich coffee aromas there is the unmistakably comforting smell of freshly baked bread throughout.

The menu is very simple . For brunch you can get poached eggs on ciabatta bread with pastrami, roasted mushrooms, or roasted tomato (there are a couple of other options – granola, yogurt, avocado on toast, grapefruit, etc. – but the eggs and ciabatta are where it’s at) and lunch is not far off. Sandwiches are either carnivore or herbivore (open-faced with sliced meat or vegetarian spreads and a side of greens), salads are either grainy or leafy and there is a picnic board of meats and cheeses and bread and dip an other assorted delicousnesses that is just amazing if you have a couple of people at a table to dip in or a couple of hours to savour it.

They also have big pots of soup that are just the thing now that the weather has turned cold. This one is a potato and onion soup with a heel of bread that was filling and hearty and delicious. Thankfully I didn’t have to lick the bowl because the spongy bread just mopped it all up and there is something distinctly satisfying about that.

Now that the leaves have started to turn and the streets are wet with rain, I’m finding myself snuggling a little deeper into the couch, and maybe ordering another cup of coffee.