The Feast

This week I had a long leisurely lunch with a dear friend at The Green Door, a superb vegetarian restaurant near St. Paul's University, and probably my favourite eating place on this whole planet. In my former working life, this sort of long leisurely lunch would not have been possible, and it was wonderful to linger at the restaurant for a few hours this time, chatting about books and music, sampling the sumptuous fare at the buffet and ending our meal with sweet spicy chai and apple crumble.

The food at The Green Door is heavenly, row upon row of fragrant vegetarian dishes, lovingly prepared and beautifully presented, the imaginative use of herbs, spices, sauces and marinades lavished on tofu, tempeh, organically grown and harvested vegetables and a wide variety of grains, both ancient and modern. This is healthy eating at its best and a feast for both body and spirit. Even my non-vegetarian friends adore the restaurant, and no persuasion is ever required to get them to come along.

Our noonday feast was accompanied by visits to the Singing Pebble, an independent bookstore close by which is devoted to books on healing, philosophy and spirituality, and the 3 Trees, a lovely shop chock full of Buddhas, malas, thangkas, prayer flags, singing bowls and incense. Oh happy day! A visit to the 3 Trees is always a rare treat, and I couldn't resist taking a few photos - just walking by the wall of Buddhas at the front of the shop is a wonderful calming experience, and the place is full of exquisite clothing, jewelry and crafts from India and the Himalayas, a veritable banquet of vibrant colour for a winter spirit in need of a boost.