Food On the Street

I had my first visit to the re-launched Cora’s this morning. The staff are about 10% friendlier than they were before the franchisee switch; otherwise, it’s exactly the same: expensive food, well-prepared, heavy on the fruit.

My sources tell me that the Thai food place on Pownal Street is scheduled to move to Kent Street near Prince, into the old tattoo parlor space.

Word is that work on [[Formosa Tea House]] number three, going into a renovated house on University Avenue next to Bowlan’s, is proceeding, but perhaps a little slower than originally anticipated, as the renovation job over three floors is a lot of work.

Meanwhile, Kenny and Winnie, who have been operating the [[Formosa Tea House]] at Ellen’s Creek weren’t there yesterday; they’ve left to concentrate on renovating their own new acquisition, the building on Pownal currently occupied by the aforementioned Thai place. No word on what their plans for the space are yet.

I found out this morning that [[Timothy’s]] doesn’t open until 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, which nearly plummeted me into an irreversible state of despair (I was rescued by Cora’s, thank goodness). This seems like an awfully late time to open, but then again the streets of [[Charlottetown]] were deserted this morning, so maybe it’s simply a wise business decision.

Meanwhile, I’ve become fond of Timothy’s “iced mocha” drink; it’s about as close as you’ll come to the much-loved, sadly retired “Iced Cowpuccinno” at [[COWS]]. And it makes the “Iced Capp” from Tim Hortons down the street taste like swill.

Every time I walked into Timothy’s this week I found superstar contrarian [[David Weale]] settled in behind his laptop (and a very snazzy laptop at that — sold me on the virtues of the “glossy” screen). David is off to Les Îles de la Madeleine to escape the mosquitos at Cranberry Wharf, so I might be able to move into the chair he’s vacated and take advantage of its proximity to a power outlet.

Timothy’s is about to expand southward (or is it eastward — who can tell in Charlottetown?) with the opening of an outlet in Founder’s Hall on the waterfront. The new place won’t actually be a Timothy’s, but has a home-brew new name like “Island Grounds” or “Island Grind” that I haven’t committed to memory yet.

Despite negative reports about the Rustico restaurant Dayboat from trusted friends, I’m newly motivated to try it out as I learned yesterday that my coincidence-drenched new friend [[Patricia Van Bolderen]] is working there (when she’s not slicing bagels with [[Kim Dormaar]] at the [[Charlottetown Farmer’s Market]]).

Meanwhile, Kim reports that he had a new customer from Virginia stop by the smoked salmon counter at the market a few weeks ago after learning of its wonders from here on the weblog; behold my awesome market-changing powers.

Speaking of which, please stop by [[Karin LaRonde]]’s booth at the market next time you’re there and order some iced tea; Karin is very inventive when it comes to iced tea, and some of her recent concoctions have been fantastic.