Sunday 17 February 2013

Cheshire Cat

On Sunday afternoon, we were in the Stittsville area and decided to go to lunch at the Cheshire cat. We had planned to do breakfast here with a friend, but figured that while we had lunch, we could check out the breakfast menus for next time. When we entered we were awed at the atmosphere. It felt like we were stepping through the doors of a traditional pub in the Cotswolds. The feeling was amplified by the heads of most of the patrons that turned to look at us as we entered as if to ask "Who are you?". I almost expected the staff to have British accents. They didn't. We were led up the old wooden stairway to the top floor where we sat by candlelight at one of the tables with old wooden mismatched chairs. The room was filled with young children, seniors, and everyone in between. Clearly this was a favorite among many. The service was friendly and the food was delicious. It turned out that there was only one breakfast option, and Pat ended up getting it. It was a sausage and over easy eggs meal. The sausages were great and the food was all delicious. I had a cauliflower soup with a chicken sandwich and Toast Girl had a grilled cheese sandwich. We left the restaurant feeling as though we had experienced, not only a delicious meal, but also a piece of history.

The next morning, before we had even written up our review, I heard some very sad news. The Cheshire cat had caught fire that very night and was burning to the ground. We are so sad to hear about the destruction of this community gem and my heart goes out to the owners, staff, and regular customers. The owners plan to rebuild and there is a project on the go called "Keep Calm and Rebuild The Cat". In the meantime, you could support their sister restaurant, Alice's Village Cafe. A trip is planned soon for the Toast family, so stay tuned.

The news story is available online here The Cheshire Cat Pub on Urbanspoon

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