October is my favourite month.

I was back in austin last week for a conference. I took only one photo, inside a bar called the Jackelope (and yes, there IS a giant Jackelope figurine you can have your photo taken with), where a pint of exceptionally tasty pear cider cost about $2 (or so it seemed). If I HAD taken photos, the collection would look like this:

Plane ride. Taxi ride. Craps game. Underground bar with new American friends whose names I no longer remember. Improv jazz. Breakfast. Networking. Screaming Monkeys. More networking. Whole Foods chocolate aisle! Wacky party. Storm troopers. Star-Trek-attired cover band. Fire dancers. Best view of Austin. Colleague rescue mission. House tour, dog patting, hat throwing at 4am with strangers who are mostly still strangers. Going to bed when the sun was coming up. Networking. Meetings. Really weird trip down south congress for a slice of pizza we never actually ate. Riding the Austin bus (it costs $1! awesome!). Delicious pumpkin soup at Parkside. More parties. Late night text messages. Coffee delivery. Migas for breakfast. And then…that’s it. It’s over.

It’s nice to be home.

wow. this happened weeks ago (September 3rd!) but it’s just been so crazy that these photos have been gathering dust ever since.

Café Falco is an adorable japanese-inspired cafe not too far from our new apartment in Montreal’s Mile End. Nestled at the end of a street full in industrial warehouses and super strange shops (and for those who know it, around the corner from Jeans, Jeans, Jeans), they are serving up locally roasted coffee and tasty japanese snacks nearly every day.

Brett and I had been for lunch earlier in the summer, taking a tofu sandwich, some onigiri and some soup to go, and I have a soft spot for their siphon coffee. The fancy siphons never fail to fascinate me – it’s like high school science class BUT WITH CAFFEINE. So, the best kind of science, you know.

But what Falco is really known for is the weekend brunch. Served only on Saturdays, it’s definitely worth the visit (and there’s hardly ever a wait).

Their brunch is relatively…non-traditional. For $18 you’ll get a siphon coffee or tea, some orange juice, a matcha muffin, miso soup, a salad, and (my favourite) a brunch bowl full of lentils, tofu, rice, edamame and pickled carrots. It is the best thing ever. And I am still thinking about their tofu a month later.

While it wouldn’t qualify for cheap eats brunch status, it is still hands down my go-to breakfast spot in our new neighbourhood. And if you can’t make it for brunch, definitely go for the coffee and a great place to hang out – they have a hammock swing!