Christmas Lunch

It has become an annual tradition for a few of us to have a pre-Christmas lunch and then do a little shopping, marking the beginning of the Christmas season.

This corner in Toronto is where Avenue Road turns into Queen’s Park South of Bloor Street. Looking south, the Royal Ontario Museum is on the right and you can see the Ontario Legislative building in the distance.

We often go to the Holt Renfrew café. The menu never disappoints. Some of the menu choices are on this board.  If you go, you must try one of the tartines.

The Holt Renfrew Christmas window is all decorated and looking festive piled with the Holt Renfrew boxes we all love to receive.

The Hermès window is all done in orange for the men in our lives. I like the dark brown hat. Apparently, hats are back in fashion. One of these orange striped ties can make someone look somewhat flamboyant, but the look can also be toned down with a dark brown or navy blazer.

The Hermès door is the highlight of the day with its beautiful metal work. 

Botanicals

Derby, England ca. 1796-1805, colutea frutescens

The Gardiner Museum's permanent collection features a wall cabinet displaying a collection of pieces from a botanical dinner service made in Derby, England ca. 1796-1805. Each is painted with a different flower, and all the pieces are rimmed in a warm yellow. The hand-painted botanicals on these plates remind me of the Pierre-Joseph Redouté botanical watercolour illustrations of that time.

Derby, England ca. 1796-1805

Botanical illustration has been popular for over 200 years and has never gone out of fashion.

Flora Danica is an enduring Royal Copenhagen pattern first commissioned and produced in 1804 for the Danish king.  Today's Queen Margrethe II of Denmark still has the original dinner service in her possession and uses part of it on special occasions. Of the original 1,802 pieces, 1,530 still exist.

The Royal Copenhagen factory still produces the Flora Danica pattern.  A vintage Flora Botanica oval serving platter is pictured below.


Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica, digitalis purpurea

One of my favourite botanical patterns still being made is Spode's Stafford Flowers. The pieces are decorated with 22 carat gilding and raised gold spots in the border. A Spode Stafford Flowers covered vegetable dish is shown below.

Spode Stafford Flowers covered vegetable dish, iris & sphaerolobium