Last year on Valentine's Day, Relish Shawarma opened in Belmont Village. It was the successor of Bossman Shawarma, and Sam's Shawarma before that. Despite Kitchener having a plethora of options for the cuisine, both of those locations closed exactly a year out from their opening day. When Relish opened, we were skeptical that such a franchise could be successful in the neighbourhood. It appeared we were living in a shawarma dry zone. Which is too bad, as it is full-stop my favourite food.
As we made our first order, the owner was very friendly and shared that their opening day had been strategically placed for the Valentine's Day rush. This made us further pessimistic about their business sense, as it didn't seem intuitive that this would be a draw for shawarma.
It wouldn't be their only peculiar decision. For the past year, they've persistently kept their open hours far beyond the time everything else in Belmont Village closes. They've asked us for our opinions on their food and service, and if they should make any changes. They added a Philly cheesesteak to their menu, which felt like a move of desperation.
Since moving into the neighbourhood, my mother's fallen in love with the place. I've told her not to get attached.
Me and Lee-Anne decided that, if they were still open, we would go there for Valentine's Day. I told someone from the neighbourhood this, and he made a light jab at the obsurdity of getting Middle Eastern food for such an occasion.
Not only were they open, they had a one year anniversary Valentine's Day special! Mom went before us and said she asked them how business wass. They said things were going well. When we went, the place had a good amount of traffic. I overheard someone mention to one of the workers that they seemed busy. He responded "Of course! It's Valentine's Day!"
Well. It appears that some of their unorthodox moves were wise beyond my understanding. While it doesn't seem obvious to me that shawarma is a romantic food, I'm ready to lean into it.
We had a more traditional celebration the day before. There's an Italian grocery near us called Vincenzo's. I've eaten food from there many times, but rarely have I been in. My coworkers sometimes go on sandwich runs, and because I don't drive, I'm not usually doing pick up. Once during the Summer Program, I helped take an order, and one time when I was a Direct Support Worker, me and someone I supported poked our heads in.
But I'd never been in since moving into the neighbourhood. Apparently Lee-Anne had once, and even Mom has at this point. During our wedding shower, one of the things we received was a Vincenzo's gift card. So we finally took the opportunity to use it.
We got a baguette, some camembert, chorizo, a few dips and spreads, and cannolis for dessert. We made a little charcuterie board.
Also, they had marmite and vegemite. I always hear about how repulsive those are to people that don't grow up with it, so we got some of the latter since a quick Google said that it was the more intense of the two. We tried it, and it was fine. Just a savoury spread, kind of pleasant even. Don't know why people make such as fuss.
This doesn't fit in with the theme of the rest of the post, but I feel like I have to mention how much it's been snowing here.
Here's a bench
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