***
Last Thursday evening, Elyse, Christina and I met up for a girl's night. We started at E/M's apartment, where E provided a lovely spread of crudites, hummus, grapes, roasted vegetables, and assorted baklava-like desserts.
After fueling up, we headed downtown. We vetoed a networking event at Bistro412 because it looked too loud, too enthusiastic, and the attendees looked too old. Instead, we walked down Emerson to Mantra, which was blessedly quiet, and settled in at the tall table in the lounge area. Ginger cocktail for me, mai tai for Christina, berry lassi for E (who graciously designated herself as the driver). E also ordered and really enjoyed a little custard, and Christina and I shared some naan with pesto and parmesan.
After Mantra, we walked a block or two back along Emerson and popped into Gravity, a relatively new wine bar with a simple yet comfortable interior. Given that all three of us are lightweights when it comes to drinks, we decided to share a flight of three sparkling wines: a prosecco, a rose, and a champagne. Our convivial waiter, Jonathan, also suggested the apple tart tatin; we didn't need much convincing, and cleaned up the plate very quickly once it arrived.
Apparently this wine bar's menu is a French/Italian fusion, which partly reflects the kitchen's ability to handle puff pastry reasonably well. Dinner at Gravity would definitely be worth a try.
