violetta

JH: Eating a roast chicken from Violetta in Director Park smack downtown on a sunny afternoon makes me beam with pride. Streetcars whiz by, people’s totes are filled with farmers market bounty and now there’s Violetta. Truly a café for the city, it sits in a corner of an entrance to a massive underground parking garage cleverly disguised as a park. Violetta describes its menu as slow food fast, which means typical fare like burgers, fries and salads, but ingredients are locally sourced and deliciously prepared. It’s such a simple premise, you’d think all cities would have a café and park just like this!