nighttime, Vancouver

We're endlessly awed and infatuated with the views from our condo in Vancouver. Part of the reason why we bought it, of course.

Conrad snapped these a couple of nights ago.

hanging out with Greer(io) (and Anya!)

9:38 AM PST, and already we've been in the Maple Leaf Lounge at YVR for a good 3/4 of an hour. Why did that last sentence look like I used the AOL Translator on it? Hmm, let's try it: 938 M PST AND ALREADY WEVE BAN IN DA MAPL3 L3AF LOUNGE AT YVR FOR A GOD 3/4 OF AN HOUR!!1!!1!1 OMG LOL

Okay, maybe not. But we are trapped here for a little while as our 10:35 flight is now departing at 1:15. I may miss part of the celebrations of this Gay High Holy Day - how will I keep up on the Oscars gowns if I don't see the red carpet?

Back to proper blogging now with some recounting of time spent with Greer and her friend Anya here in Vancouver the past couple of days. They're probably back in Terrace already given their early flight, darn them.

I was tempted to call this entry "The Curse of Conrad". He, Marie, and I all joke about this thing that happens to Vancouver whenever he's in town: good weather. Oh, a slight drizzle almost every morning, but it's horizon to horizon blue sky out there right now. Not a curse, then, but something that seems to take place each time he's in town. I think I saw a sign on the Arthur Laing Bridge saying "Come back soon, Conrad". So it was on Friday when we set out late in the morning to meet up with Greer and Anya downtown. Sunny skies above the nearby train/bus terminal. and from the Sky Train station we had a terrific view of the Olympic Village construction and the mountains that seem to anchor Main Street.


Things were no less lovely downtown. We headed for the Hotel Vancouver, our meeting point.


This was our first time meeting Anya, and she bore up under the burden of me and Greer catching up on all the Terrace gossip well. Lunch was at Cassis Bistro on Pender Street - Conrad and I have enjoyed it a few times now.


I can't honestly recall what the filling in Anya's crepe was. It was the lunch special, and she enjoyed it, but I'm blanking, sorry.

My BLT. I wasn't a fan of the open face lay out, to be honest, but I will say that the roasted tomatoes were terrific.

Greer and Conrad each had the salad nicoise. I'm too lazy to put the cedilla on the c, sorry.We washed it all down with a bottle of Averill Creek Pinot Noir, and declined dessert in favour of picking up a small treat at a bakery in Chinatown later.

Conrad and I managed a short swim yesterday morning, then met up with the ladies to head over to Granville Island. I raced through the market picking up items for cooking dinner, then escaped back to the condo for a while without them. Greer and Conrad eventually picked me up for lunch in Chinatown, then we took her for one of our favourite coffees. Greer, I do believe, was impressed and delighted.

The two women came over for dinner last night. We spared them the indignity of photographing every minute of our time together - no shots of the rabbit I cooked, for example - but we did take a few shots as the evening wound down. The dessert/cheese course, for example. We sat in the living room area, sipped Brandenburg No. 3, ate some fregolata and kick-ass cheese from Poplar Grove, and otherwise settled into a happy, silly, relaxed kind of space.


I feel overindulged this weekend, and I am loath to go home, I admit. Blame the weather. Darn that Conrad!

C

The last time Greer was in Vancouver - at least a couple of years ago, as we learned - she dined at C and ranked it as the best dining experience in her recent memory. She's since been quite keen to meet up with us in Vancouver so that we could all dine there together.

If you ask Conrad what his best meal ever has been, he would have to tell you that Sooke Harbour House in 2003 is it. Honesty compels me to admit that he's right. But any reader of ths blog will know that neither he nor I shy away from giving another restaurant a crack at that title. We opentabled a Friday reservation at C, and met Greer and her friend Anya there at 6:45.

It's a handsome, modern room, though negotiating the stairs up and down on trips to the washroom given the wine pairings was slightly nervewracking. Ah well. We met the ladies at a table by the window - Greer and Anya had snared the seats facing False Creek while Conrad and I got to watch the room slowly fill (and empty some - we were there for 3 and a half hours) around us. Settled in, we commenced.

All of us opted for the 6 course tasting menu with wine pairings. There is a 10 course option, but we weren't quite THAT ambitious. One thing I greatly liked about the service was that the waiter happily worked with us to change the wine pairings so that all wines would be BC. It's a thing Conrad and I have when we're in BC - other than an occasional Mission Hill icewine, we can't get any of our back home favourites in Chicago. Anya and Greer agreed to go along with this, and I think we did quite well. As much as I can, I'll indicate the wine pairings since they weren't written out for us.

Up first: Kusshi Oyster, Granville Island sake marinade, watermelon radish. The pairing was the Sumac Ridge, Steller's Jay BrutWhat was cool was that this was the first time Anya had ever had a raw oyster. I think she liked it, which is great. The wine was a fine pairing. The course was small, and thinking back, it was a clean, simple starter to what turned out to be a very smart and well-executed progression.

Second course: Sablefish Escabeche, warm pickles, red pepper "whip". The pairing was the Joie Noble Blend, a wine that Greer and I almost worship.The richness of the sablefish (black cod) was cut nicely by the acids in the dish. We weren't sure if the Joie paired especially well, but we love the wine, so it mattered less. Before this course came out, the waiter brought the wines and gave me, instead of the Joie, a pour of a Gehringer Brothers ice wine. I was having the foie gras instead of the lobster bisque, and the ice wine was the pairing in lieu of a Sauternes. Shortly before the sablefish arrived, he returned with a pour of the Joie for me, apologized for having skipped ahead a course, and told me that he would bring me a fresh pour of the ice wine with the foie gras. I was very very far from displeased!

Third course (for everyone but me): Lobster Bisque, candy smoked salmon, thyme froth. Photos before and after the bisque was poured in to the bowl at the table. The pairing was the Cedar Creek Estate Select Chardonnay.


My third course: Seared Foie Gras, keremeos quince, crispy bread pudding. Was the bread pudding done with or in brown butter? It had that wonderful nuttiness from brown butter, I swear. Or maybe I had had too much ice wine by then. Everyone tasted the foie gras, of course, and it was the second thing at dinner that Anya was trying for the first time ever.

The fourth course was the one we all loved most, and as we got looser, happier, sillier with the wines, it provided us with a running joke the rest of the night. So good, though, that there are two photographs. Bayne Sound Scallop, octopus bacon wrap, warm Summerland apple salad, black truffle gastrique.
Anya didn't realize that the bacon was made from octopus, and that launched us into running hilarity over wanting more bacon. In fact, we all did. Seriously. A bowl of more octopus would have been most welcome. This was an outstanding course, and I'm sorry I cannot recall what the wine pairing was save that I suspect it may have been the Cedar Creek Pinot Noir. Hmmm.

Fifth course: Muscovy Duck Breast, crispy leg confit, glen valley butternut squash, sage jus. At first this seemed like a come down from the scallop, and maybe it was, but judged alone, it was greatly successful. The confit was dubbed a "duck tot" by the next morning. I think that the pairing was the Monster Vineyards Merlot. Or it may have been the aforementioned Cedar Creek. I know we had each, but the order escapes me.

We were happy, you can see!


The last course from the tasting menu: St. Dominique Chocolate Parfait, raspberry stuffed "beignet". That little streak? Vanilla bean-flecked honey. Irresistible - we dipped fingers in and licked. And then we remembered our table manners. It was paired with a Gehringer Brothers late harvest dessert wine.

So, six courses, and all were terrific. Such a good night. And not yet done. Did they have cheeses, we wondered? Oh yes. And so it was that a selection of four was presented:
White Grace, Moonstruck, Saltspring Island; Belle Anne, Hillary's, Vancouver Island; Blue, Poplar Grove, Naramata; Camembert, The Farmhouse, Agassiz.

All BC, so we each had another glass of wine (BC wine!) to go with it. Do not ask me to recall all of them. I can only tell you that I had the Joie Rosé.

Greer, if you read this, I have to apologize: the meal did not outdo Sooke Harbour House. But goodness, what an excellent evening. I think we all had an immensely good time, and perhaps we should all save our nickels and dimes for a return visit!

contented

Nope, not drunk. Well fed and watered (so to speak). Happy. We've had a bloody good time tonight, dining at C. Too many photos to deal with tonight, so just this for now: double fisted ice wine, thanks to a mix up by our waiter on the 6 courses/wine pairings. Gee.

To bed soon. I think I shall sleep very well tonight....

magnificent late winter day

It's just gone 7:00 here in Vancouver, and I'm parked once again over at Safari Cafe. Adam just brought over my first artfully-foamed coffee of the morning. Outside Main Street is alive, and a yellowy-orange streak is on the low east horizon. Conrad is in bed (was there any doubt over that?), so I have some time to myself to blog.

The forecast for today is a little grey, a little wet. The memory of yesterday will keep me going through any dreary weather, though. Good gosh! I wrote last weekend about a gloriously sunny (if cold) day in Chicago, but yesterday topped it because

• I'm on vacation
• It was several degrees above freezing
• Things are in bud and bloom here

Yes, in bloom.
Flowering cherries or plums or something - I can't tell which, so if Jeph will chime in with his gardening expertise, I'd be grateful. We saw this tree (and a few nearby with some blossoms) outside the Aquatic Centre when we went for a morning swim. We were already enjoying the morning, and this was a further highpoint.

We were pretty good about enjoying the day outside overall. It's about a two-mile walk along the Sea Wall on the north shore of False Creek from our place to the pool. We dawdled the whole time, taking photos and admiring the condos. And my gosh, is it ever a thrill to see some dozen cranes all in the vicinity of the Olympic Village construction site.

After our swim, we crossed by ferry to Granville Island and settled on a simple lunch at Bridges.
From there it was on to browse some First Nations arts before picking up foodstuffs for making dinner. All of this, in fact, took a couple of hours - we really were in no hurry. Once home, I set to work cookingand Conrad relaxed with a bookbefore going for a walk about Chinatown.Dinner - pork tenderloin - was a bit early,and we could see the mountains to the north as we ate.
The sun went down,and we went off to Theatre Sports on Granville Island.

A big dinner tonight. Greer is in town, and we have plans to dine at C. I have high hopes. In the meantime, I'll get back to my hardcore vacationing....