three Vancouver meals with friends

(and let me pause before launching into this to say that, with this post, I will essentially have caught up on the backlog of travel and dining and more)

(and let me also say, Peter: it's about bloody time!)

Anyone who has even casually skimmed this blog would know that I like to eat well and drink well.  Our brief visit to Vancouver afforded us opportunities to do so, happily.  Let's dig in!

Thursday evening Conrad and I walked and trained and walked on over to Zarak to meet Chris

and Allister

for dinner.  The restaurant, which features Afghani cuisine, was Chris' suggestion.  And you know, well done, Chris.  Very well done.

All of us had cocktails, save for Conrad who started with a bottle of wine that we eventually shared (and ordered a second one of).  I liked mine, a light cocktail called Heritage

that seemed not to be alcoholic at all, which means it was dangerous.  Chris, however, got the show thanks to ordering the Dr. Damji's Negroni.  Fun!

And then we got down to food.  Oh, what food!  I didn't get a shot of the green beans, but they were a highlight.  The mantu were beautiful but not as flavourful as the beans. 

I still enjoyed them.  The buttermilk fried chicken was a delight. 

The lamb shoulder was equally as delightful. 

The bolani was fine, the least memorable of our dishes (and yet, still tasty enough). 

The Uzbeki palaw was a jewel. 

Piping hot, the rice grains each distinct, chunks of tender meat hidden in there.  I would go back just for that dish alone.

We also ordered one of each dessert (there were four).  I wasn't all that interested in vegan chocolate mousse, and although I tasted it and thought it was fine, it proved to be the least interesting to me. 

The tres leches cake was tasty but I still don't understand what it was doing on that menu. 

The shir yakh was lovely - I like rose water as a flavour, and having it in an ice cream tamed it well. 

The firni, a milk pudding, I dismissed at first, but I kept coming back to because the subtlety lured me in. 

My favourite of the desserts.

An excellent dinner, and we've been spreading the word about the place since.

Friday!  Friday lunch was at the club, sitting out on the terrace under mostly cloudy skies but still enjoying being out there.  Our friends from Germany, Gerd

and Uwe,

joined us.  The day before had been Uwe's 60th birthday, and Gerd's 60th will be in October, so we wanted to treat them to a meal.  This is the second time that we have met up with these friends on a Vancouver vacation - our original connection is through the magic of Instagram.  We sipped a BC white and had a leisurely lunch.  My seafood Cobb salad

was different than I have had it before, I think - they could have dialed back on the tomatoes (which I didn't even get to, the salad was so big) and maybe not used such a mix of greens (it was a little rough by contrast to the seafood).  But I didn't go hungry, that's for sure!

Dinner was with Jenny and Steven, whom we always enjoy seeing when we're in town.  We went to the Main Street location of Sula for Indian food.  The restaurant had a good cocktail program, which is not something I have seen very often in Indian restaurants, and a nice wine list.  The bar

sent out our drinks, and mine was a light variation on a Last Word. 

Refreshing!  When I ordered wine with the meal, the waitress let us know that they were out of the one I ordered and instead recommended an Indian red wine.  She let me try some, I liked it, and it turned out to be a doubly good recommendation:  we had a nice wine with the meal, and it was a first time trying wine from India.  Oh, and the winery?  Also named Sula.

I didn't photograph much of the food.  A few of the dishes were meats or vegetables or cheese in a sauce, a curry or gravy, however we might call it.  And, sorry, those don't always make for the most interesting photos, alas.  Not a worry.  Here is the appetizer platter we shared. 

All of it was good.  Sula is on the list of places to go back to, I have to say.

After dinner, Conrad and I went to see Steven and Jenny's new (to us) home and sat and had a bit more wine before heading back to the hotel.  It was a full day of food (and steps for me!), and a very good one all in all.

Ladyhawk

It seems to be our time for getting out of Pasadena and trying new places (or going back to ones we haven't been to in ages).  San Laurel, Otium, Verse - recent efforts to leave our fair city have been successful.

The latest effort was another trip to West Hollywood.  A space that Van and I had visited 4.5 years ago, but now reimagined and reopened.  Friends, I give you Ladyhawk.

I have no idea about the name.  Van's friend, Nicole, whom we met for dinner was the one who recommended it.  I knew of it from Reddit and following Top Chef posts.  Ladyhawk is the creation of a chef on season 20, a man named Charbel.  I didn't see season 20, I admit - I gave myself a break from watching the show, and it is currently one of only two seasons since I started watching (season 3) that I haven't seen.

Ladyhawk is a hotel restaurant, and the hotel is cool and hip and sleek.  Everything that I am not.  We grabbed drinks from the hotel bar before the restaurant opened, and I have to say, I would go back for the hotel bar.  Nice place.

Things I liked about Ladyhawk:

• The service.  Our waiter, Jordan, was not the warmest, but he explained things well and checked in, and I appreciated that.
• The mezze platter.  Jeepers!  $110?  We should go back and make that our meal.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The half chicken.  The right level of salty, plus mint, plus juicy meat.
  
  
  
• The Lebanese milk pudding with passionfruit.  Good!
  
  
  
• The Rye Not digestif cocktail, a blend of rye and cynar and bitters.
  
  
  
• The Lebanese rose.

Things I want them to do better:

• The flank steak.  Run of the mill, and crying out for corn tortillas to wrap around them.
  
  
  
• The charred cabbage.  Please, people, make the cabbage the star.
• The baklava.  Dry, not cohesive in the sense that it wasn't really possible to get a bite down through all the layers.  Pretty, but not worth having again.
  
  
  
• Conrad's glass of California pinot.  An adequate wine stored too warm.  If he's asking for ice cubes to put in his red wine, it's a problem.

A good space.  Loud.  But definitely things to like.  I'd cautiously recommend it, and eventually go back.

an anniversary dinner of sorts

A year ago, we returned from a fantastic trip to South America with our neighbour Natasha, her friend Marina, and some others.  Chile and Argentina for almost two weeks - wow, there was some fantastic scenery.  Some good food.  Some lovely wine at one winery.

We've barely seen Natasha these past couple of months, and its been ages since we've seen Marina as well, so it was nice to see them both last night as the Pasadena members of the trip got together for dinner here last night.  Reminiscing a bit, catching up on the year since, drinking Chilean wine, and having a good evening of it.

Van arrived early, so the three of us enjoyed a cocktail made from a gift Allison sent us for Christmas, clove and rosemary gimlets. 

I vacillated between thinking the clove was too much and enjoying the drink, but Van rather liked it.

Natasha and Marina are both Russian, so I found a way to incorporate caviar into the dinner.  I made a puree soup to start, parsnip and cauliflower.  Into each bowl I placed a seared scallop, then garnished it all with chives, creme fraiche, and a little caviar.

For the main course, I marinated halibut in chermoula, baked it, and served it with some reserved chermoula, a bit of cous cous, purple carrots, and green beans. 

I hadn't done the recipe in some time, and it was good to revisit it.  I thought the fish cooked up nicely.

Dessert was a recipe I used back in November and decided to do again:  wild rice pudding with a caramel sauce. 

As I did back then, I also made a raspberry sauce for people to enjoy, but I stuck with caramel only.  I have such a sweet tooth.

The Chilean wines were good, and the evening was a success.  We have one more bottle of wine from the trip in the wine refrigerator, and one day we'll open it and enjoy.  I'm just glad, though, that we were able to get together and have a nice quasi-anniversary dinner together.

calling on an oldie but goodie

I cooked for a small dinner party last night.  Lessa and Christian came over to join Van and me (Conrad is home from Michigan later today) for a meal, and that meant I got myself into the kitchen.  And I'm not sure what made me think to do this, but I pulled out an old restaurant recipe:  wild rice pudding with caramel sauce.

We used to make this at the restaurant back home in the 90s not infrequently.  It was a tough initial sell to customers (Rice pudding?  Meh!), but if we persuaded them, we had them hooked.  It's actually a Bobby Flay recipe, so credit to that chef/author.  My only change:  I also serve a raspberry coulis since some people (including all the others last night) like the tartness to cut the sweet.  I hadn't had the pudding in years, and here it was again.  And, truly, it was good.  Better still, I have some leftovers to enjoy.

The meal itself was simple.  Honestly.  I stewed rabbit with olives in a sauce thickened with ground, toasted almonds and served some chard on the side. 

I also made a loaf of bread

for swiping up the stew gravy.  Nothing too complicated, but definitely satisfying.

Now on to planning the Thursday dinner!!

halibut/rice

Welcome back, Peter!

I've been away for a nice relaxing weekend, and yes, I will blog about it in times ahead.  But as part of that weekend, I did not bring a laptop or iPad.  What?  Madness!  Ah yes, I actually went and enjoyed myself.  Now to catch up.

The night before Van and I headed out of town, I made dinner for Conrad, Van, Natasha, and me.  Unlike the pathetic pizza and mango tart effort of a weekend earlier, this time things turned out.

Sometimes a meal comes together in my head when I'm shopping, and that was the case last Friday.  I knew some of what I had in the fridge and pantry at home, and I knew I didn't want to have to buy too many things.  I got to Whole Foods and headed to the seafood counter.  There I found some nice looking halibut.  The meal came together from there.  I knew I had wanted to do a risotto, and I had a recipe for a pumpkin risotto that I thought I could adapt with carrots I had on hand.  Carrot risotto and a good piece of fish.  And?  Something green, not too bulky - red chard!  Then some dill and capers for a garnish.  Some chocolate and eggs to make an easy dessert, and I was headed home.

The risotto came together nicely.  The carrots didn't break down as squash would, but the chunks were tender.  I was pleased.  I seasoned the fish, including some saffron to play off the carrot in colour and flavour, then put it in a pan.  The chard received a coarse chiffonade (there is probably a better term for that).  I fried the capers to crispness.  And that made for a filling, tasty dinner. 

A rare time that I was happy with what I cooked.

Dessert was simply chocolate budini.  I've had them puff more than that in the past, but ah well.  Still tasty!

 All in all, a very nice evening together.  Enjoyable, indeed!

taking down the tree

Early January is a sad time of year (aside from a very big day next week, that is). Christmas is over, the gifts have been given, our dietary habits are more moderate, and I cannot play carols again until October. And as is our custom, the first weekend after New Year's Day we take down the tree. So it is tonight. It kills me a little inside.

Oh, sure, it was a sunny and lovely day out. A decent swim. Some tidying around the house. The fragrance of the chicken stock I spent the afternoon making in the kitchen. We're re-claiming our living room! Still, it's a melancholy evening in a way, and here I sit, deliberately drawing it out by blogging it.

Setting up the tree was odd and different this year. We set aside a the first Sunday in December (as opposed to American Thanksgiving weekend) to do the tree ourselves. No one helping. I can't even recall what I cooked or if we might have ordered in. One big tree in the corner, and a small feather tree on the dining table.

A little closer to Christmas we had those who might have been our recruits over for a nice meal: some curry turkey pot pies, biscotti, a steamed pumpkin pudding.
No work on the tree, just enjoying it and the other bits of holiday decor.


A fine night. There were too few of those this past Christmas.

And now it comes down. We started prepping the apartment before dinner, and then Conrad went to get the boxes from storage. A dinner of a chicken tortilla soup in us,
and now we're at it. I refuse to play Christmas music, however. Better to get this done and get back to the normalcy of the rest of the winter in the apartment.

I sound bitter, I think. Sorry for that. I do love Christmas, it's well known. Ah well. 9 months until the music comes creeping back into my playlists, and for sure, I'll be on the lookout for good gifts well before then.