better meals in Vancouver

The NBF is quick to remind me that the trip is not about the food but about the time spent with family and (later in the week) friends in a beautiful city. I'm not sure what that comment says about Jeph's level of understanding me, but it is sweet.

On the other hand, three mediocre meals yesterday is three too many.

Happily, this sunny and cold Sunday in Vancouver was better.

We spurned the hotel restaurant at breakfast this morning and headed out onto the Island to Railspur Alley Café & Bistro. I think we were the first ones there. Nice. Good close attention to us - I like service like that sometimes!

In truth, the food was simple, but it was good just the same. I had oatmeal with a side of bacon. Conrad's smoked salmon scramble, though, looked ans smelled really tasty. Best of all? Good coffee. I'm not a conoisseur, I know, and I can't quite stomach strong or bitter coffee even if it is heavily adulterated with milk and sugar. My cafe au lait this morning? Terrific. I had a second, and then two more this afternoon. Yum. Mum, for her part, was delighted by the clear mug that drew attention to the attractive layering in her cafe latte.

Conrad and I got a swim in before lunch with the not entirely friendly English Bay Swim Team. Good to swim, but the workout was kind of frustrating due to the pool set up and the fact that the drills were not ones I was used to. It was low intensity as well, not quite what I wanted. Yes, I'm being a baby.

Lunch was unexceptional bar and grill food. Still, Mum and Roy were happy, and what the heck, we saw the last minutes of the Bears' win.

Back to Railspur for late afternoon coffee (and some bread pudding that my sister really dug into - good for her!) so that we could show the family some photos.

Dinner was a surprise and delight. Marie backed out, and I booked the four of us a table at Cassis Bistro. I had a different place in Gastown in mind, so when we pulled up to the restaurant in the cab, I was a little hesitant. But sometimes surprises are nice, and a lot about the place was good. I liked the spare decor. I loved the music. We all enjoyed our food, from Mum's celery root and Stilton soup to Conrad's bouillabaise, redolent of saffron. Roy had a starter of escargot presented very differently than he'd ever known it, and he was effusive in his compliments. I only wish we'd got better photos in the low light.

Mum and Roy head back to Salmon Arm tomorrow, sad to say. It's been a short visit, but I am glad to have spent the weekend with them. Up next, though, are CG, Martin, and Mark. CG's first trip here, and I'm excited about that!

Duuuuuuuude!

Seriously, what was in that wine? Because Roy and I were drinking from the same bottle and we didn't seem to have the same alertness issues....

:-P

family

No, I don't mean "family", as in the NBF or some of the people who comment on here like Dom or Daniel. We're using this trip to see Mum and Roy and my sister Marie. We won't make it up to see Dad and Bella, alas, so they'll await another day for a feature in the blog.

Mum and Roy are well. We've heard their enthusiastic recounting of their Christmas expedition to Victoria. We've shared some (sorry to say) curiously underwhelming meals so far here (redeemed by a cheese plate in the lounge of the hotel, though even then the glass of NZ Piot Noir that Conrad started out with us unbelievably poor wine while the attempt at making a grasshopper for Mum was kind but inept), but they did troop through some stores with us, and we all bonded over the 35 minute wait for a cab at Shaughnessy Restaurant. Fun times.

As for Marie, well, she's looking well. I like what she's done with her hair, and her new coat was nicely fitted, I thought.

Mum and Roy head back to Salmon Arm on Monday, but we'll have another opportunity or two to see Marie after that. In other words, expect more photos. From today, however, some shots. The daylight one is from the Aquabus from Hornby Street to Granville Island. The evening ones are all at Shaughnessy Restaurant.



(Not the best photo of Marie, but I kind of like how I look in it!)

Granville Island Market, or: if I could go on a "date" with CG and the NBF...

... we'd come to the Market and buy some things, go back to my dream place (equipped with a big-ass kitchen and lots of equipment and cookware), have fun in the kitchen, then have a looooong leisurely dinner of the things we'd bought. With a BC wine or three to wash it down.
Sound like a plan?

It's colder here than it was in Chicago - a few degrees below zero centigrade. Very odd. A sunny afternoon, though, and the city is still beautiful. More photos with the family in another post. For now, enjoy a few of the possibilities from the Market!

gratin on the side

Saturday was a delightfully sunny, cool midwinter day in Chicago. We haven't had snow in ages, so the walking has been fine. Mid-afternoon we wandered out and made our way south, eventually stopping in at Pastoral.

Friends had gifted Conrad with a gift certificate for the store for his recent birthday. We'd never been in before, but we'd heard about it and wanted a good excuse to go. Mmmmm, cheeses. And more, as it turned out. Some wine, some condiments, some olives. Even some serrano ham, which we munched on as we headed north on Broadway.

One of our treasures we found there was a fresh smoked mozzarella. It smelled heavenly, as if bacon were pretending to be a fresh cheese. Yum! I immediately fantasized about what we could do with it.

Actually, I spent more time than I should have today daydreaming about the cheese and thinking of the contents of our fridge. Broccoli? Brussels sprouts? Frankly, I always hated cheese sauces on either. Late in the day, though, an idea hit me: an onion gratin.

Not everyone is a fan of onions, but I'm very fond of them. They can be marvellously sweet, and I thought that quality would offset the smokiness of the cheese well. When I got home, I discovered two roma tomatoes I'd forgotten about - something to round off the onion and cheese.

Into a pan went the sliced onions. I let them get a little brown over a moderate heat, then added chicken broth and cooked it down while watching my new favourite show, Heroes. Seriously, watch this show. Wow. After that, I layered the sliced tomato, sliced cheese, and the onion (seasoned with salt, pepper, and dried thyme) in two ramekins, ending with the sliced cheese on top. Into a hot oven alongside some chicken breasts I'd lightly marinated. The result? Yummy. No dairy other than the cheese, so not too rich. Also, no carbs beyond what's in the two veggies. Filling, though. And good. With the chicken, some asparagus, and a bottle of Chehalem 2002 Pinot Noir, we were quite content.

fondue, continued

Back from Dreamgirls. Sorry, I must be a bad gay man because the movie just didn't resonate with me. Not a bad film, just kind of nice. Jamie Foxx underwhelmed me, Beyonce didn't really register, and Jennifer Hudson carried the thing by and large. Ah well. Not a bad way to spend a cool afternoon, aside from the irritating girl behind us who kept asking her mother what was happening.

Back to fondue, though.

Liz and Adrian treated us to a home cooked meal last night. Funnily enough, Liz was worried about cooking for us. Oh please. As I told her, take the time to make us Hamburger Helper and we'll gladly take our place at your table. Fondue? Cheese melted with wine? No brainer.

It was a tasty meal, no doubt. Also a very rich one. I know that some two or more pounds of cheese made their way into the fondue pot. Wow. We had bread, apple slices, and vegetables to dip as well. Simply outstanding. Adrian was pouring a pinotage, which Conrad and I both enjoyed - he more than I as I was driving.

And as if the cheese wasn't enough, there was chocolate fondue for dessert with blackberries, strawberries, pound cake, cheesecake, and bananas for dipping. No photos, sorry. We were just in full-on dining mode at that point. When we left just before midnight, we were deeply satisfied.

Is it any wonder that we're going to have veggies and broth tonight?

;-)

Conrad says...

...fondue good!

More to come after I get back from seeing Dreamgirls with CG....

no more champagne, and the fireworks are through

(FXK, if you're reading this post, I darn well hope you catch the song reference in that title!)

2007 is now upon us. Forgive me if I'm not enormously excited. It's not that the weather is grey or that it's Monday. It's not exactly that it's just another day in some ways. I simply have never cared for New Year's Eve as a holiday. It's right down there with Hallowe'en. No matter. I'm not a curmudgeon and I wasn't out to kill anyone's night last night, though. And yes, we have food photos.

We spent much of yesterday doing work we'd brought home before stopping in at Francis and Kim's party. They were co-hosting with their neighbours John and Erin, and I have to add in here that Erin had put together a spread of tapas that was truly remarkable. She and John were setting out to fry cheese croquetas as we arrived on the early side. Wow.

Conrad and I stayed almost an hour, and we were quite sorry to leave. We'd made our Yoshi's arrangements quite some time ago and were looking forward to it, but between the good food and the really friendly gathering of people early on, we were having quite a nice time.

Alas, most of the photos were too fuzzy to keep (we're still getting used to the various settings of the new camera), but one shot survived, and I'm glad. Kim greeted us when we arrived, and I thought she looked stunning in this top. Quite an impression to make on the guests, seeing her in the bold and glorious print. Yes, I'm sounding reeeeeeally gay, I know.

Off home for a quick change and then a walk through the gaybourhood to Yoshi's. A lot of people were out last night, of course, and many of them seemed to think that the magic of wearing skimpy party clothes would overcome the fact that it was only a little above freezing. Kids! Gone were the picketers from in front of X/O as well. They had set up an anti-foie gras demonstration. Added some colour to the night, I suppose, but where were all those people and their campaign before the city banned foie gras? I don't recall seeing them any other time, and while they might say that New Year's Eve is a high-visibility night because of the occasion and number of diners, if they aren't willing to be there on a regular Saturday in the middle of a crappy winter storm, I guess they don't care all that much about the animals.

But I do wonder: Were they rotating the protest to all the restaurants in the city that were illicitly serving foie gras? I disagree with the ban, but it is in place, so I do not agree with the illicit service of it.

End of sermonizing. I'm not in a bad mood today, I swear.

:)

Yoshi's. Packed, filled with balloons and music and people. Conrad and I had been given the coveted "Laura and Michael" spots in the corner of the bar, and just as on Christmas Eve, Obed was next to us. We had nice chat with him through the night, as well as with other regulars who came on round. Service was paced nicely so that we were just finished dessert when it was time to ring in the New Year. As for the food:

Kaiseki style appetizer (domestic sturgeon caviar in purple potato, Wagyu beef with white asparagus, king crab leg motoyaki, lobster bisque chawanmushi, miniature sushi).

Shark fin consomme.

Warm vegetable salad of beets, turnips, mushrooms (yes, I ate them!), green and white asparagus, tomato coulis, and truffle oil.

Combination plate (grilled beef tenderloin au poivre and grilled Hawaiian escolar - white tuna - Cajun style with chile guajillo sauce).

Combination of New Year's Dessert 2007 (green tea genoise charlotte with azuki beans and white chocolate mousse, warm chocolate cake, caramel pecan ice cream).

All was good, not a bad bit in there. Favourites bites? The steak, the wasabi used with miniature sushi, the warm chocolate cake, and the ice cream. We had a bottle of Morgon, and Obed shared some champagne with us at midnight. Hats, noisemakers, much cheering ensued.

More chatting with friends and many hugs followed dinner, then we strolled home through the mild night. It was almost 2:00 when we fell into bed - happily not as overindulged as we might have been - and 10:00 when we got up this morning. Half the day is done, and we'll go off in search of ways to fill the rest.

Happy New Year to any who read this blog. I know that Jeph, Brenda, FXK, Dom, and Daniel all do, and others too. It's a lot of food rambling, and that won't change in the year that has just started! But I am glad that y'all check in on things here and let me know about it. I hope your New Year celebrations went well!