Lounging at the Pan Pacific

Way back in 1986 when the World's Fair was being held in Vancouver, the Pan Pacific was THE big new luxurious hotel. 20 years later, it still has a certain cachet, as well as the the advantage of being close to the cruise ship traffic.

Curiously, until last night, I'd never been in there to the best of my recollection. After dinner last night (Earl's at a mall in Richmond - not bad, in fact, but we didn't bother taking photos), Conrad and I went over there for some wine to wind down the evening. The sun was setting beyond Stanley Park, and the neighbouring Fairmont Pacific Rim construction site looked like the skeleton of a wave in the twilight. A half liter of a Quail's Gate Pinot Noir went down quite nicely....

Adega

A long weekend in Vancouver, some pleasant weather, a bit of shopping, and even some exploration of areas less famliar to us. Saturday lnch took us to a Portuguese restaurant in Strathcona, very close to Chinatown. A bit of a hole in the wall, but I was convinced by the stickleback that came out. Hot, salty, fried, and accompanied by a sauce of vinegar and onion. Tasty!

Luis and Dan cook dinner

Daniel called me late yesterday afternoon to invite me to join a few people for an evening of sipping wine. Which would have been lovely, had I not already planned to have dinner at Luis and Dan's. Daniel asked if photos would go on the blog. I hadn't planned on it, but heck, why not? It's rare that friends have us over for dinner, so such an occasion deserves documentation. Daniel, I'm just sorry that I can't provide more photos of Tim for you.

Conrad couldn't make dinner in the end - it's an obligatory Yooper weekend for him. He'll be home tonight. I hope his visit is going well, though, because Luis and Dan out Martha-ed, out gay-ed, outdid us outright. Pretty impressive meal in a lovely home.

In truth, not all the photos are going up here. I try to keep this blog family-friendly for the most part, and there were great swathes of conversation last night (with props) that veered far into colourful territory. The price of having six gay men (four of them swim team mates who have, bluntly, seen each other in swim suits and less - Luis and Dan's friend Jimheard a lot of team gossip last night!) gathered around a table.

Nevermind. On to the food:

Highlights? Jeepers, where to begin? Luis had out a selection of terrific cheeses to set the tone for the night, and his cooking (he did most of the kitchen work,
or so I understand) went from success to success.

Take, for example, the golden beets. A delightfully balanced salad with the greens, walnuts, tangy dressing, and cheese. Simple, delicious.
He served it with baguette he'd split, buttered, spread with a caramelized onion and anchovy (I LOVE anchovies!) topping, olives, some cheese, and into the oven to toast. So much for low carbs!

An effusive start to my description, and well-deserved. The food was outstanding. Like the scalloped potatoes. Seriously, I can't recall having had better ones. The right consistency, and the excellent addition of poblano chiles.It paired very well with the beef (not pork, as the menu said) stuffed with chorizo and olives. Salty and creamy tastes mingled on the plate, and good manners were all that prevented me from swiping my thumb across it to get every last bit.

I should add here that in the middle of the table were a few bottles of assorted reds. Scottchose the Zinfandel, and I agree with Dan (whoops, Smelt Dan, not host Dan) that it had a lovely licorice scent. However, I went with the Cab - a 1990 Cabernet. It had deepened into some earthy notes, and even in the dimmer dining room light, it had a brick tinge of colour. Apparently it was something Dan (the host)had tucked away at his place. A treat.

Conrad will be sorry to have missed out on dessert. There is a hierarchy of dessert flavours in his life, and lemon ranks not at the top but highly. We each had an individual sponge cake with homemade lemon curd.Luis was unhappy with the cakes - he thought they were dense and he wished he'd made them that day instead of one day ahead of time. Nonsense. He protests too much. They were beautifully plated and another delicious success. They recalled to me my trifle recipe, and with summer coming, I'll have to make that at some point again.

It was still a marvellously warm evening close to midnight when Dan, Scott, and I caught a cab home. I didn't get as long a night of sleep, and I was a little full when I got up this morning for my run. But by gosh, was it worth it!

baby back ribs

I can't recall if it was something Yoshi once told us or if it was something I read in a book (and if so, I think it may have been Turning the Tables). Basically put, pork does not sell in restaurants. It's a real shame, in my opinion. But then, I'm rather partial to pork. And veal. And liver. And lamb. And....

I'd like to cook pork more often, but that I don't makes it feel more special when I do. Add in the good company of Kim and FXK, some lovely Cabs, and we had the makings of a good dinner around the kitchen peninsula. Baby back ribs glazed with a sauce made from pomegranate molasses, tomato, and a few other things. Broccoli rabe and a cous cous and black bean salad on the side. That lovely fregolatta with cheeses for desserts. We are all well fed and satisfied. Beats the heck out of fighting the Mother's Day crowds at restaurants!





I should point out that Conrad has a tendency to take photos of me in action and I HATE IT!

LOL

Ending the week at Bin 36

I'm struggling to recall when last we were at Bin 36. Surely it wasn't last June with Quinton and his wife, but quite possibly it was. Shame on us.

Conrad's office had an open house late this afternoon. We walked up from there to Bin 36 for dinner before heading home. A cool evening, but a gorgeous one. We sat in the window, Conrad with his Left Coast Reds flight and I with my Sauvignon Blanc and Friends flight. It's been a tiring week, so we weren't greatly animated. More just winding down with some nice food and wine, holding hands a little.

I was thrilled to see the return of fritto misto, though with crab and clams this time. I recall a vegetable version on their menu in the past, and it was a favourite. The best were the lemon slices, battered, fried, and salted. They made a welcome return on my appetizer plate, and that made my evening. I look a little manic or something in that photo, I realize.

Conrad started more easily with a good salad. He followed this up with the monkfish. In terms of wines, I think he did better than I. His half pour of Cycles Gladiator 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon was so lush. I smelled black mission figs in it. Yes, I sound pretentious, but really, that's what it recalled to my mind. We each had a full pour for dessert alongside with three cheeses (not photographed).

My meal? Rabbit two ways. Very very tasty. The wines held up well with it, though it was a Pomelo 2006 Sauvignon Blanc that I most liked and bought a bottle of to bring home.

Now to fully unwind and have a not-too-hectic weekend!

nice shirt

Vanity compels me to admit that I really rather like this short sleeve shirt I bought when we were in Auckland....

:-)

Honesty compels me to admit that while she doesn't rock my world quite like CG does, Veronda really does rock!

balcony salad

Nice night!

Here I sit, listening to the new Manic Street Preachers (Hooray! And I bought the new Bjork. And I'm tempted to get the new Travis! Good night for iTunes! Lots of exclamation points!), letting the evening draw in. Conrad and I had a nice, simple, casual dinner out on the balcony. A tad cool on this May evening, but enjoyable just the same.

Our plans for dinner changed at the last minute, so I tossed together some salad with a variety of found things from the fridge. Drizzled it all with this lovely lime-infused olive oil from Seresin Winery in Marlborough and a touch of balsamic vinegar made at Venturi-Shulze outside Victoria. A bottle of rosado leftover from Saturday night, and we were good to go.

Some photos, then, of a delightful little dinner and the close of a gorgeous day in the city.

cool Sunday stroll

One more post from the weekend that was.

As you might imagine, Conrad and I were a little worn out yesterday. What with cooking and cleaning and entertaining (yes, yes, we have SUCH a hard life, I know!), we were up late on Sunday and early to bed again. Dinner was a casual affair of leftover soup, salads, and a few other nibbly think, eaten reclined on the bed with Ugly Betty playing on the laptop. And after that, a stroll so that we could pretend to get some exercise.

Heh.

Over to the lakefront park on a cool early evening in May. We walked and chatted of upcoming trips and took a few photos.

The landscape scenes make the city look a little plain and desolate, but the Waveland tennis courts were thronged.

I found out last night that the tall building in this photo, the high rise across from our place, is only the 66th tallest in Chicago. 531 feet tall, and it is ranked kind of low. Mind you, our building would barely place in the top 350, if at all. But what is funniest to me is that I always think of Vancouver as being a big city full of skyscrapers. In fact, the building across the street from us is about 40 feet taller than the tallest skyscraper in Vancouver. Interesting perspective.



Conrad was a sort-of willing photo subject. Yes, that is his butt. As I mentioned in the previous post, we are gay!