Best Almond Croissant in Town

One of my favourite things to do when I first get to Granville Island, is to head over to La Baguette et L'Echalote, the stand-alone French bakery just outside of the market, and get a fresh almond croissant. It's a beautifully flakey butter croissant filled with an almond paste that is not too sweet, and covered in sliced almonds. I usually do this right away, because I've been there many times in the late afternoon when they have already sold out of this item. Check out their website for a picture of the beautiful pastries in the products section, including the almond croissant. Then, I go pick up a nice cup of coffee from the market, and find a bench outside if it's sunny. Another great place to pick up a pastry is the wonderful bakery counter at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, although I think their almond croissant ranks just a smidge under the one at La Baguette (but I have to admit, I've only tried it once there). You can also get a cup of coffee from the PICA counter. If you're downtown, instead of Granville Island, Sen5es (801 W. Georgia St.) has a fantastic almond croissant that rivals its Granville Island counterpart. It's a tough call. The Sen5es version is just a little less sweet, but has a similarly flakey crisp, texture. I've also had a decent almond in the Murchies Tea and Coffee (825 Pender St.) downtown.

Blueberry Tribute

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake

I love fresh blueberries. Blueberry pie is my very favourite pie (if it's warmed, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Banana cream is a close second). Just thought I would post a photo of the blueberry lemon cheesecake I made this week. I love that it has blueberries embedded in the cheesecake that get cooked, as well as raw ones on top. It has a rich and creamy texture, rather than a light and airy or a dense and firm one. The season is short, and this cheesecake can't be made out of season (because of the fresh ones needed for the top). I made some little blueberry tarts the week before.

Yuji's is For You (W. 4th Ave, at Maple)

I debated whether to spill the edamame on this one. Sometimes a restaurant is so good, I just want to keep it to myself. Maybe that's the reason why Yuji's Japanese Tapas doesn't get the buzz it deserves. I've heard some complaints about service in the past, but the staff were all great the night I went (a relatively quiet night - a Sunday on a long weekend). They've been there a year and a half, so perhaps they've worked out their service kinks. I credit Adam's Dining Guide for this find - he writes very favourably about this place, and rightly so.

I love the simple, modern styling of the room, right down to the beautiful bathrooms. The stylish, androgynous server just made it seem even more hip and modern. We headed to the sushi bar, so that we could watch the cooking. I dined with Bac'n Girl, and we were in the mood to gab, eat well, and drown our "man trouble" sorrows in sushi and fried foods. The sushi bar turned out to be a good choice as the view not only included the skills of the chefs, but a string of incredibly pretty men (obviously all with good taste in food, and a penchant for treating themselves) coming in one at a time, to drink and eat at the sushi bar. Now THIS is my kind of place for a "lonely guy restaurant."

Yuji's is a dangerous place to go with a big appetite, a calorie-reduced diet, and a small budget. For one, they have a great, lengthy menu filled with all sorts of tempting original and interesting combinations. There's also a very tempting sheet of premium sakes (including a bubbly one?). It would be great fun to blow a wad of cash sampling sakes. As well, all dishes are presented in small plates, with very few "filler" dishes. We wound up using their chirashi sushi ($18.50) as our filler at the end of the meal, though I was wishing for some noodles or some other rice dish. Many Japanese restaurants have a standard chirashi, and then a pricier, deluxe one, but there is only one here. The chirashi was beautiful though, and everything was of utmost quality, so in the end, I don't mind paying a little more than I normally would. They point out in their menu that they use wild sockeye salmon, and it was really good. Even the slices of octopus were tender, and tasty. Octopus is often hit or miss for me, more often miss. With each piece of fish, I noticed a significant difference in fish quality than what I've had in chirashi's in other places.


Chirashi Sushi

The real fun in the menu is in the original rolls and the hot dishes. We started with the Kamonegi roll ($7.50). It was a very tasty combination of grilled duck breast, grilled green onion, teriyaki sauce, wrapped in rice, with sesame seeds. Just one of many Yuji's original rolls we could have tried. Next time I might try the mango roll.


Kamonegi Roll (Grilled Duck Breast, Grilled Green Onion, Tempura Sauce)

The dish of wasabi chicken tempura may be the very best fried chicken in the city. Succulent chicken, lightly covered in a properly crisp and thin tempura batter. Crispy, juicy, flavourful, with a very subtle hint of wasabi. In my view, it was appetizer perfection. It'll be fun to see if they hit that consistantly in my next visit(s).


Wasabi Chicken Tempura

Bac'n girl thought that we should get something with vegetables in it, and apparently the soy bean content in deep-fried tofu doesn't count. So we went with Yuji's salad roll. A nice touch was that it was served with two types of sauce - a nice sweet spicy chili one, and more of a mirin based or tonkatsu sauce-like one. Everything was attractively plated, and this was no exception, with its dots of sauce lined up with the pieces of salad roll ("crabcake", avocado, lettuce, cucumber, tobiko, wasabi mayo), and all those beautiful ingredients of the roll showing through the translucent rice "paper."


Yuji's Salad Roll

Another exciting choice was the sushi gratin. We could choose from California Roll or unagi (barbecued sea eel, my favourite sushi item), and they cover it in a cream sauce and mozarella cheese, and bread crumbs and bake it! Our choice was the unagi ($7.50) - lots of little pieces of unagi are on top of the rice, with the usual sauce, and the whole cheesy, creamy package was just delicious. The sauce with the wasabi in it made it even better. Notice the cute little wooden serving spoon. I love little spoons!


Unagi Sushi Gratin

We also had the deep-fried spicy tuna roll which is panko-crusted. I liked the fact that it was served with the spicy sauce on the plate, rather than right in the roll, and the sauce was very tasty, and the whole dish was beautiful and worked really well.


Age (Deep-fried) Spicy Tuna Roll

We ended with a yummy green tea creme brulee, served with a scoop of ice cream ($7.00). In the end, we spent less than we thought we did ($64, including our ice teas, before tax and tip), and it was all incredibly satisfying and pleasing. By the way, since I wasn't drinking alcohol this time, this is not a review conducted under the influence (which I'm aware sometimes makes me like a restaurant just a tad more than I would sober...yes, I'm admitting it, I do beer-goggle the restaurants)! Next time, I'll bring more people, so that I can try more items. Definitely a keeper in my book.

Light Dinner at Lupo Bar Caffe (Georgia at Burrard)

This little place is at quite a convenient location for me, as I use the Burrard skytrain station often, so I was very pleased to see it staying open later lately. I made a very favourable post about lunch there a few months back, and now I've stopped in for their new dinner menu. They received some nice coverage in the Summer edition of CityFood (incidentally, a very worthwhile free foodie periodical - I've found it at places like the market at Granville Island, Cookworks, and Fiction Restaurant) too, which revealed ownership has changed recently - Julio Gonzales-Perini has left the business, but Christopher Riley has decided to remain. I managed to get the scoop on an ownership change afoot before I read this article, through, of all places, hairstylist gossip. So I've been watching this place carefully to see if their food quality and presentation would slip as a result of the change. I go in for coffee and muffin quite often. I'm happy to report that everything seems to be fine, and the changes that have been made are for the better. They are now open to at least 8 pm, and will probably remain open even later in the future. My light dinner from their new dinner menu was quite pleasant. A nice, relaxed place to drop by and have a nibble and a chat after work.

Their dinner menu is a selection of small plates (yes, I believe they do use the "T" word - tapas). I had a glass of red wine, and the chicken drummettes served with a tasty pile of sauteed wild mushrooms. The bones were frenched, making the dish quite pretty. A more sophisticated and interesting treatment of chicken wings, compared to the standard appy of deep frying them. Really good (especially after I added salt). I also had their smoked scallop ceviche, which was nice and somewhat original as well. It involved bits of grapefruit. It was more of a subtle, understated ceviche. Maybe a little too subtle for me, as I think I would enjoy a little more acid in it. Dishes are very reasonably priced too. I love the room (red walls), the location, the very friendly staff, and the combination of a very casual space (due to the take-out counter, the television, and the fact that they are a cafe) with interesting and beautifully presented food. The flavours of the two dishes were good, but I'm not raving about them...at least not yet. But my interest is definitely peaked, and I'm sure I'm going to go back to poke around the rest of their menu. I'm trying to figure out why I like this place so much, and I think much of it has to do with how nice the staff have been to me on every visit. Truly snob-free. Is this due to Italian hospitality? Or is it that these folks have been in the high-end restaurant business long enough to know what they're doing, and that they have a fine appreciation for food and drink? Probably all of that. Oh, and I like their coffee too.

Federico's Supper Club, Commercial Drive

Federico's Supper Club - I love this logo!

If you're looking for an old-fashioned, all inclusive evening on the town with your sweetie, I've got the place for you. Especially if retro for you means going further back than MC Hammer. Spend an evening dining and dancing the night away at Federico's (Commercial, near 1st Ave), a re-creation of the supper clubs popular in the 1930's. Stepping into the darkened restaurant through the big, gorgeous, art deco logo doors was like a time warp, with the clientele all whirling around gracefully on the dance floor, Federico himself crooning away at the mike on stage, and appropriately bow-tied waiters whizzing about. The oh-so-debonair pinstripe-suited customer whirling around with his lady just completed the look. A fabulous room - it's kind of like dining in Disney, where the restaurants are themed attractions in themselves. Almost expected some actors with fedoras and machine guns to break in and stage a mafia cafuffle.

Dinner is quite competently executed Italian food. I very much enjoyed the house antipasto platter. We just ordered the antipasto for one ($9.95), and it was quite a generous selection of the usual antipasto suspects. There were these tiny olives that were just too adorable. Our waiter brought over a mountain of nice, soft bread, which we had to restrain ourselves from somewhat so that we didn't stuff ourselves before our mains arrived. I chose the Risotto con Frutti di Mare ($17.95), and was expecting a creamy, gooey type risotto, but this dish is different. The grains of rice were left fairly firm but it was sitting in the (tomato based?) sauce. It had an abundance of various seafood though. I preferred Potato Salad Boy's choice - the pasta special of the night, spaghetti with mushrooms and chicken in a cream sauce. We were both stuffed, without being able to finish our meals, so no dessert for us. Instead we hit the dance floor a bit.

Just so you understand where I'm coming from, I love cheesiness. I love lounge singers, and I love seeing people who know what they're doing ballroom dance. I was informed by my dining companion that "Asian people...they love that ballroom dancing." Ohh, that explains why I love it. Federico's father was playing the mandolin for some songs, and it was so intense, it sounded like a train was coming towards us. He strolled amongst the tables, kind of like when violinists would stroll around romantic restaurants on TV in 80's sitcoms . Wonderfully cheesy. As P.S. Boy remarked, "cheesier than the parmesan they put on our pasta." I was absolutely loving the whole scene. And just when I thought it couldn't get any cheesier, there Federico was, singing Phantom of the Opera to a synthetic dance beat while wearing a white half mask. Absolutely brilliant. Frederico even did some pop songs. I kid you not, he sung a medley that started with an ABBA tune! And the crowd loved it. He did a couple of happy birthdays to people in the restaurant, and then went back to a cha-cha after that. Hope I didn't spoil the Phantom bit for anyone out there. Go, have a good time.

The Foundation, Main at 7th Ave.

I stopped by The Foundation on a Thursday night - my first time there. It's a vegetarian joint, which is not normally my thing, and it was filled with South Main hipsters, all looking fairly retro while sitting in the 50's style chrome and vinyl dining sets. Again, not normally my scene lately. But I was surprisingly quite satisfied by the food there. We had the smaller sized "Utopian Natchos" [sic] and their dish of black bean, mango, and rice, sprinkled with coconut. The nachos were HUGE, and pretty good. I'd be scared to order the large size. They were covered in cheddar, black beans, and corn kernals, and came with a small bowl of sour cream, and another of a nice salsa. We added on guacamole. The chips were a little thicker and heartier than I like, and we got a lot of small broken bits. I prefer thin and crisp chips. That black bean and mango dish was awesome! I was really surprised how such a simple combination could be so very satisfying. It was served with a bit of sweet red salsa. They have very tasty iced tea too. On another night, with additional dining companions, I might order a pitcher of sangria. Given that we only had a few items, and yet TWO of those items exceeded my expectations (mango,beans and rice, and iced tea), and also because the server was efficient and friendly (in a full room), I'm going to recommend this place. If I was vegetarian, I could see myself enjoying this place regularly. Since I'm a shameless "meat-atarian," I could see myself dropping by again if I was in the area, and in the mood for that noisy, funky, busy vibe, and a plateful of something relatively healthy feeling. More incentive for a vegetarian meal? Here's Pamela Anderson speaking seriously about chicken processing.

Flambé For the Home! (For Those Who Want Their Home Flambéd)

This flambé footage kills me - I love it! I found it on Sauté Wednesday, and it's entitled "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Cooking with friends is so much fun, especially when things are experimental! I fondly remember a first-time home flambé attempt with friends at Bac'n Girl's parents' home (when we were much, much younger). That's the mark of a great friend - one who would put her parents' house in jeopardy to get that Cherries Jubilee aflame for my birthday. We actually had the opposite problem where we weren't getting enough flame. But eventually we got fire (just like going camping). Anyone else remember the first time you flambéd? Maybe the people in the video should have read one of the cookbooks I have: The Pyromaniacs Cookbook, The Best in Flaming Food and Drink, by John J. Poister. The restaurant formerly known as Crepe Bretonne used to have flambéd dessert crepes. I wish there were more restaurants flaming their food at the table. I love drama.

Best Nachos in Town?

This is a poll. Who serves the best nachos in town (we're talking restaurants here, because I'm sure each and every one of us makes the all time very best nachos in town at home, right)? Post a comment if you have a vote, and try to explain what distinguishes your winner from the rest. I'll start us off:

My pick is Andales Mexican Restaurant (1175 Davie. I usually go there, but I believe the dish at the Broadway location is just as good). The Andales Nachos with chicken is smothered in things like diced tomato, black olives, nice guacomole (in a very generous plop on top, next to sour cream), whole black beans, and some incredibly tender and moist pieces of chicken (they must braise the chicken slowly). Plus lots of cheese that is well-distributed throughout. The chicken is really good, and I think this is the big difference between the dish here, and virtually everywhere else. Dry, overcooked chicken should be considered a crime.

Recently, someone told me The Foundation on Main at 7th has the best, but I'll encourage her to post it as a comment so that we can hear why. I know someone else who might say the Wolf and Hound on Broadway, near Alma. Again, I'm encouraging everyone to post their own favourite, with some details to back it up.

Hey, imagine a progressive large group dinner where we go from restaurant to restaurant sampling nachos? Anyone up for a vertical tasting of nachos? It would have to be one HUGE group for us to be able to just have a couple of nibbles at each place, so that no one makes themselves sick. Okay, maybe this isn't the best idea. But I'm really interested in organizing some sort of progressive dinner in the future. Maybe on skytrain even.

Tapas Term Rant

Just a quick rant, and then I'll be on my way. Well, I just saw another instance of an Izakaya type restaurant (Japanese place to go and have drinks plus small dishes of food) referred to as a "Japanese take on tapas." The Spanish did not invent this concept! Small dishes are a natural part of Japanese cuisine. Even in the Japanese home, it is typical to serve a meal as lots and lots of small dishes. I personally think the popularity of the "tapas" phenomenon, or sharing many small plates, in Vancouver is partly due to the high Asian population here anyway. Being Chinese myself, I am used to enjoying Chinese meals that involve small bites of a variety of dishes (served communally), and therefore tire somewhat more easily of a huge entree involving many bites of the same item in a row. So the small plates style of dining definitely appeals to me, and I'm quite happy with the trend. However, I recently visited Ichibankan on Thurlowe off Robson, which used to be a charming little underground (I mean that mostly literally) Japanese restaurant with a full menu. Very homey. The type of place that would have about nine (!) dancing santas wiggling away all over their restaurant at Christmastime, and also the type of place where you find tables and tables full of Japanese students. Now it has become a "Sake and Jazz Bar" and they have modernized the room, and the menu. It does look great, with deep red walls and sleek, black furniture, and equally sleek, black (clothed) servers. But it's such an abbreviated little menu now, and just reeks of trying to keep up with a trend, and trying to be more downtown. It's kind of like seeing people buying ponchos for half price at Army and Navy, and thinking they're in fashion. Or like noticing how the South Granville MacDonald's interior has to look nicer, and more understated compared to other MacDonald's to blend in. Anyway, we did have some tasty food at Ichibankan (teriyaki chicken, tuna roll, agedashi tofu, and chicken karaage. There are more interesting things on the menu, including wild game meats, but we just didn't order them), some nice hot sake, and service was excellent. But it's no Guu, and has a bit of a wannabe air to it. Nice room though. At least they didn't use the word tapas anywhere. But I'm likely to try and strangle the next reviewer that does call it a tapas bar.

Taco del Mar, Granville near Pender

TDM is a pretty tasty fast food option if you're near the Granville Skytrain Station. This U.S. chain originating from Seattle specializes in fish tacos. I had one of their soft tacos, $2.59. I'm hooked! They deep fry Alaskan cod and top it with shredded cabbage, sauce, cheese and salsa in either a soft or hard shell. It's across from the Book Warehouse on Granville, where you can find cookbooks at good prices. (Speaking of cookbooks, I visited the new Barbara Jo's in Net Loft on Graville Island recently. A nice addition to a foodie's visit to Granville Island).

It's been noted that Tex Mex fast food hasn't had much of a presence in Vancouver (possibly in part due to a rumoured deal made by MacDonald's with Taco Bell during EXPO '86 to ensure their total domination, but that's unconfirmed and speculative, from an unreliable source). Tex Mex used to be a staple of my diet when I lived in Athens, Georgia (where a local chain called Taco Stand fills up many, many hungry, poor students day and night. The quintessential student meal when you don't even have the time or energy to make KD). Anyway, Taco del Mar is pretty decent for fast food, and they even serve alcohol. How thoroughly American!

I Scream!

I just made a batch of rum raisin ice cream with a Donvier Ice Cream Maker that I rescued from the bowels of my parents' house. Remember that year that they were all the rage in the summer? Yup, I gave my parents one. It's one of those small appliances that people get excited about at first and then completely lose interest in (food dehydrator also comes to mind, oh, and a juicer. Both these things usually make the rounds, being passed off from person to person). Anyway, making the rum raisin required much more effort than I'm used to making to get ice cream (as I normally just buy ice cream), including at least 20 minutes of manual churning. But I got quite a nice product and it was fun, so I thought I would share the recipe I used. It turned out smooth and soft and sweet and rummy. And rum raisin is one of my very favourite ice cream flavours, and it seems to have gone out of style lately. I macerated (you know I just love an excuse to use a cooking term...) my raisins for 48 hours when the recipe only called for two hours, and they're quite good. Next I'll try making Earl Grey tea ice cream (my fav tea - I love that bergamot). Happy cranking!

Chianti's (W. 4th)

I have had some very nice meals over the years at this well-established Kitsilano restaurant. Chianti Cafe is comfortable, friendly, and casual. This last time, Instant Noodle Girl and I started with the Calamari alla Romana, their deep-fried squid appetizer served with a very tasty garlic tomato sauce. On my previous visit to this restaurant, I had this dish and thought it was absolutely fantastic. In this visit, it was still quite good, but didn't blow me away like the first time. I'm not sure if it was me, or if this dish is just a bit on the inconsistant side.

As Cheeseboy brought up the other day, for certain dishes, it is relatively easy to get a good version of one, but difficult to get a great one. For instance, I'm always on the search for a great cheesecake, a great deep-fried calamari, and a great tiramisu. I did recently get a surprisingly exceptional crème brûlée at Capones in Yaletown last week, though it was really the only part of the experience that was outstanding. Kudos to whoever made that dessert though, for showing me how good crème brûlée could be. With the calamari, it's not the first time I've had a really great calamari (at Alexis Restaurant, a Greek restaurant on Broadway at Vine) and then couldn't quite recreate the experience on subsequent visits.

Anyway, back to Chianti's. Instant Noodle Girl ordered the Fettucine Chianti, pictured here.


Fettucine Chianti

This yummy pasta has prosciutto ham, mushrooms in a creamy parmesan cheese sauce, essentially adult mac-and-cheese (I mean that in a good way, of course). I had the Pollo Alla Mamma Gina, a chicken breast with mushrooms, green olives, Marsala wine served with spinach fettuccine in tomato sauce. Quite a salty dish, but tasty and tender. I was wishing I had ordered a creamy pasta like my dining companion's though. Although I didn't really have room for dessert, I was ultimately tempted by their peach mascapone pie served with blueberry sauce. A huge cloud of light and fluffy mascapone filling sat on a little layer of peach and a regular pie crust, amidst a pool of whole blueberry sauce. I believe this was a special, and not on their regular dessert menu, but I'm not sure. Instant Noodle Girl had their tiramisu, which was quite nice, and served attractively in a goblet. Chianti's used to do a Monday/Tuesday pasta special and half-orders for all their pastas. I'm not sure that they still do (it looks like they've taken it off the menu). But it remains a good, solid restaurant where you can be fairly confident that you'll get a decent meal and friendly service.

La Bretagne Creperie, Downtown (formerly Crepe Bretonne)

I've mentioned this place before, but it deserves it's own post to remind people to go again. La Bretagne is on Jervis St., just off Robson. I had a really lovely white flour crepe tonight filled with duck confit, onion, potato and white wine sauce. You can choose a buckwheat flour crepe too. Beautifully crisp crepe. All sorts of yummy fillings on the menu made it hard to choose. It's just a really nice, simple place, so just a simple posting about it is all that's needed. A great place for a breakfast, lunch, early dinner, or dessert. They closed today (a Tuesday) at 8:30 pm. Yet another downtown place that I wish could be open for late night dessert. It hasn't lost any of its charm in the change of owners from the older couple that had it for years and years to the younger one that runs it now.

House of Dosas, Kingsway at Knight St.

Chicken 65 and Dhal-Spinach Vada

Okay, I just love it when a restaurant I've heard good things about lives up to (and exceeds) my expectations. I can heartily recommend House of Dosas. In fact, let me put it this way: just thinking about the meal again makes me salivate, and want to go back. This restaurant specializes in Dosas, a South Indian and Sri Lankan dish that is essentially an enormous thin pancake (like a crepe), made with ground rice and a type of bean that has been allowed to ferment, filled with a curry. House of Dosas has a wide variety of fillings to choose from. I had the lamb dosa. I love the crispness of the dosa and the spicy filling makes it a very hearty meal. Go hungry. Next time I will get a rava dosa (made with cream of wheat and rice flour instead of dal and rice) like the one Bac'n Girl ordered, which has an even crispier texture, that comes out bubbly and lacy as shown in the photos below. They are all served with a dense coconut chutney (white without chili, red with) and sambar, a thin soup for dipping and drinking. This introduction to the dosa was particularly fun because Bac'n Girl's partner (Definitely Not Bacon Boy), who was born in South India, was dining with us, and explained everything on the menu for me. Not to worry though - the restaurant owner, who was serving us that evening was a charming host, and would happily answer any questions. We started our meal with Chicken 65, tasty, spicy deep fried chicken chunks, and dahl-spinach vada - crispy patties made with lentils. Now that I think of it, I should have asked about the origin of the name Chicken 65. There's always next time! I've heard that their khorma platters are good too.


Onion Rava Dosa


Lamb Dosa 

Samosa Snack

Other larger posts are in the works, but here's the perfect little tidbit to tie you over 'til the next big meal: samosas! Many of you will know that one can find wonderful fresh samosas in the shops around Main St. and 49th, an area sometimes referred to as Little India. When I went to explore the area, I bought veggie samosa at four for a dollar! A yummy treat. How on earth does the shop owner make any money on that? Another wonderful (yet illegal) way to enjoy a samosa in Vancouver is Wreck Beach. Having a strange, naked man bring you a samosa and squeeze a blob of chutney onto it for you while you're lying in the sun at the beach adds something to the whole samosa experience, don't you think? He probably acquires them from Little India, and the extra cost (three for $5 I think) seems quite reasonable from the vantage point of a beach towel in that beautiful place. Sure, everyone talks about the naked bodies at Wreck (the only legally clothing optional beach in Vancouver), but did you know what a great foodie experience it can be? The only beach in Vancouver where you can purchase lovely mixed drinks (how about a sangria or an icy Mojito made with fresh mint) served right to your little plot of beach, from a little tray, complete with bendy straw. All manner of snacks are available, just a nod or wave away, as the vendors call out their wares ("Co-co-nut Bun!"..."Jello Shooters"..."Cold Beer!"). It's a very interesting place. Watch all that unlicensed, roaming food and drink magically vanish as the police make their obligatory rounds every so often. So the question is this - does an illicitly sold samosa taste better than a legit one?

Falling In Love...

I've been searching for a long time, and I finally found him. He's absolutely perfect! Sweet, good-looking, big, rich, and, of course, even a little bit flakey - just the way I like 'em! He's the ultimate cinnamon bun! I'll call him CB, for short. We met at Bojangles Cafe, on Coal Harbour, over coffee. It's my favourite coffeeshop. At one point, it used to be the only coffeeshop in the area, on the water. Now cafe after cafe keeps popping up around the area. So I try to support Mr. Bojangles whenever I can.

I walked in one sunny afternoon, and I saw him in the display case, glistening with white icing. I was a little apprehensive at first, having had some bad experiences with his kind before. I asked myself, will he disappoint me like the others have?

You may be thinking: can a woman really fall in love with a baked good? Well, I do think about CB a lot when I'm not with him. When I am with him, he brings me to the heights of pleasure, and I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm also thankful that we met. We met by chance, but I can't help but feel a little as though fate brought us together. Maybe our society isn't progressive enough to tolerate a mixed (human-baked good) relationship like ours. Is it true love? I don't know...but I do know a nice set of buns when I see one! There are plenty of places around that claim "World's Best Cinnamon Buns" and let me tell you, they just weren't! I must admit though, I have thoroughly enjoyed the company of other cinnamon buns before. I have very fond memories of the famous UBC cinnamon buns, that I indulged in throughout my undergrad years. Naked (no icing), a bit sticky, huge, wonderfully soft and puffy. Very wicked though, those naughty cinnamon buns - I remember sometimes calculus class and cinnamon bun would fiercely battle it out (in my head), and cinnamon bun would conquer. It would team up with Cheese Stick, who would duke it out in my buddy's head. Last year, I even tried to recreate the UBC Cinnamon Bun with the "official" UBC adapted-for-home-use recipe but it really wasn't the same. (I think the recipe doesn't call for enough of the cinnamon filling, and I might have done something wrong...the raw yeasty taste never cooked out of it, but they did puff up nice and big, so they at least looked like the original).

So, I am very pleased with my find at Bojangles. However, if you think that you know a cinnamon bun that I would get along with, please feel free to set me up. Or send me a recipe. CB and I aren't going steady - we have an open relationship. I'm looking for huge, puffy, very soft, cinnamon buns with a nice generous topping of icing (cream cheese frosting being the best option). I like a flaky texture, and a slight crispness to the outside surface of the pastry. Check out CB at Mr. Bojangles some morning. Sit outside with him, have a cup of coffee, and enjoy the view together. He'll treat you right.

Fondues and Don'ts

Three Cheese Fondue

Who doesn't love a cheese fondue? Well, the lactose intolerant perhaps. I had a six-person fondue party a while back, as you can see in my glamour photo above, and I love fondue for its social aspects as much as for its warm, gooey yumminess. So, I encourage you to DO a fondue. The recipe I used this last time was a variation on the classic fondue that included a third cheese (in our case, havarti, but the recipe also recommends a cheese called Doux de Montagne or Vacherin Fribourgeois), as well as the addition of apple brandy. But here's a DON'T that I learned this last time: try not to pre-melt your fondue mixture too far ahead. We had ours sitting over very low heat for almost an hour before we were ready to dip in (while we ate our salad starter), and this resulted in extreme stringiness! This was rather entertaining, actually. At one point, it seemed like the whole pot of cheese was just one big never-ending string! Luckily for us, my Cheeseboy (Here he comes to save the day!) was there to rescue us from the Cheese Monster (and you thought the Blob was scary?). With the addition of a little more lemon juice and some vigorous stirring over the stovetop, he gave our fondue a manageable consistency. So DO have extra lemons around. DON'T plan on a heavy dessert after, no matter how tempted you are to do a chocolate fondue as well (unless this is all after a huge snowshoe hike through the mountains, for example. I did the Fondue Tour at Cypress one winter and it was a lot of fun). We went with small scoops of homemade lemon sorbet served on ginger-molasses tuile "cups." DO invite 5 other people - six seems to be an ideal number for a cheese fondue. If you are looking for a more intimate evening, I recommend a chocolate fondue for two. And if you're looking for a chocolate fondue for two at a restaurant, I heartily recommend having it at Bin 942 on West Broadway, where they make their own wonderful mini randomly shaped hot little cinnamon doughnuts (think "Those Little Doughnuts" at PNE, only even better!) to dip in, as well serving a beautiful assortment of fruit and mini marshmallows. The rest of your dinner there should be pretty darn yummy too, but save room for dessert. I'll do a full review of one of the Bins one of these days. They are among my favourite restaurants of the city. Also, I found a great little bubble tea place in Kerrisdale called the Orange Corner (2257 W. 41st. Ave.) that does a nice little chocolate fondue too. The bubble tea there was quite good too.

Café S’il Vous Plait, Downtown - An Ungreasy Spoon

I wish one of my vegetarian friends was in town and discovered Café S’il Vous Plait (Robson St., at Richards) with me. Sometimes you just know when someone would love a particular restaurant. I'm not vegetarian at all, as you may have gathered, and the cafe doesn't present itself as a vegetarian place. It's just that there are plenty of vegetarian choices there. I also had their yummy borscht, which reminds me of my veggie friend's homemade borscht. Also, it could be a terrific place to have pie and coffee together, perhaps. I had their blueberry pie, a la mode, for dessert, but the crust was a little flat and not flaky at all, to the point where I think it might have just been a bad day for the pie, and I'm willing to order another slice some time, just to make sure. I would love it to be my new pie place (since Miriam's at English Bay closed down), especially since the coffee is refillable, and they warmed up the pie for me, and put two scoops of ice cream. It seems odd to me that a place that has been around so long would always do their pie crust like that, so I'll update this post if I go again for pie. They're only open until 9:30 pm or so, which means it can't be my late night dessert place. I'll have to stick to Sweet Revenge on Main St. (previously mentioned in my Valentine's Day ideas post) for that.

I've walked past this joint hundreds of times, and I finally decided to go in one day. It has comfy old booths, 50's diner style counter and stools, and lots of plants in the windows. It feels very homey, particularly since there was some nice, sophisticated instrumental music playing that evening, and the room is bright, and the menu is filled with comfort foods like chili, shepherd's pie and mac and cheese. They have also added a couple of Japanese dishes like seafood udon and vegetable udon. I decided to get the soup, cornbread, and salad combo (about $6.75), which felt wonderfully fresh and healthy. There were plenty of soup options. Their cornbread was quite nice and moist. The small salad was pleasant with lots of grated carrot, dressed very lightly in their house vinagrette. The borscht had wonderful big, semi-circular chunks of beets. Service was great - it appears that the place is owned by the older Japanese couple there, with the husband out front, and the wife in the kitchen. It can be a great "lonely guy" restaurant too, as I felt wonderfully comfortable dining alone there, and saw other singles dining alone there or picking up pie to take home. Dining alone at a restaurant is a treat that I indulge in, but it's really only enjoyable in certain restaurants. It's a delight for me to be able to leisurely read a newspaper, while eating at a restaurant. It also allows me to focus on the food, much like taking a walk alone allows me to focus on the scenery more intensely than when I walk with company. Of course, I still want to share this particular restaurant with other people too. And I'm sure I'll be back to do so.

Beach Picnic Ideas (Raviolino Gourmet Pasta in Kits)

Now that the warm weather is here in our pretty city, and it's actually staying bright outside at dinner time, it's time to start thinking about picnics! I had my first spontaneous beach dinner "picnic" of the season last week, with Bacon Eating Baking Girl (Bac'n Girl), and we found a great little Italian deli while driving about randomly in the west side. Raviolino Gourmet Pasta and Foods (4th at MacDonald) is the great little shop we found, where we picked up some fresh pasta dishes to take to Jericho Beach. I had their daily pasta special which includes a pasta with either meat or pommarolla sauce, garlic bread, and a soup or salad (Caesar or spinach tomato), all for $7.75, or $1 extra for a stuffed pasta. I had their beef agnolotti, a stuffed pasta, with meat sauce, and the salad. Bac'n girl had some meat lasagna. The pasta and sauce were tasty, and the spinach tomato salad was nice and big. You can also buy their fresh pasta and take it home to cook. While we were there, we were offered samples of their other dishes, including their veggie Sicilian scaccia, a tasty rolled bread filled with cheeses, spices, pommarolla sauce, and extra virgin olive oil ($1.50/100 g). We also bought a couple of their cookies called Alfajores, and they were wonderfully tender sandwich cookies filled with a yummy, gooey caramel cream. The woman at the shop (probably Maria, one of the owners) actually filled the little cookies to order, and topped them with powdered sugar. Just spending those few minutes in the store picking up our meal, I could really tell that this family takes great care in preparing their foods. It was a very satisfying meal, made all the more pleasant by enjoying the view of the ocean and mountains sitting on a blanket at the beach.

I also love bringing take-out sushi combos to the beach, because I think it's the quintessential Vancouver summer treat to be able to get relatively cheap yet good sushi, plus beautiful weather, ocean and mountains all at once. It's a nice casual way to show off the city a bit to out of town friends, too. Or bring a little barbecue to the beach, and have a cookout. Raviolino has Sicilian style hamburger patties too, if you don't want to make your own. Just watch out for lame frisbee and football tossers at the beach. My herb dressing was contaminated by the sand spray from an incoming frisbee! Frisbee people who can't actually catch frisbees: next time you're out on the beach, scan around and make sure you're not choosing a spot near me while I'm eating. You can recognize me from my photo on this site. Yah, that's right, if you see a giant cotton candy sitting on the sand, enjoying a gourmet meal, move far, far away.

EAT! Vancouver 2005

Just wanted to report that I had a great time sampling my way through EAT! Vancouver in BC Place on April 22nd. I watched Bob Blumer race an audience member in a Kraft Dinner challenge that he devised, and won single-handedly (literally! He made his meal with one hand because they couldn't get the head mic fixed in time, so he only had a handheld). This year's event was much more interesting than the event last year (and included a lot more sampling), but it would be nice to get the AV kinks at the main cooking stage all sorted out before the event. They went high tech, replacing the standard mirror about the cooking stage with a camera, but only aimed the camera at the range top, resulting in the audience either missing half the action or forcing the chef to do all sorts of things awkwardly over the burners. The bowls of hope portion of the event, where you buy tickets that you can trade in for small bites, was actually quite a good deal this year. Six dollars filled me up with all sorts of goodies, including my first sample of Kiwi Pie Company's beautifully flaky savory pies. Also entertaining was Brock Lee's noodle-making demo where he swung his dough around with great showmanship. I also watched the afternoon demo of Rob Feenie, and his new executive chef for Lumiere, and they had great little tidbits about their Iron Chef experience. Funny thing is that I've forgotten the exec chef's name, and it's a little difficult to find his name on the internet. It's always Feenie, Feenie, Feenie! Anyway, it looks like Eat! Vancouver is building up some momentum. Always fun to have another food event around town. I really hope Taste of the Nation comes back to Vancouver though next year. I'll be making the trek down to Seattle to cover their Taste of the Nation event on May 15th, so look out for my first assignment as a foreign correspondent!