Saturday, June 18, 2011

this is my vancouver ♥

The Boston Bruins won Game 7 and the Stanley Cup and unfortunately, a riot ensued almost immediately afterward. The violence was mostly confined to the Georgia Street and Hamilton area, close to Library Square and the Canada Post office. While most fans went home dejected and sad, a few assholes decided to do some property damage downtown. But, the amazing thing that happened the next morning was the thousands of volunteers showed up, armed with garbage bags, mops and brooms to help clean up the garbage and broken glass on the streets.

So, I want to dedicate this post to the extraordinary heroes that came and took time out of their day to help clean up the mess, and to the Vancouver Police Department, firefighters and ambulance workers for keeping the general public safe. On behalf of myself and many true Canucks fans:

 {  THANK YOU }








Check out this link to see the "thank you" post-it notes left on the Vancouver Police cars that were parked along Granville.

Friday, June 17, 2011

bonjour mon ami!

Me and my friends have been on a bit of a French cuisine kick, and our latest conquest was this little nonchalant bistro on 4th Avenue in Kitsilano that can be easily overlooked with its white storefront and pale green signage. We wandered in after work, without reservations, but managed to get a table in about 10 minutes, as it was still fairly early for dinner. After much debate over the menu (since we wanted to sample everything!), we finally settled on some starters and entrees. In hindsight, if we had known the portion sizes would be so generous, we would have ordered only two entrees or maybe even one because we all had leftovers to bring home.

French bread with butter and olive tapenade to start.
Escargot in garlic butter, served with fresh greens on the side drizzled with sweet balsamic vinegar. As far as I'm concerned, you can never go wrong with escargot.
I had the endive and poached pear salad with spiced walnuts, Stilton cheese and balsamic dressing. The Stilton cheese was not overpowering and the it was a delicious warm salad.
Shared a warm caramelized onion and Maplewood smoked bacon gruyere tart with my dining friend.
My friend ordered the Filet of Sole served with almond butte. Very generous portions and the sole was tender and delicious buttery goodness. 
Duck confit macaroni & cheese was the next entree to arrive at the table and it was absolutely decadent. I could eat several servings of the macaroni and cheese, but I did find the duck to be a tad chewy.
On my place: mac and cheese, ratatouille and a serving of rabbit in white wine and mustard sauce.
We thought a side dish of ratatouille would be just that, a side dish and not a platter! But it was very delicious.
We will have to come back and try the other dishes, especially the beouf bourguignon, Fisherman's stew and the lamb shank with rosemary, apricot, tomato in red wine sauce. I wander if Julia Child would approve...

Saturday, June 11, 2011

summertime

This is what summer is all about: hanging out in the backyard with friends and grilling up some food while enjoying the sunset.
The view from my friend's backyard. Gorgeous.

Uma, my friend's dog, handing around the table, hoping for a few scraps of bbq goodness.

Chips and salsa, jello shots, wine and coffee to keep the day going.

Nothing like food from a BBQ.
Homemade gingerbread spongecake topped with summer fruit and custard for dessert.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

back to business

Several external factors out of my control have prevented me from getting back into my usual blogging routine, so for a while, the posts will be sporadic until I can find a better solution. Here's a quick update of what's happened since Vegas:

  • Went to Montreal for 4 days and became slightly addicted to poutine, escargots and crepes.
  • Had my first smoked meat sandwich in Montreal. It was a lot of meat. 
  • Canucks made it to the Stanley Cup finals! They're playing against the Boston Bruins.

And now, I'll leave you with this little gem:

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

hat's off... to vintage cars

Summer weather, vintage cars, great food, balloons, freebies and a parade, what more could you want on a Saturday morning? Happy Hat's Off Day!

Found a Canucks fan taking a stroll and checking out the vintage cars. He's from Africa, loves the Canucks and must have been training for a marathon 'cuz he was FAST.