I’m thoroughly impressed by YEW. They thought of all the details, and it really makes all the difference. Our server had exceptional product knowledge, the plates (the actual, physical plates) were interesting, and the plating (how the food was presented) was thoughtful and beautiful.
But best of all? Dessert. Was. Great.
Posted in Events, Restaurant reviews
Tagged almond, caramel, cheesecake, cherry, chocolate, cinnamon, coconut, creme brulee, dine out vancouver, fleur de sel, lemon, lime, marshmallow, meringue, pineapple, sorbet, verbena
One of my favourite memories of New York was when Nrinder, my lovely host, took me to a hole-in-the-wall Caribbean restaurant called Taste of the Islands. I don’t have a hope in hell of finding it again, much less telling you where it is, but I know that it’s within a few blocks of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, there’s no sign outside, and I probably would have walked right by it had Nrinder not gone inside.
Outside the Jamaican fish store in Kensington market
I had a glass of sangria tonight at Kino Cafe, which features some of the best flamenco I’ve ever seen. (Yes, I’ve been to Spain, but bear in mind that I was 18 and probably didn’t appreciate the finer things in life. However, I probably did like the sangria in Spain.) Anyway, my point is that if you haven’t been to see flamenco dancing at Kino Cafe, you must go post-haste and check it out. It’s awesome. The food is satisfactory at best, but let’s face it – no one’s there for the food.
But, back to sangria. My recipe for sangria includes a bottle of cheap wine (Naked Grape Shiraz is a good choice, since it’s not too sweet), a bottle of club soda, and one each of an orange, (pink) grapefruit, lemon and lime. I find a lot of sangrias too sweet, so I like adding citrus fruit for a bit of tartness. The other good thing about using citrus fruits is that they tend to release juice into the sangria, and not suck up wine tastiness. If you use apples or pears, as some places do, you end up concentrating the wine in the fruit – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it makes the actual sangria taste a little bit flat.
Posted in Homemade, Restaurant reviews
I trekked out to North Van to visit my old boss today. It was great to see my former co-workers, but wow – lots of things have changed in 10 months. I only knew two people in the pastry kitchen – the other four people are all new. And most of the girls in the cafe are new, and had no idea who I was.
At least things are pretty much the same in the chocolate kitchen, where I used to work. At the height of the Christmas season, we produced more than 60,000 identical, perfect, delicious-tasting chocolates each week. It was an insane exercise in organization, efficiency and artistry. I definitely enjoyed the experience – and my fantastic co-workers – but at the end of the day I knew that I wasn’t cut out for the madness of 16-hour days on my feet, fuelled by expensive cappuccino and pastries.
Posted in Miscellaneous, Restaurant reviews
