People get wine, even if they don’t get wine. My parents proclaim Yellow Tail to be the best thing they’ve ever tasted, but even they understand that there’s a difference between Yellow Tail and not-Yellow Tail.

Things aren’t so different with chocolate. You’ve got your crap chocolate, chock full of stabilizers, wax and milk powder to distract you from the fact that it really tastes nothing like chocolate; and you’ve got your high-end, single-plantation chocolate that was produced by real people for actual tastebuds.

So where do you go to learn more? You take a chocolate-tasting class. With, ahem, me. Or, more specifically, my alter ego, The Well-Tempered Chocolatier. Think small classes, funny stories—and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

All classes take place at Xoxolat in Vancouver (2391 Burrard Street, at West 8th Avenue).

>> REGISTER for chocolate-tasting classes here.

Train Your Palate: Guided and Blind Chocolate Tasting
Friday, May 25, 2012
6:30–7:45 p.m.
Get a crash course on chocolate vocabulary and learn how to connect those words with what you’re tasting. You’ll get two rounds of tasting: a guided tasting to learn common flavours in chocolate…and then a blind tasting, to put your tastebuds to the test.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: Can You Taste the Difference in Chocolate?
Friday, June 8, 2012
6:30–7:45 p.m.
Based on a label, most people can tell crap chocolate from good. But can your tongue tell? Sample a smattering of chocolates in varying levels of quality to see if you’re up to the challenge.

Chocolate Tasting: Viva Venezuela!
Friday, June 15, 2012
6:30–7:45 p.m.
Take a gastronomic tour of Venezuela, known for the diversity and flavour of its cacao.

Chocolate Matters: Beyond Fair Trade and Organic
Friday, June 22, 2012
6:30–7:45 p.m.
What’s the deal with Fair Trade and organic chocolate…and is it enough? Find out about the politics of chocolate and why stickers on the label don’t tell the whole story.

>> REGISTER for chocolate-tasting classes here.

I love the challenge of setting parameters when cooking. It allows me to try new things and find unique ways of preparing dishes with other ingredients, giving a completely unique experience with sometimes familiar recipes.

How did I solve this?
The challenge for this meal was not just the gluten free aspect, but since I live in a smallish apartment my space and kitchen aren’t really set up to seat or feed more than four. Dishes are also an issue as I don’t really have settings for more than six. This meant that the birthday party would be a stand up/social event and I would restrict myself to tapas in the form of finger food whenever possible.

On the menu:

1. Beetroot dip accompanied by gluten free crackers for dipping.

2. Tequila and lime prawns with a cilantro, tequila and lime dipping sauce.

3. Shrimp and coconut fritters (didnt get a photo of this one… sorry)

4. Bacon and blue cheese stuffed mushroom caps

5. Prawn and scallop civiche

6. Seared ahí Tuna with a pea and asparagus puree

7. Canellini bean salad

8. Pork roast with home made Mango chutney

9. Chocolate hazelnut crepe cake
 
Upon reflection I am really proud of the way I challenged myself to rise to the occasion and provide a meal that people not only loved but could all enjoy without the worry of “what’s in it?”
It was also quite easy to substitute certain ingredients to get the desired result.

Below are a few of the recipes used to create the dishes shown above.

Beetroot dip – makes 1 1/2 cups
2 medium beets, peeled and halved
1 cup (250 ml) cooked chickpeas
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp (20 ml) lemon juice, plus extra
1 tbsp (20 ml) sesame paste (tahini)
1 pn pepper, to taste
1/4 cup (60 ml) (approximate) toasted sesame seeds, as garnish
1/4 cup (60 ml) parsely, chopped, as garnish

Place steamer basket in small saucepan. Fill with water until just below steamer and bring to a boil. Add beets to saucepan, cover and steam until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove beets from steamer and cool slightly. Grate beets and add to food processor along with chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, salt, coriander, cumin, lemon zest, lemon juice and tahini. Blend until smooth. If dip is too thick, thin with warm water. Season to taste with pepper and lemon juice. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with toasted sesame seeds and parsley. Serve with your favourite crackers, cheese and olives.

Canellini bean salad
2 cup (500 ml) dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight
1 onion, skin on and quartered
1 bay leaf, torn in half
2 cup (500 ml) cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup (130 ml) olive oil, plus extra
1 bn asparagus, trimmed
3 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tbsp (30 ml)red pepper flakes (optional)
1 salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). In large pot, cover beans with water and bring to boil. Add onion, bay leaf and sprinkle with pepper. Simmer 40 minutes until cooked, strain and discard onion and bay leaf. On a baking sheet sprinkle tomatoes with salt, pepper and splash of olive oil then roast in oven for 15 minutes. Blanch asparagus in boiling salted water until tender, strain and cut into bite-sized pieces. Combine remaining ingredients with beans, asparagus and tomatoes. Season to taste and serve at room temperature.

Mango chutney
3 cups Mangoes, peeled and cut
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 red Thai chilli, minced
1 1/2 tsp garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup yellow raisins
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups white vinegar

Stir chutney ingredients together in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook slightly covered, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 45min. Serve with pork.?- Chocolate hazelnut crepe cake.

The long and windy road up to the village of Mazeika.

Today is the first day of Greek Orthodox Holy Week, Great Monday, which culminates on Saturday at midnight with Easter and the breaking of a 40 day fast. The Greek Orthodox faith follows the Gregorian calendar which means Easter usually falls a week or two after “English” Easter. That’s always been awesome for me, double the food and your chocolate is half price!

For a few years now I have been wanting to go to my dad’s village in Greece to experience a traditional Easter. I convinced my non-Greek friend Alana that if she wanted a true Greek experience she should come with me. And once I said I we were going, my dad invited himself along for the trip, which ended up being kind of interesting, as for all the times I’ve been to Greece my dad and I have never spent any time together in his village.

The best souvlaki ever!

On Great Thursday we drove with my cousin Sophie from Athens into the mountains of the north central Peleponese to Mazeika where our dads grew up. Not really following the fasting rules, upon arrival the first thing we did was stop at one of the local restaurants in the village square for a pig out to have the best souvlaki ever. Charbroiled over open coals and dripping with meaty goodness, it’s the best I ever tasted.

Way up high in the mountains where my dad used to go swimming.

The view from my dad's bedroom when he was a kid.

House my dad grew up in until it was bombed during the war.

Greek bitter wild onions. Otherwise known as wild ramps.

On Good Friday my dad and uncle drove us around the village and higher up into the mountains where they lived when the war was going on. Along with telling us stories about how they used to sneak away and go swimming while supposedly tending the goats, my dad kept wanting to stop and dig up wild bitter onions. In Greek he told us they were called vorvous. I’ve recently found out that you can find these here in the interior of BC and they are wild ramps. Along with the sight seeing we went around and bought local fresh eggs, cheese, bread and my favourite, Greek honey, which has a distinct flavour as it’s made from bees that drink from the flowers of evergreen trees.

Wild greens from the backyard for the pita.

Making of the wild greens pita.

Lamb ready to be placed into the pot in the fireplace.

1:30 am and my uncle removing the pot of lamb that had been cooking all day.

The Easter Sunday 2 am meal.

Saturday morning my uncle lit the fireplace in the living room, put lamb and potatoes into one of my grandmother’s old pots and set it to roast in the coals all day. After church that night, our fast was broken at around 1 am, really it’s around 2 am, nothing like having a meat feast in the middle of the night! The meal consisted of a rustic garden pita (created from greens picked in the yard), salad, eggs, cheese, bread, wine and the lamb. After being in the fireplace all day, the meat so succulent that is fell right off the bone and all the juices from the lamb were infused into the potatoes.

Kokoretsi, offal on a spit tied with intestine.

The roasting of the whole lamb (kokoretsi wrapped in foil above it).

Greek dessert pita.

As you can never have enough lamb, Sunday brought more to the table for the afternoon meal. This time my uncle roasted a whole lamb on the backyard spit over coals. Along with the lamb (with it’s super crispy mouth watering crackling) there was the traditional Easter kokoretsi. This is fairly easy to make, as it consists of the offal from the lamb strung onto a spit, tied on tightly with the intestine, then grilled over the coals. The only time consuming part is to make sure to thoroughly clean the intestine before proceeding to use it. Completely disgusting my dad (who hates offal) and Alana (sadly a vegetarian) this is one of the best ways I’ve eaten offal, simple, rustic and delicious. Which is also how I’d describe all of these meat preparations, they were spiced with only olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and oregano. That’s all you needed to let the flavour come through. Finishing the meal we had another rustic pita, this time a sweet one made from sugar, milk and eggs.

The making of mageritsa, the Greek Easter soup.

Unfortunately we were only missing one of my favourite dishes, mageritsa, the traditional Greek Easter soup. As my dad is the offal hater he told my aunt not to make any. Not to disappoint me and being fellow foodies, my cousin Maria and her husband Kosta whipped some up when we got back to Athens. Again, it’s simple and rustic and consists of only lamb hearts, liver and kidneys, massive quantities of dill, green onion, a little rice and topped with a traditional egg lemon sauce. I have some lovely lamb offal from Cutter Ranch sitting in my freezer and you bet I’m making this next Sunday!

Upon reflection I have to say this was the best trip I’ve taken to Greece. Not only for the food but for whom I shared the food with, family that I don’t get to see very often.

Mageritsa – Greek Easter Soup

There are as many versions of this soup as there are Greek grandmothers. Here is the version my cousin made. Be aware there are not really any specific quantities or times for this – it’s kind of a soup experiment!

• 1 Lamb liver
• 1 Lamb heart
• 2 Lamb kidneys (my grandmother only used kidneys and heart, but in addition you can use liver as well as lung)
• 1 Bunch of green onions (with large bulbs or use a bunch of greens onions and one white onion)
• 2 T or more of dill
• Hot lamb stock or water
• 4 – 6 Tablespoons of rice
• 2 Lemons
• 2 – 3 Eggs
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Boil the liver, heart and kidneys in hot water. Rinse. (My grandmother would boil the kidneys and rinse them at lease two to three times to remove impurities.) Remove any weird bits, skins or veins, let them cool and chop into bite size pieces.

In a large heavy pot heat olive oil, then throw in chopped onions, offal and dill. Let it all come to a boil, add the rice and enough hot lamb stock or water to cover. Simmer on low heat until meat is very tender which will take approximately three hours. Add more stock if needed, the soup should be chunky, not runny, but you will need enough broth to make the egg-lemon sauce – approximately three cups.

While the soup is simmering make the avgolemono (egg-lemon) sauce. Separate eggs and beat whites into stiff peaks, then beat in the yolks and lemon juice. Take a ladle full of the broth from hot soup and beat quickly into the eggs, repeat then pour this mix into the pot and serve hot.

Tarte au Sucre

A couple of months ago we had a Foodists Montréal movie night. Even though I was told we had loads of desert, being a sugar addict I just had to add to the sweets being offered, as for a while I’ve been wanting to make a traditional Québecois sugar pie, a tarte au sucre. I searched around for a few recipes and made one that used heavy cream, eggs and brown sugar. However I was not pleased with the consistency and the center seemed to be a bit runny so I decided to look around for a different recipe. For new years day dinner I tried the version below:

1 unbaked pie shell (I used a pate brisée, recipe below)
6 T flour
2 c packed brown sugar (or 1c brown, 1c maple sugar)
1.5 c evaporated milk (I used 1 can of carnation)
4 T butter
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 400. Combine flour, sugar, stir in milk, butter, salt and vanilla. Cook stirring constantly until mix comes to a boil. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 400 for five minutes, reduce heat to 350 and continue baking for 25 minutes.

After having to cook this for another 10 minutes until the center was set, I decided that the better option was to cook 10 minutes at 400, then lower to 350 for the additional time.

This version was super tasty but sickly and richly sweet, so a small wedge will do and it’s fantastic with a dark coffee. While searching the internet for recipes I saw this pie served with ice cream as well as swimming in a plate of heavy cream.

Pate Brisée

Reading through my mom’s latest version of The Joy of Cooking I found a bit of a variation on the traditional pate brisée recipe. Traditionally made with all butter they suggested adding a small bit of shortening to make it slightly flakier. It worked and I found it made the dough slightly more malleable and didn’t interfere with the buttery taste.

2.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 t white sugar or 1 T powdered sugar
1 t salt
1/2 pound of unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup plus 1 T ice water

Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs then cut in vegetable shortening. Drizzly the water over the mixture forms small balls. Press down on dough, if balls of dough stick together you have added enough water. Divide in half, press each into a flat disk and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour, but preferable for a few hours. Can be kept frozen for six months. This makes enough dough for two pies, or one covered pie.

A few weeks ago a friend introduced me to a recipe that her sister swears by. A recipe for Black Bean Brownies.

My sister is celiac so I have been interested in finding new gluten-free recipes that I can make for her when she comes into town, but could black bean brownies be any good?

I decided to give them a try and see for myself.

The recipe is surprisingly simple and really easy to make:

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES
2 1/2 cup canned black beans drained and rinsed
2 eggs
3T vegetable oil
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla extract
3/4c sugar
1 t instant coffee
1/2 cup semi sweet choc chips
Set oven to 350°

- Put everything except choc chips in blender and blend till smooth.
- Fold in choc chips. pour mixture in 8×8″ pan.
- Bake for 30 mins. Cool and serve. (it firms up quite a bit when cooled.)
You can also add nuts to the mix.

The result was a moist, dark chocolaty, textured brownie that was pleasing on the palate.

Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Bob Blumer can't decide which faux plastic toilet to eat out of first.

“In the ever expanding universe of food television,” quips food TV host Bob Blumer. “Do you ever get the feeling you’ve seen it all?”

Yes Bob. Yes, we do. We really do.

So what could our friend Bob Blumer (remember his Foodists video?), the legendary culinary adventurer who brought us such gems as The Surreal Gourmet and Glutton for Punishment, be up to these days worthy of our attention?

Weirdness.

Seems Blumer and his friends over at Paperny Films have just wrapped production on a new Food Network series, World’s Weirdest Restaurants.

Billed as a “global extravaganza of 52 eccentric, off-the-wall eateries,” Blumer’s new program took him to the four corners of the world to unearth the weirdest and wildest venues on the planet. Along the way he was served beer by a monkey in a Japanese tavern, he crashed a pop-up nudist restaurant in New York City, he ate curry from a toilet in Taiwan and he engaged in some seriously high-speed acrobatics in Amsterdam.

“We spent six months circumnavigating the globe in search of mind-bending, jaw-dropping restaurants.  I dined in a rabbit hole, a prison cell and a laundromat,” Blumer says. “I’ve definitely eaten at some crazy places in my life, but nothing compares to what viewers are going to see in this new series.”

Yeah, but judging by the series trailer, it doesn’t look like Blumer had the guts to eat naked. But it looks like he’s having the time of his life (he really does have my dream job).

Each episode of World’s Weirdest Restaurants takes viewers to four different, eateries from Tokyo to Milwaukee, Amsterdam to Portland and many places in between. Vancouver even makes an appearance during a lighthearted segment about culinary speed dating. Part food show and part travelogue, World’s Weirdest Restaurants appears to be a sure bet for foodies with a case of wanderlust.

But with the TV airwaves saturated with shows about, culinary travel, extreme eating or bizarre foods, is there room for another?

Apparently so.

Our hope is that our favourite gastronaut—or should we say “gastroNUT”—Blumer and company really dig deep to deliver on their promise of weirdness. Eating in the dark or out of clean little plastic toy toilets isn’t going to cut it. That’s not weird, that’s just gimmick. We want to see stuff like robot chefs, little people serving Hobbit fare, vampire fetishism, cannibalism, and bestiality themed culinary exploits (these are all real restaurants by the way—we can’t make this shit up).

Come on Bob—get your weird on.

Let’s all tune in to the premier of World’s Weirdest Restaurants on April 4th (9pm ET/9:30 pm PST) to Food Network Canada and see for ourselves.

…Yogurt! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

I remember my dad once bought one of those Salton home yogurt makers. He made a batch. It sucked. We never used it again. As a result, yogurt never played a huge roll in my upbringing.

However, despite the all-out gluttony that we here at Foodists are known for, some of us do eat rather healthy, lower fat meals when not indulging. For me personally, I try to follow a diet that has a good balance of protein, carbs and fat. That’s tough to do come dessert time, but one grocery store item that works very well into that mix is Liberté Fat Free Greek yogurt.

If you look at the nutritional information of most non-fat yogurts, they are usually low in protein and can also be quite high in carbohydrates (sugar). Greek yogurt is crafted using traditional methods: The yogurt is drained according to the principles of old-time cheesecloth draining, which gives it an incredibly rich and creamy texture and one that’s absolutely free of fat. The catch, for Liberté anyway, is it requires three times more milk than a regular yogurt. The result is twice the protein of any other regular yogurt, and therefore more nutritional value.

All this is for naught if it tastes bad. Thankfully, Liberté has done a good job with that. When it first came to market there was a limited selection of flavours. In a move that I think helped them differentiate, rather than start with traditional flavours such as blueberry and strawberry, I first noticed Date & Fig and Honey flavours on the shelves. Kind of makes the Greek connection! While interesting, the Fig & Date flavour has a more pronounced chalky texture and mouthfeel that is a little unpleasant. The Vanilla and Honey are my favourites, and the fruit flavours are a quite good. There’s still a little residual chalkiness to it mind you, but it’s not so unpleasant as to steer you away from it. If you want to invent your own flavours, go for the plain version. It’s also a good a substitute for other plain yogurt and even sour cream in cooking.

Will you love it as much as full fat yogurt? Probably not. Is it thicker than other no-fat yogurt, absolutely. In fact, you may even need to thin it with a little milk if you plan to use it with your morning muesli or granola. On the plus side, if you run out of spoons, you can eat it with a fork.

Liberté has offered a $150 gift basket for one of our readers. It includes ten free 500g Liberté Greek yogurt coupons, bowls, diner napkins and a bamboo tray.

To enter, post the following on Twitter (one entry per tweet):

Put a little Greek in your diet…yogurt that is. Enter to win a $150 @LiberteCAN gift basket @Foodists — http://tinyurl.com/79osrap

We’ll draw one winner on March 17th, 2012.

José Maria da Fonseca ‘Albis’ 2010, Portugal                       $9.99

Its almost impossible to believe that a wine under $10 can have any depth, personality or food friendly appeal, yet this blend of Moscatel & Arinto grapes from the Setúbal Peninsula just south of Lisbon possesses just that. Dry, zippy and aromatic with clean, refreshing fruit, this could happily work with some lightly treated white fish or simple salad. (BC Liquor Stores)

Domaine de Sancet 2010 Côtes de Gascogne, France       $11.99

Gascony in south-west France is currently pumping out some of the best value low cost un-oaked whites on the planet. Sancet is light yet packed with delicious floral & green fruit flavours. It is a blend of mostly Colombard, Ugni Blanc and Gros Manseng grapes and hands down beats any under $15 varietal Sauvignon Blanc I can think of. Imagine drinking it alongside some green-lipped mussels in a Thai flavoured broth. (BC Liquor Stores)

Boutari Kretikos 2010, Greece                                                $12.99

Greece has been undergoing a quiet revolution on the wine front recently and if you haven’t discovered new Greek wine yet, here is the perfect place to start. Poles apart from foul-tasting $10-a-litre Retsina, this crisp un-oaked white hales from the hot, arid island of Crete. Believe it or not, it weighs in with only 12% alcohol but is chock full of citrusy fruit. Made to match with Mediterranean flavours. (BC Liquor Stores)

Cave de Saumur ‘Les Pouches’ 2010 Saumur, France      $17.95

The Loire Valley might just currently be France’s most exciting white wine region with just about everything on our store shelves being interesting and value driven. 2010 ‘Les Pouches’ is one of my favourites with  its  bone dry, mineral & floral accented green fruit perfectly reflecting both Chenin Blanc and the tuffeau soils on which the grapes are grown. Happiness with a tower of seafood! (BC Liquor Stores)

Zinck Pinot Blanc 2009 Alsace, France                                  $17.99

This is a great combination of under-rated grape variety, under-appreciated region, solid producer and a top vintage. The results are precise, expressive fruit showing a surprising depth of creamy apple & pear flavours, a fine balance of all components and persistence in the finish. Delicious & gluggable. Go Alsace! Go Pinot Blanc! Go 2009! With crab cakes. (BC Liquor Stores, Specialty Listing)

Quinta da Cabriz Encruzado 2009 Dâo, Portugal                 $17.99

If you thought that Portugal was only about big reds and cheap rosé  then think again. Portuguese whites have come of age and now offer some of the most interesting flavours around for unbeatable prices. Leading the charge on this front is the Encruzado  grape producing wines with fine texture, weight and balance as in this version from Quinta da Cabriz, an estate located in the Dâo. Full-bodied, round and nutty with restrained oak, subtle fruit, floral and herbal nuances, elegant and long. Grilled tuna steaks should work well. (BC Liquor Stores)

Marotti Campi ‘Luzano’ 2009                                                   $19.99 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore, Italy

Verdicchio is one of Italy’s best and most characterful white grapes and its home is the rolling hills of Castelli di Jesi in the Marche on Italy’s Adriatic coast. This version from the family owned Marotti Campi estate in Morro d’Alba is one of the best I’ve tasted and the 2009 vintage is superb, counterpointing dense, round fruit with fresh acidity & light bitter notes. Luzano is food wine par excellence and would work well with tempura, ceviche or similar. (BC Liquor Stores, Specialty Listing)

Louis Latour Grand Ardèche Chardonnay 2007, France   $22.99

From limestone soils in the little known Ardèche region just west of the Rhône Valley, this is the big brother of the more widely available but much simpler un-oaked Chardonnay from Burgundy producer, Louis Latour. The sensitively handled oak and top quality fruit speak to Burgundy and the pedigree here is obvious. The extra few dollars for this wine are truly worth paying and this elegant, complex, full-flavoured Chardonnay is one of the best around for the money. I’d love to drink this with lobster tails in creamy pasta or similar rich seafood. (Selected Private Stores)

William Fèvre 2009 Petit Chablis, France                           $24.99

The 2009 vintage in northern Europe was hailed as a huge success and delivered very ripe, healthy fruit in many regions. In Chablis the results seem variable with some wines not showing a classic terroir driven profile. Not so this Petit Chablis from top producer Fèvre which has it all and  is the finest vintage of this wine I can remember tasting. Lean, green & minerally from fruit sourced on the plateau overlooking the Grand Cru slope. Drink with the usual shellfish suspects.(BC Liquor Stores, Specialty Listing)

Kruger-Rumpf Schiefer Riesling 2009, Germany               $24.99

This is my undisputed top wine of this week’s selection. In honesty I am not usually a big fan of German Riesling, so was taken by complete surprise when I first tasted this as I immediately loved it! Schiefer is from top Nahe winery, Kruger-Rumpf and the name references the slate soils on which the grapes are grown. It does have a perceptible sweetness on the attack but is made in drier style with a concentration of fruit and overall finesse that is impossible to believe at this price. Serious and seriously good wine. Drink with everything! (BC Liquor Stores, Specialty Listing)

Chocolate boxes by Thomas Haas

Like many modern holidays, Valentines Day had sombre beginnings that have morphed into a celebration of the more happy things in life. Valentine’s Day was originally created to honour Christian martyrs that were named Saint Valentine. In total there were fourteen of these saints and one of them died on February 14th. The romantic connotations of the holiday first began in the 14th century via a poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer to celebrate the engagement of Richard II to Anne of Bohema. The poem wrote about ‘Volantynys day’ as if it were historical fact. Fast forward through a few centuries of this being propagated, and we have the romantic holiday as we know it today.

Macarons by Thierry

Valentine’s Day is traditionally one of the busiest times of year for restaurants but for those couples wishing to avoid having an intimate dinner with dozens of people in near proximity here are some of my favourite Foodist ways to celebrate romance:

Watch a romantic food movie, paired with food, tipples and snuggling:
• Waitress – Piiiiiie and a dessert wine (late harvest, Sauternes, ice)
• Bridget Jones Diary – Leek & potato soup (sans blue string)
• Tampopo – Ramen or sushi, and sake
• Chocolat – Chocolate and port
• Eat Drink Man Woman – Dumplings and Riesling

Sweetheart Trio for Two at The Urban Tea Merchant

Share an unconventional Valentines day meal:
•  The most common Valentines meal is dinner but there’s also breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, and afternoon tea. Urban Tea Merchant is great place for high end teas, and for the month of February they are featuring a number of speciality tea blends as well as a delectable Sweetheart Trio for Two. It’s one of the most interested tea experiences I’ve had, featuring a beautifully plated selection of fruits, house made cakes, and tea infused dark chocolate ganaches.
•   Have the first meal that you ate together as a couple or something that has strong food memories from the beginning of your relationship. One of the most food knowledgeable couples I know had many a date at McDonald’s during their university days and a decade later, they still view it as a nostalgic romantic treat. (On a similar theme, my husband and I once went out for hot dogs as an anniversary dinner.)
•   Role switch in the kitchen – the partner that doesn’t normally cook makes the meal for the other and same for the dishwashing role. Bonus points if that’s normally the same person! Wives, remember not to stress out about how messy the kitchen is getting!

Chocolate cake by Thierry

For those seeking Valentines day chocolates, Vancouver has been blessed with many excellent chocolate and pastry shops. There’s the perennial local favourite, Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates & Patisserie. Newer additions to the quality sweets scene that I’ve tried and liked are Thierry, Bel Cafe, and Beta5. Each shop features a selection of handmade treats using premium ingredients. Whether it’s chocolates, pastries, macarons, or caramels, you’re sure to find something sweet to share with your loved one – Valentine’s Day or any day.

Chocolates by Bel Cafe

February is National Apple Month, and to celebrate BC Tree Fruits paired up with V by Earls in Yaletown, and popular Vancouver foodie Mijune Pak a.k.a “Follow Me Foodie”, to bring a little attention back to the red and green orb. Holding a VIP event for local food media we heard information about the apple industry by local growers, pitches about the fruit by marketing folks, nutritional information (making apples a superfood), and noshed on a series of gourmet eats and drinks featuring apple varietals.

Earls Head Chef Martin Keyer created the following fruitful offerings:

• Duck comfit with brie and Gala apples on crostini
• Chicken, fig, brie, and Granny Smith apple sandwiches
• Mini apple pie lollipops featuring Macintosh apples
• Blue cheese, Granny Smith and candied bacon on crostini

There was also a series of cocktail demos where we sampled the “Apple Collins”, and learned how to make an “Apple Martini”. For all you shakers – here is the recipe:

Apple Martini

• Fill martini glass with ice to chill
• 1 oz ginger simple syrup
• 1oz fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 oz Smirnoff Vodka infused with apple
• 1 oz fresh pressed BC apple juice
• 1 oz water
• Shake with ice and pour into an empty martini glass. Garnish with a thin apple slice.

Giving apples a bit more brain space than I usually do I realized that this is one versatile and powerful fruit, and I wonder why I don’t use it more. In fact I have three apples that stare at me every day from the second rack of my refrigerator. Maybe it’s time for a little applesauce, pork with apples, apple crisp, or maybe I should even make an apple doll – you know those creepy crafts from the 70’s?

Which brings me to another BC Tree Fruit initiative.  The group is putting some momentum behind the apple with a nationwide competition called The Artful Apple – asking fruit fans to decorate their favorite apple and then upload the works of art to share.  Prizes include an exclusive Okanagan vacation for four. Maybe my apple doll isn’t such a bad idea…more information can be found at www.artfulapple.com

And if anyone can show off an apple it’s Mijune Pak.  Everyone who attended took away her “Apple Pie In-A-Jar” -  super cute, tasty, and all packaged in “Follow Me Foodie” style.  She’ll be sampling this sweet concoction on February 18^th at Salty Tongue from 12:00-2:00pm, so you can try some too.

February doesn’t have to be all about Valentines Day, it can be about our love for BC apples – and I know I’m already appreciating them a bit more.

This nostalgic era is ghosted everywhere in this city if you know where to look. A world all around us yet shadowed in the past so that one can never get it back, unless you are willing to suspend reality. Hey, isn’t that what weekends are for? Your vehicle of change for this evening is a funky old pink double-decker bus. Now doesn’t that just say “WTF” already? It jars you just enough to upset the balance of your universe and goads you in to stepping onboard. You don’t make the decision to get on one of these things everyday, so when you do, you must be prepared for a few surprises. Deeper and deeper we spiral into this diabolical plot. Just enough out of our comfort zone to be slightly uneasy, then once the edge is taken off any fear, another level of the evening’s depths presents itself and we must take another step deeper into the abyss of time…

Who here can resist such temptation? The beckoning button of change… Dare to cross the threshold. Go on, close your eyes and press it. Who knows what will happen? You see the thing with buttons is, sometimes you can only push them once. Muahahahaha!

I did manage to suppress not only my urge to press that button but also that cheesy annoying Vincent Price voice in my head.

The first secret location turned out to be the old police headquarters’s “Coroners Court” building, now the home of the Vancouver Police Museum. The space is a bit creepy but hard, gritty and oozing with just the right amount of immersive themeing to take us all back to the seedy underbelly of the old downtown. I was now thoroughly entrenched in the past. Near the back, in the “wet room” of the morgue exhibit (which actually really was a fully functioning morgue), we were offered a Pimms Cup cocktail to steady our nerves. It seemed as though things were going to get, shall we say interesting…

As we made our way through this amazing collection of crime scene vignettes, I found myself with a glass beaker in my hand — “The blood of bulls” ( Salad – Beets with blood orange granite, mint and pomegranate ). Gruesome for sure, but a great combination of flavours.

..and then a steamy Erlenmeyer flask filled with Tomato consomme, pickled cauliflower and Hijiki seaweed. I found this one a little too acidic and not as pleasant a flavour palette, but full marks for the creativity.

Whisked away once more on the bus-that-time-forgot we disembarked a few blocks away at the new Vancouver Urban Winery. This moody setting will be selling wine on tap in the near future. Tonight it was our speakeasy. We stepped into this Hopperesque painting…

…to discover rows of tables in a large hall. Bar at one end, and between one wall of wine kegs while the other wall ensconced a row of stainless steel vats where the wine will eventually be vinted and sealed into beer-like kegs. Kegging wine will allow establishments the ability to sell good quality wine by the glass without having to mark it up for potential incurred wastage. Within 3 months the winery portion of this venue should be in full swing but the room itself is already booked on the weekends for the entire year.

The evenings food was prepared by Dubrelle Culinary School grad, now Executive Chef at Bishops Restaurant, Andrea Carlson. Her much appreciated passion for local, organic ingredients grown and produced in a sustainable manner showed through on this parade of plates:

Poached Hen’s Egg on crostini with Forest Mushroom salad and red wine reduction. Paired with 8th Generation Pinot Noir 2010. Ya gotta love wild mushrooms and this egg trend is fun and delicious, but is it getting out of hand?

Pitt Meadows flat iron steak with potato pave, root vegetables and a mountain huckleberry & rosemary jus. Paired quite nicely with my favorite wine of the evening, Therapy Syrah 2008. A good and appropriate meat and potato interpretation. The texture of the pavé felt a little like forking through a heavy pastry, a nice surprise when dealing with a typical heavy potato.

Riesling baba, orange blossom semifreddo with pistachio and persimmon. Paired with Naramata Lang Vineyard’s Off Dry Riesling 2008. The Baba was quite sweet on it’s own but taken with the cool creamy semifreddo it was an endearing finish to the meal. An amazingly pungent floral explosion.

The dessert played out with a quartet of Lindy dancers scampering around the room in perhaps a weak attempt to get us all on our feet but more probably to reinforce the illusion yet again. After a few parting conversations and comparing notes with fellow tweeters, we all dissolved silently into the streets of the city.
I can’t “unpush that button” or ever relive that exact evening but… Swallowtail always seems to present that button to repush, swirling time, altering our perceptions and allowing us to play inside memories we never knew we even had.

Chef Josh Wolfe from Glowbal Group serves up amazing food to guests during Dine Out Vancouver. (photo courtesy Glowbal Group)

My wife and I stopped going to Dine Out Vancouver a few years ago after a couple of unfortunate experiences at restaurants who didn’t embrace the spirit of the festival—some even seeming to resent it. So when I was kindly invited by the folks at Glowbal Restaurant Group to sample of of their offerings this year, I figured it was time to give it another shot. And am I glad I did! Not only was the food shockingly good, and the serving sizes surprisingly generous, but all the staff at the four restaurants we visited (Black + Blue, Coast, Italian Kitchen, & Sanafir) were excited to host the public during the 17 day food festival. Global Group’s Assistant Corporate Chef Josh Wolfe (also owner of terrific food truck Fresh Local Wild) was particularly enthusiastic about Dine Out and generously offered to tell our readers the interesting story behind the event—now in its 10th year—and how the event is really about us, the diners. – ed.

Ten years ago a little festival called Dine Out Vancouver, that has come celebrate Vancouver’s unique food and wine culture, was created. But it was an idea ten years prior that got the ball rolling. In the summer of 1992, Kasey Wilson, an award-winning food writer, was in New York City following the Democratic National Convention where 15,000 journalists had covered the event. Restaurateur Joe Baum (most well known for his World Trade Center restaurant, Windows on the World) and Tim Zagat (founder of Zagat) saw an opportunity to showcase New York’s top restaurants at lunch to this captive and hungry audience for $19.92 (same as year). Restaurant week was born. Since then Restaurant Week has become a mainstay in most major American cities.

By the time winter rolled around in 2001 tourism and hospitality businesses around the world had begun suffer from the events of 9/11. In an effort to bring life to a traditionally already quiet time for restaurants, Wilson met with Tourism Vancouver (she had met with them twice previously, first in 1994 and then again in 2001, but there was no budget to put a festival together in 1994) to suggest a similar festival be held similar to the one she saw in New York. Dine Out Vancouver was born. Since then it has become the largest restaurant dining festival in Canada.

As a Chef I always found it interesting that an event created initially to some extent for restaurants has come to celebrate you, the diner. Dine Out has evolved into a sophisticated gathering of diners coming together to enjoy innovative, contemporary food expertly paired with locally produced British Columbia VQA wines. All this at accessible pricing makes it a win-win.

If you have ever enjoyed a meal at a participating restaurant you know how busy they can be and as you can imagine chefs are busy too (Ironically, I submitted this piece late because I have been so busy getting ready for Dine Out!). Over the years the latter half of January has tested the determination and true grit of cooks across North America and Vancouver has been a driving force. Those who have done their time in a restaurant during Dine Out understand what 900-1200 plates every night (300-400 guests each eating 3 courses) means. Imagine the dishes to wash! You’d think it would be easy, after all the extra hours, to resent this event. To pass it off as a pain the ass that you can’t wait to end. Well, there’s more to it than that.

For those of us who have come to love working in restaurants, meeting and greeting complete strangers, creating experiences and plain old showing people a good time Dine Out Vancouver delivers. So many great people are involved in bringing it all together. Anthony Gismondi, wine critic of The Vancouver Sun suggested a wine component be added to Dine Out Vancouver and it was the first city to incorporate that. Writers and bloggers alike now bring you live, minute-by-minute, commentary during the dinner hours across the city. And maybe most importantly chefs sit down, drink BC wines, talk shop and write menus for you to enjoy. When you put them all together we’re ready for great time!

When you eat in one of our restaurants please know that for us it’s more than just feeding you. We love meeting you, shaking your hands and knowing that you had a great time. If you dine with me this year, and I don’t come to meet you, please pop your head in and say hello. After all, it’s about you!

Chef Josh Wolfe
jw@jwolfecuisine.com

For more information on Dine Out Vancouver, be sure to check out http://www.tourismvancouver.com/dov

Nicli Antica Pizzeria's Bill McCaig has big plans for his neighbourhood. (photo by Tyler Wilman)

I am getting sick to death of hearing people say how awesome Nicli Antica Pizzeria is. I get it already—their Neapolitan pizza is very good, and it’s so authentic it earned Vancouver’s first Vera Pizza Napolentana certification. They were listed on Westender’s Top 10 new restaurants list, then readers voted them as #1 on Scout Magazine’s list of Best New Restaurants, and now international restaurant guide Zagat.com has named them the best newcomer in their 2012 Vancouver Restaurants Survey—even The Globe And Mail’s Alexandra Gill has offered her endorsement of Nicli’s pizza. But seriously people, they don’t even cut your pizza for you! I mean really…

OK, I have a confession to make. I love Nicli, as do other Foodists. And the restaurants owners, Bill and Alison McCaig, have become friends whom I adore. To say that the McCaigs are passionate about high quality Italian food would be an understatement of the highest order. They’re nuts for it. And their rapid rise to the top of the food scene in Vancouver isn’t slowing them down either.

Nicli occupies half of a building, and the McCaigs are now working hard on their next project next door: a casual 16 seat eatery featuring authentic homemade pasta as well as a classic Italian deli.

The new restaurant will be named Vicino Pastaria & Deli, the name itself an expression of their commitment to their community as “vicino” means “neighbour” in Italian. Not only is this new spot literally the neighbour to its big brother Nicli, giving customers more options when yearning for an Italian fix, but the deli will serve as a market for their neighbours in Gastown, offering only the best in authentic Italian fare.

“Fresh filled and extruded dried pasta will be made on site using the best ingredients.” promises McCaig, “with cured meats, imported, local and some made in house available to enjoy on premises or for your table at home.” The plan is to not only curate a terrific retail selection of ingredients, but apply the same approach to quality and authenticity used next door at Nicli to create a suite of signature sauces and which customers can take home and finish themselves, or sit down at the long share table and enjoy with other likeminded food fanatics from the neighbourhood.

McCaig said he hoped Vicino Pastaria & Deli’s would be open as early as spring 2012 (three months from time of writing), but needed to overcome the standard City Hall hurdles such permits and licenses. But even with this exciting announcement, McCaig had more to share.

Although Nicli Antica Pizzeria enjoys steady traffic—let’s face it, some nights it’s difficult to get a table—they’re starting to offer a special “Industry Feature” to their neighbours working in the numerous restaurants in Gastown. From 10pm – midnight daily, anyone that works in the restaurant business can purchase an entire Pizza Margherita and a Draft Howe Sound Lager for $12.

“Having worked in a few kitchens,” explained McCaig, “I know what it’s like to finish a long shift, wishing for a decent option for a quick meal and a beer, and be faced with the fact that the only thing left open is mass produced, fast food.” And he’s right: Vancouver’s hospitality staff who bust their asses to make and serve our meals deserve a place to get a great beer and an amazing pizza after work—and that place is Nicli. Now that’s neighbourly of him! But don’t expect it to be sliced for you—Bill assures me that’s not going to happen. ;-)

As we often do with restaurateurs we respect and admire, we asked Bill McCaig to sit down for a chat and answer our barrage of questions (with nods to CreativeMornings and Scout Magazine for inspiration) so we could better get to know the man behind the restaurant:

• How do you define creativity and apply it in your career? Creativity is taking the resources I have at hand and make something from them.
• Where do you find your best creative inspiration? I find my best creative inspiration within my own family and I look to society to see if Vancouver needs what I need.
• What’s the one creative piece of advice or tip you wish you’d known as a young person? Just do it. And I know I must have seen that pretty much everywhere.
• Who would you like most to hear speak at a conference? Mario Batali
• What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? Opening a restaurant on East Cordova.
• What did you learn from your most memorable creative failure? Don’t quit before completing the project.
• What’s your one guilty creative indulgence? Ableton Live
• What are you reading these days? Salted – it’s a book about the mineral how to use it and the history of its use.
• What fact about you would surprise people? I used to live on a buffalo farm.
• How does your life and career compare to what you envisioned for your future when you were a sixth grader? I wanted to be commercial pilot when I was younger. I would imagine my stress level is lower.
• How would you describe what you do in a single sentence to a stranger? I opened Vancouver’s first authentic Napolitan pizzeria.
• What’s the most recent thing you learned (big or small)? If you build it, they will come and I’m not talking about Nicli. I just went to a restaurant on Kingsway which opened with zero marketing or advertising and is already at capacity.
• If you had a magic wand, where would you be in five years? Right here in Vancouver, I love it I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Oh wait: magic wand? I’ll take clear and sunny days please, it can rain while I sleep.
• What keeps you awake at night? Tiramisu.
• Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you? My maternal Grandfather, he built bridges in Southern Ontario, and followed the axiom do it right, do it once.
• If you could interview anyone living or dead, but not a celebrity, who would it be and why? Arturo Nicli, he died before I got to know him as an adult.
• If you could do anything now, what would you do? Fly a glider.
• Where was the last place you travelled? Italy: Alison and I got married there and travelled around experiencing the food, sights and sounds.
• What was the best surprise you’ve experienced so far in life? The success of Nicli Antica Pizzeria has been wonderful.
• Where is your favourite place to escape? The Sunshine Coast, far enough away to disconnect, close enough to be there by lunch.
• What was the best advice you were ever given? Quality sells itself / build a better mousetrap.
• What practices, rituals or habits contribute to your creative work? Meditation and dining out.
• When you get stuck creatively, what is the first thing you do to get unstuck? Lose myself in another activity: walking, dishes, breathing.
• If you had fifteen extra minutes each day, what would you do with them? Stop and enjoy life.
• What has been one of your biggest Ah ha! moments in life? Everything is unfolding exactly when and how it should.
• What are three things about Gastown that make you want to live there? L’Abbatoir, the local colour, my apartment.
• What are three things that Gastown doesn’t have but should? 1) Top notch pasta, 2) a farmers market – dairy, meat & fish, produce and dry goods, 3) a boutique wine store
• Name the thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating? Fat: It’s a flavour delivery vehicle.
• Default drink/cocktail of choice? Bourbon Sour
• Where is your favourite local patio? Chill Winston.
• The dumbest thing that you’ve ever done to your hair? Sun In.
• What are the three things you’d like to change about Vancouver? 1) The flashing green traffic light: as it is, it does nothing; use it as an advance green to get the people turning left around the corner. Extend the green but cut the walk signal back, so the people turning right can get around the corner.  2) Eliminate all 4 way stops and make them roundabouts. 3) Jaywalkers: realize you are taking your life in your hands and conduct yourself accordingly.
• Is there a local bartender who could sell you anything? Shawn Layton of l’Abbatoir
• Your go to, no-frills place for dinner? La Taqueria.
• If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you? Buenos Aires.
• The strangest place you’ve ever been to? Egypt.
• Your ancestry? Scottish-Italian
• Your three favourite films? There Will Be Blood, Kalifornia, Grindhouse
• Television show that you could tolerate re-runs of? The Jetsons, at least I used to.
• Under what circumstances would you join the army? To make sure they were well fed.
• How do you know when you can trust someone? You can see it in their eyes.
• What musical instrument do you secretly long to play? Bass guitar
• Have you ever fired a gun? Yes, long guns only. Scariest situation: outrunning a mama buffalo.
• The one place that you have the least interest in ever visiting? Antarctica.

Nicli Antica Pizzeria is open daily from 11:30am to Midnight and is located at 62 E Cordova St in Gastown, Vancouver (GoogleMap), BC. 604-669-6985 (no reservations) niclipizzeria.ca Twitter @NicliPizzeria

Who do you think we should interview next? Email your suggestions to info@foodists.ca.

George Siu (L) and Park Heffelfinger (R) of Memphis Blues BBQ getting intimate with their menu.

Recently we were invited to partake in a good ‘ol fashioned Southern pig pickin’ to mark the 10th anniversary of venerable low ‘n slow barbeque joint Memphis Blues BBQ House. Started by George Siu and Park Heffelfinger at 1465 West Broadway in Vancouver, I still remember sauntering in to the original location in their earliest days. In fact, I have a vivid food memory of a lunch special consisting of lamb ribs, something you don’t see everyday on anyone’s menu. Best thing ever, and still sometimes available I believe (or hope)!

Over the years Memphis Blues has become synonymous with a side of ribs, pulled pork sandwiches and their legendary Elvis Platter. For me personally, I have to admire those who attempt to bring authentic barbecue to the masses because, well, typically there is a preconceived notion by the general restaurant-going public of what good barbecue is and is not. Reconciling people’s desire for fall-off-the-bone ribs vs. ribs done properly must be tough and what I’ve found in general is that after an initial attempt to be competition-level authentic, there’s a compromise for the sake of the business. I don’t think Memphis Blues is any exception to this, but so what?

More recent entries into this category include Richmond’s Hogshack Cookhouse, Pekinpah in Gastown and the ReUp BBQ food truck. All are doing their own thing in an attempt to bring varying levels of authenticity to the craft. I’m not going to play critic here since all have worthy offerings, and as I’ve come to learn over the years, there are as many opinions about good barbecue as there are people. You be the judge. And if you want to literally be a judge, go here.

Below is our interview with George and Park. Up front are some BBQ specific questions, followed by some deeper stuff. There’s always surprising and unexpected gems each time we ask these. So, without further delay, let’s get to know these guys…

How would you categorize the type/style of bbq you offer at Memphis Blues?
George and Park: Memphis style (tomato and molasses based, sweet sauce; mostly pork – ribs, sausage, pulled pork; and sauce is served on the side so you can taste the meat).

How do you reconcile the difference between competition-level bbq vs. customer expectations? (I.e. toothsome ribs vs. general public’s preference for fall-of-the-bone)?
George and Park: Competition level is more authentic, we’ve spent the last 10 years educating people on Memphis style. Some people don’t like it, and that’s fine. But the gulf is smaller due to the Food Network.

How do you keep it interesting after ten years?
George and Park: We’re expanding – Franchise development adds a whole new discipline and learning curve – keeps you on your toes! We also wrote a cookbook, called “Bringin’ Southern BBQ Home”; our sauces and rubs are being bottled; promoting our staff; and most of our trips are “research” on eating and drinking new things.

What are your favourite wine/wine varietals to pair with pulled pork, ribs and brisket?
George and Park: For pork – Mosel Riesling, Mosel Riesling, Mosel Riesling! Hands down. Oh – and maybe Pinot Noir. A Cabernet Sauvignon is great with brisket.

What’s next?
George and Park: Moving our North Van store to Robson Street; opening in Abbotsford next year; expanding into Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba… tomorrow, the world!

How do you define creativity and apply it in your career?
George: Brainstorming with staff, talking to customers and using those ideas to get better.
Park: Coming up with something interesting and beautiful from something mundane or ugly.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration?
George: When eating and drinking on trips out of Vancouver.
Park: Books.

What’s the one creative advice or tip you wish you’d known as a young person?
George: Network with people who can inspire you and give you good advice.
Park: Dream big.

Who would you like most to hear speak at a conference?
George: Bill Clinton.
Park: Tony Bourdain.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
George: When I moved from TO back to Vancouver in 1989, I drove through the Southern States with a friend. Small town Texas isn’t very welcoming to a Chinese guy and a white guy with long hair.
Park: Came home overland from India though Europe with $40 US.

What did you learn from your most memorable creative failure?
George: You can’t have success without a few failures first. Learn from them, but don’t repeat them.
Park: Stay away from North Vancouver.

What’s your one guilty creative indulgence?
George: Food porn.
Park: Charcuterie making.

What are you reading these days?
George: Keith Richards’ biography, Conan the Barbarian, 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.
Park: The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles.

What fact about you would surprise people?
George: I’m 50, and have been married for 20 years.
Park: I’m actually very nice.

How does your life and career compare to what you envisioned for your future when you were a sixth grader?
George: I always saw myself as an entrepreneur (I sold firecrackers to the other kids in elementary school).
Park: I’m not a doctor.

How would you describe what you do in a single sentence to a stranger?
George: I take tough meats, and turn them into tender, delicious food.
Park: I sling meat.

What’s the most recent thing you learned (big or small)?
George: You’re only as good as your staff–treat them well.
Park: I agree.

If you had a magic wand, where would you be in five years?
George: Wintering in a sunny, warm climate.
Park: Body surfing with my family in a Tropical location.

What keeps you awake at night?
George: Bad landlords, City of Vancouver bureaucracy.
Park: My one-and-a-half-year old.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
George: Chef Alan Dunelle–he taught me a love of food, and to nurture my intuitive cooking.
Park: My Mum. She taught me to be interested in what people have to say.

If you could interview anyone living or dead, but not a celebrity, who would it be and why?
George: Shakespeare–did he or didn’t he write those plays?
Park: Ghandi.

If you could do anything now, what would you do?
George: Practice law.
Park: Live in the Tropics.

Where was the last place you travelled?
George: Paris (eating and drinking – heaven!).
Park: Vietnam.

What was the best surprise you’ve experienced so far in life?
George: When we told people we were opening on Commercial Drive they said we were crazy, it was all vegetarian food. The weekend we opened there were line-ups down the block, and people said thanks for bringing meat to the Drive.
Park: What a joy it is raising a family.

Where is your favourite place to escape?
George: Moorea (I have family in Tahiti)
Park: Hawaii

What was the best advice you were ever given?
George: Buy your location instead of just renting (haven’t managed to do it yet, unfortunately); and leverage your money.
Park: Listen.

What practices, rituals or habits contribute to your creative work?
George: Making my morning espresso helps clear my head, and help me get the day organized.
Park: Reading.

When you get stuck creatively, what is the first thing you do to get unstuck?
George: Meditate, go for a workout.
Park: Read.

If you had fifteen extra minutes each day, what would you do with them?
George: Sleep.
Park: Meditate.

What has been one of your biggest Ah ha! moments in life?
George: Becoming a father, it’s very humbling.
Park: Our first night at home from Vietnam with our six month-old adopted daughter.

Vancouver's newest cantina meets yoga studio, Che Baba.

“Hey! Long time! How are you?” shouted Stephan Gagnon as his face lit up when I walked into Che Baba.

I looked around, and was met with a dimly lit room filled with locals cheerfully chatting over delicious looking continental fare such as beat salad with confit shallots, pistachio encrusted liver paté, mushroom risotto with truffle oil, gnocchi with sage & brown butter, braised lamb with celeriac purée, fish en papillote with quinoa, squid stew on crispy polenta, and other terrific looking plates. No wonder these people were cheerful—the menu looked and smelled amazing.

“What is this place Stephan?” I wondered as I took in the funky curves and patterns that seemed reminiscent of the psychedelic sixties. “And how have I not heard of it before?” I challenged my friend, who was grinning widely as he gave me a tour.

What Gagnon showed me was a new concept in Vancouver’s restaurant scene: one part local cantina and one part yoga studio. The eclectic, psychedelic aesthetic started to make sense, reminding me of hippy living rooms of the early seventies. Gagnon, who practices yoga himself, had created a spot for he and his friends to practice, relax, laugh and eat good food together.

The designer and builder behind Les Faux Bourgeois and other popular Vancouver restaurants has created an ambiance somewhere between zen and psychedelic.

“In Spanish-speaking countries like Argentina, “che” is a slang nickname similar to “dude” or “bro” and “baba” is an Indian word for “father”, “wise man” or “guru” Stephan explained with his thick French Canadian accent and a glint in his eye. So essentially the restaurant is called “Dude Guru”! Hilarious.

“When we opened Les Faux we wanted to create a friendly, unpretentious bistro for the neighbourhood. But when it started getting so busy it became hard to get in, and sadly the locals from the neighbourhood came less and less often.” Enter Che Baba.

“I haven’t done any marketing or promotion at all.” Gagnon explained “I’m so busy doing my own thing, I don’t even know what’s going on in the industry these days, and I wanted to create a warm, friendly space for the neighbourhood.” He went on to explain how he managed to convince local chef Marta Pan (owner of Pan-o-Pan Foods) and Geoff Van Hussel to join him on this unique neighbourhood project.

The large illuminated sign on the side of the building still advertises the print shop which used to be house in the building, and Gagnon plans to use that space as a community-access art project to showcase various artists in the neighbourhood.

As with other past projects of Gagnon’s, which aside from Les Faux Bourgeois include Vancouver gems such as Jules, Gastropod, and Bistrot Bistro, he teamed up with his partner Scott Cohen. Nearly all the design concepts and construction was done by Gagnon himself in the workshop at the back of the building.

This isn’t really a restaurant review website, so I’ll spare you the long descriptions and my opinions of my first visit and just post a few photos below of our plates to give you an idea what to expect. But I predict good things for this spot and will be heading back soon—who knows, maybe even for a yoga class!

This gem of a restaurant only seats around 35 and they don’t take reservations so locals can access the space on a first come, first seated basis. So much for Gagnon’s idea of creating a restaurant for those frustrated by how busy Les Faux is. But I’m confident you’ll find it worth a little patience if you have to wait for a seat.

Che Baba is open seven days a week for brunch, lunch and dinner (just brunch and lunch on Sundays) and is located at 603 Kingsway (just down the street from Les Faux Bourgeois), Vancouver, BC; 604-558-1519 www.chebaba.ca @ChebabaCantina (no reservations)