A Weekend of Decadence

I didn't mean to write again so soon, but damn! I've been eating out all weekend (and it was a long weekend, too). And everything was so good, I feel like I need to share it with you. Plus now I'm sick, and the cats have finished their morning battle and are curled up in strategic warm spots all over the house and we are being quiet and sleepy all together, so it seems like a good time to sit and write. I have taken over the living room because my roommates are away and my bedroom is full of boxes. I got so excited about my upcoming move that I'm practically all packed, but my new landlady called this morning and hinted that they miiiiight need a little more time because they're painting and reno-ing down there and... So I'm going to keep calm (I REALLY don't want to delay my move, because I'll be flying to Saskatoon mid-March, which means there's a good chance I'll have, like, a WEEK to settle in before I have to leave noWHYblerggnashteeth) and I'm going to tell you all about the amazing food I ate this weekend instead of getting sad. 

First up: Bows x Arrows on Fraser is incredible, and you should really drop everything and go there RIGHT NOW. J and I rolled out of bed on Saturday and heard the siren call of Breakfast Cooked By Somebody Else, and I took a chance on BxA because I'd seen a brunch menu in their window one night as I walked by. Don't be put off by their coffee shop aesthetic: they DO serve real food, and they ARE licensed. (Although, should you only want a coffee, their cappuccinos are very fine.) For breakfast, J had the Welsh Rarebit: basically cheese-on-toast. BxA serves theirs with roasted mushrooms and a fried egg on top, and it was rich and delicious. I chose the smoked salmon scramble: delicate pink house-smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, thin slices of that very seed-y, heavy rye bread, and a side salad that was bursting with lemony dressing. I'm not usually a fan of salads with breakfast, but this one was so good I scarfed the lot. (It helps that they use some kind of green- watercress? that's much more interesting than lettuce.) While we waited for breakfast to arrive, we also shared a small almond-flour cake with a generous dollop of chocolate icing, and it was chewy and dense. The rest of their pastries looked just as good- definitely a cut above the usual coffee-shop fare.  
In fact, everything was so good that the very next day I took my mother there for our semi-weekly brunch date. We missed the brunch cut-off by minutes, but decided to stick around and order Happy Hour snacks. (Here's how it works: BxA serves brunch from 8:30-11:30 weekdays; 8:30-3pm on weekends. After that, there are snack-y things, and then they do dinner Wednesday-Saturday as well.) 
While we waited, we drank Caesars. 

Someone else's Caesars in the background, while my mom wrestles with an olive, and the herring tartine sits patiently. 

I'm not a giant fan of tomato/clamato juice, so I'm not a connoisseur, but these were very good, made with house-spiced jalapeño tequila and house-made anchovy tomato juice;  garnished with pickled onions and fresh-grated horseradish. In fact, that's the secret to BxA's success: they seem to make as much of their food as possible in-house, so you're going to taste the difference. Then came the snacks: smokey, creamy potato-ham soup, smoked herring tartine, homemade pickled veggies, and a lovely little heirloom potato salad. Everything was bursting with flavour. 

Look at those cute purple potatoes!

Potato soup with ham.

Oh look, there's a record with a naked Prince on the cover, nestled by the beer taps! 

We left feeling very satisfied, but not in that overstuffed, uncomfortable way, and to top it all off? The total for everything: four snack orders, 2 Caesars, and a glass of beer for me, was just over 40 dollars.
Bows x Arrows is at 4194 Fraser St @ 26th

Back to Saturday, where after brunch, the decadence was just beginning. Big Rock Brewery was having an open house, so J & I headed straight there (hey, at least we walked). In an impossibly generous bit of marketing, Big Rock had decided to open their doors from 12-5; giving away 2 beer tickets to each customer, as well as a free growler (with a gift certificate for a free fill), free canapés, and a brewery tour! Although we were still stuffed from brunch, we enjoyed our porter (a full pint for free!), and I also had a (free) pint of their Rock Creek cider, since I'm not much of a beer drinker. The tour was informative and fun, with a free sample of their Midnight Rhapsody porter and a chance to meet the brewmaster at the end of it. 

My sweetheart, being all cute and handsome. 

And as we left, the hostess urged us to take not one, but two growlers each! They were too busy to fill them up then (hence the gift cards), but I'll definitely be back to make use of them soon. It's about time as a Vancouverite that I learn to obsess about beers. 
Big Rock Brewery & Taphouse is at 310 W 4th Ave.

Finally... yesterday. I was hired to do a few hours of session work on someone's album, which is pretty much my favourite way to spend a day. Since the studio is in east Van and it was a gorgeous morning, I decided to walk there, but changed my mind as I saw the #22 bus approaching. My reasoning? If I jumped on the bus, I could probably fit in breakfast at Yolk's before my session began. Unfortunately I'd totally forgotten that it was Family Day, and even though it wasn't yet 9am, the lineup was already out the door. Oh well. I walked north and east, remembering that Scandilicious Waffle House was nearby and on the way. Ha- no lineups there! Just a cosy table in the corner, counter service, and the best waffle I have EVER had. No joke. I ordered the Valhalla, which came with maple-bacon jam, crunchy bacon pieces, and a generous slice of back bacon. Amazing. 

The Valhalla steals my heart by being so... bacon-y. 

I also had a cappuccino. Before I left, I had to try one of their double-chocolate cookies, which tasted as incredible as it looked: almost black; chewy and sweet and melt-in-your-mouth. The rest of the baked goods looked just as good, so it was with some disappointment that I realized I didn't have to do another recording session later in the week, as we got through all the songs that needed a backup singer. Good thing I'm moving closer to Scandilicious... whenever I do move. Sigh.
Scandilicious is at 25 Victoria Drive

Lest you think that my life is one big date with my plate, l must tell you that 
a) it's not 
    and 
b) I've just started up a bit of a support group for me and some friends who want to start eating better and getting healthy. My patterns are fairly predictable (and common): Get healthy in the summer: cavort and run and bike and play outside and eat all the good stuff, and then pack on the pounds each winter as I eat starches to stave off the wet, grey, cold weather and indulge my sweet tooth far too often. It's a pattern I'd love to break- I'm realistic enough to know that I'll never be perfect, but I'm hoping this'll be a step in the right direction. 
(Totally going back to Scandilicious for that lemon krinkle cookie though. Just sayin'.)

A Tale of Many Breakfasts: Part One

I've been eating out non-stop.

Blame my schedule, which is not conducive to home cookin' right now, or blame a sudden upsurge on the financial front, but I've definitely been chowing down at a LOT of restaurants lately. Unfortunately, a lot of it's the stuff-this-late-night-donair-down-my-gullet-at-11pm kind, rather than quality eats. I even had a convenience store tuna sandwich the other day, and that is about as low as you can go. 

However...
The good thing about my schedule is that my work doesn't start 'til afternoon. Which leaves a lot of time for breakfast. Oh, the breakfasts I've had lately! 
I admit, these are all on the fancy-breakfast end of the spectrum. No cheapo greasy spoons here. But with Reno's closing (although a note on the door says they'll reopen in 2016), my go-to greasy spoon is out of commission. On, then, to the following places, which range from coffee bars to actual restaurants. Here is Part One, which deals with places that are not so much breakfast joints but manage to do a mean brekkie anyway...

33 Acres Brewing Company

So.Much.White.  It's a Hipster thing.  Photo courtesy of a site called Wit & Delight

I'm not sure I'm totally qualified to review 33 acres, given that
a) I dislike beer and 
b) I've never tried their weekend brunch waffles, although I hear good things. 

In my defence, 33 Acres- located at 15 West 8th- has pretty minimal seating, and I dread the idea of waiting in line for breakfast, as I've mentioned before. However, if you go of a weekday morning the place will be mostly peaceful and while the waffles are unavailable it doesn't really matter because there is still a limited but delicious selection of breakfast-y items. 
Yes eggs (poached being the only option), yes toast (chewy, hearty bread from Nelson The Seagull)... but if you're me, you've met your true love in the Muy Caliente. Get it on a buttery, flakey biscuit: sliced avocado and poached egg with a drizzle of honey, a sprinkling of sea salt, and the most delicious sweet/spicy red pepper jelly on the side. It's my new favourite brekkie, no lie. One day, I WILL be back later in the day to check out their food truck pairing (different ones park out there every day of the week), as well as 33 Acres' own charcuterie plates and their house cider (sadly only available in-house at this point). The coffee is also wonderful. I'm on the fence about their aesthetic because it's so very, very Hipster- all white tiles and sparseness with copies of Kinfolk Magazine for sale. If you follow Socality Barbie on Instagram, you'll know what I mean when I say that she would be very much at home photographing her cappuccino here.  However, I have to admit it's a lovely space to sit in on a sunny morning, so I guess I'm more Hipster than I'd like to admit. 

Matchstick Coffee

Photo courtesy of Matchstick's website

Speaking of Hipster aesthetics, my local coffee bar would be the prototype. White tiles? Check. Warm wood to contrast the sterile whites? Check. Actual record player providing the house sound? Yup. Coffee being made in pretentious glass beakers? Oh yeah. Yet I can no longer mock them, because dammit, they are way too good! Not only their cappuccinos, which I love, but their baked goods and breakfasts as well. Buttery muffins (they tend to stick to 2 or 3 flavours), interesting savoury scones and- I'm serious here- THE best croissants I've ever had. I have strong opinions on croissants and these are incredible, the best mix of a buttery interior and a flakey exterior. Before 11 you can also have baked beans and poached eggs with their delicious toast, which is also of the heart-chewy variety. Matchstick has 2 locations: my local, which is where Fraser and Kingsway meet, and Chinatown, at 213 east Georgia. 

Marche St. George
Okay, by this point in the blog I'm having a battle within myself between the part of me that hates, just hates this trendy need to have everything be sparse and white or grey, as if colour and clutter were somehow gauche, and the part of me that really likes some of these places, despite their desperate trendiness. Check out Le Marche St. George's online store if you don't believe this is a thing. I looked at their textile page and immediately felt as if I was Dorothy in Kansas, seeing the world only in shades of grey. I like colour. I like it a lot, especially in my home. I would hate it if my room didn't have its red Persian rug, or my blue-and-red quilt.
On the other hand...
I love biking to the actual market (located on the corner of 28th and St. George Street in east Van) and eating a cheesy crepe while sipping coffee and listening to their excellent musical choices. You won't find eggs-and-bacon here, but the crepes are fabulous. They also sell very pricey and delicious indulgences like: drinking vinegar! Which is a thing (another trendy, trendy thing) I love, and I happily coughed up a twenty for a bottle of Pok Pok apple drinking vinegar, which is amazing when mixed with: sparkling water, a squirt of lime and a spoonful of pomegranate seeds. Or with vodka and cranberry. 
You can get a sweet or savoury crepe at Marche St. George (or a flatbread, or a croissant, or a pot pie) and if you're lucky (seating is very limited) you can sit inside, or head outside and grab a table out there if the weather's warm. Local parents obviously love this cafe, which is awesome, but it means that at certain times of day the cafe is filled with strollers and hip-but-still-exhausted moms. . In contrast to its uber-white-coloured online presence, the actual market gets major points for being warm, cluttered, wooden and welcoming. 

Stay tuned for the next installment of A Tale of Many Breakfasts, where I'll review Jethro's Fine Grub and The Sunshine Diner! Both refreshingly free of the colour white! 

The PNE: All My Food Is Brown

You know the PNE, right? That shameless, sweaty, noisy, crowded fair. Greasy food. Minidonuts!Minidonuts!Minidonuts! A whole building dedicated to the kinds of things you usually see being shilled on late-night informercials. Balding has-been nostalgia acts competing with adorable performing dogs for your time and attention. Rides that make you dizzy and terrified.

As you may have guessed, I'm a little bit cynical about the PNE.

Pure terror. 

But I went, after a 7-year hiatus, because my guy was working there this week, and because one of my best friends works at the Agrodome and she gave me 2 free passes for helping to judge some 4H displays. So picture this: my boyfriend arrives home, exhausted and unwashed from a week of chaperoning 4H kids, and I drag his ass... right back to the PNE. What a champ. Hey, he had some food vouchers to use up. First stop: Cheyenne Coffee. My guy had been such a regular all week that he got his Americano on the house! And my cappuccino was pretty tasty too.

On to Waffles With Benefits, which Jay had been raving about all week long, for a late breakfast. Now here's the thing: every time- and I mean EVERY time- I have a sweet breakfast as opposed to a savoury one, I regret it. It's like that person you have a fling with... and it's not that fun... but you try again because you think you should be enjoying it more... But they're still not doin' it for ya. Sweet stuff has its place, but for me, the first meal of the day needs to be savoury. So clearly, chicken-and-waffles was the way to go. 

My first chicken-and-waffles ever! It seemed a fitting meal to have at the fair, where everything is deep-fried. 

Photo courtesy of Jay.

I have to say, it was an experience. The chicken was delicious: breaded and deep-fried (of course), lightly drizzled with syrup and sandwiched between two crisp waffles with a side of gravy. I poured the gravy on liberally and set to.

I'd say it was a pretty good experience overall, and certainly not bad at all for a fair ; the gravy was a bit tasteless but the slight drizzle of syrup was a nice contrasting touch. As for the waffles- well, I guess I'm still uneasy about them: they are an excellent vehicle for conveying as much syrup and gravy (or fruit puree or Nutella or whatever) to your mouth as possible, but when it comes to eating fried chicken, a nice crusty bun would have served better, in my opinion. But that's just me, and WWB is not to blame. 

Fast-forward through various fair-related activities involving farm animals (get your mind out of the gutter) and it's time for ice cream. Casa Gelato had a truck there, but we decided to give Rocky Point Ice Cream a try. So glad we did, especially considering they're way out in Port Moody, whereas I can have Casa Gelato's stuff any old time. RP had the old standbys like chocolate, and the de rigueur hipster flavours of Salted Caramel and Maple Bacon. Now, I love the sweet/salty thing, and I'm super glad it's trendy these days, but life- and ice cream- should be about variety. I was tempted by the Honey-Lavender ice cream and the Lemon-Basil sorbetto, but eventually I ordered a double scoop: Raspberry-Lime-Mojito sorbetto & Blackberry-Sage ice cream. 

Did I quail when I saw the enormous size of my cone? Only a little. Jay decided to be daring and try their featured beer ice cream of the day: Yellow Dog's smoked porter. I urged him to try a sample first, but he scoffed. "I don't believe in samples", he said airily, and reached eagerly for his large helping of beer ice cream. 

The sweet/tart sorbetto was lovely. I am a sucker for all things lime, so this was a no-brainer. Pour some white rum on this baby, and it would have been an instant cocktail. But the blackberry-sage was a revelation: the sweet fruit and woody sage balanced by smooth creaminess. Both my scoops had large, delicious chunks of herb leaf in them (mint in the mojito one of course, and fuzzy sage in the blackberry sage one). This might sound weird, but it was fantastic. 

And how did Jay fare with the porter ice cream? Damn, that was some ice cream. Very beery, with a hint of effervescence, it would have paired excellently with chocolate cake. Although I thought it would be a bad idea, and since I don't like beer I wouldn't have gone for it, I was proved wrong. Deliciously wrong. I notice that Rocky Point has more interesting flavours on their website, so if you're in Port Moody go and check them out for me! 

As the evening approached, we retired to the beer tent for a while, then got closer to the Chevrolet Stage to get down to Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts. Here again, my cynicism was proved groundless. Over at the packed Amphitheatre the Beach Boys might have been lumbering through their Brian Wilson-less show*, but on our smaller stage Barney and his band were killin' it, and looking genuinely happy to be there. 

Finally, it was time to wrap things up. I was craving a bit more food before we left, though, so I had some tasty fried rice balls from Roaming Dragon that left me wanting more, and mac-and-cheese from Reel Mac and Cheese that wasn't bad but needed more cheese and less, um, non-cheese (flour, maybe?) in their sauce.**

Then, of course, it was time to celebrate the day's end with a fairground classic: the deep-fried Mars Bar. Of which I can only say that not all things should be encased in doughy batter. The warm, gooey chocolate bar? Thumbs up. The stodgy batter? (Greasy) thumbs way down. 

And so ended my very nice day at the PNE, wherein I discovered that if you avoid the places that are trying to sell you something, and stick to the agriculture buildings, the concerts, and the food-greasy or otherwise- it is possible to have a good time after all. 

*I should say that while the Beach Boys don't appeal to me without Brian Wilson's mad genius, I hope they put on a good show and I'm sure many good folks enjoyed it a lot. But Barney was a better choice. 

** We were at the PNE for basically the whole day, so I wasn't quite as greedy as this post makes me seem. Okay, maybe I was.