They're Baaaaack...

Bandidas Taqueria has become so popular lately that this little fox has stayed away, not wanting to squeeze in to the almost non-existent waiting area or lurk outside on the street to try and get a table. Recently they closed their doors to expand and renovate, and vegetarian hipsters around the drive went hungry.

Fear not, hipsters! After being shut for a while, this 7-year denizen of the Drive is back, with double the space (they took over the Himalayan restaurant next door), and soon-to-be open 24 hours (my server told me that they're planning to make that schedule switch around the end of June). They had a casual re-opening today, missing the long weekend by a hair (perhaps that was intentional, in case they had to work out any kinks in their newly-expanded space). My breakfast-loving partner and I were practically alone in the restaurant, and got served our Mexican Breakfasts (pinto beans, eggs, apple slaw, guac & cabbage) in record time.
As always, the food was delicious, and left me feeling way better than if I'd had a cheaper, greasier, breadier breakfast elsewhere. I love going to Bandidas in the evening for their cocktails, but as it inevitably starts to fill up with customers again, I'll probably wait until their 24-hour service starts, so that I can enjoy a cheesy burrito and hibiscus margarita in the wee hours.

I predict that Bandidas will do very well as a 24-hour restaurant (after all, the Naam's been doing it for an eternity over in Kits). Especially on the nights that the Rio Theatre has their late-night movie features. Arriba!

Kombucha Kronicles: Round 1

Kombucha is one of those things, like cilantro, that everyone has a strong opinion about. You're either going to love its tart, vinegary taste, or wonder why the hell anyone would bother drinking something that ferments from a strange grey jelly-like substance you'd normally run screaming from if you found it floating on your drink.

I mean seriously. This is some creepy sh*t right here.

If you believe the hype, kombucha- which is just a fermented mixture of tea, sugar, water and bacteria/yeast- can do anything:

• help with digestion
• detox your liver
• assist in weight loss
• reverse greying hair (I'm counting on this one!)

and much, much more. It's been around for a loooong time, probably originating in China but also becoming a staple in Russia and other eastern european countries. 

I don't know that I believe in kombucha's myriad uses as a health product (I'll let you know in a few months if my hair magically turns brown again...), but since I'm the kind of gal who loves those fancy drinking vinegars and would happily consume apple cider vinegar straight up if it wasn't so acidic, I love the taste. It's like a healthier, more refreshing soda! But you know what's NOT so healthy? 

My bank account, from buying too much fancy kombucha at the supermarket or worse yet, the farmers market. For a product that's made of very cheap ingredients, kombucha is very expensive. 

So I decided to make my own. 

Good timing: one of the actors in the play I just did had some extra SCOBYs. A SCOBY is the 'mother' of kombucha, the Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast that devours the sugar and ferments the tea until it is tart and fizzy. Matt brought the slippery grey discs to the theatre one night, sloshing around in a tupperware container. The following day I did the following:

1. boiled distilled water
2. brewed tea mixed with sugar in a 1-gallon glass jar (kombucha hates metal, so use glass containers and wooden spoons if possible)
3. waaaaaaaaiiiiiited for the tea to cool
4. added vinegar and 2 SCOBYs (might as well put both the little buggers to work, I figured)
5. covered the jar with a cloth and attached it with a rubber band (keeps out flies but allows for ventilation). Again, kombucha hates metal, so don't use a jar lid.
6. put the jar in the back of the cupboard under the stairs and tried to forget about it for a week.

After 1 week I gingerly nudged aside the very healthy-looking SCOBYs and had a taste. Still a bit sweet for my liking, so back into the cupboard it went for another 2  days. Yesterday I sampled it again and preferred the taste, so I gathered two 1-litre bottles and two 500ml bottles (thank goodness for a boyfriend who likes fancy beers with resealable airtight flip-tops). Today I scooped the SCOBYs out of the jar with clean, non-soapy hands and found that a new one was starting to form, which is a good sign. Then I funnelled the kombucha into the 4 glass bottles. 

To the two larger bottles I added some diced crystalized ginger and some frozen berries. These went back into the cupboard for a couple days of bottle fermentation. Hopefully by the end of that time they will be fizzier, and also infused with the flavours of the fruit and ginger. The two smaller bottles are in the fridge, and I had just a splash left over which I drank. Compared to the store-bought stuff I think it has a more tart, complex flavour; often the commercial varieties have been flavoured past recognition.

Now, the internet can scare you silly telling you about the health risks of home-brewing. I found that this site http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/03/25/kombucha-myths-vs-truths/ was useful in busting not only the negative myths but also the overblown myths about kombucha's many health benefits. It's always good to treat anything you read on the internet with a grain of salt, but at the same time I'm going to be as sensible as I can be regarding my kombucha experiment. I obtained the SCOBY from someone I know and trust. I used clean equipment and handled the tea as little as possible. I checked for mould. Obviously, if drinking the tea makes me feel shitty, I'll throw it out. 

If you live in the Vancouver area, Homestead Junction (http://www.homesteadjunction.ca/) is an invaluable resource, both for equipment and also useful workshops and classes. I'll be taking a yoghurt-making workshop there later this month. 

Will I make kombucha all the time? I'm not sure yet. My roommate also loves it, so if she likes the stuff I'm brewing then there's a double incentive to keep making it at home at a fraction of the cost of store-bought. It's a fun, fizzy way to help stay hydrated when flat water gets boring, and there's a chance it might make me healthier. I can experiment with different teas and fruit flavourings as well. (This time around I'm brewing kombucha with green tea rather than black, and I'm going to add some fresh fruit and herbs when it's ready to bottle.) But too much of anything can get old fast.  Now that I have kombucha around all the time, I may just get sick of it. After all, as my friend Brian snidely remarked when I mentioned that I was making a large jar of kombucha: "The only downside to this is that you will have a large jar of kombucha."

Batch #2 brews up.

Bubble Bubble

I'm working on a play right now. There are many wonderful things about being employed, especially in this way, but the three nicest things about rehearsing are definitely:

Location!
Location!
Location! 

The first week we were at Granville Island, which is a paycheque-sucker if ever there was. (Granville Island deserves its own blog entry, and one day I'll attempt it, though it may bankrupt me.) 

This week and next week we are at the very lovely Green Thumb Theatre rehearsal studios, in the Collingwood neighbourhood, right on Kingsway.

How I love Kingsway! I love that it's long, I love that it's still kind of seedy, I LOVE that it's a mecca for all sorts of Asian restaurants and groceries, from tiny hole-in-the-wall spots that might either be a health inspector's nightmare or a hidden treasure to well-lit giants with voluminous menus. There are swathes of Kingsway that are very Vietnamese, and indeed there are quite a few Vietnamese places in the vicinity of Green Thumb. But what I noticed right away were a plethora of bubble tea bars, and for some reason I decided that I absolutely HAD to try some right away, even though the one time I'd tried it, years ago, I'd found the tapioca bubbles disconcerting and the tea itself underwhelming. 


Am I ever glad that I gave it another try, and that I went to Milk & Sugar Cafe to try it. Milk & Sugar has an extensive bubble menu; not just the regular milk teas and green teas, but also fruit smoothies. They invite you to either try one of their flavour combinations, or invent your own. Unfortunately for my creativity, I tried the strawberry-lemon smoothie and that was IT. I want nothing more. The tart lemon balances out the sweet strawberry perfectly. M&S uses frozen fruit, so this drink is a less-sugary version of a drink that can often be overly sweet. 
The server checked with me that I actually wanted the tapioca pearls in my drink (I did), and they were delicious! Not at all as I remembered. These ones are extra big, slightly sweet, and wonderfully chewy. A few days later I tried a strawberry-lemon-peach concoction and had mango stars instead of tapioca pearls. Although they're sweet and tasty, I actually preferred the pearls. 
Milk & Sugar also has ice cream drinks and bubble tea that's actually made with, you know, tea, so if that's more to your taste, go for it. But I'm in heaven with my fruit smoothie and I'll stick with that. 

Just to make sure I wasn't missing out, though, I had to try another bubble tea joint as well. CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice bills itself as the world's largest bubble tea chain, so I figured they knew what they were doing. Their decor is definitely shinier and newer than M&S (I preferred Milk & Sugar's more relaxed decor over CoCo's overly plastic orderliness.) I decided to go with a more classic milk tea as they didn't have the selection of fruit smoothies that Milk & Sugar did. (Asian dessert/tea places seem to use mango as their default fruit, and I find mango overly sweet.) The Caramel tea that I ordered wasn't overly sweet, and the milk tea was smooth and milky, but the black tea taste came through nicely. CoCo's pearls are smaller than M&S' pearls, which I found a little disappointing, and overall although it was a pleasant drink I found it lacking compared to the fruit drink. I guess it's a matter of taste, and right now I'm craving fruit. 

One thing that does make me wince, though, is the amount of plastic I'm throwing away every time I have a bubble tea drink. (Why does this seem worse than a paper coffee cup? They're both wasteful. But plastic is just so... plastic-y.) I get that bubble tea is partly about looks- the bright, creamy colours and the contrasting black pearls or gummy fruits- so you need a see-through container. But I feel really guilty. Perhaps I'll bring a Mason jar to Milk & Sugar next time and see if they'll fill that for me instead. Fruity, chewy and guilt-free: what could be better than that? 

Milk & Sugar Cafe is at 3365 Kingsway, Vancouver. 
CoCo Fresh Juice & Tea is at 3275 Kingsway, Vancouver. 

Hope Ya Like Jam(min') Too

So the holidays have come and gone, leaving their usual detritus: gyms full to bursting with earnest souls who will use their memberships until March; the regret of ten thousand greasy, sugary calories unwisely consumed; a strange fear and loathing of turkeys and oily roasted vegetables; a sudden rush on books about cleansing. We have all done things we regret over the holidays, but we miss them too: the freedom to eat whatever, whenever we please; perhaps time off work; the celebration of lights and music and of course, food.

I am no different: I miss the lazy freedom of December, and though like many of us I've had my fill of baked goods and roast beast, I cling to a few flavours that remind me of simpler times.

Surprisingly this year, the food I'm still using with pleasure is... Jam.



Specifically, Copper Pot Preserves Raspberry & Chipotle jam.

I found it in my local butchers, Harkness & Co. (they're amazing!), because they'd cunningly put out a dish of it alongside some salami-like sausage. A scoop of jam on a salami slice and...bam! Heaven. Lemon juice and tart raspberry flavour more than stands up to the bold smokiness of the chipotle peppers. I was hooked. I served it on Christmas Eve (with more cold cuts, and also with cheese, of course). I ate it alone, nestled between leftover slices of deli meat and with strong cheddar. And now, with the resolutions of the new year staring me down coldly every morning, I stir a very restrained small spoonful of it into my zero-fat yoghurt-and-granola every morning, and it is just as wonderful there.

Cooper Pot Preserves website informs the reader that the company is based out of Squamish. If, however, you live in East Van, you are blessed, because you can buy their preserves at Harkness & Co., or visit them at the Nat Bailey Farmers Market at least once a month. It looks as though they change up their products quite often, so the raspberry-chipotle jam may not always be available. 

A Tale of Many Breakfasts Part 2: Diners

 I don't know if this is a city-specific thing, but Vancouverites have a weird habit of lining up for meals that may not be bad, but certainly aren't worth waiting for. Sophie's Cosmic Cafe? Stepho's on Davie? The Red Wagon? They're okay, guys. Not great, not exceptional. Just okay. But hey, if you want to waste your time lining up, go ahead. I'll be across the road at some underappreciated breakfast haunt, getting served the best breakfast ever in record time. 

You can add Jethro's Fine Grub to that list of places I won't be lining up at any time soon. I've been curious about this place for a while now: it's in my 'hood and it's always jumping on weekends. Last Thursday I took my mom there for brunch, and was left wondering what the fuss was about. We're both Benny freaks, so it was smoked salmon bennies for both of us. Utterly unremarkable (and expensive) bennies. A plain, lightly toasted English muffin (not crisp enough to stand up to the double onslaught of egg yolk and Hollandaise sauce), a piece of meh smoked salmon, a decent egg, some ok sauce. Nothing terrible, nothing great. Rounded out by some very dull potatoes and absolutely no extras: an unattractive presentation. 

I must admit that I spied shamelessly on other diners' meals and the pancakes looked insanely huge, as did a breakfast burrito. But I prefer my pancakes thin and crisp (actually, I basically just prefer crepes and am always sorry when I order pancakes and waffles for breakfast). Coffee was...hot. The service was very friendly and pleasant, but because the room itself has absolutely no atmosphere, it's not a place I'd want to linger. Which, given their lineups, is probably the idea. Sorry Jethro's but I've had better meals in far cheaper spots. 

Which brings me to Joe's/Nelly's Grill(s).

Confusingly named, because Joe's used to be on West 4th, but is now located on Main Street. While the one on 4th Avenue is now Nelly's (apparently a relation to Joe). Get it? Don't worry about it. Just go there if you want an affordable, no-frills breakfast that won't bankrupt you.

My sweetie and I go to Nelly's (I still think of it as Joe's) on 4th quite regularly and I always get The Brit because I'm charmed by a breakfast place that serves baked beans with toast and eggs. As a child of British parents, I ate beans-on-toast every week ("please put the beans beside the toast, mummy, so it doesn't get soggy"), so this dish is pure nostalgia. I tell a lie though, because last time I got some kind of hash and it was fan-freakin'-tastic. Poached eggs, nice salty fried potatoes and veggies... Sorry Brit, I've found a new fave. Service is brisk and friendly, and prices are decent. This is a no-frills-no-trendy-no-lines kinda joint. You don't have to go out of your way to go here, because your own 'hood probably has something similar. But these guys do it well. 

Joe's/Nelly's is at 3048 Main St and 2061 w.4th Ave

Photo courtesy of my sweetie, who is never too busy
eating to social-media the hell out of something.

Hey, speaking of doing it well, Sunshine Diner is kicking ass and taking names when it comes to breakfast. Can you get past the way-over-the-top '50's diner decor, complete-if that is the word- with life-sized Elvises and Marilyns frolicking in plastic rigor mortis splendour? Well okay, I guess that's part of the charm, along with the sawed-off Chevy reservation desk just inside the door. Though he lives oh-so-close, my guy had never been to Sunshine, and it had been years for me. So off we went, on a late Saturday morning. Although there was a lineup, we were both appeased by the free coffees that materialized for all of us who were waiting outside (there's not much room to wait inside). It's the little touches like that that make for good customer service. Also, we only had to wait about 10 minutes, which is respectable. 

Yeah, we both ordered Bennies. I had a half order of the Popeye (avocado, cream cheese, a delicious mushroom slice, asparagus and spinach) and my guy had the Blackstone. These were Bennies done right: crispy muffins, delicious Hollandaise, perfect poached eggs. Served, cutely, with a bowl of crispy brown potatoes and a really nice fruit bowl: not your usual tired melon chunks but banana, apple, even blackberries. Presentation: on point. Major kudos for getting the carbs absolutely right and making us feel as though we were making a healthy choice by including a really good fruit bowl. This attention to presentation and balance (fruit to counter the fat and starch) was what was so sorely lacking at Jethro's. Sunshine could have cruised by on its kitsch, so I'm glad to see they're so much more than vaguely creepy plastic Elvis statues. 

Sunshine Diner is at 2649 West Broadway, in Kitsilano.

I'm going into Show Mode this week, as I'm in a musical that's opening on Tuesday. I foresee a lot more eating out in my near future. Stay tuned...

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! 

Nature Box: Snacks In The Mail!

So, my brother has a wee bit of an internet shopping addiction fetish habit. It is a rare day that goes by without some tempting box arriving in the mail for him, usually with the word Amazon emblazoned on it somewhere. As the stay-at-home member of the household, the one who usually gets to take in the mail, this is frustrating in the extreme. Where is MY box? Where are MY treats?

Today was like Christmas for me: not only did a long-awaited cheque finally show up for me, but my first box of snacks from Nature Box also showed up! I'd read about this company from Amalah, a mom-blogger who regularly does sponsored posts. She's mentioned Nature Box a few times (as well as Blue Apron, which I wish would deliver in Canada but does not yet). Nature Box does deliver to Canada. And like the sleazy guy on the corner who's offering you your first hit of something addictive says: first one's free, kid. That's right, you can order your first snack box for free.

So natch, I was on it. I signed up on Nature Box's website. I selected five snacks. I waited, mostly patiently. Just over a week ago they emailed me to let me know that my box was en route from New York. And today it arrived! Excitedly, I placed the box on the kitchen table. And immediately, this happened:

"Hmm, what this?"

"Comfy AND crackly. I like."

"WHAT?"

The kitties in this house are obsessed with boxes. When I had finally removed the cat, my snacks sat waiting for me in all their glory.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Pops, South Pacific Plantains, Sriracha Cashews, Cinnamon Spiced Almonds and Sriracha Cashew Crunch (I like Sriracha, okay?). 

Here's the deal: you can sign up easily on Nature Box's website. Once you're signed in, you can select whether you want 3 or 5 snacks, and how often you want them to come. I chose once a month, but we'll see...  My subsequent boxes will cost 24.95 Canadian. The snacks don't come in huge bags, so it will be easy to finish them quickly. However, I like the idea of having healthy(ish) snacks in the house and not spending that money on impulse buys at the grocery store. You can build a flavour profile online, so Nature Box will know whether you like sweet, savoury, chewy, crunchy, or a mix of things. You can set up a virtual "Pantry" and they'll make up your next box from the top 5 (or 3, if that's your order size) items on the list.

But enough of that. What do the snacks taste like? I put together a little sample bowl of the 5 products I'd ordered: 

Cinnamon Spice Almonds: I wouldn't say they're spicy. Slightly sweet though, and with a good dusting of cinnamon. Pleasant, but not earth-shattering.

Sriracha Cashew Crunch: A mix of puffed corn, rice and cashews. Yeah! Nice sweet/spicy kick to these guys, and yes, they're definitely crunchy. These are good.

Sriracha Roasted Cashews: A bit mellower than their crunchy friends. Also very tasty, with that sweet/spicy buzz which is what I love about Sriracha.

South Pacific Plantains: I love plantain chips, so these were a no-brainer for me. Salty and mild on their own, they'd also be fantastic with any kind of dip.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Pops: Ah the trendiness of salted caramel anything. Like most pretzels, they're heavy on crunch, but light on substance. These were okay, but I wouldn't get them again. 

I just had more of the Sriracha Cashew Crunch, and it certainly cleared out the sinuses! 

In summary, I'd say the snacks are pretty yummy, and getting them delivered is a fun gimmick, although I think this service would make more sense in a rural setting where healthy snacks are maybe harder to come by.  I'll make up my mind after next month's delivery. For now I'm going to keep the boxes coming, and I can cancel at any time if I get tired of getting my snacks delivered. Now, at least once a month, there'll be a box waiting at the mailbox for me, instead of my brother. And it will be filled with tasty goodness. 

Warning: Cats may show increased interest in life with the arrival of your Nature Box. 

*This post was not sponsored in any way by Nature Box. Just so's ya know.