The nookiest Nook around - Best Vancouver Pizza

I'm not joking. The nook is the best pizza in Vancouver. If you are really nuts about another place, and are absolutely sure that it'll kick this restaurants ass, please email me toute suite. Otherwise, just go and be dazzled by some of the freshest food Vancouver has to offer. And that is their key, all the ingredients are perfect, I wonder what they'll do in winter for tomatoes though? I'll have to experiment through the year. Bon Appetite!







Try the liver pate and the anything with barrata on it, you won't be sad.

New Restaurant - Cafeteria rocks Vancouver! $5 house white too

Simple menu, fresh ingredients, flawless execution... in my top three restaurants of the year! You must try the stuffed red peppers with aioli, black olive and fish cake... white anchovies on top, STUNNING! I ordered a second and I was already full! Main Street at 11th Ave, it's a must.
Great wine list too, the house white is $5!


This is the red pepper appy...

Night Market is like Never-never land - Dim Sum to die for

This is the place you always say your going to go to... sometime soon. I've been talking about going to the Richmond Night Market for years. So, last weekend, I drove out, paid the $5 parking and gorged myself on oodles of amazing food. The crowds are nuts, but if you are like me and love to feel like you've been transported to parallel dimension or to a far away land, you MUST go. I mean where else can you buy a fried baby octopus on a stick that tastes soooo good.


Order - the deep fried cheesecake, the Hong Kong Egg Puffs(chocolate or sesame only), Dim Sum!, the Korean spiral fried potatoes with spicy Korean sauce, lemonade or ginger juice at the Japanese place that sells the rice bun little burgers.

The BC Bullfrog - Pest or tasty treat?

In Cambodia, I was presented frogs legs in a black sauce, they were succulent. Kind of like chicken, I remember, but better. The dish was called, Ung Kep Char Kreoung, made with onion, garlic, peppers, lemon grass and oyster sauce, it left me drooling for more. I've decided, I want to find some, cook 'em and serve 'em in a hot, florescent lit room just to recreate the experience fully. So, where do you get frogs legs in Vancouver? I'm on a mission to find out. Pied a Terre on Cambie used to serve them and got them shipped from Quebec. Seems a long way to go when we have an invasive species of Bullfrog right here in the Lower Mainland. Our big, mean BC bullfrogs are responsible for eating a lot of our native species of frogs to near extinction. However, over harvesting of frogs to supply France and Asia's demand for them has caused a major decline in frog populations in general. Luckily for frogs, no one seems to like them much in Canada, so far. Most commercial frogs legs come from China or India from farms and apparently lack the desirable 'muddy' or 'earthy' flavour of wild frogs. So, I'd love to get me some wild bullfrog, yeee-haw. I'll keep you posted on what I find out... any froggy info would be greatly appreciated. Currently, it seems our infinitely wise BC government deems it illegal to catch bullfrogs under the BC Wildlife Act.

Gup Gups Event, Sat July 10th - Designer Vinyl Toys & good eats!

Come out and check out some fabulous clothing and amazing, freshly made toys by designer Nick Tay. Swallow Tail will be serving up our famous BBQ duck with radicchio marmalade, bison tenderloin, muskox and balsamic toasties and rhubarb tarts with creme fraiche! Beer and wine pairings crafted for the night, of course. Nibble and sip your way through the evening with us.

More info on Gup Gups or Lark Clothing Store on 2315 Main St.
8pm till 11pm
Free Entry

Fire Starters - Outdoor Cooking Escapade! BBQ madness in Vancouver

For all of you that love a good barbecue, it's summer, come outside and watch the flames with us. Join us for an outdoor cook-off where local chefs (Andrea Carlson of Bishops for one) will be firing up a storm: spit roast, fire pit baking, BBQ, grill & smoke. Taste the fire in your food. And while you're eating your outdoor dinner, you'll do some good! Proceeds from the event will support the non-profit Growing Chefs! Chefs for Children's Urban Agriculture.

Whats extra exciting? ...The first Canadian appearance of smoked Tur-duck-in-hen-quail-con will be unveiled! Yes, the con is for bacon.

When: Sunday, July 25th
1pm or 3pm ticket times

Early Bird Discount Tickets: (Purchase before July 16)
5 Tasting Ticket - $10
5 Tasting Ticket with wine/beer pairing - $20

Tickets after July 16th
5 Tasting Ticket - $15
5 Tasting Ticket with wine/beer pairing - $25

Location: Swallow Tail Secret Supper Club, Vancouver, BC

Email: robin@swallowtail.ca for tickets and more details!



With your tasting ticket, you will get to sample of each team's treats. The teams will also have larger servings for sale if you hunger for more of you favourite tasting! Prices range from $5-$15 for the larger plates.

Sponsored by Windsor Meats and R&B Brewing
Cancellation Policy - All tickets are final sales, no refunds, you are welcome to sell them to other guests

40 Local Beers on Tap? Is this a new Vancouver emerging?

St.Augustine's Bar on Commercial Drive is one of the few spots in Vancouver where the fruits (and hops) of our labours are ripe for the tasting. I love going in to get the 4 beer tasting tray, there are almost too many to choose from, it's like beer heaven. And, now that world cup soccer has hit the screens, it's one of the least busy and most pleasant places to watch the game.

Go for a Forage: Wild foods near Vancouver...

Elder flowers
Miner's Lettuce

Cleavers

Sweet Cicely

Watercress

Spring has pounced upon us, even though the warmth seems to have left us, lately. All sorts of tasty snacks are growing out of the ground. Wandering the forests and meadows of the Lower Mainland there are a few rules you should follow if you are interested in some unusual eats.

1. Take note of the water sources surrounding your planty prey. Watercress, for example, is very nutritious and grows near running water. It also absorbs toxins quite readily. So, if a stream has pollutants in it (near a non-organic farm for example) the plants may not be safe to eat. Unless you'd welcome the growth of a third eye.
2. Take plant cuttings, try not to disturb the roots, that way the crop will be replenished.
3. Be sure of what you are eating. Buy a plant book like Plants of Coastal BC (Pojar/MacKinnon) to help with identification.
4. Don't harvest near the road or sidewalks, unless you like dog pee and car gunk in your food.
5. Harvest with the seasons. Generally... spring = new shoots, spring/summer = flowers/fruit, fall/winter = fruits/nuts/roots

Plants to look for around now (May); licorice fern (sweet cicely), watercress, miners lettuce, silver dollars, cattails, sorel, cleavers, stinging nettles (taste like spinach, but harvest with gloves and steam before eating), blackberry leaves

Ever tasted Muskox Prosciutto paired with Pinot?

BC Wilds & Wine Blind Tasting - Vancouver
Friday, March 26

Come out and taste the best of BC's exotic ingredients tamed and paired with an exclusive BC wine & libations boutique selection. These wines are only available at restaurants, usually, if at all.

Experience Chef Robin's creations with Wild Mushrooms, Sea Asparagus, Muskox & the mythical Chocolate Beast to name a few.

It's Lark's 5th year anniversary, so come check out the finest of fine clothing. Sip and Shop the latest fashions.


Tickets - $46
Email info@swallowtail.ca for tickets or pick them up at Lark Clothing Store - 2315 Main St, 604-879-5275

Cash to Charity - Proceeds go to Mount Pleasant Elementary School through Growing Chefs, local chefs promoting a love of urban agriculture in our children.



Our lovely Sponsors:
Le Vieux Pin Winery
Sea Cider
Hills Foods Ltd.
Skookum Harvest Wild Foods
Daniel Le Chocolat Belge
Van Westen Vineyards
Clos du Soleil Winery
Twisted Tree Vineyards

Silent Auction will be held of local offerings from Trips to Dinner out.

Chef School where you get to drink and cook...

Went to a cooking session with Chef Nico of Chambar fame at the Dirty Apron Culinary School. I would highly recommend the experience. You cook a 3 course menu and then eat it, all under the watchful gaze of Nico and his assistants. The food is simple; so don't expect to learn anything to fancy. Then again, some of the best tasting food is simply made. Bonus: the lesson comes with your choice of white or red libations which lubricates the entire evening pleasantly.



The Menu:

1. Seared Yellow Fin Tuna on a Tabbouleh bed with Baba Ganoush
2. Buttered, pan fried duck breast with tamarind sauce and herb rice pilaf
3. Chocolate Mousse

http://www.dirtyapron.com/

Grilled Bison Tenderloin Porn Shots - Vancouver Underground supper club

Canadian Bison - Course 4 - Swallow Tail secret Supper Club - Enjoy...
www.swallowtail.ca







Photos by Shannon Mendes

THE Restaurant - Lumiere Vancouver - The pinnacle of fine dining?

I'm sorry to say that Vancouver's obsession with chichi, drowning in sauce, French food has waned for me. And this, after a recent trip to France even. Some would say that I'm just a spoiled brat and rub my foie gras in my face. They may not be wrong. However, my instincts tell me that my heart may last longer if I eat more of France's counterpoint, fresh and lively Mexican food (La Taqueria, I love you).

Okay, I digress... the point of this post was to show off some of Daniel Boulud's culinary offerings at Lumiere from my recent tasting at that beautiful spot on Broadway. I'm just warning you that I was underwhelmed. Not because the food wasn't excellent, but because I've overplayed my French record and it's beginning to skip.

Highlights:

1. At $115 for a 5 course small plate selection, Lumiere left us burstingly full.
   
2. The sommelier on staff that night (Drew) was, bar none, the best host we could have ever imagined. He even arranged for a tour of the kitchen! And his wine suggestions were excellent. They even looked up the history of the galette for me.
3. The food was artfully prepared, especially the grapefruit hamachi and the melted chocolate poured over the tiramisu trick... go have one then you'll know.
4. Standout - Crumbed quails egg amuse bouche was rad...didn't get a picture sorry.
5. Standout 2 - The signature madeleines pictured below in the flower napkin. I couldn't stop eating them.
   

Lumiere 5 Course Menu

In the end, each dish by itself was so rich, intricate and thoughtful that 7 plates later I didn't even remember what I really liked or why. I was stuffed mentally and physically. It was really fun as a budding Chef to try to disect the billion techniques and ingredients used in each dish. But, I still left feeling that a few more simple, fresh dishes would relax the palate to prepare it for the next pollock painting of a dish.

Fishing for Dungeness Crab in Vancity

Jan 22, 2010
What a day!

Don't do this with your kids... Deboning a Rabbit

I am currently on a mission to eat as many BC wild meats as many ways as possible. My task is simple; to develop an array of recipes for the wild meat lovers of the world, myself included. Starting with the cutest, apparently, and ending with the biggest... bear maybe?
I've never eaten a whole rabbit. They just aren't offered in non-terrine forms for some reason in Vancouver. So, I grabbed a British recipe and an Italian one (Sicilians love their rabbit, who knew?) and cooked one up at home. Last night, I started with the Brit version, cider braised rabbit with shallots, thyme and rosemary from my garden. Here it is...

The deboning took me 40 minutes and was tiring but interesting from a biological standpoint. Here's a good video if you've always wanted to learn to debone a bunny.

It was good, but not great. Rabbit tastes like a less flavourful pork it seems, boring. I am disappointed so far. Anyone with any ideas for spectacular rabbit dishes, please email me!!!