Hello Everyone,
I am really new to this whole blog thing and I am so inspired by other people's, that it's time to take mine a bit more seriously. I have gone back and forth about what I want my primary focus of this blog to be as I am recently beeing drawn into health and wellness in addition to great places to dine out (or not so great!).
On today's agenda:
- Cooking with Valancy
- Soccer ready!
- C Restaurant Vancouver - my birthday dinner
Cooking with Valancy:
Almost 6 months ago I reconnected with a former soccer teammate that I knew from when I was in high school. Her and I were not really friends, but played on the same competitive soccer team for many years. Her dad Ed, was the coach - and we got along swimmingly. Valancy and I however, were teammates...and that was it! This was almost 10 years ago. Valancy and I reconnected on facebook when Ed pointed out that she was living in Coquitlam BC about 30 mins away from where I was living in Vancouver. We touched base over the phone and decided to meet for coffee at a local shopping centre (we both needed to run some errands). I think we both thought, "let's meet for a coffee, get this over with, please Ed, and maybe that'll be it", little did we know....it's been about 6 months and we talk everyday, see eachother at least once a week and spend our days BBM'ing! We hit it off right away. We had a ton in common and because we were never really friends we were these new grown up women with lives and dreams that we didn't know about each other before.
Lately Valancy and I have both been putting time and effort into exercising more, spending less and cooking more! We have met almost every week in the last little while and picked a few recipes and we cook. We open a bottle of wine (most of the time) and pump out some great recipes. For Valancy - she cooks all the time. She enjoys it and is good at it. Myself on the other hand, I bake...I'm not much of a cook, so this was really me spreading my wings and having a friend to do it with. She gives me tips on what to do, and we spend the evening enjoying eachother's company and making delicious food.
After spending some time doing this, and spending some time reading other's blogs I started taking photos of the things we've been cooking. This got Valancy and I thinking that perhaps it's time to start our own food blog. I told her that I had this one and I think what I want to do is combine cooking with Valancy and my passion for restaurants and food in with health and wellness. I will share my goals for myself, for my cooking and offer up the places to go and stay away from when it comes to eating out.
I will post some of the pictures of food that Valancy and I have prepared. Most recently we made 2 kinds of bread (yet to find out if one will make it after it has been frozen) 2 kinds of soup and a cake. Talk about a great way to spend a friday or saturday night. Both trying to stay on a budget, both trying to eat as healthy as possible and both trying to maintain our personal relationships with friends. We have the whole package! Stay tuned for recipes, pictures and a whole lot more!
Soccer Ready:
In addition to cooking more, which includes spending less on eating out and taking care of my health, one of my goal's is to get back into shape so I can join a soccer team this year. Meeting up with Valancy again has got us both thinking we'd like to play. So I'm getting my butt in shape with yoga, Jililan Michael's (of the Biggest Loser) workout DVD's that are intimadating yet fun and thena variety of other sports. Skating, cycling and power walks with friends. I need to up the running portion of my training to get my endurance back and I'm looking for tips and advice on getting my running legs back. I will keep you posted on my journey!
Birthday Dinner - C Restaurant Vancouver
Its January which means its my birthday. After spending a weekend of eating great food I was excited to try out C restaurant on the seawall in Vancouver. I had heard great things and also know the Chef de Cuisine - Lee Humphries. I will eat at any restaurant he's cooking because of his quality control, his fresh ingredients and having had the pleasure of eating food from the other's places he's worked, C seemed like a great choice.
The decor is very cute and simple. White table clothes and wood features, lots of glass and cool lighting fixtures. The host was very pleasant and made you feel like a movie star, even though we are NOT movie stars. We get in, we eat, we get out. No fuss!
Our server was rather pleasant as well and wasn't overwhelming. The kind of service we like, don't tell me what to have but tell me honestly what your opinion is if I ask.
We ordered the Walla Walla Onion soup with 2 hr poached egg (I know thats what I thought!), crab meat and shaved parmesan with truffle oil, a side of frites with truffle aioli and for our main course we tried the Sturgeon (neither of us had ever had it and with the canadian sturgeon ready to go... YAY caviar....we decided to give it a go. Finally we had the roasted sablefish with mushrooms and gnocchi.
The soup we have had before - well a rendition of, as chef Humphries has served this in the last place he worked. It was fantastic. Rich, creamy and the most incredible poached egg I've ever had in my life. In addition to this, we received a bread basket with 4 kinds of bread and fleur de sel butter. The pomme frites with truffle aoili were perfectly cooked, seasoned and so delicious. We enjoyed these item's with a bottle of Lindemans Lambic Cassis Beer. Which we promptly went out and bought some to have at home.
The main course: sturgeon and sablefish were both lovely - but alas way too much butter (I know right - never thought I'd hear myself say TOO much butter!) and too much salt. The freshness of the fish and the other ingredients were lost behind salted butter and salt. I didn't even finish my plate! That my friends is a sign that I was slightly disappointed. We didn't even look at the dessert menu because we were heading to Urban Fare to get my favourite cupcakes from Butter Bakery.
Overall: I'm not rushing to go back, I'm not recommending the place, but if you're walking on the seawall and feel like a drink and a snack (and have enough cash to cover the total! prices were up there) i'd pop in for some fries and a soup! Ok...to the last bite.
Till next time my friends. I WILL get better at this and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!
Cheers,
Taisa
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Friday, May 14, 2010
Latitude on Main
Ok so it's been forever since even I have visited my blog. I guess I'm just not in the habit yet. I will get better and I will give you guys something to read!
Latitude on Main: Great food, quiet atmosphere, no-fuss service!
In January, the day of my Birthday, I couldn't decide where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. Even though it was winter time it was pouring rain as it tends to do in Vancouver, especially in the winter and the idea of getting dressed up to go out did not sound appealing. After searching and searching online for a new restaurant to try my boyfriend (David) and I decided to go check out one of the new restaurants in our neighbourhood. We are fortunate enough to live on Main street Vancouver in a lovely part of town called Mt. Pleasant. The name says it all!
Latitude is on Main and 16th avenue on the south east side of the street. At first glance you wouldn't know there is a restaurant, but since our first visit they have now added a big wood patio! Great idea since during the day the sun shines so bright (when it's not raining!) and it will bring even more business in for the summer.
We had made a reservation, but being who we are we tend to eat early (or late- but by this point we were hungry) We were one of 3 tables in the restaurant, so they were able to seat us by the window and side-by-side, our preferred method of eating. Being fish-eating-vegetarians (pescatarian, aquatarian - whichever you prefer) we looked at the menu and automatically ruled some options out. This may make for a difficult blog as I'm sure many 'foodies' are not vegetarian. I will however give you the scoop from my perspective, as well as places to go for great food at great prices!
We selected 4 dishes:
- Empanadas (vegetarian)
- Scallops
- Chickpea fries (vegetarian)
- Ling Cod
We share everything we eat so we both get to try a bit of everything!
The empanadas were fantastic! Flaky on the outside, and hot on the inside! Sweet potato, mushroom and spinach stuffed empanadas served with tomatillo salsa and chile raisin jam. We got two so we each had one.
The Chickpea fries were something I have never seen before. Shaped like a long rectangle box served with smoked paprika mayo. Crispy on the ouside, soft on the inside like a perfect frie! I felt that they needed some acid and asked for some lime wedges. Oddly enough they didn't have any, so they brought me a ramekin of lime juice. SOOOO much better. The fries were delicious without but it was like adding vinegar, just needed some moisture.
The scallops - oh the scallops. Seared to perfection, medium rare inside nice crust on the top and bottom. Came with some guacamole, chive oil and arepitas. Little corn patties that are crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Fantastic! We've been 3 times since then and have the scallops everytime!
And the Ling Cod - where to begin with the ling cod...Charred tomatilla salsa, shaved fennel, swiss chard and white beans. MM MM Good! The fish was cooked perfectly and the accompaniments were just right. Not an intense fennel flavour, which made me happy since it's not my favourite but just enough to accent the lightness of the fish.
We washed all of this down with some Phillips Phoenix Gold Lager - an awesome brewery on Vancouver Island.
We took a piece of Tres Leches home for dessert. Soft sponge cake with 3 milks, a maple chantilly and a crushed pecan praline! AWESOME!
The best part is ladies and gents, the total bill for all 4 dishes, plus dessert and 4 beers. Was 60$ including tip!!
The service was exactly what I like when I go to eat. Take my order, bring my food, ask if i'm enjoying it, clear my plates, offer me more drinks, dessert and bring me a bill. Straight forward, friendly and no fussing!
We've been 3 times since and everytime we just rave about how good it is. The menu has changed since we first went and they are now doing lunch! I will let you know how that goes!
Latitude on Main: GOOD to the last bite!
--Taisa
Latitude on Main: Great food, quiet atmosphere, no-fuss service!
In January, the day of my Birthday, I couldn't decide where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. Even though it was winter time it was pouring rain as it tends to do in Vancouver, especially in the winter and the idea of getting dressed up to go out did not sound appealing. After searching and searching online for a new restaurant to try my boyfriend (David) and I decided to go check out one of the new restaurants in our neighbourhood. We are fortunate enough to live on Main street Vancouver in a lovely part of town called Mt. Pleasant. The name says it all!
Latitude is on Main and 16th avenue on the south east side of the street. At first glance you wouldn't know there is a restaurant, but since our first visit they have now added a big wood patio! Great idea since during the day the sun shines so bright (when it's not raining!) and it will bring even more business in for the summer.
We had made a reservation, but being who we are we tend to eat early (or late- but by this point we were hungry) We were one of 3 tables in the restaurant, so they were able to seat us by the window and side-by-side, our preferred method of eating. Being fish-eating-vegetarians (pescatarian, aquatarian - whichever you prefer) we looked at the menu and automatically ruled some options out. This may make for a difficult blog as I'm sure many 'foodies' are not vegetarian. I will however give you the scoop from my perspective, as well as places to go for great food at great prices!
We selected 4 dishes:
- Empanadas (vegetarian)
- Scallops
- Chickpea fries (vegetarian)
- Ling Cod
We share everything we eat so we both get to try a bit of everything!
The empanadas were fantastic! Flaky on the outside, and hot on the inside! Sweet potato, mushroom and spinach stuffed empanadas served with tomatillo salsa and chile raisin jam. We got two so we each had one.
The Chickpea fries were something I have never seen before. Shaped like a long rectangle box served with smoked paprika mayo. Crispy on the ouside, soft on the inside like a perfect frie! I felt that they needed some acid and asked for some lime wedges. Oddly enough they didn't have any, so they brought me a ramekin of lime juice. SOOOO much better. The fries were delicious without but it was like adding vinegar, just needed some moisture.
The scallops - oh the scallops. Seared to perfection, medium rare inside nice crust on the top and bottom. Came with some guacamole, chive oil and arepitas. Little corn patties that are crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Fantastic! We've been 3 times since then and have the scallops everytime!
And the Ling Cod - where to begin with the ling cod...Charred tomatilla salsa, shaved fennel, swiss chard and white beans. MM MM Good! The fish was cooked perfectly and the accompaniments were just right. Not an intense fennel flavour, which made me happy since it's not my favourite but just enough to accent the lightness of the fish.
We washed all of this down with some Phillips Phoenix Gold Lager - an awesome brewery on Vancouver Island.
We took a piece of Tres Leches home for dessert. Soft sponge cake with 3 milks, a maple chantilly and a crushed pecan praline! AWESOME!
The best part is ladies and gents, the total bill for all 4 dishes, plus dessert and 4 beers. Was 60$ including tip!!
The service was exactly what I like when I go to eat. Take my order, bring my food, ask if i'm enjoying it, clear my plates, offer me more drinks, dessert and bring me a bill. Straight forward, friendly and no fussing!
We've been 3 times since and everytime we just rave about how good it is. The menu has changed since we first went and they are now doing lunch! I will let you know how that goes!
Latitude on Main: GOOD to the last bite!
--Taisa
Monday, March 8, 2010
First but not the last
Hey Guys,
Welcome to my first ever blog! Of course my topic is food! Food from here in Vancouver, food from my cozy kitchen and food from my travels. I would like to share with you some of my thoughts and feelings about food as well as give some people some insight into some eating habits that I have acquired over the years and offer people a look into where to eat and where not to eat.
This is my first post and just thought I'd start by saying hello! I hope to get my blog to grow and have been inspired by many of my peers. I have never done anything like this and hope that I can take a stale template and make it a culinary masterpiece.
I am personally a big eater. I love all aspects of food although I spend more time eating it than I do preparing it. I do however enjoy baking. I am also pretty good at it and I can say that with confidence. I hope to share with you some of my cooking experiences but will focus primarily on restaurants that I have been to, the food that I've eaten and whether its my last bite ever, or whether it was good to the last bite!
Keep checking in!
Bon appetite!
Taisa
Welcome to my first ever blog! Of course my topic is food! Food from here in Vancouver, food from my cozy kitchen and food from my travels. I would like to share with you some of my thoughts and feelings about food as well as give some people some insight into some eating habits that I have acquired over the years and offer people a look into where to eat and where not to eat.
This is my first post and just thought I'd start by saying hello! I hope to get my blog to grow and have been inspired by many of my peers. I have never done anything like this and hope that I can take a stale template and make it a culinary masterpiece.
I am personally a big eater. I love all aspects of food although I spend more time eating it than I do preparing it. I do however enjoy baking. I am also pretty good at it and I can say that with confidence. I hope to share with you some of my cooking experiences but will focus primarily on restaurants that I have been to, the food that I've eaten and whether its my last bite ever, or whether it was good to the last bite!
Keep checking in!
Bon appetite!
Taisa
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