A Tasty Evening at Tasting Plates Vancouver

Tasting Plates Vancouver

Last night was the Tasting Plates event in downtown Vancouver.  It was a perfect night, no rain, no wind.  So walking to the restaurants/carts would be a pleasure.  If you hadn’t heard about Tasting Plates it was a walk about event where you visit up to 10 food vendors, and they give you a selection of appetizers and/or drinks to try from them.  For this evening the participating vendors were:

• Juice Truck
• Cosca Restaurant
• Cupcakes Denman
• Bonchaz Bakery Cafe
• Footo Delights
• Notturno Paninoteca
• WE. Coffee Inc.
• Soho Road
• W2 Media Cafe
• Leonadis Chocolate

My Highlight Tastings

I started out at 5:30pm, walking, drinking, and tasting till 8:30pm.  In that time I was able to visit Notturno Paninoteca, Bonchaz, Juice Truck, Leonadis Chocolate, Soho Road and Footo Delights.  What were my highlight tastings?

Notturno Paninoteca

Notturno tasting plate

Located at 280 Carrall Street, this place had my favourite food overall.   A narrow restaurant with a nice bar. Just opened in November last year and recently getting their liquor license.  They served 3 appetizers, and I paired them with a nice glass of Prosecco.  The appetizers, all winners were:

• Tartufo di Capra – black truffle goat cheese, greens, tomato pearls
• Crudo – albacore tuna crudo, cucumber, tomato, chili aoli, balsamic pearls
• Fico – blue cheese aoli, fig, black olive, walnuts

My favorite of the 3 was the Tuna Crudo.  It had high acidity with fresh flavours and some spiciness in the background.  The Fico with blue cheese aoli was also quite nice.  You had a combination of sweetness, the blue cheese sharpness and the crustiness of the bread.

Soho Road

Soho Road Beef Seekh Naan Kebab

My next favorite place was Soho Road, a food truck located at the corner of Smithe and Howe streets.  Again 3 appetizers, some nice hot chai for a cold night.  The appetizers were:

• Butter Chicken Naan Kebab – Tandoori chicken smothered in our famous butter chicken sauce and topped off with a salad of cucumber, tomato, red onion and cilantro all on a freshly baked Naan.
• Beef Seekh Naan Kebab – Ground spicy Beef kebab with chaat masala,  and drizzled with a tamarind chutney. Topped off  with a salad of cucumber, tomato, red onion and cilantro all on a freshly baked Naan.
• Mixed Vegetable Subji – Carrots, Peas, Potatoes and onions cooked with cumin, coriander and other traditional spices, topped with a light mayonnaise and a salad of cucumber, tomato, red onion and cilantro served on a freshly baked Naan.

Of these, there was unanimous agreement amongst the foodies there that the Beef Seekh Naan Kebab.  Again bursting with flavour from the spiced beef and the salad, especially the cilantro.  Some Riesling or maybe a Pinotage would have been a nice accompaniment. My next favorite was the Mixed Vegetable Subji.  Lots of nice textures in your mouth.

Leonadis Chocolate

Leonadis Liege Waffles and macaron

Leonadis won my third place vote, in particular for their Liege waffle.  Their tasting plate consisted of:

• Piece of Leonidas chocolate
• Liege Waffle
• Espresso Con Panna
• Shot of our regular Hot Chocolate (52.3%)
• Shot of our Frozen Noisette

This is a Belgian inspired coffee/waffle/chocolate shop.  I had never had a Liege Waffle before, but loved it.  The waffle had a cake-like texture, not doughy like waffles are here.  It also tasted like there could have been some apple mixed in with the waffle as I picked up an apple flavour. To this I think the Hot Chocolate paired nicely.  On the way out we had our choice of one of several hand made Belgian chocolates.  If you want to find out more about Liege Waffles, here is a recipe I found online.

If you want to find out more about all the vendors you can follow them on Twitter.  Their Twitter handles are @CoscaRestaurant @WECoffeeInc  @CupcakesDenman @FootoDelights @NotturnoGastown @juicetruck @W2MediaCafe @LeonidasChocola  @bonchaz @sohoroad

Thank you very much for Richard Wolak aka @vanfoodster for arranging this fun event. Enjoy!

Dine Out Vancouver – A Visit to Cobre

Grilled BC bison striploin

Restaurant #2 on my list for Dine Out Vancouver is Cobre Restaurant in Gastown. It is described as Nuevo Latin Fusion of Mexican, Cuban, Brazilian and Argentinian flavours. With my group of friends, we tried most of the dishes on the Dine Out menu.

My selection was:

• Taqueria – Pulled duck and cracklin’ y charred scallion, roasted garlic
• Char grilled BC bison striploin with wild mushroom y valdeon empanita, mole demi
• Tres Leche Cake Orange and olive oil pound cake, Bourbon vanilla and sweet cream

My wine pairing between myself and friends was Stoneboat Chorus 2009, which is a blend of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Viognier, Muller Thurgau, Kerner, Schoenburger.  Tropical fruit, citrus and high acidity.  Not the best pairing with my dishes, but still an overall nice wine.

Pulled duck taqueria

My favourite of my 3 dishes was the pulled duck appetizer.  Served on a small tortilla shell.  Lots of flavour from this dish.  The duck was succulent and garlic added nice flavour to the duck.  Add a bit of Mexican hot sauce to this dish for an added kick.

The main course, the BC bison striploin, was a bit gristly. Hopefully this was just something I came across and it was not something you encounter.  Topped with this was a empanita, which looked like a tiny tortellini. It had blue cheese inside. To me blue cheese and beefy meat goes together well.

Tres leche cake

The tres leche cake was topped with a lemon ice cream.  The cake was very rich and sweet, and there was also a bit of saltiness with the crunchy topping.

I also tried the Taqueria – Battered Baja rockfish, jicama slaw y chipotle aioli appetizer and the Wild Mexican Sea prawns Pipian verde, butter browned corn arepas.  Both were excellent.  The sea prawns are a bit spicy, so avoid dipping them in the Pipian verde sauce.  They are very juicy on their own.

Enjoy!

Canadian Culinary Federation Culinaire Canadienne Chef’s Conference Is Almost Here!

Have you heard that Vancouver is hosting a national chef’s conference, June 12-15? That is next week! There are opportunities for the public to attend some of these events, and sample the fantastic food created by these chefs.

The Canadian Culinary Federation (CCF) was founded in 1963 and incorporated in Ottawa as a non-profit association in 1972. Since its inception, the federation has enjoyed a deep and long-standing tradition as Canada’s true representation of the professional chef and cook. Further details about the conference, please visit the conference website.

Some Events You Can Attend:

• Canadian National Chefs (CCFCC) Competitions Dinner presented by Unilever Food Solutions 6/10/11 4:30PM – 7:30PM
• Global Chefs (WACS) Challenge Dinner 6/11/11 5PM – 8:30PM
• WACS Hans Bueschkens Chefs Challenge Lunch 6/12/11 12:30PM – 4PM
• Tastes of CCFCC Canada – Opening Reception 6/12/11 5PM – 10PM
• Breakfast with Chef Rob Feenie 6/13/11 7AM – 9AM (Very cool)
• CCFCC Seminar Day Pass, Monday June 13 6/13/11 9:30AM – 7/4/11 5PM
• Lunch with Chef Dana Reinhardt and Karen Barnaby featuring a panel on Women in the Industry 6/13/11 12PM – 2:30PM
• Aboriginal Potlatch Supper 6/13/11 6PM – 10PM

and much more!  You can buy tickets for these and other events at this web link.

You can see me at the Aboriginal Potlach Supper on Monday and Dragon Feast of the Century Luncheon in Richmond on Tuesday. The Potlach supper includes food and wine pairings.  I’m really looking forward to it.  I’ll be blogging about it before then and during the event.  Enjoy!

Come and Enjoy Hart House’s 2011 Summer Garden Party Series

If you have never been to Hart House at Deer Lake in Burnaby, you should go.  The grounds are beautiful and the food is top quality.  If that is not enough incentive, Hart House is announcing their upcoming 2011 Summer Garden Party Series.  Here is there announcement below.  Enjoy!

Hart House at Deer Lake is pleased to announce the dates for our 2011 summer garden party series. Each evening starts with a casual wine tasting from the featured region, followed by an al fresco dinner on our estate lawn overlooking tranquil Deer Lake . Guests may purchase wine from a specially-selected wine list to pair with their food. Each event also features live music.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 – Lobster Feast Join us as we celebrate the change of seasons with wine samplings, fresh Nova Scotia lobster, and festive Maritime music. $ 60.00 per person, plus taxes and gratuity

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 – Italian Garden Party Wines from Italy and a Mediterranean menu will make this relaxed midsummer evening one to remember. Stroll through our estate lawns & flower gardens at the height of their glory. $52.00 per person, plus taxes and gratuity

Wednesday, August 13, 2011 – Provence Combining Old and New World pleasures, this event features French wines paired with French-inspired cuisine made with fresh ingredients from the local countryside. $52.00 per person, plus taxes and gratuity

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 – Spain Enjoy top Spanish wines and local seafood prepared with a Spanish flair at this celebration of Spain ’s culinary heritage. $52.00 per person, plus taxes and gratuity

Reservations are available by phone only at 604-298-4278. Hart House at Deer Lake 6664 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby

Helping to Choose Your Wedding Wines

Your wedding is coming up. So many details to plan for. But for many, knowing which wines to pick, can be daunting. One way to help relieve this pressure is to have a wine tasting in your home with someone knowledgeable about wine, like me!

Whether you contact me or someone else, look for someone that has WSET (Wine Spirit Education Trust) or ISG (International Sommelier Guild) certification. Tell him/her what food you will be serving, as this is an important factor. Also tell them what style of wine you like. Do you like big red wines, soft wines, wines with lots of citrus flavour, Okanagan wines, etc.?

Your wine guide for the evening should pick 4 or 5 white and 4 or 5 red wines for tasting. It would help if you could have similar food to nibble on at the same time, as you would have at your wedding.  Having someone with a wine background can help, especially if you want something quite specific.  For example, if you love Pinot Noir wine, the person arranging your wine selection, should ask you about some Pinots that you have enjoyed in the past, and use that information to maybe select some wines from Burgundy, Oregon, California, and New Zealand, which all produce very nice Pinot Noir wines, and have different styles.  Even within one country, there can be different styles of Pinot Noir produced (e.g. Try a Pinot Noir from Marlborough and then one from Central Otago in New Zealand).

I would love to help make your wedding spectacular.  I do offer custom wine tastings, so please give me a try if you are in the Vancouver area.  Here is a link to my Private Wine Tasting page. Otherwise if you are elsewhere in the world, try searching online for WSET  or ISG courses and talk to an instructor, or go to a private wine shop and ask there.  Have a great wedding!

Banana Bread with Vidal Icewine Pairing

Today I made a batch of banana bread and thought about what to pair it with. Sifting through my memory, I thought that Mission Hill Winery’s Vidal Icewine (or their Late Harvest) would fit the bill. The Vidal grape has a honey and tropical fruit aroma and flavour. Banana from the banana bread is a tropical fruit, so it should mesh beautifully. While the bread is cooling, I am writing this article.

In case you would like to try this pairing, here is the recipe that I use for banana bread. It comes from the “Centennial Cookbook” and the recipe is by a lady named Lil Karpyshyn. I’ve made a few modifications, to make the recipe my own.

Banana Bread Recipe

1.25 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
dash of vanilla
3/4 cup oil (I use canola)
2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups mashed bananas (2.5 bananas)
1/4 cup raisins

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla till creamy. Slowly add in oil. In a separate bowl, mix flour, making soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix in the mashed bananas and the raisins. Pour into the loaf pan. Bake for 55 minutes. Test with a toothpick. It should come out dry.

Indulge and enjoy with the Vidal Icewine!

Red Door #dineout Wine and Food Pairing was Delicious

Thursday night’s Dine Out Vancouver meal was at Red Door Pan Asian Grill on Granville (2996 Granville Street, http://www.reddoor.ca).  The menu I selected was:

• Indonesian Chicken Satays Served with peanut and spicy plum sauce. (appetizer)
• Spicy Ginger Beef Tender slices of crispy beef, spicy Thai chili peppers, served with Mongolian noodles and vegetables. (Main course)
• Curry-Butterscotch Pot de Crème Buterscotch custard spiked with a mild curry and aged Scotch. Topped with chocolate ganache and rice pearls. (Dessert)

To pair with this food, Red Door was offering a flight of 3 red wines (2oz), consisting of: Sumac Ridge Black Sage Vineyard Merlot, Mission Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, and Red Rooster Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot blend. The Merlot was quite round with cherry fruit.  The Cabernet Sauvignon was much more full-bodied, heavier mouthfeel, with ripe cherry flavour.  The Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot blend I think was the lightest bodied of the three reds that evening.  Sorry it was quite dark in the restaurant, which is good for ambiance but makes it difficult to take detailed wine notes.

The satay chicken was ok.  The dipping sauce was interesting with ginger mixed in with the ground peanuts.  The Sumac Ridge Merlot was a nice pairing with the satay chicken.  It was not too heavy in flavour compared to the satay.

The Spicy Ginger Beef was deep fried slices of beef in a dark soy sauce with spice and a bit of sweetness.  The noodles had a bit of ginger in them.  The beef needed a full-bodied wine to handle the amount of flavour from this dish.  The perfect pairing was the Mission Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  The fruit of the wine balanced out the spice of the beef, the tannins in the wine balanced against the bit of sweetness in the beef.

I didn’t have any of my three wines with the dessert.  The Curry-Butterscotch Pot de Crème was perfect on it’s own.  The hint of curry mixed with the butterscotch was remarkable, and topping it with the chocolate ganache and crunchy rice pearls was over the top. 

I recommend trying out Red Door Pan Asian Grill. Enjoy!

White Wine, Artichokes, & Fish for Dinner

I love eating fish. There are the local fish that we all know and enjoy like salmon, halibut, ling cod, and red snapper. But there are also fish brought across from South East Asia and Australia. Some fish you might want to try are Milkfish, Barramundi, or Tilapia.  There are many more fish.  Try visiting the T&T Supermarket.

I have a recipe that I like to use with a white fleshed fish. I use halibut, but cod, sole, and other fish can be used. I did mention other Asian fish, and I will in a future blog talk about a nice way to cook tilapia and a wine pairing for it.

Fish with Artichokes

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups sliced mushrooms (optional)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup dry white wine (chardonnay, pinot grigio)
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 large fish fillets (halibut or rock cod)
1 18 oz can of marinated artichoke hearts (cut in half)
Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil, then add the mushrooms and dried herbs.  After the mushrooms start to soften add the lemon juice, wine and salt.  Simmer for a few minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 deg F.  Place the fillets in an oiled wide Pyrex baking dish.  Do not put the fillets on top of each other.  Cover with the sauce you just made.  Then add the halved artichoke hearts.  Also pour a bit of the artichoke marinade on top, then partly cover the baking dish and put in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes (you may have to check if the fish is flaky).  Thicker fillets could take longer.

If you don’t like mushrooms, you can substitute with a small zucchini sliced into rounds.  Finally pour yourself a glass of the white wine that you used in the dish and relax.  Serve with some white rice and a salad.  Simple.

An unoaked or very lightly oaked chardonnay or a pinot grigio would work well.  Greata Ranch Chardonnay from BC, Errazuriz Chardonnay from Chile, Mission Hill Five Vineyards Pinot Grigio, or Dirty Laundry Pinot Gris from BC are some options for you.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and wine pairing.

Cuatro Restaurant in Maui

Last week I was lucky enough to vacation in Kihei, Maui. I had read good reviews about a Latin/Asian fusion restaurant called Cuatro, so decided to drop in, try their food, and enjoy a nice glass of wine.

Instead of ordering a main dish, and maybe missing out on many gems, we ordered 3 appetizers (pupus as the Hawaiians call them) dessert, and of course a nice glass of wine.  My wine selection was the La Czar Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Sonoma Mountain.  I had not come across this wine before in Vancouver.  I have read a bit about it since.  The vineyards for this wine are on east facing slopes at elevation, which gives the grapes morning warmth, but then coolness at night.  This enhances the flavour in the grapes yet keeps the acidity in the grape, which means that you will get a wine with good fruit flavour and refreshing acidity.  This Sauvignon Blanc, was very elegant.  It was not as high in acid as some New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but still enough to make your palate water.  The aromas and flavours were flowery with some citrus. Nice.

The appetizers were:
– Duck Breast Quesadilla,
– Calamari, and
– Seared Ahi Tuna on Roasted Vegetables.

The star of the appetizers to me was the Seared Ahi Tuna on Roasted Vegetables. The tuna was done just right.  Nice and red in the centre. A latin (cumin, chile) spice mixture was applied to the tuna before grilling.  It was topped with a caper condiment, then the plate had a creamy sauce with balsamic vinegar.  The La Czar Sauvignon Blanc went nicely with the tuna, balancing out the many flavours in the tuna.

The Calamari appetizer was cooked perfectly.  No chewy squid here.  The batter was nice and light, and the acidity in the wine balanced the deep fried calamari and the creamy dipping sauce.  The duck breast quesadilla came with 3 different sauces: a salsa, guacamole, and a slightly sweet creamy sauce. I liked the duck with the salsa the most.

The dessert was Ice Cream with Fruit and Caramel Sauce, and it was big enough for 2 people to share. It came with two scoops of vanilla ice cream,  chopped fresh berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and banana), and topped with caramel.  Too bad they did not have any late harvest wine on the menu to pair with it.  Quite an enjoyable evening.

If you are vacationing in Kihei, drop by Cuatro. Cheers.

MyWinePal visits Mistral French Bistro

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so I decided to have lunch at Mistral French Bistro in Kitsilano. I’d never been there before but have heard that the food is very good. I checked through their website to see that they have 4 Fixed Price menus for lunch. All around the $20 mark, that includes appetizer, main course and dessert. A very good deal in my opinion.

So my selection was the “Provence” lunch ($20). My selections for my lunch were:

Appetizer: Assortment of traditional Provencal appetizers – Mediterranean black olive spread with croutons, Puree of creamed Cod, Anchovy and garlic dipping sauce with crisp celery

Main: Braised lamb shoulder stew with olives Nicoise and seasonal vegetables, house French Fries

Dessert: Dark Chocolate mousse

To the appetizer and Main course, I enjoyed a glass of L’ORANGERAIE Rose 2009. This wine is from Vin de Pays d’Oc, France and is a mixture of 60% Cinsault, 20% Grenache, 20% Syrah. The wine had nice light cherry flavour, nice acidity, and low tannins. This rose went very nice with the Provencal appetizers and balanced the heaviness of the stew.

The appetizers were quite nice. In particular I enjoyed the black olive spread (tapenade) together with the radish. The saltiness of the tapenade and the pepperiness of the radish cancelled each other out, letting more fully enjoy the olive flavour and the crunchiness of the radish.

The braised lamb shoulder stew was quite amazing. Many different flavours merged together. The stew sauce had the herbes de Provence. There were fresh baby carrots and beans as well and turnip that exploded with flavour. The vegetables still had a nice amount of crispness to them and provided nice texture to the lamb.

The chocolate mousse for dessert was fantastic. I enjoyed it with a cup of coffee. A truly enjoyable lunch.

To check out their other fixed price menus, you can click on this link to the Mistral French Bistro. Enjoy!