Okay, this is a diet I can get behind. The Zone actually lists 4 oz of wine and 1 oz of cheese on the acceptable snacks. First day of food delivery and it was so nummy. I have a broccoli, cheese and chicken casserole for lunch (just no rice or pasta go to with); apples, cheese and almonds for snack; and turkey chili for dinner. All delivered conveniently to my door nightly in a little cooler and microwaveable containers.
I am very seriously considering a road trip down the Oregon and California coasts this summer when I get my mythical time off. Frida is ready for her first road trip.
Look how pretty Oregon is:
And California:
I eat out way too much - not that I don’t love eating out, and being served, but it’s definitely a weakness. In the past few weeks I’ve had some great meals and tried some places that are new to me, and some new to town.
Jupiter Cafe - Always one of my favourite patios. Had some delicious scallops last time we were there on a Friday night. Unfortunately that was all I had with quite a bit of wine so that wasn’t too fun the next morning.
Chambar - Mmmm…steak…otherwise known as “Steak aux echalottes et porto. Grilled flatiron beef, fondant potato, buttered kale, shallots, green peppercorn & port jus.” It was good but next time I want to try the “Fillet d’agneau baba ganoush. Crisp phyllo, herb & olive wrapped lamb tenderloin, baba ganoush, mint & beet salad. ”
Alibi Room - I actually didn’t eat here lately but we do go for brunch once in a while. I did go to a wedding and they served the cutest mini hamburgers.
Incendio - Always a good choice for comfort food. Again, I had the steak with creamy mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. Plus a few extra orders of their famous bread. My other favourite is the dijon chicken pasta, and Ry eats the gorgonzola with broccoli so I always steal some.
Curious - We went on a Wednesday night recently and were there from 6 pm to 9 pm. Over that time, only one other table was in the entire place. I really like the food - particularly the firecracker broccoli and the beef tenderloin.
Century Restaurant and Bar - 432 Richards St..hmm..they had a web site before. Okay, one of my favourite meals in ages. The service was outstanding (and the server was hot). We shared the avocado mousse (guacamole), the crab burritos (in crepes) and I had the cod. All amazing. Thank you nice server man.
Transylvania Flavour - I think that I have eaten here every hungover Saturday for the past month at least. Seems the cabbage rolls are the perfect cure to what ails you.
The Annex - Okay, call me confused. This wee place in our ‘hood got number two best new restaurant in Vancouver ahead of Habit and Lolita’s, and just behind Nu. So, we checked it out. It was fine. I don’t know if I would go back since our chips were kind of stale and the spinach dip had peppers (not my favourite, but not their fault). We also had their signature dish - chicken marsala with jasmine rice and it was lukewarm. I was under whelmed, but they seemed nice.
Joe’s Grill (Davie) - They still serve some of my favourite hash browns in Vancouver and never a spot of salad on the plates (a bonus as I am against salad for brunch). I always like the eggs benedict. Too much.
Stella’s Tap and Tapas Bar - I’m still loving Stella’s, although after another brunch there, I am loving the eggs benedict on the croissant a lot less as it is hard to eat (falls apart, gets mushy, etc). I love that the owner is always so keen to know how things went. Nice man. I do prefer evenings though for tapas.
Sash Brasserie - We couldn’t get into Stella’s on Friday night as there were too many of us girls out on the town, so we went to Sash - formerly Bukowski’s. I used to love Bukowski’s and was very sad when it closed, but Sash was good. We had some fusion pakoras/tempura, some great tuna gyoza and an amazing mushroom stuffed with goat cheese and black pepper and served with crab legs. I was happy.
El Patio - Never let’s you down. Sangria numbs you, but the restaurant is nothing if not consistent. We had a reservation for six on Saturday night which somehow turned into more like twelve. Seven pitchers of sangria later (it seemed like more) and tons of tapas, we were having a party. They have changed the menu and now have more entrees and things like dry ribs and chicken fingers, but the staples were there.
Less than two months left until my vacation starts and I am still carrying post-election weight. Boot camp was great, but that trip to NY ended those early morning workouts and I mostly built muscle, not lost weight - which is cool, but not what I wanted before bikini season.
So, this week I start a new tactic - meal delivery. Because I tend to overeat at work on those days when I get too busy to cook the night before, this will hopefully be a good kick start. It will also help me get those restaurant bills down a bit as I have been sampling a lot of good food in the past month.
The Specialty Gourmet delivers diet meals - I am going to try the Zone - to your home nightly so you are ready for the next day. Have you seen Jennifer Aniston’s body?
This Zone idea must be worth something. With not much time left until my glorious summer vacation starts, this seems worth a try. I’ll keep you up to date!
I love Mexican food and when a new place opens in Gastown and it gets good reviews, I was hoping it would be great.
Bottom line - I have not had one good experience in those 8 times I have gone to La Casita.
After many years of being envious of others who get to go to Campaigns and Elections schools, I finally get to go to Washington, DC this June. Yay, Washington!
I am totally loving this recipe…I added chicken broth to my rice.
Greek Turkey Skillet
1 1/2 cups rice
1 6-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts
3/4 pound turkey breast
1/2 cup canned black olives
Crumbled feta cheese
Cook the rice.
Drain the artichoke hearts, reserving 2 tablespoons of marinade.
Quarter the artichoke hearts and slice the turkey breast and black olives.
Heat 1 tablespoon of reserved marinade in a large non-stick skillet.
Cut the turkey breast in strips and cook the strips 3 to 5 minutes until browned.
Stir in the drained rice, the artichoke hearts, the olives and remaining tablespoon of marinade and cook 2 to 3 minutes more until combined.
Top with crumbled feta cheese.
Makes 4 servings.
I got up and went for a run this morning. On my own. No boot camp. After not having been at boot camp for a couple weeks, it was a good start toward exercising on my own, but I seriously think I have never once in my life gone for a run on my own or without being forced. Trying to do situps and pushups will be more a challenge at home with the cats jumping on me, but I got a few of those in too. So very odd.
This Thursday, May 4, is Go! Gastown, a Gastown arts, culture, retail and restaurant crawl from 4 pm to 10 pm.
May be worth checking out….
We keep forgetting about the Annex when looking for our Friday night venue. Somehow this relatively new little restaurant (only open for weekday lunch and Thursday to Saturday from 6 p.m. until late) got the #2 best new restaurant in Vancouver in this years Golden Plate awards (#1 was Nu).
Other exciting new things in the ‘hood. Well, let me tell you! We were very sad to see that Hitz Boutique had closed on Granville as it had been there since we were wee girls. However this week I see in the Straight that it has simply relocated to be closer to me. So sweet. Hitz is now located at 316 Cordova Street although I didn’t notice it when we went into Dream today on our “walk.”
