I was lunching at Fuel for one last time last week when it suddenly dawned on me that I had never written about what has been my top Kits restaurant pick for the past year. I wish this was less of a eulogy, but better late than never to go over the top three things I love about Fuel.

And who knows…maybe Fuel will listen to this little piece of mine and consider keeping these items around for the next incarnation.

1) Sitting by the open kitchen

There are only two circumstances where I would prefer to sit at the bar for a meal: a) when I’m dining solo and b) when I get to watch my meal being prepared.

The latter is why I prefer to take a barstool seat in front of Fuel’s open kitchen. Like my experience at Atlanta’s Two Urban Licks, eating by the kitchen allows me to watch the staff work their magic and whet my appetite with the sizzle of the grill and the aromas that waft my way as each plate comes together.

It also gives opportunity to converse with the people closest to the food and ask them questions: what’s in season? Where did you source your ingredients? How’d you make that amazing sauce?

2) Business lunch set menus

When I have a client or business partner that I want to impress, I usually take them to Fuel.

They offer $25 and $35 “business lunch” set menus, guaranteed from start to finish to take 45 minutes or less. Fuel won’t rush you if you wanted to dally, but it helps to know that they will accommodate 1-hour schedules and won’t mind when you whip out a laptop while you eat.

I’ve been able to get Wifi access and outlet power during all the business lunches I’ve had, so if you might need these services, ask – it may be something that they routinely offer.

3) Fried Chicken Fridays

The fried chicken special offered for lunch on Fridays is the main reason that I’ve been able to return so often to Fuel without draining my disposable income for the month. The $20 combo includes a beer plus 3 pieces of buttermilk battered chicken, seasonal greens, a butter-laden biscuit, and housemade gravy that I cannot get enough of.

They’ve improved the recipe since my first Fried Chicken Friday visit, now dunking said chicken twice into the buttermilk batter for extra crisp. Should this plate pass over to the new restaurant’s menu in December – and better yet, should this become a regular item not just to be enjoyed on Fridays – I suspect that I’ll become a familiar face at lunchtime in the Kitsilano area.

Fuel Restaurant
1944 W 4th Ave | Kitsilano
(604) 288-7905

I imagine that it doesn’t happen often – not unless, like me, you happen to live in one of them and your husband is in love with the glamour of the other.

Here’s our take on the two Daniel Boulud outfits in our hometown of Vancouver and our weekend getaway of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Daniel Boulud Brasserie (Las Vegas)

It was our first night in Sin City and my first day ever in this town of gambling and glitz when we strolled into the plush Wynn for our 6pm seating at DB Brasserie.

The ostentatious luxury that the Wynn oozed was certainly present in this restaurant. We were ushered to a patio table that overlooked a vast pond and an even more expansive waterfall, where we were told by our server, Paco, was the site of a light show and froggy song-and-dance as the evening waned. Puzzled by this description, we shrugged and looked at the menu.

Prices were sky high as to be expected of this town and of a restaurant of this reputation. My husband decided on the 3-course prix fixe. It was affordable at under $40 USD, but the quantities sounded enormous. I opted for 1 dish: a duo of beef containing Boulud’s signature slow-braised short ribs. That alone exceeded Kurt’s order by nearly $10, but I could at least expect to minimize food waste.

I should have just ordered a soup, because the kitchen adorned us with amuses and petit fours anyhow. However, I am incredibly glad that I had ordered the duo, because the short ribs were unbelievably spectacular. Worth every penny that we paid; I only wish it hadn’t been paired with a tenderloin. While clearly of good quality, it was so overwhelmed by the goodness of the short ribs that it somehow detracted from the discovery.

By the time dessert came round, the American portions had gotten to both of us, and Kurt declined the dessert that came with his meal. Paco, perhaps concerned that we weren’t enjoying our food, may have had something to do with the kitchen finding out about Kurt’s 30th birthday and sent him a molten ganache cake with a special message written on the plate. They threw something in for me since I was just sitting there…and then came the petit fours!

Combined with the show on the pond, meeting Chef, and the tremendous customer service of Paco and the rest of the front of the house, we had ourselves a good time indeed.

DB Bistro Moderne (Vancouver)

It was with this extreme experience in our short-term memory that we found ourselves at the Daniel Boulud restaurant in Kitsilano less than 3 weeks later, this time to celebrate our 3-year wedding anniversary in style. [Hmm - that's a lot of 3's.]

Incredibly, DB Bistro held up to its glamourous Vegas counterpart. No crazy hotel or giant pond frog with the voice of Louis Armstrong, but each dish exuded the same quality of taste that we first had in Nevada.

Each dish was again sized for American tastes: much too large for the smaller, multi-course portioning we are accustomed to in the West Coast. For the second time, Kurt declined the dessert that came with his prix fixe menu. For the second time, our server conveyed to the kitchen that we were celebrating our anniversary, adding also that we had homemade pie waiting for us at home.

You’d think that it would cause the kitchen to take a hint and simply send us off with a small plate of petit fours… instead, they chose the lightest of their desserts, wrote “Happy Anniversary” on the plate, and watched as we ate every last bite and thanked them for their thoughtfulness.

One thing’s for sure – if you are in a Daniel Boulud city and you celebrate a special occasion with them, make sure they know of it, because they’ll treat you like royalty.

A few years ago, Bruce introduced me to the existence of The Eatery by way of linking me to its very-Astroboy website. Upon first glimpse, I had to try it. God only knows how much I loved my fill of Astroboy on the CBC cartoon slate.

The place was dark, loud, and crowded, with anime-pop blaring from every speaker and Art Deco-ness bursting from every corner. The lounge had space-age display cabinets proudly boasting its Astroboy figurine collection. From the ceiling hung a giant lizard of styrofoam, every inch covered in 80’s toy memorabilia. The Kits crowd was there in full force, with several large groups and one particularly rowdy birthday party. Near the storefront, the windows were covered by a screen with a very cheesy samurai film projected onto it. Above the movie was a neon-blue sign: “cool since 1983″. A TV in the upper corner was dedicated to an acid trip of “The Eatery” vignettes. I loved it!

Flash forward to present day. We’ve been to The Eatery at least a dozen times since our first visit and have consistently been impressed with the rolls we ordered. Similar to Alpha, one of my favourite japanese tapas bars, Eatery rolls do not need the usual accompaniment of soy sauce and wasabi. Whatever sauces it came drizzled with were more than enough. In fact, despite the unusual combinations of ingredients, each dish has its own cohesive flavour. It’s hard to describe.

In the dragon roll, for example, one doesn’t taste the eel and prawn tempura separately; the flavour and texture melded together so well that it just tastes like…well, “dragon roll”. I’m probably not helping you much with this description, but this place is definitely something you should experience if you love sushi as we do.

Here are some of the other dishes we’ve tried over the years. You can tell how long we’ve been enjoying them by the quality of the photo (I didn’t always have an SLR, you know).

Pepperjack Sesame Chicken Gyoza – $4.95 (5pcs) or $9.45 (10pcs)

Compared to the sushi, which were amazing, this was only so-so. I’ve had better gyoza at Ebi Ten (which isn’t saying much). Wouldn’t order this again unless we’re really craving gyoza, and if so, I’d go with the normal pork variety. The one thing I did like about it was that it was just swimming in gyoza sauce; mmm, sauce.

Dragon Roll – $7.75

BBQ eel over tempura prawns, avocado, and cucumber

I ordered this out of sheer curiosity and was very pleased by the outcome. It was my favourite of the three that we ordered. You have to try it yourself–it’s indescribably good.

Rock’N'Roll – $5.95

Crab, scallop, mayo, roe, cucumber, tempura crisps

Mild and light, with a crispy texture resulting from the mound of tempura topping. Nice complement to the super-spicy Volcano and the super-savoury Dragon roll. The mayo and roe helped to combine all the separate ingredients into one moist and lip-smacking bite.

The Volcano – $8.50

Tuna, scallops, salmon, avocado–tempura style–on a bed of spicy crab

This dish is less sushi and more of an entree. Four or five large pieces of tempura-ed sushi containing all of the above, topped with what seems to be a spicy red sauce (called dragon sauce, I think) and some sort of mayo. They aren’t stingy at all with the crab bed, which was absolutely delicious. We usually have to alternate between eating one of these pieces and the other rolls, as the spice level is cumulative.

We almost always order this dish when we visit.

Erotica Roll – $6.95

Avocado, salmon, tuna with roe and mayo over crab and cucumber

One of our regular orders for its colour, bite-by-bite contrast, and roe/mayo goodness.

Tataki Attack – $6.95

Crab, scallop, avocado and mayo wrapped with seared albacore tuna

On returning to this place with Bruce last month, this roll has replaced the Dragon Roll as my favourite. Buttery texture, light and smooth.

Fat Elvis – $6.75

Slices of tempura avocado topped with tomatoes, green onions and unagi mayo

I am addicted to avocado so this was a natural menu selection. Would have liked more seasoning on the avocado. Perhaps it needed more salt? Other than that, it was fatty and melt-in-your-mouth good like only avocado can be.

Zen Maki – $6.95

Crab, tuna, salmon, prawn, unagi, scallop, cucumber, asparagus, avocado, roe

Ginormous roll that you have to eat in several bites (me), or risk chewing with an overstuffed mouth for 5 minutes (Bruce). Not bad–I probably would have liked it better if I could have had all the ingredients on my palate at the same time.

Miss Piggy Roll – $6.50

Bacon, scallops, asparagus, roe, unagi sauce

Salty for a maki, considering all the bacon, but it was pretty good. I had focussed more on the other stuff we ordered, though.

Wednesday is my breather from the frenzy of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.  I’ll be back in the scene in some way, shape, or form on Thursday and Friday.  Till then, please enjoy this collection of Wine Fest recaps from the official and alternative presses, which I will continue to update as new stuff comes in.

From the wire

Reports from TV, radio, mags, and rags:

• Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is just around the corner (Anthony Gismondi, The Vancouver Sun)
• BC wines face homecoming test (Alexandra Gill, The Globe and Mail)
• Good Eats: B.C. wines take centre stage at Vancouver Playhouse Int. Wine Festival (Bruce Stephen, North Shore Outlook)
• Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival Launches (Anya Levykh, Metro Vancouver)
• Reality Check in Vancouver (Peter Mitham, Wines & Vines)
• Playhouse Wine Fest Cheat Sheet (David Scholefield, Vancouver Magazine)

From the blogosphere

What bloggers and online publications have been saying:

• How to Survive the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival 2009 (The Blog According to Buzz)
• International Wine Fest 2009: live coverage of BC wines at Earls and West (Tiny Bites)
• Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival – Day 1 (Wine Bard)
• Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival Begins! (Full-Bodied)
• Winefest Blog #269: The 1st Day In The Big Shoes Of Sid Cross (Scout Magazine)
• WineFest Blog #628: Dinner At Bishop’s And 17 Again At Boneta (Scout Magazine)
• Wine Festival Kick Off (Urban Diner)
• Joy in a Glass (Urban Diner)
• The 2009 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival Kicks Off (Vinifico)
• WineFest Blog #270: Heidi Noble As Globe & Mail “Flashpoint” (Scout Magazine)
• International Wine Fest 2009: live coverage of Caymus Vineyards at CinCin (Tiny Bites)
• WineFest Blog #271: Sid Cross Shares His CinCin Tasting Notes (Scout Magazine)
• 2009 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival – Brunello, Barolo and Beyond… event (Vinifico)
• WineFest Blog #272: 2 Wines And 20 Vintages With Sid Cross (Scout Magazine)
• WineFest Blog #273: The Trade Tasting & Mike Bernardo’s Shoe (Scout Magazine, with a gallery containing my photography)
• CedarCreek Winemaker Dinner at Bishops (City Food Magazine)
• Make Wine She Said: Divas at the Met (City Food Magazine)
• New Wines to Try at the Festival: Pink Elephant Sparkling (City Food Magazine)
• Vancouver WineFest Thursday Trade Tasting Report (Full-Bodied)
• Andrea Vescovi Named Sommelier of the Year (Urban Diner)
• Caymus Wine Dinner At Cincin (Urban Diner)
• 2009 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival – Beringer Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Vertical Tasting (Vinifico)
• 2009 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival – Wine folks talk about their wines and the value of social media (Vinifico)
• WineFest Blog #274: Spit Bucket Barricades & Fashionistas (Scout Magazine)
• *News Flash* 2010 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (Wine Bard)
• WineFest Blog #295: Five Days And Nights & Still Going Strong (Scout Magazine)
• Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival – Summary (Wine Bard)

From the Twitterverse

Trying out yet more fun tech. Below is a feed of the most recent Twitter musings that have been tagged by the official hashtag of the event, #vpiwf.

If you’d like to see the full collection of #vpiwf commentary, you can look it up on Twemes, which has the added benefit of showing you all Flickr photos (like mine) tagged with vpiwf.

Update: Wine Fest personalities on Twitter

Would you like to know which participating wineries to follow after the Wine Fest winds down?  Here’s a list to start you off.

• @township7 – Township 7, BC
• @blackcloudwine – Black Cloud Wine, BC
• @dfwinery – Dunham & Froese, BC
• @stoneboat – Stoneboat Vineyards, BC
• @road13vineyards – Road 13 Vineyards, BC
• @prospectwinery – Prospect Winery, BC
• @tinhorncreek – Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, BC
• @sokolblosser – Sokol Blosser Winery, Oregon

I had a heck of a time finding many participants on Twitter from outside of BC, although there are at least 60 wineries on Twitter from around the world. Please help me flag down any wineries that you follow that were represented at this year’s Wine Fest.

Share Wine Fest news with me

Help me add to this Wine Fest round-up by dropping a comment with related articles on the interwebs.

Festival Gallery

Here is my share of visual documentation of this week’s festivities. Click on a thumbnail and use the Prev and Next buttons to navigate through the rest.

After much back and forth, I’ve decided to simply link you to the page where the originally embedded Global BC video invite lives. I hate clips that autoplay, no matter how great an overview this video may be for Dining Out for Life.

Watch the 20 second clip here >

It occurred to me that I’d never paid attention to Dining Out for Life. One day each year, over 200 restaurants in the Lower Mainland are patronized by thousands of diners for the express purpose of “filling their plates to fight AIDS”. 25% of all proceeds goes to A Loving Spoonful and Friends for Life: local charities  that support people living with HIV / AIDS.

While the event has certainly not gone unnoticed by our household, I can’t recall ever making a point to participate; we dine out fairly often, after all. My sense of social responsibility grabbed me by the ear this time. My ear was pulled even further when Eagranie of The Well-Tempered Chocolatier declared her early commitment to the cause (bravo, my dear). I decided to follow her lead by also volunteering my pen, lens, and time as a Dining Out for Life Restaurant Ambassador.

The DOFL planning team acquiesced to my request to help at a restaurant that I’ve never eaten at before. They wound up assigning me to Tomato Fresh Food Cafe–once an institution on the Cambie corridor and now a neighbourhood contender on the Broadway strip of Kitsilano.

Now, I wouldn’t ask you to come out to Tomato Cafe without scouting it out for you in advance, so here are my notes, scribbled at said Cafe from 4pm to 7pm tonight, t-minus 1 week to the start of Dining Out for Life.

4pm at Tomato Fresh Food Cafe – Arrival and first tastes

Soon after I settled into a booth with a good view of the open kitchen, I was greeted by chef James Campbell, who had noticed my photo documentation and came to say hello. I introduced myself as their Restaurant Ambassador and proceeded to peruse the menu for something good to try.

My visit could have been better timed. Between 3 and 5, the kitchen grills shut down to prep for dinner service. I had to make do with the afternoon menu, which was described by my server as a selection of cold sandwiches and salads. Sandwiches are pretty far down on my list of food favourites, so I was a little disheartened. My countenance brightened, however, at the presence of soup on the menu.

Today’s soups were a Manhattan clam chowder and a Thai chickpea curry. I opted for a cup of the latter. It was gone in literally a minute; I was hooked after the first few bites. It was like some entity had possessed my being and threw the soup into my mouth in rapid-fire swallows.

My sadness at the soup’s quick demise was washed away by a glass of the Heavenly Cleanse: a juice medley of carrot, apple, lemon, and ginger. It was at once harmonious and distinct – the flavours worked well together without losing their identities completely. It is also an unusual blend; not my first choice for diners that do not tend to eat out of the box.

4:30pm – Round 2

While I waited for the grills to fire, I skipped ahead and ordered one of Tomato Cafe’s desserts: a warm Banana Foster cake. The mascarpone ice cream was eager to slide off the top of the cake. I rushed to snap a photo while it was still upright.

Loved the small details. There were curlicues of caramel sauce and a ring of miniscule banana slices that were intermediary between cake and ice cream. A leaf of coconut tuile poked out from the mascarpone in defiance of gravity.

5:30pm – Round 3

Now that the kitchen was afire for dinner, I placed my order for one of the many personal favourites pointed out to me by my new server, Khristine.

The seared bay scallops were my choice for winding down my taste test. This $13 starter was served on a bed of pea and asparagus risotto. The portion I received would have been suitable for a standalone light meal; after soup, juice, and cake, my belly could barely take this much more. But I managed to eat every last bite.

Had I not prefaced my dinner with an abundance of snacks, I would have likely tried the Bouillabaisse du Pacifique or the tagliatelle with wild sea prawns and long stem artichokes. Both are Ocean Wise – bonus. Ah well…it gives me something to try on subsequent visits, including next week on Thursday, March 12th.

Will you drop by for dinner on March 12, 2009?

If I’ve gotten you interested in Tomato Cafe, please consider joining me on Thursday in support of Dining Out for Life. It’d be lovely to meet you!

Tomato Fresh Food Cafe
2486 Bayswater Street (at Broadway) | Kitsilano
Reserve by phone: (604) 874-6020
Reserve by email: info@tomatofreshfoodcafe.com

(If Tomato Cafe is not your thing, check out where Eagranie is stationed or peruse the full list of participating restaurants for a place that you can endorse.)

After wading through the sea of comments, emails, text messages, and phone calls, I am happy to report that we:

• raised $305 $540 for the David Suzuki Foundation
• signed 4 7 people to the Nature Challenge, and
• had 1 person send letters to government reps using templates offered on the Take Action page

Even more people described what they would change in their lives to conserve nature and to strive towards sustainability. That’s great to hear! Make your pledge count by adding yourself to the team of 364,855 individuals that have taken on the Nature Challenge.

Great work everyone!

How do I donate to the David Suzuki Foundation?

Have yet to submit your pledge to the David Suzuki Foundation? Do you still want to donate to the cause?

Please complete the 4 steps below:

1. Visit this special Tiny Bites link to their online donation page
2. Fill out the 2-page form with your info and your donation amount. Feel free to make it on behalf of your restaurant or business. You’ll get a tax receipt and much gratitude from me if you donate $20 or more!
3. In the field marked Comments, please type in tinybites. This will help us track donations that are tied to this Blogathon effort. See the sample screenshot below
4. Write me a comment on this page to let me know of your contribution

What did you write about during the Blogathon?

Below is the full account of posts published during this 24-hour fundraising effort. If you didn’t get the chance to make a contribution during the course of the Blogathon, please consider making a donation today. You can think of it, like pledger Andrew does, as a subscription to restaurant reviews and other foodie content from Tiny Bites!

1. 10pm: Blogathon 2008 begins!
2. 10:30pm: Art & Gastronomy at the Autumn Brook Gallery
3. 11pm: Live pledge #1: Randy Pante
4. 11:30pm: A musical dinner at Hell’s Kitchen
5. 12am: More than just congee at the Congee Noodle House
6. 12:30am: Blogathon 2008: a water conservation tip from a supporter
7. 1am: A pre-salsa dinner at Hon’s
8. 1:30am: Salsa birthday eats at Habit
9. 2am: My direct encounter with David Suzuki
10. 2:30am: Blogathon 2008: pit stop #2 at Calhoun’s
11. 3am: Downtown pho at Saigon Venture Restaurant
12. 3:30am: Pies galore at A La Mode
13. 4am: Progress reports on Blogathon 2008 and the Nature Challenge
14. 4:30am: Exploring the drink menu at Alpha Global Sushi & Bar
15. 5am: Trial #1 of cornbread à la Memphis Blues
16. 5:30am: First impressions of Calhoun’s
17. 6am: Fine organic meats at Sebastian & Co
18. 6:30am: Thai on the water at Chilli House
19. 7am: My indirect encounter with David Suzuki
20. 7:30am: Blogathon 2008: Yaletown bound
21. 8am: Blueberries in season: celebrate with this blueberry-banana bread
22. 8:30am: Rouxbe.com Cooking School: the rolling technique
23. 9am: Keep an eye out for sustainable seafood
24. 9:30am: Keep an eye out for the Ocean Wise symbol
25. 10am: Blogathon 2008: halfway to the finish line!
26. 10:30am: Blogathon 2008: pit stop #3 at AGRO Cafe
27. 11am: Blogathon 2008: pledge your support by taking action
28. 11:30am: Cookies by George nostalgia
29. 12pm: How I discovered AGRO Cafe
30. 12:30pm: The relationship between caffeine and roasting coffee beans
31. 1pm: Recipe recap: beef coconut curry
32. 1:30pm: Blogathon 2008: family phone-ins to date
33. 2pm: Blogathon 2008: pit stop #4 at Brioche
34. 2:30pm: Crepe heaven is found at La Bretagne Creperie
35. 3pm: Cocoa, truffles, and more at Chocoatl Chocolate Boutique
36. 3:30pm: A taste of Turkey at Baghdad Cafe
37. 4pm: Blogathon 2008: the final stretch
38. 4:30pm: Progress report: will David Suzuki dig my garden?
39. 5pm: Blogathon 2008: pit stop #5 at Trees Organic Coffee
40. 5:30pm: Sometimes concert food can be good for you…
41. 6pm: Quick recap of our lunch at Brioche
42. 6:30pm: Pielicious delights at Savary Island Pie Company
43. 7pm: Yopo Cafe saves the (week)day
44. 7:30pm: A survey of cheesecake at Trees Organic Coffee
45. 8pm: Blogathon 2008: pit stop #6 at Boneta
46. 8:30pm: Visual previews of lunch at Goldfish
47. 9pm: Visual previews of So.Cial at Le Magasin
48. 9:30pm: First impressions of Boneta

Happy browsing!

One more note of thanks…

Many people contributed to the success of this fundraiser in other ways and must be recognized:

• Stephen and Jennifer of SalsaVancouver.net, for loaning me a Macbook so that I could take this campaign around the Wifi eateries of Vancouver
• Eli van der Glessen of the David Suzuki Foundation, for setting up a Tiny Bites donation tracker and providing links to useful resources and media materials
• My friend Jason, who printed out my blogathon in progress laptop banner in full colour
• Robert Kwon of Autumn Brook Gallery, who went out of his way to provide me with internet access and provided computer support throughout my stint at the gallery
• The staff of Calhoun’s for keeping me company during the lonely hours of 2-7am
• Matti of AGRO Cafe, for playing upbeat music while I blogged in the morning, giving me a sample of my first Clover light roast, and teaching me a little bit about the roasting process
• Eduardo and the staff of Brioche, for treating me to lunch and preparing a special dessert platter for me and my husband
• Mark, Jeremie, Andre, and Sean of Boneta, for allowing me to wrap up the Blogathon at their establishment and celebrate with a truly wonderful dinner. That gnocchi was to die for!
• Eileen, Steve, and my dear husband Kurt, for visiting me on the campaign trail
• My fellow Blogathoners for your superstar efforts on your own sites (Raul, Duane Storey, Rebecca Bollwitt, Shane Gibson, Ayeza Garcia, Isabella Mori, Danny Dang, Mehnaz Thawer, INVOKE, Barbara Doduk, TAGGA, and Colleen Vince), for providing encouragement and inspiration throughout, and Rebecca in particular for organizing all of us!
• All of you that stopped in to cheered me on through the trying hours of this campaign

You have my deepest gratitude for helping me to raise awareness for this organization that is near and dear to my heart. Thank you all so very much.

3 hours at Calhoun’s now. While I’m certainly feeling the pull of sleep, the atmosphere in Calhoun’s is helping to keep me more alert than I would have otherwise been. Pumped up music, bright lights, very cool temperature, and perogies and OJ.

On a green note, I’m happy to see that Calhoun’s only serves fairly traded organic coffee and that they’ve switched to take-away containers that are made of bagasse. Well done.

It’s easy to see why this place is such a popular university hangout when school is in session.

My stint at Autumn Brook Gallery is fait accompli and I am now hunkered down at Calhoun’s on West Broadway from now until 7 or 8 in the morning.

The staff here had no prior knowledge that I’d be stationed here, but they have no problem with it and even green-lighted my photography. Phew!

There’s plenty of room and power outlets here for other blogathoners that are considering a change of venue. Come look for me and say hello!

The next series of posts will focus on late-night eats that I have documented as a volunteer with SalsaVancouver.net.

Salsa dance parties typically run from 8pm to past midnight, and it is often difficult to locate a good venue for late-night dinnering for the volunteer crew whose kitchen is open after 1am. To add another layer of complexity, the group includes a vegan and a number of people with food sensitivities and preferences.

We decided upon Hell’s Kitchen after last week’s salsa event at the St. James community centre.

I’d been to Hell’s Kitchen in the rather distant past. Not a fan at all of their ahi tuna sashimi (mine was burned to a crisp on the edges rather than lightly seared). The food we had this evening was not much better: the poutine was questionable, the calamari oversalted, and the hot chicken tenders nowhere near the spice level that I expected. On the plus side, the pesto pizza delivered and their spicy green bean plate made up for the lack of heat in the chicken. As usual, their yam fries were enjoyed by all.

The best part of the dining experience was their kick-ass live DJ. She played a very cool mix of old-school hip hop, classic rock, and hard core rap that kept me and others at our table just itching to get up and dance. I highly recommend a visit just to hear her spin the tunes. Who knows…you may just get the Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby / Queen’s Under Pressure mix like we did!