Thursday, June 30, 2011

Cafe D'Azur

I am really excited about my office move coming up, now in October.   I do most of my blog eating at lunch time and I have hit most of the restaurants that I am really excited about in the area.  I am on to the ones that are in the area, but don't excite me that much.  Whether that be in the food that they serve or the look of their signage.  (I do judge a restaurant by it's cover).  This does leave me open for a pleasant surprise in some lunch spots but sadly, not this time.  Just off Robson is a little French cafe, Cafe D'Azur.

cafe d'azur 004

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Ragazzi Pizza Truck

Remember that one really nice day that we had this month?  Yes, that one where the sun was shining and we all got a bit of a sunburn because it was the first sunny day and we forgot to wear sunscreen.  The one where we thought, finally- summer is here!  That was the day of Italian Days on the Drive.  I wanted to ease everyone into the sunny pictures that you are about to see.  On that one sunny day, I ate pizza at the Ragazzi Pizza Truck.

ragozi 001

I loved the Italian Days decor they had going.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Fresh Local Wild

Previously on Fresh Local Wild...

To catch you up to speed, the FLW cart I reviewed previously is now the Kaboom Box at the same location on Granville and Robson. Do not fret, they still serve the awesome poutine. I am happy to report that Chef Josh is back on the streets with his new cart Fresh Local Wild on Burrard and Hastings.

And what an impressive cart it is! It has a patio and is carbon neutral. Chef modified the generator to run on the used fryer oil. That means the more french fries I eat, the more I save the world. Thanks Chef! Talking to him about the cart he said that he designed and built a lot of it himself as the cart has some very unique features like the patio and the saloon-type doors that open into the trailer.

flwclub 001

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Boneta

Big M and I celebrated our one year anniversary on May 29.  We had talked about returning to Vegas, where we got married, but instead we spent that money on a trip to Red Deer for my Mom's birthday.  Red Deer is just as awesome as Vegas.  (Hi Mom!)  But that did leave us with what to do for anniversary dinner. I always enjoy a chance to dress up and be fancy so I sent Big M a "short list" of about 12 restaurants from my wish list and he chose Boneta. Hooray!

I was working in Gastown when Boneta opened up on the corner of Cordova and Carrall St back in 2008. I will admit that at the time, I thought this was a crazy choice and they wouldn't last. This was before the Woodward's building were complete and pre hip restaurant explosion in Gastown. Prime Time Chicken was the closest competing restaurant. Well, I was sure wrong on that prediction.

bonetafront

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Theresa's

I have been going to Theresa's, in one form or another, for years now. Back in the day it was a favorite breakfast place of the old band, Hurricane Kitty. We liked it because they had a good vegetarian breakfast and because of the owner, Theresa. She remembered every person who came in and what they ordered. I have always been amazed/jealous of people who could do that.

Theresa moved away and the restaurant then became a worker owned and run co-op cafe that they named Theresa's. They renovated, I don't miss the corrugated metal wall that people wrote on, and slowly the things that I enjoyed about the restaurant changed. The service became a bit standoffish, the potatoes and bread changed. We slowly stopped going. Then Big M and I moved to Burnaby and the restaurant had a kitchen fire (not related). Now we have moved back to the Drive and the restaurant has reopened (also coincidence) so we thought it would be a good time to go back.

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Monday, June 13, 2011

Caffe Barney

Today's post is brought to you by the awesomeness that is the Legend of Bonefish. Way back in the day I worked in theatre and my favorite shows to work were the sketch comedy shows. (I once ran the lights and sound for a show with the cues written on a napkin two minutes before the show started!  Without mistake, I might add.) With that work I was lucky enough to meet award winning actor, writer and man about town, Peter New. 15 years later, he took me to lunch at Caffe Barney on Main Street.

cafe barney 008

We had wrapped our green screen filming before we were able to go to our next location so actor Peter New took Mike, Phil and I out for lunch to Caffe Barney as it was near our second shoot destination. I was excited about this lunch as another friend loves this place and I have been past there many times and there is always a crowd. That has to be a good sign, right?

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Campagnolo Roma

I like to flatter myself into thinking that I have my finger on the pulse of all that is hip and cool. For instance, Big M and I bought a condo near Hastings and Commercial because Hastings Sunrise is going to be the next big thing. The Waldorf had just reopened and then Red Wagon came along and now Campagnolo Roma opened up right across the street from Red Wagon. All awesome. Finger on the pulse (not a phrase that I coined, BTW).

Campagnolo Roma is the newest restaurant in the Refuel, Campagnolo family. I was amazed by the speed that they opened this restaurant. It is in the old Caribbean Hut Express location, and if you know that building, it is not pretty. A lovely example of 70s architecture that is all brown, cedar panelling and set back from the road a bit. Big M and I wondered how they were going to make this location look cool. We should never have doubted.

Campagnolo roma 001

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Frankie's Italian Kitchen & Bar

Frankie's Italian Kitchen is the new restaurant in the Georgian Court Hotel, where the William Tell and the Beatty St. Grill used to be. We get very excited when new restaurant opens near our work (someone needs to take over the old Dix space!), so it is no surprise that the day I went to Frankie's two other groups of co-workers came in.

I have worked down the street from the Georgian Court for a couple of years now but I had never gone to the William Tell. The Beatty St. Grill had been a favorite of a few co-workers. I was happy to see the bartender of Beatty St. had been kept on as a waiter in Frankie's. I feel bad that I don't know his name, but he was always the highlight of the Beatty St. Grill.- happy and always quick with a joke every time we went in there. He said that the pub side of Beatty St./Frankie's Kitchen was not going to be open for lunch for a while but would be open at night. They have an excellent patio and always do some sort of BBQ for game nights.

frankieoutside

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Hog Shack Cook House

Roller derby has brought many wonderful things to my life. One of those things is the amazing, funny and talented Cherry Grant aka Vicki. So when she emailed me and said "Let's go eat some meat", how could I say no?

I almost did though, because she wanted to go to the Hog Shack Cook House... in Steveston! I realized that in the 16 years that I have lived in Vancouver, I have never been to Steveston. Mainly because I didn't have a car for 13 of the 16 years and Steveston is really far on the bus. I made Big M come with me in case I got lost in the wilds of Richmond. Such a strange road that has farms on the one side and suburbs on the other.

But, we made it to the BBQ house!

Hogshack 004