Gillian's Kitchen: So where's the beef?
But still, served table-side with the right accompaniments, roast beef sounded great. I expressed scepticism that there was no place in Vancouver where one could get this, and suggested that possibly some of the steak houses might serve it. "Well", he said, "if you find such a place let me know."
The next day I was wandering down Hamilton Street on my way home when I passed by the Hamilton Street Grill. "Aha", I thought, "a steak house, I wonder about roast beef". I actually had a reservation for dinner there the following night, so I stopped to look at the menu displayed outside. No roast beef- but while I was perusing the menu, the door of the restaurant opened and out came a man in gleaming white chef's attire. It turned out to be Neil Wyles, affable owner and executive chef. Who better to ask about the roast beef question?
Supping in Vancouver: Hamilton Street Grill
Hamilton Street Grill
1009 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC
Ph: 604-331-1511 or Reserve Online
Since this is my "hood" I felt it was time to re-explore more of Yaletown's fine restaurants. We were going to the Arts Club at Granville Island to see The Real Thing but instead of re-visiting one of the places I have already reviewed and walking to the show, I decided to try the "dine and dash". No, in my lingo that does not mean leave without paying - but eating more than a short walking distance away and then zipping over the Granville Street bridge to the theatre.
As my dining companion for that night had been bemoaning the lack of carveries in Vancouver (Where's the Beef?) he was clearly not one of those " I don't eat red meat" types so I felt comfortable making a reservation for the Hamilton Street Grill. I remembered a couple of good meals there before I added dining reviews to my theatre review site, so this wold be a good opportunity to see whether my memory was correct.
Supping in Vancouver: The New Bohemian
The New Bohemian
3162 West Broadway,
Vancouver
Ph: 604-736-7576 or Reserve Online
Continuing my exploration of the dining scene in the Kitsilano area I decided to check out The New Bohemian before going off to see The Idiots Karamazov at the Freddy Wood Theatre at UBC. It has been open about a year, I was told, in the location where Fiction had been previously. I appreciated that they opened up the wall between the lounge and bar area - the place seemed larger and more open than I remembered. We recognised scenes from The Graduate projected on the wall as we entered.
There were many starter items that tempted me but in the end I liked the description of the Heart of Palm salad so much that I did something I rarely do and ordered a salad starter. It consisted of heart of palm, mango, papaya, cabbage "slaw", bell peppers, avocado, basil and mint served with a spiced roasted peanut vinaigrette and was attractively presented on a rectangular plate. It read and looked better than it tasted. I think perhaps too many flavours competed instead of working together.
Review From The House: The Real Thing
Vincent Gale and Julie McIsaac in The Real Thing. Photo by David Cooper.The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Michael Shamata
Arts Club Granville Island Stage
Arts Club Theatre Company
March 5th to April 4th, 2009
Vancouver, BC: What is "the real thing" we ask? How will we know it when we find it? Hmmm... That is the question!
Tom Stoppard's play is about honesty and dishonesty in love and relationships; using the metatheatrical concept of a play-within-a play with the adulterous interactions of the "actors" mirroring the "real life" characters on stage. The whole premise sounded intriguing and it worked before for him. I really liked the only two previous Stoppard plays that I have read and seen, namely Arcadia and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. So I was expecting that this show would top off a week of excellent theatre. But alas, not.
Back in Vancouver - Dining, dancing and doing the theatre rounds
There is so much going on in the theatre world - whoever said we don't have a busy theatre scene in Vancouver. I cant keep up with it. Managed to catch the closing night of Toronto Mississippi, have two plays next week and am sorting through the other stacks of notifications and invites. It's the time of the year when I have to clean up the folder that I shoved all my tax related items and sort those out. Oh yes, and travel arrangements for the conference. Lucky I grew up on multi-tasking.
But for now I think I will leave the whole mess for later and head off to a dance class. Much more fun than taxes.
Review From The House: Toronto, Mississippi
Bill MacDonald and Meg Roe in Toronto, Mississippi Toronto, Mississippi by Joan MacLeod
Directed by Dean Paul Gibson
Vancouver Playhouse
Playhouse Theatre Company
Feb 28- Mar 21, 2009
Photo by David Cooper.
Vancouver, BC: I was really happy to be able to catch the closing night performance of Toronto Mississippi, the day after I returned after three weeks away from Vancouver. The play itself is one that I had often heard discussed but had never read nor seen performed and I expected that Dean Paul Gibson would draw strong performances from the cast of Colleen Wheeler (Maddie), Meg Roe (Jhana), Bill MacDonald (King) and Alessandro Juliani (Bill).
Supping in Vancouver: Cassis Bistro
Cassis Organic Bistro
420 West Pender St,
Vancouver, BC
Phone: (604) 605-0429
This review covers my latest two visits to Cassis Bistro although I have been there several times before. Cassis is about two blocks away from the Vancouver Playhouse so it is very convenient for pre-show dining. On previous occasions at Cassis I always opted for their entree of Muscovy Duck braised with oranges, so I thought it was time to try their other dishes.
The last time I was there we were going to see The Drowsy Chaperone. Since we arrived early at the restaurant we decided to try their special Pre-Show Menu. They started us off with an amuse bouche, attractively presented in a long dish: sliced pickled cucumber, olives and an antipasto-like mixture. Delicious but a little difficult to scoop it out of the dish.
The first course was a half cured smoked salmon on fennel salad with basil oil which was very light and tasty. It was followed by citrus marinated sable fish with a potato pave. The sable fish was melt-in-your mouth tender and also quite delicious. The next course was smoked pork served with potatoes in a dijon jus. I usually enjoy charcuterie but this was not my favorite dish of the evening. The piece de resistance was the satisfyingly creamy, vanilla bean creme brûlee and lemon tart dessert. Overall I thought the pre-show menu was good value and well presented.
My most recent visit was prior to seeing Toronto, Mississippi, also at the Playhouse. My companion opted for the pre-show menu choosing the tomato -basil soup, the daube de boeuf served over pappardelle pasta. The dessert was a crepe with strawberries, blueberries and cinnamon, flambéed and served with ice cream. More about that later.
I somewhat self-righteously decided that three courses would be a bit too much for me after my decreased level of activity for the last 3 weeks in California so I chose the lobster bisque served with halibut cheek crepe and house made ricotta, followed by a crepe filled with duck (what can I say - I like duck), orange preserve, goat cheese and mozarella. We were also served slices of fresh tasty baguette accompanied by a puree which tasted of creamy mushroom. Very nice. A creature of habit, I sipped on Wild Goose Riesling which went well with everything.
Guest Commentaries and World Theatre Day
One such theatre buff, my friend Linda, sent me her commentary on the first Solo Series performance, Shirley Valentine, which is posted as the first guest commentary in the How They See It section of Review From The House. I would welcome your comments and guest commentaries too.
As World Theatre day (March 27th) approaches, the list of related events for the public to enjoy is long and varied. I am excited to be back in Vancouver in time to participate in these activities. I already have reservations for five plays in the first two weeks that I will be home.
Here is a link to the information about World Theatre Day. Check it out and enjoy
Shirley Valentine at PAL - as seen by Linda Toriel
featuring Nicola Cavendish
PAL Theatre
To kick off RAProductions SOLO Series of fundraisers for PAL, Willy Russell's classic play Shirley Valentine featuring Nicola Cavendish was the inaugural pick.
Here is a guest commentary on her "view from the house" by audience member Linda Toriel.
I'm always a little wary of one-woman shows. Can one actress carry a full length play solely on her shoulders successfully? In "Shirley Valentine, " recently performed at the PAL theatre as a fund raiser for the resident retired performing artists, the answer by all was an enthusiastic YES!!
On stage, Nicola Cavendish played not only Shirley herself, but several other characters with such believability, the audience had no difficulty conjuring up the whining daughter, the sympathetic neighbour, the hooker classmate, the boorish husband, and the charming, womanizing Greek with only a change of accent, a deepening of voice, a changed facial expression. Nicola brought them all to life and we spectators hung on her every word. Would Shirley rediscover her former, younger, adventurous self - the woman who got left behind through the years of grinding routine in a daily life with a selfish, uncaring partner?
Strawberries Fair
On Sunday we headed down to the Farmers' Market in search of a particular type of bread that is a household favorite. The market turned out to be located in the parking lot just in front of the dance studio where I have been taking a couple of classes, mainly Latin dance- samba, rumba, jive, chachacha.
We were in search of a walnut cranberry bread but it had already sold out so instead we took a raisin and cinnamon loaf. They are delicious both fresh and lightly toasted.While the others were chatting to the bread lady about the breads baked by her artisan-baker husband, I spotted a stall with punnets of the lushest reddest strawberries you could imagine. A large box holding three of those square green containers that you usually get in the supermarkets was $7.00. Having too often had large red berries that look great but are tasteless, I hesitated but one taste from the sample tray, and I counted out my quarters. The berries were delicious and lasted well in the fridge for several days. They were a great hit with CJ, my grand-daughter who had to be dissuaded from having yogurt and strawberries for every meal and snack time.
