Sipping and Supping

Havana Cafe
1212 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver, BC:
Ph: 604-253-9119

We were heading off to an 8 PM show of Sensation of Magic at the Havana Theatre, so we thought we would get supper at the Havana Cafe before the show. They don't take reservations, but the person on the phone said that if we were there by 6:30 we should be able to get a table without a long wait.

We decided to go early and arrived just before 6:30. Despite a cool greyness to the early morning, the evening had turned out to be warm and sunny, so we were lucky to get a table on the patio. The place was hopping and the few tables that were empty filled up pretty quickly.

I decided to avoid too much alcohol so I could be sure to spot all the ways in which Vitaly Beckman would create his illusions (silly me!) so while my friend enjoyed her favorite Mojito with mint, soda and lime, I went for their Tropical  Sangria - white wine, Malibu Rum, mango, fresh fruit and citrus juices.

Five Sails at the Pan Pacific Hotel
999 Canada Place,
Vancouver, BC
Ph: 604-844-2855 or Reserve Online

Last July on a brief visit to Chicago for a conference, my Chicago friends showed me some of their favorite restaurants and I enjoyed dining at Boka, Perennial, Takashi and at Terzo Piano at the Art Institute of Chicago. When I learned that they were coming to Vancouver for an equally brief visit, I wondered how to choose from our many excellent restaurants to give them an insight into the "foodie" scene in Vancouver.

Brix Restaurant and Wine bar
1138 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC V6B2
Ph: (604) 915-9463 or Reserve Online

Conveniently located on my way home from dance classes on Granville Street or shows at the Queen Elizabeth or Playhouse Theatres, the courtyard patio at Brix is a favorite place for us to drop in for a light, late evening supper.

On this visit however,  three of us walked up Homer Street for an early supper. We opted to each pick two appetizers to share. First up came the Buffalo mozzarella salad with vine ripened tomatoes, red onions, and a sun dried tomato and olive tapenade. The sun dried tomato added a piquancy to the olive tapenade.

Salt Yard Charcuterie Bar and Restaurant
54 Goodge Street,
London
Ph: 020 7637 0657

Open for about 5 years in an area of Fitzrovia that is crammed full with restaurants, cafes, pizzerias and pubs, Salt Yard is consistently booked out for lunch and dinner, according to Max, my friendly and informative server. I understand why.

On the last day of my  London 2010: Restaurants, theatre and shows visit, I decided on impulse to check out the restaurants along Goodge Street for lunch. The combination of very warm London weather and the sudden demise of the air-conditioning unit in my hotel had left me with little appetite for breakfast that morning but by lunch time I was ready for food.

I set out to find  Salt Yard, which I had noted down from the list of top restaurants in the area. It turned out to be only a couple of blocks from the hotel. I asked if I could have lunch and was told that they were fully booked from 1 PM but if I could be out by then they had a table for me. I was a bit sceptical as the upstairs section where they seated me had only one table occupied when I arrived, but as I saw later, they were not exaggerating. From around half after noon, droves of people came pouring in like a tidal wave. Oops - talk about mixed metaphors. But it did seem like a veritable flood of diners arriving at the same time for lunch.

Hakkasan
8 Hanway Place, London
Ph: 44(0)20 7927 7000

When I checked online on Vancouver for restaurants in a 1 mile radius of where I was staying, one of the top restaurants that came up was Hakkasan on Hanway Place. I was not sure where that was in relation to where I was staying and planned to check the map online.

But as it happened, on the Saturday of my arrival in London, taking a different route back from the theatre district (well actually I kind of got lost looking for a shortcut to my hotel), I noticed the street name Hanway and on impulse wandered along till I found the restaurant. The hostess standing outside told me that they were absolutely fully booked and there was no chance of a last minute table, even for one person. I took the restaurant card she gave me and thought I might try later in the week.

The following day I got back to the hotel around 6 after my day of visiting the National Theatre and walking around the Southbank area, and on impulse I asked the hotel concierge to see if he could get me a table at Hakkasan. He let me know that if I could go almost immediately there would be a table available.

So a quick change of clothes and I was out the door and retracing my steps to Hanway Place. Or so I thought! but quickly I realized I had missed the turnoff and was lost in the mini- maze of side streets. I had visions of my table being handed away to some other more prompt, would-be diner.

Roka Restaurant  and Sochu
37 Charlotte Street, London
Ph: 020 7580 6464

As I walked along Rathbone Street to and from the hotel on Saturday and Sunday, I noticed that the glass-fronted restaurant on the corner of Charlotte and Rathbone, always seemed to be busy. I couldn't see the name anywhere so on Monday on my way to organize the rest of my theatre tickets,

I went to  check out the name and the menu posted outside the restaurant. Roka.It seemed familiar. I checked back at my pre-trip research and sure enough on an UrbanSpoon London search for restaurants in the Fitzrovia area, Roka was on their "Best Restaurants" list.

Tapastree Restaurant
1829 Robson St
Vancouver, BC
Ph: (604) 606-4680 or Reserve Online

Although I live downtown, there are so many excellent places to eat south-east of Burrard Street that I have spent little time checking out restaurants around the Denman Street area and the West End. But this evening we were going to attend the opening night of Theatre Under The Stars production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at Stanley Park so I decided to visit Tapastree. I love tapas style eating because one can try small tastes of several different dishes and I really looked forward to  this meal. I did not expect to be blown away as I was, by the flavours and the excellent value.

Calling all Foodies - and active Vancouverites too.  Want to eat in fine restaurants with great discounts off your bill? Want to rent a jet-ski or skidoo for half the usual cost?

On Monday, July 12th, Vancouver based GoodNews.com launches its website at www.GoodNews.com. GoodNews is a voucher deal site with a difference. Actually several differences.

Vancouver based, it not only promotes local businesses but also supports local causes by donating part of the voucher price to a cause that is their featured charity for a minimum of two weeks at a time.

 Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver is their launch cause partner, and 10% of every sale as well as  $1 for every new sign-up  to their site until July 23rd, will go to this cause.

Until the launch on Monday. you can access the daily deal at the pre-launch website. On Monday the link changes to GoodNews.com. The company has been running a pre-launch test of their process. And I was lucky enough to be able to try it out.

Market by Jean-Georges
1128 West Georgia St.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Ph: (604) 689-1120 or Reserve Online

I have enjoyed two dinner meals at Market by Jean-Georges and on both occasions have been impressed by both the quality of the food, and the impeccable service.  I also had the opportunity to sample the black truffle fontina cheese  pizza and the rice cracker-crusted seared tuna on Michelle Ng's recent Downtown Foodie tour: (Guest Reviewer Amanda takes the Vancouver Foodie Tour).

This review focuses only on the second time I dined at Market, prior to seeing a play at the PAL Theatre on Cardero. As usual we were there for an early dinner, around 6 pm. We were seated immediately at a nice sized table. Iced water was brought promptly.