dining

A frequently used derogatory reference when I was growing up - eons ago before more graphic terms became common usage - was "he is too dumb to  walk and chew gum at the same time."  The implication being that not only could the maligned victim not multitask, but he or she couldn't even multitask at two such fundamental activities.

 I thought about this as I stood in my kitchen sadly surveying the potatoes I had just boiled for potato salad. I actually can't remember the last time I made a potato salad -  it is that low carb thing - but I wanted to make something for our strata barbecue and I did not want to make yet another green salad or roasted vegetables - my usual contributions.

Into my mind popped the fantastic potato salad my friend Jan made during our Reunion Weekend on Vancouver Island, and the thought would not go away no matter how much I tried to reject it. Well,  potato salad it would have to be. And it would have to be the perfect potato salad.  I still have not got over that drive for perfection although I had better work harder at it, as you will see.

Monday May 11 The Gourmet San Francisco Food and Sonoma Wine Tour

Part 1. The Food

We docked in San Francisco around 8 am and were scheduled to depart at 10 pm that evening. I had chosen the tour that left at 8:45 and would be back to the ship by 4:45 pm, leaving time for a quick shower and change from jeans into dancing attire. Unlike Santa Barbara where we had to anchor out in the harbor, the Sapphire Princess docked at the pier so for this tour, this ticket indicated that we should meet at the tour bus on the pier. Hmmm... well I guess there will be signs and plenty of helpful cruise staff to direct us to the right bus.

 After another 3 hours of late night dancing, getting to sleep after 1 am again, and needing to get up early for the tour, I figured that I would need all the extra sleep time I could get. So I thought it would be a good time to try out the room service breakfast. Unlike in a hotel, there is no extra charge for getting a continental breakfast delivered to your cabin. So I hung out the form requesting my breakfast at 7:30 and to my surprise the breakfast was actually delivered promptly at 7:30 - how do they do that with the huge numbers of people on board?

 By 8 I was showered,and dressed, and with fruit, yogurt and a couple of cups of coffee in my tummy, my notebook and camera in my purse, and I was ready to taste and drink the best of San Francisco and Sonoma. We board the bus. This time our group was a little smaller- maybe 30 people including the tour guide, Jim, and John “from the office” who was called in to help with the in-city part of the tour. It is 9 am and we are eager to get going.

 The tour guide is pacing outside the bus and checking a list. A frantic-looking lady gets into the bus and calls out “Have you seen Nick?” Nick apparently decided to go and get a coffee and is nowhere to be seen. The minutes tick by. The tour guide is pacing. Nick's wife is hovering. Eventually Nick saunters up to the guide, coffee in hand, blissfully indifferent to the fact that a bus-full of strangers have been kept waiting for him. I think that this is going to be another interesting day.

Honjin Sushi
138 DavieStreet,
Vancouver, BC
Ph: 604-688-8808

When I first moved into my Yaletown apartment, our neighborhood Yaletown Honjin became our favorite place for take-out sushi.  It is a pleasant 5 minute stroll along the sea wall and then through the park, to the restaurant. We would phone in our order, enjoy the salt sea air on the way to fetch the food, and then hurry home with the myriad aromas of freshi sushi tantalizing us.  A little dash of wasabi in the soy sauce... and sea food heaven!  And now when my family comes to visit, inevitably within the first day or two someone will ask "so when are we calling in the sushi order?"

It has been a while since we have had a family sushi get -together so the other evening, after an energetic Samba class when my friend suggested we go to Honjin for a bite of supper,  I enthusiastically agreed. 

He ordered the sushi  dinner and we shared a small order of vegetable tempura. I had a small portion of local tuna sashimi  (in the photo to the left) and a dynamite roll. The tuna just melted in my mouth - fantastic.  The tempura was hot, fresh and crisply delicious.

Lux at Caprice
965 Granville Street,
Vancouver, BC.
Ph:  604-685-3189 or Reserve Online

On Saturday evening I was meeting a friend to see  "Top Girls" at the Vancouver Playhouse. I decided to extend my search range for pre-show restaurants  beyond the three block radius from the Queen Elizabeth/Playhouse complex, and came up with Lux at the Caprice, on Granville between Nelson and Smythe. There is major construction still going on along Granville and they have ripped up the sidewalks so by the time I walked along Granville from Georgia to the restaurant my shoes were coated with dust.  The entrance to Lux was also not well marked and I nearly walked right by it.This construction is really tough on the businesses on the streets affected.  Anyway to avoid the mess on the way back down to the theatre we crossed Granville and walked down Smythe thus avoiding two blocks of dust.

On entering the restaurant I was surprised to find a really attractive dining area that I had no idea existed.  Apparently it has been open since November last year. I was promptly seated at a comfortable banquette from where I could see passers by. A few minutes later I spotted my friend also walking right by the entrance so a quick dash out to the street to save the day, and soon we were both perusing the menu.