East Van Roasters

East Van Roasters is a delightful little store where the finest of people make chocolate and sell coffee. The coffee is delicious. I’m sold.  The chocolates are to die for. I’m sold.  The atmosphere is almost as delicious.  A wonderful addition to the community. 

Apxontapiki Restaurant, Meteora District, Greece, Dec. 2012

This restaurant was a true dining delight. I ordered two main dishes and would have ordered a third not knowing how large they were had I not been advised by the gracious and English speaking waiter. Apxontapiki rests under the rocks of Meteora. It's picturesque and quaint with old world elegance. I first noted it because a little dog that reminded me of Gilbert was lying beneath the outside Christmas tree. I had only stopped in the town having been visiting the Meteora Monasteries for a coke. Stopping to talk to the dog and ooking in at the happy diners I remembered I hadn't eaten since breakfast and this was mid afternoon.
I couldn't resist ordering goat soup having seen herds of Greek goats as I drove cross country up from Delphi. There is nothing to describe the delicate flavour of this goat soup. Unbelievable. I've eaten goat and enjoyed it but it's usually heavily flavoured. Not this. Exquisitely spiced. I couldn't recognize the flavour but savoured every sip enjoying the meat as well that fell off the bone.
This was followed by lamb chops. Now I love Greek lamb. My friend John and I often go out for Greek lamb dinners. This lamb tasted right off the spit. It was really char broiled in a primitive very good way again with remarkable spices that brought out the flavour of the barbecued meat. I gnawed the bones enjoying the french fries they call 'chips' in Greece. As meals in Greece go it was also very reasonably priced.
 I confess I enjoyed that there were smokers in this well ventilated restaurant even though I prefer the anti smoking laws in Canada. Here it added to the old country ambience and gave me a sense of being 20 years in my past, when frankly I was younger and did a lot more dining out than I tend to these days except travelling.
I prefer eating at home with the dog and sometimes friends something I've hunted and cooked myself than eating out. This restaurant would change that. I wanted to try everything on the menu after the goat and lamb. Great food, great atmosphere. Wonderful sacred place.

Nuba Restaurant, Vancouver

Aim, who works part time as my assistant when she's not teaching university or writing international columns on world affairs, picked Nuba for our Christmas office party.
8 people were there. Great company.  Beautiful intelligent women and handsome non belligerent men.
Nuba on Hastings at Cambie was packed.  It was Wednesday night and everyone seemed in that 25 to 45 affluent with it set.  A few older guys like me were dotted about here and there but definitely not a grey carpet shiny dome place by any means.  Alot of conversation but none of that 'loud' crowd.  Very New York, Parisian eatery atmosphere.  Surprisingly fluid. 
The hostess was helpful and the waitress was a delight. Lots of suggestions. Interesting and novel drinks and food. By group consensus we went with the group platter with individual items.  A wide range of exotically prepared Lebanese delights, mostly vegan, were to be shared , with wedges of bread for convenient nibble and bite or toff amounts.  In addition everyone got to choose a personal kabob or something similar. I had a delicious lamb kabob while I noticed others had chicken and shrimp..  The Lebanese are known for their sea food  but  lamb is what I like best.  If I say so myself, a very good choice.
But the communal platter with hummus spreads, and greens and just a whole boodle of tasty bits, more than enough for everyone, was the most fun.  Everyone was sampling  and comparing. Aim commented on the cultural aspects of food at one point with her and Joanne discussing how in Asian culture the discussion of food in general while eating food in particular was so much part of the process.  Mark who had travelled the world over shared insights into food by comparison and actually had pictures in his iphone of recent dishes he'd enjoyed on his latest international flights.
Everyone was sharing stories as well. The laughter was infectious. After something Chris or Phil said we were all laughing and I wondered if we were being 'loud'.  Laura or Elizabeth was telling a story when I realized every other table was bursting out with intermittent laughter too.. Some of it was the Christmas Season for sure but I really did think something about the decor, the staff, the way the tables were dispersed and the food just brought out the best in people.
Eventually we all seemed to slow down then stopped eating Even the occasional picking came to an end as we all sat happily sated.. The waitress appeared, asked if we wanted more, we were fine, the bill appeared and was extremely reasonable, not at all a burden by any means, given the luxury of the repast.
Then we were collectively mobilizing and saying fair wells and holiday well wishes outside across from the Victory Memorial Park on Hastings.
I really can't remember a group dining experience I more enjoyed in recent years.  I've never had such an enjoyable work and staff outing, by any means.
Nuba seemed just perfect for a group function though I imagine all those couples who were interspersed among the larger tables might well go away ad say it was just right for them as well.

Waldorf Hotel, Vancouver - Brunch

It was only a week or two back when I posted pictures of Laura and I enjoying brunch on facebook. We bemoaned that the place we'd gone after church was closing.  Laura's friend , Tracy, came back, 'the best Mexican breakfast is at the Waldorf' . We rememberd the Waldorf as a bar.  "She and her husband have been all over the world. I'm pretty sure they would know a good breakfast place when they found one."
So it was the Tikki Room at the Waldorf for Laura and I today after church.  Gilbert protected the car.  Sure enough the atmosphere was fantastic. The waitresses were delightful.  Great energy. And  the Rancho Huervos were out of this world.  Best I've had in Canada.  I even ordered them in Spanish thanks to my Simon Frazer spanish class.  We loved it. The coffee was perfect too.
They won't have brunch again until the first week of January. Feliz Navidad.
It was fun.  Thank you, Tracy!