These Are the Beers I Drank, I Drank. These are the Beers I Drank.

Some notes on some of the beers I've consumed over the past several days.
Micro-brews
Stanley Park Amber (on tap at Rangoli). I have to assume that, given the name, this is a local micro. The beer definitely looked like an amber beer, but had absolutely no taste. Surprising for a micro-brewery, unless they're trying to compete with the major labels in the area of non-taste.
Howe Sound IPA (on tap at The Irish Heather). Now there's an IPA. Suitably big and hoppy, with a an after-taste that lingers on the palate. I could drink a lot of these.
Driftwood Pale Ale (on tap at The Irish Heather). Driftwood brewery was recommended to me by one of the waitresses at Salt and a fine recommendation it turned out to be. Somewhat hoppy (not as much as the Howe Sound) and lighter in colour. I was told to look out for their Fat Tug (I think) IPA which I haven't seen on tap yet.
Bowen Island IPA. I bought a 6-pack earlier in the week and I haven't been impressed. Overly carbonated, and not hoppy enough for my tastes.

Brew Pubs
Yaletown Brewery
First off, a strike against them in that they serve baby pints (16 oz.). If you're a real pub, you should serve real pints.
I tried three of their offerings, the UFG Cascadia Ale, their monthly feature, the Brick & Beam IPA and the Nagila Pale Ale. The Cascadia Ale and the IPA were solid, both with a lot of taste and both eminently quaffable. The Pale Ale, on the other hand, was too citrussy for me
Steamworks Brew Pub
I had some Empress IPA, again a nice slightly hoppy brew. Not as good (or hoppy) as the Howe Sound but a solid brew.
It also again goes to prove that it is possible to operate a brew pub that serves tasty, subtle beers. I wish someone in Ottawa would notice. (Yes, I particularly mean you, Clocktower Pub. I'll even repeat it for your privilege: beer that tastes good should be an integral part of a brew pub's raison d'être.)
Other pintage
At Ceili's, for the CFLPA launch party: Guinness
And, at various Grey Cup team functions:
Cans of Canadian, Stella Artois, Kokanee, and Bud. Bud, for crying out loud. Because nothing says Canadian football more than cans of Bud... Oi...
Cheers.
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Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is a brilliant English fantasy/comedy writer, best known for the Discworld series. The Discworld is a flat, circular world resting on the back of four elephants who, in turn, stand on the back of the majestic Great A'Tuin, a massive space-faring turtle, of course.

In one of my favourite Discworld novels, 'Hogfather', the Hogfather, the Discworld equivalent of Santa Claus, disappears. This creates an imbalance in the overall level of belief on the Discworld. The now-unattributed belief that people had in the Hogfather was being displaced to newly created deities. (Work with me on this; it actually kind of makes sense.). So a spate of new gods randomly came into existence: the god of hair loss, the god of verucas... and the oh god! of hangovers.

Oh god, it's Grey Cup Sunday morning.
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Awesome Grey Cup Moment

Getting Pinball to sign a Dove for Men bar...
Yup, it's now officially Grey Cup!

Day Four: It's All Coming Together

Today was Grey Cup Friday, which means the team parties are officially in full swing and, for the first time since the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, the Vanier Cup championship game.
I started off the day with dim sum at Dynasty Seafood, named the second... Ah, screw it, let's skip to the chase:
VIJ'S HAS A COUNTER AT BC PLACE!!!
VIJ'S!!!
For $10 or so, you can get a chicken, beef or vegetarian curry, served (obviously) on a bed of rice. At Vanier Cup tonight, I had the beef garam masala. As I wrote earlier in the week about my lunch at Rangoli, the dish was flavourful, yet subtle. This is now by far uncontestedly the best stadium meal I've ever had (surpassing the hot dogs at old Yankee Stadium, I hate to admit). For those of you attending Grey Cup on Sunday, the counter is behind Section 216.
So, as the title says, it is all coming together.
Some other highlights from today:
1.- Despite Vij's, I was disappointed at the lack of concession variety at the revamped BC Place. We scouted out the 200 level concourse and the only two non-standard food stands were Vij's and a fancy hot dog joint, which sold brats and bacon-wrapped dogs. I noticed a local beer sold at only one concession stand and that is only because I asked the barmaid about the strange-looking can in her fridge. There is a trend in stadiums in the US to feature local food vendors and micro-breweries. With the food scene in Vancouver and the number of micro-breweries in the lower mainland, there's no excuse for BC Place to buck this trend. They should be featuring much more local colour.
2.- I hit Touchdown Manitoba and the Lions' Den today.
3.- In all seriousness, I did have dim sum at Dynasty Seafood, which was voted the third best dim sum restaurant in Vancouver Magazine's annual restaurant issue. Conveniently, it is also adjacent to my hotel. I ordered the steamed black truffle dumplings; pork shumai; pan fried eggplant stuffed with fish paste in black bean sauce; and pan fried shrimp and chive dumplings. The quality of dim sum is often dependent on what dishes one orders, but I enjoyed Dynasty much more than Jade earlier in the week.
(For those who are wondering, Kirin finished on top of the survey for dim sum places. It's a local chain. I've never been and do not intend to. I will not trust the wisdom of the crowd on this one.)
4.- The Vanier Cup championship game (an overtime affair) was one of the most exciting football games I have ever witnessed.
Some other really, really cool stuff probably also happened.

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Grey Cup Festival Interlude: Random Observations from Vancouver

1.- Canuck fans are so cute wearing their Western Conference Champions 2011 gear! You just want to lean over and pinch their chubby little cheeks!

2.- Bailey's and coffee is basically the drunkard's equivalent of a speedball.

3.- There aren't enough late night repeats of WKRP in Cincinnati. Or any, for that matter. Bastards.

4.- It's awesome looking at a bill in Vancouver and only seeing one, harmonised, sales tax added on. BC residents have a great thing going.

5.- Someone please explain to me why we don't have light rail in Ottawa yet.

6.- Once in a while, a beer-ordering checklist would come in useful. (Credit goes to Woodrow for that one.)

7.- Worst Playboy pictorial ever: the women of East Hastings. (Again, that's a Woodrow original.)

PC
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Day Three: And So It Begins

Well folks, 11:30 today was the point where this turned from a food venture to a Grey Cup trip. Along with Mr, Mrs and Little Woodrow I tried going to Rain City Grill for lunch, but they had booked a party of 70 for later, and could not accommodate us.

We ended up going to a neighbourhood Indian place, the Ginger Garlic. I had the lamb curry thali, and found out that 'thali' is a word in an Indian dialect which means 'food for a small village'. The lamb curry came with rice, four pieces of naan, daal (sp?) and a vegetable curry. I've rarely seen so much food in one serving. It was also quite good, which reminded me what is amazing about a city like Vancouver: there is a food culture. You can walk into a random restaurant and be fairly certain of having a great meal. I don't miss Ottawa.

Afterwards, the official Grey Cup partying began. We first went to the CFLPA launch party at an Irish pub on Granville. A number of current and former players were in attendance including the guy pictured above, who won't be playing Sunday. (Ha!) We then proceeded to the Spirit of Edmonton hospitality suite, which, as usual, was more of a hospitality ballroom.

And there's more of that on the agenda for today. And tomorrow.

Cheers.

Day Two.1: La suite/The Sequel

Some more food morsels from Day Two...
Woodrow and I hit the two 'mainstream' Vancouver brew pubs: Yaletown Brewing Company and Gastown Beer Works. Once Woodrow headed his own way, I ambled my way to Salt.
Salt is a lovely little hole-in-the-wall in a back alley (Blood Alley) in the historic Gastown neighbourhood. The concept is simple: they have a list of 10 or so cheeses and 10 or so meats. For $15 you can order 3 out of these, in any combination, with 3 condiments (because we should all believe in safe food). For an additional $15, you can get a flight of wine to match your selection. (There's also some menu items, and some special items such as terrines or duck confit.)
The selection of cheeses and meats evidently change regularly. The meats seem to be mostly furnished by local butchers, but I didn't pay much attention to them, as I went in there on a quest for cheese. The cheese board featured 10 cheeses: 3 locals, a couple of US ones and then a mix of French, Spanish (Cabrales!!!), Portuguese and Italian.
I ordered two BC cheeses, an ash camembert from Salt Spring Island and a Tomme d'or, and a Point Reyes, a soft blue from California. I relied on the waitress to bring me suitable condiments and wines.
I won't speak to the wines. I should have specified that I'd eaten (and drank) beforehand. Desert or sweet wines would have been better for my palate at that point in the evening than a sparkly white, a pinot noir or a cabernet; my fault entirely for not pointing that out. Otherwise, the cheeses were excellent. The ash camembert grew in subtlety with every bite. I thought the tomme d'or may have been a bit mis-labeled, because it was much firmer (actually hard) than other varieties of tomme I've had before. However, the waitressn in an inspired choice, matched it with Basque olives (a bit spicier than Italian or Greek olives) which perfectly brought out the Tomme's flavour.
The last cheese was the Point Reyes. Well, dammit, I've fallen in love with a cheese again. A lovely soft blue, with a bit of a kick, which didn't overwhelm the palate. Not the best blue on the baord (Cabrales!), but just an amazing combination of flavours.
I will try to go back this week, if only to try some of the meats. Also, I had a conversation with my waitress about Cabrales!!! I have to go back.
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Day Two: Gin Shots?!?

Woodrow got into town today, which can only mean one thing: it's Grey Cup Wednesday. This, in turn, can only mean one additional, related thing: Grey Cup festivities got launched tonight with, what else, a round of gin shots. Yes, friends, shooters of gin.

The origins of this very honourable tradition go back many eons (or at least to the 96th Grey Cup) and involve a combination of poor liquor planning and bad, truly truly bad, judgement.

So the shots of gin were had at 6:18 PM local time and... we're off to the races! Bring on the hospitality suites, beer, team parties, beer, pancake breakfasts, Pil, cheerleaders, rye, pep bands, pepto, Box J Boys and a football game or two.

In the meantime, some food was consumed today.

I had dim sum at Jade, in Richmond, which was named in Vancouver Magazine's 2011 restaurant review issue the second best dim sum restaurant in Vancouver. I ordered some steamed mushroom dumplings; sticky rice; smoked salmon crispy wraps and pan fried lamb dumplings. Both types of dumplings were excellent and the sticky rice was above average. The smoked salmon dish (pictured) looked quite nice.
It turned out to be a slab of smoked salmon over a prawn cracker shell filled with a mixture of mayonnaise and corn.

I'll give them points for trying, but it seemed like too many flavours and textures to add to a generous portion of smoked salmon.

(More to follow...)

Day One: It's All About the Food

I landed in Vancouver around 10:30 this morning and today has been about culinary delights.

First, I had lunch at Rangoli, the café that is next door to (and run by) the venerable Vij's. From a surprisingly deep menu (roughly 25 items), I had the lamb cumin curry, with onions and red peppers. It was not one of those curries designed to make you cry at how hot it is; rather, the flavour (and aroma) is understated and subtly comes through bite by bite. I had something called 'meeti roti' for desert, custard cream served on top of a cashew and brown sugar crunchy concoction; it was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so.

Speaking of venerable, I had dinner at Tojo's, where the master himself could be seen working the sushi bar. I ordered the 6-dish omakase, along with a bottle of Tojo's Choice sake. The highlights of the six-course meal were the albacore tuna 'appetiser' and the Dungeness crab with cut vegetables and mustard/soy bean dressing, imaginatively served in a crab shell. The principal dish was a selection of sushi, including sea eel, two different combinations of fish and vegetables (one was tuna and spicy asparagus) and a lovely diced clam preparation in a tamago-type wrapper.

The entire 6-course meal (plus dessert), from what I could make out from the descriptions provided by the heavily-accented waitress:

- Albacore tuna appetiser.
- Clam Chowder.
- Dungeness crab with cut vegetables and mustard/soy bean dressing.
- Salmon with mixed vegetables, soy sauce and soy paste.
- A 'vapour dish' of smoked canadian sablefish with asparagus in broth. This is kind of soup; it comes in a bowl that needs to first be unwrapped vapour dish. It's also evidently quite important to squeeze some lime juice into the broth before eating. I don't quite understand the need for the elaborate production.
- A selection of sushi, 10 beautiful pieces.
- A small crème brûlée with berries for desert.

Once in a while, life is good...
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Where Will I Be: Riotville, B. C.

Tomorrow morning, at the ungodly hour of 7:30, I will be flyin’ on a jet plane, heading to Vancouver British Columbia.  The main reason for the trip is to make fun of Canucks fans, because, as a fan of the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, that will not get old any time soon.  The secondary reason is to attend my eighth consecutive Grey Cup.

Now, obviously, the maxim will have to hold:  Quid occurat ad Grey Vas subsidit ad Grey Vas.  Nevertheless, I will try to do a bit of live-blogging from the week’s activities because if I have to live through countless repetitions of ‘Green is the colour, football is the game…’, then you should also suffer through it.  Obviously, I will have to figure out how to balance my beer while one-thumb-typing on the berry, but I will give it a go.  Names will also have to be changed to protect the innocent, but given that Mr. and Mrs. Roderick and the Brantford contingent are all boycotting this year, it kind of severely narrows down the number of innocents…

I will also post a few quick impressions of some of the finer dining establishments I hope to visit.  At this point, I am considering Rain City Grill, Tojo’s, Rangori’s, Salt and a high-end Richmond dim sum place whose name escapes me.  That may well change, and I will keep you posted.

Go FeLions Lions!

What I'm Reading : Children’s Books.

I have recently finished reading two fantasy/horror novels, both aimed at 10-12 year-olds.  One I read on purpose and the other inadvertently.

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman.  I am not entirely sure how I managed to completely miss this novel when it came out in hardcover in 2008, as Gaiman is one of my favourite authors.  (Coincidentally, he was on The Simpsons tonight.)  The book follows the adventures of Bod (short for Nobody) Owens, an orphan raised by the denizens of the local cemetery.  Each chapter stands up generally on its own, and follows a self-contained adventure involving Bod, at various ages, his keepers and/or humans from the neighbouring village.  The last two chapters bring the overall back-story, which had been hinted at in the background of the previous chapters, to a conclusion.

The Graveyard Book is written in a light, sparse and direct style, which is very fitting for the type of modern fairy tale that Gaiman is weaving.  The novel is somewhat different in tone than Coraline, Gaiman’s previous children’s novel, also a gothic fantasy.  Coraline (as far as I remember) was seeking a new, more welcoming family, which led to her adventures, whereby Bod is clearly at home with the village that is raising him.  While lighter in tone, however, The Graveyard Book does veer into a much darker, ‘real-life’ conclusion.

I enjoyed The Graveyard Book, but what I would have rather been reading is a new ‘adult’ novel by Neil Gaiman.  The Doctor’s Wife was great, he is a constant and interesting presence on Twitter and I’m sure he’s enjoying recording and touring with his wife and raising bees in Minnesota, but I really wish he would come out with a new novel…

The Gates, by John Connolly.  I picked this up at the Harvard Coop Book Store when I was in Boston in early October.  There was a write-up posted, supposedly by one of the staff, (the type of write-up that used to seem clever when independent stores started doing this about 15 years ago, but is now clearly a marketing trick as each and every bookstore, whether independent or a chain, now features them) that recommended this book, and described the style as being in line with Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.  That was enough to sell me on the book.  What the write-up cleverly avoided mentioning was that this is a book aimed at 10-12 year-olds.  Only when I picked it up at home and bothered reading the jacket did I notice that many of the reviews quoted mentioned how the book would be a great hit in middle school and with ‘young adults and fans alike’.  Well, I figured at least I could probably get through it…

The Gates tells the story of Samuel Johnson, a clever and somewhat precocious 11-year-old, who discovers that his neighbours have inadvertently opened a portal to the gates of Hell.  Also, some astrophysicists from CERN get involved.  Samuel is a fun character who is much more befuddled by the behaviour of the adults around him than by the events (and the demons) that are unleashed by his neighbours.  I appreciated Samuel, the characters created by Connolly, who are at times quirky, in a very English way and the overall supernatural storyline.  In that way, I can understand how the supposed bookstore clerk evoked Pratchett and Adams, although I would not quite put The Gates in the same rarefied air as their work.  The Gates was well-written and interesting enough that I will, at some point, look into Connolly’s ‘adult’ work, evidently mostly crime thrillers.

Random Rant: How to Lose Me as a Patron

Hey restaurant owners/managers! Here are two simple steps to ensure that my first visit to your establishment will also be my last:

1.- Make sure you pass yourself off as a slightly upper end restaurant offering Mediterranean/tapas dishes at night... only to offer an unimaginative, drab lunch menu featuring 4 burgers and 5 wraps. If I want pub food, guess what? I'll go to a pub.

2.- Please ensure that when there is only 4 other guests in the restaurant, your waiter tells me what my side will be ('Half fries, half salad.). Do not have him, under any circumstance, offer me a choice because, you know, the kitchen staff may get overwhelmed by the six orders they have to prepare.

So there you have it: how to make sure this idiot will not come back for seconds.





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Random Rant : The Singing Bus Driver

Well, OC Transpo finally did the right thing and told ‘The Singing Bus Driver’ to cease and desist.  It’s about time.

I only had him as a driver a couple of times and, let’s be clear, I never put in a formal complaint about him.  As funny as it seems, for some of us a bus ride is quiet time.  It is the last 20 minutes in the morning where we can gather our thoughts, and think of the day ahead.  It is the first 20 minutes after the work day, where we can finally have time to ourselves and catch our breath.  In the few cases where The Singing Fool was my bus driver, I was heading to visit a sick relative, and trying to plan ahead for what I would have to face.  To be sonorously assaulted by someone singing X-mas carols at the top of his lungs was certainly not welcome and a little much.  Also, I cannot understand how this guy can justify forcing a captive audience to listen to him.  It’s not as if the ridership had a choice, other than getting off and waiting for the next bus.

Two elements to this story mystify me.  First, I am amazed that some riders defend him, mostly because, well, ‘he was so much fun…’  I think it probably comes down to the old introvert/extrovert dichotomy, with extroverts not understanding just how much something like this invades our space.  Second, this was a major local story in The Citizen.  Although it should not really be surprising, given The Citizen’s never-ending quest to portray Ottawa a small Valley town… But that’s another rant…

Bad Ideas for Blog Posts.

I haven’t written in a while.  It hasn’t been for lack of ideas.  I’ve been coming up with at least one potential topic a day; they just didn’t seem like very good ideas.  You can you judge for yourself…

1. Writing in Beaker’s voice.
2. Why section 152 (4) (b) (vi) of the Income Tax Act should be amended.
3. Quirky urinal moments.
4. Why the guy at the other side of the bar with the long hair and the grey beard is really starting to annoy me.
5. Why I hate mirrors.
6. Detailed analysis of how I lost the championship in my CFL fantasy league in the last moments of the last game… Nope, still too painful.
7. Great asses I've stared at today.
8. Things I've thrown at my cat.
9. Writing a post whilst not wearing pants.  Wait, I write most of these pantless.  Crap, I'm at Second Cup, aren't I? Oh no...
10. Writing my blog at Second Cup.
11. Justification for Nickelback playing half-time at the Grey Cup.
12. Bad ideas for blog posts.
13. My 12 favourite numbers.
14. A stochastic approach to explain why OC Transpo busses always come in threes.

Random Rant : Infants in Pubs.

Hey parents.  Don’t get me wrong, I am really happy you decided to procreate (assuming it was a decision and you didn’t just forget to use a condom.  Even then, you decided to live with the consequences, so that is still pretty admirable.)  In 20-25 years, I am going to need your progeny to pay taxes to support my CPP and OAS payments and my public service pension.  And to make up for those tax breaks you are getting for being a parent that I am currently subsidizing with my own tax dollars (but that is another rant entirely).

But you know what?  If you decide to bring your infant in a publican’s establishment say, after 6 PM, there are no two ways about it, you are not only bad parents, you are bad human beings.

First, don’t delude yourselves.  It’s not a restaurant; it’s a pub.  You know how you can tell?  Take a good look around;  are there a number of 30-, 40- and 50-somethings, mostly men, sitting around a big wooden structure (‘the wood’), gulping beer or sipping scotch, shooting the shit and fooling themselves into believing that they are impressing the cute 20-something barmaid?  Yup, that should be your first clue:  it’s a fucken pub.

Those guys at the wood?  They came to hang out with their mates, forget their day and to seek a sense of camaraderie and belonging.  They did not come to listen to your infant cry.  Or scream.  Or cutely run around doing cute infant things.  You know, the type of things that your infant did at daycare all day and that you missed.  Or the type of things that the babysitter should be dealing with right now, if you weren’t too cheap to get one.

Not only are you and your child severely disturbing those guys at the wood (and probably countless other patrons), but you know what?  You’re teaching your kid that he/she doesn’t have to show consideration for others and that’s it’s perfectly acceptable to inconvenience people as long as you get to do what you want.  What kind of value is that to be teaching your child?  Oh wait, one you clearly don’t have because, well, you brought your infant into the pub, didn’t you?

And those guys at the wood, believe me, odds are pretty good that at least one of them is thinking right now of phoning the CAS on you...

And you see that fat old guy at the wood nursing his Guinness?  The one with the pony tail and the unkempt beard that looks like he once might have been a biker?  Tell you what, go ahead, bring your infant into the pub… provided he gets to go hang out at your darling’s day care the next day.  Sounds like a fair deal, right?

Right?

Thought so…

Where I Used to Eat: Murray’s Market, Ottawa

I found out today that Murray’s Market, on Dalhousie Street in Ottawa just shut down, after a much too brief six months.  I am truly not happy about this.  The Market has been my main brunch place for the past little while.  The sandwiches one could get there... Man, well, just look at the picture...

A hot turkey sandwich, with a side of their famous potato and [I’ll make a point of figuring out what else is in there at some point, except now I won’t, dammit] hash.

It was the seemingly hip place on the Market where I brought countless friends to seemingly look hip. (OK, well, three.  And two of them were vegetarians.  Damn.  Maybe I should have dragged a different crowd.  Crap…. Although they did both like the grilled cheese with pepper jelly…)

I realized today that I book-ended the place.  Last spring, I walked into Murray's Market not knowing that it was their opening day.  It was brunch, and I ordered an amazing sandwich (fried eggs and some sort of local meat).  Last Sunday, I walked in and ordered an amazing sandwich (fried eggs and fried headcheese!), not knowing it was their last day.  In the meantime, in addition to amazing brunch sandwiches, frozen meals with specific directions as to how to warm up, invaluable directions for this random idiot…

And, on August 6^th, sitting at home, with the walls seemingly closing in, wanting to go somewhere comfortable, Murray’s Market is where I went.  Ordered an amazing sandwich, with no doubt a side of hash, and regrouped… It was like hanging out with an old friend…

Old friend, I’m going to miss you…