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.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.