the dining diva

les boulettes

To say that I’ve had a busy few months, would be a complete understatement. I was lucky enough to have been seconded from my day job to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. I was a flash quote reporter at Pacific Coliseum, which meant that I interviewed short track speed skaters and figure skaters. For an entire month, I breathed, lived and dreamt the Olympics.

It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I wouldn’t have traded for anything. But it meant that I had no time to eat out, never mind write about it.

So when my friend Dustin, whom I used to work with on Holland America Line, invited me to join him on a 10-day Panama Canal cruise a couple of weeks after the Games ended, I jumped at the chance.

The cruise was a perfect way to end my fairytale two months and what better way to recount those memories than brunch with Melanie at Café Medina.

Have I mentioned how much I adore brunch? I truly think it is the perfect meal. It lets you sleep in, you can take a long time eating it, you can choose savoury or sweet (or both!) and you can drink alcohol before noon without judgement.

Café Medina is the best place in town for brunch and I know I’m not alone in this opinion, based on the long lines that inevitably form each weekend. I arrived a little before Melanie and put our name on the list. We maybe waited for about 20 minutes before we were offered a seat at the bar. While it would have been an okay place to sit, I asked if we could snag a two-seater near the passway between the front and back rooms.

lavender lattes

Our server, who had a delightful French accent, was happy to oblige.

Mel and I both ordered lavender lattes without hesitation. The first time I tried these little gems, I was a bit leery, but can’t go to Café Medina without ordering one now. Slightly sweet and yes, a little flowery, I could easily get addicted to them.

We had a lot to catch up on, so we decided to get down to business and order. I had a craving for Les Boulettes, which is two poached eggs, spicy Moroccan meatballs with cilantro, and hummus, and a cucumber, and tomato salad on the side

Mel decided to go for the Tagine, which comes with two poached eggs in a spicy tomato stew with red pepper, merguez sausage, sundried black olives, and cilantro. Both came with a large chunk of grilled foccaccia.

Café Medina is run by the same people who own and operate Chambar – the Belgian restaurant next door famous for its mussels and cocktails – as well as the relatively new Dirty Apron Cooking School. In fact, Café Medina’s space started as a private room for Chambar (and still is at night).

The décor is a cross between European coffee house and old school Gastown – and the clientele matches. On any given morning, you’ll find yuppies, families, hipsters, and everyone in between.

tagine

As the room is usually packed to the brim on the weekend, expect to linger over those lattes before your meal arrives. But this was not a problem for us that morning and we happily chatted away until our brunch came.

Café Medina’s brunch isn’t for those who crave the classic breakfast fare. It flits between Middle Eastern and French, but doesn’t land squarely on one geographical region.

The meatballs in my selection, Les Boulettes, were dense but still juicy. They were nestled in a spicy tomato stew with the poached eggs, which were cooked until the yolks were just slightly runny. The hummus and cucumber and tomato salad provided a nice coolness to balance the spice.

Even though we both couldn’t finish our meals, we were tempted by one of their famous waffles and a tea. We couldn’t decide on a topping, so we asked our server (who never once pressured us to leave, despite the continuous line outside) to pick his favourite.

The waffle came still bubbling hot and when we tasted his selection of sauce, we were treated to an interesting flavour combination: raspberry caramel. It was slightly crispy on the outside and buttery soft on the inside. It only took a few bites, but I was in love.

We lingered over our teas and finally left about an hour and a half after we arrived – a long time for brunch. It was nice to not be rushed out, even though there were still a few people waiting to get in. And that’s what I like about Café Medina – just like the best things in life, it’s worth waiting for.

Café Medina
556 Beatty Street
Vancouver |BC
604.879.3114
medinacafe.com

grilled jerk chicken

Catching up with friends over dinner is probably my favourite thing to do. And luckily, I have friends who are not afraid to try new restaurants. So when Candace and I scheduled a catch-up over dinner, I immediately began scouring my mental list of places I wanted to try.

A few friends had been to Revel in Gastown, and aside from knowing they’re the place that serves hot-out-of-the-oven cookies at closing time, I hadn’t heard much about them. I quickly scanned their menu online and it seemed like a good locale for Candace and I.

Revel is located in the heart of Gastown, which seems to be the hottest spot to open a restaurant these days. They’ve been around for over a year now and seem to be a popular spot for a late-night bite, as their kitchen is open until 1:30 a.m. But seeing that Candace and I were meeting at 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, we obviously didn’t get a chance to experience that scene.

The space is an eclectic mix of modern and retro – and the music reflects that. I think the music went from rock to electronic to indie all in the course of one night.

It was pretty quiet when we arrived, but I suppose that’s to be expected on a rainy Tuesday in November after work. We may have took a while to decide on a wine, but our server was not afraid to jump in every few minutes to see if we had made a decision. We finally decided on a bottle of wine, only to be told minutes later that they had run out. What is with my bad luck of ordering bottles of sold-out wine these days?

Our second choice, the Adobe Sauvignon Blanc, arrived without incident. It was probably a little too fruity for my taste, but maybe that was also because it was cold and dreary outside.

As we decided that we were both going to order mains, we chose the Spanish Merienda to start, which is marinated olives, cheese, spiced nuts, and sliced baguette.

During this time, we alternated between two servers who were either bored or not communicating to whom we belonged to. Each time one of them showed up at our table, they seemed confused that the other had already been there. Better than no service at all, I suppose.

spanish merienda

A merienda is a midday meal had in Spain to fill in the meal gap between lunch and dinner. I liked the concept. Besides, any time you can incorporate cheese, nuts and olives into your meal, it’s good to me.

The plate arrived with two small pieces of baguette, one small piece of cheese, six olives and a bunch of nuts – spicy almonds, roasted chickpeas and seasoned hazelnuts. The olives were delicious and cured in-house. But I only had three of them. The cheese was tasty, but that was also maybe two bites. So I filled up on the nuts.

The hazelnuts were basically tasteless, while the chickpeas burst when you bit them and had the consistency of sawdust. I only ate them because I was so hungry. The spicy almonds were good and definitely had a subtle kick to them.

We both decided that we needed something substantial for our main, and both ordered the grilled jerk chicken, which came with coconut rice and beans, coleslaw, and was topped with a mango puree.

The chicken was delicious. The spice wasn’t overpowering and the mango puree added a nice sweetness to the dish. The coconut rice and beans was also sweet, but packed with coconut flavour. The “coleslaw” was just shredded cabbage and onions. I only ate it because I was so hungry.

Was I impressed with the food at Revel? Not particularly. But would I go again for drinks or a late-night bite? Probably.

Revel has a casual feel to it that seems to be more appropriate for hanging out after the movies or getting together with a bunch of friends. But given the amazing selection of restaurants in Gastown, I’d choose to spend my money on dinner somewhere else. Somewhere where I didn’t have to eat something just because I was so hungry.

Revel
238 Abbott Street
Vancouver | BC
604.687.4088
revelroom.ca

berkshire pork belly

It had been a while since my friend, Melanie, and I had hung out. So I proposed a night of good food, great wine, and some good old fashioned gossip. Since visiting Purple Café and Wine Bar in Seattle, I had flights of wine on the brain. So when I read that r.tl (Regional Tasting Lounge) in Yaletown was doing just that, I knew it would be the perfect venue for my wine-loving friend and I.

I think I’m personally beginning to finally see the effects of the economy on Vancouver restaurants. We had made a reso for seven, and when I met Melanie (late because of the stupid last Friday of the month bike ride), there were only two other tables full.

No matter. Mel and I had a lot of food and wine to get through. Here’s the concept of r.tl: change the regional focus of the menu every three months or so – two different international regions and the third is always BC. When we went, it was Portugal and France.

It was definitely difficult to choose our small plates (no entrees on their menu), as it really all looked so good. We finally settled on oak barrel smoked breast of magret duck, pork alentejana and papas Portuguese.

That seemed to be the easy part. Then there were the wines to choose. After starring blindly at the menu, we called over sommelier and operations manager, Alain Canuel.

wine flight

We told him what we were having and he suggested three wines to go with the dishes: a pinot gris from Kettle Valley in BC to start, Vinzelo Tinto from Portugal to go with the duck and a cabernet sauvignon from Blackwood Lane in BC to go with the pork alentejana.

The pinot was a nice way to start off the meal: crisp and refreshing on a warm night. Soon enough, the duck breast arrived. I think I expected it to be warm, but instead it was cold. Nonetheless, it was delicious. The duck is smoked in-house and served with a small, three-grape salad and crunchy walnuts.

Then, bad news: they were out of the pork alentejana. We decided to try their fresh steamed mussels, which were served that day in a spinach cream sauce. Alain was kind enough to bring us another taster of wine to go with that dish: Director’s Cut Chardonnay from Francis Ford Coppola winery (buttery smooth with hints of vanilla).

The mussels were a bit of a surprise. I don’t think it really mattered what they were served with, as we are both huge fans of mussels (as I’ve mentioned before). The mussels were fresh and juicy (and all of them were open – a huge pet peeve of mine when they’re not. Why serve me mussels that I can’t eat?). The spinach sauce was definitely different – not in a bad way – I’d just never had mussels like that before. The whole thing was finished with a sprinkling of basil, which complimented the sweetness of the plump mussels.

papas Portuguese

I know it’s bad to say one of our favourite dishes was the papas Portuguese, but I really think potatoes are an unsung food. A staple in any kitchen and can be done up any way imaginable, but when done right, potatoes are sometimes just the thing the soul needs. I can imagine coming in for a plate of these and a glass of the Coppola Chardonnay after a day of shopping, a prelude to a night out or after a night of dancing and dining. These were crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and paired with the sweet smoked paprika aioli, they resembled French fries gone gourmet.

We were still a bit hungry and we still had a glass of wine left – the Blackwood Lane cabernet sauvignon. We decided to do things a bit backwards and called Alain over to suggest a dish to go with the wine. He suggested the Berkshire pork belly – which we had been eyeing anyhow.

mussels

The pork was served with hibiscus braised purple cabbage, cipollini onions and a braeburn apple compote. The skin of the pork was crispy and combined with the sweet onions, gave a nice textural contrast to the velvety-smooth meat. I’m telling you – this was the best thing we had all night (and as Alain confirmed later – the most popular). The purple cabbage (which, in my opinion, should only ever be served cooked), finished the dish off to make it a bit sweet and sour. And just as Alain suggested, the Blackwood Lane cabernet sauvignon was a great compliment to the pork.

r.tl is a typically gorgeous Yaletown room, and small enough for the servers to have their eyes on you at all times. Our server was never intrusive, despite the fact that she probably didn’t have too much to do, as the restaurant wasn’t too busy. And I liked that the staff presented each dish when it arrived and gave you a chance to ask questions.

But for Melanie and I, the service highlight was definitely Alain. You could tell he personally carefully selected each wine with the menu in mind. And we appreciated his choices – he didn’t automatically jump to the most expensive on the menu (although most glasses by the flight are around the same price).

I was relieved to see the restaurant was filling out by the time we left (seriously – does no one in this town eat before nine these days?), and it’s a shame we were too stuffed for desert.

smoked breast of magret duck

But no matter – r.tl is a restaurant you could easily visit every few months and never be bored. I just hope this hidden gem doesn’t end up another unfortunate victim of this terrible economy. Because great service, food and value like r.tl’s are somewhat of an anomaly these days…

Regional Tasting Lounge
1130 Mainland Street
Vancouver | BC
604.638.1550
r.tl