saffron

I heard the Schooner is not going to do any changes until winter. The rationale was that they didn't think the summer business would even make a dent in the reno costs. But they were hoping the small changes they made in their current dining room would be interesting enough.

According to the 2005 People's Choice Awards for the "Tofino Time" magazine, Middle Beach Lodge won the best place for accommodations and the RainCoast Cafe (the name is not Rainforest) as the best place for dinner (two years in a row). Maybe that will help you make your plans.

AAA Canadian beef tenderloin with spicy eggplant concasse, cauliflower "rice" and steamed asparagus. Absolutely loving the new Karen Barnaby "Gourmet Low Carb" cookbook.

We build them up . . . and then tear them down. I thought he was a good kid with good ideas with, refreshingly, NO pretensions~

I like to make a seafood "pasta" with marinara sauce or a heavily herbed olive oil. But for noodles, I use zuchinni that I've run through a food processor or mandolin. Lots of garlic, shrimp, scallops, low glycemic veg and asiago and we have ourselves an absolute pasta craving fulfilled!

Had a beautiful anniversary dinner at the Raincoast restaurant. My husband had an Indian spiced lamb shank. It was so tender it was falling off the bone. I had the beef tenderloin. It was cooked to perfection with a port rosemary sauce and another ingredient I can't quite recall, but wow, did it work! The staff made us feel so special and they seemed genuinely proud to be working there and serving such glorious meals.

I think they manage to pique the interest of city chefs looking for a change of scenery and pace. However, Tofino is not an easy place to live. And unless you own your own restaurant, there's not a lot to keep you committed.

It's sushi nori rolls for me. No matter how much effort I've put into it - I can't enjoy it. It's like tea for me - it only tastes great if someone else makes it for me. And I can never get the rice at the edges just right. You know how they say the sign of a good sushi maker is that the edges are even and that you don't have it even the edges with a knife. Not me. Sigh.