*Deborah*

Who's Gord Martin? I don't read her column unless it is specifically brought to my attention; I don't get the G&M in print, and I loathe their new online format and seldom visit them online now. It's a wonder I know what's going on in the world at all, anymore.

Oh, those Green Tea Mousse Pocky are right up there on my hit parade.

You guys are too kind

Yee gads, I hope this is a typo and you mean "pea" Sorry, I just couldn't resist... I know you've been burning the candle at both ends this week in order to treat us to this exceptional view of your life.... Man, you Vancouver eGulleters sure do eat well! Thanks for all your hard work! ← HA! how's that for embarassing! Yes, please chalk that up to being awake for 19 hours straight today!

And so, I guess, here endeth the blog. Thanks for reading, and commenting, and for your support and encouragement--especially in the stressful first days! Thanks of course to the chefs, and the staffs, and the shops! And so many thanks to the Vancouver forum members who endlessly enrich my dining and cooking, who so generously share their knowledge and good humour! and to eGullet, which has made such a difference in my day-to-day life! Cheers! and let us know when you're visiting Vancouver, I know a few people who love to show strangers around, and who know a couple of good places to eat

Wednesday, the final day...started out with a coffee, of course. The sky again was overcast (it's pouring right now, but today again had the gamut from monsoon to sunshine). Enzo and I went to work, and it was windy enough to set off his alarm around 12:30. That's pretty windy! For lunch, I went to The Kolachy Shop again, and had two old favourites for lunch: a chicken club kolachy, and tortilla soup. Hits the spot, I tell you! Then finished off the day and made my way home to get ready for dinner. Parkside is another good thing I owe to Jamie Maw. He wrote about it around two and a half or three years ago, I'm thinking, as being "under the radar." Chef Andrey Durbach had won rave reviews at Étoile restaurant, but then opened his own place in a cozy room west of Denman Street, formerly a famous cocktail den/restaurant called Delilah's. Having just been favoured with a look-see behind the scenes, I can tell you that the kitchen is impressively large, mad French tops, a huge line of stoves, cool area in the back for pâtisserie...Chef said that most often, restaurants are 75% FOH, 25% kitchen, while he is lucky enough to have approximately a 60%-40% ratio. I am here to tell you, in case you doubted it, that he knows what he's doing with that 40%. I dragged my parents to Parkside around two years ago, for I think Mother's Day or Father's Day or something. I said, I think it's the kind of place you'll like! classical technique, not too pricey, not all snooty! Well, I know them well enough to have nailed it. It instantly became their favourite place in Vancouver in its price range. In 2004, I got to have three separate birthday dinners there (for the same birthday). It's where I take my friends who visit from out of town. It's where I took my dad to celebrate closing on the sale of my condo/purchaseof my house. It's where I love to go at the slightest excuse. I was joined by Peppyre, SushiCat, and HKDave and the newly-arrived from HK Delectable Ms. A. We got to sit in the little round booth in the front of the restaurant. We started out with drinks: Negroni, Frozen Green Apple, Italian Job, Ruby Slipper, Plymouth Martini Charles, of course, was in fine form. A note on the service: Michel was not working tonight, but Chris and Tony and Charles took most excellent care of us. So sorry, Minko, no pics! We had our drinks, and looked at the wine list, and looked at the menu. Then Tony came out and said he'd been speaking to Chef and was able to offer a 5-course tasting menu for a most attractive price, if the entire table would order it. Well! What's not to like with an offer like that?! So leaving ourselves in their capable hands, it began. The beautiful warm bread, with butter with fleur de sel. Peppyre and I decided to share a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, and HKDave and A. shared a bottle of Gigondas: The first course: a duo of parfait de foie gras and duck rillette; served with rhubarb compote and prune compote and toasted brioche. That parfait is...divine. The pasta course: a surprising and lovely bit of linguine with garlic, pine nuts, tomato, shrimp, and vongole. Perfectly seasoned, lovely. Charles brought us all a bit of Chardonnay to go with. The fish course: I think this may have been our favourite overall: halibut served with minted fresh pea purée on a sliver of prosciutto, with a baby carrot, braised lettuce, and fresh morels in a truffled sauce. Ye gods, this was a beautiful dish. Next up, the meat: not just any meat, but a delicate slice of Wagyu tenderloin. With truffles and truffled panfried gnocchi and roasted tomatoes. (my first Wagyu! from Snake River Colorado, very tender and sweet meat.) A cheese course to wind down: ash-aged chèvre with simply dressed greens and an almond crostino. And so that we might not burst, a very small sweet: Meyer lemon mascarpone ice cream. A wonderful meal, really. I mean the regular menu would have been wonderful too, but this was just a bit more special. Throughout dinner, we speculated what the mere mortals were eating... Thank you again, so much! it was a memorable evening, and the perfect way to close out my blog.

Cheers, Nancy I am downloading pictures madly, although I will be stretching the midnight deadline for sure. If anyone's still up, please be patient, I won't go to bed until I put this to bed. It's been quite a day!

I'm not sure if he's working tonight, or if he'll agree to have his photo posted, but I'll see what I can do! His actual name is Michel, by the way. I'm such a dork!

Oh, like the "Vichysois" (so-pronounced) phenomenon. Or the "coup de gras"

How do they say Niçoise? nee-koise?

Cassava is another name for manioc root. I'm not sure how widely available it is; I would check Latin and Caribbean markets if there are any in your area, or Filipino markets. This cake also has coconut in it, and condensed milk, IIRC. It's delicious! I'm sure Moosh will give us more details about it. All those plates were very small! it must seem like a lot, but it didn't feel like too much for 6 adults. Besides, Vancouver eGulleters are always willing to take one for the team

Rain??? But...but...your ceiling??!!!! ← The damp patch has grown, it's true. I have told my contractor and he will get the roof guy there ASAP (not sure when ASAP is on his timeline ), but there's not a heck of a lot I can do about it, so I'm trying not to think about it! or bother you all with whining.

Moosh: I do seem to have missed the Halibut Cheeks, somehow. And oops, I wondered if I was missing a syllable in okonomiyake! sumimasen! Fabby: Oddly, no, we were not friends before eG. Moosh and I joke that if we were of opposite genders (and if she weren't married!), we'd be engaged. We've been best friends for about a year now, I guess. I do have non-eG friends, as well! but it seemed logical to socialize with this group this week. Today it is overcast yet again, and heavy rain is forecast. Not quite the beautiful day I'd hoped for to close out my blog. I have the usual workday before me, and I haven't yet decided what I will get for lunch. I'm not taking any chances with tonight's dinner: I made the reservation more than a week ago. I can't say too much without giving it away as I'm a known fan of this restaurant, but I'm really looking forward to it, as I haven't been there in a couple of months! Well, maybe I should give it away! You can study the menu today, as I will. Tonight we'll return to Vancouver's West End and dine at Parkside.

Dinner tonight. Originally, I had intended to go to Hapa Izakaya, a fun restaurant where Moosh and I have had several fun girly dinners. Alas, they were too booked, so I cannot show you the Hello Kitty cocktail I would have ordered. However, there is more than one izakaya game in this town, so I am able to show you a little bit of what they are about. Plan B was Kitanoya Guu, where I have gone three or four times now. It's a casual restaurant, patronized by all kinds of people, including lots of the Asian ESL students we have in Vancouver. The staff shouts a greeting when you arrive, and shouts thanks when you leave. Kitanoya Guu is in Gastown, the historic area of Vancouver where the town first sprang up on the waterfront. There are cobblestone and brick sidewalks, heritage-style street lamps, and some of the few examples of late 19th Century/early 20th Century architecture that are still standing in our fair city. Our party consisted of Moosh and Canucklehead, eGulleter Irishgirl and her husband, and her sister. Moosh and I ordered some cocktails to start: My Turquoise Jump and Moosh's Milky Mango . Both of these feature calpis. OK, it's no Hello Kitty, but it's pretty good. They started bringing out food pretty quickly. Edamame: Beef Tataki: Pork Jowls: Seared Tuna: Scallops on Toast: Chicken Karaage: Salmon and His Seven Friends: The seven friends include scallions, pickled radish, egg, deep-fried garlic, and natto Okonomake: Beef Skewer: Udon: Ebi Bacon Mayo: Spinach and Sesame: It was all pretty darn good! Standouts were the Chicken Karaage and the Ebi-Bacon Mayo. I also love their okonomake. We decided to change it up a little for dessert, and headed to another eGulleter's restaurant: Chef nwyles was there, doing his best Ernest Borgnine impression We were lucky enough to find Chef with a few minutes to spare us, and he sat and shot the breeze with us while we renewed our acquaintance with the (justly) famous Gingerbread Pudding. Gingerbread pudding, warm caramel sauce, pumpkin ice cream, ginger ice cream. Heaven on a plate. The company and conversation were great! thanks for coming with!

(Their) false modesty aside, I do have some good friends, who have made all the difference !

Cheers, Susan I wish the next blogger a smoother sail, though!

Thanks, Viola! I always thought it was a size thing, I suppose; shrimp being smaller, prawns being larger. Today began with the usual cleaning of the kitchen while the espresso machine warmed up, and my usual coffee: overcast yet again; today has had the gamut from spinkles to sunshine I feel like Job: I got a migraine between parking the car and riding the elevator to my office. Ouch! this is a rare phenomenon for me. I tried to assuage it with a snack: But that didn't work. The torte is very tasty, though! I love figs. It had a beautiful crumbly texture, but not too dry. I vacillated between staying at work with my eyes crossing and going home, and decided to see if lunch would help. I wandered down the street to visit Kolachy Keith: eG member ktbear Today's Feature kolachy won me over: Shepherd's Pie, and the soup was the delicious-as-ever Corn Chowda: Well, my love of kolachies is no surprise to the Vancouver forum...I eat lunch there at least once a week, usually more often, since it's a block and a half from my office and I could live on their soup, even if they didn't have the kolachies! Around 1:45 I gave in to the migraine and came home for a good nap, which has taken more than the edge off; I'm feeling almost 100%. At this moment, my dinner plans are a mystery, as the restaurant I had intended to go to can't take us until 9:45 pm, a teeny bit late! I suppose that's what I get for waiting until day-of to make a reservation, although a rainy Tuesday night didn't seem like a huge risk to me... My crack support team, Moosh and Canucklehead, went on to Plan B or C I think, while I buried my aching head under the covers. We'll see what they came up with!

Whoa! Cheers!

It was my pleasure. I'm glad you were able to come! I think I owe you and N. another dinner for all your construction help, too!

You should come and visit!

The cassava cake was the only thing that came out of my oven; alas, I can only take credit for bringing the torte over to *Deborah*'s house. Junior Mouse had a playdate earlier that day, and his friend's Mom used us as guinea pigs for a dry run of the torte -- it was her first time baking it. I'll see if I can finagle the recipe out of her and PM it to you. She mentioned that the ingredient list called for olive oil, so I'm just as intrigued as you are, Smithy! ← I can tell you that it's tasty

Cheers, Zuke! Hey, I thought that sugar in the clotted cream trick was going to be our little secret!

I have a soft spot for Troll's Fish and Chips.

A lot of it was prepared food (the duck, the roast pork dishes, the noodles), so much of the prep was driving around to the purveyors, prepping the sauces, marinade for the salmon, vegetable prep, steaming the pancakes...not to minimize that effort, at all, but canucklehead and Moosh apparently had a vision, and were cell phoning back and forth half day, getting things organized. All I had to provide was the site, the tools, a few bits of food, a bottle of white and half a bottle of red! I got a good deal, I'd say.

Lee got the meats in Richmond somewhere, I think, I'm sure he'll tell us. Aren't the prawns gorgeous? I'm also v glad that I picked up some new serving pieces last week, I think we used every dish I own yesterday!