vanderb

First time into the fray and no pictures, sorry. Saturday night, BBQ'd rack of organic lamb marintated 24 hours in EVOO, rosemary, garlic, whole seed mustard, crushed red pepper, black pepper, salt and done to medium rare. To accompany whole artichokes steamed with whole lemon, bay leaf, pepercorns and garlic cloves, aioli to dip. Couldnt' have been happier, with this meal. Monday night, ground buffalo/bison kofte (turkish meatballs - egg, bread crumbs, mint, cumin, chilli flakes, hot sauce, salt and pepper) BBQ'd and then wrapped in a pita with salad greens. To accompany, green and yellow bean turkish salad (blanched green and yellow beans), tossed with finely chopped garden tomatoes, garlic tops (no cloves), EVOO, salt and pepper to taste. Always great to return to Turkey, even if we never left the back patio.

BigDaddy, if you're looking for lunch I'd head up to Hawthorne Mountain Vineyard at Okanagan Falls. I know they were doing lunch last year and I'm hoping they still are this year. Otherwise you can always try and get a reservation at Burrowing Owl in their excellent dinning room. I know there are more restaurants in Oliver but I've not had a ton of experience with them. Not sure how much driving you want to do but Naramata Inn in Naramata (d'uh) has an excellent formal dinning room as well as a very good patio lounge/bar with a wide variety of plates. Their hearth breads with dips/cheeses/meats is my first choice. Enjoy

Update from Calgary: Wednesday last week, Tandoori Hut in Kensington. Still some of the most consistent quality around but the service has never had a smile. The butter chicken and saag gost w/ lamb were outstanding. Recently discovered the joy of Gewurztraminer with Indian food instead of beer, this has been a paradigm shift in my enjoyment of Indian food. Next I'm thinking Auxerois with Thai. Friday last week, Taste of Calgary for lunch. I wasn't impressed yet again. It seems it's mostly the mediocre of Calgary that shows up to try and drum up business for the forthcoming year. I had bowl of Phad Krapo (sp), way too many stringy vegetables not enough chicken, chicken roti from the Carribean place (name of establishment forgotten... worst roti ever), and a lamb popsicle from Rick's. Lamb popsicle was the highlight but over priced at 5 tickets ($3.00). Sunday lunch at Village Pita bakery in Short Pants Plaza. I had an excellent meat pie that reminded me of Turkish Pide that we had in Istanbul a couple of years ago. The pita bread was outstanding, as it should be at the bakery, although my significant other commented the pita for her falafel was cold and should have been warmed. Picked up 2 large bags of pita bread to go ($2.00 total, best deal around). Not a bad week but I'll skip Taste of Calgary next year and stick to the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine festival.

Calgary is the reverse of Vancouver with regard to smoking policy at restaurants... in a bizarre twist smoking is not permitted on patios but is permitted indoors. The bylaw here is in relation to the the distance one can or cannot smoke from the entrance to a building. The distance is 5 metres so 99% of patios have to be smoke free. Calgary is still claiming to have no-smoking rules covering all public spaces but not till 2008. Why we have to wait I do not know, but some establishments are not waiting for 2008, just noticed this week that Brewster's is now 100% smoke free.

It seems we were in the same area at around the same time, although my budget was a little thinner than yours. I had dreamed of Don Alfonso but knew it was out of reach for us and sadly was right. But, and I do mean but, in the small fishing town of Marina di Praia (just down the coast from Praiano) there were some excellent restaurants. On the waterfront in the main harbour was Armandino's. Rickety little tables on the warf but man the food was spectacular, as was the service. There's something to be said for seafood served 10 feet from point of origin to really inspire you. There were quite a few restaurants in the harbour area and Paradiso was one of the others worth a visit (lots of locals for Sunday lunches). I really believe this is a hidden culinary gem that won't remain hidden for long. Vanderb (ever hungry)

Bringing your own wine in BC is definately a "no no", as opposed to Alberta where it is legit so long as the restaurant has it on their license. In Alberta call in advance to your favourite place and see if they permit it. Vanderb (ever hungry)

I'd like to second Gort's Gouda, a mandatory stop when we're in the Shushwap area, along with a couple of the "northern" wineries that are operating near Salmon Arm. Longview Meats for the best jerky in the world when driving through Longview, Alberta. For those that don't know the whereabouts of Longview it's on Highway 22 (the Cowboy Trail), just past Black Diamond when heading south towards the Crowsnest Pass. Poplar Grove Winery on the road between Naramata and Penticton. Not only do these folks make some darn fine wine but they also make 3 artesian cheeses that are truly outstanding. I'm not a big fan of blue cheese but they do a Naramata Bench Blue that is very light on the blue with more of a camembert flavour and consistency. I can't drive by without stopping and hoping they have it in stock. My wife is a very big fan of blue cheese and swears their Tiger Blue is one of the best in the world. Vanderb (ever hungry)

My turn for Calgary: last Sunday, a truly terrible meal at the new Vietnamese place in Kensington called Saigon 9. I can't believe I've had this bad a Vietnamese meal in Calgary (with more Vietnamese restaurants than any place on earth outside of Vietnam). Noodles were sticky, clumped together and obviously cooked a lot earlier than ordered, and the meat was so dry I think it might have been jerky. The shrip salad rolls actually had a hard edge they were so old. Last Friday, Il Pescatore on 11th Avenue SW. This place has definately had it's day and on a Friday night only had about 5 tables seated. The food was good but fairly un-inspired and the wine list was a surprise as there were only about 8 reds to choose from and nothing that really caught our attention. Considering the nights' halibut special was $38 I was surprised they didn't have a wine list to go along with it. Saturday, July 16th, Muse in Kensington. Once again an incredible meal and evening at my favourite restaurant in Calgary. Service was excellent and it's always nice to have the owner drop by the table to ensure the evening is going well. The artichoke appetizer was great to see on the menu (never enough artichokes served in Calgary) but sadly a half an artichoke just can't cut it for me. The lamb entry was perfectly done and the mushroom ragu well above the bar. I do miss the rack of lamb entry they had going in the winter, hands down the best lamb I've ever been served in Calgary. The wine list prices were as intimidating as ever but I'm getting used to it. Vanderb (ever hungry)