Kentan

I was living in the Prenzlauerberg area of Berlin in 2003 when I happened upon a truly great chocolate shop named Intveld: Intveld website They had a few brands I’d tried before (Valrhona, Pralus), but most of them I’d never heard of at the time, like Dolfin, Amedei, Blanxart, and Venchi. I was probably there at least once a week to try something different. But the chocolate maker that blew the doors off the others in terms of inventiveness, variety of flavours, and sheer fun was Zotter Schokolade. It was a small Austrian chocolate manufacturer that made all of its chocolates by hand, using organic, fair trade chocolate. Wrappers were all created by the same artist with whimsical, childlike drawings. They would even close for the summer because it was too hot to make chocolate. And get a load of just a few of their flavours: apple balsamic vinegar banana curry celery, truffle, and port wine cranberry-thyme date-shiitake lemon polenta ...and on and on and on. Over 60 varieties! Of course they have more standard flavours too, like strawberry or coffee. But the novel concoctions were amazing. My two favourites were ‘sour cherries with sesame’ and ‘cheese-walnut-grapes’. Even more on the website: Zotter Schokolade gallery So I get back to Canada and look for their distributor here. Doh! They didn’t sell their chocolate in North America! You could buy it in Europe or online, but that was it. So I resigned myself to doing without…until I went to the grand opening of Monde Chocolate on Burrard St @ 8th a couple of weeks ago. They sell Zotter!!! Turns out they’re the first distributor of Zotter Schokolade in North America AND they have exclusive rights to the market. We are very, very lucky my friends. Try some, try some, you will see. BTW, Monde Chocolat is a friendly little shop that makes their own chocolates and sells other great brands like M. Cluiziel, Abtey, Stella, Bernrain, Bon Bona, Camille Bloch, and Maestrani. It's great to finally have a store here that sells a wide variety of high quality chocolate. Judging by the number of customers, it seems like it’s already been discovered by local chocoholics. Monde Chocolat

Chocoholics beware! A new chocolate shop called Monde Chocolat is opening soon on Burrard St @ 8th Ave. They're already putting some stock on the shelf. The shop will be taking over two storefronts so it's going to be a pretty large operation. The south shop looks like it will be retail, while the north shop might be wholesale. First Chocoatl, then Mink, and now this! Are we in the midst of a fine chocolate boom in Vancouver?

That's great that the owner has been thinking about other locations - there's definitely a latent demand for SIPC comestibles. And the grilled cheese is awesome too???? Methinks I'm going to have to move to Ambleside. Thanks Canucklehead for the Stong's tip. My pie craving can be satiated for a little while.

Awwwwwww Andrew...I was so pleased to hear about a Belgian waffle place opening up - especially from the owners of Chambar! But when I talked with some of the Chambar staff last week they said it's probably going be a "Mediterranean-theme cafe". Vancouver Belgian waffle lovers everywhere...get out your crying towels.

The nice couple who ran the Bean Around the World next to Caffe Barney on South Granville opened up their new coffee shop a couple of weeks ago. The Phoscao Cafe is at 3007 Granville, across from Meinhardt's. A big thumbs up for choosing JJ Bean as their coffee supplier. Now I don't have to wander down to G Island for my fix. They've done a good job with the interior - lots of warm tones and wood. The layout is almost identical to the old location. The only downside is that the entrance is rather narrow, so the interior doesn't get a lot of natural light. On the plus side, they now have a bit of room for a couple of tables outside. I'm glad they've opened where they have, since in my experience that side of the block has never had any food related businesses. Along with Ouisi Bistro across the street, and Chow in the 3100 block, it's really bringing some life to the south end of the South Granville strip.

It's probably going to be the same as the one in Yaletown. They refer to their existing Davie St. setup as a "Coffee Bar/ Restaurant". Urban Fare Coffee Bar/ Restaurant In a related neighbourhood note, I just noticed on the weekend that the Joyeaux Cafe on Pender near Bute is gone. And by gone I mean it's now just a big hole in the ground with one of those "Development Application" signs out in front. Although I never went, it was nice to walk by and see one of the last (THE last?) stand-alone diners in the area not to fall to the wrecking ball. Although the original building is gone, the Joyeaux Cafe looks like it will live on at a location on Howe St, just north of Mario's Coffee Express.

I was at the Savary Island Pie Company again on Saturday morning, even though it’s quite a trek from Vancouver. It’s my favourite breakfast spot because: 1) They make their own bread, muffins, pies, and jam (and I’m a carboholic) 2) Their breakfast is yummy, though the menu is limited (egg variations, baked goods, and yogurt with fruit) 3) Their coffee is tasty 4) The place has a great vibe – always busy, young friendly staff, huge windows let in lots of light, and there’s usually a copy of the NY Times to peruse. Since it’s not a restaurant, you feel you can take your time and linger a bit, which is what a lot of people do. My usual is the Savary Scramble: a tasty omelette that comes with a side of ham, tomatoes, homemade bread (4 choices), and homemade jam. I also get a muffin to nibble on while I wait for breakfast to arrive. And although SIPC is my favourite, there’s another a bakery café called The Bakehouse with locations in North Van (Edgemont Village) and West Van (Dundarave). The West Van location is very similar in feel to SIPC, while the North Van location is rather dark and doesn’t look out onto the street. So why does a place like SIPC or Bakehouse not exist on this side of Burrard Inlet? Why does the North Shore have a monopoly on these places? The closest I could come up with is Tartine on Beach Ave @ Howe. Their baked goods are delectable, but it can’t compete because a) They don’t do anything special for breakfast beyond their regular baking, b) They’re more of a takeout place (not many tables), and c) It’s in a rather quiet location. I think a SIPC-like bakery café would do killer business in Vancouver. Perhaps rent is too high here? I guess I’ll just have to keep trekking out to West Vancouver until SIPC decides to open a Vancouver branch. Sigh. Savary Island Pie Co website

I just came back from my first visit to Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodle House in Burnaby. Pure awesomeness in a bowl!!! I shared a bowl of their specialty - braised beef flank with noodle (Niuroumian) in spicy soup - and I have to say that it's the best Taiwanese noodles I've had here by far. A bargain at $6.75 for the large bowl. The place was packed for lunch and apparently they quite often get lineups. It's at 4887 Kingsway, across from Metrotown at the corner of Kingsway and Nelson. Website I'd love to hear if anyone has any recommendations for other Taiwanese noodle shops in the area, especially closer to downtown. This place will be hard to beat, though.

It looks like Chow, the new spot at Granville @ 15th run by Jean-Cristophe Poirier (Lumière, C) is almost ready to open. The interior looks very sleek. There's supposed to be a patio in the works as well.

This is very cool. Eric Schrepel from Portland has created a map of what he thinks are the Best Places for Espresso in North America using Google Maps: Espressomap.com In Vancouver: Caffe Artigiano Continental Coffee Elysian Room JJ Bean Prado Cafe Wicked Cafe In North Vancouver: Brazza In Victoria: Caffe Fantastico Discovery Coffee Dolce Vita 2% Jazz Coffee Think of the possibilities! I'd personally want to do a "cheap eats" version for Vancouver...

I just read in the Westender that after 12 years in the same location, the owners of Bean Around the World on South Granville are being evicted by the same landlord who booted out the owners of SOMA on Main. After some protest, he offered to let them stay - if they agreed to a $2000 per month rent increase. Instead, they're going to move their shop up the street to 3077 Granville, but unfortunately "the owners of the Bean Around the World licence, Cowboy Coffee, did not approve of the site and will not allow them to use the franchise title", for which they paid a lot of money for. Full article here:Westender I feel sorry for these owners who don't seem to have any recourse if a landlord decides to change tenants. It sounds like store owners have even fewer rights than apartment renters. Do restaurants get this kind of treatment very often? Anyone have any stories? This has me so steamed (so to speak) that it's actually prompted me to post.