Il Fornello (Richmond Hill)
On a particularly lazy day when we did not deserve to dine out, Lil Sis and I went to Shoppers Drug Mart near her place and the old-looking Il Fornello looked appetizing. There are several locations around town and with seven locations around GTA, we were going to try it sometime so why not that evening? We went in almost resolved to order just one dish to sate our appetite for Italian food but the prices were not too bad and who wants to cook the other half …

In December, I was in Vancouver twice. The first time, I was in town for 48 hours over a weekend. The second time was a joyous Christmas weekend, 96 hours. This isn’t all I ate as there were family dinners and repeat visits to some restaurants. But these are some of the highlights!
Faubourg Paris
As we admired the beautiful bistro area behind the cafe of of Faubourg Paris in Kerrisdale, I was asked how I learned of the place. Well, I don’t recall. When NPY and I couldn’t go to L’Abattoir …

At one point, I thought I should just rename this blog entry “Places Vina told me about and so I tried them”. She has been working in the financial district of Toronto for years, right in the heart of it all, and some days (read: most days) you just don’t want to prepare ahead of time and bring food with you. Fortunately, in a two-fold way, the skyscraping office towers of Toronto sit atop The PATH, an underground maze of shops and restaurants, for your lunch-hour dining convenience and shopping …

Since our New York dineout experiences were largely at Asian food establishments (at least one meal each of the six days we were there), I posted about those meals under Dineout Reviews: Asian food in New York City (2011 Edition) on the other blog. Here are the rest of the meals we had.
Shake Shack (Midtown, Times Square)
We could see the new midtown Shake Shack from BiNK’s apartment and determine that at the time we got into New York and the Times Square area at 2-ish, there was no line out …

<< Go to 2008 list < Go to 2009 list
Did you know that last year around September, I kept checking the Vancouver Magazine website because that was the month during which they had released the 2008 and 2009 Best Things to Eat and Drink in Vancouver lists. It would happen that when I was so diligent, it was the year they skipped.
This year, at least at this time, I do not call Vancouver home but I will be back and so I am still eager to tear apart the 2011 list that I pounced …

2 eggs
2/3 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp melted butter

Add eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and salt to the mixing bowl.
In the pan you will make the crepes, melt the butter and add to the mixing bowl.
Beat together the ingredients until it is smooth, no lumps.
In the pan on the large element at heat ~4, ladle the batter and immediately swirl the pan to spread it into a circle. (That is, don’t put down the ladle first!)
About 10 seconds after the edges turn brown, flip the crepe …

Vancouver is usually all fine and right and we pride ourselves on being city slickers folk, especially I who aspires for bigger and better. But it took just about half a day of getting away from the same-old, even to a slower pace, to kick ourselves for not striving for out-of-city excursions more often. Last weekend, we spent a few days on Vancouver Island with Victoria as the target. But we took a ferry to Nanaimo instead of planning a Vancouver-Victoria return trip and spent the first afternoon driving down …

During the first year of my past workplace, I kind of followed my boss’ example and was a bit reclusive, aloof. The three researchers (two males, one female) stepped out of the office together every lunch. They walked by my office on their way out but a pattern had been established. Frankly, I was afraid that with the three of them, “shop talk” would dominate and that’s not my idea of a lunch break.
Halfway through my first year, a lot of students completing internships came through my department, some of …

What was I thinking when I was shopping in Walmart, Target, and Trader Joe’s a couple weekends ago? Five of the food items I bought fall into some kind of Blue Theme:

Archer Farms Buffalo Macaroni & Cheese (made with real blue cheese and spicy cayenne red pepper sauce)
Archer Farms Midnight Blend popcorn with blue corn kernels
Summer Oreos, seems to be the original flavour but the stuffing is dyed blue
Laughing Cow Light — Blue cheese wedges
Trader Joe’s Blue Granite Jack Cheese slices

 
Blue Granite Jack Cheese Slices
The obvious one to start with …

Last weekend we went to Bellevue for a two-night stay. Since getting the hang of Priceline for great hotel prices (4* Hyatt for $90/night at the last minute), getting older and appreciating more the “Stateside getaway”, and perhaps not wanting to dash so much, and–dare I say it–wanting go somewhere else longer, I like the entire-weekend trip. There is a de-emphasis on shopping and a focus on relaxing, which might lead to a new emphasis on eating… and that’s not too bad, is it?
Bob’s Burger and Brew
We’ve seen this burger …