It has been almost 11 months since I returned home from NYC which makes this post long overdue. 3 months before I set out for New York City I had made a dinner reservation at the restaurant of my favorite chef, Eric Ripert. Le Bernardin   at the time of my visit was ranked number 1 in New York and number 17 in the world for french inspired seafood.  I hit the reserve button and got the confirmation email and instantly had butterflies. It was all I could think about for days. Eric Ripert is a bit of a personal hero of mine, sharing the same philosophies. in life and intense love of good food, but aside from that I had never at that point been to a place quite so upscale, quite so polished or so fantastic. My best friend and I who were traveling together had the dinner reservation booked for the Thursday of our trip. I had purchased a dress , made sure I was hungry despite the food tour we had been on earlier that day , and with child like anticipation we approached ...

If most people leave their heart in San Francisco, I am certain I left my stomach in New York City and I mean that in the best way possible.   I have a special relationship with the City after spending 3 years of my early adulthood living on Long Island NY and I was no stranger to the culinary wonders that awaited me when I adventured there for a girls week holiday.  After  a very long day of travel my friends and I finally made it to our hotel at about 9pm on the first day of our trip. Flight from Toronto had been delayed and put a pin in our original plan to go to a karaoke bar after finding dinner of some sort. We were tired and starving in a city with too many choices when you are that tired and hungry. We did the only natural thing we could, head to the big shiny watering hole across the street called " The Smith" We were right downtown in Manhattan on 27th and Broadway so the restaurant was hopping at 9 pm on a Monday night. We were greeted with warm service ...

  In a small hole-in-the-wall location on Cumberland BC's main drag, lives a hip yet unpretentious taco joint called Biblio Taco . So named because of its location the the Old Library building on Dunsmuir avenue, this place dishes out only a handful of Mexican inspired dishes. I, personally, had been looking forward to trying this place out ever since I heard of it. Mexican food is some of my favourite, so on Saturday Whiskey and I, having no plans, whipped down to the small community of Cumberland for a short afternoon food adventure.   Biblio Taco has a tiny storefront, and while not all that large inside, has an ample food preparation station set out in full sight taking nearly half the room. The small menu written on a chalk board near the ordering counter describes about a dozen items available. Tacos, burritos, tortillas, huevos rancheros, quesadillas and a few others Mexican treats.  The decor is only a hint of Mexican, it definitely feels of Cumberland, which ha...

I have recently made the decision to embark on an eating lifestyle that I have done in the past and I know makes me feel better in my body and in my life. I am also a die hard foodie and these two things do not always work very well together. If you have ever had any sort of dietary restriction and you love food then you know how daunting it can be to look at a menu and see it as more of an algebra equation as you try to figure out what to eat. I promise you , when those orders go to the kitchen, it can make a chef''s life a nightmare if you are not competent at the way you order. So to give a little context, in my world I have opted to go into a low carb high dietary fat eating style.  Also known as Ketogenic due to the process it begins in your body of using stored body fat for energy. I wont get too in depth in my reasoning except to say there is excellent evidence to support this way of eating in the fight against cancer and other body ailments that I am genetically v...

Super Mario's Bar and Lounge is the most recent incarnation of this little nook hidden in plain sight in Willow Point B.C. , about 15 minutes south of Campbell River.  Last week when Chef D and I were scratching our brains trying to decide where to eat we lit upon the idea to check out Super Mario's again as the first time was a really good vibe. This little lounge is tucked between a liquor store and the entrance to a drive through with a supermarket on the other side in the middle of a busy strip mall. It does not look like much from the outside but when you walk in the atmosphere is that of a lazy supper lounge. On this day particularly they had a Rod Steward concert playing on the TVs and we were the only people in the lounge. Round booths lined the outside perimeter of the room in a semi circle all facing the small stage which local bands play on the weekend. The whimsical ambiance was topped off by the stone pizza over behind the bar, long since retired of its o...

Recently I went rogue on Chef D and went to visit a girlfriend of mine in Prince Rupert B.C.  I was thrilled for the mini vacation into a part of the province that I had not been to before, but above that, Prince Rupert sits right on the ocean and is renowned for its seafood. I really love seafood. I have a secret to confess, I am on the quest for the perfect seafood chowder. I mean really on a quest. If a place has it on the menu I have to add it to my meal somehow. Its almost compulsive at this point. So my girlfriend knows this of me and she already had a plan in place for us when I arrived. She had earmarked three places with chowder that she insisted I try to see if maybe the perfect chowder resides in the little fishing town. On my first morning there we set off walking down the many many MANY hills into a part of Prince Rupert called Cow Bay.  True to its name indeed! There are cow prints and small cow figures around wherever you look, acutally It gave a charm t...

  I've been to Wasabiya quite a few times. I wouldn't say I frequent the place. It's very popular and sometimes hard to get a seat in the small establishment unless you reserve ahead of time, and when the urge for sushi strikes I want it now. Most recently Whiskey I treated ourselves last Thursday.  There is good reason why this small sushi joint is always bustling. Every single time I've dined there the quality and freshness of the ingredients is superb. The consistency is one of many reasons why locals flood to Wasabiya. The friendly, casual-but-not-too-casual service and atmosphere is another. With just a handful of tables and seats for about six people at the bar, one could almost imagine being in a small side-entrance sushi den somewhere in Japan.  What brings me back time and time again however, is one of the most refreshing delicious dishes I have ever had the pleasure to consume. The popular, almost legendary smoked salmon salad. Cold smoked wild salmon...