Vancouver, BC is one of my favorite destinations in the world.  I’ve never been to a place where the people are more friendly and speak my native language, English.  The city is a walking city and getting to Granville Island is fun in the little Tommy The Tug Boat ferries.  But downtown Vancouver is more than shopping on Robson, Granville Island, and the Steam Clock.  There are several islands just a ferry ride away that are well worth the visit if your stay is longer than 3 days.  Victoria is probably one of the more popular options but on my most recent trip, I was headed to Pender Island to a little resort called Poet’s Cove.

To catch a ferry from Vancouver, you have about a 45 minute drive outside of the city so plan accordingly.  If you go by car, you need to arrive a few hours early to get in line.  Don’t be late because even with a reservation, if the ferry fills up, your car won’t get on as found out by one of the parties in our group.  I fortunately was a walk-on with several other people.  For the walk-on, you can get there about 15 minutes early and be OK.  The trip is just over 2 hours and you make a few stops at other islands before arriving at  Pender.  If you are walking, make sure to call ahead for a pick up as there are very few taxis on the islands.  Several of us were picked up by the resort for a small fee.  It was about a 20 minute ride from the ferry landing to the resort.  On the drive we saw several deer, other wild life, and roadside flowers for sale on the “honor system”.

The Poet’s Cove  resort is a self contained wonderland.  The architecture is arts and craft bungalow, which I love.  There is a full service Spa, sports pub, and restaurant.  There are 2 pools, one for adults and one for families.  You have options to stay in a room in the main building, rent a 2 bedroom bungalow (which is more a like a town home), or go full out and get a three bedroom cottage.  Both the bungalow and cottage come with full service kitchens, multiple bathrooms, living and dinning areas, patios with BBQ’s and the cottages come with their own hot tubs.  We stayed in a bungalow and hosted a few BBQ’s during our stay.  The restaurant and pub serve some really tasty food and if you don’t plan to cook yourself will definitely meet your expectations.  Avid boaters know that Poet’s Cove is also the US Customs check-in point for entering the U.S. from Canada.

On Saturdays there is a farmers market that is worth a visit, about a 10 minute drive from the resort.  There is also a small cluster of stores where you can pick up supplies, groceries, and most importantly a liquor store that has a great selection of west coast reds.

Vancouver is a great city that I highly recommend.  If you are a snow skier, there is Whistler, if you are a fisherman, there are ample options, and if you are a foodie, you won’t be disappointed in the options from sushi, Greek, Italian, and French.  Let me know your favorite places in Vancouver even if it is a JapaDog truck.

My recent travels had me routed through the Miami International Airport during late afternoon early evening hours.  Typically in the Miami airport there are a few pre-wrapped sandwich shops and some paper plate serving “pubs” that I avoid.  However due to a weather delay I had an extra few hours to spend walking the D Terminal and to my surprise found a bustling little Sushi restaurant.  A “please wait to be seated” sign with multiple hostesses along with real flatware and china will be found here.  Of course you can get in the order to go line, but when you have the time, why not sit and relax.  I sat at the sushi bar and watched the masterful Japanese chefs work their magic.  If you ever pass through the Miami airport and are not running to catch your next flight check out the Sushi Maki and be sure to read the chopstick users guide provided.

I had visited Alexandria’s Grape + Bean during their opening week and thought hmmmm, this may be OK.  Small place off the main Old Town path where you could get a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.  It looked promising at the time.  That was some time ago and I’ve ventured in a few times here and there to grab a bottle of wine.  Yesterday I visited and wanted to give the “bean” portion of their name a try.  Unfortunately I was was disappointed by the lack of properly trained staff and the coffee itself.  I paid just under $5.00 for a 14oz cup of coffee that lacked any substance or unique flavor.  Throw an “organic” or “fair trade” label on something and double the price regardless of taste appears to be the motto here.  I make better single cup coffee at the PNC bank across the street using their Keurig machine.  For more than half the price, Starbucks provides a better more consistent cup of joe.  For an establishment that puts coffee at the top of their sales pitch, I would have hoped for better results. 

Tell me about your experiences at coffee shops around the world.

Next week I’ll be doing a quick tour of Tampa Florida and Houston Texas.  For the Tampa portion I’ll be staying at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay and checking out the downtown Hyatt Regency as well.    In Houston I’ll be staying at the Four Seasons downtown.   I’m looking forward to the southern hospitality and good food. 

Post a comment if you would like me to visit any particular restaurants in either city.  Check back to see my reviews of these two great cities.

I’m an LA kind of guy and love to visit family and friends as often as possible in LA.  The last trip I made my good friend Persh and I ended up in Century City where we ran into Terry Bradshaw just before going into Rock Sugar, a pan Asian restaurant that had just opened a few weeks prior to my visit last Summer.  I’m not certain if Terry Bradshaw had just finished eating there, but it looked that way.  This is a very elegant restaurant on the low to moderate priced level.  I love the decor of this place, the location is perfect with an outdoor mall and movie theater in the same location.  Because I was en-route to Sydney on this trip I even stopped by the Bose store and picked up some quiet comfort headphones for he second leg of my journey down under. 

I highly recommend the shaking beef, which has a very distinctive sweet yet savory flavor.  The mixed drinks from the bar are excellent, and the service was top notch.

There are a few La Bourgogne restaurants in Argentina and fortunately I’ve had the opportunity to eat at both of them.   One located at the Alvear Palace in the Recoletta section of Buenos Aires and the other is located at the Carlos Pulenta Bodega (or vineyard).  It is amazing that these two restaurants, separated by hundreds of miles, is still able to produce the same consistent dishes, sauces, and desserts.  They always start you off with a flute of champagne and follow each course with a delectable cleanser to prepare your tastes buds for the next course.  I tend to select the filet mignon while in Argentina.  They are famous for their meats and having a traditional French chef prepare these excellent cuts of meat only adds to the experience not found in most restaurants.  Most people who travel to Argentina go by way of Buenos Aires and if you find yourself there, make certain to visit the Alvear Palace and have a 5 course meal at what some call the best French Restaurant in Buenos Aires. 

 If you are fortunate enough to make it to Mendoza Argentina, where most people are visiting to sample the regions wines, take a tour of the Carlos Pulenta vineyards and enjoy a dinner at La Bourgogne, where you will be surrounded by the rolling hills of South America’s most famous wine region.

If visiting the Washington DC area and looking for a place to have your next meal or looking for a special occasion location to enjoy life with family and friends, look to the Washington Posts 2009 Fall Dining Guide by Tom Sietsema. This is the 10th version of an extremely popular guide for navigating the DC area restaurant scene.  Browse by cuisine, location, price, rating, or look back on past highlights.

This past weekend I had the pleasure to review the Old Town Alexandria Wine and Food Festival. Like many I went for the wine more than the food. The event was headquartered at both the Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza hotels on the north end of Old Town. Both were equally jammed packed with people without stretched arms with wine glasses at the ready. These wine fests always appear to be over crowded and that is partly the reason I love to go. The crowd makes the scene and this inaugural event was no let down. After visiting each vineyards wine station several of us tasters headed down to King Street where we visited a few art galleries to again enjoy the taste of Virginia wines and see some fine art. We ended up at an Irish Pub where we consumed an assortment of burgers, chips, and lamb dishes.

Looking for something different, fresh, exciting, and kind of not well known? Check out Bastille, located at the north end of Royal Street in Old Town Alexandria, VA. Reservations are recommended unless you get there early and don’t mind waiting 7 minutes to order. The only thing I have negative to say about Bastille is about the host, who stated he could sit us at a table but could not provide menus for 7 minutes because the kitchen was currently really busy and they wouldn’t be able to place an order at this point. I understand production schedules and appreciate the effort it takes to keep things moving to accommodate the varying number of dinners, however, 7 minutes? I asked if he was sure it was 7 minutes and not 6 and a half or could it actually go for a whole 8 minutes. I am not sure he enjoyed my humor. It would have taken me longer to figure out which wine to start with, or the wait staff could have just taken a little extra time getting to the table. A host like this will most definitely prevent Bastille from earning any extra stars by any critics. Again, the only negative thing to say, so go there, and enjoy a great meal. We chose to eat at the bar, as I was under dressed in jeans and a polo while Rachel was appropriately dressed, as she described, to the Nines! Perhaps this was the reason for the 7 minute delay, me and my jeans, but I digress… I’m gonna try and let this go… We had the Bistro Menu which consists of 3 courses for $35 and we opted for the wine pairings for an additional $20 each. I highly recommend the pairings and $55 for this meal is well worth it. I was aptly full after starting with the goat cheese cromesqui with baby lettuces, the grilled hanger steak with frites, and finishing off with a warm apple tatin. The wine pairings are perfectly matched for each course. This is a real bargain and perfect for special occasions or daily lunches.

If living or visiting the Washington DC area, one Restaurant will always float to the surface of discussions of where to eat, and that is Restaurant Eve located in Old Town Alexandria a half block off King Street. Eve, as the locals call it, has been rated 4 Stars by Tom Seitsema, the Washington Post food critic and Chef Cathal Armstrong has been named one of the 50 best new chefs by Food & Wine magazine. This is a food lovers paradise but unfortunately it is always rated $$$$, hence Lunch in this post’s title. Lunch at the Bistro at Restaurant Eve has a Lickity Split Special, from 11:30 – 4:00 PM, where any two items on the bistro menu is available for $13.50. I recently had lunch there with Rachel and a good friend. I was pretty hungry so I started with the Italian Hoagie special and followed with the Polpette, a savory semi-spicy meatball dish served with Polenta. While Rachel had a crab cake served with salad and a vinaigrette and a blue cheese & walnut infused risotto. I’ve eaten here many times over the years and recommend the Bistro if you are on a budget but want 4 star service. For those fortunate few where money is not a concern, enjoy the 5 course tasting menu with wine pairings and plan for 2-3 hours and just as many dollars.

This evening we attended a party where people were asked to bring an appetizer or dessert type of dish. We decided to bring pulled pork BBQ sliders because it would be easy to make, different from what others may bring (deviled eggs???), and probably something people would enjoy eating. We stared with 3lb pork butt, picnic style last night and placed it in a crock pot slow cooker along with a ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup ketchup, 2 tbsp of white vinegar, and some McCormick Pulled Pork BBQ mix. That cooked all night and most of the morning before I took out the bone and all the fat and allowed the remaining pork to cook on low in the sauce for another 3 hours. We used dinner rolls as our buns, cut in half, a few spoons of the BBQ, a dollop of Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, then a spoon full of homemade cole slaw to top it off. The cole slaw is a simple mix of cabbage with a ½ cup of mayo, 2 Tbsp of white vinegar, ½ Tsp of sugar, dash of salt and pepper to taste. It was certainly a hit as all 18 sliders were gone within the hour. I’ve included a picture here so you can see the production.

BGR recently opened a new location in Old town Alexandria on the corner of Washington and King Streets. Never having eaten at a BGR, but a fan of burgers, I decided to give it. First impressions were welcome to the 80’s with the early MTV’ish musical posters adorning the walls and the musical selection just a decibel or two louder than I’d like. Seems like everyone is trying to be a night-club these days. I went with the simple box set for lunch consisting of the regular burger, fries and a drink, I added American cheese. This will set you back about $10.00 USD which is pretty hefty considering the 5-Guys alternative a few blocks away. The great surprise was finding Cherry Coke in the fountain drink selection. Did I mention the 80’s theme? Looking at the crowd, you too would agree as the majority were white men between the age of 30-45. You order at the counter from a tattooed covered crew, get a buzzer with your number and a few minutes later, provided on a metal disc type of plate with heavy paper is your burger and fries. The bread was about the only thing I could say was different, the burger itself was just a normal, freshly made burger. My cheese was not melted and seemed to have been placed on the burger as an afterthought. I cut my burger in half; it was cooked as ordered, medium. The bread started to fall apart when I ate the second half making me think it wasn’t as fresh as it should have been. Not spectacular and not something I’d take an out-of-town guest… If this burger cost $6.00, I’d recommend to others otherwise, go to 5-Guys and save yourself some money and get an equally if not better burger.

I love walking the streets of any town in the world and finding places that remind me of other cities and places I’ve visited over the years. The other day I was walking up Wisconsin Ave from M Street headed to the Georgetown Flea Market and walked by a place called Dolcezza Artisanal gelato and had to stop because of the big “Argentine” sign. If you ever go to Argentina, get the ice cream at any ice cream shop but my preference is Freddo and if you wonder what flavor to get, get dulce-de-leche. Unfortunately for me, Dolcezza did not make a batch of dulce-de-leche this day but my disappointment vanished once I started the tastings, starting with an avocado flavored ice cream which was smooth and not over powering. I love avocados! I moved on to ginger mint and was ready to order but decided to try one more, the lime and cilantro flavor and was immediately struck by the awesomeness of the lime and calmed by the soothing cilantro. I decided to go with both ginger and lime and enjoyed myself some great, made daily, gelato. Next time, I go for the coffee and I’ll write back.

Red Curry, a pan Asian bistro, is attempting to break the 100 King Curse when it opens its doors at 100 King St in Old Town Alexandria later this year. There have been many restaurants who’ve tried to establish a foothold in the fabled old town location and all have failed for one reason or another. Most recently was 100 King who attempted to go upscale, and by upscale I mean $$$ for tapas but couldn’t overcome the hard surfaced ear shattering noise level that drove many away. Some carpet might have helped? Sorry Tom Sietsema, I know you liked 100 King. But I digress…. for anyone walking the streets of Old Town Alexandria, there are 2 things that will stand out, Tour Buses and Tourists. Well, a third is the new sex shop that popped up due to zoning issues…. But back to tourists, they don’t want to spend a lot of money for meals. Look at Bugsy’s Pizza and for $7.00 you get all you can eat pizza buffet with salad. For a tourist, that $7.00 X 30 kids is much easier to swallow than a $10.00 tapas plate. I’m not suggesting that Bugsy’s is equivalent to Two Amy’s or Match Box in terms of quality, but Old Town is a Tourist destination and to plop an eatery at one of the most popular intersections of Old Town means your clients are going to be overwhelming from that demographic. If you want locals, go off King like MoMo’s (Sushi), or Pita House (Lebanese), both are small, don’t cost a lot, and have been around for a long time. If Red Curry opens and does not undercut the prices of Mai Thai, which is right across the street, they will succumb to the curse. However if they come in, offer great food, better service, and are priced at or below the surrounding establishments, they may have a chance. I hope so, it’s such a great location.

Summers in Washington DC are very friendly and enjoyable if you can get past all the tourists that come to this great city. Fridays are special for me because one, it signals the end of a work week and two, the weekend is here. At lunch on Friday I normally take a walk with Rachel to the Trader Joes in Old Town Alexandria and pick up a few picnic items like sushi, crackers, cheese, olive spread, chips and dip, etc… we store the items in my office fridge for safe keeping and around 4:00 PM we drive into DC across the 14th Street bridge where we start looking for unrestricted parking or parking that will get us through the 6:30 PM time frame…. parking in DC is a gamble as the DC government apparently hates it when people drive into their city and evidence of such is the numerous pink parking tickets that adorn the windows of just about every other parked automobile in that city. If you can park it, they can ticket it! I think a new license plate motto is in order? I digress… We make our way toward 7th and Madison where the Smithsonian’s Sculpture garden is situated. We go early, and find a spot that will be shaded for the duration of the evening as summers in DC can be brutally hot. We lay out our blanket that is obviously too large for just 2 people but soon the crowds will cover every inch of grass available go go early, get a good spot, and protect it with your flip flops. We settle in and get our sangria and chill. About 5:00 PM the music starts and runs through 8:00 PM as the sun is settling over the horizon. Visiting DC or live in the area, check out Jazz in the Garden every Friday evening in the summer. I am said to say that the last Friday of the season is upon us and I at least hope to see a full crowd. Cheers!

I’ve been to San Diego a lot over the years and about 5 years ago I ran into the 222 Cafe located at 222 Island Ave just around the corner from the Gas Lamp district. There for the first time I had the pumpkin waffles which danced on my taste buds like no other waffle had in my 30 years on the earth. Today the 222 Cafe continues to thrive and impress. Visiting again a few weeks ago I stopped in for another pumpkin waffle and to my surprise, it still had that same soft light full of flavor texture you don’t expect to find in a cafe. Being in San Diego and staying only 4 blocks from the cafe, I knew this little cafe would see me again. After speaking with Rachel, my lovely wife, I heard that Bobby Flay enjoyed a breakfast at 222 Cafe as well however his favorite was not the pumpkin waffle but the Banana and Peanut butter French toast. So before heading to the airport on my last day in sunny San Diego, I headed over to the cafe for one last breakfast and I ordered the “Yup you saw it on the food network” French toast. I was a bit apprehensive at first but let me tell you, bring a friend and share this because it was huge. I can eat but I couldn’t finish this plate of perfectly done bread stuffed with slices of banana and peanut butter. Nothing was too overwhelming, all of the flavors just blended so well with a little butter and syrup. Get this dish before you get the pumpkin waffle and you’ll probably never want to order the waffle. Great place, 222 Cafe! Go there, tell them Jimmy sent ya.