Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Ask for Luigi is a cozy restaurant in a sort-of-sketchy neighborhood charging fine dining prices for fine dining food and thankfully, fine dining quality service -- friendly staff with easy smiles and a server quick to put you at ease if you show signs of being daunted by the menu. No pretentious attitude here. It's been a while since I went to a fine dining restaurant so with only one glass of wine at the table I must admit to initially being fazed by the nearly-$100 (before tip) cheque. The location just didn't add up to fine dining pricey-renovation-ambiance but the food was competitive and prices aren't hidden on the online menu . I might be tempted to ding them for price, except that their portions are actually NOT skimpy, unlike fine dining places, especially those that suggest you order to share (e.g., Nightingale , being one of my more recent dining experiences). Get there half an hour early to be first in line. They seat only full parties so doesn't m...

Today we have a special GUEST POST by Virgil Anderson of  Mesothelioma.net The paleo and ketogenic diets are more popular than ever before and for good reasons. They have been shown to be beneficial in a number of ways, from cutting out processed foods to helping people lose weight. There is also evidence that these diets may provide important benefits for people living with and being treated for various types of cancer, like mesothelioma or lung cancer . The Paleo Diet and its Health Benefits The paleo diet has a pretty simple basis: don’t eat anything our Paleolithic ancestors wouldn’t have eaten. The Paleolithic was before agricultures, so that means no grains or dairy. Instead, on the paleo diet you eat meat, game, poultry, fish, vegetables, seeds, fruits, and nuts. Although there may have been beans and legumes around 10,000 years ago, the paleo diet avoids these as well. Perhaps the best thing about the paleo diet is that it relies on whole foods and eliminates process...

My budget-conscious friend decided to try Chez Mémé Baguette Bistro  despite usually ending up at Red Robin for one of their two-for-one burger specials . Chez Mémé has an extraordinary near-perfect score on Zomato, which usually scores tougher than Yelp. Overall items were not very salty, so if you're used to that you might even think they are not salty enough. Baguettes / come with your choice of fries, salad, or daily soup. Daily soup can come warm or piping hot and no matter the weather I suggest you get it hot because as you work through your meal it's going to get cold. If you've read some reviews from several years ago, be aware that the prices have gone up. Their lamb sandwich used to be $10 around 2010, but is now $13.25. (Menu at the bottom of this post). Jarret ($13.25) lamb shanks, roasted garlic jam, grainy dijon; comes with choice of salad, fries, or daily soup As previously mentioned, this might come across a bit bland if you're expecting what...

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Romer's , showcasing their "drunken donuts" foremost but also with some brochures for "holiday gatherings" at their "Vault" location in Kitsilano . These donuts are soaked on the inside and not your typical spongy doughy interior so watch out for their richness and order to share. Sauce is served on the side in the restaurant.

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of the most interesting vendors flying under radar was Coast Cricket Protein . Their wares looked like chocolate bars and tasted like it, but they were actually about eating crickets for protein! As for the wares, the chocolate bar and peanut butter bars tasted like... chocolate and peanut butter! Nothing weird or off-putting, which I think was the point.

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Wholly Veggie . They are vegetarian, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy free. Which is almost vegan but not quite -- they still use egg as a binding agent, but apparently working toward being vegan in 2018. I got to try all three types and I did like them for their strong, clear, flavour. Possibly strong enough to cut through whatever else you're throwing into a burger. Definitely don't overwhelm it like you might a regular burger. Wholly Veggie has various easy recipe suggestions online . Something else I also really liked was how it wasn't trying to be meat in taste or texture. They are conveniently patty shaped and proudly vegetarian, advertising vegetarian flavour. Fake meat patties, often with soy and bitter overtones, have never really worked...

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Panda Coco, snacks made of flavoured coconut chips. Coconut chips aren't a novelty anymore of course but Panda Coco does them very nicely, and with a southeast asian twist, with such flavours as durian and tom yum soup . What I really liked about the samples I tried from Panda Coco is the strong, clear flavour. Sometimes you'll see specialty flavours for potato chips such as poutine or hamburger, but they are so salty on top of struggling to identify the iconic tastes of each specialty flavour. Not here. Tom yum soup flavour is clear (and not super-strong -- because if you've had the paste or the soup, you know it can be darn strong and sour). Durian flavour is clearly durian. For those two flavours, the coconut chips are just a vehicle to carry...

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Amanda Huhn's  La Petite Cakerie , which had vegan and vegan-and-gluten-free goods. I tried to sample the "normal" one alongside the gluten-free counterparts. As mini-cupcakes go, the vegan ones were very good and certainly much better than the generally oilier-feeling supermarket cheapies. The gluten free cupcakes, however, had a grainy texture and a greater tendency to crumble, which is sadly common in gluten-free baking. It also had a flavour to it that demanded so much attention -- more than even the delicious cream on top -- that I found it too distracting to like. That said, I am not celiac and for people who have to be gluten-free, to a great extent beggars can't be choosers and the difference might be moot anyway. Cupcakes ...

DISCLAIMER: I grew up eating Chinese food and my mom's wonton soup, so Chinese food is comparatively mundane for me. If it's a delicious novelty for you, then you might want to rate this restaurant higher. NOTE: This is a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that uses meat substitutes. Part of my positive tilt on how I rate them is in the quality of the fakeness of the meat. B14 Assorted Vegetables and Wonton in Soup ($12.95) Overall pretty ordinary tasting. In fact, I'm a bit inclined to give it bonus points for tasting just like my mom's home cooking. Not exactly thick with wontons since this is mixed wontons and vegetables (and it says so right in the menu name), so if you're looking for tons of wontons and just token veggies, you might want to check with the server for something else to order. The wontons are themselves quite interesting from a fake-meat point of view. They actually taste fairly close to pork. But more than that, they actually make an effort...

The latest free sample I received from SocialNature is Little Northern Bakehouse gluten-free bread . For restrictive diets, there's lots to like with this pretty much lowest-common denominator almost-everyone-can-eat-it bread: Gluten-free, but also non-GMO and Vegan. The first challenge in getting them was actually finding them in-store. From the online Store Locator , I knew to look in Save-On-Foods but I didn't see it with the rest of the breads, and ended up having to ask the Bakery Department, who directed me to a freezer near the meat section. Nowhere close to breads and chock full of other gluten-free breads. I really wanted a "normal" loaf of plain white to compare with "normal" bread, but they only have fancy varieties with stuff in it. In the end I picked  Cinnamon & Raisin Loaf  because I figured raisin breads are common enough that I could compare and non-raisin-hater readers could also relate. Here are some *before store discount* ...