Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

I'm all for trying strange foods, so for the Hot Chocolate Festival 2014 , I was keen on trying the one with potato chips and this one from CocoaNymph , with mango. #15 - "APHRODITE'S DELIGHT" Made from 72% dark chocolate, with mango rosemary puree and almond milk (vegan and dairy free). Served with a side of rosemary anise fudge. Available: January 18 - February 14 Luckily I'd gone with someone because I found it kind of gross. She didn't, though, so she helped me finish it. There had been reports of weak mango flavour , but when I got mine on Friday night, it had a sour mango flavour that turned me off it right away. I had expected a sweet mango flavour, but mangos can certainly be sour. That really threw me off. I bravely gave it a good go and had half my cup, but I could give it away, so I did. I don't want to say it's "bad", but I do feel it could be an acquired taste, so go with a friend if you can. The square of fudge was...

Chocolate cake with stinky goat cheese! Yuck! But Heirloom Vegetarian does have inventive fare, if you're not just vegetarian-curious / committed-vegan / gluten-free-mandatory, but also an adventurous diner. It hadn't been open long at where Primo's Mexican Grill used to be when my chicken-permissible-vegetarian friend and I walked in on Friday. (No reservations, but supposedly has a fast turnover; no lineup at 6pm, either, unlike the smaller roomed Acorn ). Inside, it's high ceilings, white walls, vintage farm decor, and noise noise noise from conversation. The left side has taller tables and bar seats, and is a bit quieter. For reasons unclear to me, I settled on the raw cauliflower risotto, one of the two raw items on the dinner menu . I'm not hardcore raw vegan, so I really don't know why I did that. I think it was because I ran into my vegan friend Emma Smith (of Zimt fame) and she had mentioned she'd had it and it was good. Now that I've ha...

You may have heard that Organic Lives opened a downtown Granville location last week in the Chopra Yoga Centre . I had had a delicious chocolate cake ("The Ridiculous") from them earlier this year, and was curious about their non-dessert menu. The menu is raw (with the exception of some few ingredients in select items -- I was told the maple syrup in some dessert doesn't classify as raw), organic, and vegan, but you may not notice. The Chopra Yoga Centre front desk is now divided into two parts. The reception desk on the left, and Organic Lives on the right. Yes, the entire kitchen is right behind the reception desk in the spacious lobby. Run by a single chef. The ladies behind the counter have a peaceful serenity that borders on the eerie, but I'm sure that's harmless. Because it's a small space, the full menu from their larger store/restaurant on Quebec Street near Science World isn't available. The all-important chocolate cake is there, and a ...

This past sunny Saturday I dropped by Indigo Food (2589 West 16th Avenue) , a raw food cafe run by Lovena B. Galyide, a pleasant Ukraine lady who had only just opened it after two years of teaching raw food preparation out of her home. Her home-based business had grown to a size unmanageable to be home-based, so it was time to expand into an actual store. I'm omnivorous, so checking out raw vegan fare is more of a novelty for me. And since I'm comparing my experience against my own unrestricted diet, if you're vegetarian, vegan, or raw vegan, you'll have to take this into consideration. I had a so-so experience at Gorilla Food and a better one at Organic Lives restricting myself to their desserts , so when I found out about the High Tea at Indigo Food, I jumped on that. I had basically what's in the picture on their website, though I can't say I remember the strawberries. The chocolate on the top tray is in fact made in-house. The list of items is s...