The Blacktail Florist.

José took me on a date on Friday, which I had been looking forward to all week. I had no idea where we were going, but I had to be at Waterfront Station at 6.40 - wearing something cute. I put my velcro rollers in and pulled out my most flowery dress! Of course, I arrived at Waterfront first and had to wait for José, which really took me back to our days of dating eight years ago ;-)

We started off with americanos and macaroons at Coffee Bar. It's so nice to just sit and chat sometimes, and eat dessert before your dinner!

He took me to the restaurant, which is a fairly new place on Water street in Gastown called The Blacktail Florist. Inside, it is very white and there are lots of very botanical-looking bunches of flowers. We had a little table at the back with really pretty views out onto the street. We could hear Gasey Jack chiming in the background and as the sun went down, the pretty fairy lights in the trees were sparking outside. 

The menu is quite small, but focuses on culture and produce of the Pacific north-west. All of the portions are on the smaller side; however, the presentation and taste is very interesting. It's one of those places that's not just for stuffing your face, but more of a 'food experience'. Saying that though, the taste of everything was very nice and we had a really great meal. The prices are pretty reasonable for a downtown restaurant; although we ordered quite a lot and had four drinks between us so we didn't really benefit from the 'reasonable' bit!

For appetizer, we shared a couple of things: 

Salmon belly (Really blurry picture! I hadn't planned to blog and so I just had my iphone)

Mushroom caps

BC Nugget potatoes

For main course, we shared:

Ling cod

Braised lamb shoulder in a cabbage roll

As a side salad:

Salad of spring vegetables - This salad has to be mixed at the table. It has mushroom soil in it, which was a bit alarming at first but the server explained it is basically just dehydrated mushroom. Mixed in with the sauce, this salad is so delicious. 

For dessert:

Chocolate Goat Milk Rice Pudding, apricots, cinnamon, chocolate parfait, smoked salt, and honeycomb. - This is kind of a fancy-pants Crunchie bar - a bit salty, bit sweet and a bit of a peppery heat too... so good. Anything with honey and I'm sold!

To drink:

Two glasses of Rose, Le Vieux Pin, Voïla Rosé 2012, Oliver, British Columbia to be exact! Jose also bought me a beautiful flowery hand cream as a little present. 

I look a bit hippo-ish in this picture but an interesting idea on Jose's part. 

On the way home, we were feeling a bit young and free and went to two bars (such rebels). First, we went to The Ascot, which seemed to be really popular a year ago, but it was almost empty and although we had a nice drink, we didn't feel like staying. Really cozy, old-fashioned British themed decor. 

This was called the Queen's Fist. A gin and tonic with a sprig of rosemary. Got it up my nose a few times. 

We walked into Yaletown and thought we would try a Mexican place called El Azteca. The have a lot of tequilas to choose from, but also Mezcal and other drinks. We didn't eat, but the menu looked really authentically 'Mexican' so we want to go back and try the food another time. 

We had a lovely night and then went home, snuggled into bed and fell into a blissful tequila-induced sleep.  

¡Pa' arriba, pa' abajo, pa' centre, pa' dentro!

Italian Kitchen

Italian Kitchen is one of Glowbal Group locations. Others include Coast, Black & Blue and Glowbal. I walk past this restaurant twice a day, to and from work. Three years of eyeing up the food, and I've never been.

Jose and I were doing a little bit of honeymoon planning and it put us in a pasta mood. Technically, it was training. Training for the eating that will hopefully take place next year in Italy. We sat on the patio and I was immediately taken to Europe with the crisp white paper table cloths and the French bistro style chairs. 

Now that Happy Hour is permitted in Vancouver again, we enjoyed $5 glasses of red wine and we shared the Pasta Platter.

I don't generally wear Mexican themed traditional clothing, but we had been to the Latin Carnival just before.

 It cost $19.95 per person, which is excellent considering how much pasta you get - we couldn't finish everything.

It included truffled spaghetti & signature meatballs, penne pomodoro, linguine gamberi, and lamb pappardelle. The whole dish was absolutely stunning to look at and equally delicious to eat. The truffled spaghetti is particularly amazing and resulted in serious pasta face - eyes closed, slow chewing and deep nostril breathing. Our server, Natasha, was really lovely and chatty and we talked about her travels in Cinque Terre and Tuscany.

Total carnage by the end. 

We will definitely be going there again and we absolutely recommend the Pasta Platter.
Buon appetito!

The strawberry-less strawberry festival

There is a little farmer's market on Comox Street on Sunday mornings. It's very cute and a nice place to pick up some local veggies. It is quite small and runs just along Nelson Park. Also, you should probably go out and buy some Birkenstock and tie your hair up in a big messy bun before you go. 

There was a parrot and a pug... It was love at first sight. 

Boxes of peonies. 

After we popped into Greenhorn on Nicola Street. It's a coffee shop / café with a big red chandelier and lots of other nic nacs to look at while they make lovely coffee for you. I ordered an almond milk cappuccino and Jose ordered a Cortado. We also sneaked a waffle in as well.  

Next to Greenhorn is a store called Production Road that sells locally made things like bags, stationary and decorations. The prices are really affordable and they style is quite unique. I got quite excited when I found a box of temporary tattoos, particularly the gold ones. I just had to buy one. 

 Now, the real reason we were in the area was because I had been wanting to go to the strawberry festival. I had seen signs like this: 

Now, maybe I was wrong, but I pictured a summer festival and a lot of strawberries! I imagined crates of them being sold by the box... However, I didn't see one strawberry, not one! There was literally not a strawberry insight. They were selling some strawberry shortcake, but with so much cream I couldn't even see the strawberries. I know I'm being a little bit OTT about strawberries, but I was just really disappointed, José even wore a red shirt! There were some market stools selling some stuff, and a rather sad looking bouncy castle but that was it really. Maybe we missed something?

This was the best bit! A knitting club for seniors called Hookers!

I don't like to be negative, as the seniors seemed to be having a nice time and that was enough for me in the end. After, our friends who moved here from England, Rebecca and Matt, have just bought their first house here so we went over the official tour. It's a beautiful town house and they looked like very proud home owners!

I finally got my pear tart! Um, oh sorry I mean Rebecca and Matt ;-)