Road 13 Honest John's 2007 Red

This wine was an accidental opening. I had prepared some mussels with an italian-style wine and tomato sauce, frites with a lemon aioli, and a light salad for a late night (baby-free) meal. Alas, the wine I purchased to accompany the meal was bad, so we headed to the cellar to see what we could find. We decided on the Road 13 Honest John's 2007 (http://www.road13vineyards.com/index.php), a wine Chris purchased about a month ago, and which we were curious to taste.

A merlot blend, it immediately reminded me of Pétales d'Osoyoos from Osoyoos Larose; it had the same characteristic fruit and roundness of merlots from the area. However, as it opened up with more time and air, it became fuller, and unfortunately, a little rougher. It appears to have seen more oak, or more heavily toasted oak, than the Pétales d'Osoyoos. However, the oaking left the wine a little unbalanced; it began with lovely fruit, leading to toasted caramel, and finishing too quickly. We are in disagreement as to whether the lack of finish is real (Chris) or is due to the slightly overpowering toastiness that precedes it (me). Whatever the cause, this is not a wine to be lingered over. To be fair, however, this wine costs $10-$14 less than the Pétales d'Osoyoos, and we consider it to be a good value BC red at its price point.

Note: This was not a great pairing for the mussels, but we hadn't expected it to be. It would likely be quite nice with a grilled hanger steak or quality beef or buffalo burger.

Gray Monk Latitude 50 White 2007

This offering from Gray Monk on Okanagan lake (http://www.graymonk.com/WinePortfolio.php?art=67) is our latest favorite value wine from BC. Actually, it's probably our only favorite value wine from BC, and to tell the truth, we never would have tried it on our own. It's below the price point where we typically find things we like, but someone served it to us at a recent party, and we were very pleasantly surprised.*

This is not a serious wine, but it is pretty delicious for something that is well under $15.00. Typical of Okanagan whites, this blend has lots of tropical fruit, and some acidity. It goes well with Asian-style food, but it's very pleasant served on its own.


*I know that not all good wines are expensive, nor are all expensive wines good. But in general, the two are fairly correlated, and we take fewer risks with lower priced wines than we used to. Thankfully, not all of our friends think the same way, and so we still get the chance to try wines like this one from time to time.

Maenam

Rather unsurprisingly, having a newborn has had a significant impact on our ability to go out for dinner. Luckily, however, grandmothers, when they are around, love to look after babies, and a recent visit gave us a welcome night out. After some discussion, we decided to use our limited freedom to try out a new restaurant in our neighborhood - Maenam (http://www.maenam.ca/).

Maenam is in the space previously occupied by Gastropod, and is run by the same people. I must say that we were both much happier with their new venture than their old. (I am not a big fan of molecular gastronomy as it is often practiced in North America. In Spain…now that’s another matter entirely.) The space is not much changed. Yes, the actual décor is different, but the layout is the same (at least to my eyes). And it still has the same feeling - formal enough to make you feel like you’re in for something special, but yet casual enough to be inviting.

Importantly, Maenam lives up to the impression; the food and service were both excellent, and the prices are remarkably low given the high caliber of both. We both actually remarked more than once at the degree of dissonance we felt between the ambiance (including the very professional service) and the prices.

The quality of ingredients and care of preparation are clear in every dish. We ordered roti, house made fermented thai sausages, pad thai, David Thompson’s 3 flavour fish, smoked duck red curry, and rice. The roti, sausage, and pad thai arrived first. The sausage was very tasty. We were both somewhat apprehensive about what exactly a fermented sausage would be like, but be assured, there was nothing funky about it, just great complex flavor. The server warned us about the chili inside, suggesting that we remove it prior to eating the sausage. I was very glad I heeded her warning, but I was also glad that the chili had been in the preparation, as it added a wonderful heat to the sausage. (If you eat whole habaneros, you could probably leave the chilis in, but otherwise, I agree that they are best removed before eating.) I have read reviews gushing about the pad thai, and while we both thought it was tasty, it was not the highlight of the meal for us. It was, what pad thai should be. (I suppose maybe we’ve been lucky in our previous pad thai experiences - I can’t relate to the stories of gloppy thick or dry flavorless noodles that seem to accompany rhapsodies about Maenam’s pad thai.) The roti, by contrast, was undercooked, rather like a sticky gluey paste that had been warmed. The flavour was pleasant enough, but the texture was not. While we were eating the pad thai and roti, the fish, duck, and rice arrived at our table. The fish was my choice and I was very very happy with my selection. The ling cod was perfectly cooked, still moist, but with ultra crispy skin. And the salty, sweet, and sour flavours are perfectly balanced, all present, none stealing the spotlight from the others. I was less taken by the smoked duck curry, but that is more about my tastes than the quality of the dish, which was quite apparent; the duck was quite tasty, and the sauce was very complex and well crafted, with great depth of flavour without being overbearing.

We were both very happy with our experience, and definitely plan to return, something not true of our visit to Gastropod. If it were as expensive as Gastropod was, we would not be so enthusiastic, but as it is, it is great value for money. We highly recommend it.

4 happy thumbs.

BC Ferries...

No trip to British Columbia is complete without a visit to Vancouver Island, and for most people, that means taking a ferry. In the interests of public service, on a recent trip over to see relatives I decided to sample and report back on some of the food available. I should disclose that I am an island girl, and so have eaten many a meal on the ferries over the years. Thus, I have some nostalgia for the classics, in particular, the clam chowder. The clam chowder I remember was red, tangy, and nicely laced with chopped clams, and potato and carrot cubes. It is still red, but it seems less tangy, and a little less filled with goodies. More disappointing, however, was the new thickness of the chowder. It seems to contain a great deal of cornstarch now. Manhattan style chowder is not supposed to stick to your spoon, or so I thought. Also troubling, they were temporarily out of packets of saltines. One of my favorite things to do as a child on the ferry was to crush the cracker package, neatly breaking the crackers into bits which were then easily poured into the soup, a pleasure I was denied on this trip.

I also sampled the one of the new burgers. I say new because when I last traveled the ferries on a regular basis the burgers were typical institutional burgers, whereas now they are from Whitespot. This happy fact actually gave me some enthusiasm for my task - what child growing up in BC doesn't love Pirate Packs! Add to that the fact that one of my uncles appeared in a Whitespot TV ad in the 80's and I was ready to love my burger. I ordered a legendary burger with cheese combo, and upgraded to the sweet potato fries. Despite being the only person in line at the time, I had to wait several minutes for my burger. I was unperturbed, because at least that should mean it was fresh, or so I thought. As it turned out, the patty was so overcooked as to almost be burnt, and yet it was cold. The fries were piping hot, however, as was the chipotle mayo they were served with (spicy hot that is). Truth be told, however, the state of the hamburger patty didn't bother me tremendously (I have rather low expectations of ferry food), as the sauce on the burger was just as delicious I remembered it. There is something special about successfully reliving a happy childhood food memory, and the burger did that for me. And the sweet potato fries were actually pretty good for food prepared in a floating institutional kitchen - a little soggy, and the chipotle mayo was more heat than flavor, but they could have been much much worse.

Travel tip: If, like me, you are not a fan of Starbucks coffee, you might want to know that there is a Saltspring Island coffee stand in terminal at Tsawwassen. It's at the other end of the building from Starbucks.

2 thumbs up.

2005 Laughing Stock Portfolio

We opened this last night to go with some fabulous aged rib-eye steaks that Chris grilled. They were simply seasoned with salt and pepper, and served with a vinegarette potato salad and fresh corn on the cob. Wonderful pairing. The wine was nicely structured and well balanced with soft tannins, good acidity, and what I call light fruit. We drink a lot of California Cabs and Meritages which have a tendency toward big, massive fruit. Not so the Portfolio. Although there were definite flavors of cherry and current, we were not overcome by the fruit. And as strange as this may sound to some, it was clear that this was something made from grapes. I rarely get any sense of grape in wine, and when I do, it tends to be a sweet, almost artificial grapeness. That was not the sensation I had drinking this wine. Rather, it was more of a ghost of grape, a subtle reminder of origins, rather than an actual flavor. (Clearly something hard for me to describe.) The wine had a surprising amount of sediment given that it was a 2005, so I would definitely recommend decanting.

http://www.laughingstock.ca/

Dinner at Rangoli

Last Saturday evening our out-of-town guests wanted Indian cuisine, and we wanted to show them something uniquely Vancouver, with the constraint that the destination had to be baby-friendly. Rangoli was the obvious choice (http://www.vijsrangoli.ca/index.html). It was a beautiful evening, but unfortunately, we had to sit inside as the patio was already full by just after 5 when we arrived. However, this was our only disappointment that evening.

We started with four shared appetizers: the savory chaat, the lamb, beef, and lentil kebabs, the sautéed tomatoes and purple onions, and the cauliflower, spinach, onion and potato pakoras. All four were very tasty (not a scrap was left on any of the plates), but my personal favorite was the sautéed tomatoes, purple onions, and paneer. It had buttery undertones that give it a lovely richness. And it went marvelously with the Joie Riesling I was drinking.

For mains I chose the tamarind and yogurt marinated grilled chicken, and Chris had the spiced and marinated tilapia. Our guests had the beef and broccoli in spicy onion-tomato masala and the grilled eggplant with chick peas. The chicken was very flavorful with only a light bit of spice. The sprout salad it was served with crunchy and fresh, the legumes only slightly sprouted. Chris’s tilapia was a perfect example of what Vij does best, take Indian techniques and spices and marry them with unusual ingredients. It was creamy and flavorful, yet with a lightness befitting tilapia. Our guests’ dishes were also well received, although one wished that the beef and broccoli (a combination that I assume was inspired by/in homage to the large east asian population here in Vancouver) had been served with rice.

We ended our meal with chai and dessert, all of us opting for the same coconut pudding. It was a fairly thin pudding with great fresh coconut flavor, which, for those unfamiliar with fresh coconut, is quite different from what many in North America think of as coconut; it is much less sweet, intense, and overpowering than dried coconut, even when unsweetened. It was a nice summery dessert, although I think that in winter I might like something a bit more substantial.

Rangoli also sells packaged meals, and I purchased several on our way out the door. They are now sitting in our freezer for days when we don’t have time to cook. I will report on these as we eat them.

My one real complaint about the place is the lack of any place to change diapers. There are no changing tables in the washrooms, and the countertops are too narrow to use. It is a very family-friendly restaurant, and so I find this quite disappointing. Vancouver is a town full of young families, many of whom (at least among our friends and acquaintances) are eager to expose their children to a variety of food experiences (and do not want to stay home all the time simply because they have children). For this reason only I'm giving Rangoli 3 thumbs, (2 from Chris, 1 from me).

Wine and Asparagus - Joie 2007 Dedication Pinot Blanc

This past weekend after a day trip to Whistler with some out-of-town guests, I was charged with making dinner. The only constraints: it had to be quick to prepare as we arrived home rather late, and it had to include asparagus, as one of our guests had gifted me with several bunches of it.

I decided on penne with a cream sauce with asparagus, proscuitto, onion, garlic, and parmesan, served with garlic bread and a simple green salad, a quick and simple dinner. The wine selection proved more difficult. Asparagus is notoriously difficult to pair with wine. However, ‘difficult’ does not mean ‘impossible’; it simply means that some thought is required in making a wine selection. Chris’ choice for the evening was a 2007 Dedication Pinot Blanc from Joie (http://www.joie.ca/index.htm). It was a perfect choice – classic fruit on the nose, but not sweet, some minerality to complement the asparagus, and enough acid to handle the cream in the sauce. Happily, we bought a few bottles of this when it was released a few months back (the website says that they’re sold out). I suggest that if you find some in your local store, you buy it then and there, because you may not see it again.



‘Recipe’: I cut the asparagus up into two inch pieces and blanched it. I sautéed chopped onion until soft, added sliced proscuitto and chopped garlic, then after another 1-2 minutes of sautéing, the asparagus, and salt and pepper. Then a little chicken stock and some half and half went into the pan until warm. Off the heat, the sauce was finished off with a generous handful of parmesan, and some fresh lemon juice. The salad was spares: some romaine, green onion, and red pepper. It was simply dressed with good quality olive oil mixed with fresh chopped garlic, salt and pepper, and then finished with a drizzle of Venturi-Schulze balsamic vinegar (http://www.venturischulze.com/Vinegar/index.php?page_id=vinegar).