Farm to Table Archives

In Farm to Table

Rocky Mountain Flatbread: Now Open in South Surrey

October 26, 2019

Rocky Mountain Flatbread has opened their newest location in South Surrey. It’s great as it gives people especially families a new spot to eat a meal with their kids.

They have gluten free and vegan options for brunch, lunch & dinner.

Interior

The interior is spacious! Very beautiful with a lot of natural light. Lots of tables for small to large groups. Very family friendly.

They can seat up to 60 guests.

We love the signature garage door style windows. We had a dog with us so she could sit outside as we ate inside while keeping an eye on her.

Drinks

White Raspberry Sangria has BC VQA white wine, house made lemonade, Triple Sec, house made raspberry syrup, and lemon slices. It was nice and strong.

Triple Berry Mojito has Havana Club Rum, fresh mint, house made berry puree, simple syrup, soda, hand pressed lime juice, lime and mint Garnis. It was not too sweet and there was a nice balance of refreshing berries.

Bruchetta

This is made of organic bread with diced marinated tomatoes and Parmesan. It was really good and we highly recommend it. Tomatoes are so fresh with nice tangy sourness. The baguette had a garlic spread which made the whole dish super good.

Basil & Blackberry Salad

This has assorted greens, crimini mushrooms, mango, roasted red bell peppers, basil and blackberry dressing, and Vancouver grown sunflower sprouts. We also added smoked salmon to it. It was a solid salad. Very good start to the meal to get your taste buds going.

Pesto Shrimp Pizza

This pizza has organic tomato sauce, Mozzarella, Ocean Wise shrimp, red onions, artichokes, three herb pesto, and Asiago cheese. It was really good when you get it right away. The herb pesto sauce really stands out and pairs well with the shrimp. We liked the chewiness of the flatbread dough too.

Smoked Bacon and Snap Pea Pasta

This pasta has organic rotini, double smoked bacon, red onion, oyster mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, sugar snap peas , white wine cream sauce, and Parmesan. It’s a really good quality pasta with fresh ingredients. Very comforting.

Warm Double Chocolate Brownie

This popular dessert is made with Callebaut chocolate and served with house made vanilla ice cream. The decadent brownie was really good and loved the texture and crunch to it.

Affogato

The affogato has organic house made vanilla ice cream topped with Callebaut chocolate flakes and double espresso on the side. This is such a good way to end the meal. We liked how the espresso on the side rather than in the vanilla ice cream so you can control how much you add.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we love the look of the new location with their amazing farm to table menu items. It’s a great addition to the community who are wanting fresh, good quality ingredients in their food, plus being very kid friendly.

Address:
5570 152 St #105, Surrey, BC

Website:
https://www.rockymountainflatbread.ca

In Brunch

Burdock & Co: Award Winning Brunch in Vancouver

September 30, 2019

Burdock & Co. is a great place to have brunch on the weekend with friends. They are a farm to table restaurant using organic BC ingredients. Andrea Carlson puts a lot of love into the dishes she creates. Meats are raised ethically, and they use locally produced ingredients. You’ll notice their dishes are more vegetable forward. If you have dietary instructions, there are vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian options.

Since opening its doors, Burdock & Co has collected a number of impressive awards and recognition. Most recently, they have been recognized in 2018 Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, among the top 22 restaurants in British Columbia. They also won the Gold award for “Best Brunch” and “Best West Coast” at the 2018 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards.

We were invited for a preview of their signature brunch items.

Brioche special with Peach

This is their grilled Brioche bread served with fresh peaches, yogurt, walnuts, mint and topped with honey. It was a very unique combination, yet all the flavours went very well together. This was a great sharing plate and was offered as a weekend special.

Vegan Avocado Smash

The avocado smash is served with a mix of roasted mushrooms, chili fried broccoli, smashed avocados, cashew curd (a purée of cashews), and you have an option of adding a poached egg.

I loved the addition of the mushrooms and you can really taste the quality and difference in the flavour of the eggs served here.

French Pancake

This was delicious and a great shareable treat for the table. I loved the flavour of this dish. They use seasonal fruit so the fruit used in this dish change from time to time depending on what’s available. This one was made with Corination grapes and topped with cream. It’s not your ordinary pancake. It has a light and moist texture with a maple flavour. Highly recommend.

Gluten Free Scone with Butter and Preserves

The gluten free scones with butter and preserves are a great add on to any dish. The scones are fresh and baked perfectly.

Gluten-Free Eggs Benny

The eggs benny is served with two eggs and topped with a lemon hollandaise. The eggs are on a gluten free scone with roasted potatoes and you can choose either smashed avocado or bacon. The scone was flavourful and baked very freshly. Very enjoyable dish and everything was just so darn fresh.

Rice Congee

This is my kind of comfort food. It is an elevated version of Chinese congee and they have put their own twist to this classic item. They have mushroom XO, salted almond, smoked shoyu, and yuzu kombu.

Crispy Fried Chicken

The fried chicken is served with potato pickle mayo, dill powder, and a poached egg.

Fettucini with Pork and Fennel Ragout

The Fettucini with Pork and Fennel Ragout has shaved anise, and fennel pollen. Ingredients that you wouldn’t normally see in a pasta dish but it works.

Final Thoughts

Overall, you can taste the quality of the ingredients within each of the dishes. We love how they use each of the ingredients to create such amazing, fresh, flavourful dishes. I would highly recommend Burdock and Co I can’t wait to go back, nor can we wait till their cookbook to be released.

If you’re looking for a brunch place to check out in Vancouver, head to Burdock and Co.

Address:
2702 Main St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.burdockandco.com/

In burger

The Shop at Two Rivers Meats in North Vancouver

November 16, 2018

The Shop is an eatery and butcher shop under one roof at Two Rivers Meats in North Vancouver. We were invited to try their winter menu, which features their specialty meats and seasonal produce available from local suppliers.

Interior

The space is bright and welcoming. The left half is an eatery with an open kitchen and family style seating.

The other half is a butcher shop with an array of ethically and sustainably raised meats. Two Rivers Meats proudly offer meat products from farms all over BC & Alberta who “raise their animals in open spaces without the use of antibiotics and growth hormones.”

Help yourself to popcorn while you wait for your order!

65 Day Dry Aged Beef Burger

Their signature item is the 65-day dry aged beef burger, which is served with aged cheddar, charred tomato, zucchini pickles, iceberg lettuce, and white BBQ sauce in a brioche bun. We opted to add bacon.

This burger is delicious! There’s a depth of flavour in dry aged beef that is hard to describe but is easy to distinguish by taste. The bacon is good, but this burger didn’t need it. It’s great as-is.

As a side, The Shop offers Tallow Fries and I recommend that you get them each and every time you visit. (Fun fact: McDonald’s Fries were originally fried in tallow–it’s now made in vegetable oil…and additives to mimic the taste of beef tallow.)

Sausage Platter

The sausage platter is good for sharing and the selection rotates every other day based on the season and availability. It’s served with pickled onions, zucchini pickles and mustard. The pickles are fresh and are made in-house.

When we visited, the three sausages featured were Buffalo Chicken, Toulouse and Chaurice. This is a great option if you’d like to try their sausages or to share with the table.

Two Rivers Ramen Bowl

The Two Rivers Ramen is miso bone broth, soft poached egg, bean sprouts, noodles, charred garlic chili oil, spiced nori, crispy pork and green onions.

Ramen in a butcher shop?! I was initially suspicious, until I realized they have a ready supply of bone, marrow and fat to make an amazing soup broth.

The miso bone broth in this ramen is rich, buttery and tastes amazing. The noodles has a good bite and the garlic chili oil topped egg was a nice touch. It was perfect on a rainy day. My only hesitation about this dish is the five-spice crispy pork which overpowered the taste and did not complement the soup. Next time I visit, I’ll ask if there’s another meat option available or simply ask for the crispy pork on the side.

Final Thoughts

Two Rivers Meats have supplied Vancouver retailers and higher end restaurants for over a decade. Their meat is from BC and Alberta farmers who make sure their animals are raised ethically and sustainably. Best of all, they’re making it available for everyone to easily purchase and taste these products at The Shop.

Their menu is solid and the food tastes great. They’re a great option if you’re considering eating less, but better sourced meats. It would be an afternoon well-spent to drive up to North Vancouver, try their burger and fries, then purchase a selection of their sausages for the week ahead. My only regret is that I forgot about the cookie, so I’ll need to come back and try it.

Address:
180 Donaghy Ave, North Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://tworiversmeats.ca/the-shop/

In Edmonton

Bündok: Amazing Dinner in Edmonton

August 3, 2018

Bündok is located in Downtown Edmonton and we were recommended by a few people to come here for dinner. It’s hard to define what type of cuisine it is, but it feels like elevated hip farm-to-table cuisine.

Interior

The interior is nice and classy. Since we came during a heatwave, there wasn’t any Air Conditioning inside. It was a bit toasty.

The menu changes daily, so what I had when I dined may be different depending on what ingredients are in season. I like how they keep their produce and products as fresh as possible. The menu has a variety of meat, veggies, and seafood options, which is great for people with various dietary restrictions.

Pea Shoots

We started with a salad, which is comprised of pea shoots, snow peas, English peas, mint, grilled croutons, and topped with olive oil, and Parmesan. It was a very light and refreshing salad to start the meal off. You can really taste the freshness of the peas.

Sea Bream Crudo

This dish was highly recommended by our server. It has sea bream crudo, thai basil, citrus, chilli, olive oil, and apple. A good balance of sweetness and acidity. Delicious!

Grilled Asparagus

This has grilled asparagus, deep fried egg, and cured egg yolk. Who knew egg and asparagus would go so well together.

Gnocchi Parisienne

The gnocchi parisienne has mushrooms, green garlic, and breadcrumbs. This was my favourite dish of the evening. The gnocchi were so soft like pillows. Probably one of the top pasta dishes I’ve had in my life. I highly recommend this dish.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Bündok! The dishes did not disappoint and a majority of the dishes were drool worthy. They definitely put a lot of thought into the menu and use the best ingredients possible. If you are ever in Edmonton, add Bündok to your eating list.

Address:
10228 104 St NW, Edmonton, AB

Website:
http://www.bundokyeg.com/

In Canadian

Over the Hill Orchards and Winery: Supper in the Orchard

June 7, 2018

Over the Hill Orchards and Winery is hosting their Supper in the Orchard series and are located 30 minutes outside Regina. They have partnered with the Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC) Regina and have invited chefs to create a 4 course meal for guests using mainly ingredients from local Saskatchewan farms. If you really want to experience something unique, you’ll want to come here. Most of the proceeds do go back to the CCFCC which sends their junior members to locations across North America for training.

On June 2, the day that we went for Supper in the Orchard, Curtis Toth from The Hotel Saskatchewan, Autograph Collection created us a 4 course meal with an asparagus theme. Along with Sous Chef Brett Stecyk, it was a fun evening to see the meal come together.

The Cost

The supper is $65 or $90 with wine pairing. You can also purchase individual glasses of wine for $6, and non-alcoholic beverages for $3.25. It’s not a bad price since you get a unique meal which you can brag to friends as you show them pictures. I made a reservation a week in advance and they took my credit card information just in case I cancelled. They send you an email confirmation with invoice and a map to get to the orchard.

Arrival

Getting to the orchard was a fun drive, but as you get closer by following your navigation, make sure you follow the signs. If you encounter a very steep hill driving up, you’re in the right direction. Going up can be scary as the view is limited, so just drive slowly.

When we got to the top, we parked and made our way inside. It was windy and cold, so they didn’t have drinks on the patio. Usually if its a nice day, you will see people come early to enjoy the views of the orchard and hills. We got our drinks and made our way to our table and chatted with our tablemates before the meal began.

Asparagus and English Pea Salad

The first dish has charred asparagus, marinated peas, pea puree, sous vide egg , cracked pepper and burnt leek and lemon aioli. It was so damn delicious and a sous vide egg is heavenly. The flavour of the peas and asparagus are so fresh and work well together. This is paired with the Over the Hill Peach Chardonnay as it is an off-dry wine that isn’t as sweet.

Asparagus and Cucumber Gazpacho

The second dish of the evening has the refreshing asparagus and cucumber gazpacho topped with prosciutto smoked parmesan and camelina oil. We slurped it all up and wanted more. Good flavour combinations. This was paired with the Over the Hill gewurztraminer.

Dry aged Striploin

The main dish of the night was delightful. It was sous vide striploin that was seared on the outside. It is served with asparagus gremolata, buttered asparagus, smoked fingerling potatoes, mushroom jam and natural jus. The centre of the striploin was medium rare and showcased the piece of meat. This was paired with the Over the Hill Pinot Noir.

Lemon and Greek Yogurt Cake

You will find zucchini coulis, lemon curd, Over the Hill Sour Cherries, tarragon meringue and pumpkin seeds praline. Who knew zucchini would go well in a dessert. The skilled chefs made it happen. This is paired with the Over the Hill Apricot Riesling.

Tour of the Orchard

As you noticed, each course is paired with their wines from the orchard. They guide you on a short tour of the orchard but as the day we went, the weather was bad, so it was omitted. If you come here on a sunny day, you can see where the fruits grow and hear the process of how it becomes the products that you enjoy.

Final Thoughts

As the night concluded, we settled our bills and enjoyed the sunset as the night ended. I really enjoyed the meal and a visit out to the orchard. It was a unique experience that I would highly recommend if you are in Saskatchewan.

Website:
http://overthehillorchards.ca/

In Brunch

Fable Diner: Brunchfast in Vancouver

January 30, 2017

Fable Diner opened last year and they took over the space of Reno’s, which was previously a diner. It is located at the Lee Building at the corner of Main and Broadway. I enjoyed their first restaurant – Fable, so I really wanted to come here for brunch to try their interpretation of diner food.

Interior

The interior is completely renovated and it doesn’t have much resemblance to the old Reno’s Diner. It’s beautiful. There are lots of booth seating, bar seating and a few smaller tables.

West Coast Toast

West Coast Toast has avocado, smoked fish, fresh horseradish, and salad. I added an egg on top for a little extra. I love the avocado and the smoked fish. Very fresh. The egg was poached perfectly too.

Benny

Fried Chicken Benny is served on a scone and draped with hollandaise. It is also served with potato rosti. Of the different bennies on the menu, this seemed to be the most popular among guests. The chicken is super crisp and moist.

Heuvos Rancheros

Heuvos Rancheros has refried beans, avocado, eggs, pasilla sauce, cilantro, and pico de gallo.

All Day Breakfast Plate

All-Day Breakfast Plate has eggs, bacon or sausage, potatoes, toast and jam. A very hearty breakfast with everything you need.

Coffee

Coffee is definitely a must. Their coffee comes with free refills, which is always nice.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was an awesome brunch experience. It was busy on the weekend, but the waits weren’t too crazy. We waited about 15 minutes for a table, but that was ok since a few friends were running behind. The food was great as well as the service.

We Rate Fable Diner:

Address:
151 E Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://fablediner.com/

In Farm to Table

Ritual: Farm to Table Restaurant in Vancouver

December 4, 2016

Ritual is a Farm to Table restaurant in Downtown Vancouver. They are inspired by an array of cultures that drives an eclectic and ever changing menu. Chef Nevada Cope put together a special menu that gave us a sneak peek into what they offer for their weekend dinner from Friday to Sunday. Ritual is both a full service restaurant and a multi-concept space.

Their menus are ever evolving and based on weekly availability of produce and ingredients through their suppliers.

Interior

The space is pretty nice with a chalk wall in the back, a TV with a cute cat in front of a fireplace and these cool murals of animals on the walls.

The seating is cute and simple.

They have such a huge love for coffee that they have developed a coffee program that brings amazing locally roasted coffee to the West End. They use Pallet Coffee Roasters to craft all sorts of delicious concoctions like Espresso, Havana Style Iced Coffee, and Lavender Lattes.

During the day, you can can come here for delicious pastries and coffee.

Drinks

They have lots of lovely cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. I went with a ginger green tea and it was ok, but the ginger syrup didn’t have a good kick to it. It was mostly just sweet.

Starters + Sides

Bread Service includes a few pieces of the warmed herb focaccia bread with maldon salt butter.

Charred Cauliflower and Tahini has baba ganoush, parsley and lemon gremolata, and a black sesame tahini. This was a really delicious dish and i would definitely order this again.

Roasted Organic Carrots with seaweed butter makes a great side with some of their other main items. Everything tastes better with butter.

Autumn Squash Gratin is layered and baked to order. It is topped with parmesan and parsley. It comes out bubbling hot and hits the spot the accompany the meal. Surprisingly really delicious too.

Grilled Beet Salad is served with warm feta, oregano, sliced oranges, and a smoked bacon vinaigrette. I love a good beet salad and the goat cheese paired so well.

Fully Loaded Vegan Baked Potato is topped with cashew cheese, broccoli, scallions, spicy sprouted organic tofu, mushrooms and tomatoes. One of the least liked items on the menu, not because it was Vegan, it lacked something to really bring this potato together. It felt a bit bland.

Butter Seared Honey Cornbread Slice is a nice addition to the meal too if you aren’t into their herb focaccia bread.

Mains

Hot Fried Chicken it is not too spicy and its lightly dipped in unpasteurized honey, and served with crimini mushroom country gravy, scallion mash, veggies, and butter seared honey cornbread.

It was a really good dish. I liked how moist the meat was and the skin was nice and crisp.

Duck Leg Confit comes served with einkorn risotto, almonds, cranberries, and buttered dinosaur kale. The duck is delicious.

The Yam of Your Dreams has a super cute name. It has a double baked yam stuffed with pulled pork, bbq sauce, salsa fresca, pineapple, habanero mango hot sauce. Surprisingly, the pulled pork worked well with the yam.

Francesinha Sandwich is meant to be eaten with a knife and fork. It has milk bread, smoked ham, andouille sausage, roast pork loin, melted havarti cheese, and a rich tomato beer sauce.

Dessert

Eggnog Tart has gingerbread pate brisee, baked eggnog custard, and a black cherry coulis. Really cute and has a neat deconstructed look to it.

Pan Roasted Pineapple has a ginger and sage cookie crumble and topped with a house french vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed this dessert the most as there was the fresh fruit and the creamy ice cream.

Almond Orange Poppyseed Cake has six layers of cake with cream cheese frosting and toasted almonds on the outer edge of the cake. I thought this was ok.

Overall, a pretty good spread for the weekend dinner menu. I was impressed by their creative twist on classic dishes. I love the concept of this restaurant, but that can make their hours a bit confusing to customers.

We Rate Ritual:

Address:
774 Denman Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.ritualvancouver.com/

In Farm to Table

Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co: Flatbread Pizza on Main Street

December 1, 2015

Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co has 3 locations in Vancouver. One on Main St, Park Royal and another in Kitsilano. They are best known for their pizza making parties as its fun for families or a large group of friends.

They currently are featuring a 3 course meal for $19. I was invite to check it out.

You can choose your starter which you can pick their traditional salads or feature soup of the day.

The mains are their small traditional flatbread pizzas.

Then you can end your meal from choosing either their double chocolate brownie, baked cheesecake, seasonal sorbet or vanilla ice cream.

Their dishes feature local and organic produce, free range organic meats & OceanWise seafood. Each dish is handcrafted daily in house.

All of their flatbread pizzas, pastas, salads, daily soups and desserts are available gluten free. Great for people with allergies.

M and I got a coke each in addition to the meal. Coke and pizza go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly.

Field Mushroom soup served with a slice of flat bread. Good flavours with a slight hint of spice. You can’t go wrong with it.

Fig and Goat Cheese Salad is one of their most popular salads. It has assorted greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, goat cheese, black mission fig dressing and Vancouver grown sunflower sprouts. It is also served with flatbread on the side. Nice fresh salad with just the right amount of dressing.

Naturally Meaty Traditional Flatbread Pizza has organic tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy certified organic ground beef, kale, Italian sausage, shaved red onions, roma tomatoes, herbs and asiago cheese.

It has a nice thin crust and crisp on the outer edges, but the centre of it seemed a bit droopy. There wasn’t a lot of beef or sausage on top which I was a tad disappointed in. Despite that, they did balance the amount of toppings on the pizza so its not overly loaded.

Italian Fennel Sausage Artisan Flatbread Pizza is 10 inches and is bigger than their traditional flatbread pizzas.

It has organic tomato sauce, roasted local red bell peppers, Italian sausage, roasted garlic cloves, semi-dried roma tomatoes, caramelized red onions, Mozzafina Di Latte and Goat Cheese.

When we picked up a slice, all the toppings just slid off. The flatbread didn’t told all the toppings in place. The peppers seemed to weigh it down.

The pizzas were a hit and a miss. I love that they use local and organic ingredients, which made the meal a lot healthier that a regular pizza. I just felt the flat bread wasn’t crisp enough in the centre.

Baked Cheesecake with a Toasted Coconut base was a nice treat to end the meal.

Warm Double Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream was my favourite. You also can’t go wrong with this classic dessert.

The 3 course meal is a good deal since the pizzas are already more than $10.

We Rate Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co:

Address:
4186 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://rockymountainflatbread.ca/

In Farm to Table

Burdock & Co: Farm to Table on Main Street

November 11, 2015

Burdock & Co is located in the heart of Mount Pleasant. They are best known for their family-style dining crafted from organic ingredients. I was invited to dine here with a few other bloggers and media to learn more about Burdock & Co.

Chef Andrea Carlson and her team uses local suppliers ranging from B.C. farms to local urban gardens and highlights their offerings in new and eclectic dishes.

The space includes communal dining experiences where neighbouring patrons can converse over approachable dishes, naturalist wines, craft beers, and bespoke cocktails.

Pioneering the locavore movement, the menu adapts according to local seasonal supply, providing interesting and ever-changing culinary experiences.

Alongside Burdock & Co.’s vision of sustainable dining comes a celebrated collection of naturalist wines, expertly chosen by Wine Director, Matthew Sherlock.

Agassiz Rice Congee with Halibut also has white soy sauce, fried onion, and cured yolk. As an Asian person, at first I wasn’t quite sure about this dish since I would normally see this in a Chinese restaurant. It’s not a very classy dish. More like Asian comfort food.

Tagliatelle Pasta is slathered with basil butter sauce, Fermiere cheese, and forest mushrooms. I loved the sauce! Very good!

Scallop and Green Onion Dumplings comes with a rose hip vinegar dip. It was ok, but nothing transformational.

Brioche and Smoked Marrow Pull-Apart Buns with an onion cream and sardine hash. This was a fun spin on cinnamon buns, but with a savoury touch.

Rosemary Smoked Clam with Potato Cream has pickled mussels and chanterelles. The clams and mussels were fresh.

To end off the meal, you gotta have dessert. No meal is ever complete without something sweet. They’ve got a dark chocolate pudding and then a crisp fruit tart.

Overall, the meal was delicious and they really took different types of cuisines and put a spin to it. The portions are a bit small, so it’s definitely good to come as a group and order family-style so you can try a bit of everything.

We Rate Burdock & Co:

Address:
2702 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.burdockandco.com/

In Farm to Table

Krafty Kitchen + Bar: Casual Farm to Table in Kelowna

October 2, 2015

Krafty Kitchen + Bar is a casual farm to table eatery in Kelowna. They focus on using local Canadian ingredients in their dishes where possible. They also have Kelowna’s only Duck Fat Fryer, so you know their fries will be amazing.

The interior is beautiful and it has an industrial feel to it. They have tables that can seat large groups to small groups.

There is also bar seating if you want to engage with the staff a bit more and see them at work.

Their menu is pretty fun and puts a good spin on classic comfort dishes.

Seasonal Italian Soda is on their menu and the daily flavour that they had was raspberry vanilla. It sounded great, but when we drank it, it fell a bit flat. It could have been a tad sweeter with more bubbles.

The Worlds Most Interesting Fried Cheese comes with 2 pieces of Halloumi cheese, topped with corn, tomato jam and greens. The dish was ok, but we felt the cheese could have been more hot in temperature. It still had good flavours though.

Okanagan Salad comes with greens, stone fruit and chili vinaigrette, goat feta, and toasted seeds + nuts. It was delicious and the toasted seeds + nuts were so good.

Krafty Dinner with Pork Belly arrived at the table. We were surprised the pork belly was so thick and crispy.

I couldn’t stop eating this dish. It was sinfully delicious! It’s the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. You have to order it with the pork belly.

Market Tart has the base of puff pastry, pesto, fresh tomatoes and creme fraiche.

It was a good twist on pizza with the puff pastry to give the flakey crisp crust.

Overall, the food was good. I wish I had the stomach to try more dishes. The atmosphere was good and it was indeed casual. I enjoyed the Krafty Dinner dish the most.

We Rate Krafty Kitchen + Bar:

Address:
281 Lawrence Ave,
Kelowna,BC

Website:
http://kraftykitchen.ca/

In Brunch

Farmers Apprentice: Farm to Table Brunch

July 16, 2015

The Farmers Apprentice is located in Fairview and they serve a farm to table style cuisine that uses the best ingredients that our local farmers have to offer.

As per weekend tradition, brunch is a must! Farmers Apprentice has been on my ‘eating list’ for a while. They were named best new restaurant of 2014 by En Route Magazine, Restaurant of the Year by Vancouver Magazine, and so many more.

It just seemed like it opened and instantly won all these awards. Either way, I wanted to check it out for myself.

The interior is rustic and has about 40 seats, but they are quite busy. The atmosphere is casual that you feel like you fit right in.

Their kitchen is pretty open, so you can see what they are all doing. I love it since you know they have nothing to hide. They just want to make delicious food. The best view of the kitchen is from the bar seats. I love bar seats since you can see all the staff in action.

All the dishes for brunch are meant to be shared and it arrives in the order they prepare them.

Cappuccino was our drink of choice to start off our day. It came in these clear mugs, so we can see the contents inside.

Smorrebord (all 3 – $16 or $6 each) is an open-faced sprouted rye bread sandwich. When we dined here, they had 3 kinds:

filet beans, fromage frais, soft boiled egg and roasted onion
beef tartare, mustard emulsion, and pickled shallots
cod rillette, creme fraiche, pickled beets and dill

It’s a great item to share among friends. What I liked most about this item is the bread! I just love the texture of all the seeds in it. All 3 flavours were great, as you can really taste the ingredients that go into each one. But, I felt like the beef tartare was under seasoned or needed a bit more mustard taste to make the beef taste shine through.

Berkshire and tamsworth pork biscuit sandwich with fried egg ($14) this was highly recommended by our server. She says it apparently changes lives when people sink their teeth into this. Definitely brunch worthy. The egg was fried perfectly with a soft yolky centre. The biscuit was damn good too.

Octopus, sieglinde potatoes, pickled radish, charmoula, and poached egg ($15) was just delightful. The octopus was tender and flavourful. The sauce balanced well with all the other ingredients.

When I was eating this dish, you can’t help but adore each bite of each ingredient. The octopus was really good!

The egg was poached soft and made my heart sing. That’s my favourite type of egg to fit a perfect brunch meal. I get angry at other restaurants when they don’t know how to poach eggs.

Confit Chicken, potato has, summer squash, and poached eggs ($13) had a similar presentation to the octopus. Great taste and it felt super clean and healthy.

Overall, you can really classify this restaurant as farm to table with hipster west coast flare if there was such a thing? I enjoyed the meal and you can feel the passion that the chef has for this restaurant and this type of cuisine. Plus, BC grows some amazing vegetables and produce great proteins. I’m sure if you asked the staff about where they source their ingredients, you’ll enjoy the stories.

This restaurant won’t appeal to everyone but it’s great to try at least once. It’s feels healthy, clean and delicious. Usually brunch is associated with being greasy and protein heavy, but it’s a nice change coming here.

We Rate Farmers Apprentice:

Address:
1535 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.farmersapprentice.ca/

In Farm to Table

Ulla: Top Restaurant in Victoria

December 19, 2014

ulla-sign

After a long day at work, the coworkers and I wanted to go out and celebrate Js Birthday at Ulla in Victoria. Whenever I come to Victoria, all the popular restaurants don’t take reservations, so you have to wait in line.

I’m glad Ulla takes reservations and if you’re not in town, they take email reservations so yo don’t have to waste long distance minutes.

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Their interior is beautiful from their tables all the way to their light fixtures.

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What I find so amazing about Victoria and their restaurant is how there is an increasing trend towards sourcing food that is hyper-local. They even show you on a map, where exactly on the island they source their food from.

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Complimentary bread arrives at the table with a dish of olive oil. It’s soft and fluffy on the inside with a hard crust on the outside.

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Hoyner Pilsner comes in a big bottle. It’s a nice light and crisp beer.

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They also make some good cocktails.

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Whipped Albacore Tuna Belly ($6) with sriracha and squid ink crisps. It only comes with 3 pieces on the plate but the different texture really worked well. The crispiness of the squid ink crisps and the soft and fluffy albacore tuna belly. It’s one of my favourite items.

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Chicken and Morel Mushroom Cannelloni ($14) with bacon, parmesan crumb with veloute sauce. It comes with 3 pieces.

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Broccoli soup ($12) with cauliflower, carrot and ‘cheddar’ egg with a brioche crouton. The egg isn’t an egg, it looks like an egg with the cauliflower on the outside and the carrot on the inside making it look like an egg.

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Autumn Vegetable Salad ($12) has sunflower seed and yogurt ‘cheese’, kasha crisps and cider dressing.

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Scallop boudin blanc ($15) with winter squash, pine mushroom, potato purée and pumpkin seeds. The scallops were pureed and made into a new shape. It had a neat texture and tasted really great.

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Bavette, heritage angus beef ($27) is served with potto roesti and puree, mushrooms, onions, creamed greens and a pepper sauce. The beef was cooked to medium and it was very tender.

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Still Meadows Farm Pork ($27), cheddar perogies, cabbage, celery root, apple cider jus The pork loin definitely had a lot of fat on of the ends, but it was still very delicious.

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Poached Pear ($9) with calvados sabayon, autumn spices, buttermilk sorbet, and almond streusel. A nice light dessert to end the meal.

Overall, it was another fantastic dinner at Ulla. Although it can be a bit pricey for the portions, it’s not an everyday restaurant. It’s great for special occasions.

We Rate Ulla Restaurant:

Address:
509 Fisgard St
Victoria BC

Website:
http://ulla.ca/

In Farm to Table

10 Acres Bistro, Bar & Farm: Dining in Victoria

December 14, 2014

10 Acres Bistro, Bar and Farm is located in Victoria, BC and they offers a unique West Coast experience showcasing the freshest foods from the island including meat, cheese, seafood and the finest seasonal produce direct from their farm.

I came here with work colleagues for dinner after coming off the ferry. They suggested 10 Acres would be a great place to go to.

The restaurant is quite large! THey have an inside area, a bar area, and then the outside patio. We were seated in the patio and even thought it was the winter, they have lots of heated lamps to keep this space warm.

They even had a cool heated fire in the centre. It was really hot but I loved it.

Stanley Park Pilsner – Turning Point Brewery (Sleeve – $5) is a beautiful light beer thats won various awards. I really liked it because it was light and fruity.

Sooke Trout ($19) comes from the 10 acres farm. It is served with organic vegetables and herb oil.

Salt Spring Island Mussels ($16) comes with your choices of garlic + white wine, green curry or tomato chorizo sauces. I went with the tomato chorizo because I wanted some meat. It is also served with grilled bread.

The mussels tasted fresh and were flavourful and plump. A good reflection of the West Coast.

Tagliatelle with Rotisserie Chicken ($14 + $3) has wild mushrooms, vegetables, asiago, and a citrus brown butter cream sauce. The chicken was very flavourful.

Overall, it was a decent place to dine for dinner. It is really great to know all the ingredients are from their local farm.

We Rate 10 Acres:

Website:
http://www.10acres.ca/

Address:
611 Courtney St Victoria, BC

In Farm to Table

Prasino: Farm to Table Concept in Illinois

August 30, 2013

My first meal was at Prasino in La Grange, Illinois. My aunt and uncle brought me here right after my flight landed in O’Hare. They are best known for their sustainable practices for using organic and hormone-free produce when possible. They even try to be eco-friendly when thinking about vendors to pick or even decor.

The menu has gluten-free options, vegetarian and vegan options.

P.E.I. mussels ($11) is cooked with white wine, garlic, herbs, and butter. It is served with grilled bread. The mussels come in a cooking pan. The mussels were of a decent size, tasted great, but could be a little bit more plump.

Lava spicy ($16) has tuna, crab, avocado and topped with tempura panko and firecracker sauce. It was a pretty mediocre tasting roll and quite expensive.

Lobster Roll ($16) is made with warm maine lobster, lemon, herbs, and a New England bun. It has potato chips on the side. It was pretty delicious!

Shrimp Curry ($22) has a vegetable fried rice, egg white, cilantro, and grilled shrimp and yellow Thai curry on the left. The curry was very aromatic and full of flavour.

Tuna Nicoise ($16) has evoo poached tuna, romaine, olives, potato, summer vegetables, and an anchovy dressing. The ingredients were definitely fresh, but the tuna was very dry and over cooked. It would be much better if it was seared tuna.

Gooey Butter Cake comes with lemon gelato, and a blueberry moscato compote. It was good! A perfect dessert to end the evening.

Overall, it’s great that a restaurant like Prasino is really into the local and organic food movement. I found some items on the menu a hit or a miss. I’ve head this place is pretty popular for brunch.

We Rate Prasino:

Address:
93 South La Grange Road
La Grange, IL

Website:
http://www.prasino.com/

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In Canadian

Dishcrawl Vancouver: Exploring the West End

July 1, 2013

Dishcrawl Vancouver invited me to their event focused on West End restaurants. We went to 4 different restaurants in one night, but the catch is that we only knew the first location but the other 3 are a mystery. They try to showcase the best restaurants in this area within walking distance of each other.

There was about 25 people on this particular tour and we headed to Ap Gu Jung, Hida Takayama Ramen, Forage and Capstone Tea & Fondue.

Ap Gu Jung

AP Gu Jung was our first stop. It’s a Korean restaurant located on Robson Street. This place has been here forever. I remember coming here in high school.

The interior has 2 floors and kinda looks like a western pub rather than a korean restaurant because of the playoffs playing on the big screen, jerseys, and a drum kit.

We started off with 4 dishes of banchan, which are complimentary side dishes. There is seaweed, kimchi, broccoli, and potatoes.

On the plate they sampled:

Seafood Pancake
Kimchi Pancake
Chicken Skewers
Pork on Fire
Traditional Beef BBQ
Rice

For people with dietary restrictions, they got some different items. The portions here were pretty good since there were 3 more restaurants to go to. A lot of people couldn’t finish in time, so they did have to pack it to go. We definitely needed more than 40 minutes here.

Hida Takayama Ramen

Hida Takayama Ramen is located inside the Robson Public Market on the 2nd floor. I thought I went to all the ramen places in town, but I was wrong. This ramen joint is very hidden. The prices seem quite fair as it is all under $10.

The owner – Mike Asaoka is very charismatic about the ramen he makes and uses the best ingredients.

Hida Chuka Ramen was one of my favorites. It was simple and representative of some ramen you would find in Japan. The broth is chicken based and flavoured with soy sauce.

White Sesame Ramen was very rich and thick . We ate everything else, but it was hard to drink the broth.

Sweet and Spicy Ramen was ok, but not one of my favorites.

I didn’t fall in love with any of the particular ramen, but I found it very interesting how if you come here on a normal day, the price of the small and the large are EXACTLY the SAME prices. You can get huge bowl of noodles for about $7.

Forage

Our third stop of the night is Forage. I was quite excited about this place because they do have some killer food.

We were welcomed by Chef Wittaker who took us through the farm-to-table concept at forage and let us know what we would be eating.

Nettle gnocchi and brown butter is served in a cast iron pan. The texture of the gnocchi were like little pillows of mashed potatoes.

Foraged and cultivated mushrooms is topped with Okanagan goat cheese and comes with grilled caraway rye bread. I have an addiction for mushrooms, so I polished this dish. Yum Yum!

The Flatbread has pancetta, morel mushrooms, onion béchamel, and Jersey blue cheese. It was thin, crispy and very enjoyable.

Capstone Tea & Fondue

I haven’t been back to Captone in a few years after a bad experience. It’s been a few years and that experience has always stuck in my mind. It was good to see that they rebranded and hopefully this dining experience would be good.

We were given small personal pots of Dark Chocolate Fondue and some assorted items for dipping.

In the bowl were fruit, banana bread, cheesecake, cookies, macrons, and ice cream balls. Don’t leave the ice cream balls till the very end since they will melt. With the hot weather in Vancouver, its best to just gobble them up right away.

It was a nice end of the meal.

By the end of the night, we were all full and ready to have food coma. This is my second Dishcrawl and I still have the same thoughts about these types of events. It’s not an event for everyone. $60 is a little bit steep if you’re a picky eater. Even though they do accomodate dietary restrictions, you may not like certain types of cuisines.

On the bright side, you do get to explore 4 restaurants in one night and are great for indecisive people. Do look out for coupon codes since there are a few floating around for each Dishcrawl tour.

To check out DishCrawl Vancouver: www.dishcrawl.com/vancouver/

Farm to Table

Interior

Drinks

Bruchetta

Basil & Blackberry Salad

Pesto Shrimp Pizza

Smoked Bacon and Snap Pea Pasta

Warm Double Chocolate Brownie

Affogato

Final Thoughts

Menu

Brioche special with Peach

Vegan Avocado Smash

French Pancake

Gluten Free Scone with Butter and Preserves

Gluten-Free Eggs Benny

Rice Congee

Crispy Fried Chicken

Fettucini with Pork and Fennel Ragout

Final Thoughts

Interior

Menu

65 Day Dry Aged Beef Burger

Sausage Platter

Two Rivers Ramen Bowl

Final Thoughts

Interior

Menu

Pea Shoots

Sea Bream Crudo

Grilled Asparagus

Gnocchi Parisienne

Final Thoughts

The Cost

Arrival

Asparagus and English Pea Salad

Asparagus and Cucumber Gazpacho

Dry aged Striploin

Lemon and Greek Yogurt Cake

Tour of the Orchard

Final Thoughts

Interior

West Coast Toast

Benny

Heuvos Rancheros

All Day Breakfast Plate

Coffee

Final Thoughts

Interior

Drinks

Starters + Sides

Mains

Dessert

Ap Gu Jung

Hida Takayama Ramen

Forage

Capstone Tea & Fondue