A weekend in Vancouver

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Vancouver, BC.  What an amazing city!  The weekend we were there was blessed with blinding sunshine.  I think that Vancouverites must be just as sun-starved as us Portlanders, because the streets and beaches were simply packed with sun-worshippers in skimpy costumes.  This allowed us to really indulge in our favorite activity -- people watching.

Another favorite activity that we indulged in was, of course, sampling the local eats.  Apart from an unfortunate falafel incident on the popular Denman Street, which left me questioning Vancouver's true food-cred, I have to say we had some pretty nice meals. 

The ice-creams around town were particularly yummy -- we especially liked the scoop of maple walnut at the end of our hike up to Prospect Point in Stanley Park.  Another meal at Adesso Bistro, a neighborhood Italian restaurant adjacent to our hotel boasting a small but excellent wine list, was also quite memorable -- and not just for the multiple digits on our final bill. 

There were also several excellent delicacies to gawk at and occassionally sample from at the Granville Island market, including unpasteurized cheeses (!!!), pains au chocolat at a French bakery, 'La bagueette et l'echallote', and juicy, plump lychees from the market.  These were all rendered especially tasty by the end of a 4 mile hike in the blazing sun to get from our hotel to the market itself.

Gawking at desserts at Granville Market

Granville Island Tea Company

Cheeses galore

Shiny steel cans holding infused oils

Juicy lychees

Cherries at the marketplace

But the most wonderful meal we had, hands-down, was at an unpretentious hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Broadway -- Peaceful Restaurant.  Granted, this may not really be a hole in the wall much longer, after it was recently featured on Food Network recently.  Indeed, while we were one of the first ones in this tiny restaurant, it quickly filled up and saw lines waiting for our table within a half hour of our arrival.  I first heard of this place while I was channel-surfing during a recent hotel stay and came across an interesting noodle-making video filmed at a local restaurant in Vancouver and featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-in's and Dives. As someone who has no cable TV at home, I wasn't very familiar with the show, but the panache and dexterity of the Chinese noodle-maker certainly left an impression.  In anticipation of a potential trip to Vancouver, I bookmarked the name of this restaurant in my head and located it once we go to Canada.

Vegetable dumplings

 The specialty of the place is their 'hand-dragged noodles'.  Since we got there just as it opened at 11 a.m., the smiley-faced chef was very indulgent when I asked to take photographs and even called me back to the kitchen to film him as he deftly converted a mass of dough into perfect strings of noodles, ready to be dropped into a vat of boiling water at the ready.   Part of the reason that we were there so early was that we had skipped breakfast in anticipation of our meal at  Peaceful Restaurant -- this turned out to be one of the few instances where it is in fact a great idea to skip breakfast. After perusing the extensive menu while sipping on hot oolong tea, we ordered Sichuan-style noodles featuring the hand-dragged noodles, as well as pan-fried vegetable dumplings.  The dumplings were by far the best I've ever had.  The slightly thick and chewy house-made wrappers were flecked with specks of scallion (I think) and filled with a piping hot flavorful mix of veggies served along side some vinegar with just a dash of soy.  Getting to the main course -- the noodles -- every mouthful was bursting with flavor and spice, quite reminiscent of 'Indian-Chinese' for those in the know, but far less greasy.  What set them apart, however, were the noodles that had just been prepared in front of our eyes.  The noodles were long and chewy, with just the right amount of bite to them -- in a word, amazing!  I would move to Vancouver just to be able to eat these noodles on a more regular basis!

Vegetarian Sichuan style noodles

Making the noodles

The proud chef

Since we only had two days in Vancouver, we didn't get a chance to see everything that we hoped to.  We will definitely return to this city to see the Sun Yat Sen Chinese classical gardens, stroll along English Bay beach again, and hopefully return to Peaceful Restaurant.

Eating vegetarian in Hong Kong

On our way home to India, the hubby and I took a slight detour to the charming islands of Hong Kong for a mini vacation before the real one. I really had no idea what to expect of Hong Kong. Since I'm on vacation, I'm in no frame of mind to regale you with stories of our enjoyable adventures in Hong Kong. Instead, I will just give you a pictorial tour of our forays into vegetarian eating on this cluster of islands in the South China Sea. The most memorable among these experiences were our visits to the many "wet markets" of Hong Kong to gawk at pickled eggs packed in dirt and the tiniest bok chois known to man...


...and of course the sumptuous all-vegetarian feast at Po Lin monastery on Lantau Island.




Hong Kong also boasts many bakeries and coffee shops that display beautifully decorated cakes in their windows. Unfortunately, the sight of a camera promptly results in a gruff "No photos" admonition in most of these bakeries, so please pardon the weird angles on some of the surreptitiously snapped pictures.



...and yes, the macarons craze has not spared Hong Kong either. The displays at this "Madeleine de Proust" shop in one of Kowloon's subway stations was so pretty. And for once, the sales person was more than happy for us to take pictures.



With that, I sign off with promises of more food pictures and stories from my extended vacation. Do keep the comments coming, as the giveaway is still on!

Happy New Year!

As a rule, I try not to make New Year's Resolutions (NYRs). Partly because they involve much too much introspection that can put a damper on all the year-end festivities…but also because of the guilt that follows when well-meaning resolutions are inevitably broken. However, try as I may to avoid resolving to do anything in particular in the upcoming year, holiday parties are ripe with people who use the NYRs topic as fillers for more meaningful conversations. I found myself in one such conversation way back in December, where I blurted out something about being more regular with my blog posts – I guess this had been weighing on my mind for a while. But now having mentioned this to a group of people, I feel that my mission is doomed, since, NYRs are inevitably broken. (I know I already mentioned that, but I think it's worth repeating.)

Anyhow, I have now been racked with guilt for 20 days for not having followed through on my "resolution", thanks to endless deadlines at work and grey, gloomy Portland days keeping me out of the kitchen and firmly planted on my red couch. But yesterday, on a rare crisp, sunny January day here, I saw my tulips starting to peek out of the soaking wet soil in my backyard. Then, on my way to work, I heard sparrows chirping a little tune. Could it be that spring really is around the corner? Are we really not that far away from birds and butterflies; hood berries and hummingbirds; flowers and warmth; (and yes, allergies)? Inexplicably, these little reminders of winter's impending departure have inspired me to follow through on my impromptu 'NYR'. I rushed to my computer eager to start posting up a storm, but sadly, I realize that I don't have any recent culinary creations to share with you. (Did I mention I've been marinating on the couch during my free time this month?) But anyhow, in the spirit of starting off on the right foot in this New Year, I want to sign off on this first post with some pictures of a few treats that sprang from my oven during the holiday season. I know, I know, Christmas has come and gone, and I have been lazy, but I promise that this weekend, I will drag myself to the kitchen and get the creative juices flowing again.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures. And speaking of resolutions, dear reader, perhaps yours should be to leave me a comment on Clean Platter from time to time?

Buon Appetito!

No! I refuse to be another one of the countless blogs begun with good intentions and then abandoned after a few enthusiastic posts! I remember being utterly frustrated while searching for a good blog name at the dozens of derelict sites littering the blogosphere.

So, in the spirit of getting things cooking again, I present some pictures of the tantalizing tastes of Italy that I encountered on a very recent trip to the Lazio, Toscana, and Veneto regions of this vibrant and welcoming country. Enjoy, while I head off to the kitchen to prepare for my next post. Buon appetito!

Italian broccoli, anyone?

Juicy Clementines

Puntarella and radicchio, commonly used in salads.















"Roma" tomatoes!

Zucchini and zucchini blossoms: so pretty. I was disappointed to not have seen the blossoms on the menu anywhere we ate, however.

Berries...

...and beans (cranberry beans?)...

...and brain food.





Aubergines: The Italians did not disappoint with eggplant!

Spice cones...

...peppers on a string...


...and a myriad balsalmics!

Plus...let me not omit "Il Dolce." Store windows everywhere were lined with countless tasty temptations. The French term for window-shopping is leche-vitrines, which translates literally to "window-licking". No doubt they were staring at pastries such as these when the term was coined?

Castagne confettate, better known as Marrons glacees: technically, French, but delicious in Italy

Pretty marzipan fruits.

Halloween treats -- for the tourists?

I admit, some of these treats found their way out of the windows and into our hands, and ultimately, our tummies.

These lemon jujupes were molto delicioso....making us realize, you're never too old for jujupes!

Okay, I think that's all the patience I have for blogger right now. As I upload these, I realize that I did not get a single picture of the two things that my husband and I consumed in copious amounts: caffe macchiati and gelati! Perhaps this is a reflection of our urgency to actually consume these items that were better in Italy than anywhere else I have had them so far. Oh well, I guess that's as good a reason as any to return some other day!

Arrivederci!