After our fantastic meal on Sunday I awoke a little lethargic on Monday but also eager to get back to Vic to hook up with some more old friends. I got on the 1 o'clock ferry out of Tsawwassen and was reminded how beautiful of a boat ride it is (I have pictures but I currently missing the technology to get them off my memory card)
I caught the double-decker in Schwartz Bay and headed towards town. It felt a bit odd to be travelling down the Pat Bay, the road I took to and from work for my last two years in Vic. Being there kind of felt like putting a favourite sweater from childhood. Full of good memories but I didn't quite feel like it fit me anymore. As the bus neared town and hit the crest of the hill at Royal Oak the sun came out and caught a glimps of that beautiful view of the Olympic Mountains and everything felt right again. I spent a few minutes wandering around downtown to get my bearings then made my way to Kenny G's to catch up with some of the boys.
We watched some rugby and caught up. We talked mostly about the meals our former roomate had made for us both in the previous couple of weeks. That go Kenny hungry and he "whipped something up" for me. It's quite a system I've got going.
Later that evening Jebb arrived home from Scotland and he and I decided that we would opt for a quiet evening having a drink at home and shooting the shit. The two bottles of rum he brought back from the duty free would alter those plans slightly. We polished them off in the course of the evening as we, presumably, shared stories of how great we are into the wee hours. I counldn't tell you exactly.
I woke up sometime after noon and that ruined my plans to reacquaint myself Vic. Instead we dragged ourselves to Floyd's diner and had a huge feed. From there we made some calls and plans to open up the CW clubhouse for a beer. We got it sorted and a good stream of classic Castaways showed up to say hello. Bayley, Kenny, Hank, Roger, Cordle, a couple of newbies, myself and Jebb. Some people have accused CW of being a mercenary club and looking at that list might make it appear that way. In reality though of that list most have come from away and made Victoria their home. Truth be told the club truly lives up to its name as a club full of castaways and wanderers. And I was reminded, a great bunch of guys. We spent a couple of hours at the club and then took our party downtown so we could talk about how great we were in public.I left the next day to head back to Van. The trip to Vic seemed far too short and was definitely depressingly devoid of seeing my two closes friends in Vic Jonny and Bucky, who were both out of town working. Next time fellas.
Back in Van I laid pretty low for the next couple of nights. Had a couple of nice meals with good friends and managed to squeeze in a trip to the Vancouver Aquarium to fulfill my quota of at least one tourist related excursion.
I left Friday morning and I thought the rain that day meant Vancouver was crying at my departure. Vancouver must be an emotional wreck because it cries alot. For some reason Fredericton was crying when I got home as well. I attributed that to a low pressure system blowing in from the Great Lakes.
So bottom line, good trip, I'll probably do it again someday.
After talking to Adam on Friday and him explaining that his restaurant was only 30 seats and therefore could not accommadate a party of 10 on such short notice it was decided that Sunday would be the best night for a a visit. So we made a reservation for 10 and planned on seeing him then.
On Sunday morning we had breakfast in his neighbourhood so I decided to stop in the restaurant to see if he was around. Luckily enough he was. I met his wife and daughter, caught up briefly and told him I looked forward to dinner. As a goodbye he told me "I look forward to cooking for you". It was the first time anyone has ever said that to me.
After our long day Saturday I was ready to spend the day lounging and waiting to gorge myself that evening. Barry would have none of that and insisted that we build up our appetite playing 3 hours of basketball on the courts at Granville Island. We did and it worked. I was starving by 8.
Now if anyone stumbles across this post because they are looking for a review of La Quercia first of all welcome. Second of all, I am no foodie. I lucked into this meal by way of lucking into living with Adam Pegg in his previous haunt of Victoria. My memories of Adam consist mainly of me lounging around the house trying to find the best record to hit Adam's hunger nerve so he would decide to "whip something up". His idea of "whipping something up" was sometimes braised lamb chops and was always amazing. I looked forward to this meal.
We arrived shortly after our reservation time which was fine as they cleared our table and set up for our party of 9. Our waitress was from the East Coast and she explained, in her downeast manner, that we would not be ordering off the menu, but not to worry because we were in for a very special feast. She was not lying.
We were all into it the night before so there were only a few of us enjoying wine. Before the wine arrived we had bread on our table. After the wine came she quickly brought out a meat plate of prosciutto and assorted salamis. This was another forgotten treat from the house in Vic and the vegetarians at the table missed out on some succulent treats. They were not left in the lurch though as a green salad with a interesting toasted cheese base in a vinaigrette arrived moments afterwards.
As a second salad Adam prepared us a pan-fried pork belly with a frise salad. The pork bellies were perfect...and again thanks to the 3 veggies, I got more than my fair share.
The next offering was the most daring of the evening. Our waitress brought us what looked like individual jello molds that were pale green in colour. She told us they were eggplant custards and the thin slices of eggplant that draped the custard confirmed this. I was skeptical at best. I am a texture guy and anything that has the consistency of butterscotch pudding but does not taste like butterscotch pudding usually fails my inspection. Much to my surprise the eggplant custard, however, was beautifully flavoured, sweet and smooth. It would be hard to call it the best course of the evening but it was certainly the happiest surprise.
By now we were ready for our mains but we were told to sit tight as we still had a couple more courses before it was time for that. The next one to arrive was a wild mushroom risotto that was rich and creamy and full of fresh local mushrooms. I would have stopped here and eaten all of it but I knew I had to save myself for the pasta.
The Pasta - in Adam's world pasta is not a main. Pasta is the middle part of the meal, which is ridiculous but wonderful. He prepared 7 different dishes for us 3 with our vegetarians in mind: a tuna and caper rotini in tomato basil sauce (capers = salty = right up my alley), a garlic prawn spaghetti (nice and light), and an insane squash ravioli in a light cream sauce that nearly caused a fistfight. For the meat lovers there was a classic beef bolognese tagliatelle, a rich lamb penne, and a ham penne (all three of which I hardly tasted), and a sausage in rosee sauce that I loved but almost forgot. Forgive me.
The 9 of us could not get through more than half of the pasta. At that point the waitress told us that we would now be served our fish course and then our main. We, sadly, had to tell her that we could only do one or the other and went with the fish course. Soon afterwards, out came dish after dish of fresh steamed rapini, cauliflower, spinach and roast potatoes. That was followed by three generous platters of scallops and sole in a light sauce with hints of maple. The fish was perfectly cooked, tender and juicy. Again, due to the previous 6 courses we barely got through half of the fish but that said nothing of its quality.
Dessert started with a lemon craime fraiche with fresh berries that was so perfect that I nearly killed myself finishing it. A platter arrived afterwards with assorted goodies but I was tapped out. Adam joined us once dessert was brought out after 3 hours in the kitchen cooking for us.As we sat there with our top buttons undone, asking question after question about each of the dishes, Adam seemed very content, if a bit tired (no shit - I saw him there at noon). At first I was a little disapointed that he didn't come out to greet us when we arrived but then I realized that's not his style. He lets his cooking do the talking and when he says "I look forward to cooking for you" he really means it. He also means "I will be expressing myself through food" I left his restaurant pretty secure that I have a good friend in Adam Pegg.
Best. Meal. Ever. I wish I had more hands, I'd give it 4 thumbs up.
Back in the office today and struggling to find my pace in here. I'm thinking if maybe I complete the story of my trip then I will be ready to put it all in the memory banks and get back to work.
So Saturday after the birthday potluck I got up and went and grabbed a big juicy burger from my favourite burger joint in Vancouver, Vera's on Cornwall, just around the corner from Barry's Beach house. After suitably refuelling I met up with a few folks and hit the Burnaby Lake vs Meralomas game at the Loma Dome. I met up with a few old retrobate friends there and we enjoyed a beautiful BC day watching rugby and enjoying a cold beverage.This photo was taken about 2 beer and 30 minutes before I made my best attempt to date at catching a ball kicked into touch on the full while chugging a beer. I called it a few minutes beforehand and a penalty kicked to touch gave me my chance. I narrowly missed and I swear there was an audible let down when my attempt failed. Someday I will succeed at this. Is it sad that this is what my life's ambition consists of? I think not.
We watched Loyalist Allen Furlong and his Burnaby Lake teammates lose to the Meralomas in their last game of the first half. Allen did save face with a classic winger's try, fending off two guys and beating everyone else 75 meters to the endzone. It was too little to late though and this means that if I ever decide to move to Vancouver I will play for the Lomas. I didn't tell him that but that's what was at stake in this game. Besides, I had a great time in the clubhouse after the game.Day turned into night and we picked up a few more stragglers and headed to the Beach house with plans to head downtown. Barry soon fired up the turntables and a dance party broke out. It was then that I remembered we had been drinking since 2. We decided to forego the trip downtown and instead decided to have a highly illegal bonfire on Kitt's Beach. We tried to make it a mobile dance party but the music wouldn't work. Good times though, and a perfect way to end a beautiful day in Van...man.
I arrived home late last night and met the boys to pay respects to Jay on the day of his funeral. I missed most of the coherent stories but I also missed the hard parts. I can assure you, though, that he was sent off well.
And now I want to spend a couple of days paying respects to the living loving folks that showed me such a great time in BC over the last week.
I arrived on Friday and called Adam to see if we could have my birthday dinner at his restaurant that night. He laughed me off the phone at the thought that he could accomodate 10 for Friday dinner service the day of. I would find out why a couple of days later (and will properly post about it). So we instead decided on a potluck hosted some friendly Fredericton girls. They made some amazing food which was still no match for the quality of the company. Which reminds me of a joke - so six New Brunswickers, 2 British Columbians, an Englishman and a Kiwi go to a potluck - I haven't got a punchline for it yet but that was the party so the joke is on me. They were even nice enough to make me a sweet ass cake.We followed that up with lots of drink and some silly board game that caused me to tie a balloon to my shirt (I think that's how it got there) and stand on a chair thusly:Needless to say I won't be forgetting my birthday spent in Vancouver. It was a wonderful night thanks to some great friends.
I am off work for a week and, frankly, couldn't be happier with the prospect. Yesterday was our end of quarter so no better time to enjoy some time off. I hope to spend as much time as possible sitting on a beach pondering life's unimportant questions, like what time is an acceptable time to have your first beer. I may or may not be seen around the internets for a week or so. I hope you can all manage.
I left the next day to head back to Van. The trip to Vic seemed far too short and was definitely depressingly devoid of seeing my two closes friends in Vic Jonny and Bucky, who were both out of town working. Next time fellas.
