Features

Higgins rocks! Fresh, delicious organic regional food. And of course so do Al and Julie! I could write more but I was so engrossed in our conversation that I didn't take any notes mentally or otherwise. It's funny and great how bloggers who never met in real life but who have read each others' blogs can meet and instantly talk for hours like old friends.

Luckily, Al blogged some impressions of our Higgins dinner.

In last week's Georgia Straight, Stephen Wong wrote another excellent installment of what I call his 'decoding Chinese food for non-Chinese people'. I would link to it, except that searching the Straight archives is a difficult and time consuming task!

Anyways, here are some photos of the Fried Ghost aka You Tiao aka Chinese Fried Bread.

Barb and I had an excellent Middle Eastern lunch today at Hoda's in Portland Oregon (3401 Se Belmont St Portland, OR 97214-4246, 503 236-8325) . The beef kebab with parsley which was part of the meat mezza (US $7.75) was fab. As was the kibbeh (US $8.25) (ground lamb stuffed with pine nuts, bulgur and onions).

We ended the meal with a Turkish coffee which was excellent. Strong but not bitter!

Had an excellent étouffé at JAKE'S SEAFOOD 401 SW Twelfth Portland, Oregon 503-226-1419. Back on Thursday!

Anne, one of our readers, wrote in (thanks!) to tell us that Dubrulle has been sold to the US Based company, Education Management Corporation (EDMC) and will relocate to an expanded space in the Pacific Centre this fall.

Hmm. Can't wait to see what effect this has on the Vancouver food scene. I bet it will be positive. An expanded and more centrally located Dubrulle is a good thing!

The rum tartufo flavour at La Casa Gelato is wonderful. A nice full on rum flavour! Kind of like Ritter Sport's Rum Trauben Nuss without the Trauben (Raisin) und Nuss (Hazelnut)! A great way to cool down on a hot summer night for only $3 a scoop!

Highly recommended! Warning! La Casa changes its flavours often so get it while you can!

Based on the photo below, it looks like a new gourmet deli like Meinhardt and Dean and DeLuca is opening soon in Gastown. And it's operated by the same people who run The Irish Heather Gastropub and The Shebeen Whiskey House.

To follow up on yesterday's item about local strawberries, you can find out more about the local strawberry season from the Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers Association site. The site gives up to date info about strawberry production, a list of local producers and recipes.

The site states: "Expect that BC strawberries will be difficult to find after this coming July 1st weekend. " Yikes! Better grab them while we can.

The local strawberry season is finally here! The flavour of local strawberries is amazingly intense and sweet. When I bite into one, I am reminded of how futile it is to eat those bland, pale, woody strawberries from California. And I'm glad to wait until local crops are in season.

So in the next few weeks, we'll be gorging on strawberries. Since we bought the first of the season's crops 2 weeks ago, we've eaten at least 6 pounds and have frozen 8 pounds for canning.

Caterina Fake, Vancouver based polymath extraordinaire, linked to VanEats today in the Eating and Drinking section of Things to do in Vancouver, BC. Thanks!

After reading her piece, we definitely want to try the Apple Goat Cheese Pancakes at The Alibi Room that she mentions.