One of my personal goals for 2012 is to do more cooking classes. I want to learn skills and tips from trained professional chefs, as well as increasing my cooking confidence by getting out of my comfort zone. I had a great experience with the “Serious Foodie” cooking class from the Northwest Culinary Academy last year but this year I want to try different cuisines and see what other skills I can acquire.

My friends, Rose & Rommy, and my sister were thoughtful enough to buy me a gift voucher from The Dirty Apron cooking school for my birthday and I wasted no time in booking myself into the “Ooh La La 2″ cooking class. Trying to decide on what class to do was quite difficult as they offer a lot of appealing classes, ranging from French to Italian to West Coast cuisines, as well as specialty classes that focus on Julia Child’s dishes or comfort food (among others).

The hands-on classes are about 4 hours long and in most classes you will cook a 3 course meal. The class follows the format of the chef demonstrating how to cook the dish and then the students return to their stations to re-create it. Once you’ve completed your dish, everyone eats together at a long table with a glass of wine (included in the cost). You then follow the same format for the next two dishes.

Our chef, Dave, teaching us the way of the kitchen.

The class was very professional and explanations and safety information were given along the way. All students are given printed copies of the recipes, as well as a loaner apron and name badge. Classes are kept quite small with a maximum of 22 students at a time. The night I went there was only about 13 of us, which kept it even more intimate. I found our chef, Dave, to be very approachable and I couldn’t help putting up my hand to ask multiple questions (food nerd!). Whilst you are cooking at your station, the chef and his sous chef would come by offering words of advice or a friendly chat.

Dish 1: Herb-crusted roasted beef tenderloin, served with a mushroom herb crepe and mushroom ragout.

The reason I had chosen to do the French class was that the menu sounded awesome. Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint. The first dish, a herb-crusted beef tenderloin, was superb. I didn’t plate it very well but I can say that it tasted much better than it looks in this picture! Surprisingly, the beef requires very little cooking time and hardly any prep time so this dish is a good contender for a dinner party dish. The crepe felt like an unnecessary addition as it didn’t really add anything to the dish so I’d skip that step next time.

Dish 2: Mediterranean bass with lemon caper butter sauce and steamed vegetables.

The next dish, a Mediterranean bass with lemon caper butter sauce, was my favourite dish of the evening. Once again, I was surprised at how little cooking time went into this dish. Most of our work was in filleting the fish ourselves. I was incredibly nervous about doing this as I had never filleted a fish before and the chef prefaced this part of the class with “If you are going to cut yourself at anytime tonight, it will be here”…yikes! I felt the pressure. Thankfully I came out with no scars but with the satisfaction of decapitating and filleting my own fish. The rest of the dish was incredibly simple (score the skin, sear the fish skin side down, and throw it all in the oven for a few minutes). Bam! That is it! Who would have thought making tasty fish was THAT simple?! Not me.

Dish 3: Chocolate soufflé with chocolate sauce.

Our final dish was a chocolate soufflé, which turned out surprisingly well. Mine was a little runny inside but that didn’t stop me from tucking in. Next time, I would give it a few more minutes and I wouldn’t bother with making the chocolate sauce for this dish as the soufflé was chocolate-y enough on its own. I would, however, use the sauce in another dessert or just over the top of vanilla ice-cream.

Overall, I had a really fun time at The Dirty Apron. The class format and the recipes were easy to follow, the chefs were friendly and relaxed, yet informative, and the school and dining room were very modern, clean, and inviting. My only complaint is the price of the classes. It is $150 (not including taxes) for this class and I find that quite high. Yes, all of your ingredients, tutorials, and two glasses of wine, are included but I still have a hard time understanding why it is that expensive.

I am extremely grateful that I had friends who were generous enough to help me do this class. I would love to go back and do another class or two but at that price it will have to be something I save for special occasions. If you have the cash (or generous friends), it is well-worth it.

Thailand was interesting, inspiring, and exhausting all at the same time and I had plenty of food adventures that I want to share with you. Unfortunately, jet-lag has gotten the better of me this week and so once I climb out from under my sleepless fog, I will get on that. Until then here is a quick post about an unexpected find that I had whilst on one of the islands.

I spent my birthday in Ko Samui re-united with family but away from B. That put a bit of a damper on the day but I still managed to keep myself well-satiated and happy. Whilst in Ko Samui I discovered that a past chef at the famed el Bulli, Alex Gares, is now cooking at the Four Seasons. As a treat for my birthday, my family and I dined at Lan Tania, one of the restaurants that Gares oversees at The Four Seasons.

The restaurant has absolutely spectacular cliff top views over the ocean – breathtaking! You’ll have to check out the website to see pictures of the view. Regrettably we didn’t realize just what a spectacular view this would be and we booked our dinner too late to enjoy sunset and dusk with this million dollar view. Damn! A slight oversight on our behalf.

Lan Tania focuses more on Thai and, oddly, Italian food (not what I expecting in Thailand), whereas Pla Pla (the other restaurant) focuses more on Western food and fish. El Bulli this is not – the dishes were traditional Thai rather than innovative culinary quizzes but we had wanted to stick with the local food.

Massaman Nua – Massaman Curry of Beef

Kaow Soi – Curried Noodles with Chicken, Chiang Mai-Style

 Paneang Goong – Red Curry of Prawns with Coconut and Lime Leaves

Phad Thai Goong – Fried Rice Noodles with Prawns, Egg, Bean Curd, Chives, Bean Sprouts, Peanuts and Tamarind Sauce

Nua Phad Nam Prik Paow – Stir-Fried Beef with Fragrant Spices

Caramel Chocolate Mousse Tart with Pistachio and Vanilla Ice Cream

This meal was easily the best meal that we had whilst in Ko Samui and it wasn’t overly expensive considering the high standards of quality (it came to about $300 CAD for 5 people, including drinks). The location, the food, the service, and the company, was a memorable way to celebrate my birthday.

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you the very best for 2012!

Martha Stewart’s Lemon Squares – Makes about two dozen

For the crust:
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, frozen, plus more to line the dish
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
¾ teaspoon coarse salt

For the filling:
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
¾ cup fresh lemon juice (this equates to roughly 5 lemons)
¼ cup whole milk

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish, and line with parchment paper.

Make crust: grate frozen butter on a cheese grater with large holes; set aside. (I skipped this step the second time I made them and just used room temperature butter without grating and I found it worked better). Whisk together flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter; stir with a wooden spoon until combined and mixture looks crumbly. (I just used my hands to make a crumbly mixture).

Transfer mixture to prepared dish; press evenly onto bottom with your hands. Freeze crust for 15 minutes. Bake until slightly golden, about 16 to 18 minutes. Leave oven on.

Meanwhile, make filling: Whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and milk. Pour over hot crust.

Reduce oven temperature to 325F and bake until filling is set and edges are slightly golden brown, about 18 minutes. Let cool slightly on a wire rack. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into 2-inch squares. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Lemon squares can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 2 days.

Recipe is from Martha Stewart’s “Cookies” cookbook.

T: 604 568 1701
www.labattoir.ca

Brief Description: A chic, unpretentious Gastown restaurant that dishes up French-meets-West Coast cuisine.

Every now and again I discover a new restaurant (to me) that excites me so much that I just want to shout its praises to anyone who will listen. L’Abbatoir is one of those places. Now when people ask me for restaurant recommendations, I have no hesitation in pointing them in the direction of this Gastown establishment.

Located in what is arguably the most happening food and drink intersection in Gastown, L’Abbatoir distinguishes itself from the crowd with a beautiful space, innovative drinks, and good quality food. The food is self-described as French-influenced West Coast cuisine which I take to mean that traditional methods of French cooking, such as rich, creamy sauces, are paired with well-known West Coast produce. Dishes arrive at the table looking well-executed and, quite simply, beautiful. In typical French style the food is quite heavily focused around proteins and can be quite heavy. Vegetarians, if the name didn’t make it obvious enough, there isn’t much for you here.

So, why am I only just now talking about L’Abbatoir? That’s a good question considering that it has been a Vancouver fixture for about a year now. Well, truthfully, to go back a few times in order to really get a feel for the place hasn’t been cheap. You should know this going in so that you can set your expectations. The mains are around the $26-$27 mark and you are also recommended to order an appetizer first as the portion sizes aren’t overly big.

Let’s talk décor. With some elbow grease, a wad of cash, and some obvious design direction, L’Abbatoir looks and feels completely different to the old Irish Heather (the bar that was in the space for many years prior to L’Abbatoir’s arrival). With a lot of natural light, rustic brick walls, interesting light fixtures, and a romantic atrium, L’Abbatoir feels rustic, yet chic. Upmarket, yet informal.

The bar is a sexy go-to place for some classic or original cocktails but be warned: the bar-staff may look like laid-back hipsters but these guys take their drinks seriously. This is not the place to come with your buddies for a few brewskies. Overall, service is professional but it feels quite relaxed. It’s almost as though the staff are constantly watching but they aren’t in your face about it.

Recommendations? That’s a tough one as the menu does change quite frequently. A personal favourite that has been on the menu for a while is the cannelloni with a mushroom and bacon blanquette.

In summer it was filled with rabbit, but now it is done with chicken. I prefer the chicken. I really enjoyed the poached egg with Burgundy truffle, potato gnocchi, leeks and pecorino – absolutely delicious and decadent.

With its different textures and flavours the boneless quail and crispy chicken sausage roll dish was incredibly interesting.

Whilst not on the current menu, two dishes that I thoroughly enjoyed in the summer were the chicken escargots, with fregola and green garlic butter (holy…!) and a house-made organic strawberry ice-cream.

Phenomenal dishes! Here are some of the other dishes available:

Final Thoughts: L’Abbatoir has quite quickly nestled itself amongst my favourite local restaurants. The food is elegant and almost makes the transition into fine dining but the atmosphere is more relaxed and less pretentious than some of the more formal Vancouver establishments. Highly recommended but take the credit card – you’ll need it to truly experience L’Abbatoir.

Completing my “Serious Foodie” cooking course. It feels like I completed the course much longer than just a year ago. I found this to be a really informative course that helped shape my confidence in the kitchen and gave me some reliable recipes to beef up my cooking catalogue.

Eating at Gordon Ramsay’s “Maze” restaurant in Melbourne. This was a very big highlight for me as I had never dined in a Ramsay restaurant before but had wanted to for a long time. The added benefit was that we were about a week into a three week vacation to Australia so we indulged big time with champagne, four courses, and coffee before slinking back to our hotel for a long nap. Ahhh…

Dinner with my family at “The Hanuman” in Darwin. Even with the exceptional Thai and Indian food at The Hanuman, this particular dinner was memorable more so because I was with my family, surrounded by humidity, whilst enjoying bowls of spicy Thai curries. That is a dinner worth remembering!

Getting my coffee buzz on in Melbourne. We spent most of our short trip to Melbourne in and out of cafés, drinking perfectly caffeinated lattés and flat whites. Thinking of this time, which was spent chatting over coffee with my new hubby, gives me warm tingling feelings of happiness.

Dining in a private room at “Bouchon” in Las Vegas with friends. I organized for our group of 11 to dine at Bouchon whilst we were in Vegas celebrating B’s 30th. Eating at a Thomas Keller restaurant was enough excitement for me but then they sat us in a private dining room, with our own servers, for the night. My mind was blown. Fabulous food, excellent company, and great Vegas times made for a very memorable evening.

Araxi’s Long Table Dinner at North Arm Farm. The picture below helps tell the story – a hot summer day, surrounded by picturesque mountains, friendly people, oh…and fabulous food! The Long Table Dinner was really the event that catapulted our crush on Araxi into a full-blown love affair. I really can’t think of a better summer experience than dining on magnificent food that has been plucked from the very farm that you are surrounded by.

L’Abbatoir in Vancouver. This well-known Gastown restaurant has been on the lips of food critics all across the country. I have eaten at L’Abbatoir a few times now, and have also dropped in for a few potent cocktails, and it is easy to see why everyone is singing its praises. A very impressive, albeit pricey, addition to the Vancouver food scene.

Araxi’s Big Guns Dinner in Whistler. What an evening! This event came with a $250 price-tag but was well-worth the splurge when you take into consideration the quality of the food and wine pairings. Some of the wines we had still linger in my mind – and I’m not even a wine connoisseur! The menu was so suited to my tastes (except one course – blue cheese!) and the quality of the dishes was exceptional. $5,000 worth of truffles!? Hello! This is not your average night out.

Araxi’s Bubbles & Oceans in Whistler. Hmmm, I’m starting to see a theme with my 2011 memories…Araxi! Ha! 32 different types of unlimited sparkling wine, vodka fountains, and enough seafood to fill you to your gills – this is Bubbles & Oceans. I’m surprised I can remember anything after all of that unlimited sparkling wine…

Phew! What a year. I need let my belt buckle out after that walk down memory lane. 2011 was a fabulous year but I have my fingers crossed that 2012 will be just as memorable. And with my upcoming trip to Thailand, a possible visit to San Francisco and The French Laundry (pending on whether we can get a reservation), and more local and, possibly international, trips on the cards, it is shaping up to be another good year.

Thank you all for reading and commenting in 2011. I hope this year was a good one for your culinary adventures too!

T: 604 688 8565
www.freshbowl.ca

Considering just how many times I have visited Freshbowl it is surprising that this is my first and only review. Freshbowl in Yaletown is close to my work and so it has long been a regular haunt of mine. This modern restaurant is very much a Western version of Malaysian food. That’s not to say it isn’t good (I find it satisfying but not rave-worthy) but it isn’t authentic.

Today was the first time that I’d been back to Freshbowl for a few months and I went for one reason, the Singapore laksa.

I didn’t have high expectations going in yet I found that I was pleasantly surprised. It was off to a good start when the bowl was delivered with a broth that was glistening with a gorgeous red chilli oil shimmer (see sides of the bowl). This shimmer built my taste-buds hopes up as they anticipated a laksa with a spicy punch. The first spoonful of broth did not disappoint, with some slight heat in the back of the throat, but unfortunately that was it for the heat. There was quite a good flavour in the paste so it didn’t taste like I was just drinking coconut milk (like the laksa at Banana Leaf) but I would have liked some more heat and a bit more depth of flavour.

With its julienned carrots and cucumber, the laksa had a more modern look than I’m used to – although not necessary, it did look appealing. As for the ingredients, there was enough of a variety to make it interesting both, visually, and with texture. My two complaints were that the noodles were only vermicelli (would have got extra points in my book for egg noodles) and the chicken was lacking flavour and would have been better shredded rather than in chunks.

Room for improvement:

• Although the broth had a good consistency, more heat and more depth of flavour in the broth/paste would have given this laksa more points.
• I was not asked what level of heat I wanted. To me, this is key. Most places make laksa bland to cater to Western tastes.
• Shredded flavourful chicken, rather than chunks, would be better.
• Egg noodles would be a bonus (although this is just my preference).

Price: $9.95 (without tax)

Rating: 3/5

If you are looking for a fresh, modern take on laksa then head to Freshbowl. It isn’t as authentic as I would have liked but overall, it was good. I wouldn’t go out of my way to have it but it would definitely do in a pinch.

Laksa?! If you are like most people that I know in Vancouver, you may be scratching your head wondering what the hell I am going on about. So, here is a quick “Introduction to Laksa 101”:

• Laksa is a noodle-based spicy soup.
• The noodles can be vermicelli or egg noodles.
• Apparently there are numerous types of laksa, however the two most popular type are the curry laksa (made from coconut milk) or asam laksa (a sour fish soup).
• It is typically found in Singapore or Malaysia.
• You can pretty much have anything in it; seafood, chicken, barbecued pork, tofu, boiled eggs, assorted vegetables…the list goes on.
• It’s delicious.

Laksa is extremely subjective; how one person likes their laksa is likely to be different to how another person will like theirs. So what am I looking for in a laksa? Personally, I am only interested in the curry laksa and, to me, the broth is the most important element of a laksa. I love a fragrant, thick, spicy coconut milk broth. My biggest complaints with Vancouver laksa has been that they are not thick enough, not spicy enough (this is usually fixable with some chilli paste), and not enough depth of flavour in the laksa paste. Most of them just simply fall flat on taste.

For the noodles,  I prefer egg noodles because I like them thicker, and for the toppings I don’t enjoy seafood in my laksa (I had a bad food-poisoning experience with seafood laksa once before) but I love chicken, tofu, boiled egg, and a few vegetables. A garnish, like cilantro and chilli slices, adds flavour but also much-needed colour. A laksa with no garnish is a sad laksa indeed.

My search has continued and with only weeks until the end of 2011, I’ve amped it up. I was at Banana Leaf on West Broadway at Willow Street on the weekend and ordered what used to be one of my go-to laksa (mostly because it was the closest thing to what I am used to). Unfortunately, the laksa standards at Banana Leaf have been slowly dropping and the one that I had on Saturday (not to mention ones that I’ve recently had prior to this one) was very disappointing.

I have been ordering chicken laksa everywhere that I go so that the reviews can be consistent and comparable. This was a Singapore Laksa with chicken.

Room for improvement:

• The broth was far too runny. It would have been better slightly thicker.
• There was absolutely no heat/spice to the broth. This was what really let the whole dish down. More spice and more depth of flavour was needed.
• I was not asked how hot I wanted the laksa (mild, medium, or spicy). This likely would have helped with the complaint above.
• No egg noodles, just vermicelli.
• There were far too many vegetables. More chicken would have been preferable, especially as I paid the same price as a seafood laksa but had opted for no seafood.
• The garnish was waaay too much. Yes, garnish is great. A bunch of cilantro, on the other hand, is over-kill.

Price: $11 (without tax)

Rating: 2/5

I’m sad to say that all three locations of Banana Leaf have let their laksa standards slip. It was most certainly not incredible. And the search goes on…

1/ Visit Au Petit Chavignol – FINALLY got to Au Petit Chavignol. When I was doing research for my favourite burger blog post, a stop at Au Petit Chavignol for their highly acclaimed burger was in order. As expected, it was very good (but Refuel still kicks its butt!). Still need to do a few more return visits before an official review.

2/ Revisit Kingyo – Almost immediately after my last update, a friend organized his birthday dinner at Kingyo! It would seem that fate had intervened. Perhaps my expectations were too high, or maybe things at Kingyo had slipped slightly, but it didn’t seem as polished as the other times I had been there. Perhaps Suika has spoiled me?

3/ Find, or make, an incredible laksa. I fear that this goal is going to be one that creeps well into 2012. I did recently visit Café D’Lite on West Broadway and ordered the chicken laksa and it was much better than their vegetable laksa that I had last time (I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise). The laksa soup was much runnier than I am used to, with my preference being a thicker consistency. The two noodle approach (vermicelli and egg noodle) was an interesting addition. I still need to really put effort into this goal if I’m going to be able to check this off.

4/ Be able to frost a cupcake so that it doesn’t look like a pre-schooler did it. Woot woot!! I think I can say that this goal has been accomplished. My confidence is at an all-time high when it comes to frosting cupcakes so feeling pretty chuffed with myself over this one. Ha!

5/ Spend less money on mediocre weekday lunches and use the money saved for lavish dinners out instead. Errrr, yeah, this one is not really happening. Some weeks I’m really good at bringing my own lunches but other weeks are a complete fail.

6/ Host a really girly afternoon tea. Check!! There was a lot of pink, lots of pretty desserts, plenty of tea sparkling wine, and girl talk. I think that means it was a success.

7/ Host a successful dinner party. Not too late for this one but I’ll have to get on it if I’m going to get this checked off before Christmas.

My remaining food goals for 2011 are:

1/ Find, or make, an incredible laksa.

2/ Spend less money on mediocre weekday lunches and use the money saved for lavish dinners out instead.

3/ Host a successful dinner party.

I’m not holding out much hope for the first two but the last goal should be achievable.

Do you have any goals that you want to achieve before 2012 arrives?

She rarely celebrates her birthday and as it is coming up very soon I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give back. Plans for a surprise birthday afternoon tea party have been under-way for weeks. I’ve been quietly emailing guests, purchasing bottles of sparkling wine, borrowing cake tiers and tea cups from friends, learning how to fold napkins, and having gifts sent from Australia in preparation for the tea party.

It all went off without a hitch – I seriously thought she knew about it ages ago but nope! The look on her face when we surprised her tells me that she definitely had no clue.

No afternoon tea party is complete without freshly baked scones with jam and cream so I used my old faithful soda water scone recipe. I ended up buying a lot of the treats such as the petit fours, madeleines, and the macarons (some were from Bel Cafe and the others from Thierry) to save time. I made the sandwiches myself and served traditional English tea sandwiches; salmon and cream cheese, egg and watercress, and chicken Waldorf salad.

We started the afternoon with some raspberry vodka and lemonade cocktails, before moving on to tea and coffee, before ending with a few bottles of sparkling wine.

Whilst sitting around eating dainty foods and sipping tea from pretty cups and sparkling wine from flutes we wondered why this wasn’t more popular? Of course, if you have been up to Kerrisdale on a weekend, you’ll realize that the tradition of afternoon tea is still very much alive (there is Fabourg, The Secret Garden, and Adonia Teahouse in close proximity to each other) but I wonder how many women still host afternoon tea parties? What has been your experience? Are afternoon tea parties making a comeback?

T: 604 688 0876
www.bao-bei.ca

Brief Description: A funky, Chinatown-based restaurant offering non-traditional Chinese fare in tapas style. Bao Bei appeals to those who aren’t necessarily looking for an authentic Chinese experience but more of a modern, up-market version of that experience. Prices are between $4 (for small “schnacks”) but most are around the $14 mark.

Bao Bei has been on the lips of every foodie in Vancouver for some time now. There are those that love it (they seem to be the majority) and there are those who question its value for money and the hype that surrounds it. I fall halfway between the two.

There is no denying that Bao Bei is a beautiful spot. Located in Chinatown, Bao Bei stands out from the crowd with its polished, chic look. The modern space has been thoughtfully decorated with interesting pieces of art used as accents and an eclectic mix of furniture styles. The vibe is young, hip, and financially well-off. How else could you get away with charging $17 for a bowl of fried rice in Chinatown??

Whilst the food is Chinese, you should know before going in that they aren’t serving traditional, authentic Chinese. It is more of a modern, almost fusion, take on some old dishes. It is also tapas-style so they do encourage you to order a number of dishes and share them with your table. The staff will tell you that the dishes are quite small but on the few times I’ve been there the sizes have been quite reasonable (check the pics out and determine if you think that’s enough for you). The one thing that does set Bao Bei apart from other Chinese restaurants is their use of hormone/chemical-free, locally sourced and ethically raised meat. I believe that is worth paying slightly more for.

Dishes that I recommend are the lamb Shao Bing, which is a crunchy sesame flatbread filled with a slightly spicy cumin lamb sirloin. I had tried the same dish when they offered it with pork and it just wasn’t the same – the lamb makes it.

The steamed prawn and chive dumplings were worth ordering, as is the ever-changing daily fried rice (although it is pricey). The duck and mushroom wontons in duck consommé, and the spicy stir-fried squid with pork belly and bok choi, were also pretty good. I’d give the potstickers a miss. I’ve definitely had better elsewhere.

The cocktails on offer are very unique and worth splurging on. Even their non-alcoholic drinks were tasty, complete with candied lotus fruit. Be aware that you can’t reserve a table in advance. I know, it sucks. And this place is especially busy so the wait is long but you can always console yourself with a drink at the near-by Keefer Bar (which also has awesome drinks) whilst you wait.

Final Thoughts: I like Bao Bei although I’m not as wowed by it as others are. I like the atmosphere and the cocktails, and yes, the food is decent but I don’t buy into the hype. It really comes down to what experience you are after. An authentic Chinese experience with large serving sizes and traditional dishes? You won’t find that here – keep walking. A fun, cocktail-filled night out with some interesting dishes to share and a cool space to boot? Then line up, my friends. Bao Bei has exactly what you are after.