Mrs. Waters ain't got nothing on me.
Aug. 28th, 2004 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gfrancieWe left for Vancouver early Thursday afternoon avoiding much of the traffic (only getting caught in some sort of minor mess near Richmond) and arriving safely to our Hotel which turned out to be a block away from the Embassy and a block away from the water. We forgot the camera otherwise we would have been able to show off the gorgeous view from our hotel room. Wide views of the water, hills and mountains. We could watch seaplanes taking off all day long and observe the gorgeous glow of the lights in the mountains at night.
But before sitting in front of a window being easily entertained we had to eat. We were rather hungry bunnies and decided to venture out. We walked up to Robson street which is a fairly busy area. It has lots of shops for the tourists and a zillion restaurants. Vancouver has a fairly vast Asian population (this is well-known to people who live in or near Canada but I am explaining this to my far-flung readers) and you can't walk three feet without tripping over some sort of Asian restaurant. Bento/Sushi, Korean BBQ, teryaki, Cantonese cuisine; you name it they have it everywhere. I have often enjoyed many of these tiny restaurants with their incredible food and deals but I still think it is important to expand the palate when eating in a different place. As we walked around and took note of many different kinds of things being offered I noticed a group of people going up some steps. I took a look at the small sign. It said CinCin and they offered "rustic Italian cuisine". That is a phrase that is often over-used these days and can be very disappointing. But I liked what I was smelling and I was enticed by the decor of the entry. I am easily bought by appearances at times. This is why I sometimes buy shampoo if the bottle is pink.
CinCin proved to be an absolute delight.
We had no reservations but they whisked us quickly to one of the tables out on the deck which over-looked the busy street. We were surrounded by vines and the rich orangey terra cotta. We had two or three people taking care of us making sure we had water, bread and a tapenade of minced olives and olive oil. It distracted the hunger for a bit while we looked over the many lovely possibilities.
Mr Jenner decided to start with the Shitake, Cremini & Oyster Mushroom Bruschetta which for extra added silliness was drizzled with truffle oil. Snort if you want but this was truly delightful. I told Mr. Jenner that it had the rare ability to taste earthy and rich without tasting like one is eating dirt. I chose a simple starter; Thinly Sliced Parma Prosciutto parmesan tuile, poached pear, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Paper thin slices of cheese arranged with the prosciutto was surrounding this little cup-like thing made out of cheese which held the pears. It was so delicious. You first had some of the deep salty flavor of the cheese and meat and then some of the soft sweetness of the pear. We were feeling rather happy about making it up to Vancouver in one piece and also wanted to celebrate the impending visa stamp so we had a half bottle of a bordeaux (Chateau de Puyfrommage 1999) Not a clue if it was anything special and probably not but I liked it quite a lot. It was rather nice and made me think of the spicy chocolates that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sarahparah once sent me.
After making our way through our starter and enjoying the moment our main course came.
Mr. Jenner chose the Grain Fed Veal Chop with the daily made gnocchi and organic mushrooms in cacciatore sauce, cambozola butter. This suited Mr. Jenner so well. The chop was cooked to medium rare and had that juicy pinkness and as you tasted that you ended up with this faint smoky flavor which made you crave more. Especially when the chop was coated with the butter. The gnocchi was buttery soft and had the right amount of starch. Brown food at its finest. I decided to go with the Lobster and Local Prawn Spaghetti with a roasted sweet pepper cream, tarragon and organic arugula. I figured I should stick with something that has really simple elements like the pasta and cream sauce with the right edge of decadence with the large pieces of lobster and the sweet taste of the prawns.
Oh I could barely finish it. I loved it too much. It was really something that just about anyone could enjoy. Even picky eaters.
One might think we had over-done it there but we felt like being brave and facing the dessert menu.
I chose a plate of the house-made petit fours which weren't spectacular but still delightful. It did come with some beautiful things which held my attention more.
hazelnut biscuits, chocolate covered mint ice cream (tiny little truffles) sugared blackberries, raspberries and it is a good thing to choose if you want something where you can pick at it gently and want to appear lady-like.
Mr. Jenner on the otherhand chose something that hit the jackpot. It lacked any real genteel approach. It looked frightening in a way and had so many flavors that one needed to rest sometimes just to make their way through it.
He had Feuillentine of Fresh Raspberry with a lime sabayon and raspberry coulis.
This involved a couple layers of carmelized pastry that had layers of golden and red raspberries in between. It was like a tower and you poured your tiny pitcher filled with the raspberry sauce over this. to one side was the lime sabayon which was so electric it made your jaw ache.
It had the texture of uncooked meringue and you would take a small taste and first it would be light and sweet and then you were hit with the lime! Oh and then one would spoon out some of the Feuillentine and it would be syrupy sweet, then tart and it would go back and forth. It was a sort of theater on a plate.
We finally had to stop. Mr. Jenner kept eating his dessert even when he said he couldn't. He said, he felt compelled to eat more and more.
We finally had to drag ourselves from that terrific restaurant. We went back to our hotel rather pleased. We ordered our breakfast for the next morning and had a rather cheerful evening in.
Tomorrow: crepes with French-Canadians and falling in love in the Lush store.
But before sitting in front of a window being easily entertained we had to eat. We were rather hungry bunnies and decided to venture out. We walked up to Robson street which is a fairly busy area. It has lots of shops for the tourists and a zillion restaurants. Vancouver has a fairly vast Asian population (this is well-known to people who live in or near Canada but I am explaining this to my far-flung readers) and you can't walk three feet without tripping over some sort of Asian restaurant. Bento/Sushi, Korean BBQ, teryaki, Cantonese cuisine; you name it they have it everywhere. I have often enjoyed many of these tiny restaurants with their incredible food and deals but I still think it is important to expand the palate when eating in a different place. As we walked around and took note of many different kinds of things being offered I noticed a group of people going up some steps. I took a look at the small sign. It said CinCin and they offered "rustic Italian cuisine". That is a phrase that is often over-used these days and can be very disappointing. But I liked what I was smelling and I was enticed by the decor of the entry. I am easily bought by appearances at times. This is why I sometimes buy shampoo if the bottle is pink.
CinCin proved to be an absolute delight.
We had no reservations but they whisked us quickly to one of the tables out on the deck which over-looked the busy street. We were surrounded by vines and the rich orangey terra cotta. We had two or three people taking care of us making sure we had water, bread and a tapenade of minced olives and olive oil. It distracted the hunger for a bit while we looked over the many lovely possibilities.
Mr Jenner decided to start with the Shitake, Cremini & Oyster Mushroom Bruschetta which for extra added silliness was drizzled with truffle oil. Snort if you want but this was truly delightful. I told Mr. Jenner that it had the rare ability to taste earthy and rich without tasting like one is eating dirt. I chose a simple starter; Thinly Sliced Parma Prosciutto parmesan tuile, poached pear, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Paper thin slices of cheese arranged with the prosciutto was surrounding this little cup-like thing made out of cheese which held the pears. It was so delicious. You first had some of the deep salty flavor of the cheese and meat and then some of the soft sweetness of the pear. We were feeling rather happy about making it up to Vancouver in one piece and also wanted to celebrate the impending visa stamp so we had a half bottle of a bordeaux (Chateau de Puyfrommage 1999) Not a clue if it was anything special and probably not but I liked it quite a lot. It was rather nice and made me think of the spicy chocolates that
sarahparah once sent me.After making our way through our starter and enjoying the moment our main course came.
Mr. Jenner chose the Grain Fed Veal Chop with the daily made gnocchi and organic mushrooms in cacciatore sauce, cambozola butter. This suited Mr. Jenner so well. The chop was cooked to medium rare and had that juicy pinkness and as you tasted that you ended up with this faint smoky flavor which made you crave more. Especially when the chop was coated with the butter. The gnocchi was buttery soft and had the right amount of starch. Brown food at its finest. I decided to go with the Lobster and Local Prawn Spaghetti with a roasted sweet pepper cream, tarragon and organic arugula. I figured I should stick with something that has really simple elements like the pasta and cream sauce with the right edge of decadence with the large pieces of lobster and the sweet taste of the prawns.
Oh I could barely finish it. I loved it too much. It was really something that just about anyone could enjoy. Even picky eaters.
One might think we had over-done it there but we felt like being brave and facing the dessert menu.
I chose a plate of the house-made petit fours which weren't spectacular but still delightful. It did come with some beautiful things which held my attention more.
hazelnut biscuits, chocolate covered mint ice cream (tiny little truffles) sugared blackberries, raspberries and it is a good thing to choose if you want something where you can pick at it gently and want to appear lady-like.
Mr. Jenner on the otherhand chose something that hit the jackpot. It lacked any real genteel approach. It looked frightening in a way and had so many flavors that one needed to rest sometimes just to make their way through it.
He had Feuillentine of Fresh Raspberry with a lime sabayon and raspberry coulis.
This involved a couple layers of carmelized pastry that had layers of golden and red raspberries in between. It was like a tower and you poured your tiny pitcher filled with the raspberry sauce over this. to one side was the lime sabayon which was so electric it made your jaw ache.
It had the texture of uncooked meringue and you would take a small taste and first it would be light and sweet and then you were hit with the lime! Oh and then one would spoon out some of the Feuillentine and it would be syrupy sweet, then tart and it would go back and forth. It was a sort of theater on a plate.
We finally had to stop. Mr. Jenner kept eating his dessert even when he said he couldn't. He said, he felt compelled to eat more and more.
We finally had to drag ourselves from that terrific restaurant. We went back to our hotel rather pleased. We ordered our breakfast for the next morning and had a rather cheerful evening in.
Tomorrow: crepes with French-Canadians and falling in love in the Lush store.
