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Posts Tagged ‘Farm to Table’

directfood.store: Farm-Direct Grocery Delivery

Posted in Delivery, Grocery, Home Cooking, Joyce, Lower Mainland, Meat, Online Store, tagged , , , , , on June 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Goat curry, fiddlehead Chinese sausage stir-fry, sea asparagus & broccoli microgreens salad, and goat milk yogurt with mint, dried date, pistachio and honey…how’s that for a dinner menu?!

This menu was made possible with an interesting selection of products available at directfood.store, an online grocery platform that provides a digital marketplace for local farms. I recently ordered a delivery, complimentary of the company, and I was intrigued by what they offer. We found unique ingredients such as goat meat, sea asparagus, fiddleheads (no longer available), broccoli microgreens, goat milk yogurt and dried chanterelle. These are not something I see at grocery stores everyday. My shopping list came to be about $50 and they were gathered for our delivery directly from local farms/food producers. There’s no fancy packaging – product(s) from each company was packed separately so we received an assortment of bags and boxes in one delivery.

What We Made

With the ingredients we purchased, here is what we made.

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[Travel] 21-course Tasting Menu at The Willows Inn Restaurant, Lummi Island

Posted in Dinner, Eat Local, Fine dining, Great Views, Hotel Dining, Joyce, Restaurants, Seafood, Special Occasion, Travel, U.S., Washington, West Coast, tagged , , , , , , , on August 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Mr. and I recently went on a 10-day road trip to the States. Kicking it off was a celebration of our 4th wedding anniversary and we spent a night at the quaint Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Washington. Lummi Island is a small island just a 10-minute ferry ride southwest of Bellingham.

The upscale inn deserves a separate post but the highlight of the evening was definitely our dinner at the restaurant. It serves up a 21-course tasting menu every evening, yes 21 courses, that changes regularly and seasonally. It features locally grown produce and other locally fished, foraged and farmed products. And in addition to their kitchen, they also have an outdoor wood-fired BBQ and smoker.

Obviously, with 21 courses this is not your everyday dinner out. The menu costs $225 per person with optional wine pairing for an additional $150 per person. You also don’t know what’s on the menu as they rotate it often. You only receive a copy of the menu at the end of your meal. So you ask, was it worth it?

Without further ado, let us indulge you with a feast for your eyes.

Food

Toasted kale leave, local black truffle, crumbled rye on top — elevated kale chip with the fragrance of truffle and extra crunch from the rye crumble

Wild rainier cherry in nasturtium leaf, wild chamomile, elderflower essence — what an interesting bite. Enjoyed the crisp sweetness of rainier cherry against the herbaceous chamomile and nasturtium. The elderflower essence was made into a little dollop of jelly that combined everything.

Sugar snap peas from their garden, pureed and combined with cream then it’s piped back in the pod — It’s like crudites in a fancy bite. You can taste the freshness of the sugar snap peas. (more…)

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[Travel] Wine Tasting and a Tour at Covert Farms, Oliver

Posted in Drinks, Joyce, Meat, Okanagan, Travel, Wine, Wine Series, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

What is it like to be driven around in a 1952 Vintage Mercury Pickup? An experience only found at Covert Farm! It’s an 1.5-hour tour on the 650-acre farm, and let me tell you all about it.

Covert Farms Family Estate Farm Tour

Covert Farms Family Estate Farm Tour

The Pickup

As soon as Mr. and I arrived at the farmhouse and signed in, we were ushered towards the vintage truck. It’s in a bright red colour and you couldn’t miss it. (more…)

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Dishcrawl West End – Eating My Way Along Robson Street Part 2

Posted in Bistro, Cafe, Chocolate, Culinary Events, Dessert, Dinner, Food Bloggers, Group Dinner, Joyce, Neighbourhood Gem, Pizza, Restaurants, Tea, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

Continuing our journey from Part 1 of the Dishcrawl West End tour, we kept on heading eastward from Hida Takayama Ramen and arrived at the door of Forage Restaurant. You would remember my interview with its Executive Chef, Chris Whittaker, a couple of weeks ago, so yes, I did know ahead of time that we would be coming here for a tasting trio. I was quite looking forward to this stop.

Forage Restaurant

Forage Restaurant

Forage Restaurant (1300 Robson Street)

Once again, each table is given three full-size plates to share. First of all, the Nettle Gnocchi with Brown Butter was very good. It’s slightly crispy on the outside, and pillowy inside. The brown butter added extra richness, savouriness and nutty taste to the dish. I don’t eat gnocchi often, but other ones I’ve had tend to be more doughy, whereas this one seemed to have more potato content. It’s almost like pan-fried mashed potato balls.

Nettle gnocchi with brown butter

Nettle gnocchi with brown butter

True to its Farm-to-Table and seasonal concept, the next dish features the Foraged Mushrooms that are currently in season. This is a very simple dish, but that’s also the best way to let the ingredients shine in their own light. (more…)

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Grand Opening at Fable Restaurant

Posted in By Invitations, Food Bloggers, Mr., Vancouver, West Coast, tagged , , , , , , on June 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

For those of you that don’t follow Top Chef Canada, Trevor Bird was a contestant on the show, and scored a second place finish in Season 2.

After the show ended filming he opened a new restaurant in Vancouver: Fable. It was at the space where it used to be Refuel. He was also able to recruit Top Chef Contestant Curtis Luk to work with him. In person Trevor is relaxed and laid back, and seems like an all around nice guy.

Welcome!

The concept of Fable is simple: thoughtfully prepared food with outstanding flavour, sourced from local purveyors in an accessible way. Wondering how it got its name? You take the word farm and the word table, mash it together, you’ve got Fable. I’m not kidding, that’s really how he came up with it while he’s competing in Top Chef Canada. As much as I want to make fun of it, I secretly wish I came up with it first.

A bunch of blogger type folks, family, and friends of the restaurant owners were invited to the Grand Opening night. The space isn’t very big and it was filled quickly. However they were smart to get rid of all the tables and chairs in the middle, leaving only a few seats off to the sides.

Crowd

The layout of the place is fun. The open kitchen/bar is located right by the entrance, with a part of it set against the street side window. As you walk by, instead of seeing a bunch of yuppies eating, you will see chefs hustling to prepare a dish. I like it.

Kitchen and Bar

There was plenty of Spanish wine available. (more…)

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