September round-up

The seasons have changed quickly.  Last time I posted, all the windows were open and I was wearing shorts.  Now I have donned my pjs, the heater is on and it's blustery outside.  Fall has fallen and hard.

I finished sanding and painting my stairs just before the weather turned -- and we're talking hours here.  Husband and child returned from their vacation to find me injured.  Nope, not from working on the stairs, but rather from guilt-inspired house cleaning.  This is proof positive that neither guilt nor cleaning are healthy activities.  I seemed to have aggravated a previously pinched nerve.  I am on the mend now.

It was a good week to be alone, with my thoughts and then with my friends.  Ate some good food.  My friend the poet and I went to La Rocca on the Drive.  We shared a tomato and bocconcini salad and then I had the veggie cannelloni.  Both were good.  The service and atmosphere (including an opera singing server who serenaded a nearby diner with a birthday tune) were very pleasant.  The washrooms were clean and functional.  Everything was surprisingly affordable.  Moreso, because my friend picked up the tab.

I was treated by my sister the following night to a belated birthday dinner at Gotham.  I was really looking forward to this place.  I had been told that I would see celebrities there.  I dunno if union guy, Ken Georgetti counts, because he was the only "famous" person who caught my eye.  The restaurant is huge and has some crazy ass spiral stairs (vertigo anyone ?) if you wish to visit the facilities. 

The service was good.  I want to say excellent, but a couple of the wait staff seemed to lack experience and knowledge.  We had to request a couple of things more than once.  I had been told by my friend the foodie, that this was the best steak in town.  Starting at around $40, I would hope so.  Indeed, the steak was very good.  The idea is that you order a huge steak, which you can share or take home leftovers, and share various family-sized (their term, not mine) side dishes.  We each opted for a New York striploin.  The steaks were cooked to perfection, but basically bland.  I had read somewhere that they could do anything you like to the steak, but that option was neither offered orally or on the menu.  So salt (and a bit too much of that) and pepper it was.

I enjoyed the experience, but was letdown by the lack of "wow' factor.  I don't know what I was expecting, but it was certainly more than what was there.  My sister and I agreed that she made a better steak -- at least a more flavourful one.   And the washrooms were fine, but nothing memorable -- basic, clean and functional; that is, after you made it down two very, steep spiral staircases. 

The next night, some friends had me over for dinner at Chez Pagorgan.  This was indeed a delicious meal with Ahi tuna, accompanied by a wasabi mayonnaise, orzo and spinach.  A half chocolate cake topped off the meal.  What made the meal was that the company and conversation were great.  And their washrooms were very clean!  This was perhaps the best of my dining out experiences during my week of singledom.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, not much dining out.  The husband and child returned and re-entry has been hard.  The child who was well behaved through the whole trip, decided to punish the Mummy for her pseudo-abandonment.  The Mummy, who got quite used to here solitude, struggled with having to answer so many questions from her two loves.  Equilibrium, or some semblance of it, has finally resurfaced.

 

 We went for red meat and Cajun,

We ended up with poultry and Asian.

I can imagine my friend the poet cringing if she reads these words.  I am certainly not a poet, and don't she know it.  Groan, groan, groan!  My dining buddy and I resumed our once weekly dining out experience this week.  She wanted red meat and I suggested a new Cajun Creole restaurant on Cambie called Da-De-Oh!  They were closed, so I shall refrain from offering anymore information about them.  Who the hell closes their restaurant on a Wednesday night!?!

Wanting to support the suffering Cambie businesses, we went to Sate Satu.  I had attempted to go there once before when it was called Sate Express, but they were closed.  Are you detecting a pattern?  The service was good and friendly.  We were told that one of the owners of the former Express at returned to Indonesia and the remaining owner, along with a new partner, decided to chi chi up the place.  It looked a lot nicer than the previous take-away style decor.  We shared the appetizer platter, which had a sampling of everything on their appetizer menu.  It was all very good. 

We also shared some sate.  The menu noted that there would be six sticks per order, our choice of chicken, beef or pork.  I don't really eat pork, so we decided on chicken and beef.  Alas, we were foiled again as they were out of beef.  My friend suggested to me that they could have just run over to Choices across the street, to purchase beef, but unfortunately, they had not done that.  Anyway, we had all chicken.  It was disappointing.  They used thigh meat.  It was pretty bland and did not seem to be marinated in anything at all.  The peanut sauce was good, but there wasn't that much of it.  Frankly, my sate is much better. 

The wine list is small and reasonably priced.  My red wine tasted off and they offered me something else.  I opted for the white wine, since they had no other by-glass-reds.  It was fine.  The also have a small, but decent selection of reasonably priced bottled beer.  The washroom is clean.

We are off to see Loreena McKennitt tonight.  The civic strike has forced a venue change from the Orpheum to GM Place.  That's quite a change.  October starts tomorrow.  Lots of birthdays.  Things are going to be quite busy.