Wanderlust and Words

A Florist in the Heart of City Park Neighbourhood Roots Catherine Summach grew up in City Park, and she is delighted to return to its well-loved streets to open her own floral design store at the corner of Princess and 7th. Tucked around the corner from City Perk coffee shop and just a few blocks north of City Hospital, Essence invites you to stop and admire the flowers or explore a delightful mix of giftware. I’m not surprised to learn that Catherine has been a florist for 23 years when I learn a little of her history. “Garth Grimson was my art teacher at City Park High School, and he inspired me to use my artistic talents,” she says. “I always drew flowers. And as a child I really enjoyed playing shop. I set up a little store under the basement stairs with a cash register and shelves. “ Contemporary Elegance Catherine enjoys working with different products – orchids, calla lilies, hydrangeas – “everything exotic,” she explains. She spent 3 years in the South Pacific so she’s ...

When I don’t know what to eat, I head downtown to Sous Chef at #2-157 2nd Avenue (King George building) in Saskatoon. There is always something interesting in their display case – organic purple potato salad in lemon vinaigrette or roasted eggplant and mushroom lasagne with zucchini and blue cheese or raspberry nectarine crostata or . . . I had a chat yesterday with Beemal Vasani, one of Sous Chef’s owners, and he says that they challenge their chefs to be creative. “The cooks are making decisions based on what’s in the cooler,” he says. “That forces us to use stuff that’s fresh and local. Local Food Sous Chef uses local food as much as possible. Beemal recently signed a deal with the son of a farmer in Sicily who has 45,000 olive trees and his own olive oil processing plant. “That’s local,” says Beemal, “because I shook hands with the person. I know him.” Sous Chef is also making deals closer to home. Carnivores will be pleased to hear that Sous Chef hopes to offer certified ...

It has become a Saturday morning ritual to visit the Earth Bound Bakery at 1820 8th Street East (next door to Mano’s restaurant). What better way to start your weekend than with a chewy, crusty loaf still warm from the oven and maybe a croissant for lunch? When I learned that the owner, Trent Loewen, had started serving fresh sandwiches at lunchtime, I had to visit. Trent says that he designed his store to be really open so he could visit with customers. Even better was to offer soup and sandwiches for lunch – “I like conversation and seeing people enjoy food,” Trent explains. I’m all in favour – lunch was great. Andrew and I both had housemade hummus with sprouts and cucumber on hemp and sesame bread. I had a bowl of roasted beet and potato and green lentil and fresh dill soup, while Andrew had curry chickpea, cauliflower and summer squash. I had a mini chocolate cupcake for dessert, while Andrew had a pain au chocolat. Every bite was delicious. Certified Organic and Local Almost...

We used to grow our own food, and the marketplace was the centre of every town. Now, we live in huge cities, and our food comes packaged and wrapped in plastic from a sanitized supermarket. 30 million meals are served every single day in London, England. Just try and picture the farms, the factories, the stores, and the trucks that are required to grow and deliver and cook that much food – every single day of the year – in every city around the world. Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City: How Food Shaped our Lives , says in a School for Life blog post : “Have you ever thought about food? Not in terms of what to eat for breakfast, but about what food really means? Ours is the first society in history to take food for granted: to treat it as something to be made as cheap and convenient as possible, while we get on with the ‘more important’ things in life. Industrial food systems have made feeding ourselves seem easy, but when you factor in all the externalities – fossil fuel consum...

We're standing on holy ground. "The English word holy dates back to at least the 11th Century with the Old English word hālig, an adjective derived from hāl meaning whole and used to mean 'uninjured, sound, healthy, entire, complete’." ( Wikipedia ) August in Purple and Gold

I wouldn’t mind living in West Vancouver – ritzy apartments overlooking the harbour, salt sea breezes, and interesting stores and restaurants. Ah, well. I can always visit. Fraiche Restaurant A room with a view and a friend in the kitchen – what more could I ask! I was delighted when my North Vancouver friends took me out to brunch at Fraiche . And it was really special because Stephanie’s son, Theo, has just been hired as a cook. Fraiche is located at 2240 Chippendale Road – way, way up the hillside overlooking Coal Harbour and Stanley Park. It’s an outstanding view. And the food is pretty good too :) I can’t resist eggplant, so I had the Tagliatelle Pasta with spiced eggplant caponata and parmesan. Stephanie had the Chevre Omelette, and Anne had the Pain Perdu. And we all thought we’d chosen the best dish on the menu. Bete Noir, a flourless chocolate cake served with blackberries and apricots, and a glass of Cava made my meal complete. West Vancouver Sea Wall It’s an annua...