Last year I was invited to participate in the Downtown Halifax Business Commission’s Big Day Downtown campaign. I guess they liked what I posted because I was invited back this year. Only there was a twist. All the participating bloggers were asked to “try something new.”

Where last year I just kind of winged it with the in-laws, this year I actually had to come up with a course of action. Since I naturally narrowed it down to food experiences, I had to think long and hard about where I was going to spend the $100 prepaid credit card that comes with the opportunity. I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food and while looking over online menus I thought my options would be limited. While getting my hair done  before heading off on my Big Day Downtown, the amazing and lovely Pam at Aspirations helped formulate a foodie plan of attack.

Raspberry Fizz

First stop: The Bicycle Thief. Sadly they were not open at the time Cokebaby and I headed down to the waterfront. We still have plans on checking this spot out though. Had they been open our plan was to try their polenta board and cocktails. Instead we went to Ristorante a Mano for appetizers. He had a Campari & soda to start. I asked the very helpful and friendly server for a unique recommendation and she came back with a Raspberry Frizz: a cocktail made with Bacardi Razz, Chambord, Raspberry sorbeto, and Prosecco float.

Appetizers

The appetizers were very tasty. Vongole Gratinate: Clams stuffed with housemade Italian salsiccia, baked, served on half shell ($9). Truth be told, the only time I’ve ever eaten clams has been in deep-fried strip form with a side of fries. These were a far cry from their fast food cousins. We also shared the Polenta con Salsa di Fichi e Formaggio Caprino: Polenta rustica with caramelized onions, fig relish & goat cheese, baked al forno ($11). Even though I’ve been to Italy a couple of times now and have had incredible food experiences, polenta was not among them. In fact, the only time it’s crossed my palate has been in the form of those pre-made rolls at The Italian Market. I know, I know. My bad. It’s clearly what Velveeta is to cheese.

Delicious as this first course was, the real adventure took place at Bistro Le Coq, the new French restaurant on Argyle Street. Having travelled to Paris and the south of France a couple of times now, I was excited to see what this place had to offer. The atmosphere is perfect. There are three sections—bar, lounge, dining room—each with a distinct decor. It’s amazing to see that they were able to completely transform the old Mosaic space.

The staff are all fluent in French and they just look charming in their black and white uniforms. You’re greeted in French and offered seating in any of the three areas to suit your mood. We headed to the dining room which is done in a modern country kitchen style. To start we each had a cocktail from their very interesting bar menu. Here, I will admit to being a lame blogger because I forgot to write the names down as I expected to find the items online after. All I can tell you is that Cokebaby’s drink tasted like the most refreshing iced tea and mine had a lovely pear liqueur.

A French feast

When we asked our server for recommendations, she listed a number of items rather than the blanket “everything” statement that is so unhelpful. That said, I really wish I could have tasted a little bit of everything. Since that wasn’t realistic, Cokebaby and I decided to share a few plates.

Duck prosciutto: house cured duck breast, berry compote, our pickles ($9). Cokebaby doesn’t even like pickles yet he was so impressed with these ones that he MADE pickles the following weekend. Apparently the new brunch menu includes eggs Benny made with the duck prosciutto and, believe you me, I will be coming back for that.

Classic steak tartare: topped with a soft poached egg, truffle oil drizzled crisps ($12). Here’s where I’m going to pause for a second because, let’s face it, steak tartare? The very idea has always grossed me out a little. I mean, sushi’s one thing but raw cow seems like tempting the gods of food borne illnesses. However, I was on an adventure. First thing’s first: I was expecting hamburger meat. What I got was high quality, lean steak that was hand ground. The egg was perfectly poached and oozed over the meat to create a subtle combination of flavours. The texture, in fact, was no different that sushi.

Salade Niçoise: with seared rare ahi tuna crusted in sesame ($10). I am a huge fan of this type of salad. There are different variations of ingredients depending on the chef but my favourite includes boiled potatoes which this one had. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was disappointing—I mean, the Ahi tuna was seared to perfection—this dish was probably my least enjoyable part of the meal. For starters, the olives weren’t Niçoise style. The dressing was a little bland and missing the zing of Dijon mustard. It really needed anchovies, too. For a salad it was lovely, just not what I expect in a Niçoise.

Pommes frites: done in duck fat, sprinkled with parmesan, truffle mayo ($7). Enough said, right? Decadent beyond words but oh so very good. If you’re just visiting for cocktails and snacks, don’t miss out on these.

The plan was to head to The Middle Spoon for dessert. Honest it was. This was the location of the Big Day Downtown launch and I was hoping to finish where it all began but…our server mentioned their soufflé: chocolate & Grand Marnier cream ($8). Neither one of us had ever eaten soufflé. How could we resist? Kudos to her for mentioning it would take 25 minutes to make and giving us enough of a heads up so we wouldn’t have to wait too long. We finished off our evening with an espresso each ($3.50) and a soufflé that was like cocoa clouds with a touch of orange. Sorry, there was no time for pictures. You’ll have to trust me when I write it was worth the wait.

One final purchase I have to mention in my “try something new” adventure downtown: the Honey Lavender Ale from Garrison Brewing Co.: Brewed with English lavender harvested from Meander River Farms and wildflowers honey from G.G. Smeltzer & Son in Shubenacadie, this strong yet accessible ale features original flavors. At the time of this post they only had a two week supply left so I recommend checking it out. This ale is probably one of the most distinct ones I’ve ever had. It’s no wonder they consistently win awards.

1. 
   GarrisonBrewing We’re nothing if not sneaky RT @AliasGrace: @garrisonbrewing The Honey Lavender is very nice. Sneaky because it’s so understated at first 11 Sep 2011 from TweetDeck

— this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

All in all, another fantastic Big Day Downtown. The new twist provided a challenge but one that I was very happy to meet. My taste buds were quite pleased.

One of the fun highlights of this trip to Provence was attending the Roman Games in Nimes. You know how Civil War reenactments are popular south of the border? Well, picture that except on a much more epic scale. The fully operational Colosseum in Nimes was the backdrop for a reenactment of an actual Roman Game with participants from all across Europe. As spectators, you could even rent costumes for the day and wander around town dressed as different classes of Romans and Gauls.

It was a great event for history buffs and families. There really was just a little bit of something for everyone. I’m pretty sure there must be some YouTube videos of us wandering the streets of Nimes in full costume though…

The best-preserved Roman arena in France.

Roman legionnaires, Celts, the Imperial Court, auxiliaries, cavalrymen and war chariots were all in full costume in celebration of ancient Roman civilization.

Before the Games began, the Colosseum was open for kids to participate in Gallic or Roman training.

Part of the "Ludi" games, famous throughout the Roman Empire.

Coming up: a couple restaurant reviews. For more pictures of Provence, visit my Flickr photostream.

So…it’s been a while since my last post, hasn’t it? I’m working on a bunch of secret side projects and just trying to find that right level of balance. Also, this weather has just been too depressing. Thinking back on the glorious sunshine of the south of France really just makes me want to pack up my bags and move there. Literally. I’m not even joking. In any case, I’m going to try and get through this vacation wrap-up and then perhaps summer will finally happen here in Halifax? Maybe?

One of my favourite destinations is Avignon. More specifically the historic centre. Walled in from the outside world, it’s still a thriving area with a university and ample shopping but you’re also pretty much tripping over ancient stuff everywhere you go. The last time Cokebaby and I were in Avignon, we were celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary. You can read the recap elsewhere on the blog.

This time around we were travelling with the in-laws, including a six-year-old niece. Combine that with the purchase of a music box playing “Sur la pont d’Avignon” and you get a song that seriously NEVER ENDS. All fun until someone goes crazy. It was definitely a different trip than the first but fun in another way.

An interesting juxtaposition.

Where it all began...with the song that never ends.

Part of a larger statue.

The French call it window licking.

Next up: more historic sites and a couple of restaurant reviews.

If you’ve come here because of a web search on the movie Thor: sorry to disappoint but this is a post about a town in the south of France of the same name. And big apologies to readers who were expecting vacation recap posts last week. Work + cold = not feelin’ it. Anyone living in Halifax can attest to the horrific weather we’ve been experiencing this spring. It’s enough to make me move to the south of France. On that note…

The perfect retreat situated about a 30 minute drive from Avignon.

For one glorious week in April, we rented a gite in Provence. The place was a short drive or bus ride from Avignon. Although we had seen pictures of the interior, we weren’t quite prepared to see this gorgeous villa awaiting us after we opened the property gates. A one week rental was about $1300 which was split between two families (this portion of the trip included Cokebaby’s sister, brother-in-law, and two girls).

A pretty amazing deal considering it included: a swimming pool (which actually isn’t open until May), a large living area on the main floor, laundry room, huge modern kitchen, dining room, games room, and powder room. Upstairs included a shared shower room for three bedrooms and separate powder room and an suite bathroom for the master bedroom with shower and bathtub.

Outside we also had use of a boules court where it was discovered I am the queen of the game. The gite was surrounded by a stucco wall which made the place very private and quite relaxing. The town of Le Thor itself is also really quaint. The people were incredibly friendly and happy to take their time with our varied levels of French language skills.

The central street in Le Thor leads to a square where markets take place a few times a week.

In the city centre there’s the 12th century Lady of the Lake Church. An older gentleman, upon exiting the church, shared some of the history of the site. You can still see the stone-masons signatures on each block of stone.

As with most French towns and cities, there are several types of markets that appear on set days of the week. That, combined with the proximity of the gite to an Intermarché, made this rental ideal. One thing to note when renting a gite is that although the houses can be quite beautiful, you should expect what you’d get when renting a cottage here in Canada: the bare minimum in amenities. Things like dish detergent, toilet paper, etc. are up to you to supply and there is a surcharge for towels.

Later this week: sur la pont d’Avignon, and other historic sites.

As promised, here begins the recap of my fabulous vacation in the South of France. Before we get there though…

Cokebaby and I took a direct flight to London because when you live in Halifax you’re limited in your flight choices to Europe unless you want to backtrack to Toronto/Montreal/New York and lose an additional 2 hours there, 2 hours waiting, and 2 hours back this way. That’s without delays. No thank you.

In London, instead of sticking around for a connecting flight we decided to take the Chunnel to Paris for an overnight before meeting with Cokebaby’s sister and family in a village called Le Thor. We’d been to Paris once before. That was in the years when smoking was permitted at the airport which meant we were greeted immediately by that awful stench of stale nicotine. Apart from that, and unscooped dog poop, it was a lovely city then and a lovelier city now (less smoking in public spaces and more diligent canine overseers).

Paris, like Toronto, has something of a reputation to the neighbouring towns and countries. Even en route to the city the British man traveling next to us with his teenage daughter made rather an unkind observation about Parisians. I can’t say that I agree. We really didn’t have any trouble or experience unpleasantness. Maybe that’s partly to do with our ability to get by in the French language. By no means are we fluent but at least we gave it a try, sometimes more successfully than others. I equate it to those years I spent working in retail when American tourists expected to get change back in their currency. When in Rome…

In any case, Paris. We were there for my birthday! We spent the day walking around, taking in familiar sites, eating, drinking, and just taking it easy. That’s the great thing about revisiting a city. There’s no pressure to try to fit it all in. We even made an attempt to see the Catacombs but it was too late in the day and the line too long so we wandered off. Here are a few photographic highlights:

Reminds me of Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

Most of the area around Forum des Halles was under construction.

The building housing the City of Paris's administration.

A view from the east garden.

One of many sculptures.

Another statue and series of columns in front of the Palais du Luxembourg.

Next week: Le Thor and the villa, Avignon, and some ancient hill villages.

Did you notice my absence from the web these past two weeks?

Yeah, so, I was on vacation.

At the old city wall of Avignon

Cokebaby and I spent two weeks in the south of France. It’s by far my fave vacation destination. This time, we took the Chunnel to Paris from London en route to Avignon. We then spent a week at a gite (which must be French for blissful villa) before heading into the city of Nîmes to participate in the Great Roman Games (in costume).

Because we had a car, we were able to visit many small towns and historic sites including some of the locations mentioned in Guy Gavriel Kay’s Ysabel (warning: if you read this book you’ll likely fall in love with Provence and want to travel there frequently and/or possibly move there).

As usual I’ll post trip highlights, including food reviews but this time I’ll dedicate a couple of posts to specific restaurants because they really stood out in comparison to the sandwiches and supermarket food we were preparing at the gite. In the meantime, you can check out the highlight reel from our previous trip to Provence.

Living in the suburbs has its ups and downs. One of the main downfalls is the lack of any kind of nearby food or entertainment within walking distance. So when Cokebaby noticed Monsoon Café had opened up on Parkland Drive in Clayton Park we had to check it out. It’s in the very same spot that several cafés failed before: first as Bean Sprout which had a drive-through and play area for kids, then as the Almond Café which didn’t last long enough for me to even check out.

Mulligatawny soup, sandwich, cookie & tea/coffee for $10

The decor got a facelift thankfully. There’s nothing worse than going to a new restaurant and feeling like the only thing that’s changed is the menu. Seating includes a good mix of a couch, club chairs and bar stools around matching tables. There’s sort of a modern Asian flare to the place.

The menu itself is simple and the cuisine East Indian fusion. It was lunchtime so Cokebaby and I opted for the lunch combo: a choice of three banh mi sandwiches, mulligatawny soup, a cookie, and tea/coffee for $10. If you’ve never had mulligatawny soup, give it a try but only if you like the taste of curry and pepper. It was my favourite part of the meal.

Banh mi is a Vietnamese baguette sandwich filled with thinly sliced pickled carrots, daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, mayonnaise and either meat or tofu. Cokebaby had the satay chicken sandwich and gave it his nod of approval. I decided to go for the veggie sandwich and was a little disappointed that there was no protein. Comparatively speaking, Indochine Banh Mi on South Park Street serves up better vegetarian options. That said, I’d go back again and try something different or just order a bigger bowl of soup (it was that good). The atmosphere was laid back, the service efficient, and the food was good value for the money.

As part of Word of Mouth night at the Neptune Theatre, Cokebaby and I attended The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh last week. Going into it, we knew very little about the play besides the write-up. After making a date night out of the evening—dining at Pipa Restaurant first (a review coming later)—we were pleasantly thrilled by both the quality of the writing and the acting.

(Photo credit: Applehead Studio)

Martin McDonagh is best known to me for writing and directing In Bruges. The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a dark comedy in the same vein. It’s actually part of The Leenane Trilogy of plays, each one dealing with rather grim circumstances.

Here’s the blurb for this first play in the series:

Trapped by her old cantankerous mother, 40-year-old Maureen finds an opportunity to escape when a chance comes along to find love and make a new life for herself. Her mother however has other ideas, and her interference sets in motion a chain of deceptions and betrayals, heart-breaking tragedy, and savage irony.

The acting on the part of the entire four-person cast was really superb but particular props go to the mother Mag, played by Mary Colin Chisholm. The role could have easily been portrayed as over-the-top but she was able to keep that instinct in check and instead present a wholly believable, fully irritating villainess.

Even the set design was brilliant in its simplicity. The whole play takes place within a shabby little kitchen giving the illusion of being trapped within that house with the mean old woman. Tricks of light established different moods and times of day seamlessly.

The play itself is signature McDonagh: darkly funny and at times tragic with unexpected twists. I highly recommend checking it out although it’s definitely not for the feint of heart. The Beauty Queen of Leenane is playing at the Neptune Theatre until March 20.

Besides frites and beer in Belgium, and beer and cheese in Holland, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the culinary side of the trip. Sure, there are lots of jokes about people going to Amsterdam to eat Indonesian food and, of course, “special” brownies. But what else could we expect? Well, here’s a quick overview of some of the best spots we uncovered while traveling in both regions.

Beer—OK, this was a no brainer. There are thousands of beers brewed in Belgium and they come in all types, with a special glass for every one too! ‘t Brugs Beertje offered a phenomenal selection in Bruges including a wide range of Krieks (beer’s fruity cousin). As of this trip, Kasteel is by far my fave. So, NSLC or private local liquor stores, please call me when you get some in. Cokebaby and I also did a tour of De Halve Maan (The Half Moon) Brewery which was a very different experience from Guinness or Heineken because of how small an operation it is. The steep steps during the tour are not for the faint of heart!

Enter at your own risk!

Chocolate (Bruges)—Well, maybe this was a no-brainer too. All I can say is that, yes, it does taste better in Belgium. My favourite were the chocolate covered orange slices. This from a person who doesn’t really have much of a sweet tooth. There are chocolate shops around every corner here and each one seems to have a different take on chocolate. The only thing you can do is go from shop to shop and try them all…

Frites—We know them as French fries but that’s a misnomer because the Belgians invented and perfected them. The secret? Double frying in animal fat, then serving them up piping hot with a massive dollop of mayonnaise on top. I have to admit they were too rich for my taste but Cokebaby seemed to enjoy them.

Proeflokaal De Admiraal (Amsterdam)—One of several “tasting rooms” in the city, the place is decorated in an old nautical style along with distillery kettles and tools, and old wooden casks. This was actually our first stop to eat so we sampled some regional cuisine. Whenever we saw “snack” listed on a menu in Amsterdam it was referring to bitterballen. These are sort of like puréed meatballs made of beef, beef broth, flour, butter and seasoning. They’re deep-fried and served with mustard. Here we also tried pickled herring and smoked eel, both served on toast. The herring was only lightly pickled so it had a fresher consistency closer to sashimi than the stuff you’d find in a jar. We also enjoyed our first taste of Jenever (a.k.a. Dutch gin). I quite liked the berry infused one that I tried while Cokebaby went for an aged one that was more akin to Scotch.

A traditional Dutch treat similar to miniature pancakes

Café Cobra (Amsterdam)—Situated conveniently within a stone’s throw of the Rijksmuseum, Cokebaby and I stopped here for a light lunch. He ordered poffertjes, essentially miniature buckwheat pancakes, while I had mustard soup with salmon. The rest of the trip we were on a mission to find a poffertjes pan (which we did) and some time this fall I’m going to try my hand at making the soup based on this recipe. If you have a better one you’re willing to share, please do!

Sacre Coeur (Bruges)—On most of our trips we typically find one restaurant that we return to more than once because of the recipe for a good place to eat: delicious food, excellent service, interesting ambience, and good value. Sacre Coeur has it all. And they don’t skimp on portion sizes. Of all the meals we had it was the traditional Flemish stew and Koninginnehapje (Queen’s Delight) that I’d recommend above everything else.

At Sacre Coeur Restaurant

Tujuh Maret (Amsterdam)—We couldn’t leave the city without trying at least one Indonesian place, right? This meal was by far the most expensive of all the places we went but the food and service was great. Cokebaby ordered a rijsttafel (rice table) with a wide variety of meats and vegetables in interesting sauces. I opted for one of the smaller, but still considerably pricey, dishes that was essentially a plate of appetizers. Truly a delicious experience.

Honourable mention goes to breakfast. In Amsterdam, for me that meant having a slice of ham and fried egg piled on a piece of toast with cheese melted on top (always served with a small salad). Meanwhile Cokebaby sampled a number of sweet and savoury pannenkoeken (pancakes). In Bruges, our hotel provided an amazing spread that included pate, smoked salmon, a variety of yummy cheeses, breads and homemade jams.

On a side note, if you ever do fly with Icelandair, everything at Reykjavík Airport is crazy expensive! You’re better off eating on the plane or packing a snack. I don’t mind splurging while on vacation but not on airport food.

In any case, that wraps up the posts on Amsterdam and Bruges. You can check out some more photos from the trip on Flickr.

Samples were cheap and our appetites ample

For our trip to Amsterdam & Bruges, Cokebaby and I decided to purchase a pre-paid Eurail pass for the sake of convenience. We chose a flexible pass that allowed us to travel as much as we wanted during the course of five days during our time abroad. One of the day trips we took was to a quaint little medieval town called Alkmaar for the last traditional Dutch cheese market of the season.

The traditional market is one of four left in the country. In a nation with cities named Edam and Gouda you have to consider cheese to be taken pretty seriously. The little town in fact even has a cheese museum in front of which a weekly demonstration takes place.

(Not everyone dresses like this in Holland)

The market was filled with tourists (including us) looking for photo ops of the old-fashioned cheese porters and women in traditional clothes. Here traders and carriers weighed the cheeses that are made in the local area. It’s not actually possible to buy cheese at the market itself, which is really only a demonstration of how the merchants’ market operated historically. That said, it all takes place in front of a medieval weighing house which is surrounded by a number of food and other stalls.

The Kaasmuseum from the canal

Once everything wraps up, the barriers are taken down and the cobblestone area is covered with patio tables from the surrounding restaurants (which are plentiful). There are also a good deal of boutiques and and other shops, ideal for window browsing.

Alkmaar made for the perfect day trip, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city of Amsterdam. The old part of town where we spent most of our time also offers scenic views of canals. We made our own picnic lunch by one overlooking the Kaasmuseum by which we had purchased a sample tray of cheeses along with bread from a local bakery. Then we chased it down with some yummy beer on a patio. The best part is that Alkmaar is a mere 40 minutes by train from Amsterdam.

Later this week: We head to Belgium and another medieval town, known as Bruges but really called Brugge.