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Delilah’s Conviction Kitchen (West End, English Bay)

Raul — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:45:34 +0000

There are many reasons why I love the concept behind Delilah’s/Conviction, or as the Canadian reality TV show calls it, “Conviction Kitchen”. The first one is that I believe in the rule of law. The second one is that I believe that people can change. And the third one is that Conviction Kitchen as a project provides ex-convicts with a new chance at life.

Mom and I had just arrived from Whistler (I went on a writing retreat with my Mom, in hindsight probably a mistake in regards to timing as I got about 321 emails about Mental Health Camp during the course of my pseudo-offline period – a wonderful opportunity, nonetheless – and I have my good friend Lisa Thomas-Tench to thank for the chance to go up to Whistler).

Being as stressed as I was, I told Minna and Jay (The Network Hub) that I needed a drink, and that Delilah’s was possibly the best place for a stiff martini. They agreed to join me. I am grateful to them that they did, because the experience was fantastic.

It’s not the first time I have been to Delilah’s, a reputed restaurant in the West End famous for its lethal martinis. I have been here many times before, the last one on the day of my birthday of last year (RaulCamp for those who may remember). But this is the first time I have been to Delilah’s since Delilah’s/Conviction opened (from my conversations with Chef Thuet, it’s been open for only a couple of weeks).

As I could expect, being all evening on-camera, and having their every movement videotaped did have a bit of a frazzling effect on the servers. I could notice that they felt somewhat under the microscope, particularly as I whipped out my digital camera and started snapping photos.

The great thing is that I was surrounded by wonderful friends of mine and by my Mom, and we all tried to engage the servers in conversation to let them know that we strongly supported the project. As the evening progressed, I noticed that the bartenders, the head server and the general manager, all started coordinating and synchronizing in a much smoother way, and we overall had a fantastic time.

It is noticeable that the project is still incipient, and that the waiting and kitchen staff are still feeling a bit tentative. But this did NOT detract at all from our experience. Mom and I had already had dinner at home so we only ordered drinks (I had a Black Widow to start, and Mom had a margarita, each $8.95), and a platter of mixed olives ($5.00).

Minna ordered a Brooks Peninsula ling cod poached in olive oil, crushed fingerling potatoes, niçoise olives ($22.00) and Jay had an Alsatian putta braised Fraser Canyon rabbit with morels ($21.00). Both dishes were delicious (I tried bits and pieces of them both). Jay ordered a Thai One On martini (vodka infused with Kamr lime & lemon grass, lime & mango juice, $8.95) and Minna had a Boston Tea Partini (citrus vodka with iced tea, lemon wedge & sugar rim, $8.95). She did not finish it so I had to (yeah I know, tough life I lead eh).

On my visit, I got the star treatment: the general manager scored me a chance to talk to Chef Thuet, introduce myself, have a photo taken with him and chat about the project itself (and congratulate him on a fantastic project and a great dinner).

For dessert, we ordered a chocolate tart ($8.00) and a chocolate coulant ($9.00), both of which were amazing.

I ordered a Pearl Necklace martini to accompany my dessert ($8.95) which was an absolutely blissful pairing. And after we had finished our dinner (which had amazing service, I might add), we still spent a few times talking to the general manager, to the head server and to our own server. I even had my photo taken with the bartenders.

Overall, I would very, very strongly encourage my readers to come down to Delilah’s/Conviction for dinner, with an open mind, a generous wallet and a kind heart. Remember, these people are being given a second chance at life, be there for them. Note, just in case my review sounds too sugary or nice or positive, and you think I was paid to write this post – I paid for everything we consumed, in full (the bill came down to $150 if you are totally curious, which isn’t really all that expensive if you think about how many drinks and food we consumed).

Kudos to Chef Thuet and his wife Biana (who is now acting as General Manager of Delilah’s/Conviction) for a fantastic, heart-warming and positive project. I will be back, for sure, and I will be bringing people along with me.

Weekend roundup II: The cherry blossom photowalk

Raul — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:12:44 +0000

Now that I have learned how to insert Flickr pictures directly on to my blog, I can walk you through what we did on Saturday afternoon (the cherry blossom photowalk I had talked about), and include a few photos.

I have had this conversation with Nomade Moderne, who is a phenomenal photographer, and with Arjana as well. And PatZ concurs. Apparently, Rule # 1 of Flickr is to only upload what you think are the best photos you’ve taken. Quite honestly, I have to say that I loved ALL my photos from the photowalk. Yes, I deleted about 10, but overall, I really liked them. Comments, absolutely welcome of course.

We then proceeded to drop by Cafe Crepe for a crepe-to-go (in my case, banana and dark chocolate, walking along Thurlow until we reached the cherry blossoms on Beach Avenue and proceeded to take a few more photos.

Arjana suggested to jump in the AquaBus. Since I love undertaking random adventures (and she is one of the best partners-in-crime to do so, plus Pat had never taken the AquaBus), I said “sure, let’s do it“. We crossed the water and reached Granville Island, which is one of my favorite destinations. Bumped into a street guitar player who was playing the first movement of the Moonlight sonata (which I play in the piano) and a random couple started dancing along.

We then walked along Granville Island and sat on the pier overlooking False Creek. I *love* this area, I really do. Arjana offered us some “iced tea” (you know what it was, hehehe) while we took in some of the gorgeous views of False Creek.

Finally, we ended up having a coffee at Starbucks (I was forced into it, I swear! In principle, I do not drink Starbucks – but it was the closest coffee shop and we needed something warm after a photo-walk in the cold). Absolutely loved the company of Arjana and PatZ. It was a great Saturday! And if you really want to see the rest of my photos, here is my Flickr link. I may not be the best photographer in Vancouver, but I really liked how these photos turned out.

Restaurant review – Swagat Tandoori Restaurant

Raul — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 07:24:00 +0000

You are probably wondering how can I have the nerve to write a restaurant review after my recent post on the execrable crime against a TransLink bus driver on Halloween night. However, it is my belief that even when negative things happen, we ought to focus on the good and the positive. And I did find one positive thing about this weekend. I found a place for GREAT Indian food, both for take-out and in-restaurant dining.

Swagat Tandoori Restaurant is located pretty much in beautiful English Bay, around the corner from Denman and Davie. I had been trying to come here as their lunch and dinner buffet special seems totally worth it and inexpensive ($10.95 for all-you-can-eat Indian for dinner – sweet deal!) Anyhow, J and I were walking by and we thought “oh well, since you want to try it, why not buy some take-out”.

Let me tell you, two people ate and I still took food home! The place is neat, the owner is sweet and the food is OMG to-die-for. Very good food, I had the butter chicken with rice and vegetables and I swear I can’t stop eating this food until I am completely full. The portions are generous and I look forward to a continued consumption of food from Swagat Tandoori.

They do delivery within the West End (if I recall correctly) and dinner for two is totally a sweet deal at $ 24+tax.

Restaurant review – Milestone’s Grill and Bar (Denman)

Raul — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:50:00 +0000

There are restaurants that you just know you can count on to make a good impression. Milestone’s is one of them. I went with H and his friend S who was visiting from Washington one night to Milestone’s on 4th Avenue (near Macdonald) and we had a great meal. I took my Mom and M for dinner to Milestone’s on Robson and it was excellent. I went for one of my birthday celebrations with many of my former colleagues to Milestone’s in Yaletown and it was really good. My brother and I had dinner at Milestone’s on Robson half a dozen times. So it was just appropriate that I went to this restaurant with a very good friend of mine who came to Vancouver to give a keynote speech to have dinner there.

Luckily, as I have mentioned above (and I have had dinner at Milestone’s so many times I can barely remember) this is a restaurant where you can count on for good food. One small drawback that I noticed last year was that before, they brought you a small side of salad with your pasta (huge portions) and you had a full meal. They don’t do that anymore.

However, if you choose wisely, you’ll end up eating so much you won’t even need a side of salad. In my case, I had the meatloaf with bread pudding and garlic mashed potatoes (and some veggies), and my friend had a seafood grill (which came with rice and veggies as well). While the prices aren’t all that cheap (in the range of $ 20 for entrees), the food is really good and filling.

We shared the Ibarra chocolate cake which was to die for. So I’d come back to Milestone’s on Denman (which apparently was the original location) for a meal, for sure. This is one of those ‘reliable’ restaurants that wouldn’t fail. Yes, it has become a chain but it is a good chain of local restaurants. – UPDATE – I only include one location but I’ve been to all of them, and they’re awesome.