Hummingbird604.com » Gastown

Nicli Antica Pizzeria (Gastown)

Raul — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:25:33 +0000

So, I finally made it. Finally, after 8 attempts (all of them with JT) to have dinner at Nicli Antica Pizzeria, I made it (with my good friend Minna from The Network Hub, instead of JT – and I feel awful because I promised I’d bring him, but I’ll do that next time – the last time I took him to Incendio because we couldn’t get into Nicli). I had been trying to make it to Nicli Antica Pizzeria for months, ever since it opened. My good friend Derek K. Miller had dinner there last year, before he passed away, and he raved about it. He was such a good writer, I think his review is better than mine will ever be.

I love Nicli because it’s such an elegant pizzeria restaurant (e.g. somewhere where you sit down and eat like a civilized human being), accompanying your pizza with a stiff drink or a glass of wine. This is such a lost art. I remember a couple of years ago, JT took me to Pizza Hut for a sit-down dinner with pizza and we reminisced about how this used to be more frequent yet take-out-pizza seems to have taken over our societal interest (this is also because we are so stressed out and have no time to sit down and eat, so we grab a slice of pizza on the go).

Born in Naples and widely considered to be the best, every Neapolitan pizza we serve is a labor of love. At Nicli Antica Pizzeria our pizzas are made with passion and attentiveness, using only the finest and freshest ingredients in our wood fired oven, made from the stone of Mt. Vesuvius.

I love Nicli’s pizzas. Admittedly, technically mine wasn’t a Neapolitan one, simply because (a) I removed most of the additional cheese they would put on it and (b) because I requested they added olives. So, my pizza (individual size, with very, very thin crust that almost melts in your mouth) was pretty much a Puttanesca sauce on top of thin crust. Delicious nonetheless ($17 for an individual-size pizza, which if you think about the fact that this is higher-scale pizza, doesn’t surprise me).

My pizza had just about the right amount of garlic, and although it had a bit of a burnt out balloon on one side of the pizza I didn’t mind (strangely enough, I loved the flavour of slightly burnt dough, a bit bitter and tart contrasting with the delicious goodness of anchovies and garlic). Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. Minna loved her Prosciutto-covered pizza. It was hard to cut the pizza but I think that’s just normal because the dough almost melts in your mouth. And we were using normal knives. Probably my fault, all in all.

Overall result: I totally loved Nicli Antica Pizzeria and can’t wait for them to launch their Valentine’s Day promotion. Minna and I had to walk off the carbohydrates and despite how cold the weather was, we didn’t mind a bit because we enjoyed our dinner SO MUCH.

Disclosure: I paid for my and Minna’s dinner on my own dime. As always, I retain full editorial control of what is published on my site.

Al Porto (Gastown)

Raul — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:00:43 +0000

You know that restaurant that you have always wanted to check out, that you think it’s going to totally rock your boat and then sort of disappoints you with a series of mishaps that you did not expect, and most likely neither did the staff? Yeah. That was the case with Al Porto in Gastown. A gorgeous restaurant, extremely spacious, brick-walls, amazing decor and a view of the mountains on the North Shore that many businesses would envy. And a lovely staff.

BUT

Sadly, I was quite disappointed with my lunch there recently. Admittedly, perhaps the expectation was too high. I had heard great things about Al Porto. But our server, lovely as he was, really had mishap, after mishap, after mishap. And at some point I just simply stopped caring about whether my food was ok or not, and whether the service was going to get better. I looked around and other lunch attendees had a wonderful experience. I could see it in their interaction with the server. My drink, I should say, was actually pretty good (a Zapphire)

Sadly, my experience was pretty much this short of bad. The food was not the complaint. The chef complied exactly with what I wanted (I ordered the $12 special for soup and a pasta for lunch). I requested that my French onion soup did not have cheese (and they were kind enough to remove the cheese from a cheese-covered crostini). BUT they left the cheese in my Caesar salad. Oooops. I got overcharged on a drink (which was removed from my bill, yet the delay in the food was quite unacceptable because… well, they brought me canelloni instead of what I had ordered in the first place).

My pasta (a simple Penne Puttanesca that is really hard to screw up) was tasty, but comparatively speaking, I’ve had better Puttanesca elsewhere (with the best being at Tapenade Bistro in Steveston, Richmond BC). Not to say that it wasn’t good but the texture was a bit on the chewy side (similar to what I had at Pacifico Pizzeria) and not “al dente”. Frankly, I totally think that this was one bad day on a generally good restaurant and specifically on my meal, because the rest of the folks I saw chatting over lunch seemed to be enjoying their food.

I’ll probably give Al Porto a second try. Not soon, but at least I will do it again. It’s inexpensive, it has a beautiful view, the food is ok, and the most important thing: the staff tries SO HARD. But the series of mishaps that occurred on the day I went there for lunch really left me with the impression I might come back another time… in 2012.

More information on Al Porto:

Gastown’s popular Water Street is alive with the taste of another era. Meander down the cobbled sidewalk and stumble across a true find, the uniquely situated Al Porto Ristorante. Spacious yet cozy, the room is as distinct as the cuisine that defines the rich flavour and culture of Italy. Candlelight and a warm welcome await you as you cross through the iron-gate.

Al Porto Ristorante
321 Water Street
Vancouver B.C.
V6B 1B8
Phone 604.683.8376
Fax 604.683.6682
Email info@alporto.ca

I paid for my lunch on my own dime.

Fresh Bowl (Gastown)

Raul — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:45:15 +0000

Despite what some people may think, I decline a substantial number of media dinner/lunch invites. Not because I don’t love them (who doesn’t love free food?), but because for the most part (a) either my schedule is too busy or (b) I want to go visit and pay with my own money so that people don’t even have the minimal qualm about whether I’m doing a non-biased review (despite the fact that I always write a disclosure). So while I was sad to have missed Fresh Bowl‘s invites, I was glad to come here for lunch. Long story made short? It’s good, very good. Weird pricing strategy, but good overall.

I ordered a Spicy Sambal with chicken (which ended up being from $7.00 to $10 – they added the chicken on top, something that I wasn’t really all that impressed with). My lunch colleague had a Thai green curry with vegetable (again, $7.00 plus $1.95 of the veggies). I would definitely prefer to know exactly the price of what I’m buying instead of this “on top of”.

My spicy sambal with chicken was tasty, spicy, and at some points a tad too spicy, but overall it was very nice. I’m glad I tried Fresh Bowl at least once (and I’ll have to say – smarty pants, because they found out I went there for lunch even though I came unannounced. I *always* do that at restaurants, so I don’t get special treatment. And nobody seemed to have recognized me there, but they posted on Twitter that they knew I had eaten there. Wowza). Overall, a bit on the overpriced side of things, tasty but a tad too spicy, but I’ll probably come back at some point. Not a place that I’m going to eat for lunch every day, but I can come visit on occasion.

Disclosure: I paid for my lunch and that of my colleague on my own dime. My views are my own, and I retain editorial control over anything published on my site

Sea Monstr Sushi (Gastown)

Raul — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:00:03 +0000

I love the fact that my friends almost always have the same adventurous approach to eating out. I hadn’t checked out Sea Monstr Sushi in Gastown, and I had wanted to try it for a long while. My good friends Ashleigh Smith and Chris Walts had just returned from a month in Peru, and thus we agreed to meet at Sea Monstr Sushi for a bite to eat. Not sure why, I wasn’t really too hungry, but I wanted to see them, so we met up there. Sea Monstr Sushi is a quaint little place, so don’t expect huge decorations or a very fancy, flashy restaurant location. But the sushi it serves is very good and the service is really excellent.

I ordered a Sushi Combo ($9.00) and 1 piece of salmon nigiri ($2.50). My combo brought along a few pieces of California roll, spicy tuna roll and some salmon roll bits. It also included a miso soup.

I loved in particular the spicy tuna sushi roll, fresh, tasty, spicy and just the right amount of rice. The miso soup was really flavourful and not very salty (a negative characteristic I have found in some restaurants’ sushi combos).

Disclosure: I paid for my dinner on my own dime.

Steamworks Brewing Company (Waterfront, Downtown Vancouver)

Raul — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:00:48 +0000

Yeah, I was shocked too. I have been to Steamworks about 400 times, I’ve had amazing meals here, drinks with friends, I’ve eaten at the sister restaurant Rogue Wet Bar (heck, I even was higher on Google Search for Rogue even before their own website!) but I had NEVER written about Steamworks Brewing Company (otherwise known as Steamworks Pub). Yeah, surprised? Me too.

This past week, Minna, Jay, Michael, Dammy, Alisha and I went for dinner to Steamworks and we had a fantastic time. The food has always been good (I ordered a panfried tiger prawn linguini with black beans, sauteed red and yellow peppers, cilantro, garlic and extra virgin olive oil, $15.99). I love linguini in any way, shape or form. The one that rivals and perhaps is better than Steamworks’ is Italian Kitchen on Alberni.

My friends ordered anything from burgers (which I have tried and are great) to pizza (with guacamole, who knew!?) to ravioli.

Hanging out with my friends is always a lot of fun.

And the food wasn’t bad either! Overall, good times at Steamworks. I love the fact that they brew their own beer, that they have LOTS of space to accommodate just about any group size and that the food is consistently good. The service was great and I really can’t complain. And it’s literally 2 minutes away from my office downtown. We’ll definitely be back.

Disclosure: We all paid for our dinner on our own dime.

Incendio (Gastown)

Raul — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:00:45 +0000

Responding to an unfulfilled need I had to eat good, comforting Italian food, JT and I set out to find a good Italian restaurant in the vicinity of the Firehall Arts Centre, as we were going to see Mambo Italiano. We set our hearts on Nicli Antica Pizzeria but the wait was an hour so I made an executive decision to head to Incendio (also Italian, and in Gastown)

Vancouver’s historic Gastown on the corner of Columbia Street and Alexander in the old Anchor hotel. The space had operated for nearly 20 years as Al Forno, a restaurant that provided first dates for countless Vancouverites. By re-exposing all of the existing brick and opening up the kitchen to the diner’s view, we have managed to retain the heritage feel while still breathing new life into a comfortable and ambient room. Warmed by the now over 30 year old wood fired brick oven, Incendio lends itself to intimate dinner for two, or to a celebratory gathering of friends and family.

Many a time, I had been a customer of Incendio West (on Burrard Street, near 6th Avenue), but rarely have I come to Incendio in Gastown (coincidentally, always with JT), despite however close it is to my downtown office. So I was glad we got to visit again. In a strange turn of events, I ordered a Chicken Parmigiana with orzo pasta and veggies, an absolute success I might add ($15.99).

Chicken Parmigiana would not be a dish I would usually choose as any cutlets a la Parmigiana will have cheese on them). I think I was so hungry I completely forgot about the cheese. The above said, I really loved this particular dish. Incendio makes comfort food. And chicken Parmigiana is certainly one of their specialties. Inexpensive, tasty and filling.

The side of orzo (the rice-shaped pasta) was a nice companion (well cooked and flavourful) but I probably will order linguini or a different pasta next time. Also, it felt slightly sticky (like a risotto). Perhaps it’s that I’m used to orzo that doesn’t stick as much.

The chicken Parmigiana was cooked to perfection, with a tangy tomato sauce that blended really well with the breaded/melted cheese component. I was so hungry I basically inhaled it, but at the end, couldn’t eat more. I loved the ambiance and how spacious Incendio is (and how underrated it is, quite frankly). And while there were a number of occupied tables, it wasn’t packed.

The service was excellent, and I had an opportunity to chat with a couple waiters who were telling me a bit about the history of Incendio and how long they’ve worked there. Frankly, I completely understand how Incendio is sometimes forgotten because it’s located at a strange corner (Alexander and Columbia). But I will very strongly endorse it for a good evening/lunch comfort Italian food outing. Great menu as well.

Disclosure: I paid for both JT and my dinner’s on my own dime.

Meat and Bread (Gastown)

Raul — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:42:55 +0000

I had heard a lot about Meat and Bread (a relatively new restaurant in Gastown, pretty much 3 blocks away from my office at The Network Hub and for the longest time, I was unable to try it out. One day, I went with Gus and Russ for lunch there and the line was way too long (all the way out of the restaurant) so we decided to come back another day. I promised the owner I would come back, and I did. Twice.

The first time, I brought DP, a colleague with whom I’ll be collaborating in a project soon, and I ordered a porchetta sandwich. For someone who has eaten Mexican carnitas growing up, I totally thought I’d love the porchetta. I didn’t. But not on account of Meat and Bread (their porchetta sandwich is very flavourful, $8.50). The porchetta just didn’t do it for me.

I really wish I had brought my digital camera the two times I went for lunch to Meat and Bread, because my iPhone photos don’t really do justice to how good these sandwiches are. Admittedly, I would like them to be a bit bigger, but the flavors are just incredible. And even though at first glance I thought it was a bit pricey, I realize a Meat and Bread sandwich is actually not that expensive.

The second time I went there, with Lynnette, John and Dory, I ordered a curried soup and a meatball sandwich. THIS one was my absolute favorite. Ground meat in spicy marinara sauce with just the right amount of garlic is just my definition of tasty. Bear in mind, meatballs are one of my most favorite dishes. And while the sandwich looks, at first glance, very small, in the end it’s fulfilling enough.

I would come back to Meat and Bread, but I’d probably try to avoid the noon lunch rush (I’ll be coming back either around 1:30pm or earlier, around 11:45am). The first time I took DP, we didn’t really have to wait in line, neither the second time. But the very first time I visited I did. No wonder it’s popular. Flavourful, filling and well-crafted, Meat and Bread sandwiches are solid.

Disclosure: I paid in full for my and my companion’s lunch the first time I went to Meat and Bread, out of my own pocket. The second time, my lunch was taken care of by Lynnette G.

The Charles Bar (Gastown)

Raul — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:45:22 +0000

So, despite the fact that I *did* get an invite to the opening night of The Charles Bar (and I actually have been invited to tweetups there, and stuff), I had not made it. Embarrassing, if you think about the fact that The Charles Bar is located at the Woodwards complex in Gastown. Literally, less than 5 blocks away from my office at The Network Hub. I know, I’m horrible.

But I digress. I never get a chance to spend enough time with my good friend Janice Mansfield and her sister Nicole, both of whom, like me, have an adoration for all things great food and awesome places. So during a very short stay they had in Vancouver (Janice lives in Victoria) we decided to go grab some drinks and food at The Charles Bar.

I ordered one of the traditional burgers ($12) and requested fries with truffle oil and lots of garlic (for an additional $2). With my meal I had a glass of a very good red wine (Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon, $6.75). Overall, the service was great and the food was comforting. The company was awesome, as I love Nicole and Janice. I’ll definitely come back to The Charles Bar.

Disclosure: I paid for my and my friends’ dinner and drinks out of my own dime.

Terracotta (Gastown)

Raul — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:36:14 +0000

I’m surprisingly not someone who eats Chinese food. For the most part, I eat Japanese, and sometimes Thai, but I’ve been very neglectful in trying Chinese. And I was quite surprised when I found out that Terracotta (whose name does not quite remind me of Chinese food) did Chinese. So, I’ve been trying for a while now to come visit Terracotta, but I had been so insanely busy and then I got sick. Though my wish has been granted.

I was joined recently by Mijune (@FollowMeFoodie), Brenda (@MightyVanilla), Christie Lohr (@ChristieLohr), Heather (@Hez), Melody (@GourmetFury), Erin Ireland (@Erin_Ireland) and a few other guests to a small gathering at Terracotta to try some of their menu (direct samples, not specifically made for us as foodies).

Their signature cocktail (aloe vera with Grey Goose vodka) was to-die-for, and I really loved the samples we had of their rather solid menu. My photos don’t really do them any justice.

Thanks to my friend Cassandra Anderton (@GoodLifeVan) for the invite! Check out Terracotta, it’s a place that is going to be pretty well attended.

131 West Cordova (formerly Deighton’s Well) [Gastown]

Raul — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:00:58 +0000

I had passed this little restaurant all the time and I never had made an effort to come in, so when Minna invited me for a late lunch the other night, we decided to stay within Gastown and eat at what we thought was Deighton’s Well (and now does business as 131 West Cordova). They just rebranded, from what I can see. I ordered a club sandwich that, while it was good, wasn’t really amazing.

It’s a decent enough club sandwich, I must say. And the service was good, although a bit kind of slow.

I will come back again as I won’t know if the food is excellent or not from just one visit and when I can see that this place is pretty much pub fare food. I’ll check it out some other time.

The Black Frog Eatery (Gastown)

Raul — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:00:29 +0000

Gastown has an amazing variety of restaurants and bars, and having my office at The Network Hub for the past three years has given me the opportunity to experience some of the nicest restaurants in the Gastown area. One that I had been trying to visit is The Black Frog. Having celebrated my birthday so many times at the Water Street Cafe, you may wonder why I never stopped by The Black Frog. Well, honestly, it’s tucked away close to the tracks (admittedly, very close to the

Having celebrated my birthday so many times at the Water Street Cafe, you may wonder why I never stopped by The Black Frog. Well, honestly, it’s tucked away close to the tracks (admittedly, very close to the Steam Clock). But I had already been here once or twice, for events. I just didn’t really pay much attention. But the other night, Nathan, Vivian and I went there for dinner, and we had a really good time.

The Black Frog Eatery is a nice spot with pretty good food. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with fries (roasted chicken tossed in BBQ sauce and served with coleslaw on a multigrain kaiser bun,
$11). The burger is (as traditional), topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion and their own special sun-dried tomato mayo, and come with choice of either fries, soup, house or caesar salad.

I wanted to try the pulled pork sandwich with fries, as I had recently tried sandwich and a soup at another restaurant. I really loved the sandwich, and it was hard to finish it because I was really full by the time I had eaten about 50%. The fries were also very good. I will definitely be coming back to The Black Frog for lunch and/or dinner.

Six Acres (Gastown)

Raul — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 19:05:47 +0000

I have been to Six Acres in Gastown more times than I can recount. But how many times have I blogged about it? None. So I figured it was time I put my time to good use and recognize one of the bars where I feel most comfortable. Six Acres, located right across from the Gassy Jack statue. I first had a Pimms at Six Acres and it remains my favorite drink to have on their patio. Six Acres is open Monday through Saturday from 5:00pm to 1:00am, and there have been many a time when I have come here after a long week of work (my office is downtown) and grabbed a drink on their patio. My two most recent visits included Chris Walts one time.

Another time I came here with Maura Rodgers, Danny Robinson, Paul Rickett and Cinci Csere. Always fun and relaxing. What I find most attractive about Six Acres is not so much the drinks or the patio but the very relaxed atmosphere. Moreover, the service is always really good. Even when I request a drink that is not the way it’s publicized in their menus, they happily oblige.

The @Acme_Cafe (West Hastings, Downtown East Side)

Raul — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:30:49 +0000

I have begun to make it my goal to try and at least eat twice at the same restaurant before I review it. Often, this isn’t the case (primarily because it’s not like I have a tonne of money to spend). And because of that latter element (e.g. my budgeted life) I try to eat where I don’t have to break the bank. I had already had raspberry pie from Acme Cafe the other day when I swung by with Minna. But this week I decided to make a return trip with my friend Chris Walts (we hadn’t had any time together in a long while so we went restaurant-and-bar hopping). I wanted to try the actual dinner experience at Acme Cafe, and I found it a very pleasant experience.

I ordered a pop ($2.50) and a meat loaf ($11.50) which was a great choice. The portions were big, the flavors were really nice and although I wasn’t convinced by the potatoes, I think next time I will order mashed potatoes. But the meat loaf itself was really good. When I had breakfast there with Minna, we loved the home-made pie, . Impossible to finish with that amount of carbs but absolutely delicious.

Acme Cafe does provide home-made goodness at non-breaking-the-bank prices.

Dining at @TheJudasGoat Taberna in Gastown

Raul — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:00:10 +0000

For maybe-not-so-obvious reasons, I am a lover of all things Spanish cuisine (not to be confused with Latin American cuisine, which seems to be pretty much an overarching term for foods from the Spanish-speaking countries in the southern hemisphere, and a term that might be better suited). I love chorizo, olives, capers, ham and all those strong flavors typical of Madrid’s cuisine (I was raised to love them).

My good friend Jay Catalan (The Network Hub) had told me about Judas Goat Taberna but I had never been and after a long day of meetings, I was exhausted and the only people left at the office were Paul, Yi and Minna. So we decided to go for dinner to Judas Goat Taberna. It was a really, really good decision. I am often drained after too much work or socializing, but if I’m with energetic people, I get a second wind. I am not a fan of walking by Blood Alley, but being it the case that I’ve already visited Salt Tasting Room (and loved it) I decided it was ok to go back to this part of Gastown, one that is not precisely my absolute favorite.

The first thing I noticed about Judas Goat Taberna is that it is really, really tiny. Which led to me doing my usual hummingbird-y “turn around and chat with the folks to your right/left”. We met the owners of Hix Island House, an eco-hotel in Puerto Rico, and the sister of one of the owners (who is a realtor in Toronto). Lovely fellows. I ordered brisket meatballs with spiced tomato sauce (the order includes 4, $ 8.00) and a glass of Jerez Lustau ‘Los Arcos’ Amontillado ($ 5.00). That was more than enough food for me (but I had already eaten dinner around 4pm and we were at Judas Goat Taberna at 8pm). My friends had a couple of appetizers too.

I also had a chance to sample Minna’s salad (crisp prosciutto with squash, arugula & Manchego cheese, $8.00 – which as you can imagine, I didn’t have any of as I hate cheese). It was a good (and welcome) departure from the meatballs’ richness. From my impression of the restaurant, it’s a tapas bar. I would figure a few of appetizers to share and a couple of drinks would be a great way to spend an evening having dinner here with friends. My evening was stellar, not only because I got to hang out with Paul, Yi and Minna, but because of the delightful trio of folks we sat down with. The service is really good, and the food is excellent.

@WinkBeauty Mad Hatter Summer BBQ today (Saturday June 5th)

Raul — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:20:27 +0000

photo credit: liakapelke

My good friend Minna (The Network Hub) mentioned she was attending a BBQ today, and I wondered what party she was referring to. I just learned recently that it’s one organized by the wonderful Wink Beauty Lounge & Boutique girls.

Wink is located at 67 East Cordova Street in the Koret Lofts, at the street level (between Carrall St. & Columbia St.) You should totally check it out.

Admission is free, and the Build-A-Burger is by donation, where proceeds benefit the Street Beat Sandwich Ministries, which hands out thousands of sandwiches to the homeless twice a month.

The Mad Hatter Garden BBQ is a celebration of the 2 years of Wink Beauty Lounge & Boutique, and will take place from 3-7pm. You can bring your hat to the BBQ, there’ll be complimentary faux lashes/nails, a chance to win a WinkBeauty basket, and it sounds like it’ll be fun!

You can RSVP by calling 604-696-9465. Alternatively, I’m pretty sure you can just drop by. It sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun (even if I don’t actually need faux lashes!)

Sitar (Gastown)

Raul — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:06:23 +0000

I am an absolute addict to Indian food. Rarely have I found (with the exception of Ethiopian food) any cuisine that I enjoy as much as I do Indian (with perhaps the exception of Mexican and Ethiopian).

I had heard of Sitar, and I had definitely walked by, but I had never made a point of having dinner there. Particularly, since it’s in Gastown and thus close to the office.

A few nights ago, while out on a walk with Jay Catalan and Minna Van, dear friends of mine and co-founders of The Network Hub, we were hungry so we decided to go for dinner. Sadly, late at night, it is really hard to find a place open. BUT we did score. We found Sitar, and the management team was kind enough to make dinner for us.

We shared a few dishes for dinner amongst the three of us, but I have to say that my favorite wasn’t even the food (which was really good) but the mango lassi. To-die-for. We ordered butter chicken (Jay), korma (myself) and tandoori chicken (Minna), all of which were accompanied with rice and papad. I had to have two mango lassi’s because they were SO GOOD.

Not sure how to compare with other Indian food places that I’ve tried, since I’ll pretty much eat anything that is remotely Indian cuisine, but I would say that Sitar is definitely on par with some of the best Indian I’ve tried (heck, even Rangoli’s). I would definitely bring a good friend here for dinner, and I’m grateful to Minna and Jay for inviting me here, because it was a great experience. The service was really good and the portions generous and tasty.

Momo Sushi (Gastown)

Raul — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:51:01 +0000

I have had an office at The Network Hub for over 2 years. During that time I have hosted several blogger outreach events, including a couple for The Community Against Preventable Injuries (@Preventable). For those of you who have attended those events (and several that The Network Hub itself has organized), here’s the answer to the delicious sushi you’ve enjoyed: Momo Sushi in Gastown

The fact that Momo Sushi is located less than 2 blocks away from our offices at West Hastings and Richards makes our lives oh-so-much-easier because we can just call and order a couple of platters and we will have enough food to feed a little army. Today my good friend Minna Van (one of the cofounders of The Network Hub) invited me out for lunch and I wanted sushi, so we went to Momo Sushi.

I do not think people realize just how big those rolls are and how filling they are, but let me tell you, the roll combos at Momo Sushi are big enough that after lunch, you may fall into a sushi coma. Really tasty, the fish is very fresh (if you eat fish, or you can also do all vegetarian rolls). For me, it was much more than I could handle, and right now I am fighting to stay awake.

I just hope I can make it through the Social Media Club Vancouver executive board meeting still awake! And Momo Sushi isn’t expensive, I think you can have a decent lunch for less than $9.00. Overall, my kudos to Momo Sushi for consistently good sushi.

Nuba (Gastown)

Raul — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:20:22 +0000

The fact that my office is downtown doesn’t help much when it comes to eating out simply because I have been trying to be good on my budget and not eat out. But there are a number of places around the downtown core of Vancouver that are both easy on the wallet and tasty. Nuba is one of these places. Located at the corner of West Hastings and Cambie, it’s an easy couple of blocks stroll from my office.

I went to Nuba for lunch with Andy a couple of weeks ago(long overdue – I like to see my good friends at least once every month or couple of months, but I rarely do that with everyone!) . We settled for the garden wrap. I’m definitely a fan of Lebanese food, and I had already had the pleasure of eating there at a catered event for VEF Momentum (an event I did liveblog as well). The garden wrap was about $ 6.75 but I recall the waitress offering something extra that increased the cost to close to $ 10.00 (which is kind of weird, but I have to say – I loved the food and it was filling as a lunch item).

Would I come back to Nuba? For sure. Although perhaps next time I’ll come for dinner. Have you ever tried it?

Restaurant review – Salt Tasting Room (Gastown) – NDMD ’08

Raul — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:18:36 +0000

As you can gather from Rebecca’s NDMD 08 – Gastown post, we had a great time at Salt Tasting Room. We got there only expecting to see Anthony Nicalo, but we were very pleasantly surprised to find Nadia, Jenn, Kris, Tris too. We had ordered two meat platters to share, and we then followed those with two cheese platters (of which, I have to say, despite my hating cheese, I did eat a tiny, tiny, tiny bit. It’s been captured on Anthony’s camera, so I can’t deny that yes, I’ve tasted cheese this 2008).

While I recognize that the location may be perceived as somewhat sketchy (in Blood Alley), we didn’t feel any bit unsafe, and the place is really beautiful. The service was fantastic, and Anthony brought wines to pair with all the meats and cheeses. I would mention here these cheeses and meats, but I forgot to bring the cheat sheets.

The company was really good, it was also a treat to just hang out for a little bit. I got an opportunity to see Salt’s wine cellar and I got some video too, which I hope to post really soon. It was a real lesson in wine, I tell you. More photos in my Flickr stream.

Salt is definitely a great concept, as a tasting room. The platters are not really all that expensive, considering the concept (around $15-17 for a cheese and for a meat platter). The butcher platter was great, most definitely. We were treated to delicacies in both realms (cheese and meat) although as mentioned above, I’m not a cheese eater

Upcoming environmental events in Vancouver – September 2008

Raul — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:00:12 +0000

Two upcoming events are rather relevant to me and both fall on the same day.

Green Drinks Vancouver happens again on the third wednesday of the month (Sep 17th, 2008) at Steamworks.
The Metro Vancouver Sustainability Breakfasts series continues, and this time, they will focus on the discussions we’ve been having on bottled water. I am SO definitely there!

About the Community Sustainability Breakfast [Metro Vancouver's website]:

Sustainability Community Breakfasts – Nature’s Health Drink – Always on Tap
Wednesday, 17 September, 2008
from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
British Columbia Institute of Technology
555 Seymour Street, Vancouver

About Green Drinks Vancouver Sep 2008 [Green Drinks Website]

WHEN the next regular Green Drinks is: Every 3rd Wednesday of the month (except in Dec and July) Our next event is on Sept 17th, 2008
WHERE: Steamworks pub at 375 Water Street on the edge of Gastown near Waterfront Station.
Please be aware that due to changing space availability we cannot guarantee we’ll be in the same room each month – if you can’t find us just ask Steamworks staff which room we are in.
TIME:5:45pm-until?

It’s lucky that both of these events fall on the same day, and that I’ll be back in Vancouver by then! And again, I’ve got a full week booked (Brew 2.0, Green Drinks, Launch Party AND a special day!). Can someone please clone me? Thanks.

Restaurant review – The Irish Heather

Raul — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:18:48 +0000

Lorraine aka Raincoaster reminded me of a good spot in Gastown (as I was complaining about Chill Winston) in addition to my trusty Flux, La Casita.

Yes, sir. That’s The Irish Heather. Usual Irish fare, hearty, not extremely expensive, good beer (if I’m allowed to say this, as I am not a beer connoisseur).

The first time I set foot in The Irish Heather was probably when I finished my MBA/MEng but I only went back with Colleen, Tris and Lisa. I ordered sausages with mashed potatoes and gravy, tasty and filling. Everybody seemed to agree it was good, and I had no complaints. I’ll be back for more, that’s for sure.

Coffee shop review – Luna Cafe (Gastown)

Raul — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:30:58 +0000

This is, by and large, the weirdest coffee shop I have been to in years. The owner/cashier was funny yet I was slightly scared by her. So, it turns out, they DO have wi-fi (which is important if you’re waiting in between meetings in Gastown, and since many of the tech companies are actually located in this district, it kinda helps to hang out around here).

I know, Jordan did kind of scold me for not having come to the Strutta offices earlier (right before our BarCamp Vancouver 2008 meeting) which I could have done directly after lunch with Tanya (thus enjoying free wifi without having to buy a tea at Luna Cafe), but honestly I didn’t remember their office address (ooops) – which is the reason why I needed to find wifi before the meeting, to find out where it was going to be held.

So, back to the coffee shop review. Luna Cafe is spacious, well kept, clean. It’s great for coffee and geeking out, but I find that it’s kind of complicated to be there if your laptop battery is not so good (as is my case – although I can’t complain – for all the problems and issues I’ve had with my poor, broken eMachines, the battery was still able to tide me over from 1.40 to 3 pm, when I went to meet Jordan, Megan, Boris, David and James and talk geek shop about BarCamp organizational issues.

Would I recommend Luna Cafe to other geeks? Sure, why not. It’s a good coffee shop, spacious and they have decent tea, although I find it slightly pricier than coffee shops in the Main Street area. But if you’re just looking for a coffee shop where you can hang out and tide you over to the next meeting, sure, why not. This is the place.

Eatery review – The So.Cial at Le Magasin deli

Raul — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:30:32 +0000

Admittedly, I thought I wasn’t ever going to publish again an eatery review, but I was browsing through my Flickr account and realized that I had photos from the So.Cial deli and I hadn’t posted them so I figured I’d write a post about it, and review it. Since my wallet can’t aford So.Cial (the restaurant) right now, I am glad that Rebecca suggested the deli, because a sandwich, yes that I can afford!

The sandwiches are affordable (although the big, big sammich is about $ 14 bucks, which I find slightly overpriced). I went with a $ 6.00 (small-ish) sandwich with turkey breast, but I saw that Rebecca’s roast beef sandwich was HUGE (next time I’m buying that one!)

Here is another picture of their prices and menu

Overall, I enjoyed it but I wonder if I had a good time there because of the sandwich or because it was a fun opportunity to hang out with Rebecca outside of the blogosphere and just before she liveblogged NetTuesday. The sandwich was good, but I think I’m going to stand by my La Grotta del Formaggio sandwiches!

Upcoming event – Podcasting for Social Change (Net Tuesday)

Raul — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:10:30 +0000

So, remember when I said that I was going to only attend 6 events all month? Scratch that. It’s going to be 5. Green Drinks is colliding with WordCamp Fraser Valley, which means, I can’t do Green Drinks YET AGAIN. Ooops. But on the good news front, I will be going to Net Tuesday, and I want to promote my friend and mentor Dave O’s upcoming event, with the topic “Podcasting For Social Change”. You know you want to go, because he’s got a very fine line-up of speakers, including John Bollwitt, Roland Tanglao, Rob Cottingham, and Dave Olson as a moderator (you’ll NEVER get another chance to spend this much time with these many awesome people at the same time, unless you do Northern Voice 2009… and even then!).

So, mark your calendars – Wednesday July 8th, 5:30pm, WorkSpace. More details? Check Dave O’s blog.

I took the liberty of using DaveO’s YouTube promotional…

Restaurant review – La Casita (Gastown)

Raul — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:20:19 +0000

Rebecca and I have been in a little bit of a Mexican food streak, so when we agreed to meet for lunch, we settled on La Casita in Gastown. I had heard mixed reviews, and the ownership structure (apparently owned by non-Mexicans) made me a bit queasy as to the authenticity of the food. Reviewers on DineHere seem to like it. But I have to say that I wasn’t impressed with the actual food.

Rebecca ordered enchiladas, which looked authentic. I had a little bite and I wasn’t fully impressed (better enchiladas at Salsa and Agave, for sure! – SIDE NOTE – The owner of Salsa and Agave asked me NOT to praise her establishment so much because that might generate frictions with the owners of Tequila Kitchen – I don’t think so – they cater to different tastes, and they are both authentic Mexican food restaurants. As we say in Spanish – “el sol sale para todos“).

However, there is ONE thing I was 100% impressed with: their margaritas, particularly their lime margarita. I ordered a strawberry margarita blended and Rebecca ordered a lime one, and they both were awesome (though truth be told, the lime one was MUCH better in my opinion).

If I went there *just* for the margaritas, I think I’d be a happy camper. It’s not bad food, at all, it is good, and the service was good too. But I’m still infatuated with Salsa and Agave (the same way I was with Tequila Kitchen!) – and no, I’m not a fickle eater. I just wasn’t all that impressed with La Casita. But again, as I’ve said, it’s good food.

Out and about with Raul on a Friday

Raul — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:19:44 +0000

Fridays are usually busy but this Friday was just a tad over the top. I think I spent more time with people in the tech/social media industry than I ever had in one single sitting. First, as usual, I put in a few hours of work, but also tried to do some blogging on the side, and chatted with my friend JT who is totally geeky and tekkie. However, my laptop screen was not behaving well, so I had to basically shut down at noon, which wasn’t all that bad since I had to go anyways.

I was invited by David Gratton to come by and visit The Donat Group. I had met Rochelle Grayson at a Tweetup and I read both David’s and Rochelle’s personal blogs, so it was a great chance to come by and see the kind of work that they do. I was shown a number of fun tools they develop, including SnipDev (for someone who is geekifying himself, there is no better fun than finding new ways to use technology to bring people together, which is one of the things that David, Rochelle and their group do). Good times.

Rebecca and I have been on a Mexican food roll, so we agreed to meet for lunch at La Casita in Gastown. Restaurant review forthcoming. I did miss a chance to hang out with Karen as our schedules didn’t match up, but I’m sure we’ll hang out soon enough. Since Rebecca and I were both invited to the Strutta party we ended up going there for a couple of beers (free booze – who can refuse that?). I had a chance to bug Jordan Behan about not following me on Twitter (jokingly), but now Boris Mann has created a mantra for me. See photo below (if you can’t read what the plastic glass says, it says “Follow Me on Twitter – hummingbird604). I took the joke in jest. As usual, I have LOTS of photos of the evening on my Flickr. It was good to see a lot of my fellow bloggers/twitterers/friends from the tech community.

Unfortunately I had to leave early as I was meeting with AF, NM and RO for Rock Band. I am in love with this thing. Hat tips and thanks to Tanya for those Rock Band invites with a bunch of friends, because I am now totally hooked. Usually when I hang out with Tanya and friends, I do a lot of vocals but I’ve begun to be more comfortable with bass (although I only play as high as medium). I got home at 4 am. Great times! NM and RO are always really fun to hang out with.

And to close off, here is one of my favorite songs from the many that we played last night: Wave of Mutilation. Hope you guys are having a great weekend, because mine is really busy (as always!). Darn. And I thought I was going to be non-booked. OOOPS.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U88t0JgawfY&hl=en]

Restaurant review: Boneta (Gastown)

Raul — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:01:34 +0000

Not sure why this review was still on my drafts, but here it is now.

Phaedra had been raving for a good couple of months about how great this place was, so we decided to finally take the plunge and go there for lunch to celebrate a couple of weeks ago. Phaedra has been there many a time, and I know that Rebecca and Keira have gone down there for dinner and have also raved about it.

Since we were there for lunch and I rarely order shellfish when I dine out, I took the plunge with a spaghetti with mussels. Phaedra had a scrumptions beet salad (both shown below). The service was impeccable. We had some champagne since we were celebrating, and the owner came to talk to us several times throughout the lunch, making sure we were being given the best service possible.

I will have to come back for dinner at some point, but for now I can sincerely say that whatever my expectation was for Boneta, it was fulfilled. It is on the ‘upscale’ side of pricing, but also on the same side of service AND quality of food.

The owner of Boneta with Phaedra

Overall, it was a great afternoon. I always enjoy my time with Phaedra, and how often do you get to hang out and have a lunch date with one of Vancouver’s hottest bloggers (and newly-minted professional counselor!)? Not very often, so I am happy to seize the opportunity as soon as it presents itself!

Vancouver NetTuesday for May 2008 recap

Raul — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:34:48 +0000

Fresh off of the recent Vancouver NetSquared event (also known as NetTuesday), I just got swamped with work and thus was pretty much unable to write a recap. However, since I have a meeting shortly and I can’t really focus much on work, I figured I might as well write a couple of comments on the meeting.

I had happily volunteered to live-blog the event for Rebecca (on Miss604.com), who couldn’t make it on Tuesday. It was the first time I’ve done a guest live-blog directly on her site, which made me a bit nervous (I feel better if I screw up on my site than on anybody else’s!), but at the same time, I was very excited.

At any rate, the evening, entitled “Welcome to the Widget Revolution” was very entertaining, with two presentations on how non-profits are making use of widgets to advance issues of social justice, sustainability and societal change. The last presentation was actually a demo of SproutBuilder, a great tool-building application.

I have the feeling that some of the participants expected a more geeky/techie kind of talk. The last part definitely was, but the rest was very much about how already built widgets were incorporated into the social media toolkit of a number of non-profits. I think that the message could have been more clearly articulated, although reading again the invite, I have to say that one could have found it from there.

Widgets aren’t just little pieces of portable code. Widgets are about opening up your message to your supporters and the community. Widgets represent a shift towards using online tools, and online thinking, to connect with more people and build deeper relationships with the people you are already connected with.

Vancouver’s 3rd Net Tuesday will explore the stories of nonprofits that are spearheading this revolution as well as demo a new widget platform — Sprout.[Vancouver NetSquared Meetup Site]

I took the liberty of making bold the part where you can read exactly what the event was about, but honestly, I can also understand why it felt as though somehow there was something missing. In the future, I would suggest that the organizers make it a bit clearer. Joe has made a LOT of great choices and put in a lot of hard work, both for speakers AND the sponsors – for example, the food was organic and the cutlery was biodegradable.

Here are some links in case you weren’t there:

Jason Mogus Slideshow: (Click here)

Jason Mogus Video:(Click here)

Scott Nelson Video:(Click here)

It was great as always to see a lot of my fellow Web 2.0 friends, including Nancy Zimmerman, Jonathon Narvey, the always amazing DaveO, Erika Rathje, Nadia Nascimento, Jenn Lowther, and I’m a bit afraid I’ve missed someone, so if I did – sorry! You can always send me an email to reproach me, hehe.

Restaurant review: The Greedy Pig (Gastown)

Raul — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:24:20 +0000

After hearing Jenn Lowther rave about The Greedy Pig (where she, Dario and Nadia went for dinner before a recent Third Tuesday), I couldn’t let the chance pass to try it, as JT and I were in Gastown, on our way to a contemporary dance performance (review forthcoming). I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed. At $ 12.00, The Greedy Pig‘s pulled pork sandwich was not that expensive and rather filling. I guess next time I’ll have to try the meatloaf sandwich.

On the table right beside me there was a gentleman who was trying the cheese and butcher plate ($18.00) which I have to say, looked very much like a fromage et charcuterie plate, very Parisian. Was kind of interesting to see a guy eat it all by his lonesome. It was a great evening and I’m glad I had a chance to enjoy this place with JT. Next time I’ll have to come for lunch.

Bar review – Flux Bistro

Raul — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:58:23 +0000

Slightly hidden in the main gateway of Gastown (162 Water), Flux Bistro is a perfect example of where I’d definitely go for drinks (haven’t managed to eat dinner yet there, but Rebecca did, and she seemed to enjoy her salmon!). After Tazzu’s very successful WordCamp, we went for a round of drinks at Flux Bistro, generously sponsored by Automattic (creators of WordPress). Big shout-out and high-fives to Automattic!

So, what is Flux Bistro, you ask?

flux bistro is all about change, while remaining true to the best of the past. chef/owner vincent wong has developed a creative west coast menu rooted in classic cooking techniques, a perfect foundation for the best in global cuisine. A friendly team of knowledgeable servers offer guests a relaxed, enjoyable dining experience.

the restaurant’s décor deftly encompasses the history of gastown and the evolving nature of a diverse vancouver. warm brick and original beams reflect the building’s heritage status while the dynamic lighting design, sleek bar and splashes of red throughout, mirror the energy of this young coastal city.[Flux Bistro's About Page]

Photo credit: Rebecca (Miss604) on Flickr.

I found Flux’s menu fairly good, and not unreasonably priced (particularly for this part of town – Gastown tends to be a bit on the pricey side). But what really attracted me to Flux Bistro in the sense that I will most definitely come back for either dinner or just drinks with friends was the drinks menu. Even though I consumed local (and organic!) beer, I found their cocktails menu varied and solid.

Duane seemed to enjoy his burgers, so if he drops by here, perhaps he could leave a comment and indicate whether he liked them. They seemed fairly good burgers! As for the drinks, I thoroughly enjoyed mine, and the folks from WordCamp seemed to have had a great time. Kudos to Rastin and Jenny for choosing Flux Bistro, it gave me a chance to have yet another bar review on my blog!

Photo credit: Ianiv and Arieanna on Flickr.

Tazzu’s WordCamp 2008 Vancouver – A total success

Raul — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:03:48 +0000

First of all, kudos to the Tazzu creators, Rastin, Jenny and Ash (and Teresa) for a phenomenal first WordCamp Vancouver.

Secondly, a big shout out and standing ovation to Rebecca (aka Miss604) for live-blogging (I would’ve live-blogged your segment, just so that you know, hehehe). I’ve inserted my notes on her talk here, she’ll update her liveblog with this quick summary of Rebecca’s presentation. I wouldn’t want to go into a full recap of the evening, and instead would just like to point out my overall assessment of the WordCamp.

Summary of Rebecca’s presentation: INSERTING PHOTOS INTO WORDPRESS.

Rebecca’s presentation (Photo credit: Raul on Flickr)
Two main elements of Rebecca’s presentation.

First, the insertion of photos into WordPress, when it is self-hosted (e.g. WordPress.org). There is a very neat plug-in from TanTan Noodles (linked here) that allows you to insert photos into your WordPress post. The advantage of using PhotoAlbum is that you can use it in a synchronous mode with WP-AddQuickTags (also linked here). If you use them both simultaneously, you can quickly select from your Flickr account any photo you want to insert and using the QuickTags, you can easily insert the caption AND link back to Flickr.

However, for those of us who aren’t hosting our own blogs, Rebecca did also a demo of how to insert photos into Flickr. You can see a teaser of the screencast here on her Blip.tv stream and also the full screencast that she did as a response of one of my requests on how to insert the photos.

Rebecca also showed the Flickr RSS feed that showcases a certain number of your recent photos on the sidebar (or as a widget). I am not 100% sure if this is just WordPress.org or my WordPress.com version can also do it, haven’t tried it yet.

Photo credit: Retrocactus on Flickr.

[As you can see, I inserted the photo location using the IMG button, and then I linked back to John Biehler's photograph, using exactly the method described by Rebecca]

Finally, Rebecca pointed out to the concept of Creative Commons and indicated several suggestions on how to credit (and/or ask the photographers). This is a pretty important pet-peeve of mine, as I am the son of two lawyers (one of them who actually has a very strong understanding of intellectual property law), so I seriously dislike when people don’t link back to a certain Flickr photo, and don’t provide attribution.

Rebecca’s photos (like mine) are licensed under Creative Commons as Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike (which means, if you want to use one of my Flickr photos, you should link back to me, DON’T download the photo AND DON’T insert it in your server, instead copy the photo location AND link back to it using the codes for link). In the screencasts (and while she did her presentation) Rebecca showed how to find the photo location AND how to link back using the Link button on WordPress.

This part of the WordCamp was very lively because everyone wanted to ask questions related to copyright AND photo attribution. Kudos to Rebecca for opening up the discussion, and to everyone who presented. All of you guys did a WONDERFUL job.

WHY WAS IT A SUCCESS?

Some of the crowd at The Network Hub. (Photo credit: Raul on Flickr)

I attribute it to several factors:

a). Social media interconnectedness – Even though I’m not on Facebook, I *am* on Twitter (@hummingbird604). Therefore, I knew about WordPress Camp Vancouver almost the day that it was conceived as an idea. Facebook helped spread the word, and many other bloggers took it upon themselves to invite more people and/or just disseminate information related to WordCamp 2008.

b). Superb organization skills – I got to The Network Hub (on which I’m writing a featurette, upcoming later tomorrow) very early, close to 4.30pm. Rastin, Jenny, Ash, Teresa and the folks at The Network Hub were already setting up, and fixing things, organizing the audiovisual and getting the coffee and donuts. They were SO synchronized it was almost unbelievable. If I were to hire these folks to organize an event for me, I’d do it in a second. They were right on the money, seriously.

c). Excellent location – Again, I’ll be writing about The Network Hub later, but even though the space was reduced for >80 people who actually ended up showing up, it *is* an amazing concept. People work at The Network Hub because it provides a one-stop-shop for everything they need. I took a few photographs of the offices and open spaces and I was positively impressed. Besides, it’s so close to so many transit routes AND Skytrain.

d). Outstanding list of speakers – Everyone who spoke knew their topic inside-out. It was clear that they were very prepared. Nobody could find any gaps in the presenters’ slide shows. The most important thing – they kept a really strict time-keeping register. And the presenters didn’t go over their time limit. That was, simply outstanding. I’ve been to so many academic conferences and *this* kind of excellent time-keeping, free-flowing conference doesn’t happen often.

e). Phenomenal bunch of attendees – Everyone who went there was hungry for knowledge. The questions were very good (even though a couple were slightly offensive, in my own personal view) and I would say that the interactions between presenters and listeners were very pleasant.

f). Great outline of presenters’ design – The break in the middle of the presentations was excellent. Gave an opportunity for people to socialize, get to know each other and exchange ideas and tips, seek clarification, etc.

g). Outstanding choice of bar for afterwards drinks - Flux is *the* bar where we should all go and get a drink. Spacious, nice staff, great drinks. I think this was excellent. And thanks to Automattic for sponsoring the one round of drinks afterwards! UPDATE – Andy (who works for Automattic) was there too, socializing and handing out WordPress stickers.

h). Unparalleled list of sponsors, both financial, location, food and media sponsors. I don’t have the whole list with me, but I could recognize Phillip Jeffrey, Lisa Bettany and of course, Rebecca Bollwitt. I was also a media sponsor (last minute kinda thing, but hey here is my analysis of the evening!). Some outstanding photographers, including Amanda Abrams and Ianiv (from Ianiv and Arieanna). And of course, it was great to see Stephen Rees, John Biehler, Erika Rathje, and a lot whom I probably will miss!

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENT NEXT TIME

As I told Rastin, this is an excellent precursor to what can be the next series of Vancouver WordCamp’s. These are my suggestions for the next WordCamp (or series thereof).

1). Divide in tiers – There are the recreational bloggers, the self-hosted WordPress.org and the non-self-hosted WordPress.com kind of users. It was hard for some of us who are not coders to keep our eyes on some of the presentations. For the people who code, it was kind of difficult to remain focused when talks were discussing basics.

2). Charge, even if it is a nominal amount - Hello? This was a three-hour, totally free event where people got coffee, donuts, even a free drink AND lots of good insights from fellow bloggers and developers. Even if there was a minimal cover charge (say $ 3.00) it would help offset some of the costs. I am just saying (if you’ve got anything to say against this, that’s where the comments section comes).

3). Make it a series of events – Maybe one monthly. It would be great. The format is excellent as it leaves time for socialization.

Big shout-outs to everyone who was there, I could attempt and wave hi to everyone whom I saw, but honestly, it’s late, I’m past my degree of consciousness here and I’d like to get some sleep, maybe grab a sandwich. I can comment tomorrow on how nice it was to see everyone, and to meet some of the folks I had just met through their blogs (like Lisa, or Phillip Jeffrey, or Ianiv and Arieanna). But that’ll come tomorrow. For now, I leave you with this. And of course, lots of pretty pictures. Just ’cause.

Liveblogging “An Evening of Green Web 2.0″

Raul — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:12:35 +0000

After a short chat with Rebecca (aka Miss604), I decided that I was going to liveblog the event. She is also liveblogging, so mosey over to her blog for another perspective.

I was quite excited about the prospect, since I hadn’t met Darren Barefoot in person, nor the other two speakers. There is a bonus guest speaker. UPDATE – Food sponsored by WriteImage, additional sponsorship by Communicopia and location sponsorship by WorkSpace.

5.58pm – Rebecca has suggested that I live-blog and I accept, and surprisingly (and happily) my laptop is not having issues. I manage to get Wi-Fi and here I go!

6:10pm Owen works for a recent start-up in West Vancouver. They are organizing an event for Earth Hour (turn off all unnecessary power and lights). He mentioned that the biggest event will be in Toronto, but there are others here in Vancouver. Owen’s company does energy information management. Currently, they are working on a project that will monitor the energy savings that will be gained from Vancouver people participating in Earth Hour. Owen’s firm is also helping UBC measure opportunities for greenhouse gas reduction (if I understood correctly).

Ron Williams @ HappyFrog.

6:15pm Ron is “the token non-geek” of the evening. He’s going to talk about “Why HappyFrog?”. Live for about 5 months. What brought Ron to do what he did? He described the larger perspective that brought him to do this. He first looked at his Ecological Footprint (a concept developed by UBC professor William Rees and his PhD student, now professor Mathis Wackernagel, that measures how much land would we need to use per capita – so you’d need a few planet Earths to sustain a world-wide North American life-style). By the way, if you want to calculate your own ecological footprint, you can do so here.

RAUL’S NOTE – I was quite impressed at the degree to which Ron understands the whole issue around the problems with non-sustainable consumption, with the fact that the planet has a limited carrying capacity, and that our consumption patterns are unsustainable.

6.23 pm – Ron’s speech continues. These non-sustainable mega-trends should make us look at the level of dislocation and disruption – when will we realize how much impact we have? So, this is how Ron understood the world, and he wanted to create an independent media project – that’s how HappyFrog came to exist.

HappyFrog is harnessing social media, creating a resource that is locally-based, it is a hyper local directory of about 2000 businesses and non-for-profit that are British-Columbia-based. It’s based on Drupal. Basically a parallel to the 100-mile diet (“the 100-mile economic diet”) – socially responsible businesses with emerging commitments to sustainability. Everything is in your own backyard, the scale is different. He also commented about Epic – the Sustainable Living Show. They’ll going to put up a team of social media.

RAUL’S COMMENTS – Ron did a great presentation that was (surprisingly) non-geeky and without a laptop. Great behind-the-scenes description of how he came to be inspired to create HappyFrog. I am glad I now know more about HappyFrog.

Rex Turgano @ The Green Pages.

6.35 pm Rex is the Creator of The Green Pages website. In a nutshell, it is an environmental, Canadian website dedicated to sharing stories and information. They’ve been operating for about 10 years now. (RAUL’S NOTE – Love the layout!). In 1996, Rex started off at Univ of Waterloo, and apparently this idea came to fruition at the U Waterloo dorm. From their website:

thegreenpages.ca is a grassroots web phenomenon that started in the dorm room of an environmental studies student at the University of Waterloo. It began with a large collection of links and then grew into an interactive portal highlighting the latest social-economic, environment-related news, events, and stories from across Canada. The site acted as what is known today as a “blog” and created opportunities for students, organisations, and community groups to voice their opinions and share information. Today, the web site is a virtual “library” of ideas, success stories, snap-shots from the past, and inspiration.

RAUL’S COMMENT – At The Green Pages, you can browse by category and by region (e.g. if you want to check out British Columbia stuff you can check it out using a pull-down menu. I insist, I love the design. It was also nice to see him describe the actual evolutionary process (e.g. how he went from composing HTML on Netscape Communicator to adding discussion groups on Yahoo! and experimenting with logos, and animated GIFs – Rex is really funny, I have to say. Very good presenter.

Rex was frustrated and tired of forwarding stuff to people who were asking him the inevitable question “hey where do I find this environmentally-related stuff?“. He commented about a website that he used to go back through time, Archive.org. Holy smokes, you can go back SO many years! In 2004, his website evolved into a portal (similar to Google).

Over the years, The Green Pages has supported a LOT of organizations (and catalogued them, with the help of a few volunteers). The site kept growing and growing, and people started sending books (Rex, can I get a few of those? hehehehe). Apparently people thought that he was this huge organization (hopefully one day, Random Thoughts of a Student of the Environment gets me some free books!).

RAUL’S NOTE – It’s kind of nice to see that there are other people who have studied graduate programs in Environmental Studies (although at a different university – I confess that would *love* to be a professor at Rex’s alma mater – the Faculty of Environmental Studies at University of Waterloo). If I get a tenure-track position with FES, that’d be a dream job! Anyhow… I digress… back to Rex’s talk.

In 2003-2005 he became frustrated with information overload and partner frustration. So by then he realized that he could blog and that the social interaction was already built in. Thus began the “Greater Conversion” as Rex called it. He wanted a fluid site (RAUL’S NOTE – It is fluid, Rex, don’t change it!)

Numbers: 15 blogs, 10331 entries, 3000 links, 11,000 visits per month, circa 500 per day, 45+ volunteers across Canada. This is a part-time gig, with no funding. GreenPages as a media outlet, enviro-buddy, etc. They’re focusing on the latest technology (WordPress, Drupal, etc.), breaking down content, some social media technology (Upcoming.org, and Facebook – RAUL’S NOTE – I *hate* Facebook but *love* Upcoming.org – it links to my Google Calendar!)

Darren Barefoot – Associated with DeSmogBlog

6.51pm - It’s Darren Barefoot’s turn! Man, does he *ever* have a great voice! He should be a radio anchor, because his voice just filled this room. Very excited about the prospect of seeing him speak and meet with him in person for the first time!

Capulet (the company that Darren is a partner of) started to work with DeSmogBlog – he is NOT using PowerPoint (I’m very impressed) – using a very unusual but cool . Widgets – a widget is a “little bit of functionality on a website”. They made a desktop widget. Folks at DeSmogBlog – display the carbon footprint of the planet. Capulet helped DeSmogBlog create apparently the first carbon footprint widget out there.

Darren talked about Digg (ok, so I’m a non-geek blogger and yes I was excited to hear about Digg). It’s kind of a bookmarking service. DeSmogBlog is strongly and aggressively tackling bad climate-change skeptic PR.

They (DeSmogBlog and Capulet) have also engaged blogger outreach (I admit that I didn’t want to get involved with DeSmogBlog for a long time due to my work commitments, but now as they are shifting, I might want to get involved with them – even if climate change isn’t like full-on my research area, but I’ve studied the literature long enough). They also created a newsletter (old-school).

So it seems that DeSmogBlog also tried to do YouTube videos (but apparently didn’t really take off very much – the ones that worked, very few). According to DB, Facebook and MySpace bad for advertising (RAUL’S COMMENT – YAY Me! I don’t have to sign on to FB nor MS either – no source of revenue!!).

Question from the audience – Did you consider podcasting? – DB – Not really… they wanted to do some videos, but it is a lot more work that a blog post. 5 blog posts take less time than one podcast (RAUL’S NOTE – I agree. I love podcasts, though – but I am not sure they’d work that well at propagating climate-change stuff).

Question from the audience – what were the metrics of success of the site? – DB – Simple: more links, more visits, etc. Google Analytics, Technorati (which doesn’t seem to be all that great right now).

7.10 pm - The event is basically over. I think I’m going to stay for a bit and/or join DB at Steamworks (head over there if you feel like it!)

UPDATE – In a previous post I had already suggested that I would attend this event, but I can’t stop giving myself pats in the back for doing it because it was REALLY fun, and I got to chat to a number of people (which I’ll mention in my next post).

Upcoming environmental events in Vancouver (March/April)

Raul — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:38:05 +0000

I usually advertise numerous environmental events, but I rarely have the time to attend all of them (not because I don’t want to, but recently I haven’t attended because I have been sick). Anyhow, there are a number of events you might want to check out in the next few weeks.

(WordPress question – how do I create a bulleted list?)

Green Drinks Vancouver March 2008 is happening tomorrow night (March 19th, 2008 – after 5.45pm @ Steamworks). I am almost betting that they’ll have the Green Drink tomorrow. Meet environmentally-minded folks in a relaxed environment. Brought to you by Green Drinks and Connecting Environmental Professionals. I *might* attend this one, but just for about an hour and very early (e.g. around 6 pm) because I am still sick and I am not really in the mood to socialize.

Metro Vancouver wants your input on their Solid and Liquid Waste Strategy. As those are two areas of specialty of mine, this is one meeting I will not be missing (I shouldn’t have missed those Eco-Density ones nor the Regional Planning Breakfasts and stuff, but hey my dance card is extremely full!). Brought to you by MetroVancouver, who seemingly still use the GVRD server. Don’t ask ME why, go and ask THEM!

Next month’s Sustainability Breakfast will be on Living Buildings (aka Green Buildings taken to the extreme), April 10th, 2008. Even though these events have free food and are organized by someone who is an actual real life friend of mine, for the life of me I’m almost *never* able to make it to these. I will really try to show up to this one, though.

Once I find out how to create the “bulleted list” I might update this post. If you know of any environmentally-related events coming up and you want them advertised, let me know.

Restaurant review – The Old Spaghetti Factory (Vancouver)

Raul — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:32:00 +0000

There is no better way to spend a nice lunch than with extended family and friends, at a great restaurant: The Old Spaghetti Factory. We went to the Gastown location, although I have been there and to other locations with J, my brother, and other friends. I recognize I should have written this review LONG ago, but anyways.

The great thing about the OSF is that there is no way in hell you will not be full at the end of your meal. I ordered a spicy chorizo penne, and to be honest, I don’t think I could have eaten it all had it not been for the fact that I had not had breakfast (I was too busy trying to finish off some work, as I knew that my afternoon was a total write-off – I had family members visiting).

The food is, as always, great. The staff (servers and host) were very nice, greeted us with drinks and bread and butter, and provided us with soft drinks refills all the way. So I can’t complain. The best part was visiting with extended family, but also it was very nice to just have some really good food. If you have a large group, it’s really worth the price of the food (less than $ 20.00 for a REALLY GOOD lunch). I’d seriously recommend it.

Bar review – The TransContinental

Raul — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 05:31:00 +0000

The past couple of weeks, I have been feeling myself again. That meant of course taking the time to rekindle old friendships that had been dormant for a while. K and R are two close friends of mine with whom I hadn’t had the opportunity to spend significant amounts of time.

In a way, I think I (involuntarily) pushed them away because I didn’t want to pretend I was all that well, when it wasn’t the case. I felt like I had to apologize for my behavior. However, both K and R were extremely sweet and understanding, and they said I had nothing to apologize for. It was so nice to have again a chance to just chat and talk about the good old times, like when we used to go for brunch to a different restaurant every Sunday.

I agreed to come downtown to make it easier for K and R, who generously treated me to drinks and appetizers at The Transcontinental. The Transcontinental is an upscale restaurant/bar located in the Canadian Pacific Railway Station. A branch/new location of popular post-work drinks hangout Steamworks, The Transcontinental is much nicer in many ways than Steamworks itself (less loud, more room and better atmosphere, in my opinion).

Not to diss Steamworks, though! I really enjoy going there for a drink after work, but I am not always able to talk to people because it is quite loud. Nevertheless, I show up for Green Drinks @ Steamworks quite often. But I think I enjoy better The Transcontinental.

The service wasn’t as good as I expected it to be (the server was quite bad, actually). The first spiced rum for K was flat, but the second one was better. The appetizers were quite good (when they finally showed up). However, the best part of the evening was spending time with K and R like old times. It was almost like no time had ever passed.

It is very nice to find that, no matter how much you push your friends away (consciously or unconsciously), they always find a way to get back in your life. And I am very happy that K and R came back to my life. Really, I’ll say they never left. They gave me enough space to sort my life out and now that I am back as the Raul I (and they) used to know, they’ve welcomed me back with open arms. So that means that when I get back to Vancouver in the New Year, brunch Sundays will be back with a vengeance Yipee!!!!

Restaurant review – Chill Winston (Gastown)

Raul — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:46:00 +0000

Living in Vancouver and not participating in the Gastown dining and dancing scene is akin to eating ice cream without a cone. Walking around Water Street at night with good friends pretty much ranks high up there with being curled on the couch watching a movie and drinking hot chocolate: pure bliss.

We hadn’t had a chance to spend time together as a group, so B, H, C and myself decided to go out for dinner, and we settled (at B’s suggestion) on the general Gastown area. I hadn’t spent substantial amounts in this area in recent years because this was the general area where my ex and I used to hang out all the time. Thus… you can imagine, bad memories!

So my friends decided that it was time to exorcise those demons, and we settled for a restaurant in Gastown that both H and I had been wanting to go to (and B had already beeen to): Chill Winston.

From the outset, Chill Winston looks sort of, kind of hipster-ish. Located at the very end of Gastown, on Alexander Street, it boasts a great patio. However, once you are inside, you can discover that the place has a great ambiance. The lighting, the tables, the overall decor and distribution of furniture and bar, everything looks in place. The food is excellent as far as taste goes.

Now, the critical part comes here. I am not fond of restaurants where the service is sub-par, and Chill Winston’s restaurant practices are so wrong on so many levels it’s not even funny. The portions are very small and overpriced (for what they are, I think they’re charging too much). We ordered anchovies and some carpaccio in the way of appetizers, and then I ordered salmon ($15 for two micro-slices) and potatoes (which I’ll have to admit were really good). H and I shared a dessert (the seven varieties of chocolate) which was also rather small ($ 8). B had been here for lunch and she had mentioned it had been good, which I can believe. She ordered the turkey dish, which I found extremely tasty. The dessert (while small) was also to-die-for. I found the salmon quite bland, though.

Now, I am sorry but if you are going to charge between $15 and $30 per entree, I am expecting you to at least provide me with substantial portions, good flavor and great service. And I expect the bread and butter to be free (we got charged for two orders of bread and butter, can you believe it?). While my friends think that this level of poor service is pretty much normal for Vancouver’s dining scene, I was very disappointed (particularly having just recently had dinner at places like The Cascade Room, La Bodega and The Water Street Cafe, where the service is superb).

The waitress didn’t offer to bring a glass of water to everyone on the table, we had to ask for it. Paper napkins? You have got to be kidding me. I could not believe it… No, no, no! Oh, and you want to hear the kicker? The waitress asked us if we were done with dessert. We said “no, we’re still working on it“. Five or ten minutes later, the manager (apparently she was the manager, not sure if she was but she looked like it) came and asked us “are you still working on your dessert?“. I can take a hint, thank you very much. The charging for bread and butter, the paper napkins and the not-so-subtle “can you please get out of here now?” were definitely deal-sealers and I am not coming back here for dinner.

Honestly speaking, the food is great, the ambiance is excellent but I wouldn’t call Chill Winston a place to dine out. This is a place to go and have one or two drinks with friends (a lounge). I found the place overpriced and lacking in service. And those are two factors that will always drive me away from any restaurant.

Anyhow, I have to agree with H when he says that when I started my blog, I thought of my restaurant reviews as just accounts of what had transpired that evening with my friends, and now I have a more of a food-critic eye. I think that’s true and I can’t help it. I eat out a lot, and I compare restaurants on the basis of service, food, and pricing.

One thing I can’t deny is that I had a really good time. But that was just because I had the pleasure of spending time with H, C, and B. This was the saving grace of the evening, having some of my closest friends spend a night out on the town with me. Only next time, if we are going to Chill Winston, it will have to be only for a drink or two.

I have to admit, though, that the owners of Chill Winston really know their business, because The Vancouverite gave them a very rough second review (the first time apparently the service was good) and they responded on the comments section with a very classy and elegant response (read below on the comments section). It does show commitment to the customer. Hopefully next time I go to Chill Winston (if I do) their service will have improved by then.

Restaurant review – Jules Bistro

Raul — Sat, 26 May 2007 07:32:00 +0000

Well, I finally made it to Jules Bistro. This is a French bistro located on Abbott Street between Water and Cordova. Yeah, I know, a tad too close to the Downtown Eastside. But it’s also close to Gastown, which is a very nice area. Besides, they’ve really done a good job with the outdoor patio.

The prices are slightly higher than shown in their online menu (available here) but the food is good. My brother and I went for the prix fixe (salad, salmon frites and chocolate terrine). The salad was good, although I would’ve liked a bit more dressing. The salmon frites was really good although I would’ve liked the salmon a bit more moist. But the chocolate terrine was to-die-for. So, overall is a great bang for the buck ($21.00 for the prix fixe) which quite honestly is very much worth it.

The service was good, the waitresses were very prompt even though they were completely swamped. Apparently all these positive reviews have had an impact because the place is always full. But as I said, the service was REALLY good. The hostess found us an outdoor patio seat in less than 30 seconds. The only thing is perhaps they should be refilling water and bringing dessert a bit faster. Again, it was a really good dinner and I can’t complain. The company was perhaps the best part of the meal, as my brother came for a very brief period of time before flying back, and we had a really good time.

All in all, I’d recommend Jules Bistro for dinner. I have to go there for lunch. I wish they had a brunch menu! And best of all, it’s strategically located, very close to both Skytrain stations (Stadium-Chinatown and Waterfront Station).

Restaurant review – Water Street Cafe

Raul — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 08:08:00 +0000

I have been to the Water Street Cafe at least six times within the last year. No less… Was there for Valentine’s Day this year, my birthday last year, dinner with H last October… at least three times in six months off the top of my head. What makes me come back to this restaurant all the time?

The answer is fourfold:
a) Great food.
b) Great service.
c) Great ambience.
d) A chance to speak in Italian to the owner.

Ok, so I might sound horribly conceited for citing reason # 4, but what are languages for if you can’t use them? I might as well take the chance! [That's the reason why I haven't learned Swahili].

Truthfully, the Water Street Cafe is the place to take someone if you want them to really enjoy great food and a great atmosphere. Located at the corner of Cambie Street and Water Street (hence the name!) and literally across the street from the Gastown Steam Clock, this restaurant is owned by Mr. Domenique Sabatino. Mr. Sabatino is an amazing host. Every time I show up there, he’ll come and say hi in person, chat with me in Italian, ask me what I want for dinner and seat me and my guest in less than 10 minutes. I am so not kidding!

The food is amazing, and even if they don’t have it in their menu, they’ll make it for you. Trust me on this one. I am a fan of linguini a la Puttanesca, and the Water Street Cafe doesn’t officially have it on their menu. But they’ll make it for me. Actually I am pretty sure they’ll make it for anyone who orders it.

Any dish on their menu is amazing, but I can totally swear by their pastas and their chicken and meat dishes. Their Caesar salads are good too. Prices are reasonable (not really cheap, but then again this is one of the best restaurants in Vancouver!)… I would seriously recommend it to anyone. Note: I have only done dinner here, but it’s open at 11:30 so I guess they do brunch too.