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Gusto Di Quattro (Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver)

Raul — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:00:15 +0000

The Quattro family of restaurants is one of my favorite, and I’m pretty sure everyone who reads my blog knows this. I took my Mom to Quattro on Fourth (in Kitsilano) for her birthday 2 years ago, and I took JT for dinner for a special occasion to Quattro al Centro on Richards Street (in Yaletown/Downtown). I hadn’t seen my good friends Ianiv and Arieanna Schweber and their little one, Aiden (whom I affectionately call my nephew, as I am very close and I do feel he is like my actual blood nephew) so they joined me for dinner at Gusto Di Quattro.

Going to Gusto Di Quattro was a big gamble. Not because of the food (I’m pretty sure that the food at ALL Quattro restaurants is consistently good). The gamble was – would Gusto Di Quattro be child-friendly-enough? We were all very surprised by the really great food available on the menu for the little ones, and Aiden loved his dinner. As for us the adults, Arieanna and I shared a Combinazione (at $24 per person with substitutions $2 per, with a minimum of 2, a fairly decent price for a higher-end, high-scale Italian restaurant). We enjoyed a combination of rotolo farcito, fusilli salsiccia, penne arrabiata, linguine pesto, and fettuccine caprese. Ianiv ordered their risotto with fruti di mare.

I’ll have to say that I knew the Combinazione would be a winning combination. Both Arieanna and I love pasta, and this particular combination of pastas was a definite winner. In particular, I’m in love with the rotolo farcito. The fusilli salsiccia (with sausage) is a popular one, flavourful and strong (but bear in mind – I LOVE strong flavours). And even the linguine pesto had enough garlic that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, as I knew it would be the case, Gusto Di Quattro was a big win. Great food, really nice upscale decor, and a service that has nothing to ask other restaurants. The staff was incredibly sweet and kind to Aiden, and we didn’t face major issues (with obviously the exception that the restaurant isn’t really well equipped for changing toddlers, but that’s not even an issue as Arieanna and Ianiv have handled these situations before and they totally adapted quickly). The staff was very apologetic for not having the changing station for toddlers, but as I said, it’s not an issue to dampen our dinner. Overall, great experience at Gusto Di Quattro in the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver. You should try it out.

Disclosure: We each paid for our dinners on our own dime. All views on this post are mine and mine only. A review is neither expected, nor has it been paid for (since, as you can see, we paid on our own dime). I retain editorial control at all times on anything published on my site.

Hapa Izakaya (Yaletown)

Raul — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:00:58 +0000

My good friend Airdrie Miller recently invited me for dinner to Hapa Izakaya in Yaletown recently, right after we participated in the eBeauty.ca and CityTV event. I had been to other izakaya’s but not to Hapa (I went to Hapa Umi the other day, but it’s not the same thing as Hapa Izakaya).

We ordered a ISHI-YAKI (Hapa’s version of the Korean hot stone bowl: rice, minced pork, flower chives, egg, tomato, lettuce and spicy-miso; mixed tableside, $8.80), some GOMA-AE (vegetable, in this case, jicama with goma-ae (sesame) dressing).

For a first time visiting Hapa Izakaya, I’ll have to say I’m thoroughly impressed.

I was even more impressed that we didn’t really eat that much and yet we weren’t hungry after dinner. Overall, Hapa Izakaya is definitely a place I want to come back and try several other items. The “tapas” style is one that gives me a bit of cognitive dissonance since I’m used to Spanish tapas rather than Japanese tapas, but overall, I’ll definitely have to come back. Thanks Air, for introducing me to Hapa Izakaya!

The District (North Vancouver, Lower Lonsdale)

Raul — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:00:49 +0000

Few things make me happier than having dinner with close friends. Last year, my Mom met my close friends Arieanna and Ianiv Schweber but did not have the opportunity to meet their son, Aiden. This year we made ourselves a promise that we’d make an effort to come to North Vancouver (Lower Lonsdale, which is where Ianiv and Arieanna live) to see them. Thanks to their flexibility, we managed to sneak dinner so incredibly soon.

We went to have dinner at The District, a restaurant that Arieanna reviewed earlier and that is a favorite of them (and one I hadn’t tried at all). The District has a separate room for parties which totally attracted my attention for the possibility of celebrating my birthday there.

The District’s menu isn’t all that varied, but it offers several really good possibilities. As I normally do when I go to a restaurant that is famous for its burgers, I try them (I wanted to do the onion soup but alas, I was too full with my burger).

I ordered a No. 13 burger, boasting a huge ground sirloin meat patty and flavoured with The District’s special version of tapenade (I *love* tapenade, by the way) with a side of salad, and was positively impressed with the creative use of dried cranberries, dates nuts and raisins. Given the patty size, I think adding lettuce sort of took away from the use of the tapenade and I had to get creative eating it without making a huge mess. The burger is extremely flavourful and within the normal range ($11-13 for burger and a side of salad or fries).

Overall a great experience and I’ll be back to The District. And the closeness to the Lonsdale Quay and the Seabus really helps.

Wild Garlic Bistro (Robson and Denman, West End)

Raul — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:00:40 +0000

There are some people for whom their gift is being great cooks and serving tasty food. Others provide amazing customer service and treat customers like queens and kings. The combination of both is quite rare, and particularly in a city that seems to pride itself in its food snobs. I will fully confess, I’m not one of those. I will eat just about anything. But I like good food, it’s a fact. AND great service.

And amazing food and fantastic service is what Wild Garlic Bistro served JT and I the other night. My friend Rebecca Bollwitt had raved about Wild Garlic Bistro a few days ago when I asked where should I go when eating in the West End (something I rarely do, as I usually eat outside of the West End core), so I listened to the suggestion and headed there with JT. He has had brunch there before and we wondered if the dinner items and service would be as equally amazing as the brunch is.

We were not disappointed in the least. We were immediately seated (Wild Garlic Bistro is a small place, yet it looks spacious) and a lovely lady, whom I think is one of the owners, gave us a glass of water within seconds of being seated. We were both incredibly hungry so we put in our orders just about as soon as we scanned the menu.

I ordered Smoked Salmon Linguine with Garlic Caper Cream ($18.00), a dish that was absolutely delicious and very filling. The portion size is substantially big, and will leave you satisfied even if you’re pretty hungry, I believe. The way this smoked salmon linguine is prepared includes generous portions of salmon fillets inter-mixed with ample portions of vegetables, in a creamy sauce that includes capers and lots, and lots of garlic.

We spent a substantial amount of time chatting with the lady who served our dinner, and she was incredibly cordial and chatty. I wish every restaurant owner were like her. I’ll definitely come back again, and again. Surprisingly great food, amazing atmosphere and a service that rivals and could be better sometimes than almost any other restaurant in this city. Overall a fantastic experience.

Disclosure: JT paid for both of our dinners on his own dime. I am neither paid nor required to write this review, but I definitely want to highlight the fantastic food and service we had at Wild Garlic Bistro.

Boris Bistro (Old Montreal, Montréal, QC)

Raul — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:45:22 +0000

The best way to describe Boris Bistro is a complete surprise. I had dinner here with two of my Mexican colleagues last night, and it was simply wonderful. Surprising to me, because (a) the staff was really accommodating to our needs (b) the food was excellent (c) the service was fantastic, all in light of (d) we arrived at 10pm. And besides, the staff were extremely good looking

Boris Bistro is a spacious restaurant located in the Old Montreal area, non-pretentious yet elegant, with a beautiful patio and more importantly, within 3 blocks from the hotel where I am staying at. We were greeted with warmth and the servers tolerated our French/English mumbling as we were completely starving.

I ordered a salade méditerranéenne au poulet (Mediterranean chicken salad, $17.50) which was well served (albeit, it had goat cheese – I know, how could I order a dinner item with cheese – but I did want to see how they served it, and besides I was starving). The salad was exquisite, and it had a side-order of tapenade that simply enhanced the chicken flavours perfectly. I will even admit that the goat cheese was amazing and that it combined perfectly with the salad (some balsamic vinegar may have made its way into the salad dressing). I’m a fan of very strong flavours and this salade méditerranéenne au poulet was just what the doctor ordered for me.

Overall, if I had to come back (and I know we had already visited here a few years ago for another NACEC meeting) I would definitely seek the comfort of Boris Bistro. Very highly recommended, and not expensive enough to break the bank.

21 Steps Kitchen & Bar (Whistler, BC)

Raul — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:19:52 +0000

Best way to enjoy a new-to-you-restaurant? Don’t even think about what the restaurant may bring you. JT and I were walking around Whistler Village looking for a place to eat and we found this cute place with two floors that didn’t even seem that exciting. The decor was nice, admittedly, but it looked like standard fare. What a cute hidden gem we found in 21 Steps Kitchen & Bar.

We ordered a fixed price ($35) menu which was fantastic value for our dollar. My starter was Garlic Chili Prawns ($11), which were absolutely delicious and very well served. My advice, though – don’t eat garlic chili prawns if you are planning to have a full meal. While extremely flavourful and strategically including nuts and other spices to mellow the chili down, I was full by the time my “Small Plate” was done.

My “Large Plate” was Moroccan Spiced Chicken ($23), which normally would be delicious to me. But with the overpowering (and tasty) flavour of the garlic and chili of my starter, I almost felt my Moroccan spiced chicken a bit bland. Extremely well cooked and flavourful, but sweet, I missed the power of garlic. Advice for next time – order something less overpowering for a Small Plate.

For the dessert, we totally went all the way and we both enjoyed what we love the most: in my case, the pie shown below.

A hidden gem and a really nice surprise for both of us. We’ll be back to 21 Steps next time we are in Whistler.

Disclosure: Both of our dinners were paid for by JT on his own dime, within the trip to Whistler to check out what to do when you’re not a winter sports person. However, I covered every other single expense I incurred during this travel, including (but not limited to) breakfast, lunch, dinner and transportation (except when explicitly indicated). I wasn’t paid to write this review, nor was I required to do so either. The purpose of this blog entry is just to describe and document my experience at a restaurant I really liked. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.

Finch’s Tea & Coffee House

Raul — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:45:36 +0000

You know when you hear about a place and you find it somewhat overrated for what it is? I think that’s the case with Finch’s Tea and Coffee House. It’s a beautiful place and the “old home” feeling and decor is nice. It’s almost always packed, and very near to my office. Those are the pluses.

I went there with my friend Rachel Thexton to catch up and grab a quick lunch. Normally I wouldn’t complain about pricing in downtown Vancouver as I know it oscillates. But for the same price, I’ve had tastier (albeit smaller) sandwiches at Meat and Bread. I ordered a salami baguette (which reminded me of Paris) and while it was filling, it had way too much lettuce and little flavour. Thankfully it was salami!

For $7.75 for the sandwich plus $3.00 I paid for a non-descript cream soda, I think next time I’ll definitely go to Meat and Bread. Going to Finch’s is an experience everyone should try at least once. I may not come back often, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. And its staff is so nice it’s hard to be upset at them (they work really hard). The sandwiches did lack some ooomph though, in my opinion.

Disclosure: I paid in full for my lunch on my own dime.

The Wilder Snail (Strathcona)

Raul — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:45:37 +0000

My friend Lorraine and I had already been to The Wilder Snail (not surprisingly, about a year ago) but for some reason I forgot to blog about it. But this time I decided not to forget, particularly because I liked this place and it’s a beautiful location to have coffee, lunch or just hang out (free wifi with purchase, it’s passworded).

We ordered a couple of Montreal smoked-meat sandwiches, which were generous on the Montreal smoked-meat and very tasty (really, how could you screw up a MSMS… but I digress). The service was cordial and friendly and lunch was inexpensive ($5.99 for each one of the sandwiches).

Obviously, as anybody who reads my blog will know, I don’t eat cheese so I had to remove it but otherwise, our lunch was really good. I’d definitely come back for lunch or even just for a coffee and to read a good book. The Wilder Snail is definitely a lovely neighbourhood cafe.

Mumbai Masala Indian Restaurant (North Vancouver, Lonsdale)

Raul — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:00:41 +0000

I went to visit my good friends Ianiv and Arieanna Schweber this past weekend and they ended up ordering Indian food (as you may have noticed by my last two posts and the one coming up, I’ve really been on an Indian food bender). Comparatively speaking, I think Mumbai Masala was the one I liked the best, even over Handi (although Handi was absolutely superb).

We ordered Basmati rice ($ 3), 3 pieces of Naan bread ($ 1.95) and 2 dishes with meat and one entirely vegetarian. Both Arieanna and I love eggplant so we ordered eggplant bartha (roasted eggplant with tomato and ginger, $10.95). Absolutely delicious, and the ginger gave the eggplant a spicy, almost turmeric-like flavor. Could have fooled me and passed for Ethiopian.

We ordered butter chicken (chicken breast cooked with light cream and tomato with fenugreek, $10.95). Comparatively speaking, this is perhaps the nicest butter chicken I have had, from all the Indian restaurants I’ve been to lately. The creamy consistency of the sauce doesn’t get too sticky and it’s flavourful without being overpowering. To be quite fair, I can’t recall what was the third dish we ordered, but it reminded me of lamb korma (strangely enough!). But overall, a really good choice.

I think, comparatively, I would put Mumbai Masala on par with Handi (located in Dunbar). Apparently there’s a Handi too in the North Shore. I’ll have to try it on-site, but as far as takeout goes, Mumbai Masala is full of win!

Disclosure: Ianiv and Arieanna invited me for dinner and thus paid on their own.

Heading to the @CalgaryStampede

Raul — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:43:14 +0000

My brother, my nephew, my sister in law live all in Calgary (my nephew is as a matter of fact, a Calgary boy). My Mom is visiting them right now and I decided that I need a real, honest break from all the hard work I have been putting on my volunteer work (Mental Health Camp and my social media events) and my client work, as well as my teaching and research. So I am taking a week off and heading to Calgary to visit my brother, his family and hopefully my good friend Tanya Desrosiers (aka NetChick) (who moved to Calgary with her husband, Barry Desrosiers).

It shouldn’t be a surprise to people who know my academic side that there are additional reasons why I like the idea of going to Calgary. Yes, of course I want to see my family. But I also want to see the Calgary Stampede.

You’ll see, I wrote a doctoral dissertation that studied the lower nodes of the beef commodity chain (leather and footwear). I have analyzed in some way or another processes of animal husbandry and the environmental impacts of cattle. So, going to “CowTown” makes sense from every angle you look at it. I hope to see my other good friend, Nathan Tippe, who will be there visiting for his birthday.

Get ready, Calgary, because the Hummingbird604 is coming to town!

Social Media Club Vancouver launch

Raul — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:31:48 +0000

I recently attended the first organizational meeting for the new re-incarnation/launch of the Social Media Club Vancouver. Social Media Club, founded by Kristie Wells and Chris Heuer (whom I consider a good friend) is an organization (completely non-profit and volunteer-run, none of us actually makes anything out of sitting on the SMC organizing committee) that attempts to achieve the following four goals:

1. Expand Media Literacy
2. Share Lessons Learned Among Practitioners
3. Encourage Adoption of Industry Standards
4. Promote Ethical Practices through Discussion and Actions

There are several reasons why I accepted Mitch Baldwin and Eric Weaver‘s invite to be part of the organizing committee of Social Media Club Vancouver. The first one, quite obviously, is because I really like both Eric and Mitch. The second one, quite obvious as well, is that I knew I’d be joined by a bunch of very talented social media folks who work in a variety of areas.

My involvement with Social Media Clubs isn’t new. I spoke at Social Media Club Victoria in April of 2009 (almost a year ago now!) thanks to an invite by Catherine Novak and Paul Holmes (both of whom have grown to be good friends of mine). My intent was to galvanize the Victoria social media community to move and effect change, and I shared my experience of co-organizing Mental Health Camp with my dear friend Isabella Mori (my highest achievement of 2009, hands down).

For the past couple of years, I given numerous talks about social media for public policy, sustainability, marketing and non-profits. I’ve explored the use of social media in politics and public policy and in non-profit & health. But more importantly, I pride myself in having challenged my readers, the attendees of my talks and my fellow social media practitioners to think beyond the use of social media tools. To explore the high-level discussions on social media, the Internet and its impact on the composition of the social fabric we are embedded within.

I know I have asked the tough questions and I want to continue to do so. I am, after all, an academic. I’m slowly moving from educating ON social media to educating WITH/USING social media. That is precisely the reason why I am involved in the Social Media Club Vancouver. I want to continue to challenge my peers to think beyond “how do I use Twitter” or “how do we create a Facebook fan page” to questions of privacy vs publicness, of the challenges to achieving diversity in social media, to the realities of crowdsourced rules within social networking sites to the evolution of norms and etiquette in social media.

I am delighted to be joined by the talented group of people who are participating, and more importantly, I’m delighted that the group is inclusive. So if you want to change the way social media is done in Vancouver, be part of the change. Join us. Feel free to contact Eric, Mitch or even me should you want to get involved.

Happy birthday Robert Ballantyne! (@RobertB)

Raul — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:04:27 +0000

Twitter is one of those amazing things that brings you closer to people that you would have probably not met otherwise. Robert Ballantyne lives on Bowen Island (i.e. we don’t live in the same city). However, we both have similar interests (policy, governance, negotiation) and Robert has been an amazing source of advice both at the personal level and at the professional level.

Robert is an incredibly smart man with a kind heart, who is genuinely interested in the growth of people around him, and I’ve grown to become good friends with him. To your health I raise a glass of soda pop as I have sworn off alcohol for a while, my dear Robert. May you enjoy your birthday with your family and friends, and hope to see you in Vancouver sometime soon.

Moodyville’s (North Vancouver)

Raul — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:49:49 +0000

I make it a rule of mine to spend time with my close friends on a regular basis, and I think I’m pretty damn good at it. Also, as you may remember, I love the North Shore, especially the city of North Vancouver and the area around Lower Lonsdale. I also have always had a soft spot for Mom-and-Pop-run, small hole-in-the-wall kind of places, and brunch is pretty much my favorite meal of the day. Given that earlier this year, I spent a full 2 weeks in North Vancouver (house-sitting for Ianiv and Arieanna), I thought of coming back to Moodyvilles for brunch. Earlier this year, I had brunch there with Arieanna and we both enjoyed it a lot. The place is small enough to be cozy, yet big enough to hold about 30 people seated comfortably. I ordered scrambled eggs with hashbrowns and toast, which is as always, comfort food.

Comparatively speaking, Moodyvilles is sort of the North Shore equivalent to the Nice Cafe. Small, cozy, warm, comfort food. I have to admit, though, that just walking through the Lonsdale area (not the Quay, but the area around 1st and 5th Streets, and surrounding perimeter) there are a LOT of great-looking restaurants just waiting for me to visit for brunch. If only I had that kind of cash to just spend my time having dinner to review restaurants!

If you live in the North Shore, I’d seriously recommend Moodyvilles. Even if you’re not in the actual Lonsdale area, it’s a small little place that should provide you with a sense of home and a respite from the craziness of day-to-day life.

Happy birthday, Melanie Hoyt! (@discolights)

Raul — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:03:57 +0000

The magic of Twitter brought me close to another friend (based in Chicago), Melanie Hoyt. I started reading Mel’s blog as it was focused on figure-skating. You all know how much I love this winter sport (perhaps the one I love the most – yes I know, I should love hockey but…ANYWAYS). While I missed last year’s opportunity to see Mel, I had a chance to meet her this year as she came for the Four Continents tournament, held at the Pacific Coliseum (PNE). To be quite honest, Mel was definitely the way I imagined she would be… smart, funny and a delight to hang out with. She’s a great photographer and I look forward to spending more time with her when the Winter Olympics are held here in Vancouver. Happy birthday Mel!

Monique Trottier on “Old Publishers Have to Think”, The Shebeen Club

Raul — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:01:54 +0000

Monique Trottier (BoxCar Marketing) will be speaking on the topic of publishing and online marketing at this month’s The Shebeen Club (at the Irish Heather, from 6pm to 9pm, $ 15 includes dinner and a drink).

I am double-booked, so I won’t be able to attend, but I set up an automatic liveblog that will import tweets tagged with the hashtag #shebeen. You can check the liveblog by pressing “Play” in the window below.

I decided against using ScribbleLive and for using Cover It Live as I can’t be online to approve tweets one by one. I will have to ask Rebecca how she set her ScribbleLive twitterfall.

Below you can find the live stream of tweets. If you attend the event and want to live-tweet, please remember to use the hashtag #shebeen so that your tweets can be imported. Thanks!

Monique – I know you’ll rock the house – good luck!

Monique Trottier on “Old Publishers Need To Think”

Don Guacamole (West End – Robson Street)

Raul — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:58:56 +0000

Credit: Miss604 on Flickr

My friend Rebecca and I both love Mexican food. While sharing an adoration for traditional Mexican cuisine (she, with her Mom-in-law and me, with my own Mom), we have also long known that it used to be always a struggle to find good and authentic Mexican food in ancouver.

Since a substantial number of our lunch adventures have involved Mexican food and we both love to try out new places, I jumped with joy when I received a phone call from her asking me whether I’d like to try out Don Guacamole with her. Obviously, I enthusiastically said yes. I enjoy Rebecca’s company and we hadn’t really hung out one-on-one for a long while. She has always been an extremely good sport with me, and has tried several places that serve Mexican food, including La Casita (Gastown), Delicados (downtown Vancouver), to now-closed Tequila Kitchen, to our favorite so far, before we had hit Don Guacamole – Salsa and Agave.

We met up at Don Guacamole, located on Robson near Jervis. The name of the place, of course, is associated with the Mexican sauce called guacamole (yes, we don’t actually consider it an appetizer!). I ordered a burrito con salsa roja (chicken burrito in a red tomato and chile sauce) [$ 9.50] and Rebecca ordered enchiladas verdes con pollo (chicken enchiladas in a green tomato sauce) [$ 13.50]. You can see on Rebecca’s photo our dinner plates as well as a complimentary flight of various sauces (including guacamole and salsa roja) that comes with your meal, and you can also see her margarita (lime margarita on the rocks) [$ 8.75]. I ordered a couple of strawberry margaritas (blended), which were amazing. If I can say so – Best. Margarita. Ever.

Credit: Miss604 on Flickr

Overall, my assessment of Don Guacamole is good. Some of the staff is definitely Mexican and they know how to treat their customers. Obviously, it also helps that I communicate with them in Spanish. The bartender prides himself in his drinks, and he must be fully praised. Small drawback? The place isn’t huge, and it has sports-bar-kind-of TVs. Considering I don’t want to watch a hockey game over dinner, that’s kind of useless for me.

But the food is great, the service is great, and I just would recommend to go there around 5pm (as Rebecca and I did). By the time 6pm rolled out, the place was packed (and we were already on our way to Vancouver Bloggers Meetup April 2009). Therefore, I’d suggest to just go there early. And if you do, tell them I recommended you, hehehe

Twitter has officially become mainstream – my civilian friends know all about Twitter

Raul — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:42:15 +0000

This morning, I had brunch with C, B and L. My usual brunch crowd. These are friends I met while we all were doing our PhDs at UBC (in different disciplines, but we all lived in the same residential college). I call these friends civilians as well, because even though they use computer tools for their day-to-day lives, they don’t blog or use much of any other social media platform (other than, well, Facebook).

The topics were varied, but the thing that really struck me was how well they now know what Twitter is – C mentioned the Doonesbury week-long mock of Twitter, and L indicated that Stephen Colbert had talked about it (and she even accurately indicated that each tweet was 140 characters). Heck, even Barbara Walters and Jon Stewart talked about Twitter!

*sigh* I guess it’s official. I am no longer special. Twitter has officially become mainstream.

Restaurant review – The Edge Cafe (Broadway and Cambie)

Raul — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:29:21 +0000

I had the pleasure of meeting with Julie Wright, Gus and Russ for brunch at The Edge Cafe this past weekend. I had previously reviewed The Edge Cafe on Ianiv and Arieanna’s Vancouver Coffee.

My first impression of The Edge Cafe hasn’t changed. It is spacious, comfortable, pretty cool. The food we had was pretty good, actually in regards to my order, it was spectacularly good. I ordered a Yukon breakfast ($ 12.00) which came with a double side of ham (pretty good, filling, the quality and taste were very good too). The coffee is from 49th Parallel which is also a very tasty brand of coffee (and it’s bottomless, so you get frequent refills).

For the price, it’s good value for your money. However, I’d have to say that as far as brunch goes, the Edge Cafe is on the higher-ish end of the scale. I’ve had brunch at Crave and it’s less expensive (and of course, the greasy spoon places are even LESS expensive). But as I mentioned, the food was great and I can’t complain. The place filled up rather quickly after we arrived, but the service was prompt, friendly and the staff were very attentive.

Happy birthday, Gus!

Raul — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:25:41 +0000

Credit: GusF

I met Gus about a year ago at a Third Tuesday event, my very first one as a matter of fact. Frankly, at the time I didn’t know we were going to become such good friends. I think you never know the gems that come to your life until you spend some time with them.

Gus and Russ have managed to make me feel part of their family, and both of them (and obviously especially Gus who is the birthday boy) have an amazing array of qualities. Not the least, an appreciation for good food, great friendships and, strangely enough, we like the same kinds of colognes

Wishing you all the best todays and always Gus, much love, many hugs and have a wonderful beginning of your 20sr, because as you know, 40 is the new 20

Happy birthday Pat Zaph

Raul — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 06:14:54 +0000

Today is my friend Pat Zaph‘s birthday. I met Pat through both our blogs, and he has been recently a savior when it comes down to taking photos (he’s a really good photographer, whereas me, well, I’m not all that amazing as a photographer!).

Pat is a very smart dude, and we share a common interest in public policy (and blogging, and good food, and great friends). For a number of great reasons, happy birthday my friend. No, I didn’t forget. I was at Women in Film Festival New Media Day!

Launch Party Vancouver 6: Yet another resounding success!

Raul — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:32:07 +0000

Well, another set of startups to launch, another fantastic Launch Party Vancouver. Last Thursday, February 26th, 2009, I had the pleasure of attending the superbly organized LPV6 (thanks a million to Danny Robinson and Maura Rodgers for amazing organizational and warm-welcoming skills, and the rest of the crew at Strutta for making me feel so welcome – Jordan, Mike, Steve, Ross – you guys rock).

Launch Party Vancouver is much more than just a showcase of the amazing Vancouver-based tech startups. It’s a tradition and an event that demonstrates that we geeks are social beings who love to have a good time, and we certainly know how to show that we *know* how to have a great time Good times indeed.

I’d also like to commend Danny and Maura – I know that they had to field some criticisms regarding how quickly the registration closed, and stuff like that. The event is free, folks (with the exception of a few tickets that were sold at a ridiculously inexpensive price $ 5.00). Not even your first beer is that cheap. I know how hard it is to organize an event of this magnitude (and I am already embarked on yet another event organizational process, with Mental Health Camp).

I have a huge appreciation for what LPV6 is, and quite honestly, I had a fantastic time, and I know that lots of other folks in the Vancouver tech community did as well. After closing down the Landing we ended up at the BootUp Labs/Strutta/AdHack quarters where we played Rock Band (Jules, Jules, Jules – you are SUCH a glorious and fantastic partner-in-crime – Greg and Steve, Rock Band FTW!). Boris, as always, great advice and thank you my friend.

I also launched my Crowd profile, so feel free to friend me there (and also, if you think I should add some stuff to my profile, feel free to provide input). You can read more on the startups that were launched here (LPV site) and Rebecca’s post on the topic here (Miss604)

Happy birthday, Karen Parker!

Raul — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:58:42 +0000

My good friend Karen Parker‘s birthday is today, March 1st, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish her “Happy Birthday”. It’s been a pleasure to get to know Karen, and she’s not only responsible for the very pretty customization of my blog (she implemented the vast majority of the elements on the theme, and took me away from WP.com slavery).

Karen and I have had a chance to hang out this past year and she’s helped me in more ways than you can imagine. She’s been a trusted advisor, a great friend and definitely, a fantastic point of reference and source of information regarding all things tech.

I hope you have a wonderful day today with Dan, Karen and I look forward to a celebration sometime soon! All the best today and always!

Happy birthday to Anthony Nicalo

Raul — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:01:40 +0000

Credit: Ianiv and Arieanna

There are a *lot* of things that Anthony Nicalo and I have in common. We both like good food, we had a wonderful upbringing, we both value family and friends, we work hard and we share a passion for making this world a better place. AND, of course, a taste for great wine (actually, bio-dynamic wine).

Anthony, it has been a pleasure getting to know you through the past year, and I look forward to more dinners at Campagnolo (and other places), sharing more thoughts and creating wonderful stuff to advance sustainability in Vancouver and worldwide.

You, my friend, are a star. Happy birthday!

Carol Sill launches Tea Vancouver

Raul — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:43:56 +0000

My friend Carol Sillseems to have infinite amounts of energy, so she took it upon herself to launch a new tea-focused site. I know my friend Phaedra will love the site, as we both enjoy tea very much (having spent many awesome afternoons at Shaktea).

In this site, I’ll point to some terrific teas to try, suggest some elegant and beautiful tea sites, offer reviews of tea and tea shops in Vancouver, and play as many versions of Tea for Two as I can stand![Cha cha cha Tea Vancouver]

In case you didn’t remember, I quit caffeine for a long while last year but then I needed to get back. While I was off caffeine, rooibos tea was what saved me. I look forward to hearing from Carol what she thinks of most places that do tea!

My brother, the de-dramatizer :)

Raul — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:11:30 +0000

You guys might have read a while ago about my very dearest friend, whom I see as a brother. He lives right here in Vancouver, and we have a very, very close friendship, like a brotherhood. He and I share a lot of things in common. We like a lot of the same music. We both speak at least three languages (and three of these are shared – English, French and Spanish), we both have PhDs and we even did our PhD under the same supervisor. We share the same love for family and friends and a great appreciation for good food, travelling and a balanced life in general.

My brother (I call him my brother in soul, because he is not my brother by blood but he might as well be) is an amazing guy. We have been there for each other and I am really happy that his girlfriend is now also one of my close friends – she DOES understand our very close friendship). My blood brothers (the four of them) love my brother in soul to bits too (two of them have met him in person and really, really like him). And my Mom, needless to say, adores him. I have to say that his parents and brother also love ME to death, so it all works out really nicely. AND both his parents and mine live in Mexico, so that’s yet another shared element to our lives.

We hadn’t had a chance to hang out in a while (our group of friends) and we decided on brunch at Enigma as it was the most convenient location. HZ and I were having this playful disagreement (we *love* to disagree and poke holes on each other’s arguments, because we are both really bright and we like to challenge each other’s assumptions and rationalizations) and when asked what we were talking about, he said “hey, that’s just between my brother and I”, which was very nice to hear. It’s true. There are things that we share just amongst ourselves and the fact that his girlfriend respects that is one of the great things that I love about her.

So, as we were having breakfast, someone made the comment about someone else being a “de-dramatizer”, and I agreed with CS that yeah, that sounds about right in regards to my brother (her partner). My brother HZ has the amazing ability to calm people down and help them analyze issues through a variety of lenses, and that helps people understand the issues at hand more clearly. I have to say that I’ve called upon his de-dramatizing skills more than once, and I am very grateful that he lives here in Vancouver, because he (along with all my other friends) helps me stay sane. Furthermore, the fact that we are both academics allows us to share a deeper understanding of the issues when we deal with both of our professional lives. I do hope that I have been been a de-dramatizer for him as much as he has been for me.

For all of what you’ve done for me, thank you brother.

Restaurant review – Cafe Mumbai

Raul — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:16:15 +0000

Anyone who knows me well knows that there are three cuisines that make me absolutely happy: Ethiopian, Indian and Mexican. Since Andy and I hadn’t hung out in a rather long while, and given that he just launched BuddyPress and we just had attended WordCamp Whistler, we figured we’d try to do lunch at a new restaurant (we’d already tried Salsa and Agave, which I think Andy did like).

Thus we decided to settle on Cafe Mumbai (seeing as we’d both be in the Kitsilano neighbourhood). It was the first visit for the two of us, so it was also very nice to try a new place. We both ordered a combo with rice, vegetables and a chicken curry (masala). The portions are rather generous (I’d insert a photo which Andy took but he hasn’t emailed it to me yet, hehehe – will do that when he does email it), and the food is really exquisite.

Service was definitely top-notch. Even though the place wasn’t really full (as we had lunch rather late, closer to 1:00pm) the owner/manager was always very attentive and trying to be very helpful. Overall, a great experience. It’s always nice to catch up with friends on a one-on-one basis. Yes, I love meetups, but… you know… I do appreciate quality time with my friends outside of the world of meetups and what-not.

I’d seriously recommend Cafe Mumbai to anyone who is in the neighbourhood and wants some really good Indian food. Overall lunch would be between $ 9-14 CND w/tax and tip, per person. Not really very, very expensive.

LameCamp and Rock Band

Raul — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:45:27 +0000

I had promised Shallom and Kris that I would swing by LameCamp and I fulfilled my promise. Was very happy to see Corinna and Adam, Lorraine, Greg, Chris, Ian, Terri, and a bunch of other awesome people whose names are escaping me but that you guys will help me remember.

After a few drinks at The Cambie and contests and stuff (of which I won one for making a Spirit Hummingbird face) I proceeded to head to Broadway Skytrain station for some awesome Rock Band with my civilian friends R, N and A. We had SUCH an amazing time. Not surprisingly, my brain isn’t operating at full capacity right now but I had an awesome time at both events. And managed not to make a fool of myself in both (well, with the exception of one spilled beer, but nothing really major).

This was definitely my high moment – Doing the bass for Sex Type Thing on Rock Band. Enjoy!

Restaurant review: The Wallflower Modern Diner (Main Street, Mount Pleasant)

Raul — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:16:03 +0000

Just when I thought I had scooped a new restaurant opening, I saw on the newspaper that Andrew Morrison (now of Scout Magazine fame) had already written about the fact that The Wallflower was opening in the space where defunct Aurora Bistro used to be. While I am NOT at all happy with the demise of Aurora Bistro (who would be happy about restaurants closing? Not me, that’s for sure!), I am glad that at least someone decided to use the space, and renovate it in such an interesting way.

The Wallflower Modern Diner is exactly that – a modern diner. Its room is well decorated although during the day may look a bit dark (but that’s ok – it’s not terribly dark). K and L took me there for brunch recently (as we all thrive in trying out new restaurants, and we hadn’t hung out in a long while). K ordered a set of breakfast sliders (small burgers with scrambled eggs as the filling), L ordered a burger with a salad side and I ordered an omelette.

While in my opinion it was good value for the money (omelette for $ 7.00 – about standard in comparison to other breakfast places around the neighbourhood), I wasn’t really excited with the rest of the brunch menu. I have to be fair to them – they just started operations literally, 2 weeks ago. I’d be more than happy to sit down with them and recommend a few items if they wanted me to.

Good news for The Wallflower are that the place seems to be successful so far. When K and L and I went there, it was packed literally 15 minutes after 11 in the morning. I think that it will be a successful venture, as the menu, the room, the decor and the staff are all the same – non-pretentious, comforting, and welcoming. I really want The Wallflower to succeed, to be quite frank. I don’t have a stake in the restaurant (I don’t even really know the owners) but I sincerely wish them well. I want my neighbourhood (Mount Pleasant) to thrive, and in these uncertain economic conditions, I will certainly spend my money in local restaurants.

I haven’t tried The Wallflower for dinner, but once I do (and once my friend K sends me the photo of my brunch) I’ll update this post.

Giant Ant Media Open House Liveblog

Raul — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:02:30 +0000

UPDATE – 5:00pm — I’m here with Jay, Leah, Jess and a few visitors (Kris Krug, Lorraine Murphy, Ianiv Schweber, amongst a few others) at the Giant Ant Media open house (307 West Cordova). We’re consuming beer, Chinese food and celebrating the opening of their awesome studio! I won’t be liveblogging a lot because I am meeting one of my closest friends for drinks tonight but I wanted to congratulate Jay and Leah for their excellent space. I’ll be coming and visiting more given that my office is at The Network Hub!

Credit: Ianiv on Flickr

UPDATE -5:59 pm — I’m here with Brendon Wilson, Arieanna Schweber, Tyler Wilman, Ian Wish, Matt from Aesthetic Poetic, Shawn Preece-Hall, Rob Lewis from TechVibes, Warren Freyburg, and a number of other fine folks whom I may or may not have met before… It’s a great crowd and the energy is picking up. Funny how it goes, people are actually asking me if I’m really liveblogging (I’ve got my “I’m blogging this” t-shirt that Rebecca gave me). I am, indeed, liveblogging.

UPDATE 6:10 pm – Thanks to Ianiv and his iPhone, I can have photos — he has a great application that uploads directly on to his Flickr account. I should probably get another beer and go back to the party. People should also check the “Year of the Ant” video produced by Giant Ant Media. I am wondering, where is Duane? He was supposed to be here too, at some point.

The Vancouver Blogger Meetup of January 2009 recap is up!

Raul — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:00:58 +0000

And following tradition, Jan Karlsbjerg (who also has a PhD, but his is in computer science) has written an excellent recap of the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup January meeting at The End Cafe. In my opinion, it was very well attended and I am quite pleased with the end result.

I did notice that it was slightly noisy but they (The End Cafe) did everything they could to accomodate us and they gave us the best location, so all in all, no reason to complain. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. Thanks to The End Cafe owners and staff for being so accomodating and to Barbara Doduk for recommending it!

Thanks to Mandy Gratton and Pete Quily for speak to the various types of blogging that there is out there (mommy blogging in the case of Mandy and ADHD in the case of Pete)

Vancouver Bloggers Meetup January 2009 Liveblog

Raul — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:55:24 +0000

It’s been a year since I last live-blogged a Vancouver Bloggers Meetup. This year, I’m actually the Organizer of the Meetup, and I’m quite honored to be hosting it. The End Cafe actually has been pretty good to us, and I am glad that the turn out is very good.

I’ll try to have updates as the night goes by. Obviously, as I know it’s tradition, I do expect that Dr. Jan Karlsbjerg will have a recap on his blog, to which I will duly link.

UPDATE – 6:54pm – I’m going to start the Meetup now with introductions all around. I might miss some people so just drop me your name if I miss you when I do the linkage.

UPDATE – 7:10pm – Pete Quily (ADDCoach) describes in 3 minutes what ADHD is. For more information and a really great in-depth analysis of ADHD, I’d suggest his blog.

UPDATE – 7:15pm – Mandy Gratton gives an overview of what mommy blogging is and how she got into it. Mandy’s excellent (and funny) blog is here.

UPDATE – I can see many people that are coming in, and having a hard time recognizing everyone so I decided not to continue live-blogging. I am sure there will be posts up about the meetup!

The Vancouver Bloggers Meetup for January 2009 is on Wednesday Jan 21st

Raul — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:07:45 +0000

I am pretty sure everyone knows now that I’m the organizer of the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup. You didn’t know? Well, now you do. We are a pretty diverse group, all ages, all kinds of bloggers. We have foodie bloggers, theatre bloggers, podcasters, tekkies, social media and PR people, mommy bloggers (e.g. parenting bloggers), personal bloggers, professional bloggers, political bloggers, journalists, etc.

It was my goal to make the VBM more open so I have asked a few of my fellow bloggers to speak for about 2-3 minutes about the kind of blogging they do. I am extremely fortunate in that VBM and social networking have helped me create solid friendships with the bloggers I know through VBM. And my hope is that you, too, will find our meetings interesting and conducive to fostering new friendships.

We will spend the first few minutes speaking about the general feel for the coming months of VBM and a sample of what our bloggers are currently writing about. My hope is that you’ll spend the rest of the time socializing and networking in a safe, comfortable environment. I’ve chosen The End Cafe on Commercial and Broadway because it is a rather large space. We’ll have to test if it is loud or not.

Looking forward to seeing you all. Please RSVP here!

You may move away but you’ll always be here with me

Raul — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:03:16 +0000

My friends Duane, Nancy and Yam are moving away (respectively to Chilliwack, BC – Yellowknife NWT and Mexico DF) and it’s kind of a bittersweet situation. On the one hand, it’s obviously amazing that they are undertaking these enterprises. On the other hand, I’ll miss them dearly. To you, my friends, my respect, friendship and a reminder that, wherever you are (and wherever I am) you’ll always be with me.

Happy Birthday, Rebecca Bollwitt :)

Raul — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:25:43 +0000

Last year (2008) I started to get more involved with the Vancouver tech/social media/PR/blogging community, in no small part due to my participation in the Bloggers Meetup (of which I am now the organizer). At the beginning of the year (and much longer than I anticipated, since I had been reading her blog for a long while by then, and we had both done Blogathon 2007), I met Rebecca Bollwitt (aka Miss604)

Lots of meetups, liveblogs, social events and lunches/time spent on a one-on-one basis, Rebecca and I have become good friends, and I am very grateful for her friendship and mentorship. As we said last year, I’ve been her blogging padawan for a while now, and I’ve learned a hell of a lot from her.

Rebecca is generous, sweet and a wonderful person, and in so many ways, her success is definitely a sign of the fact that positive things happen to positive people. She’s worked really hard to establish herself in the social media world and the hard work has paid off, in my opinion. Rebecca launched her company (sixty4media) with her husband John in 2008 and has done extremely well.

Happy birthday, Rebecca! May 2009 bring you lots of success, happiness, health and love.

In the face of adversity

Raul — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:10:12 +0000

Photo Credit: SplodgusMaximus

This 2009 (and almost I’d be tempted to say the late part of 2008) have been particularly challenging for a number of my friends. Job-related woes, personal problems, health issues, etc. I feel somewhat helpless for not being able to help them, but I want to use this post to let you know that I’m thinking of you all, and that:

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. [Helen Keller, as quoted here]

I have faith that things will get better. In the mean time, hugs and love to you all.

Voya Restaurant and Lounge is a magnificent bar!

Raul — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:37:24 +0000

Lorraine, Dale and I had a chance to swing by Voya (in my case, rather briefly) to check it out. We’d heard lots of stories from different people saying how wonderful it was, but it hadn’t been until we actually made it there that we realized that all the stories are true. Voya IS indeed a magnificent bar I will try it out for a dinner experience, but even if you just head down there for a couple of cocktails, you’re in for a treat.

LODEN VANCOUVER 1177 Melville Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6E 0A3
Reservations 877 225 6336 | T 604 669 5060 | F 778 373 1609

Voya Restaurant and Lounge is housed in the boutique Hotel Loden Vancouver. Unless you hang out on this side of Coal Harbour, on a regular basis, I would seriously doubt you know how to get there. But its location is unbelievably convenient. Less than a block from the Burrard Skytrain Station. Not kidding. I doubt that any of you would choose to imbibe as much alcohol as to end up stumbling back home (their drinks are simply too nice to over-do them!), you *could* if you wanted to, as it is very accessible even by Skytrain.

Santarac (created by Simon Ogden, Voya)

The lead bartender is Jay Jones, joined by Simon Ogden, who also happens to be one of the top theatre bloggers in Vancouver. I had to stop short of gushing, simply because they DO create art with their hands. The Christmas Sazerac that Simon has developed (which he called “Santarac”) includes smooth vanilla mint, and according to Simon, “it tastes just like a Terry’s chocolate orange!”

Lorraine and I agreed that the Santarac is very much more along the lines of my personality: sweet, strong and refined. I didn’t have a chance to spend nearly enough time at Voya with Lorraine and Dale and Simon as I would have loved to, but one thing you can rest assured of: I am, for sure, coming back.

Voya is a unique experience and you should most definitely head down there. Their hours of operation are posted on the website (linked above).

Farmstead Wines’ gift for first 10 photo submitters

Raul — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:08:38 +0000

Frankly, I’m kind of surprised that, given how much wine the Vancouver tech community consumes, I was still lucky enough to score a gift in the Farmstead Wines-organized Twitter contest. To quote Anthony:

“1st 10 ppl to post a new photo (twitpic, blog, flickr, etc) wearing a vinaroon button or drinking farmstead wine get a special gift from us”

My photo was taken right before I opened a bottle of a really fantastic Martin Arndorfer Grüner Veltliner Strasser Weinberge 2006″. I don’t know what people might think of this wine, but I absolutely loved it. It’s smooth and sleek, in my humble opinion.

Funny how things go, two PhDs have scored gifts so far (Dr. Rachel Black and well, myself!). I haven’t met Rachel in person but I find her research fascinating). Wine, and in particular Farmstead Wines have brought really awesome and interesting people to my life, and very positive, interesting and exciting discussions about pathways towards more sustainable farming.

Check out Farmstead Wines’ blog and submit a photo to the contest soon!

Sixth Photo Meme Redux

Raul — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:20:56 +0000

As it so happens, I tagged Arieanna and Ianiv on the sixth photo meme, but they also got tagged by Derek, and in turn, Arieanna tagged me. So this time, I’m going to let anyone who wants to tag him or herself on the meme to do it. I was also lucky because I just recently uploaded a bunch of photos to my Flickr, so you won’t see exactly the same photo that you saw the previous time I did it

This 6th photo of the 6th page of my Flickr is of my friends Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604) and Kris Krug (RainCity Studios) when we had lunch at Salt with Anthony Nicalo and a bunch of other good friends from the Vancouver tech community.

I’m not going to push this tag on anyone, but do it if you feel so compelled (and of course, link back!)

Happy Birthday, Arieanna!

Raul — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:03:27 +0000

Credit: Ianiv and Arieanna (Flickr)

Twitter and my blog both have brought me many good things, and one of them is new friends. Ianiv and Arieanna Schweber are two of the great friends who are also very involved with the Vancouver tech community. We have had the opportunity to hang out not only at local Vancouver social media/tech/PR events but also outside those avenues.

We recently went to Bin 942 and Browns Social House in West Vancouver, enjoyed some retail therapy at Pacific Centre and had dinner at The Red Sea Cafe. I was also lucky to enjoy Ianiv’s birthday party with them (even though I was really, REALLY sick that weekend).

I’m very glad that you and Ianiv are in my life, Arieanna, and I do sincerely hope that you have a wonderful birthday. And of course I’ll come to your birthday celebration even if, erm, I’m NOT on Facebook

Six quirks/habits of Raul – Meme

Raul — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:05 +0000

I’ve been tagged by Keira-Anne, so here goes my response (sorry it’s SO late!)

1.- I follow exactly the same routine at night, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.
- Check the doors are locked (outside and in my apartment)
- Brush my teeth and floss.
- Drink water.
- Choose my clothes for the following day.
- Go to sleep.

2.- In the past year, I’ve started to check my blogging Gmail BEFORE my personal or research emails. Yeah, I’m first a blogger and then everything else. Weird!

3.- I hate waiting for anyone to pick me up, so I’ll walk outside my house and stand there. I know, if you watch the water all the time will never boil. It’s painful.

4.- I lit candles in my apartment regardless of whether I have company or not. Sometimes I do it just for the sake of feeling calm and relaxed.

5.- I prefer to book slots of time for friends than to have a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of schedule. Makes my life somewhat complicated sometimes as I have a pretty active social life. And the tech community loves to do things in the spur of the moment (on Twitter!)

6.- I say “REALLY?” a lot. I think what I actually mean is “mmmmhmmmm”.

This time, I’m tagging people who may (or may not) expect me to tag them. I can’t tag Rebecca as she’s already been tagged, so here are who I’m tagging.

Andy Peatling
Duane Storey
Tyler Ingram
Gus Fosarolli
Ianiv and Arieanna Schweber
Tanya Davis

There you go! You didn’t expect me to tag you, did you?