Dinner at Bao Bei

The Stanley Park Seawall
2016 Vancouver, BC

Waking up on the final day of my Vancouver adventure, I was treated with my first sample of Pacific Northwest rain. In fact, it rained pretty much all morning and into the afternoon. This left me only two hours to take a stroll through Stanley Park, return back to the crib to wash up, and then head to my final dinner in Vancouver at Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie.

Bao Bei's neon sign
Photo Credit: Museum of Vancouver

Dinner at Blue Water Cafe

The day trip to Victoria, even with the aid of a point-to-point sea plane, was a lot to tackle in under 12 hours. By the time I arrived back at my room, I only had a few moments to wash up and head to dinner at the Blue Water Cafe.

The Blue Water Cafe - located in Vancouver's Yaletown neighborhood - has a reputation as one of Vancouver's greats for fresh seafood. This made its choice for my trip a no-brainer, as I was looking for restaurants that leveraged the local abundance in their cooking. Upon arriving, I was greeted by a vibrant restaurant with a lively outdoor cafe-like seating area. Entering the establishment, I was somewhat surprised to find a rather large open dining area with show kitchen, impressive aquarium-accented bar, and complete sushi and raw bar.

Final dinner in NYC at Restaurant Daniel

The final full day in NYC turned out to be a busy one, as the Madre and I criss-crossed midtown Manhattan from A to B to C, back to A, then to B, until finally heading back to A. Highlights include enjoying the wonderful Gustav Klimt exhibit at the Neue Galerie, doing a little shopping in Midtown, back to Restaurant Daniel in the upper east side for dinner, and capping it off with a wonderful night at the theater.

Unobtrusive, yet elegant entry to Restaurant Daniel

NYC Black Friday dinner at ESCA

Day two of the Bart Family New York City trip had its highs and lows. It started out on a high note, visiting Ground Zero, the New York Stock Exchange, and Federal Hall. I was particularly impressed with the reflecting pools - the largest man-made waterfalls in North America - as the water seemingly cascaded down into oblivion. Such is the hope that we can rise from our abyss of despair and move forward towards a brighter tomorrow.

The low came when we made it to B&H, looking to purchase a used camera, only to find the place closed at 1:30 PM. At least I can take solace knowing I didn't drop hundreds of dollars on a camera and the requisite accessories. This trip to NYC is already over budget slightly, so every pinched penny counts.

And with that - a day wandering from midtown to downtown and back - the Madre and I find ourselves at an up and coming gem specializing in Italian seafood: ESCA. Born from the likes of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and James Beard award-winning chef Dave Pasternack; the New York Times' Frank Bruni coined Dave “an honest-to-God fisherman, in love with the ocean, and ESCA is his ongoing ode to it.” As one who loves both seafood and Italian cuisine, this place immediately garnered my attention.

Crudo stampler #1
2016 ESCA. New York City, NY

NYC Thanksgiving 2016 at Dovetail

Greetings from crowded yet refined New York City. This year, the Madre and I decided to change things up and celebrate our Thanksgiving in the Big Apple. The inspiration for this decision came as I watched the 2016 Tony Awards. Here were all these amazing shows performing, and as one who lives on the west coast of this great country, I realized that I may not see any of them while their principal casts were on stage. A few days later, I booked my flight to NYC and bought tickets to The Waitress. Gutsy considering I had yet to tell the Madre of my plan. It all worked out, however, and as I sit here at the Hotel Intercontinental Time Square writing this post... so far so good.

To be blunt: today was a complete lounge waste of a day. I arrived into EWR at 9:45 AM after 5 hours of red eye bliss. By the time I got to the hotel to meet up with the Madre, our room wasn't ready, so we sat in the hotel lobby for a few hours before grabbing a dim sum lunch. A universal truth: Chinese  restaurants are always open on American holidays. We posted up at a coffee shop for another hour until our room was ready, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon recovering from the travel and watching football.

This really wasn't a problem because - having lived in Connecticut for a few years in the past - there are no true touristy things that I need to do. My entire goal for this trip was to eat at some amazing restaurants, see some amazing Broadway, check out a Gustav Klimt exhibit at the Neue Galerie, and possibly see some friends from my Stamford days. To kick off the trip's dining program, our first dinner was at the upper west side restaurant called Dovetail.

Football Bucket List Update - Fall 2016

Just a brief update on my football bucket list as the 2016 football season comes to a close. MSU is hot toilet, so no bowl game in store for me this year. That leaves three games, and venues, to tick off the list below. 

Day trip to Victoria

With the first two days used to discover some of Vancouver's choice neighborhoods, I decided to use day three to do a day trip to the capital of British Columbia, Victoria. There are two primary ways to get from Vancouver to Victoria. First, one can drive/bus to Tsawwassen ferry terminal, take a ferry to Schwartz Bay on Vancouver Island, and then drive/bus to Victoria. The other is a 30+ minute sea plane ride from harbor to harbor. Guess which choice I took?

de Havilland Twin Otter docked
2016 Vancouver, BC 

Dinner at Hawksworth

With day 2 of Bartcation 2016 in the books, I decided to turn up the culinary dial again by booking an early reservation at Chef David Hawksworth's restaurant that caries his namesake: Hawksworth. Located on the ground floor of the very chic Rosewood Hotel Georgia, upon walking in I was greeted with the very same ambiance: warm creams of the walls and furniture embraced by the dimly lit glow of a central chandelier, silky window treatments and candle light.

Inside Hawksworth
2016 Vancouver, BC

Vancouver Art Gallery & Granville Island

Day two in Vancouver got off to a pretty rocky start. The night before, after enjoying one of the better meals of the year, went off the hinges after I decided to do a mini bar crawl. Stops consisted of Guilt & Co., The Irish Heather, The Diamond, and The Alibi Room. I stuck to mostly beer, as I wanted to check out the local craft brew scene, as well as I wanted to survive after a dinner full of wine. Finally, I capped off the night with a delicious döner kebab... something I am surprised isn't as popular in the United States as it is elsewhere.

Needless to say, I woke up late and very hung over. I sucked it up, got in the shower to wash off last night's bar shenanigans, and headed out to get some coffee and get the day back on track. I picked up coffee and breakfast from JJ Bean, and then headed over to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Vancouver Art Gallery
Vancouver, BC

Dinner at L'Abattoir

As many of my long-time friends know, a Bart-cation is not complete without a culinary odyssey (or two). This odyssey doesn't have to be at some multi-Michelin starred restaurant with a wine cellar stocked with twenty thousand dollar bottles of Romanée-Conti. I look for good food that highlights local ingredients and staples, and whose flavors tell a story. After doing a little research prior to my trip, I settled on a well-regarded restaurant in the Gastown neighborhood called L'Abattoir. As the name suggests, L'Abattoir highlights west coast fare through French technique and influence.

Upon entering L'Abattoir

Upstairs main dining area

Upon entering this bi-level restaurant, one is greeted to an airy bar area, and a staircase to the main dining area. I arrived a little after the restaurant opened for its dinner session, and the bar was starting to fill with people either looking for a casual atmosphere, or some hors d'ourves and a drink before another dining option. I was greeted by the lovely hostess, and brought upstairs to a two-top along the brick wall that overlooked the bar area. This perch offered some excellent people watching in between courses. The waiter soon followed the hostess, leaving the dinner menu and many decisions to be made.

Coal Harbour, Lunch at Gyoza Bar and Gastown

Day 1 in Vancouver was structured light on purpose, as the 6 AM flight from SFO necessitated a 4 AM pick-up, and a 3:15 AM wake-up. The fact that I stayed up past 11 PM without a recharging nap is really quite remarkable. What didn't help was upon exiting the Sky Train that took me from YVR to the city center, I was greeted with a delightful 8 block walk to where I was staying, luggage (for 2 weeks) and all!

The AirBnB I selected was located on W. Georgia Street, which happens to be the main east-west thoroughfare through the city center. It was located 4 blocks from the entrance of Stanley Park, and 2 blocks from the Coal Harbour waterfront. It was a clean, small room with a full sized IKEA bed and an attached bathroom. By far the best thing about it was the view.

A room with a view.
2016 Vancouver, BC.

Initial thoughts on Vancouver

It's day 4 of Bartcation 2016, and I find myself sitting at a neighborhood JJBean coffee shop in the heart of Coal Harbor. To my right, a delightfully attractive lady does the sudoku in the paper while taking a break from her office tedium. To my left sits my sublime decaf soy latte; the remnants of the leaf design in the foam having fully faded away.

It's cloudy, cool, and drizzling on and off. Today was supposed to be my day to check out Stanley Park, but that isn't going to be happen. As if by some sort of divine intervention, Vancouver is making me come back in the near future.... and leaving me something else to do in case experiencing it's treasures a second time wasn't enough.

Four years is far too long!

It has been something like four years, since the last time I figuratively blew the dust off the cover of this blog, and put my thoughts to a post. Since the last post, I have done the following:

• Moved from Metro Detroit to Stamford Connecticut
• Took a job with GE Capital
• Met some of the most amazing friends from across the East Coast
• Moved again to the Bay Area, just outside of San Francisco, CA
• Left GE Capital and took a job with Bank of the West
• GE Capital has since been imploded and sold off, making the career move a true stroke of luck
• Dumped Delta for United (given their dominance at SFO) and made Platinum last year; 1K projected this year
• Had the luxury of dining at some incredible Michelin star restaurants, including French Laundry and The Restaurant at Meadowood
• Attended Hamilton (the musical) before it's popularity exploded

The reason for kicking this blog into gear is because, for the first time since visiting Latvia in 2006, I have a solo trip planned to Vancouver in the upcoming week. For this trip I have some incredible dinner reservations lined up, and am currently formulating a day trip to Victoria. This blog should provide a great opportunity to showcase my experiences. It will also hopefully set this blog up for more frequent updates as my fall travel schedule picks up.

So for now, stay tuned for future updates. D-7 until Vancouver!

-Bartman