All posts tagged with: dining

In a city known for serving up thick cut steaks and large portions, Houston is quickly being rediscovered for its culinary scene. Seven months ago, Sparrow Bar + Cookshop opened in Montrose area of Houston, a trendy up-and-coming area.

The Avant-guard eatery serves up a fantastic menu full of local and true-to-Texas contemporary comfort fare with a zing of spice to keep you on your toes. Sparrow is the creation of Monica Pope, the first Texas woman to be named a Top 10 Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine.

The eclectic combination of non-traditional and modern fusion has made it popular dining destination for many of the locals. Monica really likes to experiment with bold flavours and spice. The menu and atmosphere are geared towards a forward-thinking crowd who appreciate culinary creations.

While there are many great steakhouses in Texas, Sparrow is not one of them. Sparrow has embraced the art of using local and regionally sourced ingredients to create a diverse menu. Although, if you do like steak, that’s ok, it’s on the menu and it’s pretty darn good too.

Before you dig into a four-course dinner, start off with Cocktail #7 on the hand-crafted cocktail menu. The spicy concoction is made with both habanero and cucumber vodka, and served in a rock salt and steak-spice rimmed martini glass.

Appetizers range from tasty bite-size BBQ pork and carrot and ginger soup, to mushroom dumplings and chick-fries, made from chickpea flour, served with a snappy red curry catsup.

For the second course, sample the elk Bolognese, served over handmade and hand cut sweet potato noodles. The creamy textures melt in your mouth and leave a wonderful sense of comfort.

For dinner, try the quails breast with roasted seasonal vegetables, and Brussels sprouts with spicy mustard sauce.

Finish up with caramel gelato, with caramel popcorn and a chocolate caramel stick, alongside cheesecake with lemon custard. All the deserts are made in house and should not be missed.

The atmosphere is casual. Rustic elements have been incorporated into the design to bring in texture and ambiance. The lighting is dim, and with the wood and metal furniture, it’s warm and inviting. It starts getting busy around 8pm on weekends, so plan ahead to get a good seat inside, or on the outdoor patio.

Sparrow is located at 3701 Travis St, and reservations can be made by calling 713-524-6922.

Next time you’re in Houston, definitely plan to have dinner at Sparrow Bar + Cooktop – you’ll be glad you did!

Food Quality: ★★★★

Originality: ★★★★★

Customer Service: ★★★★★

Atmosphere: ★★★★

Beverage Selection: ★★★

Price / Value: ★★★★

Overall: ★★★★

Big White Ski Resort, located 45 minutes south east of Kelowna, B.C., is one of British Columbia’s largest ski resorts. While it’s well known for it’s dry, Okanagan power snow, Big White is working to put itself on the map in dining too.

On mountain there are over 30 restaurants, bars and coffee shops offering everything from fresh baked cinnamon rolls to sushi. Trevor Hanna, Director of Food & Beverage at Big White, is on a mission to improve the food quality at the resort at an affordable price.

While après ski typically includes beer and nachos, Trevor and his team know not everyone that visits the resort are avid skiers and are just there to enjoy a winter vacation, so they are coming up with new ideas.

One of the latest creations is an Okanagan version of an afternoon tea. Served on specific day at the Kettle Valley Steak House, the tea service such as the traditional cucumber sandwiches and scones with preserves, but also includes more untraditional flare including smoked duck bacon and salmon wraps.

For the best food and beverage experiences, stick to properties that are owned and managed by Big White Ski Resort. Exactly as they like to control the ski experience they are passionate about delivering an exceptional dining experience for even the toughest food critics.

Throughout the season there are also a number of events that foodies will love, including the Big Reds wine tasting in early December and the spring White wine tasting. Both of these events have about 30 Okanagan wineries sampling wines and a host of food vendors with all kinds of delicious hors d’oeuvres.

Country music is what Nashville, Tennessee is most famous for. Some of the biggest names in country music started their career in Music City. But there’s more than just country music rooted in the bustling mid-western city.

Nashville has great dining choices – primarily barbeque. Fall-off-the-bone pork ribs, baked beans and ‘slaw are the traditional choices.

Three percent of the total land area in Nashville is dedicated to parkland. Centennial Park is home to the Parthenon; an exact replica of the original building in Athens, Greece. It’s open to the public and features the largest indoor statue in America.

Other parks in the area celebrate the rich history – from Civil War memorials to music and mid-western culture. A variety of art installations can be found around the city and in the parks.

The architecture throughout the city ranges from historic to modern. Broadway, one of the main streets in the downtown core, is lit up at night with neon signs for the many shops, bars and restaurants. The streets bustle with activity and music every night of the week.

There are countless country bars too. The most famous and popular is the Wildhorse, which offers free line dancing lessons for beginners.

For a fun, authentic, mid-west experience, check out Nashville. It’ll surprise you!

After a day of sunshine and Okanagan adventures, find your way to The Range at Predator Ridge Resort, located just outside of Vernon, BC. The casual fine dining restaurant has amazing views of the Predator Ridge golf course and the friendliest servers in the Okanagan Valley.

Ease into your early evening dinner with a strawberry-lemonade cocktail or a glass or Okanagan chardonnay. The Range received the Aware of Excellence in 2011 by Wine Spectator Magazine.

The menu options are traditional Pacific Northwest favorites – from pork loin to tenderloin, and everything in between. Meals start out with warm, fresh baked bread from Cobbs Bakery.

The steak salad is served with fresh greens and a light dressing.

For dinner I had the 8oz sirloin steak and seasonal vegetables. The vegetables were appropriately steamed. The pear chutney served over the steak had a bit too much onion for my personal preference, however, the demi glaze was well done. The fresh vegetables and protein were stacked over mashed potatoes, making the plate appear to be small portioned, but overall it was an appropriate entre size.

Save room for dessert! The hazelnut daquioise is amazing and pairs well with the See Ya Later Ranch late harvest Ehrenfelser.

Overall, it’s a great dining experience and a perfect spot for dinner with friends, a romantic evening out, or just a fun spot after a day of wine touring. Dinner service can be busy, especially after a great day on the golf course, so reservations are recommended: 250.542.3436.

Since 1996, Tree House Café on Salt Spring Island has been turning out wholesome, homemade fare. The restaurant is located in the heart of Ganges village. What makes this restaurant so cool is that it is literally build around a real, live plum tree!

The building was originally constructed in the 1920’s as the first electric generation station on the island. Over the years the building has been converted for many different purposes. It has served as a private residence, smoke house, crystal shop and music school.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the indoor-outdoor restaurant serves up both causal fare and a special menu they call A Taste of India. They also offer a wide selection of vegetarian dishes.

The heated outdoor patio is open year round and hosts live music almost every night.

The Tree House Café is one of the only restaurant in Ganges with a kitchen open past 8pm.

Overall the food is served hot and fresh and its decent value for made-from-scratch dining. The service is generally slower over dinner and late-night.

Overall Rating: ★★ (out of 5)

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Prestons at the Coast Hotel has undergone some major changes since opening just over a year ago and now they’ve launched a new fall menu.

With focus on west coast cuisine with a Mediterranean and Asian influence and offering breakfast, lunch and dinner service 7 days a week and brunch on the weekends means restaurant head chef Alessandro Vianello is a busy guy. Besides great food Prestons also offers classic drinks with cheeky modern updates, all the fabulous in-house creations feature top shelf liquors and freshly pressed juices.

From the bar, drink highlights included The French Martini and the Lemon Meringue pie Martini and from the kitchen braised pork sliders with Gorgonzola coleslaw, baby back ribs with a sweet hoisin glaze that were melt in your mouth tender and delicious, eggplant Parmesan sliders with stewed peppers and feta and cherry tomato crustini with marinated mozzarella and artichoke and basil pesto went down really easy!.  For dessert mini green tea matcha creme brules were offered, the custard was rich and creamy and the green tea wasn’t over powering.

If your interested in checking out Prestons they participate in the Open Table Online reservation system, provide free WiFi and have a QR code based loyalty program where you can earn free meals at the restaurant.  At the moment they have a promotion going on-like them on Facebook by clicking here and receive a $20 gift card to the restaurant.

Prestons is located at

1177 West Pender Street

604-673-2173

www.dineprestons.com

@dineprestons

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Revolver Coffee has opened it’s doors and these boy’s are bringing an interesting take on your cup of joe. It’s owned by the Gianniakos family who also owns the Crema in West Vancouver. The new Gastown cafe is actually operated by the four brothers and Vancouver designer Craig Stanghetta, the man behind the design of Meat and Bread, Pizzeriafarina, Stackhouse Burger Bar and L’Abbattoir is responsible for the look of the place.

Revolver is what premium tea houses are to tea lovers but in coffee form, they use a rotating selection of coffee roasters to allow for more flexibility, giving customers a variety to choose from, the deal here is the coffees are all specifically prepared depending on the type of beans and roast the customer chooses, you also only have one choice in size~12oz so it really is all about the specific coffee, they employ a very cool brewing processes including steel filter, clever, aeropress, siphon or French press for a nominal extra charge. Besides coffee and loose leaf teas Revolver offers fresh-baked pastries and cookies that are pretty great and should not be missed. The brew bar menu changes everyday and is posted up by the cash register, you usually have 2 or 3 different espresso and 2 or 3 different coffees to choose from and the staff are always ready to offer up friendly advise and offer suggestions that suit your tastes.

Revolver is located at 325 Cambie Street and their open Monday-Friday from 8am-6pm and Saturday from 9am-6pm, closed on Sunday.

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Vancouver for the longest time has not had a selection of fine places for dessert and chocolates with the exception of Thomas Haas on W.Broadway the selection has been slim pickings until now.

Vancouver pastry chef extraordinaire Thierry Busset, former pastry chef at Cin Cin and West and internationally with friend and fellow chef Gordon Ramsey at London’s La Gravoché spent years developing the concept for his new chocolaterie/patisserie. Now open, it’s appropriately named Thierry, part of the Top Table family of restaurants. Thierry is the perfect place to sit down for a coffee or espresso (made with the exclusive Thierry Espresso Blend), beer, cold house-pressed juice, or a glass of wine. Sandwiches are available at lunchtime and dinner as well as out of this world gazpacho and quiche but you’ll probably be ready for something sweet, making the decision of what to have is the hard part, every product was so deliciously presented and is a real feast for the eyes.

With Thierry in the kitchen himself with staff at 5am every morning helping make the daily greatness including the puff pastry used in his delicious pastries, croissants and making the fresh bread for sandwiches really shows his commitment to quality.

The price point is lower than dessert out at a fine dinning restaurant but it is still on the high end price wise, anyway you look at it though dessert junkies now have a late night place downtown to satisfy there craving with some of the finest chocolates, croissants and fresh made cakes and tarts Vancouver has to offer.

www.thierrychocolates.com