Pied-à-Terre

Continuing our 2011 French restaurant tour, we paid a return visit to Pied-à-Terre, the cool bistro owned by Andrey Durbach and Chris Stewart, the duo behind La Buca, Cafeteria and the now-closed tour-de-force Parkside as well.

As we walked to the restaurant from the bus stop, we admired the playful sign on the side of the building by noted local artist Robert Chaplin.

DOW: Milky Way Hot Chocolate

On one our recent trips, we stumbled across a funky little coffee joint that featured a Milky Way Hot Chocolate, which we of course had to taste. Suitably impressed, we vowed to re-create the drink when we returned home.

Pretzels

Who hasn't spent a few lovely hours in O'Hare International Airport, outside Chicago, "Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation," as immortalized by the great Carl Sandburg? Even after countless connections through this very busy airport, including an unscheduled Christmas Eve snowed-in stayover, we can still unearth hidden treasures.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels beckoned to us from across the hectic terminal. After buying our what-were-we-thinking-only one pretzel, we arrived home barely satiated, yearning for more....

Mistral French Bistro

Last year, we explored many of the outstanding French bakeries in Vancouver, but with a new year comes a new focus, and we'll be visiting some of the wonderful French bistros and restaurants in town. First up, a lunch date at Mistral French Bistro. Now in its sixth year of operation, Mistral has enjoyed steady success thanks to the creative mind of owner-chef Jean-Yves Benoit and the gracious hospitality of co-owner and wife, Minna Benoit.

DOW: Martini

We've been doing our "drink of the week" series for eight months now, and we have yet to feature a martini, one of the most well-known drinks in the English-speaking world.

Dinner Rush

Murder. Mobsters. Tagliatelle with white truffle sauce.

The 2000 film Dinner Rush is set almost entirely in a trendy and intensely popular nuovo-Italian restaurant, owned by independent bookie Louis Cropa. The star chef is none other than the owner's son, Udo, played by Edoardo Ballerini.

The film features a great cast, led by Danny Aiello and John Corbett. Every performance is excellent.

DOW: Dubonnet Cocktail

Yesterday, after shopping in vain for white crème de menthe, I picked up a bottle of Dubonnet. Named after its inventor, Joseph Dubonnet, this apéritif wine was invented in 1846, as a method of delivering quinine, the most effective antimalarial drug of the time.