Fuji Market

To hear Fuji Market Sushi described, you might think of a small takeout area in a largish supermarket. However, I like to think of it as just the opposite, a smallish grocery area in a restaurant.

DOW: Petite Fleur

Spring fever is hitting me very hard this year. Snow drops, cherry blossoms, and daffodils are on the cusp of a frenzy. Couple this with our grapefruit obsession, and you get our week's drink, a petite fleur.

Steelhead Diner

Take a group of eleven people, including three children; a location in Seattle's tourist central, half a block from Pike Place Market; and a busy Saturday brunch time. You might think that disaster was inevitable. Accommodating large groups is often a challenge for even the best restaurants. However, the staff at the still popular Steelhead Diner, which opened a little over four years ago to critical acclaim, weren't even fazed. On this day, they were clearly firing on all cylinders.

Motomachi Shokudo

The popular Japanese noodle soup dish, ramen, has a bad rap due to the popularity of the instant-noodle version. Fortunately, in Vancouver, we can experience the real thing. While a few ramen places have opened recently outside the downtown core, the Robson-Denman area has most of the heavy hitters like Kintaro Ramen, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, Benkei Ramen, the newly arrived chain, Ramen Sanpachi, and our destination, Motomachi Shokudo.

DOW: Salty Dog

We have come to the realization that grapefruit is perfect for making cocktails. It has sweet, sour and bitterness all in one easy-to-store package.

This week, we make the Salty Dog.

Mochikas Peruvian Cafe

Several months ago, we wrote about the limited Caribbean repertoire of Vancouver's culinary scene. Another region of the world that is greatly under-represented is Central and South America, although you can find Latin American restaurants if you try hard enough, and there are standouts like the nuevo-latino Cobre. Fortunately, more and more places have popped up like Mochikas Peruvian Cafe, located in the Burrard Slopes area, which is home to various automobile-related businesses, including Platinum Touch Auto Spa, within which Mochikas is found.

Coco et Olive

In keeping with our French food theme, I met a friend for lunch at Coco et Olive, a cafe that also sells cheeses, olives and olive oil (of course), and other fine foods.