Awesome Lunch & Artistic Coffees

On Saturday, my dad and I had a day out that started with some excellent wildlife photo ops at a location out on the Kootenay Pass where volunteers from two local wildlife associations feed a herd of big horn sheep. The purpose of the program and the feeding is to keep the sheep off the highway so there aren't any accidents that can kill or seriously harm both sheep and humans. The sheep were very placid and allowed me to take photos with no problem, and I also got a Telegraph article out of it, so if you want to read more about this unique opportunity, you can go here. I have a full Flickr set with all the big horn sheep photos here.

After that, Dad and I went to Nelson to do some grocery shopping, something we do very regularly, and we always have lunch! We had wanted to go to The Preserved Seed, but they are closed on the weekends, which we were very disappointed about. So, we opted instead to go to Max & Irma's (previously blogged about here) where we had a lovely lunch.

I had the Pollo Calzone, which had in it chicken, sauteed onions, artichoke hearts, and three cheeses. The crust was perfect and spectacular! I complimented the chef on my way out because it was so fabulous!

My dad had the Santa Fe melt, on multigrain bread. The bread was homemade. Not sure what was on the melt other than chicken, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Dad said it was excellent. Both meals came with a fresh house salad and Dad's came with a side of tortilla chips.

Max & Irma's always has really great homemade desserts, but we were both full, so we didn't have any. Great meal!

On Valentine's Day, my brother Jem came up to town and we went for coffee at a local shop called the Alpine Grind. I had to take a picture of these very lovely drinks they made with the decorative tops. Beautiful! The one on the bottom, the darker one, was my mocha, and the other one was a vanilla latté, which my brother claims is the best in town. It was a crummy day weather-wise up here on Monday, so a big hot drink was just perfect.

Lunch at The Alpine Grind

We have quite a few coffee shops in town, but since I don't drink coffee, I don't get out to them regularly. Most do light lunches however, and one day when our usual spot, the Sunshine Cafe was closed, my brother, SIL, and I went to The Alpine Grind, one of our local hot spots, for lunch. The Grind changed hands back in December, and I had been there for the odd mocha as it's the daytime watering hole of my employers at The Rossland Telegraph. Under the previous ownership, I'd only had lunch there once or twice, and it was good, but pricey. Under new ownership, things have changed somewhat. There is a micro-bakery there now and I had an awesome baguette from there a few months ago, bought spur of the moment during a staff meeting I was attending. There is a wider selection of goodies, and one of town's most famous bakers, Rebecca of Sweet Dreams Cakery, sells her creations there, including her wildly popular cupcakes. There are also bagels from Nelson and a new sandwich selection.

Here is what we had.

Shan had the smoked salmon panini, which she said was excellent. The side salad comes with a house dressing that was really good.

Jem had the salami panini; he enjoyed it very much.

I had the chicken, brie, and pear compote panini, and it was totally awesome.

Now, onto dessert. I wasn't going to have dessert because the sandwich ate up my small lunch budget, but...but...one of Rebecca's cakes was calling at me from the display case. I'd had one of her lime margarita cupcakes at the farmers' market during the summer, and I was instantly addicted to this woman's baking. The cake at The Grind looked like something from my version of heaven: chocolate cake, pumpkin cake, ganache, pumpkin cream...How do you possibly pass something like that up? You simply do not. I broke my budget. And it was so frakking worth it.
This was un-effing-believable. I mean...unspeakably un-effing-believable. I savoured every freaking bite! It was a positively spiritual experience. I simply do not know what else to say about it...

Yeah, it was a good lunch. But it was an even better dessert.

Rebecca of Sweet Dreams Cakery sells her famous cupcakes at The Alpine Grind on Thursdays, now that the farmers' market is closed for the season.

Dining at The Garage

The Garage has been around Rossland for quite a while, and has had two incarnations. A few years back, it as a high-ish end steak house, and for ages all my dad could talk about was the amazing steak he had there with a blue cheese sauce. I never ate there during this era of the restaurant because A) I didn't live here for much of that era, and B) when I was here, it was way out of my price range. Some time ago (I don't remember when exactly) the restaurant closed and the building was put up for sale. It never sold, so the owner revamped the menu into something simpler and more affordable, and all I ever heard was how great it was. And it was all of a sudden in my price range! It still took me a while before I actually got to eat there, but better late than never!

Located on Columbia Avenue in the former Shell gas station, The Garage reopened in November 2009, touting itself as a family restaurant with a an emphasis on burgers, ribs, and owner Julie Eyres' desserts. There is a great article here about the "new" Garage with an interview with Julie herself.

Now a more casual eatery with a garage theme, I have had two opportunities to eat there recently, and I can say that both experiences were great.

The first time, I went with my dad and SIL, and we all had bacon mushroom cheeseburgers with Julie's thick cut fries. Dad started off with a bowl of French Onion soup, which he said was good. Shan and I opted to have half salad/half fries with our meals; she had the green salad and I had a Caesar (this cost $2.50 extra, if memory serves).

We were told at the beginning of our service that chocolate souffle was on the menu for dessert, and if we were interested, it needed about 25 minutes or so to bake and we'd have to order it when we ordered our meals, and that's what Dad opted for.

The only glitch with this meal was that the burgers came already dressed with ketchup, mustard, and relish. I wasn't aware of this when I ordered, and I hate mustard and relish! I sent my burger back & I got a new bun without the offending condiments, and all was well after that. The burgers were served in a hub cap lined with that checkered paper you often see in diners, and the meal was excellent. My dad had the souffle and loved it. I didn't have dessert because the burger & fries were so huge I was stuffed. Shan, always a huge fan of Julie's vanilla bean creme brulee, had that for dessert. I had a taste and it was awesome!

The second meal was a few weeks later. I needed a greasy meal very badly and ordered the halibut & chips. Shan had a chicken burger with bacon & mushrooms. Oh, man! The halibut & chips was AMAZING. The fish was perfectly cooked and was so tender and juicy...It was heavenly. Shan enjoyed her burger. Both needing sugar fixes on top of our fried food cravings, Shan had the homemade hazelnut ice cream with espresso & biscotti, and I had a chocolate sundae. This meal totally hit the spot!


On top of this, for both meals I indulged in a cocktail: the Rattlesnake Long Island Iced Tea. This is a regular Long Island Iced Tea laced with melon liqueur. Big, potent drink, let me tell you, and for someone who drinks as rarely as I do, it hit me quickly and I was feeling pretty good.

Definite yumminess to be found at The Garage! With my boozy drink, my first meal came to about $18, and with tax & tip, my second meal came to $32 (I had two pieces of halibut for $16.95), and although that is a lot for one person, it was worth it.

Dinner at Drift

Rossland has a fantastic Asian tapas place called Drift, which I finally got a chance to try when my SIL chose to have her birthday dinner there at the end of December. This place is WAY out of my price range (my dinner cost me $40) but it was so worth it because it was absolutely outstanding. Here are some photos from around the table, where we shared a variety of dishes.

This is a mixed veggie tempura - fabulicious.

Seared tuna.

A bowl of pho, complete with tempura veggies - outstanding.

I am still thinking about this sushi roll - a tempura salmon roll with cream cheese and leek that was deep fried...ORGASMIC.

Fish tacos made with halibut.

Edamame.

Beef tenderloin skewers with blue cheese butter.

Tofu something.

Spicy ginger beef rice bowl.

Lunch at the Sunshine Cafe

It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of having lunch at Rossland's best lunch place, the Sunshine Cafe, but I got to go last week, and as usual, I was not disappointed!

I dined with my brother & SIL. Shan had the wrap special, which was Greek chicken, and the soup of the day, which was tomato & rice. The soup was so hearty she couldn't finish it all.My brother had a chicken burger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions, accompanied by the salad of the day, which was a Sweet Thai chicken pasta salad. He said it was awesome.I also opted for a chicken burger, wanting a change from my usual, which is the clubhouse sandwich. I had Swiss cheese and grilled mushrooms on my burger, and I had a side of fries because I was in a foul mood (it's amazing what a load of decent fries will do for grouchiness!). It was a great lunch!Again, the Sunshine didn't disappoint! I love this place!

Rossland's Seven Summits Café

I had a chance run-in with a former co-worker the other day, who happens to be the new operator of Seven Summits Café, which is attached to Rossland's only gas station, located across from the museum.

For some time now, the status of the café has been unknown. When I first moved here, it was an amazing burger joint selling gourmet burgers named after the local Seven Summits in addition to some excellent Mexican dishes. Then those people pulled out and a swankier Mexican restaurant called the Mazatlan went in, after the original Mazatlan in Nelson burned down. Then the Mazatlan moved from Rossland to Trail, and after that the restaurant space at the Seven Summits service station was a bit up in the air.

My former co-worker is now running the place and doing all the cooking & prep. When I told Shan & Jem about it, they were surprised to hear that something was actually going on in that space because they eat out a lot (the Mazatlan is a favourite with them) and hadn't heard boo about the new café. This is a small town, and news that there is a new eatery in town would normally become well-known quickly.

Well, last night, Jem, Shan, and I went to the Seven Summits Café for dinner to give it a try.

It's a small space, which is a huge drawback, though a lot of the previous businesses who called this place home thrived on take-out service. As for the menu, it was very small and very limited, and is quite typical fast food/truck stop fare: burgers (including a veggie burger, because this is Rossland, after all), hot dogs, smokies, fries, poutine, chili dogs, chili fries, and onion rings. Also on offer is the cook's homemade potato salad and maraconi salad at $4.50 per container. The prices are very reasonable and the entire menu is a la carte with combos available for larger groups & families.

I chose a burger with the works - bacon, cheese, grilled onions - and a side of onion rings, which I haven't had in ages. With a large fountain drink, my meal came to $10.50. Jem & Shan each had the same thing: burgers with the works and poutine. Their meals came to a similar amount.

The cook, W, makes her own burgers and cuts her own fries. The burgers were excellent, I must say - perfectly grilled and perfectly seasoned. We all enjoyed them! My onion rings (not homemade) hit the spot and were very good, and Jem & Shan both liked their poutine. My only real complaint was that my burger came fully dressed with mustard, relish, and ketchup, and I really hate mustard. Luckily, there wasn't much on there so it wasn't too obnoxious, but I'd have preferred to dress my burger myself.

It was a nice meal and spending quality time with my family is always a good and fun thing for me to be doing. I really hope the Seven Summits decides to advertise a bit, because there is a huge market for them out there just waiting to be tapped into. People just need to know it's open. (It's hours, by the way are daily from 12 - 8pm.).

I wish my former co-worker all the best with her new endeavour!

Lunch at The Rush

Yesterday my brother and I got together for lunch, and this time he wanted to go somewhere else for a change, as we usually go to the Sunshine Cafe. He suggested The Rush.

The Rush is a coffee shop located in the Prestige Hotel, and it serves sandwiches and a small selection of very good baking in addition to its coffee menu. It's owned by the guy who runs Adrenaline Adventures, a local tour & transportation company. I'd been there for lunch once and it was very good, I just can't remember what I had; I just remember the chocolate peanut butter bar - outstanding. The last time was when my friend J was here and she treated me to a chocolate peanut butter bar for my birthday. These bars are TO DIE FOR. They are unbaked and gloriously awesome. They are also $3.25.

After considerable deliberation on my part, I opted for the Chunkanini Panini: chunks of chicken, bacon, Monterey Jack cheese, caramelized onions, and roasted garlic aoli. DIVINE! It was huge, delicious - almost sinfully so - and totally hit the spot. It goes for $7.95 and was totally worth it.

My brother had the Chicken Caesar Wrap, which was also huge and filling and he loved it.

I think The Rush officially has the best sandwiches in town.