Love Canadian Style · Saturday February 14, 2009 by colin newell
An elderly man stands over the grave of his wife. He is visiting here for the 2463rd day in a row. Rain or shine.
A happy pooch (click on photo below) waits patiently outside of Habit Cafe waiting for his master. His expression is priceless.
My coffee companion tells me about the love of his life that he has been courting for the last 3 years. Unrequited. But there is progress.
A bedraggled barista drags himself into the cafe for the first time in 2 weeks. He is a new dad.
I worry about a friend. Is he doing the right thing?
I wish my mother “Happy Valentine’s Day…” – she says… “Back at you Son…”
I remember meeting my sister for the first time. And my Dad.
My wife and I dine at the Fifth Street bar and grill and reflect over 15 previous valentine’s days.
It’s love.
Surfing Vancouver's crime wave - bullets chapter #1 · Wednesday February 11, 2009 by colin newell
There was yet another round of gun-play in Suburban Vancouver, this time involving two vehicles circling each other through a Shell gas station and a Tim Hortons parking lot in Langley – Wednesday morning.
Startled employees at the gas vendor noted that half a dozen shots were fired as two vehicles circled the pumps before heading across the street to the Tim Hortons parking lot… Ostensibly for double-doubles and timbits.
Ok. So you know how I feel about gouging at the pumps? And although this is probably frightening for the staff, doesn’t this activity serve several useful purposes?
-Gun fire at gas stations can lead to unexpected explosions… burning or killing the bad guys. That’s good, yea?
-And if gas stations become known as shooting galleries, maybe people will drive less and the price of gas will go down.
Besides. If the explosive column of flame and smoke does not slow down the mobsters then maybe the lethal dose of trans-fats at Tim Hortons will.
Vancouver area police are currently issuing this stern warning to gangsters, mobsters, crime wannabees and their cracked out Ho mistresses…
“Stop! Stop! Stop this incessant nonsense or we are going to park outside your home and allow journalists from Global-TV to ask embarrassing questions! So stop it already!”
Yea. That will work.
I have an idea. Eliminate this useless war on drugs. Legalize and regulate the hard stuff. And leave the unemployed gansta types to find a career in that other criminal realm…
Politics.
Move over Gordon Campell, this homey wants a piece of the action!
Cafe culture Winter 2009 marathon post number four · Saturday February 7, 2009 by colin newell
On any given day or week I might discover 1 good cafe. If it is great I might come back again – actually, even it is a little bit sexy, I will come around for another shake.
At left – Stovetop Chambourd Coffee maker from BodumUSA.Com
Today was unusual. I stopped by The Parsonage/Fernwood Coffee Roasters and Khona Coffee in the same day. Each of these is going to get a blog entry all to their own – but for the time being, I will combine them in this mini-review.
The Parsonage eatery on North Park (off of Cook Street) in Victoria has had a devoted following for over a decade (if memory serves me correctly) – for its rustic approach to food and drink.
And when business partners, Ben Cram and Rob Kettner had the opportunity to snap up the Parsonage and leave behind their old jobs… they jumped at it.
Ben is a red seal chef with a colorful and successful career anchoring local haunts like Pescatores and the Bear Mountain Resort.
Rob is a professional journalist and videographer whose skill behind the lens has taken him to Afghanistan and beyond.
(Rob and Ben) – Two very different guys with a lifetime of friendship, they appear to compliment each other. These boys grew up in Winnipeg where espresso coffee was not exactly ubiquitous – but common in this City’s Little Italy.
The backbone of the Fernwood Coffee operation is a 23kg Deidrich Roaster which rests in a space formerly occupied by a bicycle courier business. The energy here is palpable but still in development as these “brothers in coffee“ learn the ropes.
Andrew Khoo has owned (and created) Khona Coffee for 2 years. He combines a zeal for cafe culture with a mastery of fundamental business principles – to push his creation to the leading edge of the caffeinated wedge. I first visited Khona Cafe today after an over-stimulated day of cafe visiting and talk story with Mark Engels of Bubby Roses Bakery. And walking through the door (of Khona) was much like walking on stage at a rock concert… while it’s in progress. Now that’s energy!
Not satisfied to just make coffee, Andrew makes education and inspiration a primary goal – to deliver knowledge to his customers, to make it fun and to make darn sure they are getting the best product possible. Oughtred Coffee of Victoria-Vancouver provide the raw materials (single origins) and Andrew (and his uber-skilled baristi) deliver the goods in a refreshingly new way; coffee brewed in French press or Aeropress! Oh yes, and the espresso coffee can be a single origin too if you want.
I tried an espresso, an almond macchiato and an Aeropressed Sumatra: The espresso’s were single origin and the Sumatra was amazing – again, a full review is in order and will be delivered shortly.
Needless to say, I am still buzzing.
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Cafe culture Winter 2009 marathon post number three · Friday February 6, 2009 by colin newell
We drink the Kopi Luwak so you do not have to. Then again, you might want to anyway.
It is the job of the CoffeeCrew.Com writers to put their palates on the line to get the story. In an upcoming review we tackle some Island culture with our first ever Canadian review of Kava root.
Thanks go out to Kona Kava Farm on the Big Island of Hawaii for supplying us with a sample bag of some of the finest ground Kava root. Kava has been used in Fiji for 6000 years – as a social drink, as a catalyst of conversation, and part of the very fabric of Island life.
For some strange reason, in Canada, Kava is forbidden from re-sale; in Health food stores, in Herbal stores and other locations that sell tried, true and tested healthful products.
Not that I am an expert or anything – but I think it is a little odd that the Federal Government (with the backing of the Pharmaceutical industry [Big Pharma]) has stamped out Kava in this fashion.
Apparently there have been 3 cases of liver toxicity with Kava use (in Canada) – and that alone warranted the pull from the shelf order.
Liver damage eh? Doesn’t excessive consumption of beer and wine do that too?
Yea. I thought so. Anyway – stay tuned for our report.
In other news, yours truly is writing for Eat Magazine and (hopefully) will be a regular fixture in that wonderful publication.
