Growing it for Cancer research - Movember - Pledge please! · Monday November 1, 2010 by colin newell
Fine facial hair and immaculate grooming doesn’t grow on trees. It grows on my face if I neglect it long enough.
And I have never been big on whiskers – hard enough keeping them follicles brewing on my head. But for the benefit of taking one for the team – and taking steps to promote Men’s Health – I have joined the UVic Systems Movember Team.
Photo right: A picture of my rugged mug from last year before an asteroid from the Van Allen belt rendered me hideous…
Cool. Finally an excuse to give up daily grooming and give prostate cancer a solid wallop in the nether regions.
So. If you are a fan of the Coffeecrew blog and want to keep the love coming… dig deep and toss a couple of sheckles in the direction of my chin dreads.
Please, please… pretty please?
Please donate to My Movember Team
The boys and I will be glad you did!
Goat on!
Fall fun Food and Follies in Victoria B.C. 2010 # 4 Lip Dub UVic · Saturday October 23, 2010 by colin newell
My school!
Fall fun Food and Follies in Victoria B.C. 2010 chapter 3 Stone Cold · Wednesday October 13, 2010 by colin newell
I have a rule that I almost never break.
Writing reviews of cafes or restaurants shall never revert to stone age nit picking, whining or saber rattling rants.
Unless a couple of things come up during said cafe or restaurant visit.
And ironically, a restaurant I recently reviewed for EAT Magazine… Browns Social House, broke one of my golden rules in food service.
There are two such rules that cannot be broken.
Raw food that is dangerous when raw. Like chicken or pork.
And cold food that should be hot. That is colder than room temperature. Because that I cannot forgive.
While having a late lunch on Monday (after returning from a glorious weekend at Point No Point cabins), we stopped into Browns Social House for a quick bite; a blackened halibut burger (with fries) for me and a “flat bread” Pizza called the Royale with Cheese for Andrea.
The sandwich was good and as described: Blackened, spicy and thermally hot. The fries, on the other hand, were stone cold. Colder than room temperature… which was utterly remarkable and unacceptable.
Andrea’s flat bread was haphazardly thrown together – a flat bread with chunks of ground meat, sauce and cheese – a burned black on the bottom. Pity. It all could have been done right and these 2 offenses should have never left the kitchen.
Perhaps I have been watching Chef Ramsay and Hell’s Kitchen too much but really… when you think about it, if the chef does not care enough about the obvious details, like hot food, what the heck else is going on in the more subtle areas of preparation?
Anyway. In the end I got a plate of sizzling hot fries (that had not been fully drained of grease) and were way hotter than most people would get. There was no comp other than a “our fries are great and, by the way, sorry about that…”
Unacceptable.
Browns Social House in Victoria will now be on the blocked list for the next indefinite period until they can get their crap together.
Meantime, we now have the Atrium, Zambri’s, PIG BBQ and Al’s Organic Cafe to check out.
Comments please?
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Fall fun food and follies in Victoria B.C. 2010 chapter 2 · Monday October 11, 2010 by colin newell
For starters, I have twitter to blame for a dearth of activity around here. Damn you, you insatiable Sea Gull with a bottomless appetite for my most trivial thoughts! Never pleased with the amount of witty wrist shots I tap out! Well, I am done! Almost…
Big news in the Victoria area is the gradual opening of the Atrium Complex at the corners of Douglas, Yates and Johnson with Zambri’s taking the lead, followed by A.J.‘s Organic Cafe, PIG BBQ Joint and (for me) the most hotly anticipated coffee event in the last year…
The opening of HABIT COFFEE AND CULTURE # 2.
The Atrium, designed and built by the imaginative Jawl Properties, has fundamentally changed the game downtown – and folks, this is not the latest tourist trap area. This new infusion caters to the neighborhood – and what a splash folks! What a splash.
Andrea and I popped into the new HABIT and the Atrium after returning from a wonderful cabin get-away to Jordan River (Point no Point cabins) and had our breath taken away. An ebullient Shane Devereaux held court behind one of the brightly colored La Marzocco espresso-cappuccino machines and poured flawless latte art while we chatted for a few seconds.
Shane humbly reminded me that “this” was a collaborative effort when I suggested that his new digs fundamentally shifted the downtown Victoria vibe. And so it is. Peter Zambri (and his crew) and Shane’s collective (and others) have brought some magic to Victoria like nothing I have seen in the last 25+ years. I am excited… big time. And I hope my readers get down there soon.
One of the things (another blog perhaps) that I notice are the number of colleagues at the University (where I work) that claim to have not been downtown in years. This shocks me. The things that makes a city alive, well and healthy are people and healthy commerce. Claiming that there are too many social ills or no parking in our gem of a town is utterly lame. Sure. Go ahead. Do all your business at a corporate Mall or, God forbid… Walmart. But be prepared to pay the price.
Anyway. Rant off.
The Atrium on Yates is utterly spectacular and an incredible architectural wonder. Give it a week or so and come on down. It will be worth it!
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