Vancouver Brunch – The Omelettry

June 4th, 2010 by donna

At 6th and Granville, I’ve been meaning to check out this place for a while – I keep hearing great reviews – but every time I check it out on the weekends, the lineups are so big that I just give up. On a Thursday morning however, I was able to walk right in and get a table for me and a friend.

I was skeptical that it would actually live up to the hype though, as I’ve been disappointed at every other Vancouver brunch place I’ve tried that has a huge following (e.g., Cafe Zen, Barney’s). The hype/crowds tend to spoil it in my experience, jacking up prices and allowing the staff to get away with lesser quality service – geting by on the fumes of a good rep.

Not so, with The Omelettry! Classy presentation, prompt smiling service (my coffee was constantly topped off), and there was nothing that I saw come out of the kitchen that I didn’t get really excited about trying on my next visit. Oh yes, there will be a next visit.

I ordered “The 1306″ – an omelet with mixed wild mushrooms and cheese, and opted to have grilled tomatoes on the side in place of toast. Omelets are a tricky thing to do well, but the eggy bit was done to perfection – cooked through, but not a hint of brown, thin and delicate but not torn/broken. And jam-packed with delicious filling. With a glass of freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice (I highly recommend it), this brunch hit the spot.

Oh and the twist of orange served on the side was subtly spiced with clove. Nice touch!

"The 1306" - wild mushroom and cheese omelet

My friend ordered “The Da Vinci” – an omelet packed with chorizo, feta, tomato, and spinach – and was equally pleased.

Just great. Can’t wait to go back!

Times New Roman vs. Helvetica

June 2nd, 2010 by donna

Found up by a cash register at a UBC coffee shop. Clever.

Naturally.

Mother’s Day Macros

May 10th, 2010 by donna

For Mother’s Day this year, I made a springtime-inspired meal; ingredients included strawberries, lamb, asparagus, rhubarb, and mint. Completed with carefully-selected red and white wine-pairings, and fresh lilac flowers from the garden.  ; )

Pictures taken with a Canon EOS 5D camera + macro lens.

gewurztraminer-riesling glow spinach red-onion poppyseed roasted pecan strawberry salad goodnesstexturespringtime colourslovely pouryum a gorgeous chateauneuf-de-pape pairs wonderfully with lambcharmedburgundy from Burgundy lovely lilacsmore springtime coloursfrangelico specialty coffee with dessert

Machinarium FTW

March 18th, 2010 by donna

My previous post was about an artist who goes by Floex for his personal compilations, and Tomas Dvorak for his soundtrack work. In researching his other work, I came across a puzzle-adventure game called Machinarium (try the free demo here), for which he did the soundtrack.

love love

Love. Love everything about it. For so many reasons. Concept, aesthetic, music, intrigue, cuteness, robots. Love.

Floex – Com

March 17th, 2010 by donna

Not only do I think this track is wonderful and unique – one of my all-time favourite ambient-electronic tracks – but the composer, a Czech named Tomas Dvorak (a.k.a. Floex) is also a musician and graphic artist. My kind of awesome.

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A charged build-up set against a steady drone releases into a free-floating and energetic melody. Then the breakbeat comes in, followed by a changing chordal landscape and climbing melody that takes you on a trip. It’s clean, other-worldy, emotive, and refreshing.

Off his album Pocustone. Other tracks from the album are also extremely sweet and worth checking out, like Phi_Log (somewhat reminds me of Bonobo’s work, dark, rich, and oh so smooth) and Pointilice.

It’s great to see that Floex actually gets some solid google hits now. I’ve known this track for years, happily stumbled upon from a somafm.com streamrip, but even just last year, you could barely find this track or anything about the artist online.

The Samples – Birth Of Words

March 15th, 2010 by donna

Reggae beat, pure-tone alto vocals, feel-good chords, bright timbre, and heavy on the reverb. The sound of happy, from 1989.

(Best part at 3:29.)

Lovely Swirls

February 24th, 2010 by donna

Inviting steamy swirls, crisp reflective patterns, and perfect starry glints, spotted at a nearby table, captured my imagination at Cafe Zucchero yesterday morning.

Almost too perfect.

Andre Michelle’s Tonematrix: Delightful!

February 9th, 2010 by donna

Playful, cute, inspiring, happy-making. A must-try musical internet toy!

Check it out here.

I recommend holding down your mouse button while scribbling wildly all over the grid; like splattering paint, only with notes.

Just one of the many sparkly gems on his site, too. Enjoy!

Photo Class

February 5th, 2010 by donna

8-second nighttime exposure of this backyard character using a fixed 50mm Nikkor lens on my Nikon D60.  f1.8 = love!

Lyric-Inspired Scribbles

January 28th, 2010 by donna

tick, tock…a sudden cuckoo