We had to postpone Matts birthday dinner because life got in the way, so on Wednesday we met up to have pizza at Nicli. Yes, it was the four time I had been there since they opened. What can I say, they make good pizza.

I got there before Matt did, parked on the side of the street and walked to the restaurant. There was a bit of a line but nothing too bad. I could see empty tables waiting to be cleared so I knew the people in front of me would be seated shortly. I put my name down for 2 and waited quietly in the little foyer.

Moments later an older man with a long grey beard and a large wooden staff opened the door. He looked very worn down and a bit out there.  I was pretty sure this man wasn’t about to sit down and order a pizza, given the neighbourhood Nicli was in, but then again, who was I to judge.

People started to stare at him as soon as he came in and stood in line behind me. Everyone seemed to know that this man wasn’t meant to be here and was waiting to see what would happen.

He inched his way closer to me and started to mumble. I was definitely not feeling the most comfortable in the world.

The guests in front of me were seated so I moved up now standing in the restaurant. More people could see him now and were staring at us, as if I knew the old man with a long beard and wooden staff. I was pretty sure he wasn’t Jesus.

One of the young waiters came towards us smiling at me as if he knew this could get interesting. He told the old man that the manager would be right with him to find him a seat, treating him as if he was a paying customer even though it was very clear he was not. The waiter was carrying two empty wine bottles that were filled with water to one of the tables. The old man mumbled and laughed calling the waiter a drunk. It was kind of adorable.

I began to worry a little though. This man was most likely homeless and seemed to have some mental issues. I was concerned as to how the manager would deal with him. Would he kick him out, knowing that he wasn’t meant to be here? Would there be a scene? Would the man yell and get aggressive? Though I’m sure they have had to deal with homeless people and people with mental issues before, given the fact that they are located on Cordova Street, I was still concerned with how the scene was about to play out.

The manager, who is usually very serious and professional, came up to us in a playful mood. He smiled at me and asked if we were together. At this point everyone who was having dinner in our near vicinity was watching us. I smirked back at him and replied, No. It was like we were all in on the same joke. This man wasn’t supposed to be here, but we were all playing along like he was. The manager turned to the man and asked him how many people were in his party. The old man started to laugh and then mumbled something to him holding up his staff. He then quickly turned around continuing to laugh as he left the restaurant. “Is that all you had to say to me?” the manager said back to him laughing. “I can’t believe you waited that long just to say that to me!”. Everyone laughed in relief that what could have been a very confrontational interaction was instead light and playful.

The manager turned to me again laughing. “You sure he wasn’t with you?” “Haha, yes I am sure!”.

He then turned towards the other guests waiting in line taking down their information. He came back to me and said “Don’t think that I was making you wait just because I though you were with that guy. Your table will be ready shortly.” I laughed back at him. “No I didn’t think that at all!”

I was quickly seated and Matt showed up a few minutes later, missing all the entertainment.

The pizza was wonderful, as it always is. As we were leaving the manager came and opened the door for us.

“I hope dinner was good!”

“Yes, it was. Thank you!”

“Say Hi to your Dad for me!”

I looked at him puzzled. Was he being so friendly to me because he thought I was someone else?

“You know, the Wizard!”

“Bahahaha!”

“Do you think he put a good spell on me or a bad spell on me?”

“Oh, he definitely put a good spell on you!”

“Hahah, I think so too! Have a good night!”

“Haha you too!”

Amazing.

Last week Matt wanted to take me out for a belated birthday dinner. It’s a tradition we’ve had for years. We talked about a number of different restaurant was wanted to try out (there seems to be an abundance of new places to eat in this city) and we finally settled on The Bibo, recommended to us by his Mom.

Since I had never heard of or been to The Bibo before I decided to do a little investigating. I tend to stay away from reading restaurant reviews unless its by a blogger who’s opinion I value. I just find people are so quick to judge and write a bad review after only one experience. I found that to be the case with The Bibo. People left me with a bad taste in my mouth for a restaurant I was excited to try, so I decided to STOP reading and judge for myself.

We found parking right in front, which was a total bonus, and the restaurant had lots of room, which we were worried about given that it was a game day for the Canucks.

We ordered two glasses of wine, which was very good. Nero d’Avola from Branciforti, Italy.

We were served complimentary artichokes.

Matt and his hot new hair cut.

We shared a house salad which was huge. Bits of Radicchio and Buffalo Mozzarella added great flavour to it.

We ordered two pizzas and shared them. First up, Margherita Formula One.

Tomato, Buffalo Mozzarella, Basil

The cheese was so buttery and creamy, it was amazing.

Second up was the Crudo.

Mozzarella, Prosciutto di parma, Fresh Tomatoes, Arugula, Parmesan flakes

This was my favorite Pizza in Italy. I LOVE Prosciutto and Arugula.

Pizza at The Bibo was definitely good, but it was also the most expensive pizza I’ve had in this city. The Margherita was $22 and the Crudo was $20.

My heart still belongs to Nicli and their pizza, but The Bibo gets my vote for a great alternative. They had a lot more options, pizza wise, and their menu also extends into Pasta.

Price aside, I found the food to be very good.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was great. It was all open and very spacious. In the corner they play classic black and white Italian movies with subtitles. I thought that was such a neat idea. Matt and I got a front row seat! 

The two restaurant owners are also the most Italian men you will ever meet! I was totally amused watching them interact with their hand gestures and Italian words. It was like I was back in Naples!

For dessert we shared the Panna Cotta with chocolate sauce. Can you tell I am on a Panna Cotta kick? I need to try and making it again, but this time, make it work!

We had a great experience at the Bibo and it is definitely a place I would go back again. Try another type of pizza or delve into a pasta dish. I can’t wait to try more food!

Another Italian restaurant under my belt.

I totally forgot that I had pictures from last weeks dinner with Matt sitting on my camera.

His adventure of choice this time around was to hit up Havana on Commercial Drive, a 5 minute walk from my work. Score for me! I asked my co-workers if any of them had been to Havana and I got mixed reviews, so I was definitely interested to see what I would find. It is very cozy inside and I really liked the atmosphere. The patio outside was quite large so it would be fun to revisit in the Summer.

As you can tell, Matt now has a beard. Hes kind of a cross between David Suzuki, Keanu Reeves, and Johnny Depp.

Asian Hipster FTW

We ordered a bunch of appies and shared them.

First up Yams (Sweet yam fries with chipotle mayonnaise) and Tostones (Fried plantain chips with chipotle mayo and green chili mojo).The yam fries and chipotle mayo were really good. The plantains on the other hand were a bit too hard for me. I love the plantains at The Reef and was hoping these would taste the same but they didn’t. The Reef wins over Havana in the Plantain Department (if there was such a thing).

I also can’t wait until i get a DSLR so that my food pictures don’t turn out so crappy. My camera hates focusing on food :S

We shared a pitcher of Raspberry Mojitos, but lets me honest, I drank the majority of it.

Shrimp Ceviche

This was my first time ever having Ceviche and I loved it. You know how certain smells remind you of things, well, this is going to sound super bizarre, but the sweet smell of the ceviche reminded me of yyoga. I know, ridiculous right? No the ceviche did not smell like sweaty hippies, it smelled sweet and wonderful, just like yyoga does.

Ha, ok, I know, I’m crazy.

Tacos with Tuna Crudo.

Holy Mother these were amazing. Best Tacos I have ever had. The flavour of the tuna with the sauce was mind blowing.

If I was on the show Best Thing I’ve Ever Ate and I would talk about these tacos. HANDS DOWN.

Matt works with one of our old classmates Ashley. The last time I saw her was at my wedding, which was 2 1/2 years ago. Every time Matt and I go out we always talk about how we should plan a dinner with her, but then we are always too self centered to remember to do it. Hahaha just kidding. But we are pretty self centered.

 I’m glad we FINALLY all got together to chat about the old days and how different the industry is to what we expected when we graduated. I was in a really chatty mood and smothered everyone in crazy stories with over exaggerated hang gestures. It may have been the raspberry mojitos.

It was good times at Havana. I definitely want to go back for more drinks and fish tacos!

Saturday was jam packed with events. So jam packed that I am going to have to do 3 posts about it.

With three different events planned all on the same day/night, you would think that I would be over stressed and a nut case. Normally, this would be true, but since I knew Saturday was going to be busy, I just went with the flow and didn’t try to do a million things in between everything else. Sure my house was a bit of a disaster, but there was no point stressing over it. Saturday was actually quite fun and relaxing

Matt invited our Moms over for lunch, Asian style. It’s been forever since I’ve seen him Mom, especially since he doesn’t live at home any more.

I kind of forgot all the things we use to do together and all the projects we undertook and sleep over movie night parties we had. It just seemed like ages ago. Reminiscing with our Moms really reminded me how much I love my friendship with  Matt. We had so many amazing times. We need to have more, even though our lives are crazy busy.

Matt did all the work, with a little help from his Mom. He is quite the foodie, one of the thinks I love most about him.

Omg the gourmet midnight snacks he use to make when I slept over were amazing.

We had chicken soup with noodles, been sprouts, and green onions. Then we added BBQ Duck, Pork, and 3 different types of dumplings.

I was SO full by the end of it, but it was amazing. I expect nothing less from Matt.

Matt served us  Tea in his Grandmothers tea pot. The most beautiful tea pot I have ever seen.

I kind of keep Matt’s Grandmother close to my heart, even though I never met her. It was actually her sudden passing that bonded Matt and I together. I will never forgot it. It meant a lot to me that I was able to be there for him.

Sometimes I like to think that she brought us together.

I think everyone had a pretty good time catching up.

Everyone chatted about what was new and exciting in their life. My Mom is good at doing that, but I never got the gene.

Every time someone asks me what I’ve been up to, or whats new, I always stare at them clueless. I mean, I am busy all the time, but I don’t really know with what. I clean a lot, I like to organize, I spend a lot of time checking things out online, I spend countless hours taking, editing, and uploading photos, and I have a fashion blog that I’m too embarrassed to talk about it. I don’t know, I guess I’m not good when it comes to talking about myself, which is funny because I have a blog that is based on my life. Clearly I am just a bad conversationalist.

I think I have a mental block. I can talk about every aspect of my life on here because if people want to read, then they read, if they don’t want to read, then they don’t read, and I am none  the wiser and can’t get offended. But in person, I guess I’m scared of talking about myself and my life and getting rejected while doing so, which is kind of silly now that I think about it.

I guess, in all honesty, if someone asks me whats new, or what I’ve been doing, I should mentally refer back to my blog and actually talk about what I’ve been doing, instead of standing there like a loser. ‘Oh, well we went to Hop Scotch last week, that was fun!’

Anyways, do you like how I had to type this all out just so I could get my thoughts straight? Thanks for being my shrink for the last 5 minutes!

So, what I’m trying to say is, it was an excellent lunch, despite my social skills!

I went to dinner with Yves Saint Laurent on Tuesday.

The hostest was somewhat rude. She made us move because we were apparently taking up too much space (a booth for 4 instead of 2).

She has bleach stains on the front of her dress and yellow stains on the back of her dress. Did you look in the mirror this morning?

My face is very rectangular.

Shaz

Legendary Noodle House. My favorite noodle house of all time.

My first Ice Cream Cone of the Summer. Sad but true. Just wait until I hit Italy. Ice Cream every day please!

I always go to the Noodle House on Denmen which is basically two feet from English Bay.

I really love English Bay.

Everything was very Yellow.

It’s so peacful being down here in the evening.