Tall, Blonde, and Hungry

If you're a bit lost, start  HERE Over the summer, I was supposed to do a lot of things. I was supposed to climb a mountain (yeah right), work on my writing (ditto), and go to a music festival. The music festival plan went 10 types of sideways, so instead I went to Portland for 4 days to eat my way through America's hipster capital. LET ME TELL YOU I did not want to come home. I may have cried a little upon liftoff. But before all the sadness and goodbyes, I managed to enjoy the city throughly. Rolling in on a balmy August Wednesday, the city welcomed me with open arms. The first thing I noticed about downtown Portland was that the transit system was way better than back home. (thanks Calgary) The second thing I noticed was the food carts.  In a handful of strategic spots downtown, Portland has given an entire city block over to various food carts. I'm talking tacos, shawarma, donair, kebobs, fried chicken, ramen, paleo BBQ, sushi, Cajun cuisine, donuts...

If you have no idea what the deal is, start  HERE BRUNCH! The meal between breakfast and lunch, and one of my favourite things to do EVER. I will jump on any opportunity to go to brunch.  Now, I may have mentioned it before, but I am pretty lactose intolerant. This means that I've been deprived of my most favourite brunch dish for years. But I finally found a place in Calgary that can do DAIRY FREE EVERYTHING. I repeat: DAIRY FREE EVERYTHING. Including hollandaise sauce, a sauce that traditionally is made with a butt ton of butter.  Let's dig into this beaut The Coup (Vegetarian, vegan cuisine) 924 17th Ave SW Eat In, $$*** The Poacher ( miso braised eggplant & king oyster mushrooms with 2 poached eggs on a house-made “butter” biscuit, hollandaise sauce & micro leaf served with hash browns gluten-free option: served on a dehydrated cashew, herb, bell pepper kale leaf) (Whew) $17 OH MY GOD  Eggs benedict is by far one my fa...

If you have no idea what the deal is, start  HERE Happy New Year! I took last week off, mostly because it was busy and mostly so I could wait until I went here:  Pfanntastic Pannekoek Haus  (Dutch crepe-style pancakes, both sweet and savoury, breakfast food)  Lincoln Park Shopping Centre, 2439 54 Ave SW Delivery Fee:  N/A, Eat-in Price:   $**** The Pfanntastic Pannekoek Haus  is a tiny little hole in the wall just off of Crowchild Trail, in a strip mall that includes a pizza place and yoga teacher training. I'd had a bunch of people recommend I get there early, but I rolled up at 10 (they open at 8) and was able to get a table just fine. However, when we left there was a HUGE line almost out the door. So get there early!  My pfanntastic roommate took me here and I'm so happy I finally got experience it.  Let's get to the breakfast!  Banana, Coconut and Chocolate sauce pannekoek:  a large, Dutch-style cre...

If you have no idea what the deal is, start  HERE Wellington's - Fancy-ass Food (Steak, Seafood, etc) 10325 Bonaventure Dr SE Delivery Fee: N/A, Eat-in only Price: Expensive ($30+) So it's holiday season, and for our workplace Non-Denominational Holiday Party, we all went out for Fancy dinner at this amazing little spot called Wellington's . Located on Bonaventure Drive, just by Southcentre, this place is an old style steak joint, with decor right out of the 60's but service that is out of this world. (Full disclosure: I did not pay for this meal, my delightful BossMan did). But enough about that, lets get to the main event: THE FOOD. Beef Wellington w/side of veggies and roasted potatoes- A beef tenderloin, masked with a paté de fois gras and mushroom duxelle, baked in a puff pastry shell   $39 The beefy star of the evening Oh my goodness you guys. I loved this. I have watched a lot of Hell's Kitchen over the years, so I was vaguely familiar with ...