On our second to last full day, D has walked into town. We are working out some logistics about paying for this year, booking next year and where we want to eat our last meals and see our last glimpses of the sea.

A rare photo of me. I am usually the one holding the camera.

We love the Caribbean side of the island. If we were ever able to stay some place long term, it would have to have at least a glimpse of the water.

I especially enjoy looking at this home where you can see the water right through the house.

The colours that Lo Lo painted her home have always been my favourite.

We had a long and lovely cart ride through Colonias so that I could take some last photos and then home for reads, hammock time and amazing left overs from Angelo’s.

Our progressive dinner (we do one every year) commenced early with a booze delivery to Javi’s and sampling their fried asparagus which was fantastic.

Next stop was Mininoes for Camaroon Soup. Also delicious.

The sunset from their second floor was sensational.

From Mininoes we walked into Centro to decide on our next course.

Do I love blue because it is the colour of the Caribbean or because it is the colour of my Love’s eyes?

We enjoyed entrees of fish cakes and drunken noodles with shrimp at Asia Caribe. Unfortunately the light was not complimentary to my photo taking. Suffice it to say, they were delicious to see and eat!

We were too full to sample their amazing desserts but ended sharing churros as we strolled “home” to the airport strip. Our island time was almost at an end.

Kath’s quote: “If you come home as happy as you leave, you have had a good vacation“. -Unknown

Love never fails.

Up for another glorious sunrise and then off to pick up Boo and the Frenchman for 8 am. We must have been early because we managed to get them onto the 8 am ferry.

Afterwards we toodled around for breakfast fixings to no avail so we had our yoghurt especiale.

After zooming around the island some more, to see if Bruja was open, we ended up having lunch a Q Brava. Delicious and cheap cubano mixto totas.

In between the day was filled with shelling, reading, napping, etc.

D made amazing pina cooladas for Happy Hour Part 1, then we headed to playa sol for a lengthy sunset with wine.

We may have had a little bit too much to drink for D got his foot stuck between the brake and accelerator of the golf cart. Turns out he was able to pop the cart that we ran into’s headlight back into place without a mark-whew.

We tried Rubens for dinner and when it was closed for a first anniversary party, we ended up at Angelo’s for fruita de mare pizza and pasta (photos were out of focus, I confess).  As I have said before, Angelo’s equals our meals in Italy.  We headed home and tried to watch the Winnipeg Jets’ game but we were too pooped so it was lights out.

Kath’s quote: “Pasta doesn’t make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat”. -Giada De Laurentiis

Love never fails.

In our minds (that is my husband D and mine), we love the gift of an experience rather than a physical gift. Recently our son and his wife, dubbed J1 and J2 in this space, decided that D and I deserved a “thank you” gift. Since they share our love of experiences, they put the wheels into motion for a thank you evening. Remember that I (the Momma), equates food with love. What do you think our gift was?

J1 had four very special restaurants in mind and one of them we had never visited and had always wanted to. A 8 pm reservation was secured at Close Company. They also wanted to kick off the evening with a happy hour (a family tradition) so they picked us up at 6:30 and we found ourselves at another place we had never visited-The Roost on Corydon. As we ascended the stairs, it really did feel as if we were entering a roost. We had a peak out the sliding glass windows to the outdoor patio and know that we will return when the weather is fair to sit among the leaves and birds.

The Roost is a cozy spot with a sloped ceiling that is typical of 100 year old homes in Winnipeg. We sat at the bar so we could watch the Bartender in action. She had an array of ingredients to choose from.

I had never seen so many bottles of bitters in my life. And she certainly knew how to shake that cocktail shaker! We spent a very long time enjoying the craft cocktail menu.

J1 and D both decided upon a special that was black in colour from the addition of charcoal. J2 had a Bathtub Gin which must have also been a special as I don’t see it on their current menu. I am actually not prone to cocktails and selected my stand by of a glass of red wine.

These lovely premise pickles held our hunger at bay until it was time to scouch along to keep our reservation.

And now it is confession time….

• This fabulous dinner was scheduled just before Christmas. Since then we have celebrated Christmas three times, put the Christmas decor away for the year, traveled to Mesa Arizona for a family wedding and traveled to Lisbon and the Algarve of Portugal as well as Seville Spain. In fact, I just returned from Toronto this morning. I am saying all this as defense because so much has happened between then and now, that the circumstances are not crystal clear.
• and….I may have had a little too much to drink that special evening.

But without further adieu, Close Company.

I loved everything about the little spot, the moment we stepped through the door. The ambience was more like entering someone’s home rather than a business. The service was equally warm and hospitable and we relaxed and enjoyed the evening of sips, tastes and chatter.

J1 knew the chef and so we didn’t really order. We just let the chef know that were excited and willing to taste everything.

First up was Torched Tuna. The tuna itself was satiny and flavourful. The biggest surprise were the clever smoked jalapeños. The cure brought out the peppers’ inherent smoky flavours and eliminated any of the uncomfortable fiery ones. Priding myself on being a French Fry aficionado, I loved the fingerling potato chips.

I swooned when the Parisienne Gnocchi arrived at the table. Gnocchi must be prepared delicately and simply and this was- with the thinnest of mushrooms, white wine and butter and a soft “snowfall” of hand grated parmesan.

I am not precisely sure what makes these meatballs Moroccan. Perhaps it is the spiciness of the tomato sauce or perhaps the inclusion of both feta and mint, but I am pretty sure that I could eat those meatballs every day for the rest of my life.

By this time I was ready to cry “Uncle” but the food kept coming. Chef had gone off the menu to prepare us his rendition of Christmas dinner.

These gorgeous discs of loveliness were achieved by de-boning an entire chicken, pressing it back together again and then cooking it in a cloth (torchon) that holds it in place. It was rich and moist and you might never wanted to eat a plain old roasted chicken again.

The poultry was accompanied by these fingers of mandatory Christmas dressing. So very good.

Now here is where I am relying on memory… blanched asparagus topped crème fresh. The crunch of the toasted nuts enhanced both and it was a stellar little dish.

Of course, no celebratory dinner is complete without dessert and so we shared and loved the citrus tart (imagine your Mom’s lemon meringue pie).

Dinner from start to finish was perfection: the food, the libations, the ambience, the sharing of plates and of course, the gift itself.

Kath’s quote: “Food is a language of care, the thing we do when traditional language fails us, when we don’t know what to say, when there are no words to say.”- Shauna Niequist

Love never fails.

2017 has been another exceptional year of Winnipeg Dining. I was recently at the Food Bloggers Canada conference which highlighted the adventures of two bloggers and their trip across Canada. When asked what their biggest surprise was, they quickly answered “Winnipeg-the food scene is amazing there”!

Ethnic restaurants still abound, especially in Winnipeg’s West End where I enjoyed Mercadito Latino,

Halong Bay,

Sushi Cushi,

and Nhu Quynh.

I revisited old favourites like the Falafel Place on Corydon,

Olympia Diner on west Portage Ave. ,

East India Company on York,

Piazza di Nardi on Taylor

and The Cottage Bakery on Pembina.

Visiting new (or relatively new) restaurants kept me busy and satiated: Bermax Caffe + Bistro on Corydon

Saddlery on Market,

Beet Happening on Notre Dame

and Harth Pizza and Wine Bar on south St. Anne’s Road.

The burgeoning craft brewery scene had me loving the fare at One Great City,

Brazen Hall and

and KYU Grill at The Commom at The Forks. I have the newest brewery on my “must try” list: I understand that Timmy Tom’s Pizzeria at The Trans Canada Brewing Company is in the running for the best pizza in the city.

Across the Board was in a category on its own where you can sup on carefully made food while you play a board game from their inventory of hundreds.

There were a number of delightful surprises for me in 2017: 1) The amazing Ruben and hand cut fries at the Diner’s Grill in a St. Boniface Industrial Park

2) Black Garlic Linguine with arugula and parmesan at Crème D’Essence in another Industrial Park (Inkster)

3) The modern dishes rooted in First Nation Foods of pickerel and bannock at The Feast Café Bistro

4) the unique atmosphere and premise-made delights at Caked with Love

and last but nowhere near least 5) the restaurant and butcher shop that is Boucher Bouchee. With their focus on local, small-farm, sustainable meat & artisanal local goods, they represent exactly what surprised my trans Canada trekking blogger friends.

Kath’s quote: “Going to a restaurant is one of my keenest pleasures. Meeting someplace with old and new friends, ordering wine, eating food, surrounded by strangers, I think is the core of what it means to live a civilised life”. -Adam Gopnik

Love never fails.

I think that I have dined in each of the restaurants that have been located in the former bank building at Lilac and Corydon Ave. It started with Gluttons where the private banquet room was reserved in my honour for a special birthday party ending with a zero. I was delighted when Mise made a go of it. I loved their “Angel Hair Pasta with Grilled Vegetables, Roasted Red Peppers, Concasse Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese, Pickled Eggplant, Wilted Greens and Artichoke Hearts” and then Ripe Bistro’s latke fries.

As soon as I entered the newest manifestation-Aurora Pizzeria & Café, I was greeted by good friends who indicate that they are at the Café every single morning for what they claim is the best cappuccino in the city. There were more accolades from the Italian couple sitting behind us in the dining room. They indicated that the food was exceptional because it was authentic Italian food-simple ingredients well prepared. The owner Giuliano took care of us himself. He shared that he is from a community close to Rome in Italy and that he had only been in Canada a handful of years. His English was very good. But we would have made our choice known to him even if we had to stand on our heads! We were hungry and so looking forward to this treat.

First order of business were our wine selections. I chose a Sangovese & Merlot blend that suited me just fine.

One of my lunch dates selected a fusilli topped with rapini, sausage and pepperoncino.

Another settled on the spaghetti carbonara with pancetta, romano cheese and eggs.

I decided to go with the lasagna alla Bolognese. As we simultaneously tasted our dishes, we all emitted a similar sound that was something like a groan.

I was surprised that the lasagna did not have the promised white sauce but in truth the red sauce was so fine that I was content. It is a good thing that the sauce was stellar because there were only two other ingredients-6 layers of delicate lasagna noodles with a ground meat in between each layer. No ricotta, no mozzarella and still it might have been one of the best lasagnas I have ever tasted (except perhaps when I have dined in Italy).

When the enormous portion was placed in front of me, I cut it into two and decided to eat one half and take the other half to my husband for his dinner. Unfortunately for my ever-patient husband, he never did get a taste because I could not stop eating half way. Instead, one of my friends and I have decided to return with both our husbands to try something else on the menu.

We sat in a space that was to the side of the main room, kitchen and bar. It is simply decorated with lots of natural light flooding in through the west facing windows. Since we had the owner taking care of us himself, the service was perfect. Giuliano did not rush us at all and was more than patient when we couldn’t stop chatting long enough to give him our order.

Aurora Pizzeria & Café is located at 842 Corydon Ave. at the corner of Corydon and Lilac St. They are open from 9 am until 11 pm daily except Friday and Saturdays when they close at 2 am. Check with them directly for their holiday hours.

Kath’s quote: “No dish in history has as many variations, colors, motifs, tastes, textures and subtleties as a dish of pasta.”  ― Marc Vetri, Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pasta, Gnocchi, and Risotto    

Love never fails.