We attended the first game Bomber game of the season at Investors Group Field with a guest from the United States.  She has lived in Boston, Philadelphia and New York and is an avid sports fan.  D and I expected to be impressed when we first walked into the stadium building and we were not disappointed.  We were frankly very surprised to see how excited our guest was.  She “oohed” and “ahhed” as we climbed up to the main concourse and she insisted that we take a lap around the venue to experience the entire building (and scope out what we wanted to choose for supper that evening). 

As we made our circuit, we passed the venues that are run by the stadium itself-The First Down, The Huddle, Grid Iron Grill and the Rum Hut.  The line up at “Shawarma Khan in a Snap” attests to the popularity of Obby Khan’s Middle Eastern sandwich and his reputation as a former Winnipeg Blue Bomber.  I have yet to visit his city restaurant or the concession, but as we are huge shawarma fans, this will definitely occur over the summer.

We also spied the Salisbury House, Pizza Hotline and our favourite: Burrito Splendido.  We split up and headed to three different concessions, when we had finally made up our minds. 

It tasted better than this photo looks.

The Butter Chicken Poutine caught my eye.  The fries were pretty good and the butter chicken topping was VERY good. 

D is originally from Minnesota and has fond memories of ordering bratwursts at Vikings games so he immediately knew that we wanted. He was very impressed with Winnipeg’s version. 

Our guest was tempted by the grilled beef station that she compares to a delicacy of western New York State called Beef on Weck.  She thought that the original version might be hard to top so opted instead for the pulled pork at Danny’s Whole Hog Barbeque.  She was duly impressed by her quick supper and simply everything else that she experienced on game day.  In our minds, we have first hand confirmation that Investor’s Group Field is a world-class sports and entertainment facility. 

For our second chance at seeing the Bombers in action, we were invited to the Winnipeg Free Press Suite which was an even sweeter experience.  When we arrived there were enormous chicken wings waiting for us, as well as pulled pork mini buns.  Later in the evening Pizza Hotline individual pizzas arrived.  The suites are well equipped, luxurious and provide the best seat in the house.  We were at Centre line with enough elevation not to miss a play. Way to go Bombers!

Kath’s quote: “The reason women don’t play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public”.-Phyllis Diller

Love-that is all.

My niece, who is a restaurant expert in her own right, knows that I am constantly on the quest to find authentic Mexican, but more specifically Mayan cuisine, in Winnipeg.  Not only am I drawn to clean, fresh flavours of this healthy way of eating but the tastes transport me (via my imagination) to summer time or, as I consider myself blessed to be able to say-my annual sojourn to Isla Mujeres.  So when she told me that a really great, little Mexican restaurant called Burrito Splendido had opened on west Portage (A4-3380 in Westwood to be precise), I had to put it on my “must try” list.

When we pulled up, I thought that we must have come to the wrong address because from the outside, I thought it was a sub place.  It definitely has a “fast food” look to the place.  And then I thought, well why not, as tacos and burritos are fast food, meant to be consumed like a hamburger on the run or for a quick meal.  They even had our favourite brand of Mexican fruit soft drinks.

The pair of fish tacos that I chose was quite petite as compared to my husband’s hearty burrito.  In three chomps one was done and yet the portion size is consistent with our times in the Yucatan.  With most meals a little package of the same sized corn tortillas will come to the table so that you can scoop up from your plate and blend the flavours for each bite.  Each bite of the taco, sparkled with cilantro, shredded lettuce, crunchy cabbage, queso fresco (which I didn’t even know that you could purchase in Manitoba), a well-prepared pico de gallo and one of my favourite tastes in all the world-pickerel.  I was one happy camper.

But then to my husband’s chagrin, I started eyeing up his burrito.  Everything the taco had not been, the burrito was-hearty, substantial and bursting with chicken, rice, beans and shredded cheese.  Once all of your selections are spooned into a customized bowl at the serving counter, it is then edged onto a whole wheat tortilla and folded together but then (and I think this is the key), it gets put into the arms of a big, hot griddle to seal the edges and just begin the melding process of the ingredients.

So do not be surprised when you arrive at Burrito Splendido, yes you have arrived at a “fast” food restaurant, but it is so much more.

I got an email from the owner Ken Livingstone this afternoon.  We have one of those small world connections as he and my niece worked together at the now defunct Pasta la Vista restaurant (I still yearn for one of their dishes called “That Ole Black Magic”).  Years ago, my niece and Ken’s wife traveled around the world together.  He took the opportunity to tell me more about his restaurant’s commitment to quality:

“Our cheese (that I didn’t know could be purchased in Winnipeg), is made in house daily. It`s super simple. I also wanted to let you know that we stay local where and when possible, our pork, beef, chicken and pickerel, for our fish tacos, are all local. The organic flour for our whole wheat and white tortillas also comes from Manitoba.”

I am sure that this great little place will do well as it is discovered by foodies and Mexican food lovers alike.

Kath’s quote: “I don’t like to eat snails. I prefer fast food.”-Roger von Oech

Love-that is all.