Yann Haute Patisserie

Hard to miss this sunny abode

I was excited to hang out with one of my oldest and best friends on Wednesday evening. She just had the most beautiful baby girl and was making me dinner so I decided to pick up some Parisian treats for dessert. I have been hearing a lot about Yann Boutique Patisserie at 329 23rd Avenue SW, next to Mercato on 4th Street really, and was craving meself some macaroons! I haven't had good macaroons since Paris and have been dying for some correct preparations and unique flavors. Yann had all that and more! Everything from specialty meats, sandwiches, foie gras in a jar?, to tarts and pastries- I was in the right place! I decided on a half dozen order of macaroons for $11 and purchased a decorative box that is a yellow cylinder for $4 so $15 total. Not bad for the time and effort required to make these bad boys. Here are some photos!

The shop itself had stark white walls with Parisian trinkets that really gave the shop a boutique feel. It was smaller than I expected inside as the main floor is broken into a few parts but it smelled delicious.

More Parisian delights!

Ham & brie tarts and pastries of all sorts.

A profiterole statue! (aka cream puffs)

Foie gras in a jar, pates and sandwiches.

Pates, sandwiches, Perrier, specialty meats

YuM! I ordered black current & violet, raspberry chocolate, PB & J, Irish coffee (my favorite!), hazelnut, rose & lychee and lavender. So damn good!

I ordered this gift box for 6. There was also one for 4 in the same shape. (from Yann's website)

Oh yes. Love the use of gold leaf to make it seem even fancier!

My bebe Grace!!! LOVE HER! She is sooo cute.

In loveeee..... :)

Sumo Lounge

I haven't been to Sumo Lounge in Eau Claire for a long time and when a girlfriend suggested it on Wednesday I was pumped to check it out again. Sumo was one of my first sushi experiences complete with a floating sushi bar and huge sushi boats meant for sharing. I have fond memories of it. I like that Sumo has great sushi combos to share and a variety of sushi combinations such as "spicy combo", sashimi/nigiri and boats of all different varieties. It was really busy on Wednesday and we were lucky to snatch at spot at the sushi bar to take in all of the action. They also have a small front terrace facing the inside of the mall and a large outdoor patio which is rare for a sushi restaurant. They sure were pumping the fish out of that kitchen and it was the best sushi I have ever had there. A busy sushi place- is a good sushi place. You don't want fish that has been sitting around waiting for customers- fish flying out of the kitchen is more like it! We were in the mood for everything on the menu and left a bit too full but here is what we stuffed ourselves with:

Best shrimp tempura I have had in a while. Really crispy and flavorful. $8

Miso soup with lots of tofu num num.

18 pc Spicy Roll Combo to share.. Wish there were some dynamite rolls or volcano sauce instead of just salmon, tuna and snapper mixed with spicy ingredients. I think this menu item could use some unique rolls as well.

smoked salmon, red snapper and white tuna belly sashimi followed by a special scallop in a cucumber cup!

Special scallop in a cucumber cup! Unique, fresh and delicioussss!

I personally can't stand these little bastards.. We didn't order these I just had to post a photo.. If I go for sushi with you and you ask me to order "CUCUMBER ROLLS" I will tell you to GFY. BORING. That is all :)

My WeEkEnD...

May long has forever been one of my favorite weekends of the entire year and this wild weekend was no exception. Instead of heading to our usual camping spot in Salmon Arm we were invited to a 30th birthday bash at a beautiful cabin right on the Shuswap. This cabin was recently redone with two brand new ovens, dishwashers and BBQ's. Perfect party palace! We had a really great turn out and a LOT of fun.. I don't have many pictures of the first day when we were all dressed in 80's gear as it was a wild one.. But here are some highlights of our trek out to BC that I did capture including a fun night in Golden for the first night with just James and I. Hope you all had a great long weekend as well. Shouldn't EVERY weekend be a 3 day?!

Random night at our motel in Golden- the Pinecrest Inn. I highly recommend it! Yes- there was another bed and the room room was super clean and complete with a kitchenette. We drank some vino and had ourselves a dance party.

Happy to be relaxing after a busy week.

Beautiful bridge in downtown Golden. Nature walk time!

On Saturday morning we headed to Legendz Diner for breakfast. I was dressed in some funky gear so we got a lot of odd stares from the locals but the food was great and it was pretty hilarious decor. The menu features a ton of diner food including pizza which is supposed to be great. We stuck to breaky.

What is a diner meal without a milkshake? Strawberry for me Yum!

James chose the bacon and egg special of the day. Look how crispy and delicious the bacon was! MmMm and I love home cut hash browns. SO much better than frozen! James loved this meal for $8.99

Eggless Andies had a tough time finding something to eat that didn't contain eggs. Of course I wanted eggs benny but settled on the cinnamon bun and side of fruit. The homemade cinnamon bun was toasted on the grill which was SO good. It had the perfect amount of icing and cinnamon even though it looks a bit dry. The cup of fruit was mainly melon though which is always a pet peeve of mine. Blech.

Beautiful BC. Snow peaks looking so soft!

Day 2! Breakfast on the beach. HA!

Ugh no wonder I am still recovering from the weekend....

Beach lounging with some cuties

Love this one of James

Friends old and new :)

Stay away from Uncle Matt ;) .. This def made me want a bambino!

Dinner! One of those $100 striploins butchered from Costco. James was manning the BBQ this night and I was the sous chef. YuMmmM.

Some fungi with garlic and butter.

All in all an awesome weekend all around. Thanks guys!

Black Betty Burger & Winebar

There have been so many funky burger joints opening up in Calgary lately and I can't wait to check them out! Black Betty Burger & Winebar actually opened in place of Sociale at 606 1st Street SW recently and I was sad to see Sociale close. I thought it was a great restaurant with awesome specials and great happy hour prices. I like the Black Betty Burger & Winebar concept... Gourmet burgers, a great wine menu and other offerings such as flatbread, avocado tempura with crab etc. I wouldn't say it is the most reasonable place around and found the menu a bit overpriced but all in all our food was pretty good... There were about 4 things that they were completely out of though so I will have to go back for the avocado tempura! We went along with a lot of the waitresses suggestions and here is what we noshed on last Friday:

Shrimp dumplings... Probably the best shrimp dumplings I have ever had! The reason is the shrimp filling were actual prawns and not shrimp paste so you got a big mouthful of shrimp with each bite. On the bottom is a zigzag of Sriracha so you get a hit of spice and the sesame dipping sauce cooled your mouth off. I am craving these again...

We couldn't decide on a burger so we split the trio of sliders to get a feel for each flavor. From left to right the original Betty with lettuce, tomato and bacon which was good but pretty basic, my favorite: the elk burger in the middle with blue cheese and garlic on top *DROOL*, and on the right a lamb burger with yogurt and cucumber. This trio was $15.

Close up! Go for Elk... MmmMm ELK! I liked that it was almost crispy on the outside of the patty and soft and juicy inside so there was a nice crust to bite through.

Red velvet cake for dessert. Very moist and delicious.

 I will be back for the avocado tempura and the elk burger! They also had a few steaks on the menu, flatbread, sandwiches and other dishes so there is definitely more than just burgers offered.

RUSH

We had a business lunch at RUSH on Wednesday so I only managed to sneak a few photos of my meal but we all chose the three course lunch tasting menu for $25 which I found really reasonable for what we got. I personally have always really enjoyed RUSH even though it has taken some flak for being pretentious or "over the top" in the past. It was the busiest I have ever seen it at lunch this week and I hope that means it is doing well! It needs to for all of that fancy shmancy decor and service they provide on 9th Avenue and 1st Street SW. I really enjoyed my meal and the effort put into each dish. Here is what we had:

What is a business lunch without some liquid?

The choices were between soup or salad for a starter so I chose the salad with a goat cheese croquette (fried goat cheese essentially) which was SO yummy. The boys chose mushroom soup as a starter which was really nicely pureed and smooth.. kinda wishing I would have got that but I had to try the goat cheese croquette.

You have your choice between "carve" or "roast" for the entree and I chose carve! This is the striploin with a wasabi crust and the best part of my entire meal- potato latkes-esque, roti piece of heaven. OMG this potato thing was flavorful that was obviously fried in butter with herbs and perfect seasoning and crispness on the outside. Yum! Our meal also had a bit of asparagus. My only complaint is that it was more medium than medium rare in preparation but still pretty tender. I am Albertan tho- it wasn't bleeding dammit!

Trio of sweets for dessert. Heavenly chocolate ganache on the left with fizzy Pop Rocks inside, cherry sorbet in the middle and a lemon curd with pretty meringue on top. Perfect way to end a great lunch. Thanks again RUSH! 

Bonterra Trattoria

Considering it was +29 degrees in Calgary on Tuesday.. I wanted to hit a patio! My usual downtown go-to was busy so I kidnapped one of my co-workers to hit up one of the most beautiful patios in Calgary- Bonterra Trattoria located at 1016 8th Street SW. We arrived at around 11:45 and the patio was nearly packed. We managed to snag a seat amongst other business diners and the birds fluttering in to the birdbaths and shrubs on the patio:

Terrace complete with a wood burning fire in the corner, heat lamps and little trees. Love this cozy patio.

Cute signs with KMs to Italy and different cities!

Breadsticks with olive oil and olive tapenade. So flavorful!

For a starter we split the arancini which is balls of risotta with wild mushroom in this case for $9 and it come with a lemon rosemary dipping sauce. Mmm this is a traditional dish from Italy they did with leftover risotto.

Inside view with pea shoots and Grana Padano as garnish

We decided to split the gnocchi and a flatbread to split.. Meh for some reason this gnocchi didn't really turn our cranks. It was $22 and had mushrooms, chicken and some strange taste we could not identify. The gnocchi themselves were quite large with herbs throughout but even the cheese on the top was a strange texture... Not a fan of this gnocchi and wouldn't order it again.

Pizza combianozione with wild boar salami, mushroom and roasted red peppers for $16. I was expecting more of a flatbread over a pizza so I was a tad disappointed in this.

All in all an okay meal but I would order differently next time. Good thing the weather was beautiful and I had good company ;)