Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts (gluten free)

Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts (gluten free) baked by my 8 yr old, Bib

Sprinkle with icing sugar to make it even better

See? I was detoxing today from a foodie-sinful weekend before Bib was pestering me to do some baking...

Have you wanted to teach your 8 year old fractions? but fractions are SO hard.  Being the I'd-rather-be-baking sort of mommy, I figured a practical application to fractions would be baking doughnuts. Bib has been sort of driving me crazy with her obsession with the Kracie "Popin' Cookin'" candy kits lately.

I noticed her watching some Youtube videos in Japanese (no she doesn't understand Japanese!) where the people are "cooking" candies in these plastic molds and sometimes they even use a microwave.  I think.  I find the whole thing horrifying and gross.  She makes these little Sushi candies and then eats them up right away.  She says "mmmm" sometimes too.

I have never tried any of her "food" but I think this was the beginning of her showing me that she had a real passion for baking (yay?)

A video posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jun 1, 2015 at 8:21pm PDT

Bebe, my 11 yr old recently passed down her Easy Bake Oven to Bib and Bib has already made her own Video of how she made a Dango sundae (yes, she made it all by herself (twice!) and I definitely didn't help...and paid the price with the mess afterwards).

Getting ready with all the ingredients first.  I used a recipe from an e-book I bought on my kindle.  It's great as I adapted by adding matcha and I envision doing various other flavours soon.

Here's a picture of her Sundae with her hand-made dango. The only scary part was boiling the dango in hot water on the stove.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jun 1, 2015 at 9:20pm PDT

The best thing about mochi is it's gluten free!
I decided to do things right.  If she's going to bake, she's going to use a REAL oven...this ain't no Easy Bake Oven we're using today.  Of course, she is obsessed with mochi too.  We've recently been going to Vancouver Asian dessert places and trying all sorts of weird Asian sundaes. She acquired a taste for mochi and ice cream together so hey let's make that at home because it's crazy expensive in those over-priced Asian dessert places.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 10, 2015 at 5:08pm PDT

See that crazy dessert above (all gluten free btw) we've been eating in Asian restos in Vancouver? I'm going to make them myself this summer and save a ton of $$.  Plus, it'll taste way better (I hope!) and I'll feel way less guilty about eating them because I can control the amount of sugar and the portion size.

The recipe includes: 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of honey (I used Manuka) and 2 tablespoons sugar (I used organic cane sugar) 

Add the milk to the wet ingredients. I think I will modify this recipe by using coconut milk next time.

Bib loves sifting.  This is her sifting the matcha and mochiko flour together over the wet ingredients.  I had to tell her to slow down as a cloud of mochiko dust was enveloping her face. lol.

The groovy thing about mochi batter is you can not over-mix it. Bib can "mix mix mix!" all she wants! 

After Bib was done mixing, I gave the batter a few more turns with the whisk for good measure and it was ready to go into the mini doughnut pan

Wait up! doh! I forgot to spray the doughnut pan. That lone doughnut is going to be a pain to remove.  I used Coconut oil spray that I bought at Costco. It smells heavenly. 

I gave the doughnut pan some quick raps on the counter-top to get all the air bubbles out and level the batter before popping it in the oven.

freshly baked out of the oven

The Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts are a type of wagashi, which is a Japanese sweet meant to be eaten with tea.  

I'm enamoured by everything wagashi since visiting this groovy Japanese cafe in Portland, Oregon recently.  I had the matcha tea set which was served in the style of a Japanese tea ceremony. The lady at the counter said "are you sure? the matcha is strong like espresso".  I was sure and even make my own matcha but she must have thought I was a newb with my camera around my neck. lol.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 5, 2015 at 5:08pm PDT

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 5, 2015 at 5:07pm PDT

The cafe is located literally across the street from the museum; thus the name "Behind the Museum Cafe".   I am working on a gluten free matcha brownie recipe soon.  Stay tuned...

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 5, 2015 at 5:05pm PDT

This lone doughnut was the ornery one that I had forgot to spray.  It was a pain to dislodge but I eventually pried it loose with a wooden skewer.

Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts (gluten free)
adapted from Wagashi and More: a collection of Simple Japanese Dessert Recipes by Cooking Penguin (Kindle version)
NB: these mini doughnuts are made in the style of "wagashi" which are tiny sweets served with unsweetened Japanese green tea. Usually you only have one (yah right!) and it's served with Matcha tea in the style of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.  See that picture above of my matcha set? like that! These are in no way as sweet as a North American Doughnut. However, you can bling it up with a royal icing drizzle or toss icing sugar all over it if you're into that kind of thing.

Makes 24 Baked Mini Doughnuts

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup honey (I used manuka honey)
• 2 tablespoon evaporated cane sugar
• 2/3 cup milk (or coconut milk)
• 1 1/2 cups mochiko
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons matcha
• 3 tablespoon butter, melted
• coconut oil spray, for pan
• powdered sugar, for dusting the baked doughnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs,melted butter, honey, sugar and milk until combined.  
3. Sift mochiko with baking powder and matcha powder over the wet ingredients. Whisk well to combine.
4. Spray your mini doughnut pan with coconut oil spray (or Pam)
5. Pour the batter into a piping bag with a large tip (or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off).  I used my Tovolo pancake pen batter dispenser (see picture above).
6. Rap the pan on the countertop to get rid of air bubbles and smooth out the tops of the mini doughnuts.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes until done.  Let cool and use a wooden skewer to remove from pan.
8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with tea.

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BC SPOT PRAWN FESTIVAL! Stir-Fried Ginger Scallion and Soy Spot Prawns

It's BC Spot Prawn Season! yay!

The season lasts from May to June and after seeing friends' Spot Prawn pics posted on FB I had a yearning too.  I sent the man down to T&T supermarket where they were on sale for $15.99/lb until May 18.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on May 16, 2015 at 6:28pm PDT

The Spot Prawns were lively in their plastic bag.  These guys have pokey antennae and sharp spear-like tails and heads.  You have to buy the Spot Prawns with the intent to eat them within a few hours.  I kept them in the fridge for an hour before I was ready to prep them.  I am squeamish and even with rubber dish gloves to protect me from their sharp pointy bits, I couldn't handle how each prawn would squirm and hop out of my hand.  In the end, I held a prawn with tongs in my left hand and worked the scissors in my other hand. It gave me the willies...but I was not deterred enough to stop because I knew these prawns had to be cooked quickly to maintain their freshness.  After they die, the prawn flesh becomes mushy...bleh...inedible.  When cooked fresh, they have a firm 'n bouncy texture and they're sweet and juicy.  They do not require much fuss in terms of cooking.  

If you want to eat them quickly, you can either boil or steam them.  But I wanted a more substantial meal so I decided to add some aromatics: ginger, scallion, yellow onions and soy.

After cutting off the huge barbed needle-like spear from the top of the head of the Spot Prawn with kitchen scissors, I trimmed off the antennae and legs too.  I placed them in a colander and rinsed well and allowed it to drain well.  Pat dry.

BC Spot Prawns with Ginger, Scallions & Soy

Ingredients:

2 lbs Live BC Spot Prawns, legs, antennae & sharp bits trimmed (purchase from your fishmonger from May-June)
1 bunch green onions (scallions), cut in 2 inch lengths
1/2 small yellow onion, sliced
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled, sliced and smashed
2 tablespoons supreme soy sauce
1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

Method:

1. Clean the trimmed prawns and rinse well in a colander.  Drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. In a small bowl, combine the soy, wine, sugar and sesame oil
3. Heat a wok or fry pan on high until smoking hot.  Add 2 tablespoons oil for frying.  Swirl the oil to cover the pan and add the ginger & sliced onions.  Stir fry for a minute.  Add the white parts of the scallions and continue to stirfry for another minute.
4. Add prawns to the pan and stir fry.  Toss in the soy mixture and keep tossing until the prawns start to turn colour.  Add the green parts of the scallion and continue to toss until the prawns have curled and look cooked through which shouldn't take more than a couple more minutes.
Do not overcook!
5. Serve!

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On Holding the Line with GF Condensed Milk Pound Cake and Raffi

GF Condensed Milk Pound Cake (see recipe below)

Yes, we're still on picket duty and this week I brought home-baked GF goodies for my colleagues.  I made GF Condensed Milk Pound Cake and GF Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They both went over really well on the line "wow, these don't taste gf!" and the handful of us that are gf were able to enjoy baked goods too.  Generally what we get on the line is non-gf baked goods and doughnuts from parents, students and even kind-hearted passersby without children (thank you, thank you!) and I try to avoid eating that because I don't want a huge stomach ache while walking about with no washroom close at hand (eek!)  The wonderful thing about these gf recipes is that even non GF people enjoy the goodies because they're so delicious and don't taste gritty or gf (you can't tell the diff) and the flour I use has more fiber in it (bonus! we're gonna be regular!)  My baked goods are more inclusive and healthy (just like we're trying to achieve with public ed).   Here's to hoping the provincial government comes to its senses and offers teachers a fair deal and students a learning environment and resources they well deserve (right now, we're ranked near the bottom in Canada per student funding).

In solidarity with our support staff. You guys rock! 

I really miss being in the classroom teaching English and mentoring my colleagues too. I am quite unhappy about this whole mess our provincial government has put us in with public ed, but you can read all of that on my twitter feed if you care to know what's going on in BC.   You know, when Raffi [recipient of Order of Canada, Order of BC, Fred Rogers Integrity Award] comes out on social media to defend public ed, you've done something seriously wrong CC.



Baking GF goodies can get cumbersome with all the bags of different flours lying around.  When I mix up a batch of my favourite GF blend, I make a triple batch (or more if I can find a container for it all).  However, there's always leftovers of the ingredients to some degree and that is so irksome.

Our beautiful empty school

To compound this "leftover" issue, the flours all have different expiry dates and your gf flour blend will have its own unique best before date (which I believe should be based on the earliest best before date indicated on the package of any of your ingredients.) Some people freeze leftover flours or even freeze the whole batch of their gf flour blend.  The problem I have with that is there's absolutely NO ROOM for flour in my freezer.  All those Costco-sized boxes of ice cream and my almond flour and frozen bananas, berries and other fruit for smoothies takes up all my freezer space.

Our gorgeous field, which I would rather see filled with kids using in their PE classes

I haven't had much success with Bob's Red Mill gf flour blends as I find them gritty.  I like my own personal gf flour blend for baking as the results are fabulous and mouth-feel is excellent.  I have also had success with Cup4Cup but it's exorbitantly priced.  So much $ for such a small bag of gf flour!   My recent fave has been the locally produced Cloud 9 GF flour, which I purchase at my local Costco.

Colleagues' dogs Yumi (Shiba Inu), Maya (Standard Poodle) and Tessa (Chihuahua) holding the line for public ed

I have been putting the Cloud 9 gf flour through its paces at home with my fave recipes; essentially subbing it in for all purpose flour or cake flour.  I generally don't make any adaptations other than to subsitute it for the AP flour in the recipe.  Results are mixed with some applications as there is buckwheat in the Cloud 9 flour.  If you want something pretty to look at, Cloud 9 leaves a greyish cast, so wouldn't be that appealing in a white cake or muffin.  If you can get over the speckled appearance of the flour and the grey cast, the flavour and texture is fine.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF) made with Cloud9

I have had success subsituting Cloud 9 for the following applications:  dusting meats for pan-frying, thickening in sauces (white sauce, Mac 'n Cheese sauce, turkey gravy) and of course baking cakes (chiffon, banana and pound cakes).  I am going to try it in tart and pie shells and think it should be fine.  I have not been too successful with using it in a pizza dough yet and will keep trying to tweak recipes to make it work.  The chocolate chip cookie recipe I used was from Martha Stewart and all I did was sub in the Cloud 9.  It worked out pretty really well but I forgot to add the psyllium husk so it was a bit too crumbly for my liking.  Next time I'll remember.

CLOUD 9 GF CONDENSED MILK POUND CAKE 

[ADAPTED from Pichet Ong's Sweet Spot]
Makes one 8 1/2 -x- 4 1/2 inch cake, about 12 servings

• 1 cup (8 oz/226 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 1/3 cups (7 oz/200g) Cloud 9 Gluten Free Flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup (3 3/4 oz/ 106g) sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder (optional, but I always use it in baked goods to ensure the centre is not doughy and damp when I bake with gf flour. Bonus=it adds fiber)
• 3/4 cup (8 oz/239g) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 large eggs at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
2. Generously butter and line the bottom of an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 - inch loaf pan and set aside.  
3. Mix together the gf flour, psyllium husk and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
4. Put the butter and sugar in a standing mixer and beat until creamy and light scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally.  Mix in vanilla extract and salt.  
5. Add the condensed milk and mix until well incorporated scraping down the sides of the bowl once.
6. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, ensuring all ingredients are combined uniformly. 
7. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top with a spatula ensuring the batter is relatively even.  Bake until the top is dark golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes (70-90 min). Cool completely in the loaf pan on a rack, then unmould.  Delicious the next day too!

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Ayoub's Dried Fruit and Mixed Nuts

love the chandelier in Ayoub's

If you love nuts and dried fruit, you'll have to check this place out.  Ayoub's first of all is beautiful. It's like walking into another world.  The white shelves, silver urns filled with fragrant spiced nuts and the huge candelier hanging in the centre of the room make for an impressive first impression.

beautiful urn filled with mixed dried fruit and nuts

I was overwhelmed by the selection and wandered from urn to urn trying to decide whether I should go spicy and daring or conservative and healthy.  In the end I chose a somewhat healthy mix for munching on during work.

unsalted unadulterated mixed nuts and fruit: goji, cranberry, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds

fruit and nuts organized according to flavours.  this grouping looks like it's slightly salted

The kids spotted candied strawberries that looked like jewels piled into the urn and insisted on buying some.   They said it was delicious and would want to come back to buy more.

spices line the shelves

The premises were kept spotlessly clean and the urns of nuts and dried fruit had sliding dome sneeze/dust guards.  I like to choose my nuts by sniffing them; so I can detect staleness or spice level.  Seems to work for me.

storefront view from the counter

Prices are in grams and were clearly labelled on cards.  I was very impressed with the display of goodies and would definitely come back again.

candied strawberries

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Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen and Sushi Bar, Vancouver

Carrot butterflies atop my wasabi. Details are so important

You think all I do is eat out, eh? well, it certainly seems that way these last couple of days.  We had lunch, creme brulee and coffee in the Strathcona area and now we were back on The Drive for dinner. Our plan was to eat at La Mezcaleria.  Our friend tried to get reservations by phone but was told parties under 6 couldn't have reservations. When we arrived at 5:25pm at the restaurant, there was no lineup but the restaurant was full with 2 tables (of 4) receiving their bills and one table readying to leave and the hostess asked us how many people there were in our party and asked if we had a reservation.  Like what? how is this consistent? We are a party of 5 and you said we couldn't book a reservation on the phone and then when we arrived, you seemed to imply we could have gotten a reservation?  And then told us to wait not 15-30 minutes like normal restos but 90? That is so dumb.

Furthermore, she said we were 2nd on the list.  By the time I asked her to cross my name off the wait list of 2, the two tables were empty and one table was about to leave.  I repeated: is it still a 1 1/2 hour wait?  Yes she replied without scanning the room.  No smiles, no welcoming friendly attitude, not apologetic, mixed messages concerning the reservations policy and you're a HOSTESS! That was over the top. I don't care how great you're purported to be or how delicious your enticing hot stone bowls and their oozy melted Mexican cheese fondue are and how much I love your sister restaurant La Taqueria.  If you're going to give me such a friggin' confusing message about taking reservations then forget it. Not coming back.  Ever.  My old 'hood has gone all trendy and gentrified my a$$ out of there.   Such arbitrary snobbery is so short-sighted.  They obviously don't need my business.  Like when did this happen that we get such attitude from the service industry on the East side?  I get more respect as a customer on the Westside for gawdsake.  So on we walked.  Fortunately for us, our friend recommended Kishimoto a few blocks away.  It was his birthday and heck he should get whatever he wants for dinner.  We got there in time and only waited a few minutes for a table and all was well.  And the service here was welcoming and friendly...and the food rocked.

Salmon Oshisushi: a signature dish that you have to try first to gauge all other oshisushi.  This was very good.

We were lucky that our Japanese friend knew what to order.  He recommended the Salmon Oshisushi because it was the sushi chef's take on a famous dish and his version was purported to be very good.  Oshisushi is pressed sushi rice topped with seared fish and toppings.  The Salmon was topped with a mayonnaise based sauce and a jalapeno pepper.  It was indeed very delicious.  The flavours were at once smoky, creamy and spicy and the salmon rang through well.

Spicy Tuna Oishisushi

My Japanese friend told me that the chef was the same one who opened up the original Zipang on Main street but had moved on to this restaurant a while ago.  I knew that he had moved but didn't realize he was at Kishimoto.  Now that I saw his signature daikon votive lanterns on his sushi platters it all made sense.

Daikon pinwheel flower decorations on my plate. Everything is edible.

I decided to order a different oshisushi dish.  I tried the spicy tuna.  It was good; but I think the salmon was a better dish and I enjoyed it better.  I am glad I sampled the salmon before I had the tuna.

The pink liquid is Gatorade with shredded daikon.  

Upon presenting us the oshisushi, the waitress took the time to point out that all the elements on the platter were edible (except of course for the votive candle inside the thinly sliced daikon shade. haha.)

Presentation is everything here. 

My Spicy tuna oshisushi was good but I don't think I'd order it again having tried the salmon one. The spicy tuna was yummy and it sat atop crispy rice.  I think the pressed rice roll was deep fried for textural contrast.  So it was chewy and crunchy and smoky.  I didn't like the chewy element of the dish.  However I know many people who love the crunchy burnt rice from stone bowls and this would be similar.

Though the pink Gatorade looks pretty and is edible, I tried it. bleh. infused with a daikon flavour from the shredded fresh daikon.  I would have liked a sweet koolaid because that was what I was expecting from the colour. lol

The daikon lantern is so cute

The waitress was quite apologetic about the late arrival of our oshisushi orders.  She came back to tell us our dishes were coming up soon.  We hadn't actually asked but it was very nice to have her check up on this for us a few times.  As it was it wasn't too painful a wait and when the sushi platters arrived I saw why they took more time.  There was much time spent on the details of presentation. wow.  I was blown away by all the stuff going on up at the top and when I started to eat after all those aerial shots (yah, I wait to eat so I can take pics for you!) I realized I had not even noticed the things going on down on the bottom.  There were absolutely adorable thinly sliced carrots cut into the shape of butterflies.  I had two little mounds of wasabi on opposite corners of my platter and each had a butterfly perched atop it.  I felt so special.   The kids insisted on eating all the edamame beans from the daikon flowers and they even took my lotus chip.  This is what happens when you love your kids.  You give them all the frilly good stuff.

There are so many elements on the plate that I had to take it all in slowly. 

I ordered a negitoro roll too because for every new Japanese restaurant I try, I try to order a benchmark dish so I can compare/contrast quality.  For me, some of those Japanese dishes might include: assorted tempura,  spinach gomae, negitoro roll and a specialty roll of some sort. Stomach's benchmark staples are salmon and tuna nigiri and assorted sashimi and the kiddies order california rolls, chicken karaage and udon noodle soup. With our whole family we figure we have most bases covered.

Negitoro Roll

Wowee. That's height! Lotus chip and deep fried noodle flag speared atop my negitoro roll

Assorted tempura

When I contemplated the negitoro maki, oshisushi and oyster motoyaki I ordered and all the other's dishes I sampled, I'd say the salmon oshisushi was a hit but probably not my spicy tuna oshisushi. I'd go for the salmon one again.  And I generally don't order salmon sushi.  I don't even like raw salmon.  I always order tuna.  Go figure.  The tempura was a fave too.  The batter was light and the veggies were choice: specialty mushrooms (little oyster mushrooms maybe?), squash, prawns and yam were nicely fried, light and not greasy.  I enjoyed that very much. I hate it when some restos use peppers, onion or potato in tempura and so glad Kishimoto uses unique veggies in theirs.  Score. I'd order the negitoro maki again.

Oyster motoyaki

My oyster motoyaki comes with 2 oysters on the half shell for one order.  When I was trying to decide what to order I asked if Stomach would have one of the oysters.  In the process of dining, I forgot I had promised him one and had eaten both. oops.  They were smaller oysters and quite sweet.  The motoyaki sauce was similar to the one atop the salmon oshisushi and was a little spicy. I really enjoyed the motoyaki obviously.  Each oyster lay atop a bit of cooked spinach.  I'd order this one again.  I got grief from him later on about eating his but hey, he had two Asahi beers and his big ol' plate of chicken teriyaki on rice.  You snooze ya lose.

Chicken Teriyaki on Rice

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Crackle Crème, Vancouver

Duelling my 7 year old for the crackle!

After our garlic chicken wing fix at Phnom Pehn, I was feeling kind of sorry for my 7 yr old Bib, who really was miserable at lunch.  She has a wiggly loose front tooth and didn't really feel like eating much.

Since we parked on Union street anyway, we sought out Crackle Creme, a new specialty brulee-cafe that I heard about nearby so I could get a coffee and we could all share a sweet treat that didn't require chewing. We were tempted to help that loose tooth come out by pulling it out for her.  She wasn't exactly wanting help.  However, all the childhood horror stories my mother told me in my youth bubbled up in my mind.  I recall several gruesome techniques my mom would relay to me when she knew I had a wiggly tooth:  tying a string around the tooth and a door handle...and slamming the door shut; eating an apple or corn on the cob; pliers wielded by a loving parent. Really, mom?  These vivid images were seared into my psyche.  I had bad dreams about teeth all throughout my childhood.  She thought it was amusing.  yeesh. but I obviously still seem to have unresolved issues about teeth.  Rather than traumatize Bib, I chose another path.  Let's rot that sucker out. haha. no. just kidding.  really. bad mommy.

Daniel, the owner of Crackle Creme, torching my Madagascar Vanilla Creme Brulee.

Over on Union Street at the edge of Chinatown, my old hood (and my mom's), Strathcona seems to be gentrifying.  I spoke with Daniel, the owner of Crackle Creme who had moved in just 2 months ago.  I asked him how business was and he said it's picked up in the last month and a half.  I'm so glad to see this because boy is his concept cool.  Daniel has a year of culinary school under his belt and found a niche. He specializes in Creme Brulee (several artisinal flavours that continually change), Liege Waffles and Specialty Coffee.  

In my little chat with Daniel he said there are mixed feelings in the community about all the changes.  I agree.  I miss the old places from the 70's that used to be there and the vibrancy and bustle of the past.  However, I sure must admit I didn't like the smelly alleys of the past, the panhandling crack addicts in the alleys who moved in as Chinatown started to lose old tenants and I felt a general discomfort walking on the old streets in the 90's and recent decade.  I used to feel relatively safe with my parents shopping in Chinatown when I was growing up in East Vancouver.  I remember eating dinner out in Chinatown at On-On's in the 70's.  My parents had a group of high school friends that they would meet to socialize over dinner and all us kids, ranging from ages 8-16 would saunter around the Chinatown blocks unaccompanied by our parents after dinner.  This was a different sort of Vancouver back in the 70's I suppose.  

Nice colour. Good crackle. Must come again. 

Personally, I like the revitalization efforts and hope that the old shops can stick it out too.  I'd like to see some really good authentic Cantonese eats come back too.  Am I the only person around who thinks that there are way too many stinky herbal shops per square block in this area?  It seems today Asian-fusion, late night pricey alcoholic drinks and loud music is the draw for a different sort of crowd that certainly is willing to spend more $$ than little old Chinese ladies that tend to well, not go to these places.  Perhaps the increased foot traffic and generally more people around will encourage more innovative businesses to move in.  I'd like to think there's room for everybody.   

Lavender Latte.  Though I was hoping for latte art, I wasn't disappointed by the lovely lavender scented creamy latte. yum.

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