While afternoon tea is generally a ladies dominated activity, after enjoying today’s service I’ve decided it’s a nice date event too. It’s a relaxed but special Valentine’s experience if you’re looking for something different from the over-priced prix fixe menus at most restaurants on Valentine’s day.

The Urban Tea Merchant’s downtown location is a calming environment amidst the hustle and bustle of all the corporate offices surrounding it. The tea room is cozy and quiet for a nice afternoon of treats and conversation.

Here’s a close-up of the Sweetheart Afternoon Tea, available February 11-14 for Valentine’s day.

- First, choose from the store’s 150+ selection of teas, including J’aime – a green tea accented with French macarons, almonds, and fruit

- Next, enjoy a glass of chilled white tea and a tea-infused strawberry sorbet to cleanse the palate for the tea service

- The tiered tray of high tea goodies come next. Highlights include: crispy endive spear with a mild creamy blue cheese and candied walnuts, smoked chicken salad in a pistachio cone, broccoli and cheese quiche, flaky scones with devonshire cream and a tea infused jelly, chocolate dipped strawberries, raspberry and pistachio French macarons, and Thomas Haas sparkle cookies.

- There’s also a smaller kid-themed tea tray available with fun items like nutella and pb&j sandwiches:

- As part of the Sweetheart Afternoon Tea service, each guest receives a beautifully wrapped tin of Urban Merchant Tea to take home ($29.95 value).

Overall, I enjoyed my high tea experience at the Urban Tea Merchant. It’s very comparable to many of the better high tea locations in town and the service is excellent. While my high tea experience here was complimentary, I would have no problem returning and paying for tea service and this write-up is on the blog because I can recommend it.

The Urban Tea Merchant also offers smaller afternoon tea services plus a tea and chocolate fondue feature. Nice alternatives to regular tea service, which can be a little over the top.

I’ll be doing a follow-up post next, listing all my favourite high tea locations.

The Urban Tea Merchant, Downtown and West Vancouver
Sweetheart Afternoon Tea February 11th through 14th
11:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm $48 per person (includes a special $29.95 tea gift)
Served daily – Petit Afternoon Tea ($25), Westcoast Afternoon Tea ($29) and Signature Afternoon Tea ($48)
Downtown – 1070 West Georgia Street, Vancouver (Entrances also on Alberni Street) 604-692-0071
West Vancouver – 825 Main Street, Park Royal Village 604-926-3392

I was in San Francisco this summer indulging in the excellent Bi-rite and Humphry Slocombe creameries, lamenting the fact Vancouver had nothing as good. Now we do.

This is gelato done right, the way the best places in Italy make it. Everything is made fresh with the best ingredients under the watchful eye and technique of James Coleridge, who trained at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Italy. He’s been at the store every time I’ve gone to Bella – definitely talk him up when you’re there if you want to learn more.

What makes the gelato so good? It’s fresh, light, creamy, and so  flavourful, No words can do it justice – you must just try it. For me, it’s all about the nocciola (hazelnut) flavour, which blew me away on my first tasting. Bella Gelateria brings in fresh hazelnuts from the Piedmont region of Italy and makes the hazelnut paste for the gelato on site. Perhaps the most iconic gelato flavour is pistachio, which is light and sweet with a nutty bite – by far the best in Vancouver. For the traditionalists, there are the standard chocolate and vanilla as well. There’s a great selection of flavours, plus some sorbetto options as well.

Prices start at $4.95 for one flavour/scoop in a cone or cup. This is the same price as a cone at those marble slab ice cream joints, and trust me, Bella is better.

Bella Gelateria is located on the northwest corner of Burrard & Cordova street downtown, near Coal Harbour, in the same building as the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.

These are calories worth indulging in.

Bella Gelateria
1001 W. Cordova Street
604.569.1010
Open daily from 11am-10pm (’til 11pm on Fri & Sat)

The back story:
Paul hails from Quebec, spent time working in France, and is currently the pastry chef for Refuel and Campagnolo. PC Confections was created primarily because his confections were so delicious and popular that Paul and his partners wanted to let the general public have access to purchasing them.

Paul’s confections are created with French technique and everything is handmade from scratch daily using all the good ingredients.

The sweets:
Here’s a view of our tasting plates, though my iphone does not do these treats justice:

What I sampled, as shown L-R in the above picture:

Passion fruit & Raspberry Jellies (“Patés de fruit”) – I’m not generally a fan of jellies, but these were outstanding. I particularly enjoyed the passion fruit, which was so fresh, bright, and almost refreshing while the jelly melted easily in my mouth. The Raspberry jelly was also delicious, but with a sweeter, stronger raspberry jam like flavour.

Nougatine – Similar to a sweet Italian meringue, this is the French version, made with egg whites, honey, sugar, hazelnuts, pistachios, and cocoa nuts. Light, sticky, chewy, and sweet.

Almond Square – This sweet tasted like a Florentine, but with a  softer texture. The base was a sweet dough, topped with a  mixture of almonds, caramel, fruit, sugar, and butter. The combination was a rich and buttery dessert. Paul said this is one of his favourite confections from the collection.

A soft salted caramel - wrapped up in simple white parchment, a perfectly sweet & salty bite. Great smooth texture as well, there was no caramel getting stuck to my teeth – it melted beautifully.

Hazelnut Grignotine- this was my favourite from the tasting. A hazelnut toasted, salted, and covered with dark chocolate and cocoa powder. These are addictive little treats. Crunchy, salty, sweet – you cannot eat just one. Like the equivalent of popcorn for dessert lovers.

French Macarons – the ultimate French cookie – beautiful, chewy, sweet, and requiring expert technique to make. At the tasting, Paul detailed the keys to a truly good French macaron:
- The bottom & top should be a uniform size size to properly seal the filling
- The macaron should have a glossy finish
- The texture should be crunchy as you bite in, but soft as you taste the macaron

While the ingredients for a French macaron are relatively simple, there is technique to proper execution – it’s easy for something to go wrong. As Paul makes between 800-1000 macarons each week, he says this is a craft where practice does make a difference.

PC Confections makes Macarons with seven different fillings, I tried three:

- Macaron with a salty caramel filling. Can you think of anything better? The filling is amazing, a smooth combination of whipped butter, caramel, and maldon sea salt.
- Macaron with a Valrhona chocolate ganache filling. Rich, bitter, and sweet – like a little chocolate sandwich.
- Macaron with a pistachio filling. This flavour will be available in stores soon, a delicious and nutty centre.

My half-enjoyed macaron’s on the plate here, don’t they look scrumptious?

Additonal macaron flavours include lemon, coffee, and vanilla pistachio. Paul mentioned he’ll probably do a pumpkin flavour this fall too.

Where & how to buy:
- The PC Confections kiosk at Oakridge Mall, atrium entrance
- 49th Parallel Coffee on 4th avenue sells them in the afternoons at the cafe
- Selected farmers markets

Paul Croteau Confections Price List
Grignotine – $6.95
Soft salted caramels – $7.95
Pat̩s de fruits Р$9.95
Nougatine – $5.95
Almond square – $9.95
Macaron – $1.50 each, $4.50 for 3

These will make great hostess gifts and a great dessert option for dinner parties. My friends can expect these come holiday season.

For some better photos of Paul and the sweets, visit the PC Confections Flickr page.

Thanks again to Julia, Katharine, Paul, & Refuel Restaurant for hosting the tasting!

Paul Croteau Confections
Second floor at 1020 Main St, North of Terminal Avenue
Upstairs from Campagnolo Restaurant

Generally, a sign that says “best…” makes me run the other way. Yes in this case, the cheesecake is pretty damn tasty. It’s a light and airy cheesecake, totally different from the dense brick of cheesecake you’d get at True Confections. Additional flavours include blueberry, mocha, chocolate orange – they vary based on what’s in season.

I studied, met professors, and generally treated Trees like my “Central Perk” during graduate school, so I know it well and have love/hate feelings for this place.

Here are some highs and lows:

• High: Morning breakfast deal of a coffee and muffin for $3 (or around that). And the muffins are freshly baked each morning and yummy. I have a weakness for the banana muffin, which I indulge in when I happen to be downtown in the morning.
• High: The spinach and feta scone (I believe it’s spinach and cheddar now). SO good. If I’m going to spend a whack of calories on something, this is a possible candidate.
• High: Lunch specials include freshly made organic soups, which are usually delicious.
• Low: The sandwiches are generally small and dry, although I haven’t ordered one since the first one I ate years ago. And expensive for what you get!
• High: Live music at the Granville St. location on Thursday and Friday. I popped in tonight and the place was full with a great band on.
• Low: Really uncomfortable seats and comically small tables. Come on! The stools are good.
• High: Trees was organic long before organic became a buzz word. In fact, the cafe used to be called “Trees Coffee.” It became Trees Organic during a rebranding activity several years ago. Since 1996 they have house-roasted organic fair trade coffee and all their food products are made with organic ingredients.
• Medium: Unfortunately, I really don’t find the coffee that good. The drip is fine, but I have had my share of burnt espressos there. My husband Dan would disagree with me though – he alleges that they’ve made many great espresso macchiatos for him.
• High: The service is friendly, personal, and fun. They make you feel welcome and let you stay awhile.

Trees is a fun hangout offering great people watching with honest coffee & food.

They appear to have multiple locations now and also appear  to franchise. I’ll vouch for the location downtown on Granville Street, between Hastings and Pender.

Trees Organic Coffee
450 Granville Street (b/w Hastings & Pender)

My visits to Thomas Haas are usually on a Saturday and go something like this:

• Walk in and see huge line up
• Gently push my way through to the display window to find next to nothing left
• Decide if I want to wait in line
• Wait in line and order the amazing hot chocolate
• Stare at the chocolate boxes for sale and consider buying more
• Leave thinking “what a madhouse!”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s always worth it, but I can’t say it’s the most relaxed experience ever.

But today was a great weekday morning. I have a friend visiting from out of town who loves croissants and I took the day off work to take care of some errands. So we woke up early and arrived at Thomas Haas for breakfast. It was busy, but not crazy busy like it is on the weekend. It’s amazing how satisfying a coffee and pain au chocolat can be for breakfast. France is SO going to be my next European trip.

Lately, I’ve been braving the Thomas Haas line-ups to pick up a small box of chocolates as a holiday party hostess gift. They come beautifully wrapped and how can you go wrong with chocolates like pistachio marzipan, salted caramel pecan, earl grey tea, merlot, or balsamic honey? Other great hostess gifts: a package of the excellent hot chocolate mix (read the ingredients – you will find no disgusting chemicals here), chocolate bars, and the famous sparkle cookies.

And, if it’s your responsibility to bring dessert and you’re not in a baking mood, any of the Haas desserts will make you a star.

The cafe is open for breakfast and switches to a daily sandwich selection at 11 am every morning. A great excuse to stop for a light lunch and dessert treat.

The only drawback? They’re closed Sunday and Monday…so wait in line and get your fix.

Thomas Haas Patisserie-Chocolate and Café
2539 W. Broadway, Vancouver (b/w Larch and Trafalgar)
604-736-1848
Open Tuesday-Saturday

Also in North Vancouver:
Unit 128, 998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver
604-924-1847

I’ve written about DB Bistro Moderne before, but I feel the need to write more.

I have been to DB a few more times since my first blog write-up, and this restaurant is just excellent. Yet I was at the restaurant yesterday – a Saturday night – and the place was busy (2/3rds full), but not packed. Given the level of food and service, I was expecting more people!

But let’s talk about why you should go:

• I was at DB for brunch one day and crepes were the feature menu item. I ordered a spinach and mushroom crepe. What I received was the most incredible crepe in Vancouver. Light as a feather crepe, and the most flavour-packed spinach and mushroom filling you can imagine.
• The always excellent Moderne Burger sits a couple doors away from DB. I love Moderne burger, but for a couple dollars more, DB does a pretty good classic burger. Juicy burger, soft parmean bun, good fries. There is also the original DB burger which is totally over the top – sirloin filled with short ribs and truffle ($28). It’s huge!
• Dinner last night…several knockout dishes were served. To start…tarte flambee – thin, crispy flatbread with a lucious bacon and cream topping. Perfectly seasoned caesar salad. A simple yet amazing heriloom tomato salad with white balsamic and goat cheese. Mains…an awesome pheasant tortellini, slow baked halibut with fresh fava beans and a potent meyer lemon cream sauce, and the evening’s feature – pork done three ways (leg, rack, belly).
• Dessert last night…more knockouts. My husband was not sharing any of his black forest sundae. I expect many visits back to DB just to have an espresso and this sundae. My mini madelines were warm, soft, and soooo good. The cherry clafouti? Wow! Plump pitted cherries, tender custard, and drool worthy cherry pit ice cream.
• When I was at DB for dinner a couple weeks ago, I noticed they had some weekday dinner specials. Call the restaurant to enquire, but they seemed like good deals.

I know I’ll be back.

DB Bistro Moderne
2551 West Broadway (@ Larch)
604-739-7115

This would make them a competitor for the other cupcakes in town from  Cupcakes by Heather & Lori (expanding also with locations in Kits, Denman, North Van, Surrey, and downtown).

Is there a big difference between these two stores? Not really.

The main difference is that Big City Cupcakes carries a line of filled cupcakes, adding to the decadence of all the butter cream icing on top. Lemon cupcakes have lemon curd in the middle, chocolate cupcakes have a ganache in the middle, cheescake-style cupcakes are filled with cheesecake, and so on.

I opted for two unfilled varieties – a red velvet (called red carpet) and a snowball (chocolate cupcake with coconut and vanilla butter cream). Both were good – moist cupcake, sweet icing, good ingredients. Big City Cupcakes use slightly less icing than Cupcakes (but that isn’t hard to do). That said, I still didn’t eat all the icing on the cupcake.

Overall, a lovely, beautifully presented treat and nice staff. Worth stopping in if you’re in a decadent cupcake mood.

[My favourite cupcake is still the vanilla happy cupcake at Bean Bros. in Kerrisdale (2179 W. 41st). Not as fancy, but tastes good]

Big City Cupcakes
Kitsilano: W. 4th ave & Yew street, next to the newly opened (and fabulous!) Jackson’s Meats
Downtown: 1015 Howe St – Nelson Square

True Confections (various locations including Kitsilano, Denman)
Sweet Obsessions at Trafalgars (Kitsilano)
Ganache Patisserie (although, they are not open late)

Once in a while, I will also go to Sweet Revenge on Main St (@26th), which is a small 30-seat licensed dessert bar in a “Lilliputian Room” serving up lovely tea, coffee in french presses, after dinner drinks, and a big selection of freshly made desserts.

Based on my visit last night, their most popular dessert is the Chocolate Pudding Cake, a delicious cake on the outside with a smooth custard chocolate middle. My apple pie was a generous portion and made with crispy pastry and a brown sugar topping. White chocolcate cheescake swimming in a freshly made berry sauce. A tall glass of berry trifle, including a luscious vanilla custard intermingling with the cake, berries, and Grand Marnier.

Here’s the menu if you want to read more.

Somebody pointed out to me that the crowd at Sweet Revenge is definitely not your standard Main St. crowd. I’d guess that many people come from all over the city and surrounding areas for the desserts here.

If your party is bigger than three people, expect a wait on the weekend. My party of four waited about 20 minute on Saturday night. Better yet, go to Sweet Revenge when you’re on a date – it’s a great, intimate setting for two.

Sweet Revenge Patisserie
4160 Main Street, Vancouver
604-TRY-SWEET  (604-879-7933)
Sunday – Thursday: 7 P.M. to 12 Midnight
Friday – Saturday:             7 P.M. to 1 A.M.

After a spirited food adventure on Granville Island today, my friend and I opted to bypass the long line at Go Fish and dropped by Patisserie Lebeau for a snack.

They had lots of samples out (and I think my friend ate half of them!), and we ended up sharing a couple waffles:

1) Classic Brussels Waffle with poached pears and caramel sauce
2) Savoury waffle with green onions and cheese.

The waffles here are light, crispy and fresh. The perfect snack or light meal. You can also by them pre-packaged and frozen for home.

Other items include: chocolate croissants, rice pie, apple pie, salads, baguettes, and more. They sell out of baguettes fast, so stop by in the morning. The whole place is a big yum. Plus, after your waffle you can go to Les Amis du Fromage and Barbara-Jo’s  Books to Cooks for more foodie fun.

Patisserie Lebeau
1728 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver

But, there’s FINALLY a fantastic reason to go! I ordered a Chocolat-Banane cake from Ganache the other day and it had to be one of the best cakes I’ve tasted from Vancouver dessert shops. Moist, smooth texture, and a perfect balance of chocolate and banana. They must use a good mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet as the chocolate was not too sweet at all. I went around telling everyone how fantastic the cake was. Everyone LOVED it.

I ordered a huge slab for $100, which fed about 35 people. However, you can also order their cakes by the slice at the store for a mini-treat. My friends say they go often, too often.

Ganache Patisserie
1262 Homer St (b/w Drake & Davie)
Vancouver, BC
604.899.1098
Open Tues-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 11am-5pm, closed Mon.