Dear me,

Thank you for leaving work so decisively for your lunch hour and driving like a mad woman to Coco et Olive. There is something so beautiful about knowing exactly what will give you pleasure, reprieve, salvation – and when.

This short americano with 1/4 pack of raw sugar and your hand wrapped around spotless white porcelain are just what you needed. It’s steady, certain and knowing, a kind of love passed to you across so many kitchen tables.

Natural light pours into the cafe and winks at you as if to say so many more beautiful things are in store. Your roasted tomato, goat cheese and basil quiche with side salad is only one of them. The dill is a subtle surprise. Then a homemade two-bite espresso brownie arrives at your table. The icing slips off like silk sheets.

It’s simple to find pleasure when you look for it. Today its been traded for $12.49, food made with care and time to yourself. Your Ikea work desk is not this charming red table with its curvy, vintage legs. Try to remember that. Demand more from your daily menu.

Oh, and please stop eating slimy soup from the troughs at the IGA across from your office. I like you better than that.

Love,

Jen

Yes, we are still recovering from yesterday’s feast up at the Domaine de Chaberton winery in Langely’s back country where we went to celebrate my parent’s 29th anniversary and my dad’s retirement. First retirement, that is.

If ever there was a reason for Hwy 1, Bacchus Bistro is it. The little cinder block building behind the wine shop is an imported piece of French country, with tables and walls dressed in rustic reds and greens, a half-exposed kitchen and chefs in crisp whites. And yes, like most places in Vancouver, you could easily be comfortable in your Lululemons and rubber boots, but there’s just enough French attitude here to carry a dress or tie as well. The food deserves your best.

First things first, order a glass (or bottle) of the buttery Bacchus Chardonnay. Then, ask yourself, do I like butter? Do I like cheese? Do I like bacon? If you answer yes to any or all of these, then you will understand our ordering dilemma. The wine will help lubricate whatever reluctance you might feel in ordering the entire menu. After all, it was a long drive. Who knows when you’ll be back?

We had: three perfectly puffed onion tarts, 3 cauldrons of French onion soup, 1 prawns andalouise, 1 crepes with ham, gruyere and mornay sauce, 2 spinach salads with blue goat cheese and candied walnuts, 1 quiche with tomato and oka cheese, 2 lemon tarts, 3 chocolate mousse with prailine crusts and 3 bottles of wine.

A word for the wiser…unless you are an insomniac or freakishly unaffected by extreme overeating and wine consumption, go for lunch. Initially, we had tried to book a dinner reservation. They were full. This turned out to be a blessing. If you live in Vancouver, I would highly suggest you go for an afternoon adventure. First, because the drive is a commitment. And second, because you are guaranteed to eat (and drink) to excess. There’s just something about the daylight, when you finally emerge from the dining room, that makes the drive home possible (against all odds). I am certain that if we had gone for dinner, the six of us, plus baby David, would be waking up in the winery parking lot right now.

Bacchus Bistro. Hours of Operation:
Lunch Wed through Sunday: 11:30 – 3:00 pm
Dinner Friday & Saturday 5:30 – 9:30 pm
Reservations are highly recommended. Call 604 530 9694.

ps – order dessert first. The Americans stole our profiteroles.

pps – photo at top is from a new favourite Flikr find, House on Hill Road