pulling shots

This blog is neglected. I’m super busy at school (six courses!) and then I work on the weekends, only to crash both hypercaffeinated nights. However, I do still exist.

The whirlwind trip that Tonx, Kyle and Doug Zell from Intelly made on the west coast touched down at Wicked first where I was able to meet them (well, I had met Kyle and Tonx from past Seattle trips). No real conversation took place as brighter lights in the coffee world handled those…

My coffee cupboard is full of wonders these days. I’ve got bits of several Intelly coffees, their S&P Blend (anyone know what companies their tasting notes refer to?), the famed Idido Misty Valley Yergacheffe (one of my favorite coffees these days) as well as the brand new Colombia Tres Santos release. I had the Santos this morning on my way to my very early 8 AM physical chemistry class. It was awesome, especially for a “standard” issue coffee. I’m going to wait on tasting notes, but it was quite light, with a syrupy body, very well balanced and not as acidic as I expected.

I had a clovered Novo Adedo Yerg yesterday at Elysian (they just had a bit… so don’t be rushing in asking about it). It was phenomenal. Huge fruit/berry notes but it still maintained a very subtle profile. One of the best coffees I have had in months.

Now, here’s a question. If you had 3 days in Vancouver, what restaurants would you choose to eat at? It would need to be appropriate for teenagers (teenagers with a palate and manner mind you), and since it will be a family thing probably not the most expensive places in the city. My list includes cheaper places for lunch like Go Fish, Kintaro Ramen… anyone have suggestions? Preferably downtown or Kits locations, but the Drive would be interesting too.

For anyone who is worried (these are few), I return to Vancouver on Friday. I’ll be at Wicked bright and early the next morning pulling shots and polishing off the morning baking. Hopefully I’ll be able to manage my six course load in geology (with a bit of multivariable calculus and physical chemistry thrown in) and the job at the cafe.

As a bit of a shout out, restaurant critic John Gilchrist wrote an article in the Calgary Herald on his top 10 Calgary restaurants of 2006. Bumpy’s, my former employer, was named number 10. As you can imagine, this is a fairly significant achievement for a small sandwich and coffee place. Congratulations to John and the rest of his staff!

Also, does anyone have a good recommendation for a knife steel that would be widely available? I was given a vintage Victorinox chef’s knife and would like to keep the edge straight. It’s been well taken care of, so I would like to continue that. Any suggestions?