lunch in Vancouver

One of my favorite events in a typical workday is going out for lunch. Having an office in downtown Vancouver surely makes that very interesting given the plethora of restaurants and cafes in the area. I am pretty picky however and tend to prefer lounging in a café with a coffee and a pastry over a full meal. Lately, some new places have opened that perfectly fit my bill. For me, it is all about quality and craftsmanship when it comes to food and drink. I have gushed over Revolver and Meat and Bread in previous posts. Medina and it's sister The Dirty Apron are also lunch time favorites.

What I most appreciate however, is the Café ritual. Revolver is perfect for this, so is Thierry, which is fairly recent addition to Vancouver's burgeoning European style café scene. The interesting thing about a Thierry is that it has a liquor license and is open in the evenings as well. They have a great selection of pastries, chocolates, sandwiches and drinks. I have been there during the day for lunch but also in the evenings for a spiked coffee and a cookie as sustenance on a rainy evening while out and about in the city. Perfect.

Today I went to the latest one to open, Bel Café. I have had my eye on this one for a while now, it is the café addition to Hawksworth, which is the restaurant run by David Hawksworth who is a bit of a culinary hero of mine. Given his pedigree, expectations were high and I wasn't disappointed. It is definitely upscale, with waiters and white linen napkins and a carefully designed interior. I was happily surprised to see that the barista is someone I knew from a previous coffee shop that I used to frequent so I immediately connected and got the lowdown about the coffee and the food. I decided on a Bel Cappuccino which is a traditional Cappuccino with a little bit of chocolate, caramel and cinnamon, making for an exquisite drink. Not exactly a Mocha since it is much smaller but that allows the coffee flavor to remain very strong alongside the subtle flavors of the chocolate and cinnamon. Delicious. He has other interesting varieties on the menu, a spicy Vienesse Espresso with cloves and cinnamon for example sounds very intriguing.

I had a croissant, which is always a good test of how serious the chef is. Well, pretty serious if you ask me, it was buttery, flaky, moist on the inside with a nice crunch on the outside. I also had what has a cross between a Danish and a cinnamon bun, delectable as well. Pastries tried, next time I'll go for one the sandwiches!

I am very happy this place exists, yet another one to add to the list of lunch hangouts...

the Bel Cappuccino, very interesting flavors.

PS I am happy to report my iPhone 4S arrived yesterday. The camera is so much better than the one from the old 3G so expect better phone pictures going forward!