Who knew?: Ronald McDonald, lady's man

Believe it or not, that creepy-looking fellow up there is Ronald McDonald the First, starring in McDonald's first commercial.

He may have been beaten out of the role of the national Ronald McDonald by this dude:


(he blames his chubbiness), but he did get quite a few perks, including this: "Women would offer themselves to me. I actually had groupies who followed me from gig to gig."

For a string of fun "Who Knews" about McDonald's (e.g. Did you know that more than 50,000 students from all over the world have graduated with "Bachelor of Hamburgerology" degrees from "McDonald's Hamburger University"?) check out the following Pop-up Video-style mockumentary of four McDonald commercials. The last commercial is particularly awesome, especially if you're a So You Think You Can Dance fan like I am!

Be sure to watch till the end -- there's a surprise! Let me know what you think.

Ask, and I will find: Latvian food

Rosanne said...

So my mother wants to know about Latvian food. Is there any in Vancouver?

May 22, 2009 7:05 PM

"Truly Latvian cooking" has been described by aboutriga.net and numerous other sites as --

• consisting of very cheap, self-grown ingredients (such as dried peas and cheap cuts of meat, such as pork hocks or bacon)
• having few or no spices (as imported spices were expensive and normally only available in Latvia's major cities)
• being high in calories (to ensure enough energy for the Latvian people's daily, backbreaking labour!)

"Hearty" and "typically quite basic, without the fancy sauces and ingredients found in other places in Europe ... [Latvia's dishes have] much in common with its neighbouring countries -- Lithuania, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine -- and ingredients such as potatoes, cabbage, eggs, pork, wheat and barley feature prominently."

Heavily influenced by German, Swedish, and Russian cuisine, "a typical, truly Latvian dish would be something like boiled black peas with small snippets of bacon".



Today, a "Latvian dinner at Lido" would look something like the meal featured above; from left to right, there's "Russian-style kvas, a gherkin, a cotlette, pot-cooked cabbage, sour milk (kefir) and cold beetroot soup."

A dessert might include "Rupjmaizes kartojums" (see below) -- "a parfait of rye bread layered with whipped cream."


Some national Latvian dishes include --

• Janis' cheese (Janu Siers -- see below)
• Latvian bacon buns (Piragi -- see the first image on this post)
  
• Latvian sour cream soup (Skaba putra -- see right)
• Latvian beet soup (see below)
  
• Latvian potato salad (Rasols -- see right)
• Latvian kringel (Coffee cake)
• Latvian-style cheese danishes (Biezpien maizites)
• Latvian manna (Buberts)
• Latvian fruit sauce or fruit jelly (Kiselis)

My search of all the European and Eastern European restaurants in the Lower Mainland has revealed that there are no Latvian restaurants or restaurants of any kind that serve Latvian food in Vancouver.

My findings have been confirmed by all my "Latvian food contacts" -- great people who participated in my search for Latvian food. These included members of the Lutheran church where Vancouver's Latvian community congregates, a member of an Estonian church, participants in this year's Eurofest (where Latvia was represented), friends from the Russian community, and the online Latvian community, Latvians Online.

As Andris Straumanis, editor of Latvians Online explained,

"Few Latvians live in British Columbia, so you will not find any Latvian-specific shops or restaurants. Your reader might have better luck finding a Russian or East European shop (which probably would be run by Russians or Ukrainians) that might stock some Latvian imports, such as sprats, chocolate or bread."

With Andris's help, I discovered one Latvian food that you can find in select stores throughout the Lower Mainland: authentic Latvian Riga Sprats.

According to the BBC, "'Riga Sprats' have been produced in Latvia since the 19th century, [and] have become one of the country's most famous brands.... The Baltic sprat is a small, herring-like fish, found mainly in the Baltic Sea.... While other countries along the Baltic coast also catch and smoke the fish, it is Latvian sprats that have become a byword for delicacy and sophistication -- the gourmet's choice.... and it is the Russians who are still their most enthusiastic consumers. At big celebrations, when the food's laid out, a party is not a party in Russia without a can of Riga Sprats."

At Latvians Online, they "really, really like sprats" -- enough to create a Sprats Index: "a guide [on] where to find sprats and -- more importantly -- how much you should expect to pay for a 160-gram tin."


According to the index, Pavel's Food Store (3740 Chatham St.) in Steveston, Richmond is one place where you should be able to find it.

Another place I've found that sells them closer to home is Euro Food Plus (1688 Robson St.), which, according to one Yelp reviewer, has "at least 10 different kinds of canned sprats." A phone call to the store and a talk with my new Russian friends has confirmed that Euro Food Plus is the place to go for sprats in Vancouver. The store also used to sell Latvian bread as well, but not anymore. :(

If you're thinking of trying sprats but aren't sure of how to serve them, the following suggestion is apparently "bloomin' marvellous":

• Lightly toast two slices of rye bread
• “Butter” with a good mayonnaise
• Add a layer of sprats to both slices of bread
• Add some slices of celery or cucumber for texture
• Add some chopped parsley, coriander/chili, or dill
• Squeeze some lemon/lime and shake a few grounds of pepper on to finish

Try it, and let us know how it is!

If you know of a place that sells Latvian food that I haven't found, or of another location that sells sprat that's not already listed on the Sprat Index, tell us -- you'll make not one, but several people very happy. :)

Menu review: La Grotta Del Formaggio

La Grotta Del Formaggio (1791 Commercial Drive) is known for making some of the best sandwiches in Vancouver, so I had high expectations when I tried my first one today.

Unfortunately, I was kind of let down.

Letdown #1: The size. Sandwiches come in small ($5), medium ($6), and large ($7.25) buns, or in half ($6.50) or whole ($11.50?) focaccia buns. The small is small -- slightly larger than a dinner bun, the medium is a six-inch, and I have no idea how big a large is, since they were sold out by the time we got there (2pmish). I assume it's the best deal.


JW2 (I just realized I have a LOT of friends with the same initials) and I split half a focaccia sandwich, since she was still full from a big breakfast and I was still feeling the after-effects of an excellent potluck I attended the night before.

Since neither of us were hungry to begin with, our sandwich left us stuffed. I have no idea how filling it would have been otherwise, since our sandwich-maker was neither skimpy nor super-generous with the fillings. My half of the sandwich looked pretty much like the one below, only with different meat:


Letdown #2: The enthusiasm of the staff (or lack thereof). "What's your favourite sandwich? I asked the two girls behind the counter.
Girl #1: It changes all the time!
Girl #2: I'm sick of these sandwiches!

Since most food people I've talked to tend to be super-enthusiastic about the stuff they sell (most usually reply, "EVERYTHING!"), Girl #2's comment kind of put a damper on my own enthusiasm.

Letdown #3: The taste. Don't get me wrong. It was a good sandwich -- but it wasn't a spectacular one. The main draw to La Grotta sandwiches, in my opinion, is the veggies you can add to them. Clockwise from below, starting from the right, you'll see that you can choose to put in tomatoes, roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes, chopped green olives, hot peppers, eggplant, red onions, and lettuce -- a step above your standard sandwich fillers.


I was super-excited about those toppings, but I think they're what let me down the most. The flavours did not each individually pop out, and they suffocated the flavours of the condiments that JW2 and I chose (pesto mayonnaise, honey mustard, and olive oil) for our sandwich . I couldn't taste any of the condiments at all, so they felt like wasted calories. I don't know if I tasted the eggplant at all, which was weird, since I had asked for extra eggplant. JW2 discovered she didn't particularly like marinated artichokes. If you have a more refined tongue than me, the veggies and condiments are actually probably very tasty.

On top of unlimited veggies, you can get two meats and one cheese, if you go with a meat (as opposed to a cheaper vegetarian) sandwich. I liked the fact that the meats aren't pre-sliced, and you can watch the counter people use a meat shaver to slice your meat selections for you. It would have been nice to have more exotic meats to choose from though.

We settled for a Montreal smoked meat and ham sandwich with provolone cheese. From what I remember, other meat choices included turkey, prosciutto (add $1) or roast beef (add $1), and other cheeses included cheddar, edam, emmental, and havarti.

The meat didn't impress me, and the portions were not particularly large. What we were served didn't look anywhere near the amount this guy apparently got:


Maybe the guy ordered extra meat, paid an extra dollar for the more expensive stuff, or opted to go without cheese. The guy in line ahead of us ordered a roast beef sandwich with no cheese, and seemed to have a whole lot more meat in his sandwich than we did.

I'm a meat-a-tarian (not a carnivore, but just about) so I like my sandwiches with a lot of tasty meat. Too bad for me.

We had the option of toasting our sandwich, so of course we did. Nothing beats melted cheese on grilled/toasted bread.

Overall, it was a good sandwich -- and a very good-looking one at that -- but does it deserve the title of Vancouver's best sandwich? I don't think so, but a lot of people out there do (re. The Georgia Straight readers, Yelp reviewers, and more).

Try one yourself, and if you already have, comment and let us know how you liked it.

Or, recommend another Vancouver sandwich shop/vendor/deli/restaurant for us to try. There are soooooo many options out there!

Food 'file: Wine Diva Daenna Van Mulligan

When I first met Daenna Van Mulligen at EAT!'s volunteer appreciation party, I had no idea I was talking to one of Canada's biggest names in the wine industry. As her numerous online bios indicate, "In Canada, Daenna has become the go-to person for online wine knowledge."

Her two sites, Wine Diva (her tongue-in-cheek approach to wine) and Wine Scores (her response to constant requests to score wines out of a 100-point scale), together pull in a combined 735,000 hits per month.

If that weren't enough, Daenna's also incredibly active in both the Canadian and international wine scene.

You name it, and this wine writer, wine educator, accredited sommelier, and Vancouverite has probably done it. In addition to regularly contributing to Canada's Vines Magazine, the BC Liquor Stores' Taste Magazine, and Food Vancouver, she reviews wine each Saturday on Terry David Mulligan's radio show The Tasting Room, and makes regular appearances on CityTV's Breakfast Television and Lunch Television.

Daenna has also had significant roles in Vancouver's restaurant industry and at many top wine and food events: Among other things, she's developed and consulted on wine lists for numerous Vancouver restaurants, hosted the wine stage each year at Eat! Vancouver and Eat! FraserValley, and presented and served as a panelist at Cornucopia, Whistler's premier wine and food extravaganza.

Daenna's wine expertise has also been sought to help judge wines for such events as VinItaly (the world's largest wine fair), and ViniPax in Portugal.

Now, she's here to give us the exclusive on how she got started, what it's like to be a Wine Diva, and much, much more!

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What drew you to wine, and what led you to specialize in it?

I began seriously drinking wine in 1995 when a friend (now my husband) introduced me to Wolf Blass Cabernet during a trip home to Manitoba for Christmas. We both grew up in Brandon, Manitoba. I still say he wooed me on Wolf Blass.

I was fortunate enough to visit the winery in Barossa Valley this past February.

From that point on, we made it a point to travel to local wine regions (BC, Niagara Ontario, and Oregon) and learn as much as we could -- tasting, trying new wines and reading. It was when we moved back east to Toronto in 1999 that I lucked into taking the sommelier program at George Brown College and became an accredited sommelier. I had previously worked in restaurants and knew that I was not cut out for that line of work, so my goal was always to write about wine (and food initially).

I had taken journalism and writing night courses at Langara in Vancouver and Ryerson in Toronto, so I had some writing experience, but very little. And having very little experience makes it hard to be hired, or to be taken seriously as a wine writer, so I started teaching, public-speaking and lecturing about wine part time.

How did you come to be a “Wine Diva”?

When my husband and I returned to Vancouver in December 2003, I knew it was an opportunity for a fresh start, and I wanted to fully immerse myself in wine -- not just enjoy it as a hobby (collecting thimbles would be far cheaper than collecting wines for the cellar).

So, in February 2004, I told my husband I wanted to start a website to write about wine -- after all, no one was going to hire me, because no one knew who I was. I told him I wanted to called "Wine Diva" (after drinking several bottles of wine).

He didn't like it -- he thought it had bad connotations. But I insisted, and we bought the site name and launched a simple blog-type site, decorated with my own hand-drawn illustrations that I filled in with tasting notes from bottles we bought and tasted. I gathered names and started a newsy-letter I sent out every two months.

Meanwhile, I was working in a wine store in Kitsilano called Vintropolis, and I was also the sommelier for the attached wine bar of the same name.

I had 75 hits the first month I launched WineDiva.ca, which was very impressive (or so I thought). I never, ever anticipated that, five years later, I would be getting nearly 750,000 hits per month... especially since I had no computer abilities. Seriously, my website was virtually my first foray into the internet.

Winediva.ca looks like such a fun site! How did you think up the concept for it? Did you have it all mapped out in your head, or did it emerge bit by bit? When did it all come together?

It was without a doubt, a process -- don't let anyone tell you differently. But I had a couple things in my favour: one, I love colour (high impact) and two, I was a clothing designer in my previous career.

Visuals are very important: colour, balance, lines, and recognizing trends and the speed at which they change. From my early days living in Paris (when Grunge was just taking off across the world in Seattle), I saw the world of fashion begin to change. No longer was Paris couture dictating the fashion world -- street wear, and urban dissent were.

I worked between Asia and Vancouver for several years, designing clothing and watching trends. People were getting busier, and with more magazines, websites, technology and information bombarding us every moment of the day, who had time to stop and read or peruse all that? In fact, here I am blathering on, and it's way, way too wordy!

I watched the shift from ten-page Vogue spreads to “sound bites” of colour in new magazines -- one page with brilliantly-coloured snapshots of the hottest shoes, bag, dress and lipstick, designed to appeal to the masses and give as much information in as little space as possible.

Basically my site evolved to do just that -- provide impact, colour, pictures and easy-to-read reviews for the 98% of the population who are not wine geeks.

How about winescores.ca? How did that come about?

There are two camps of wine drinkers. Those who love to recite wine scores from famous wine critics, and those who don’t give a da*n.

I've always said WineDiva was not about “scores” and I had no intention of that changing. But, after constant requests to score wines out of the 100 points scale that has become the accepted international scoring method, I started to capitulate.

My business partner/husband and I worked on a plan for about eight months. The plan was two-fold: 1) to build a secondary site with serious content and wine scores on all of my wine reviews that would benefit WineDiva readers who wanted more or who were becoming more knowledgeable, and 2) to show that I was not a pink flake who really knew nothing about wine.

I have never needed to prove to my peers what I know about wine -- in fact, I go out of my way to hide it. Yammering on about your wine knowledge often makes you a bore, especially when you are yammering to other wine geeks. I call it “talking to the mirror”.

WinesScores.ca proved to critics that I knew what I was talking about, it gave score lovers something to reach for and, in the end, it also gave me a fabulous outlet to write about my wine travels.

What’s it like to manage two websites at once? What made you decide to make two separate sites instead of putting all the content into one?

I think I answered that above. But having two sites is simply double the work...

What’s it like having more than 500,000 hits a month on your page? What do you do to maintain and increase that number?

A surprise, but a pat on the back for a lot of work.

The sites are now pulling in a combined 735,000 hits per month and growing.

To maintain and increase my number of visitors involves providing quality content and information, and making the sites more user-friendly. Word of mouth is how we got here -- now we work hard on keeping and maintaining the momentum.

How did you get into doing interviews with radio and TV stations? What’s it like?

Same thing -- through word of mouth and a solid five+ years of writing about wine on WineDiva.ca.

People see my sites and hear about me via other mediums, and it's a snowball effect. I have never gone out and promoted myself, except by simply showing up and doing my job.

I have never been a nervous person in front of crowds. Give me a mic or a camera, and I am happy as long as I am familiar with my subject matter. Wine is second nature to me now, and no matter how much more I could (and want to) learn, I am comfortable enough in my knowledge right now to jump in front of an audience and talk wine at a moment's notice.

I like to make it fun, like to be funny and like it when people get that “ah-ha” look on their face. It means I have shared something with them they did not already know.

How do you like judging wines?

It’s very, very good training and important to understanding quality, typicity and character in wine. There is no better way to become a better taster once you’ve gotten to a certain level in wine.

Of your many wine-related jobs, which do you enjoy most? Which aspects do you like best?

The freedom to choose what to write about and to work for myself and choose my own hours.Where have your journeys as a wine writer taken you?

In the last year, all over the world. Italy twice, Germany, Portugal, California, Australia, South Africa, Chile and here in British Columbia of course...

Between September 2008 and February 2009 I was in wine regions on five continents.... but prior to that, other regions in Greece, France, Washington State, Oregon and Niagara Ontario.


So you get paid to travel the world, drink great wine, and eat great food. How awesome is that? How exactly does it work? How long did it take you to get to the point you’re at now?

There was no single “starting point” for me. You could suggest it was 1993 when I worked with wine in restaurants or in 1995 when my husband really turned me on to wine. Or, when I became a sommelier in 2001 or when I started my site in 2004....

Basically it took me three years after WineDiva.ca was launched to get enough notice worldwide that I was going on trips -- first just within BC, then Washington State, then further abroad.

But it's not about “free stuff”, being a writer -- a mistake most wannabes make. You have to prove your worth, have people follow your writing, and prove you are not only capable, but easy to get along with. Most important of all, you must be reliable.

I just kept chipping away, giving my all, and producing... the rest fell into place as people began to notice that I was serious and hardworking.

What’s the best work-related trip you’ve ever been on?

I cannot say. I honestly love all the regions I have visited for different reasons: Germany's stunning, steeply-planted Riesling vineyards, South Africa’s rugged beauty and old-world/new-world charm, Australia’s laid-back allure and incredibly varied terroirs, Portugal’s tradition, uniqueness and captivating stubbornness, Chile’s purity and incredible scenery, California’s quality and diversity, and Italy... well, Italy’s pure romance...

What’s the most interesting food you’ve tried during your wine travels?

Regional diversity -- the cuisine of each region paired with its wines -- is always the most interesting. The dishes are not always to my taste, but they have interesting history and are often subtly tweaked from place to place -- Italy's food is a classic example of subtle shifts in cuisine from province to province. It could be how they prepare the cingale (wild boar) or if they use risotto or pasta as their starch.

In Portugal, cod is a mainstay (even though cod has been fished to extinction in their own waters, they buy it from Sweden) along the Atlantic; in Bairrada, suckling pig is the favoured dish, and in Alentejo, porco preto (or black pig) -- similar to wild pigs -- is the meat of choice; all pair well with their regional wines.


In Australia, food is fresh, simple and modern with strong Asian influences, and in Germany, the schnitzel and potato dishes and copious spargle (white asparagus prevalent in May to June) topped with Hollandaise, are perfect with a Riesling...

What’s your secret spot to enjoy a drink in the city?

At home, usually -- especially in the summer. My husband and I are early day people, so we tend to go out in the afternoons and have wine with lunch. I love Nu for the views, but anywhere I can get a glass of bubbly in a nice, quiet atmosphere is great.

What’s your favourite wine, and where can we find it?

Whatever I am drinking at the moment -- it’s summer so I am all over summer sippers -- Roses, Gewürztraminers, Pinot Blancs and of course my favourite -- Rieslings!

---

Rieslings are some of my favourite wines too!

If you have any questions for Wine Daenna, now's your chance to probe!

Cheers!

Candy-gram: Happy one-month anniversary!

Just checked the date of my first post today, and whaddaya know? Let's Talk about Food is a month (and a day) old!

Thank you everyone for being a part of it!

It's hard to believe that what started out as me randomly rambling about food has turned into a food/drink/restaurant review and ask-and-I-will-find service, not to mention a place to peek into some great careers in the food biz.

This isn't a blog -- it's a magazine in a blog format (because I haven't figured out how to make a website yet :P).

And heads up: we might be moving over to wordpress, because blogger is not the most friendly server to work with. [If the spaces in this post are out of whack, blame blogger! grr...]

A food-related post on this monumentous event is coming soon; I just thought that the occasion deserved a post of its own!

Happy anniversary, my lovely readers!

Did you end up trying a new place/food after reading? How was it?

Was there a post you particularly enjoyed? Let me know, and I'll try to make more like them.

Thanks for reading! You're all #1. :)

Menu review: Doña Cata Mexican Foods / EAT Vancouver volunteer appreciation party

I'm still on a high from last night -- great food and great people do that to you. In roughly three and a half hours, I sampled more than twenty as-close-to-authentic-as-you-can-get-in-Vancouver Mexican dishes and drinks, and talked to people with seriously sweet jobs in the food biz.

The venue was Doña Cata Mexican Foods (5076 Victoria Drive -- it's on 35th).

The occasion? EAT Vancouver's volunteer appreciation party -- and what a way to be appreciated.

Arriving right on time at 5:45pm (the restaurant normally closes at 5pm on a Sunday, so the entire place was reserved just for us EAT! people), I noticed that a lot of people had already arrived and helped themselves to the pitchers of sangria and margaritas laid out on the drink table, where a nice selection of wines and a variety of Mexican pops (including Jarritos, apple pop, and bottled sangria) were also available.

Having made my way through the great majority of these drinks as the evening progressed, I can say that they were all very tasty.

I can't really comment on the alcoholic drinks, since I'm only a social drinker and have limited knowledge and experience to work with, but the margarita was one of the better ones I've had -- slushy and refreshing, and not tasting too strongly of alcohol -- and the sangrias were tasty.

I loved the Jarritos. I managed to try pineapple, mango, grapefruit, and tamarind (the guayaba and mandarin ones were sadly nabbed before I had a chance to pour a sample), and I especially liked the pineapple one, though they were all really good -- the grapefruit was a surprise, since I don't normally like that flavour. I wasn't a fan of the apple pop of another brand. I definitely recommend going for a Jarritos the next time you go out for Mexican food though.

The standout drink was probably the horchata (rice and cinnamon mixed with cold water), which they introduced later in the evening to replace the margaritas. A number of people commented that it was exceptionally good (not too watery or sweet), though the sweetness apparently varied from pitcher to pitcher.

I've only ever had horchata at El Caracol Café, a place just a block down from Doña Cata, at 5190 Victoria Drive. The one at El Caracol had a different texture to it -- more solids in it (I think I remember sucking up actual pieces of grain) -- but I remember it being equally tasty. I'd recommend ordering a horchata if you haven't already tried one before.

Based on the reviews I've seen, El Caracol (and El Caracolita next door, which is run by the same owner and focuses more on Mexican food) are two places worth trying, so if you're looking for "good" Mexican food, the 35th/36 street area is one you might want to check out.

The staff at the restaurant probably don't normally do this, but one of the makers of EAT! was literally slicing the caps off wine bottles with a knife, which made for an interesting show. I tried a Hungarian sparkling white wine and a riesling, both of which were quite nice. I don't think these are on Doña Cata's menu, though.

In terms of food, the restaurant made sure that we were fed, with plenty of non-meat options available on top of their many varieties and versions of meat dishes.

To start, each table was given a small bowl of handmade nachos (I've seen reviews with people complaining about the size of the portions, and actually seeing it, I can understand why). It held probably no more than a cup of nachos. However, besides the fact that those nachos are normally free, you probably wouldn't want to fill up on them anyway, when there's so much more to try.

The nachos are a good way to sample the restaurant's extensive sauce and salsa options (10 different kinds, all homemade), which include "a sweet (and not spicy) Tomate Verde, a very spicy Mexicana (a mix of tomato and jalapeno) and Cacahuate (peanut)". I liked the guacomole best.

Appetizers included two kinds of taquitos (pork and cheese) and refried beans, veggies, and sauce on hard taco shells (sorry, I don't know the name of this dish). They were all crunchy and tasty, and not too greasy.

About half an hour in, they started offering a huge variety of tacos, including lamb, pork, beef, chicken, beans and cheese, carnitas, and cactus. Yes, I tried them all. Yes, my stomach was not very happy with me by the end of the night, but my tongue sure was. :)

I'm not going to use Mexican names for the food, since the staff described them in English to us, but if you're interested, you can check them out on the restaurant's menu.

As I mentioned in my first EAT! Vancouver post, I don't care much for their chicken tacos (they're quite bland), but I love love love their lamb tacos. The others were just okay. But then again, I don't really eat a lot of red meat, so you might enjoy them. The beef and pork ones had chunks of fat in them, which I hate to find in my food. The cactus was interesting -- I don't really know how to describe it. It looked like slices of cucumber the colour of lima beans, and the taste wasn't memorable enough to stick with me.

Cactus salad was offered as well, which I ended up having to eat an entire plate of, since they were overly-generous with the serving. It was not bad -- slick with oil and something different, but I wouldn't go out of my way to try it.

I thought I hated refried beans (ironically, I think they might ruin the taste of Mexican dishes for me), but I didn't hate Doña Cata's. They were actually quite good. But I am definitely not an Mexican food expert.

I also really enjoyed the Mexican rice. And I don't normally like rice.

Besides the lamb tacos and select Jarritos, however, the only things I really loved were numerous alambres they had available. They don't list them on their online menu, but apparently they have 30 different kinds. They had them buffet-style on large plates, on rotation, with about six varieties at a time, but we weren't allowed to serve ourselves -- instead they had someone scooping them into corn tortillas for us. To save much-needed stomach space, I got her to put a bit of each on a plate for me.

Since I hadn't been planning on reviewing the place, I didn't take down any of the names of the alambres, but as this review mentions, three of the kinds include "the Mexicano" -- "a combination of pork, onion, jalapeno ratas, corn and cheese", "the Pinguino" -- "a mix of bisteck, bacon, and cheese", and "the Vegetariano" -- "a combo of mushrooms, onion, tomato, and cheese".

Among my favourites was one that had a mix of chicken, bacon, mushroom, and cheese -- I had seconds of that!

They also had interesting ones that didn't sound too Mexican to me (e.g. "Hawaiiano"). Recurring ingredients included pork chop bits, cheese, pineapple, and mushrooms.

You should definitely order an alambre if you decide to eat a Doña Cata.

Even better than dessert (I doubt anyone would have had any room left for some anyway), the restaurant surprised us with a live performance by a Mexican guitarist. He was fantastic. It really set the mood and matched the restaurant's festive, colourful ambience. A girl at my table even started singing along.

A waiter who jumped in every once and a while with some unique "vocal accompaniment" was equally awesome. We never knew what to expect -- an enthusiastic yelp? A perfectly timed "ow, ow, ow!"? (You had to be there.)

Bottom line: If the guitarist ever becomes a regular performer at Dona Cata (or is he already one?), definitely try to time your visit to coincide with a show.

Between eating and eating and eating -- and drinking and drinking and drinking -- I also met and talked to some super-cool people. If you're one of them, "Hello and welcome!" You're the ones who really made my night. There's nothing I like more than talking to people who love food as much as I do!

The coolest part? Almost all of them agreed to be featured on my Food 'files!

These people have some of the coolest jobs ever.

In the coming weeks, you can look forward to interviews from --

-one of the country's top three wine writers (you know those people who get paid to travel around the world to wine and dine? --- that's her)

-one half of the brains behind EAT! Vancouver (we're talking the boss himself)

-one of the folks behind the World Culinary Travel Expo (how can you resist this tagline? -- "Promoting Global Travel through Gastronomy")

-a chef/caterer who's catered for the movie industry and such Hollywood stars as John Travolta

-the folks who help keep our stomachs happy at some of the city's biggest festivals and events (including Greek Day, the Caribbean festival, and Alcan Dragon Boat festival), by meeting all their cooking show staging service needs

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I want to give a shout out to everyone I met -- thanks so much for your insights into the food scene in Vancouver and beyond. From foodie to foodie, you all rock! And if any readers ask about foods in your realms of expertise, expect an email from me! ;)

Anyone who's tried Doña Cata -- give us your take on the food. I've never been to Mexico or tried Mexican food in the States, so your opinions are likely more insightful than mine. I've heard that it's one of the more authentic places here, though.

Also, share your favourite Mexican places with us -- one person has already verbally put in a request for "the most authentic Mexican food in Vancouver". Tips would be appreciated. :)

Candy-gram: Now, anyone can comment!

Till this very moment, only people with google accounts could comment on my posts.

(My apologies to those who couldn't post comments in the past -- I hadn't realized that I could open the section to the public).

Now, anyone can comment!

Now we can start a real conversation!

Sooo.... what are you waiting for?

Be sure to leave a name or initial or something I can recognize you by -- and if I don't already know you, introduce yourself!

I only bite food. :)

By the way, I had been planning to do one final EAT! Vancouver post on the cheese seminar I attended (which was, as I mentioned, the highlight of the event for me), but am thinking of skipping it and moving on to finally really trying to tackle those requests you made a while back, for Latvian food, the best paella, and haggis.

If you really want to learn about cheese, comment here to let me know.