The New Domestic

Places

02/28/10

Night Out at Munch

Dinner last night was at Munch in North Vancouver. What a fantastic place! I had a nice creamy seafood risotto with a glass of Malbec and Peter had a bison burger. I could have seriously had another plate of that risotto but was too embarrassed to order another one. Well, I’m going back with my friend Sisi for lunch next week so I could have my second serving then. It’s nice to have a place like this in the city where Peter and I can enjoy a really good meal and not have to worry if Luna cries. How many places have a play area for kids and a full bar for adults? Yippee! We’d definitely recommend this place to other young families too.


Food / Kids / Places — No comments — Posted by: Nerissa
02/21/10

Lemon Meringue at the Schoolhouse

First treat of the day for us was a visit to Mark & Shannon’s new place for coffee and a slice of lemon meringue pie. Mark converted a 70 year old schoolhouse in Strathcona into an innovative mixed-use multi-family dwelling. The conversion maintains 40% of the original structure with modern updates getting the schoolhouse to Built Green Platnium standards. Each of the five units have a flex-space that could be used for an income-suite, additional living space or a home studio. The main floor of the schoolhouse is Shannon’s studio/workshop with future plans for public community programming. It’s a beautiful and thoughtful conversion which I’m sure must be the talk of the neighbourhood. Now, about the pie…it was baked by Shannon’s mom and it was spectacular!


Domestic 2.0 / Food / Places — 1 comment — Posted by: Peter
02/11/10

Safehouses

You know the safehouses in Grand Theft Auto? No? Don’t play video games; not criminal minded? Well, neither is Nerissa. It took some explaining but we’ve come to incorporate the word “safehouse” into our parenting lexicon. In Grand Theft Auto, a safehouse is place where you can escape from the cops, get your stolen car fixed or covertly meet up with your associates. For us, a safehouse is far less nefarious. It’s a place where we can comfortably nurse, that has a properly maintained changing area or where we can get a decent meal and not feel guilty about Luna crying. We keep a mental catalogue of places around the city so that we can make a pitstop when out and about rather than rushing home. One day, I’d like to create a Grand Theft Auto style map with all the baby-friendly safehouses around the city. I think it’d be funny.

So far our safehouse list includes:

  • IKEA, Richmond – the best family/changing area we’ve seen. It’s bigger than most downtown dens and looks like a mini-showroom.
  • Whole Foods, Cambie Street – the eating area has lots of space for a stroller and other gear. Hippies love crying babies. Hippies love everyone.
  • Little Nest, Commerical Drive – delicious food, good coffee and designed with young families in mind.
  • Lilli’Q Cafe, Yaletown – During a long walk, we needed to find a place to change Luna and found Lilli’Q. We were a long ways away from the nearest safehouse so Lilli’Q was a welcome new discovery. There’s a comfortable changing area, a play area for bigger kids, friendly staff and nice drinks.
  • Munch, North Vancouver – You won’t find a lot of kid friendly places with a full bar! Amazing food & drinks and would definitely recommend this place to other young families.

Domestic 2.0 / Places — No comments — Posted by: Peter
01/24/10

Little Nest

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I spent an afternoon at Little Nest with the girls (& Peter). We had a lot of catching up to do so the afternoon was filled with non-stop chatting, laughter, entertaining Luna, coffee and munching on food. I love this place. It’s casual, kid friendly and has great food too. I could spend everyday here if I lived on Commercial Drive.

I was checking out Bloesum Kids the other day and there was an article on this wicked café called Moomah in New York. It’s like a gallery/studio/café/shop all in one. This place is stunning, you have to explore the site yourself to know what I’m talking about. It’s a creative café where parents and kids can hang out. It’s a similar concept as Little Nest but Moomah offers a little bit more by having some classes for kids & adults. Oh, do I wish we had a Moomah here in Vancouver…

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Domestic 2.0 / Food / Kids / Places — No comments — Posted by: Nerissa
12/04/09

Vista D’oro Farms

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On one sunny day, we decided to take a trip to Langley to check out Vista D’oro Farms. Vista D’oro farms is part winery, part cooking studio and part tasting room. We were first introduced to Vista D’oro while we were on a search for rose confit which we first tried in Nice, France.

It only took us a year to finally check out their flagship store in Langley which is right on their farm. The location is so beautiful, it brought back memories of our trip to Provence. We tasted their Merlot and Port wine. Their Port wine is out of this world. Super good! Their flagship store also carries all of their jams, wines and other artisan market goods. I could have stayed in that store for hours tasting their different jams and drinking their wine!

If you haven’t tried their jams, trust me, they are a treat! Oh, and you have to taste their Port wine too!

(On our recent trip back to Europe, we brought back a bottle of rose confit from Paris and soon after, we found a store called Farfalla tea boutique in Gastown that sells boutique jams from Paris and they had rose confit! But sadly, they have recently closed their doors).


Domestic 2.0 / Places — No comments — Posted by: Nerissa