I’ll echo Oneof7: I’m super-excited to be back in Ontario. So much closer to friends and family, and the FAB mothership.

When I first saw the kitchen in our new house, I was really happy. Finally, a bigger space for the chef to operate. Oh yeah, and more storage space for the chef’s ever-growing gadget collection. I swear that kitchen gadgets are sentient, organic beings that multiply in closed drawers. Well, that’s the way it seems to me, but what do I know? I’m just the deer-in-the-headlights sous chef (but I can whip up a mean, mean martini).

As Oneof7 wrote earlier, when we had a closer look at the space, it became apparent that the kitchen was lacking in key areas. The glaring deficiency was of course, the lack of drawers. There were two deep corner cabinets for pots and stuff, but they didn’t work for us. So, after a weekend of debate, we decided that we’d start peeling the onion…you know where that leads, right? Pull the cabinets out. Rip up the floor. And new appliances. New backsplash. New counter. New pro-grade hood fan. I grew nervous and opened a lovely pint of Stella Artois. “What the hell have I done?”, I mused…Stella #2 was opened in short order. Oh no, replacing the floors was my idea…Stella #3.

My directive to the chef was this: “We’ve got one chance here to design this the way we want. Let’s do this right.” Chef has lamented that since cooking school, she hasn’t cooked with gas – well, unless I’m in the room, but really that’s quite different and undesirable. But, I digress…we took the approach of designing the whole kitchen around the gas range. We quickly decided that we’d go 36” versus the standard 30” – it gives us a full six-burner stove top and a larger oven. For the serious chef, this is what you want.

So…after several design meetings, we made our choices. I thought it really interesting that they asked the same questions about four times. I think that served two purposes: it ensures the designer gets it right; more importantly, it confirms that you as the buyer are certain of your decisions. It’s a sound approach, and we appreciated it.

The ball is rolling. We’re nervous and excited about this all at once. One thing is for sure: we can’t wait ‘til it’s finished and to be able to share with our friends. That, dear reader, is the true motivation!

Anyone seen my pint? Anyone?

<Mooby>

Ok, so I work in Regina. I don’t live there, but commute there on a weekly basis. At first, I thought to myself, “who the hell did I piss off to end up here?!”, but man, have I ever changed my tune. In addition to having some of the friendliest, genuinely nicest people I’ve ever met, Regina has some true culinary gems.

I’m a bit of a creature of habit, so I make the rounds of my favourite restaurants each week. On Mondays, I usually end up at the Cathedral Village Free House, at 2062 Albert Street.

They’ve got a great, casual fare menu; I’d like to say it’s pub food, but it’s up at least a couple of notches. At least.

I am a creature of habit, as I mentioned earlier. So, when I hit the Free House, I usually go for their pizza. All pizzas are thin crust and available in 9″ or 12″ sizes. Oh yeah, they’re cooked in a wood oven, the best way to do it, in my opinion. My personal favourite is the Tandoori Chicken pizza. There is just the right amount of spice and the mango and cilantro make this a simple yet exotic pizza. I can’t get enough of it.

I’ve recently discovered the Cappicola and Tomato pizza - for me, it’s the basil pesto base (instead of the traditional tomato sauce) that really makes this special. Roasted tomatos don’t hurt either. A new favourite? We’ll see…

The Free House also has specials sheets that seem to be renewed every 6 to 8 weeks. Usually, there’s a trout special included: the last one was Trout Vindaloo. If there’s anyone from the Free House reading this: put it on the regular menu! Just the right amount of heat is balanced nicely with the fatty fish that’s cooked medium rare; they also had a mango raita on the plate that was wonderful. Mmm…I may have to go to the Free House for the second time this week…but I digress.

The Free House has the usual suspects too: good selection of beers on tap and a fairly standard, non-intimidating wine list that’s reasonably priced.

When I’m on the road, I try to seek out small local spots that offer quality food at a decent price. For me, the Free House hits it: great food cooked with interesting ingredients, good prices and a cool vibe. If you’re ever in Regina, I strongly suggest you check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

More to come from the wilds of Saskatchewan.

Mooby

Apparently it’s aged for a total of 77 days - 30 of those are in oak barrels used to age single malt. The balance is in a “marrying tin where these flavours infuse and fall into perfect balance.” The perfect beer? Not so fast, my Homer-esque friends. This is a strong beer (6.6%) with HUGE flavour - it tastes like Caffrey’s that has had an insane bartender drop a shot of Lagavulin into it. Yup, the single malt essence comes through in a big way for me - that means you can’t be quaffing this all night. It’s like drinking a huge fat Cab or Chardonnay - it needs a little somethin’ somethin’ to go with, ya know?

That said, I can see having one or two of these Scottish badasses for a little apres, in front of the fireplace. Beautiful, huge flavours (I get the single malt as well as honey) and a lovely velvety mouth feel. Not a lot of carbonation makes it slide down that much nicer…drool…

If you can find this, I recommend this - sell your kidneys if you need to, you won’t regret the tradeoff.