The Murray Chronicles

May 17, 2016

Spring gets more colourful at VanDusen Gardens

This year spring on the left coast has been, at times, quite like summer; temperatures in the mid- to high twenties and dry and the colours of our favourite Vancouver backyard have come earlier this year.

May 16, 2016

Beyond Bread at West 4th & Alma

Near the corner of West 4th and Alma on Vancouver's west-side resides a fantastic bakery/coffee house. Right near a bus stop it's busy, but a bit of a relaxing oasis too.

Stylishly appointed this bakery is one of Vancouver's best; the croissants are indeed exceptional. The bread is always fresh, which makes Beyond Bread's take on sandwiches difficult to resist.

The coffee comes from several of our favourite sources: Forty-ninth Parallel, Phil & Sebastian, and their own roasted-in-house Social Coffee. We've tried them all and they are all all nicely crafted and consistent in flavour and texture.

Service is usually friendly and efficient, but on a few occasions we've noticed a wee irritation on the part of counter staff. However, that might be due to all kinds of things and most of the time all is fine in every way.

Beyond Bread is a wonderful stop on the way to the beach!

May 04, 2016

Finally! A quality Canadian sparkling water... Montellier

Jeem et Sherry love sparkling waters. Perrier and San Pellegrino are good waters and readily available across Canada. Badoit is an excellent water too, slightly lighter than the other two,though much less visible in our stores and restaurants. Badoit is distributed in Canada by Coca Cola, though it is actually owned by the great French company Danone. Perrier and Pellegrino, one sourced from France, the other from Italy, are both owned by Nestle, which is unfortunate, given the nasty nature of that Swiss transnational.

Now. Finally. There's a water to call our own. It is Montellier and it's rapidly becoming available across Canada, at stores like Safeway, Save-on, PriceSmart and possibly London Drugs (Jeem isn't quite sure about them). Montellier is from the Quebec-based company called Alex Coulombe ltée. It tastes and feels great, just like the sparkling waters of Europe.

Alex Coulombe ltée began operations in 1905 and it's still a family owned and operated business, mainly bottling products of the Pepsi Cola company in Quebec. Thirty years ago Alex Coulombe ltée found a pure and naturally protected spring source in the lowlands of the St Lawrence valley, and Montellier water was created, based on the Coulombe family's belief that Quebec deserved its own local, quality sparkling water. The dream was always to expand Montellier's reach across Canada, and it's finally happening through a distribution deal with Pepsi.

Just as Canadians turned away from Heinz ketchup in favour of the Canadian-sourced French's, maybe it's time we all discovered a truly great Canadian sparkling water. Montellier is naturally spring-sourced, in Canada, by a Canadian family-owned business. And it has the official Jeem Seal of Approval on every bottle - and as we all know, that's not easily come by.

Photos from the website of Alex Coulombe ltée.

Fire in Fort McMurray

All of us have been watching as a wildfire devastates one of Canada's most strategically important cities. Regardless of what we might think of the oil sands, Fort McMurray is home to almost 100,000 people, and most of them have been forced to evacuate their homes by the supreme power of nature itself.

This photo was taken by a friend-of-a-friend as he attempted to leave Fort McMurray earlier this morning. My thoughts and prayers are with him and all the others forced to flee.

My thoughts and prayers are also with those who remain behind to fight the fire. We should pause a moment and consider those left in Fort McMurray, and first responders everywhere. Without them, in times like this, where would we be?

March 30, 2016

The Crow & Gate ~ BC's first neighbourhood pub

It was BC's first neighbourhood pub, built in 1972 in the rural community of Cedar, near Nanaimo. The Crow & Gate is located on four hectares in a rather pastoral, almost British kind of setting.

It's décor is much like the now disappearing English-style taverns of my youth (when I backpacked across the United Kingdom as a lonely teenager): exposed beams, massive stonework, two wood burning fireplaces, friendly bar maids, cozy booths and the comfort food of home.

Orders and settling the tab takes place at the bar, which creates a wee trifle of congestion at times. Just as it did during my youthful sojourns to the UK.

On our afternoon at the Crow & Gate, the weather kept us indoors by the fire, but on finer spring and summer days and evenings patrons enjoy their beverages and meals outdoors in the beautiful gardens.

The food is better than your average pub, nicely presented and reasonably priced. My Reuben sandwich was excellent, and the other plates that went by all looked fine too. Much of the menu is locally-sourced and made in-house.

So it's a great place all round. The Crow & Gate is screen-free: no big screen televisions screaming a hockey game or any other sport. Likewise, there isn't the deafening sound of music that Vancouver establishments seem intent on providing. Here, you can actually have a conversation with your friends. Come to think of it, that's what neighbourhood pubs were supposed to be all about in the first place: good food, great friends, and "the crack was good too."