where to eat: halifax, charlottetown and calgary

Heading east this summer?

Think locally-roasted coffee, scallops, haddock, and  teeny-tiny-blueberry cobbler for dessert.

Heading west?

Think more locally-roasted coffee, burgers, fried chicken, and meringue-orange curd sundae for dessert.

I've just updated hop & go fetch it with my favourite places to eat in Halifax, Charlottetown and Calgary. Scroll down to find the province and city you're looking for – there are sections for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

korean food in jasper

It is safe to say that my husband loves Korean food.

Not as much as he loves me, but almost.

I cannot tell you how proud he was when he made his own kimchi last spring.

This winter, he had to go to the farmers' market by himself. He moaned and complained, but what did he come home with? That's right: a big jar of kimchi from the Korean stall. Which he proceeded to dip into every night for the next two weeks.

I never imagined I would be able to feed Scott's kimchi addiction in Jasper, but sure enough, my friend Isabelle suggested Kimchi House.

We were there for Scott's birthday and had a whole weekend in the quiet town, big mountains watching over us.

On the Friday night, we walked down quiet, snowy streets into downtown Jasper.

We found the restaurant and Scott ordered a warm little tumbler of sake.

The server brought us some kind of unusual pickled salad to begin. We don't remember what it was – only that we'd like to eat it again soon. Then we tucked into our japchae – tender-but-stretchy sweet potato noodles with slivers of beef and vegetables  – and a soup that was spicy and full of beef.

Every bit of food seemed exactly right, and just the meal to eat on a cold winter's night.

Korean food in Jasper: highly recommended.

Speaking of highly recommended restaurants, I've just updated hop & go fetch it with more favourite restaurants in Jasper and Edmonton. Hop on over!

one year ago: eating out in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island and gumdrop cake
two years ago: turnip puff to the rescue!
three years ago: Olympic mint Nanaimo bars and lemon loaf

27 hours in saskatoon

It felt like the river was everywhere in Saskatoon.

Bridges and paths along the river bank kept pulling me over to it, deep and still.

I stood on the Broadway Bridge and stared down into the South Saskatchewan River, and I still couldn't decide which way it was flowing. So I carried on with my exploring and checked on it every so often.

I was in Saskatoon for work last week and I had two hours to myself when I could explore this little Prairie city on the river. I walked along the river bank and people caught my eye and smiled at me as I passed them, my camera slung across my jacket (like a sign proclaiming I was just visiting).

I wandered over the bridge into the Broadway neighbourhood and looked at local pottery and native art and found some locally-roasted coffee beans to take home to Scott.

By accident, I wandered past the restaurant where my colleague would later take me to dinner. Saskatchewan has a lot of Ukrainian roots and I wasn't surprised that the restaurant had what looked like a Ukrainian name: Weczeria.

Do you know about Saskatchewan? It's kind of known for its wheat.* Now, look closely at that vase on the table at Weczeria. It boded rather well, I thought.

Indeed, when my colleague and I returned for dinner, we were not let down. I didn't see any Saskatoon berries on the menu, but I did try other local delicacies . . . including a fat little trout from Lake Diefenbaker with slightly-pickled hazelnuts and wild rice.

The next day, I saw of the University of Saskatchewan, where I was working. It was so surprising: in the middle of the Canadian Prairies, there was this collection of butter-coloured stone buildings that looked like it had been lifted up from the East Coast a century ago.

(Lovely stone buildings are generally not how we build universities in Western Canada. I'm more familiar with the grey concrete and no windows model.)

And that was it. My 27 hours were almost up. Before I knew it, I was back at the airport, wishing I had more time. However, as a consolation prize, I found this Saskatchewan wild rice at the airport gift shop. Now I can make it at home and remember my quick trip to my new Prairie neighbour.

Au revoir, Saskatoon!

*Saskatchewan is also known for lentils, potash, uranium and friendly people, in no particular order.

one year ago: quince almond cake
two years ago: pear ginger jam

hop & go fetch it: german edition

See this? It is a very good slice of chocolate-nut cake.

It was so good that it makes me want to recommend the Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin.

But I can't. Because I paid a shamefully-high amount of money for the tea that went with it. The lukewarm tea that went with it. Even if we did have real silver and sat in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate.

So there you go. Possibly the most expensive hotel restaurant in Berlin just missed getting included in hop & go fetch it.

Don't despair! I discovered other mouth-watering - and less expensive! - places to tell you about in Germany.

Hop on over to hop & go fetch it and I will tell you all about my favourites in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Osnabrück and Lübeck. Oh, and just because I like to mix it up, I've also added a couple new favourite restaurants in Vancouver, Victoria and Portland.

Guten Appetit!

last september: falling for a side cookie

8 hours in san francisco

5 days in palm desert

Oh, travelling for work. It can be so hard when you must go to California for a conference.

When you are forced to eat Mexican food for dinner and drink date milkshakes for lunch and do yoga under the palm trees at the break of dawn.

When you have to meet more than a thousand friendly colleagues from across North America and attend interesting seminars with them.

But really, really, the hardest thing must be when you realize you're flying home through San Francisco anyway, so you really should spend the day there.

So hard.

So hard to climb the hills of the city and eat a picnic lunch that includes a North Beach sandwich with some of the most tender proscuitto you've ever eaten.

So hard to wander through the market in the ferry building and sample chocolate and taste wine at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

So hard to explore the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and eat a slice of Mondrian cake in the sculpture garden.

Sigh.

Perhaps the only easy thing was coming home and updating hop & go fetch it with my favourite places to eat in California.

last may: swedish tea cookies
 

up island

I have been hunting and gathering up Island in the Comox Valley and this is what I've found: spicy beans, salsa and sauerkraut from the farm down the road from my dad's land. The farmers were just putting up a new greenhouse in the mud as we walked up, their big, friendly dog trotting along beside us.

Further down the Island highway, we managed to find Woody's wild-flower honey, and locally-roasted coffee beans in Royston.

This was all part of a long weekend we created with my dad to celebrate my birthday. Instead of a cake, we made huckleberry-bramble-buttermilk pancakes for breakfast and sat at the table with quince blossoms dad had forced. Then we went out for lunch. Actually, we went out for a few lunches . . . a couple of cafés so good that I've added them to my favourites in hop & go fetch it. (Look for Courtenay and Cumberland.)

This got me thinking about other favourite restaurants in other cities I've been meaning to add to hop & go fetch it. Finally, this weekend, I put them in. If you're looking for new restaurants in Toronto, Vancouver or Victoria, voilà!

last march: sophisticated marshmallow squares and a soup among friends

hop & go fetch it: new restaurants!

Have you meandered over to the hop & go fetch it section yet? It's full of my favourite places to eat in Canada, the U.S.A. and Europe.

I've been lucky enough to try quite a few new restaurants in the last little while. Hop on over to hop & go fetch it for new recommendations for Salt Spring Island, Vancouver Island and Vancouver.

Bon Appétit!