While people around the world are still keeping their eyes on the World Cup Soccer, many Vancoverites have already moved on to our very own “Vancouver International Jazz Festival”. From June 25th to July 4th, hundreds of jazz concerts will be performed in several venues around the city. Some are free to the public; others are paid events.

During the last weekend, Gastown had hosted one of the festival free venues. And because the event was only a block away from my condo, you bet I wouldn’t miss them. So I walked out the door and went down to the concert area near the Gassy Jack statue to listen to the jazz. (There was another stage on the other end of Water Street as well.)

After enjoying the groovy music for a while, I decided to wander along the street for something to eat. On my way, I smelled an alluringly sweet aroma in the air. The scent led me to Swiss Style Nuts, a literally hole-in-the-wall shop, located at 73 Water Street between Carrall and Abbott Streets. I have walked past this shop several times, but they were normally closed. So I asked the man who I assumed to be the owner and his son about their shop. They told me that Swiss Style Nuts will be opened all summer long. But they have to close in winter because Gastown is more or less a Ghost town during that time.

Then they gave me some free samples of the Swiss-style Almonds. (Well… unfortunately not because of my charming accent. They offered them to all passersby.) The freshly roasted almonds are coated with a crunchy layer of sugary sweet crust. I really enjoyed the double-crunch textures in my mouth; however, I would have added a tiny bit of salt into the coating mixture to balance the sweetness.

Swiss Style Nuts offers four different kinds of nuts: peanuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, and pecans. The prices ranged from $5.99 to $6.99 a bag. They were bit steep for my taste so I decided not to buy them. But if you’re are not as cheap as I am, feel free to give them a try.

Because a few nuts couldn’t possibly fill up my belly, I kept on heading West for more food. Just a couple store fronts down from the steam clock, I found a bright yellow hot dog cart on the foot path. The stand name is Top Dog. But I think the owner should have renamed it “Smart Ass” Hot Dog to match his personality. When I asked what’s the difference between the $3.50 and the $5 hot dog, he gave out a long sigh, then asked me what’s the difference between cappuccino and regular coffee? I couldn’t help but laugh at his sarcastic remark before I ordered a $5 smokie dog.

My hot dog was ready shortly after. It was way longer than the bun which is a good thing in my opinion. The condiment bar offers relish, banana pepper, sauerkraut and several sauces. I added some banana peppers, sauerkraut and a big squeeze of the fake Sriracha hot sauce on it. The smokie was made with a good natural casing which would have snapped when bitten into if it hadn’t been marking with a knife first. Even then it was still juicy and quite tasty. I wanted to ask the owner if he is going to be there regularly or just for the event, but I didn’t want to hear another smart ass answer. So I didn’t bother asking.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Vancouver International Jazz Festival with all my five senses, thanks in part to the jazz music, and the lovely food aroma in the air. Although the Gastown event is over, many more jazz concerts are still going on until July 4th at other venues including free daily concerts at Granville Island. Enjoy! And Go Argentina!

Swiss Style Nuts Almonds (Free Samples): ©©© 1/2
Top Dog Smokie Hot Dog: ©©© 1/2

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:
Remaining Budget: $189.22
Budget Spent: -$5 (Swiss Style Nuts Almonds are free samples)
Budget Available: $184.22

For more information about Vancouver International Jazz Festival 2010, click here.

©2010 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

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Last Sunday, I went to the Gastown Blues & Chili 2009. Twenty restaurants in the neighborhood were competing for bragging rights that come with having the best Chili in Gastown. The event was held from noon to 7 pm at the 200 block of Abbot Street as a fundraising event for the Girls Rock Camp Vancouver. Though I’m not sure why they played Blues to raise money for the rock camp, I think Blues and Chili are great together.

Some say chili gives you gas. If this is true, Gastown could’ve been in grave danger. Hundreds of visitor simultaneously releasing massive amounts of gas near the travel stoves could potentially blow the entire neighborhood to the ground. A better case scenario would leave Gastown stinky for weeks.

The event was free admission but visitors had to purchase tickets for Chili samples. The tickets were priced to sell; $1 for a 2 oz cup, $3 for an 8 oz bowl and $15 for 2 oz samples from every contestant. All I had in my pants pocket were $9 and some change. So, nine tickets it was.

The inclusive ticket was a good idea in theory, but not very practical. Less than two hours into it, some contestants were running out of their chilies. By 3 pm, all but a couple of contestants still had some left. Though the ticket station had stopped selling the inclusive ticket before then, I’m not sure how many visitors were unable to use their tickets to the max.

The event was small enough to be contained in one street block, but it was packed with twenty yummy looking chilies. It was difficult to pick, but eventually I went for a 2 oz cup from the Revel Room. Their chili ingredients included 5 kinds of chili peppers (Aji, Habernero, Chipotle, Guajillo, and Pasilla), coffee spice rub and sirloin tip. It was good right off the bat. The chili was moderately spicy. I loved the chunks of sirloin tip a lot. I was, however, having a hard time take pictures of a tiny cup in my left hand.

Then I moved on to the Chill Winston booth. I got the last bit they could scrape out from the bottom of the pot. This chili is better described as Jamaican Jerk Sloppy Joes. I think it was pretty good but I wish it were even spicier.

The next one was the Gastown Fire House. The firefighters may lack heat in their chili, but many female visitors may disagree. At this point I had had enough of taking photos of these tiny cups I decided to go for the 8 oz bowls instead.

Now it came down to the two big purchases. I felt like I was playing Russian roulette with my money. One unlucky turn and my three dollars went down the drain. Eventually, I chose the Triple Pork and Pineapple chili from Cobre restaurant because I liked the plastic skulls they displayed at their booth.

At first, the Cobre chili was a bit too bland to be named “Chili.” But once I stirred in the fresh, finely chopped onion, cilantro and jalapeno pepper garnished on top, the chili had transformed itself from the ugly stepsister into the beautiful Cinderella of chili. The fresh scent of the cilantro and the spiciness of the jalapeno pepper gave this chili a new life. Chopped onions added extra dimension to the overall texture. Cobre suddenly became the front-runner in my mind.

According to the chef, Cobre chili was made with 3 types of Kurabata (not sure if it’s an alternative pronunciation of Kurobuta) pork – jowl, double smoke bacon, and ground pork. Other ingredients included 5 kinds of dried chili and 2 kinds of fresh chili (on the topping garnish), Walla Walla sweet onions and heirloom tomatoes.

My last chili of the day was the 3 Odd Balls Chili from Wild Rice restaurant. It was made with 3 different meatballs – bison, pork and lamb. The bison balls were flavored with chipotle, roast garlic and cilantro. The pork balls got ginger, scallions and miso. And the lamb balls got shallots, mustard and thyme. It was the Asian, Mexican and Mediterranean melting pot. Other ingredients were white and black beans, charred corn, shitake, cremini, and oyster mushrooms.

Wild Rice’s chili had the most complex flavor profile of all the chili I had tasted that day. It sounded really good on the paper, but fell flat in practice. The chili was actually a mild stew. The flavor profile was too complex for a 2 oz sample. Even with the 8 oz one, I still didn’t feel like trying to identify each and every flavor hidden within this dish. Well… not when I was eating on the street anyway. Wild Rice’s chili would be better off in their upscale restaurant setting.

One thing I really liked about the 3 Odd Ball Chili was that you never knew which meatball you’re gonna bite into next.

After I was done with the food, I came across the voting station where visitors could vote for the People’s Choice Award. There was a monitor displaying how well each contestant did in comparison to the others. “Damn it! If I would have seen this monitor earlier, I wouldn’t have had to play ‘Chili roulette’ all day,” I thought to myself.

At around 3:30pm, the host announced the People’s choice award. The winner was Chill Winston, and tied in second place were Diamond and Revel Room. The Judges’ choice award winner was Deacon’s Corners. The runner-ups were the Alibi Room and Irish Heather. My favorite, Cobre, didn’t even make the top 3.

Fortunately, no tragedy had happened that day. Chili does not give you gas. The undercooked beans do. According to Wikipedia, Chili purists believe that beans do not belong in Chili. In fact, most official chili cook offs do not allow beans. For me, chili definitely has another side effect. It made me feel comforted and mellow. Three hours of food and fun for nine dollars. What more could I asked for?

©2009 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

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Last Saturday, I went to an annual event in Vancouver called “The Taste of the City.” The event was held at the PNE Fairgrounds, which meant I had to catch the bus at the stop across the street from the infamous Pigeon Park, where the junkies like to hang out. On my way to the bus stop, a woman threw up about 5 feet from me and walked away like nothing had happened. As she disappeared, so did my appetite. That’s when my bus came.

About fifteen minutes later, I was right smack in the middle of the Taste of the City. There were 18 participating restaurants this year. The event started from noon to eight pm. But just three hours in to it, some restaurants had already run out of food. Visitors had to purchase food tickets to trade for food samples. The tickets were sold in five dollar increments. No refund. My budget was ten dollars or twenty tickets.

When you go to one of these food events, you must first walk around the area and take mental notes. It’s wise to be selective and to stick to your budget. Remind yourself that you are not Joey Chestnut or Takeru Kobayashi from the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. After a brief scouting, I had decided on 3 different restaurants: Saffron Indian Cuisine, Zero One Sushi and Jamaican Jerk Pizza – three unique cuisines from different corners of the world.

At Saffron, I ordered a butter chicken with saffron rice (6 tickets) and a vegetable samosa (3 tickets). Both of them looked really appetizing. The portions were very generous. The butter chicken was made of boneless white meat cooked in ginger, garlic and tomato cream sauce. The chicken was tender and its butter sauce was savory. The saffron rice was cooked perfectly and mixed with cooked white basmati rice. Although I hardly noticed the scent of the saffron, the rice looked wonderful on the plate. I also liked the mint sauce a lot, but I was not a big fan of their tamarind sauce. The vegetable samosa was very crispy and sold for just $1.50 a piece. Fantastic deal! At their Burnaby location, they sell two of these babies for $4.50. Do the math. The potato and split pea filling had mild aromas of East Indian spices. I wish it would have been even spicier, but that’s just me.

Saffron understood the concept of this marketing event. The two main objectives were to get as many people as possible to try your food and to make sure they left with good impressions of the restaurant. Well… they got me.

Taste of the City – Saffron’s Butter Chicken: ©©©© ½

Taste of the City – Saffron’s Vegetable Samosa: ©©©© ¼

Then I moved along to Zero One Sushi. I have to admit that I chose it because the line was shorter than most. I didn’t want to stand under the sun for 20 minutes and still be onlyhalfway there. Since I was not a big fan of big chunks of raw fish, I opted for the Inari sushi – a sweet deep fried tofu pocket over sushi rice. For 2 tickets each, I got two of them. They were quite tasty and freshly made. The sweetness of the tofu went well with the sushi rice. Best of all, the price was right.

Taste of the City – Zero One’s Inari sushi: ©©© ½

The last stop was at Jamaican Jerk pizza. I didn’t see any pizza on the menu, not sure why. So I ended up choosing the jerk chicken with rice and coleslaw (7 tickets). Right off the bat, I felt underwhelmed with the portion size. Compared to the butter chicken sample, I sure got jibbed. The jerk chicken sample was about half the size of the butter chicken, yet more expensive. The taste didn’t help much either. The rice was plain and Jamaican coleslaw was horrible. It tasted like it was pickled in dishwater. The chicken was probably good, but it was hard to evaluate from the tiny little piece I had. I wish I could have gotten my money back.

Taste of the City – Jamaican Jerk Pizza’s Jerk chicken with rice and coleslaw. ©¾

At this moment, I had already run out of the tickets, but I still wanted to try the coconut smoothies. For 2 tickets, it was a bargain. So, I went to the ticket booth asking if I could buy only two tickets. “Sorry,” the ticket staff said. “But you could buy it off the other visitors,” she added. It made me wonder if whoever came up with this policy was on drugs and perhaps hanging out at the Pigeon Park. Oh well, no coconut smoothies for me!

Though this Cheap Appetite mission started with delicious East Indian flavors, it ended with a bad aftertaste of a ridiculous policy. I hope this is not a true representation of the taste of my beloved city, Vancouver.

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