As a Euro-boy, eagerly awaiting the arrival of February so to get on the plain and visit my favourite places in the world, I keep having these recurring dreams of being in Barcelona. I’m sitting on a patio with my best friend Brad, eating pasta in Squid ink, drinking Cava and Rose, and watching beautiful Spanish women walk by. But it isn’t really a dream so much as a selected memory of the pure and perfect enjoyment of being in the right place at the right time; Or rather, not being in Calgary for three weeks in February. However, coming home after hanging out in the city of culture, saying once again goodbye to my adopted homeland and having to go back to work always fills me with excitement and dread. Exciting it is to tell my friends, customers and colleagues about my escapades, on the applicable level of appropriateness*. Dreadful it is because it will take 11.5 moths before I can once again stop dreaming and go home.

*Appropriate – skill taught to me by my Canadian friends is response to me being Dutch, apparently a flaw in our genetic make-up causes us to say what we think, before thinking about what we’re saying – some people have attributed it to a  personal character flaw, though I dodge that bullet better Neo could ever dream of)

As someone who enjoys small plates (like the ones they serve ‘at home’) with lots of different textures and flavours, rather then a big three to five-course meal, I love hanging out in Bistro’s and Ethnic restaurants. Trying and failing to get a piece of the travel-bug out of me. About a month or so ago, one of my colleagues Peter Chiok introduced me to this fairly new place in Kensington named Vero Bistro Moderne; a unique place which can only be described as a sort of French bistro, with Italian/Asian infusion and a touch of Spanish flair in the form of Tapas, served after 9PM. This all sounds like they can’t make up their minds but owner/chef Jennie, a very passionate and professional master of the kitchen, has a very clear idea of what it’s supposed to be; The best of everything….. and that it is!

The décor is fresh, modern and stylish with lots of red, black and white, in a lot of cases a combo that always feels somewhat contrived to me, but here it seems to work great. The banquet has about 5 tables and is covered from seat to ceiling with a red, leather, cushy backdrop, about half a meter apart; Far enough for some privacy but close enough to engage in conversation with your neighbours if so desired. There is great attention to detail, from the embroidered napkins, the napkin rings, the plates, water taps in the washroom and other small items, like the electronic pepper grinder, stand out and blend in at the same time. The great choice of music by manager Mike, a mixture of Jazz, Spanish, French and some classics, add to the overall atmosphere and give a certain feel not unlike some places I’ve visited in Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona and Japan, and really enjoyed!

Last night was my third visit and what better to eat with a bottle of Priorat then some modern, Spanish-influenced tapas (translates to: variety of small food items or snacks). Five tapas seemed like a good idea to offer variety and feel satisfied. So I first ordered my favourite plate, the “Fried egg on very spicy Chorizo sausage”. This fresh take on a very traditional dish served everywhere in Cataluña in North-east Spain in a variety of ways, is the perfect dish. Having spent some time in that area, I’ve fallen in love with this ‘tapa’, which offers all the goodness of mashed potato, a perfect ‘by-Canadian-standard-spicy’ sausage and a runny-yolk fried egg; heavens, this is delightfully…. Awesome! It is so simple and so good. Thanks Jennie for creating such a memorable dish.

The ‘sweet potato gnocchi with sage maple butter’ was a choice off the vegetarian list (there are 17 of them on the tapas menu), recommended to me by Mike. The gnocchi was soft, with that nice, chewy core and the nuts and maple worked great. After munching off my other plates for a while, the gnocchi turned cold, buy lo and behold, it turned into candy - very delicious ‘gnocchi, nuts and maple candy’.

The yam fries served with lemon aioli were fried perfectly, not soggy and not burned and the frog’s legs were tasty, though I could have done without the batter and as discussed with Jennie after, she may change her mind someday and smother them in garlic and oil instead (YES!!!).

The Korean-style grilled eggplant dish was great and the smaller Asian eggplant worked better then the North-American version. It maintained its structure while being juicy and crispy-soft™ (a combo of words I made up and trademarked, it seemed to describe it best at the time). Finally, Jenny offered me a sixth dish to try, the ‘seven vegetable spring roll’ which is more like a ‘five vegetable and two mushrooms spring roll’, but that would take up too much space on the menu, and who cares, it’s great.

And since after all I am writing a wine blog, I had some of that too.

Celler Mas Garrian - Mas Del Camperol Criança 2003

D.O.Q Priorat, Spain

I my top three favourite wine-regions is Priorat. The wines from here are mostly a blend of old-vine Grenache and Carignan, blended with younger Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah and sometimes other experimental varieties. There is a little white made from Grenache Blanc as well but it is hard to find it here, mostly because it is consumed locally. This new addition to our collection is made from 40% Carignan, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon (I do believe they forgot to mention 10% of something else on the label as the bottle was filled all the way) and spent 14 months in new French oak. A rich and warm nose, typical of this hot and arid appellation, knocked on my olfactory door with tender urgency. Crushed rocks with a chalky minerality, black licorice, blueberries, cherries, cinnamon, grilled meats and dark chocolate urged me to take a sip. The full bodied, viscous structure and soft but mouth coating tannins didn’t hide the spice and fruit. It was a balanced wine that lent itself perfectly with the variety of dishes, but as the rule ‘pairing local wine with local food’ suggests, it went best with the spicy sausage, egg and potato dish. A solid effort, drink it over the next 5 - 8 years or so.

The overall feel of Vero is great, the service is great, the food is great and the prices are thankfully not so great, very decent actually. All in all, tonight I woke up from dreaming about Spain, and said to myself “yes Andre, you live in Calgary and no it is not Spain, but you know what, dreaming is only fun when it’s a dream, it ceases to be a dream when it becomes reality”. With that thought I picked myself up this morning, went to work and will live a happy life in a city that offers many beautiful things, as long as you are open to them.

¡Viva Los Calgarios!