This weekend started a bit early as Rachael is taking a long weekend for herself.
I had a busy week this last week despite just getting back from 2 weeks in Berlin.
Friday
On Friday we went over to Peace & Culture1, a fancy & unique coffee place in the new Assembly Strathcona building.
š Peace and Culture Coffee Cafe Ā· Vancouver, British Columbia, CA š¤ļø 19Ā°C A lovely space with very unique coffee & matcha preparations. w/ @rachaelashe.com https://beaconbits.app/beacon/2cxgdrgtsmrbqnjkwyplmp43/3mrftdefrc22c #BeaconBits
I had the āShake me up, Judy!ā - Onyx Rose-Co Ferment Espresso, Hops-Orange Gin Syrup, Cacao Bitter, Saline Solution, Shakened, Double-Strained. Not a cocktail but sure looks like one.
We shared a tiramisu cruffin. Rachael had the āCorn Me Maybeā.
We wandered back to Commercial and bought challah bread at Livia and I did some grocery shopping for lunch and went heads down working for a few more hours.
In the afternoon I caught up with at Plain Jane ice cream.2
Glad that it's cooled down here in Vancouver, but did enjoy beating the heat by getting ice cream with @bmann.ca at Plain Jane a few days ago š¦šš§
This is the Mix Berry 99, a special as part of the Vancouver ice cream festival.
For the evening, we ended up going downtown to what ended up being a lame āAsian festivalā in front of the art gallery.
It was pretty hot so we escaped into the mall, and I ended up getting new shoes!
Saturday
We had a relaxing morning and then were the first people in the door of Sunset Ceramics Studio3, a collective pottery studio on Venables having a sale.
We are 100% hand made mugs at home but we bought another one, plus a porcelain āghostā.
Next stop, back to Peace & Culture round 2.
š Peace and Culture Coffee Cafe Ā· Vancouver, British Columbia, CA āļø 18Ā°C The āclarified latteā is blowing my mind. Rachael having the corn matcha again, plus a savoury scone. w/ @rachaelashe.com https://beaconbits.app/beacon/2cxgdrgtsmrbqnjkwyplmp43/3mriknpuvdc2f #BeaconBits
Yes the clarified latte was incredible and the co-ferment had peaches in it and it also tasted of peaches.
Hereās a close up of Rachaelās āCorn Me Maybeā - Super Sweet Corn(Cho-dang Ok-su-su) Cordial, Oat Milk, Corn Tea, a Shot of Matcha, Corn-Oat Foam, Over Ice, a Hint of Nori.
Rachael was at an evening event so I got a little bit of video game time in.
Video Games July 2026
I have almost zero time for games right now with whatās on my plate. But also some times you just need a mindless hour or two.
Bought Slime 3K, Stash, Hand of Fate Hordes, and Super Fantasy Kingdom, all available on MacOS as part of planning for long plane rides.
Hmmmā¦ I need to go look up work on because I assume I can get links to these from there?
I also played some RimWorld on the plane back from Germany. I like peaceful building and ranching horses.
Sunday
Today was Rachaelās birthday! Itās a strange rainy July but it was nice to be cool after all the heat recently.
We booked seats for a tea tasting with food pairing, the second edition of this event.
Tea Tasting & Food Pairing
We had booked tickets for this as it looked great as a unique special birthday treat.
Rachael had seen this recommended by Stephanie French (RIP The Pie Shoppe) and we ended up sitting next to her and her mom.
Iām not really a tea person (but Rachael is) but Iām always up for learning about tasting things.
Event was held in Touski on Pender in Chinatown. Which looks incredible and I need to check out during day & night.
Started strong with me saying the first tea ātasted like fried chickenā. Which wasnāt wrong but kind of set the tone of me not being a tea person or knowing what flavour words to use.
Jasmine tea spritz with bay berry. No pairing, just refreshment.
Pickles. Cucumber, Koji-cured daikon. The tomato was a revelation.
Pork terrine. Pickled cherry.
Deboned stuffed chicken wing. Pickled strawberry. Shiso. Salty konbu. The glaze on the chicken was strawberry gochujang???
Tortellini with ricotta and corn. With sweet corn and chanterelles. So good. I think my favourite dish.
I donāt really like mochi. But maybe I like hand made mochi? Corn ice cream and lime granita.
Dessert course was served with this Japanese green tea dripped over ice. Aroma of white nectarines. Gentle grass flavour that also had some faint lime notes.
We had this place card with the teas placed as we were served them.
From the event, hereās the listing of the tea & courses (which because of ingredient availability was a bit different).
Summer Pickled Vegetables, 3 Ways
Bright, crisp, balancing sweet & savoury notes.
Pair with:Ā First Flush Dragonwell
Country Pork Terrine with Pistachio & Dried Prune
Rustic and rich, and made for slow summer afternoons
Pair with:Ā Taiping Houkui Wild Red
Glutinous Rice-stuffed Chicken Wing, Strawberry Gochujang Glaze
Sticky-sweet, deeply savoury, with an unexpected kick
Pair with:Ā Hong Kong Long Roasted Tie Guan Yin
Chanterelles & White Snow Fungus, Sweet Corn Tortellini
Silken, creamy and bursting with the sweetness of summer
Pair with:Ā Shui Xian, Wuyi Cliff Oolong
Popcorn Ice Cream Mochi filled with White Chocolate Corn CrĆØmeux
Chewy, creamy, cold, and delightfully playful
Pair with:Ā Tamaryokucha, Green Tea
This was an awesome event - learned a lot and tasted all the deliciousness. Going to be on the look out for the next one in the fall.
After this very long lunch, we headed over to Kitsilano where Rachael bought a dress at her new obsession Korean style shirts, dresses, and pants store. One blue dress with pink rabbits acquired (not pictured).
From there, walked up to Broadway and Branches & Knots.
Popped into Sort, new to me. Japanese stationery and home goods.
I ended up buying the dark blue cover / yellow text Rollbahn diary and a clip pen. Feels more like inspiration for digital versions of something I might build, but also just a lovely piece of craft.
We had arranged dinner reservations at New Fuji as something a little less splurge-y than the tea tasting.
New Fuji July 2026
Shiso Spritz with no alcohol for her, Citrus Gin & Tonic for me.
The gin was something low end so ended up being mostly bitter especially with the grapefruit.
And you can see the new pink rabbit dress.
Truffle Wagyu Salad. Wagyu doesnāt really need truffle, but their salads are very tasty.
Truffle Corn Karaage. This is amazing and the dish we came back for. Buttery miso-y.
Giant Hokkaido scallops. Good, but I think I like my brown butter pan seared ones I make better.
Back: pork cheek. Front: miso marinated salmon with grilled lemon.
And finally, dessert with a birthday sparkler. Strawberry on a sponge cake with red bean paste wrapped in strawberry mochi, and a strawberry ice cream with strawberry puree. Really good!
This is our second time at New Fuji. Itās a fun place with elevated bar food, in some cases by adding fancy ingredients. The robata grill items and especially the vegetable grill are really good.
Iāve also had big bowls of udon before that are very good.
And thatās a wrap on one long day out.
One more adventure tomorrow to belatedly celebrate Rolandās birthday . Peace & Culture AND Union Market I think.