What could be better than spending the afternoon at the Vancouver Art Gallery‘s café (aptly named Gallery Café) talking about publishing, food, zumba and embroidery? I can’t think of anything!
We checked out the gallery before going to the café to see if it was busy. The lineup went out the door and around the block! OK, yes, my focus was just going to be on food and gabbing. Look at this patio! It must look gorgeous in the summer.
There were lots of people outside enjoying their mugs of steaming hot coffee on a typical grey January Vancouver day.
I just barely avoided getting pneumonia at Christmas so I was way overdressed in a wool sweater and turtleneck, just to be safe and not risk getting a chill. As a result, my camera was cool but my hands were so hot, check out this weird photo! Only Reg right in the middle isn’t fuzzy, LOL.
The café reminded me of Toronto in a lot of ways and gave me a big urban artsy hug. In other words, I felt very at home there which is odd since I always felt like a fish out of water in Toronto. But not here. There was lots of hustle and bustle but I felt quite comfortable. Weird!
It took a while to find seats but patience paid off. I don’t know if you can see but behind Reg on the right is a woman who looks a lot like Margaret Atwood. In fact, I counted three women who reminded me of her and one who I thought might actually be her.
We were meeting a friend for a bite to eat (hi Stephanie!!!) and a hot beverage. Reg and I split the roast beef sandwich on whole wheat with caramelized onions that came with a side salad. The sandwich was wonderful. The bread was so nice and moist and soft. The beef just melted in my mouth.
The salad was surprisingly refreshing, considering I am not a huge fan of kale. I know, I’ll never get my “I live in Vancouver” membership card now.
Reg enjoyed his mocha and said it was very chocolate-y which is weird because I felt my hot chocolate was very milk-y and not very chocolate-y.
The café is very central in downtown Vancouver at 750 Hornby Street, right in the gallery. At the foot of the stairs when you are leaving the café there is a public skating rink which many people were enjoying. Can you imagine, skating without freezing? A totally new concept for me.
As great as the food was, there is nothing more delicious than freedom.
I thought that you were in NYC after seeing the photo of the front of the museum … google “nypl lions” to see what I mean (they are named Patience and Fortitude .. are the ones i Vancouver named as well?)
Saw the other day that “selfie” and “Foodie” are two of the most hated out of date words in English language now. Hmmmmmm
It does look like, doesn’t it? And yes, I had heard that foodie is a hated word which is a shame. I think my definition is very different than most people’s but that’s OK, I am used to being disliked, LOL.
The Vancouver Art Gallery is still on my list of places to visit — I’ve been many places in Vancouver, but just have never made it there yet!
I hope you get there one day Debra! The Forbidden Kingdom Exhibit was coming to a close so everyone and their grandmother wanted to see it before it disappeared so it was crazy-busy.