POPINA NYC..127 Columbia St., Brooklyn. (the garden of eating)

 Find the perfect cool evening and sit yourself down in a  neighborhood garden. And play bocce ball in the 3rd restaurant that I know of with its own bocce court.  Il Vagabondo (now closed) had a court on 62nd st where my children could watch through glass as they ate...and play. Parkside, in Corona Queens, had one outside the restaurant in a small park which was also across from the Lemon Ice King(made famous by Simon and Garfunkel  as the King of Corona). Also famous for Jeanne's and my wedding location. At Popina,  the court doubles as a sand box where children playfully explore the dirt and balls while parents drink wine and eat

food you might enjoy in Rome or Milan or Madison Ave.

Here you will feel you are sitting in a large back yard near the Brooklyn waterfront across from the lower manhattan skyline. Last night the breeze was not the only thing that was cool. So was the warm sour dough  filone...and the muscles in a corn broth so tasty that it could have been my soup dish. Jeanne's arancini echoed the bocci ball theme and unlike the game balls were a tasty treat. Drinks included a Bklyn Beer without alcohol and an Albarino white wine. That glass was topped of by Brian, the server, who in everything he said and did modeled hospitality and made us feel he loved food and people.  He explained the extra wine by saying "I felt you were waiting too long for your muscles." Shrimp(crispy and tanned) and grits(creamy and lush) deserved applause). Misticanza was a strawberry laced salad that also scored.

                                                        

                                                                        

                                                         

                                                          SHRIMP ANND GRITS

MUSCLES are from a Long Island Island

                                                                                                                         STRAWBERRY SALAD

Terra 200 Connaught Drive. Jasper, Alberta,Canada

We didn't know the town would celebrate  Canada  Day  and given all the concerns about covid not sure how long Jasper knew they would. They did inn grand fashion. Our first clue was seeing the masses rushing to reach the route for the parade. At 330. we were hungry and not feeling the urge for fried fast.

In the distance i could see the sign TERRA. Land! Farming? Veggies? Jeanne would love it (if the clue didn't bring us to a plant store. Got to this place run by a company called Pursuit. It was a restaurant and a new one, but there was a "closed" sign near the dining area. I asked anyway and was pleasantly surprised to learn opening was minutes away. Adding joy was the menu. Jeanne's favorite: fried green tomatoes.

The table was prime with a window view of the street and mountains and passing freight trains. Corn ribs= cob quarters mopped in butter and  cheese.

Hot Sour Dough

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    CORN RIBS

                                                 Fried green tomatoes don't count as fried food.
                 Fried green tomatoes don't count as fried food.

                                             Two photos above show Kohlrabi  a root vegetable that was new to me...

                                              not Jeanne. It was firm and absorbed the sauce and creamed cauliflower                                                  nicely. Still working on a terra firmer joke. Will get back to you.

This photo is the second in a series I call "Do I miss full time work?"

THE NASH ; 925 11 St CALGARY; RESTAURANT AND OFF CUT BAR....a Canadian Treat with a style that evokes Nashville

 Jack was right. This was the place. Jack Gardner is my Canadian nephew-inn-law whose most memorable

line at  his wedding to Meryl as he was crying through his tribute...was a fast aside, "I eat Quiche TOO!" 

Even then I new this hockey player had a soft spot...and always had food on his mind.  A 15 minute taxi

brought us from the center of town to a suburban community called Inglewood.

Burratta 

Little Gem

yam and chickpea

                       Local Rainbow Trout

2c3

3 scoops:Lemon and caramel and I forget

The service was top notch including a kind few checkins from the chef's spouse/restaurant manager. I particularly appreciated  wait person Greg who when I asked him about the meringue like Pavlova that accompanied the scoops, and whether he thought Pavlova also had a dog...like Pavlov.....could have grimaced but instead said, "I was thinnking that but was too afraid of your reaction."