Hot Dish!

Working from home is awesome. Never having a final end to your workday can be problematic at times but there are definite advantages. Here's a fine example, never having to request time off for vacation. My husband travels a bit in his line of work and now that I am my own boss I can follow him wherever he goes. Two months ago I accompanied my hubby to Vancouver for a few days. It was just enough time to indulge in some fabulous seafood, decadent poutine, a trip up Grouse Mountain for zip lining, and a bike ride through Stanley Park. All were wonderful but the finest hour of our adventure was our trip to . . . . .BLOOD ALLEY.


The Salt Tasting Room was originally recommended to me by the ever kind Kickpleat. When this recommendation was seconded by our waiter at another restaurant in the area we knew that we had to make the meal happen. Blood Alley appears to be home to the area's most industrious heroin users. I've been to Hell's Kitchen. I've walked the mean streets of LA,* but I have never seen anything like what I saw one day in Vancouver when I had a mean hankering for high quality meat and cheese. Do you ever have nightmares where zombies walking the earth? Do you wallow in despair each time you wonder how you will ever outsmart our flesh eating friends? If so, I DO NOT recommend traveling the area of Vancouver immediately surrounding Blood Alley. Our waiter warned that we would see people shooting heroin on the streets and we did. We very bravely walked towards that black banner with it's whimsical chalk line of a salt shaker feeling like very brave Americans indeed! It was very disappointing to have our bravado marred by the fact that the restaurant was packed with families. Small children, grandmothers, anyone who may be considered weak and incapable of consuming raw eggs had made the same trek that we had and survived. The menu at the Salt Tasting Room is quite simple, meats and cheeses of exceptional quality, perfectly presented and paired with wine. There are also soups and sandwiches served but I did not make the trek down Blood Alley to eat the sort of fare that I could find elsewhere! What I learned at that table was that what seems risky in the food world quite often reveals itself to be a very worthwhile adventure. Later this month we are taking another vacation, this one purely for pleasure. We will be traveling with friends to China. I expect to have many wonderful food experiences to share in just a few weeks. Wish me luck!