Tsawwassen's llluminaté Restorante

After taking care of errands in Tsawwassen on a rainy Tuesday afternoon and missing lunch, Barbara and I were ravenous by the time the supper hour arrived. We had heard that Illuminate` has a pizza special on Tuesdays so off we went before facing the 35-minute drive home.

Chef Roland Smith and his wife Joeqyna opened the doors of their restaurant on Oct 12, 2005. with the aim of bringing a quality Italian- inspired experience to South Delta; they have succeeded!

This time we did something totally different than previous visits, we usually sit at a table but this time we followed the suggestion of the hostess and sat at the bar which faces into the kitchen. What an amazing experience, I was fascinated by how Chef Roland and his staff orchestrated the preparation of each order that came through.

We noticed the cheerful smiles of the staff whenever they happened to look our way. It's little things like that that make a dining experience exceptional. The kitchen is immaculate!

We took our time looking over the menu which features elevated Italian cuisine from pasta to seafood, to steaks. We have tried various dishes over the years but never a pizza, as it *was* pizza night we went for the Pollo Aioli Pizza with chicken and mushrooms. It did not disappoint!

Pizza and wine go well together, I chose a very smooth fruit flavoured Pinot Noir from Cedar Creek. Barbara's choice was a Malbec Felino from Argentina, both good choices.

With the bar being in such close proximity to the kitchen it gave us an opportunity to chat with Chef Roland, an added bonus.

The restaurant features fresh local products, Roland and Joeqyna believe in working closely with the community. Over the15 years in business they have accumulated numerous awards along with the local paper's People Choice Award.

We topped our dinner off with coffee and a shared dessert which named Chocolate Heart, a soft-baked chocolate cake and vanilla gelati. Mouthwatering!

Did I mention how great our waiter was! Perfect service, a wonderful meal indeed, we felt very satisfied with everything as we set out on our drive home.

There are a number of dining choices in the community but none equal to five-star quality you receive at IIuminate Restorante whether it be for a pizza or a four-course meal!


Illuminate is located at 1077 56th Street Tsawwassen.

Is the wine world becoming too rich for us! I just checked into the price of staying at a winery guest house here in British Columbia. Minimum stay 2-night price $1000. That's right $1000.  Definitely the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Okay onward to the next winery. Here the room prices ranged from $189 to $369 depending upon the season. The amenities are good but still, that's expensive. A third winery prices ranged from $229 - $349 a night. These prices were for their lowest accommodation.

In this third one, you could pay a slightly higher rate for the executive suite. Listed amenities, daily housekeeping, free wifi, queen bed with a duvet and breakfast.

I checked out two more small family wineries with guest houses/ rooms. As hard as I tried without phoning them there were no prices listed.

Looking at hotels in the Okanagan wine country the best price I could find for offseason was $98.00. Sorry, no swimming pool. They did provide daily housekeeping, free wifi, queen bed and breakfast.

Two of the expensive wineries listed above had restaurants. Neither website provided a menu. I bet the prices will be above average.

Curiosity! I just had to go to one of the Okanagan's most popular winery restaurants to check out their prices.  Entrees range from $26 to $56. Although they add a wine suggestion for each meal they did not provide the wine prices.

A non-Okanagan winery entrees went from $27 to $29. The wines were twice the price at the restaurant than those in the tasting room.

Maybe  I should have saved more over the years.

A Look back at 2019

It was not a year to remember.  It would be known as the year of  Antibiotics! That meant we visited only three wineries all year long. The standard is three a day, not a year!

It all began the night before the Vancouver International Festival. I was packed and ready to go when a terrible pain stuck my left abdomen. I would spend the next seven hours sitting in the emergency ward. It would take three doctors and one operation before the pain was gone. Worst of all it took from January to May before the operation was done. They scheduled the operation on the day of my birthday celebration. Cancel all plans!

The operation did not result in total relief.  An infection developed more antibiotics were required. The infection came and went and came back again. Alcohol intake was quite limited throughout the summer and all the way into December.

At this time of the year, I usually write about wines enjoyed Christmas. This year I had only one BC wine a very nice L' Acadie from Whispering Horse winery located in Yarrow BC. It went extremely well with the Christmas turkey.

So let me close out this blog by mentioning the best wine of 2019. It surpassed expectations. I knew before opening the bottle that Wild Goose 2018 Pinot Gris would be a real treat. I did not expect it would be as good as it was. I gave the wine a score of 98.

Happy New Year!

Barbara and I were invited to join our friends to celebrate an 80th birthday. An exciting dinner celebration at Tsawwassen's popular Illuminaté Restorante Restaurant.

Illuminate is a family restaurant under the guidance of Chef Roland. His Tuscany-style cooking arises from training and experience at the French Culinary Institute in New York.

Chef Roland pushes the boundaries of Italian gastronomy and offers innovative dishes to delight your palate – Italian cuisine with a West Coast flair.

The diner of course started with Champagne. Yes, from France, I failed to capture the producer's name. The Champagne was extremely good!

The restaurant provided excellent service along with its delicious food.

Although I declined twice I was given the honour of selecting the wine to have with the meal. Nine out of ten times I would have selected a BC wine. There were some fine BC wines on the list. However, I decided to go along with the Italian theme and order wine from Italy.

I chose Ruffino MODUS Toscana IGT. Ruffino is a wine producer based in the Tuscany region of Italy. Founded in 1877, the winery was purchased by the Brescian Folonari family in 1913.

Aroma: Intense and intriguing on the nose, initial aromas of mature red and black fruits, such as cherries, plums, and small blackberries.

Tasting profile: Full-bodied with a modern Super Tuscan style, this wine is rich with silky tannins and flavours of mature blackberry fruit and cocoa. Vibrant fresh fruit flavours from the Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot weave together with finesse, each adding its own distinctive character.

A wonderful evening climaxed by a specially designed birthday cake.

Icewine is a rare gift from a magical Canadian winter. Picked at the coldest moment of a winter's night, each frozen grape creates just one drop of Icewine. One smooth rich, luxurious drop.

One of nature's most exquisite gifts one of the world's most luscious and celebrated wines. It is one of the most difficult and challenging processes for the winemaker.

Canada is the world leader in producing amazing Ice Wines. The grapes picked at the coldest moment of a winter's night, each frozen grape creates just one drop of Icewine. Just one smooth rich, luxurious drop. As the grape freezes new sensations of sweet juice are created.

Icewine produced in Canada is required to meet the standard, as determined by a provincial authority that has verified that the product is wine that was made exclusively from grapes naturally frozen on the vine. Four of Canada’s wine-producing provinces – Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia – have already established acceptable provincial regimes, which meet the new federal standard and follow international protocols.

According to Canadian wine law, grapes designated for icewine cannot be picked until the mercury drops to at least -8°C (17° Fahrenheit), although colder temperatures make for a better quality product. The sugar level of the grapes at the time of harvest must reach a reading of at least 35 Brix (one degree Brix is equal to 1 gram of grape sugar); otherwise, they can only be designated as Special Select Late Harvest or Select Late Harvest wine.

During Icewine season, wineries and grape growers keep a careful watch on the weather forecast looking for an optimum stretch of temperatures between -10 and -12 °C ( standards may vary from province to province). This temperature range will produce juice in the range of 35 to 39 ° Brix (roughly equivalent to the per cent sugar in the juice). Typically, a period of at least 6 hours is needed to harvest and press the grapes – and it is usually an overnight job. Most small and medium-sized
wineries harvest by hand, often with volunteers who are enthusiastic Icewine lovers and want to experience the harvest first hand. Warm clothing is required. Mechanized harvesting has been developed very recently and is now an option for larger vineyards.

Once the grapes are harvested, they are pressed in small hydraulic presses under much higher pressure than normal for grapes harvested in the regular season. Because the grapes are frozen, most of the mass is water, and is left behind as ice in the press. Only a small amount of concentrated juice is extracted. Juice yields for Icewine grapes are much lower than for table wines – with average yields of 500 litres for each acre netted or approximately 15% of the expected yield for grapes harvested for table wines. This reflects both the losses in grape volume from dehydration while the grapes hang and losses to hungry birds and other animals.

Icewine juice is very sweet and can be difficult to ferment. High sugars can create a hostile environment for the yeast and fermentation stops early, leaving relatively low alcohol and high sugar levels in the finished wine.
The finished Icewine is intensely sweet and flavourful in the initial mouth sensation. The balance is achieved by the acidity, which gives a clean, dry finish. The nose of Icewine recalls lychee nuts. The wine tastes of tropical fruits, with shadings of peach nectar and mango. The high sugar levels lead to a slower than normal fermentation.

The signature of a great Icewine is the balancing tension between the sweetness and the acidity, with seductive tropical fruit flavours followed by a crisp, bracing finish which, when the wine is swallowed, is vividly refreshing. This brilliantly focused acidity distinguishes the icewine from sauternes and accounts for the freshness.* The finished Icewine creates a unique sensation on the palate.

Renowned for fruit flavours ranging from mango to peach to lychees, Icewine is truly a natural wonder and extreme winemaking at its best, yielding the impressions of tropical tastes wrought from the frigid extremes of the icy Canadian winterscape.***

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Icewine and Food

 Among our many friends is a gentleman who lives in the United States of America.  He lives in a small town in Washington State. Therefore he has access to a number of American wines from California, Oregan and Washington at reasonable prices.

 Among his favourite wineries is Columbia Crest Estate Winery located Paterson overlooking the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. In the application known as Horse Heaven Hills. The winery opened in 1983.

In 1990 the named as one of the best value wineries in the world by Wine Advocate. The awards kept on coming. Their reputation is among the best of all Washington Wineries.

Last evening our friend joined a number of us for dinner. He brought along a couple of bottles of Columbia Crest  2016 Grand Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Everyone agreed that it was a very good wine. The bottles emptied quickly.

The bold wine is complex with good structure. Providing on the nose dark berry fruits especially plum followed by notes of chocolate and vanilla. Score one for Washington wines.