What I Always Want to Say

Anyone is who is in my inner circle knows my passion for eating out.  I always enjoy trying new eats, but am seldomly impressed.  I suppose I’m just picky, or a little spoiled, or a combination.  Now, when I do have a good meal at a new restaurant/bistro/cafe etc, I usually return a week or so later to see if they are consistent.

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting a nice little cafe called “Bean Around the World”.   Nice place, kind-of hidden in Yaletown where it seems only the locals eat.  It is one of those places that I’ve passed by a million times, but never stopped in, until a few weeks ago.  I ordered a nice chicken and brie panini and to my surprise, it was simple, grilled nicely, well seasoned, and very tasty.

I returned yesterday with a co-worker, and this time I had a 4- Cheese Calzone. The Calone was cooked very nicely, cheese was nicely melted, and very tasty.  Now while it didn’t it didn’t try to compete with old world gastronomy, it was a fantastic interpretation of a flipped pizza.

Bottom line is, if you want a nice, quick meal without the “raspberry vinaigrette”, give Bean around the world a shot.

Their contact info is:

Bean Around The World Coffees
Yaletown
1002 Mainland St., Vancouver
604.685.9929

Over the Christmas holiday, Mark and I received a bottle of Lagavulin… funny thing is, when we tried it, we both hated it.  Now maybe we’re just not sophisticated enough to appreciate its flavors, but, I really think the contents were “off”.

On a recent visit to the BC Liquor store on Alberni, I spoke with the assistant manager, Raquel, and explained to her the issue.  She was very quick to tell me to just bring the bottle back and she’ll give me a new one.  I was amazed.

So, a few days later, I brought the bottle back, opened, no box, and without a receipt.  Raquel was there, and she offered me to exchange my “off” bottle with anything else they have in the store.  I took a Macallan 15 yr (My personal favorite) and proceeded to give me $5 in change.

Now that is service!

Thanks Raquel!!!!

-Rick

Hello and thank you for reading my very first post on my blog.  I got to tell you, I’m a bit of a procrastinator, so setting this up has taken forever as I’ve always seemed to find better things to do with my time.  Unfortunately, following a recent visit to Best Buy (Cambie location in Vancouver), my frustration level boiled and became the catylist in having this blog finally started.

I couldn’t help but see how far this company is going down the drain.  Armed with a $2000 home theatre budget, and ready to buy, no one was willing to help.  In fact, the entire store appeared to only have only 4 - 5 employees working!  Anyway, this is nothing new at Best Buy’s here in Vancouver.  I believe since they are aparantly not on commission, they just don’t care.

So, for all those that own stock in Best Buy… I suggest you take a stroll down to your nearest location and see how they operate.  Then ask yourself if they really deserve to be in your portfolio.

-Rick