2022 Sumer/Autumn Beer Roundup

Interesting times continue! I’ve left the culinary industry and began a new career in retail, started a podcast with my buddy Simon, become and middle-aged homeowner/DIY enthusiast and lately I’ve tried to generally chill out more on my off hours. 

Key to my even keel amidst these chaotic times is to kick back with a brew or two on my off hours. Savouring my beer and taking notes has been a great exercise in mindfulness and has helped me not only expand my palate, but also learn new things about my favourite liquid art form. It’s about time to pass on a couple things I’ve noticed during this last summer/autumn. 

Read More

We Started A Podcast!!!

Simon and Shawn have started a podcast about how to save money in these wild times of rising food costs, aptly named “Eat | Drink | Cheap”. Each episode will take listeners on a journey through an ingredient, technique or whatever our two culinary conversationalists can think of relating to food, drink, thrift and mindfulness in the kitchen.

Check out all the new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or whatever podcast listening app you prefer, head on over to our podcast site at eatdrinkcheap.ca or eatdrinkbreathe.com\podcast or just click that new tab up there on the top right of our site.

Jess Garner’s Untitled Food Media Project

Getting to sit down with two old friends in the middle of a pandemic was an absolute joy.

Jess (who you may remember from my rhapsodic post about old BBQs) joined Nick (my other brother from a BBQ mother) to talk about comfort food for his Untitled Food Media Project. It was over an hour of nerding out about the things that make us go nuts after a long night on the line.

There are conversations about pho, katsu curry, fast food and (of course) bacon. All of this and more is available on Mixcloud.

5 BC Beers That Got Us Through 2020

I don’t need to tell anyone 2020 was challenging year, we all felt it in one way or another. People got sick, whole countries burned both literally and metaphorically, our industry got trashed, lots of things went wrong. The subconscious weirdness of the year weighed on everyone and by early fall I was becoming as much a psychiatrist to my crew as I was a chef.. Life on the front lines.

Amidst this chaos my wife and I bought a house. We’d been planning it for years and the perfect fit just happened to pop up. The final months of Armageddon included packing, moving, screaming cats and learning all about house insurance. Oh, and the holidays, lots of fun.

I drank a lot of beer last year. I think a lot of people drank a lot last year. It’s not the best tag line for a post, but here we all are. I tried to do my best to keep my pandemic imbibing under control, and I think I did a pretty good job. I did make friends with a handful of new beers that are worth discussing.

Read More

My Brother’s BBQ

After nearly a decade and a half of constant use, it was with a heavy heart that at the end of this accursed summer I retired my trusty and now very rusty charcoal BBQ. Night after night of white hot coals had eroded The bottom of the barrel to a wafer thin bit of carbon. Another couple of grill sessions and I could easily see the whole burning payload dropping through the bottom and setting our back yard alight… And so, it was time to say goodbye.

Read More