Cocktail Correspondent: Weldon Gardner Hunter
On a rainy Sunday, Vancouver woke up to the good news that two young progressive activists had been elected to city council. In fact, I had waited in a 2 hour line up the evening before to vote for them. Luckily, it was a warm spring night and the line was full of convivial citizens.
But Sunday was grey and wet and it just got greyer and wetter. A notable dearth of travellers on the bus, the Canada Line, the Seabus. Even submersible crafts.
My brother and I were travelling to North Vancouver on our quest for the best Sunday Roast in the Lower Mainland. The destination was The Lobby (138 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver), the bar in the new-ish Pinnacle Hotel on Lonsdale Quay.
I'm pleased to report that the roast was scrumptious. I'm even more pleased to have tried one of the signature cocktails: A Dose of Autumn
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| Cranberry and Pomegranate Juice, Amaretto, Amaro Montenegro, Gin, Red Wine Float |
The name of the drink reflected the seasonal uncertainty of the weather. The wine-drinking women sat near us lamented the relapse of rain after the soft zephyrs that blessed us yesterday - one of them even proclaimed this to be "the worst spring ever." A little early, no? Let's be optimistic...
Anyways, I wasn't experiencing winter or spring. I was back in Autumn - the color of the cocktail suggests the scarlet red of the changing leaves. It tastes plummy and slightly tangy from the combination of the fruit juices and the red wine. The Amaro Montenegro gives it a little spice and some cinnamon-and-cola notes. The Amaretto added almondy insinuations. The gin is a surprising presence in the line-up - I couldn't really account for it, but happy to have it lurking, U Boat-like, somewhere in there.
Speaking of surprises, the waitress gave a start when I requested it. Apparently she forgot it was on the menu because no one orders it. Is North Van a nest of cocktail philistines? Say it isn't so - get down to the Lobby and order one before the weather and the cocktail menu changes.
But this feuilleton isn't over yet. The underwater references have hinted at one other surprise. The HMCS Corner Brook was docked at the pier nearby, so we braved the rain to take a look. The vessel is a long-range "hunter-killer" submarine, which means it has missiles onboard. Since my brother and I are both Hunters, we kept some distance.
Not pictured is the other side of the vessel, which had a young guard standing out in the rain with a machine gun. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. We scampered back to the seabus to reach the safe shores of our city, unhunted, unkilled, unthirsty.
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| Photo: James Elliott Hunter II |
