Bizou+Yukon—The Hired Belly’s four legged friends—recently expressed an interest in being guest reviewers, checking out a few take out spots. “Why not,?” we thought. After all, we want to do all we can to help restaurants in these uncertain times. Bizou+Yukon, are keen observers of the local scene, with impeccable taste, of course—as you’ll see!
Updated May 4, 2020. It turns out that Bizou+Yukon have been pretty busy with their Tall Furry Human and Walky Lady, applying their poochy palates to (what else?) winemaking, of course. You can order a case of their wares here. Stay tuned for reviews coming shortly.
Cruising Ambleside with the Walky Lady we noticed that there are a lot of dogs that are super skinny – don’t those whippets get to eat? So, we put the human’s credit card to good use here. Not only do they give you 20% off on your pickup order but wine is half price. That’s all wine, all the time. ;-) Of course, we have to admit we’re pretty partial to Narrative XC Sparkling Rosé. It’s especially good with Earls Family Style Alfredo, although, honestly? It’s really all and only about the BBQ ribs. You know us. It’s really just a bone thing. Oh and—hello ….BACON! WoofwoofWoof.
We like Cactus Club, especially the one on the water in Kelowna, where all the cool pooches hang out. Bizou always dreams of escaping on one of the big yachts docked nearby. Last time we were there (before we had to self isolate in our portable dog house) she was crushing pretty hard on a bear of a St. Bernard. Then again, you know what they say: ‘What happens on the dock stays on the dock.’
Anyway back to Cactus take out: that poke bowl is pretty tasty (besides, anything raw rocks, right?) but even though we do have a couple extra dew claws we did have a bit of tough time with the chopsticks. Our Tall Furry Human had to comb the sesame seeds out of our fur. Ewww! Maybe next time we should just order the doggy bowl…
Living out at The Ranch, as we do, people often just take us for a couple of long-haired yokels. Maybe it has something to do with those mud baths we enjoy so much—preferably right after our spa treatments. But we’re actually pretty sophisticated. To prove it we took to the West End of Vancouver and, can we ask, WHY do all the dogs here need to wear a sweater? And we take our work seriously, so, of course, we eat local and sustainable whenever possible. Forage has adapted its staff meals for take out. No surprise, we love the bison meatballs—and we always get an order of ginger molasses cookies, so we can reward our Tall Furry Human —but only when he’s been good, of course.
Normally we like to hang out in the bar here. Those high tops are just perfect for lounging—great for checking out the room for other pure-breds. We don’t think they let too many strays or cats in here, anyway. But you can’t be too careful these days. The take-out lineup is impressive. How about Cavatelli duck ragoût or pizza with roasted mushroom, fontina, confit garlic and arugula pesto? Probably could use a few more bones though, come to think of it. Osso Buco, anyone? Dig around on the wine list and you can find treats like Vintage Bub, Haywire Gamay 2017 and Narrative Non Fiction 2017. We also love that every order supports meal deliveries to front line medical staff at St.Paul’s Hospital.
Don’t tell anyone, but Bizou has had a thing for that cute somm here ever since she saw him on their Instagram account … maybe something about lederhosen. Plus she says SoGra dogs and their humans are just a breed apart, even if they’d probably never cut it at The Ranch. Top tastes? Just about anything, but especially the patés and galettes. And, of course, we love their flight of Okanagan Crush Pad wines that includes that delicious Landrusco—which our Tall Furry Human made with Herr Lederhosen himself.
“Some of the best dog watching in town,” according to Yukon, who says all the locations are great but especially likes the view from North Vancouver Shipyards, although he wonders why there aren’t more dog friendly parks over there. (He also secretly covets his own miniature barrel, like those Swiss dogs have, and wonders if T&B might help out.) Bizou’s big on the burgers here but thinks that the halloumi veg sandwich is a waste of time (one bite and poof). She’s more a poutine and pretzels kind of girl, anyway. But they’re both impressed by the Narrative White and Red, offered at half price all day.
Provence Marinaside
The next best place in the world to Summerlandia is the south of France, according to Bizou, who also insists she comes from a long line of Great Pyrenean ancestors that included royalty—and even became known as “The Royal Dog of France.” Bizou’s faves include the crab and shrimp cakes, best enjoyed in batches of six, or maybe the Lois Lake Steelhead—with a bottle of Haywire Pink Bub. “Well, once a princess, always a princess,” observes Yukon. He loves the all day menu here. But he’s actually holding out for a guest appearance on one of chef Jean Francis’ French Food Made easy videos. “Boeuf Bourguignon would be nice,” he thinks. “Call my agent!”
It’s nice to be a big dog in Yaletown. It’s not something you see very often, so we do stand out a bit. Some of those little guys are really cute, although we have to wonder just what you do for living if you’re say, a dachshund, other than pose for a Road 13 label. Now people might think it’s a bit weird but we actually really like Aburi cuisine (we don’t see much at The Ranch). We share the occasional bento box with Tall Furry Human, and a bottle of Haywire Secrest Chardonnay. But when he’s not around we go full on Hamburg steak—Wagyu all the way, YESS! Doubles, please!
As you can tell, it’s 4PawsUp—all the way!
This post is brought to you by our furry four legged friends Yukon and Bizou, who (when they feel inclined) answer to their humans at Okanagan Crush Pad. Follow their new Instagram account @bizouyukon
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