Stir Pairing: Mother's Day 2022 edition
Second Sundays Jazz at Havana Theatre features the Laura Crema Quartet on May 8
Laura Crema
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar.
Every week, Stir Wine Pairing suggests locally available food and drink to go with a local arts event.
The event
Second Sundays Jazz at Havana Theatre—Laura Crema Quartet, May 8 from 7:30 to 9:30 pm
The food
Take your pick
The drink
Liquidity Wines’ 2019 Rosé
The lowdown
Havana Theatre’s Second Sundays Jazz, a monthly live music event on the Drive in partnership with Jeni’s Picks, is presenting a special edition for Mother’s Day, the Laura Crema Quartet.
Crema is known for her smooth, rich vocals and her interpretation of songbook standards as well as Brazilian music, originals, and pieces that can’t be easily categorized. Having grown up in Burnaby, she has released multiple albums as a solo artist, including Blue Shadows on the Trail, of which No Depression wrote: “[Crema] reimagines country and jazz classics with spellbinding vocals”, adding that “her voice shifts from mysterious to magical”. Her quartet is made up of equally respected artists: Bill Coon on guitar, Conrad Good on bass, and Juno-nominated saxophonist Jon Bentley.
The food
Practically every single restaurant or food business will be serving up something special for Mother’s Day; be sure to reserve in advance if you’re looking to dine-in before the show. Here are three possibilities for indoor, outdoor, and take-home fare.
Yuwa Japanese Cuisine.
Yuwa Japanese Cuisine’s premium temaki set to go has enough fresh ingredients plus wasabi and nori to make 10 temaki cones, for an interactive family-oriented culinary project. There’s wild sockeye salmon, bluefin tuna chutoro, snow crab, spicy tuna, and unagi along with accompaniments like cucumber, watercress, roe, and more.
Popina Canteen.
If you want to keep things more casual, maybe stroll around Granville Island during the afternoon and stop in at Popina Canteen or Popina Cantina. The former has gained a cult following for its freshly baked puffcreams with a swirl of Birchwood Dairy vanilla soft-serve ice cream. The Mother’s Day version, available at both locations, is gently rolled in a generous amount of shaved white chocolate, crushed pistachios, and organic dried edible rose petals.
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar. Photo by Leila Kwok
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar's executive chef Roger Ma, national champion of the 2020 Canadian Culinary Championships (who’s about to celebrate his wife’s first Mother’s Day), has introduced the upscale restaurant’s ongoing For the Table menu, with dishes to share family-style. A whole sea bream “croûte de sel” is a show-stopping two-pound sea bream that’s unveiled tableside from its baked salt-dough crust, carved, and dressed in Provençal sauce. There’s also a 50-ounce bone-in Canadian Angus beef Tomahawk ribeye, seasoned with porcini powder and Tellicherry pepper; and a whole roasted curry cauliflower. The head is slowly roasted in curry leaves and lemongrass then topped with green chutney and coconut turmeric sauce, spiced almonds, and sultana raisins.
Amy Paynter, Liquidity Wines.
The pairing
Liquidity Wines’ winemaker Amy Paynter describes the 2019 rosé as especially versatile, meaning you can’t go wrong no matter what you serve it with on Mother’s Day, and as having flavours of raspberry and watermelon and a floral, citrusy vibe. Her favourite pairings with it are ratatouille, beet-and-goat-cheese salad, and spicy sushi.
Paynter was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand and earned a degree in viticulture and oenology from Lincoln University. She spent the next decade travelling the world and making wine on everywhere from California to South Africa before joining the Okanagan Falls winery in 2021.
“Winemaking is the perfect combination of creativity, science and the outdoors, three things I love,” Paynter tells Stir. “When I discovered I could combine all of them to build a career, I was hooked. And I still love that every single day is different—challenging, but filled with excitement and promise. I’ll never get bored as a winemaker. There’s always something new to learn or try to perfect.”
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