Vancouver 2012: Good Enough to Eat

"There are two things Vancouver is good at; coffee and breakfast".                     Jessica Callaghan, Century Plaza Hotel

Well that explains it then! Two of my favourite things is what makes my favourite city great!North America is not known for its great food and 6 months in New York is testimony to this - I think I lost weight! I'm not talking about the umpteen great restaurants but every day food from cafés, supermarkets and delicatessens. Vancouver is different.When I travel, I like to eat like the locals - 'fine dining' (what a term!) can be done any time and for me reserved for occasions. In Vancouver, as ever, we ate like the locals. The public markets in the city are fantastic sources of a variety of (local)food and arts & crafts and throughout our nine days, we ate well, on the go, in coffee shops, diners and once or twice at home. (although we forgot to eat fairly often, being distracted by sun, snow topped mountains, the beach, the people, coffee shops)The supermarkets; my local in Montreal & Vancouver AIG (real name IGA but I never remember that), Choices, established in 1990 are organic biased stores and there is new to us Urban Fare plus my nostalgic favourite long-gone from the UK Safeways, all have hot deli counters that offer complete meals or snacks as well as cafeteria style seating areas. Urban Fare feels like an indie but is a three store spin-off from a large supermarket group, the brilliantly named Overwaitea Food Group! There are also a few of my New York faves Whole Foods popping up; it was a sharp intake of breath moment when we came across one in Kitsilano (Kits), a gorgeous neighbourhood I hadn't gotten to previously.One thing that amazes me is that there isn't a plethora of cup cake shops but I can get them. Similarly cheese cake isn't asobvious but easy to find, especially in supermarkets, however crazily expensive, between $4-8 per slice.And of course, as I have maintained all my adult travelling life, the coffee varies from good to fantastic wherever I go, local diner or one of the many new (independent) coffee shops springing up - just like they are inthe UK. Phew.More to come.Follow @RickieWrites for updates