July 30, 2011: Dinner with Mike!

I spent much of the day working on that damn rewrite of Payback, taking a break only to check out the lame Caribana Fest that offered up eight-dollar jerk chicken sandwiches and corn on the cob as a presumed "taste of islands".  So much for the oxtail, curried goat, and plantain I was expected.  Screw it.  I ended up going to Rodney's Oyster House for an oyster po'boy, then Soma for chocolates – and back home for a healthy second helping of rewrite.

Tonight, it was off to Scarpetta.  "Scarpetta?!"you say.  "Why?  Was someone in town?".  Well, as a matter of fact, yes.  Mike Dopud (who, you may know remember, played the role of Varro in Stargate: Universe) is in town, doing some stunt work on Total Recall.  He was just in Montreal doing a guest spot on Blue Mountain State in which he plays a very colorful character.  Don't want to say too much but judging from the pics of his wardrobe, I'd say he had a blast doing it.

Anyway, it was great to catch up with Mike.  We talked Stargate, our old stomping grounds of Montreal, our new hometown of Vancouver, and Mike's hair-raising close shaves in his days as a club bouncer (check out the scars!).  And we also enjoyed a mighty fine dinner…

Akemi came armed.

Onion Varietals with goat cheese, pine nuts, and agro dolce. My favorite starter. Well, it's actually part of the vegetarian menu but any item in a vegetarian menu can be considered a starter so far as I'm concerned.

Akemi's favorite, the rosemary scialatielle with lobster, basil, and lentils. Technically, her favorite on this menu - but she still prefers the black pasta we had at the Scapetta in Vegas.

Believe it or not, I passed on the Amedei chocolate cake in favor of the restaurant's fab coconut panna cotta.  Seriously.  Also sampled a new dessert item – their version of a Baba au Rhum that proved disappointingly dry and lacking the sumptuous rum and cream-saturation characteristic of every other version I've tried. The only real misstep of the night.

Anyway, great to see Mike and, hopefully, we'll get the chance to work together again sometime in 2012 back in Vancouver.

I've got something in mind…

Tagged: Mike Dopud