There is a particular kind of early September week I always love. The air changes just enough to make lunch feel like an occasion again, the kitchen starts calling for something beyond tomatoes and burrata, and the calendar somehow manages to be both full and full of possibility.
This week, I found myself thinking about Spain, lingering over a few very good lunches, and wondering why we do not all keep a tin of octopus in the cupboard.
What I’m eating
I have been dipping into Spain My Way, the new cookbook from José Andrés and co-author Sam Chapple-Sokol. It is the kind of book that makes you hungry before you have even reached the recipes. There are vivid dishes, of course, but also the generous, expansive spirit that makes Spanish food so easy to love: good ingredients, a sense of place, a table that always seems to have room for one more person.
I am not pretending I have suddenly mastered Spanish cooking. But it has made me want to bring a little more of that approach into our own kitchen: olive oil without hesitation, good tinned fish and seafood, crusty bread, ripe tomatoes, something salty, and something cold in a glass.
The most satisfying little discovery came from The Market Stores in Victoria: a tin of Ekone Wild Octopus. It is Giant Pacific octopus packed in organic olive oil and salt, and it felt both slightly glamorous and wonderfully practical. I served it with bread, lemon and olives, and it made the simplest lunch feel like it belonged on a sunny table somewhere near the sea.
This is your reminder that a good pantry can rescue a week.
Where I’m going
I had two lunches that reminded me how much I value a proper midday meal.
At Chameleon, lunch had the kind of ease that makes you want to stay for coffee, even when you have a list of things waiting for you back at your desk. At Burnt Orange, it was a similar pleasure: good food, a welcoming room, and that rare feeling that you have managed to step outside the working day for an hour.
Vancouver is very good at quick lunch. It is less consistently good at lunch that feels like a small reward. I am trying to make more room for the latter.
What I’m sipping
The bottle I keep coming back to is Gray Monk Unwooded Chardonnay. It is fresh, bright and uncomplicated in the best possible way, with enough texture to work at dinner but enough zip for a late-afternoon glass while you decide what you are going to cook.
An unoaked Chardonnay is often exactly what I want when the weather is caught between summer and fall. It works with seafood, roast chicken, salty snacks, creamy cheeses and, as it turns out, a very good tin of octopus.
What I’m driving
I have been spending time in the Genesis GV60, a compact luxury EV that feels a little like a beautifully designed small spaceship. It is quick, stylish and surprisingly easy to live with in the city, which is not always a given with luxury vehicles that arrive with a lot of visual drama.
I will have more to say about it soon, but I have enjoyed the reminder that a car can be practical and still make the everyday feel a bit more special. The grocery run does not need to be boring. Neither does the drive home after dinner.
On my bedside table
Spain My Way is sitting in the kitchen rather than by the bed because it is a dangerous book to read late at night. It inspires the kind of immediate hunger that requires a snack.
Still, it is exactly the sort of cookbook I love most: one that makes you want to travel, cook, invite people over and buy a few better ingredients for the cupboard.
Looking ahead
Next up is a little road trip to Hope, with the Othello Tunnels, mountain views and the promise of a weekend that is more about getting out of town than ticking off a rigid itinerary.
That is the September mood I am after: a few excellent lunches, a bottle worth opening, something new for the pantry, and just enough room in the calendar for an adventure.
What have you eaten, read or discovered lately that made the week better?
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