The sad ballad of Air Canada

January 28, 2019February 4, 2019 Dan Dickinson1 Comment

Back in October, when I wrote up the story of our trip to Amsterdam and Sweden getting off to a rocky start when we didn’t notice that Lindsay’s passport expired in 86 days (the cut-off is 90 days) I hinted at the frustration we encountered trying to fix the issue with Air Canada:

Clearly I was upset back then. But now, more than fifteen weeks later, they’re still being unresponsive, so I’ve decided to post full story here. What follows below is a chronological history of my interactions with them.

TL;DR version: our screw-up meant we had to change our outbound flight (and we paid that fare difference) but AC’s busted system forced us to change our return flight too for some reason, and then charged us for worse seats on that flight. Almost four months later they’ve done nothing to fix this, despite promises from their agents that they would.

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Oct 14, 2018, 9:25 AM: My original complaint, filed the morning after

–MESSAGE–
Subject: Unfair fees and changes due to system problems
Message: Hello/bonjour,

Yesterday my partner and I were turned away at the airport due to one of our passports expiring in less than 90 days. The Air Canada agent we were dealing with assured us there was a note on our file that would allow us to re-book when we had confirmation of passport renewal. Thankfully, we called Air Canada in the evening anyway – to find out that there was no indication of this on our file, and that, had we not called, the value of the flight would have been lost.

After speaking with a phone agent for 20 minutes, we felt optimistic that the situation could be resolved. Given the unfortunate nature of our circumstance (I had surprised my partner on her birthday, not realizing her passport was less than 90 days out, exp. Jan 7) she offered to wave the change fee on the flight and charge only the difference in cost. We were prepared to re-book for Monday night. After putting us on hold for an hour, she hung up on us.

We called Air Canada back, at this point having been on the phone with either the system or an agent for over two hours, and reached someone new. She revealed that the previous agent had made a series of false promises – that not only would we have to pay a change fee, your system would force us to change our return flight if we were to change our outbound flight. Furthermore, we would not be able to keep our premium economy seats on the return flight (a flight we never wished to change in the first place), and would incur a $326.54 cost per ticket to downgrade to economy. This felt entirely unfair, and the agent agreed.

After four hours on the phone with your agents (three of which were spent on hold), I was made to spend $1,200 only to lose two premium economy seats that were already booked. From what we were told, this was not within the agent’s discretion, and was instead forced by the Air Canada system.

Given this incredibly poor and frustrating customer experience, I would expect that:

the $600 in change fees would be refunded directly – the second agent we spoke with gave us a guarantee that this would be refunded by contacting you
the $653.08 fare difference on return flight (which we never wanted to change) would be refunded directly, as this was your system issue – also guaranteed by the second agent we spoke with
upgraded seats on our return flight of October 21, or compensation/credit for the cost difference, as this was also due to your system issues
compensation/credit for the egregious time spent on hold, in addition to the false promises of the desk agent and first contact centre agent, the latter of which also hung up on us after an hour of waiting on hold

The second agent we spoke with last night was very understanding, and was doing everything she could to resolve the system issues resulting in additional fees. She suggested only you would have the authority to right these wrongs, but that there would be ample notes made in the file to indicate what occurred.

Thank you in advance for your assistance. I look forward to your reply.

.:.

Oct 14, 2018, 9:27 AM: Auto-response from Air Canada

We appreciate your feedback. You can rest assured that an Air Canada representative will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience as you wait to hear from us.

Please note that this automated message confirms we have received your message and there is no need to re-submit your information. We’re on it!

Your case number is: XXX-XXXXXXXX-XXXXXX

.:.

Oct 22, 2018, 6:34 PM: Follow-up #1

It’s been eight days since I sent my message about this series of issues, and I haven’t heard anything. When can I expect a response?

.:.

Nov 14, 2018, 1:00 PM: Follow-up #2

It’s now been a full month since I sent this message. Can I expect an answer ANYTIME soon? Absent one, I feel as if I have no further recourse other than to go to the media.

.:.

Dec 10, 2018, 8:19 AM: Follow-up #3

It has been TWO MONTHS since I sent this message, with no response. If I do not hear back by Thursday of this week I’m emailing the CBC.

.:.

Dec 10, 2018, 11:56 AM: after two months of silence, Air Canada replies within four hours of my mentioning the media

Dear Mr. Dickinson,

Thank you for your email. I apologize for the delay in response as we are experiencing higher than normal claims volumes at this time. We appreciate your understanding and patience. I am pleased to forward your request to our Refunds Department on your behalf. An Air Canada Refunds Representative will review this refund application. Please allow a minimum of 3 weeks for your request to be processed.

Your Claim Id is: XXXXXX

Your Confirmation Number is: XXXXXX

If you wish to check the status of your request, please visit: https://refundservices.business.conduent.com/AirCanada/Refunds/Search

We regret your disappointment in the experience but we hope you understand that we have made an honest effort to address the situation. We look forward to the opportunity to welcome you onboard again in the future in hopes of impressing you more favorably.
Sincerely,

XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Customer Relations

.:.

Mon, Jan 14, 10:30 PM: Follow-up #4

It’s now been 5 weeks since you said I should expect an answer in 3 weeks, and more than 8 weeks* since I experienced this issue. In my last email I stated I would reach out to the media if this wasn’t resolved quickly. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, only to be disappointed again. If I don’t receive a response and refund this week as per my original message, I will contact the CBC.

[* note that my math was wrong here. It was more like 13 weeks.]

.:.

Jan 27, 2019, 10:57 AM: Follow-up #5

Unfortunately you’ve left me no choice. As it’s been 15 weeks since my initial email with no remedy, I emailed the CBC’s Go Public team this morning.

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So, to recap, I asked for four things:

Refund of the change fees. Granted, this was our fault, and technically Air Canada didn’t have to pay it. I fully expected to, but the first Air Canada agent I spoke to said she’d waive the fee. And the second agent guaranteed Air Canada customer care would refund it. They have not.
Refund of the change fees. Maybe the most frustrating part of all this was being forced to pay a fare difference to downgrade to a return flight we did not want, for reasons that were — by the agent’s own admission — 100% the fault of the Air Canada system. Again, the second agent promised the customer care team would refund this. They have not.
Upgraded return flight. I was hopelessly naive when I hoped they would remedy something within a week, as nearly four months later they still have not. And not to be too whiny about it, but the return flight in Economy (versus Premium Economy, which we’d booked) was rough. I described it thus: “Our flight home was pretty brutal. We were sitting in Economy because Air Canada fucking sucks, and everyone around us — elbowers, pocket stuffers, leaners-back, knee-bashers all — annoyed the bejeezus out of us.”
Compensation/credit. I figured they’d give us future flight credit, or Aeroplan points…just, something to make up for the egregious time spent on hold, being hung up on by the first agent, the extra flight leg to Amsterdam, the overall poor experience, carrying the credit charge for this long, etc. But no…they have not.

Do better, Air Canada.

.:.

Feb 4, 2019, 1:35 PM: Finally, a response. BUT!

So, Air Canada replied today. It has done little to change my mood.

So, first of all, I had to google “adcol” to find out that it means “additional collection”. Such is the extent to which AC will go to avoid saying “fees”.

Also, it’s infuriating that their answer was to lecture me about not verifying the passport info before I left. I know that was the root issue. I acknowledged that. I never would have asked for reversal of that change fee (sorry…adcol) if the agent hadn’t offered to waive it. But she did.

Second, their response does nothing to address the fact that THEIR system issue forced a change to our return flight, for which I was charged $653 to sit in worse seats on a longer flight.

Honestly, I would have been happier with a $653 refund and an acknowledgment of their screw-up than I am with this $1200 credit.

I haven’t decided yet whether to push back on them, but honestly, I doubt I’ll have the energy. It took four months just to get ANY answer from them, and I can’t imagine starting that process again. So, well done Air Canada: your relentlessly abysmal customer service has beaten down yet another victim.

Maybe.

Ex xmas 2018

January 2, 2019 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We got back last night from Nova Scotia, having spent two weeks there over the holidays. We shuttled back and forth between Bedford and West Brook, and into Halifax a few times to see family.

We saw some deer. We had a very efficient afternoon of Christmas shopping. We watched most of Killing Eve in one day. We tried a new (to us) coffee place called The Nook. We drank nog. We caught up with Tess & Kealin (Lindsay had dinner with them at Lot Six). We opened many amazing gifts, and had a lovely turkey dinner at Lindsay’s grandmother’s place on what turned out to be, briefly, a white Christmas. We had a Dickinson family reunion in Halifax, followed by a party near St. Margaret’s Bay. We did great amounts of relaxing, eating, and playing crib at the farm. We scratched dogs. We bought my parents a new coffee maker and relived our youth at Pizza Delight. We observed the assembly of a Lego First Order walker. We had a quiet New Year’s Eve in as Lindsay had been fighting a cold the whole time. (Still is.) We had a very hairy ride to the airport and got hit with some baggage weight overage fees, but then a nice lady pulled us out of the huge security line and sped us through and we’re still not sure why. We drank lovely wine at Vino Volo. We had some flight delays, but still made it home in time to relax, order some food, and coo at Kramer before crashing very hard into our own bed.

We’re taking today off work to slowly ease back into reality, but it seems to be coming at us faster than we might like.

Let the unwinding and overeating begin

December 19, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night our holiday began. We kicked it off properly: with a viewing of Die Hard.

See you soon Nova Scotia!

Sweden (with a touch of Dutch)

October 27, 2018October 31, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Saturday 13th

Yeah, so we had this whole lovely trip planned, with a healthy dose of three different cities over nine days. But it didn’t work out that way.

We got to the airport, all packed and fresh and ready to go to Amsterdam, but were turned away at the counter. Why? ‘Cause Lindsay’s passport expired in 85 days, and the cutoff to get into Europe is 90. Argh. Arrrrgggghhhh. We went home, dejected, and resolved to re-plan things. We then spent the next four hours on the phone with Air Canada, switching to (much worse) flights, and getting truly and completely fucked. I won’t dwell on that here. They’re still, two weeks later, being utterly unresponsive assholes.

Anyway.

Sunday 14th

We quickly learned the emergency passport renewal method and made arrangements, wrote a scathing but polite email to Air Canada, went for a walk, made amazing breakfast sandwiches, started season 3 of Fargo (imdb) and generally had…a pretty amazing day, to be honest.

Monday 15th

We were among the first people at the passport office, ready to go. Not long after the process was underway, and we were out getting some breakfast at Over Easy, bonding with our waiter from BC who liked to make fun of Bedford NS, so he was okay in our books. We went home, did a few more errand-y things, watched more Fargo, and then traveled back to the passport office to pick up the shiny new version. While over there we decided to get some lunch. We went a little on the fancy side, hitting Richmond Station (!) for a luxurious meal, rolled home, and made for the airport.

We had no issues and sped through security, so we took advantage of the lounge right next to our gate, and wandered down just in time to walk on to our flight. We boarded, settled in, picked some movies to watch…and then the captain came on and told us we’d have to get off the plane due to mechanical issues.

God a’mighty, were we ever going to get to Amsterdam?!?!

Actually, as it turns out, this mechanical snafu was a blessing. We’d been scheduled for a 5-hour stop in Frankfurt; better we hang out in a Pearson lounge for a few hours and shorten that layover. We had a little more food and drink, watched another episode of Fargo, and got back on the replacement plane. We left just after midnight, and had a relatively easy flight. I watched Sicario: Day of the Soldado and then tried to zonk out.

Tuesday 16th

We landed in Frankfurt around midday, with just enough time to have a currywurst, pretzel, and beer.

We hopped our short flight to Amsterdam (finally!) and arrived to find a gorgeous fall day. Our hotel, the Conservatorium, was beyond stunning.

We went for a short walk around the neighbourhood, crossed a canal or two, and strolled back to the hotel via the Rijksmuseum and Museumplein. We had a dinner to go to, in the hotel, and we needed to freshen up after some long flights.

Said dinner was at Taiko and was, in a word, amazing. The courses:

sprouting soy, uni, yuzu / tom kha yen, dutch prawns, black garlic / lobster, sake granite, pistachio (Schoffit tradition Muscat)
blue fin, taiko soy, wasabi, kombucha, akami tuna, chuu toro, oo toro (Domaine des Baumard Clos de St Yves Chenin)
cèpes, cappuccino, egg foam, mushroom xo (Taiko no Izanai sake)
scallops, Nikka whisky, chestnut on the barrel (Uva Mira Stellenbosch Chardonnay)
tofu mabre, apple, miso, umeshu
Cantonese style beef, oyster sauce / Chirashi beef tartare, cèpes / veal bulgogi, korean pickles (Pavillon de Taillefer St Emilion Merlot)
black sesame, passion fruit, pavlova (Enate Gewurztraminer)
soy leaf, miso, dark chocolate, hazelnut (Avreo vino de licor)

That cappuccino of cèpes (which I learned is the French word for Porcini mushrooms) was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

Wednesday 17th

Sadly our time in Amsterdam was already at an end, so we were up and out way too early. I grabbed pastries from a bakery down the street, then we packed and left, looking longingly at that gorgeous hotel.

Our flight to Stockholm was unremarkable, as was the drive into the city from Arlanda. Our hotel, Miss Clara, was no Conservatorium, but it was lovely nonetheless. We grabbed lunch in the restaurant downstairs, and then had a big old nap, on account of being freaking exhausted. We didn’t get up until shortly before dinner.

Our meal was at Ekstedt, a small Michelin-starred restaurant that uses a lot of open fires and stone ovens in its preparation, most of which you can see from your table. It was among the very best meals I’ve ever eaten in my life. Like, top three probably. I enjoyed it so much I forgot to note the wine pairings; a shame as they were presented with such care and precision.

diced reindeer heart cooked in herbed butter boiling in a heated stone mortar
birch flamed lobster, forest mushrooms and celeriac
oysters, cooked Basque style
dried deer, leek, Vendace roe and charcoal cream
housemade bread + butter
hay-flamed beef, leafy greens and salsify
juniper-smoked pike-perch, cabbage and knotted wrack
charcoal grilled pork, chanterelle and kohlrabi
wood oven baked almond cake, apple and caramel

That hay-flamed beef will also go down as one of the best things I’ve eaten all year. Two amazing flavours on consecutive nights…what a trip.

Thursday 18th

Following such an epic meal, we had a bit of a lie-in, to the point of being problematic — we missed breakfast. We reckoned we’d find something at our first stop — the Moderna Museet and ArkDes — and we did: Café Blom. It was almost lunchtime when we got there though, so we both ended up having these very amazing, but very hearty bowls filled with vegetables and quinoa and salmon. Strange breakfast, but it gave us some energy. Also: decent cortado.

We bypassed the Andy Warhol exhibit and instead checked out some of the architecture and design exhibits in ArkDes, like Public Luxury, and the museum’s permanent collection, which was more impressive than either of us expected. As we started our walk back toward the city (the museum’s on one of the islands that makes up Stockholm) we noticed a permanent exhibit of works by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely. It turns out there are installations all around the building, but we just happened upon this one, and Lindsay recognized the artists’ work from a distance.

We walked back across the Skeppsholmsbron and then across the Strömbron to Gamla Stan. I thought it would be historic; it was more touristy. We did buy some cool prints at e.torndahl to bring home and hang, but other than that we sped through on our way to Sodermalm. We had beer to drink.

Akkurat has a 100 rating on ratebeer, which is saying something. Their bottle list is deep and wide and, honestly, pretty daunting. First we ordered a bottle of 2014 Oude Quetsche Tilquin à L’Ancienne from the cellar. Then I had an Edge “Joli” milk stout; Lindsay had a Rauchbier. Finally we each got a glass of the sour stout Rullquin. So damn good.

We Ubered back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit, then had pizza at Giro. It was the first of a surprising number of pizzas we ate in Sweden, but it was also damn good. It was also a simple, nearby option on a night when we didn’t have much energy left in us.

Friday 19th

Lindsay’s birthday! We had some (pretty extravagant) breakfast in bed as a mini-celebration before packing and showering and heading to the train station. We timed it perfectly too: walked in, found the platform, and waited there maybe a minute before our train pulled in. We were off to Gothenburg to see the city and Lindsay’s old friend Tess. We worked and read and enjoyed the scenery outside our window, which looked for all the world like Nova Scotia.

Three hours later we pulled in and found Tess waiting for us. One très expensive taxi ride later we arrived at our AirBnb, which was…amazing. Like, beautiful. We all wanted to move in immediately. Such a great home base, in a cool neighbourhood (Olivedal/Haga).

We went in search of lunch, settling quickly on Brewers Beer Bar, which was both on my list of beer joints and recommended by our AirBnB host. It was the perfect choice — cool atmosphere, fun servers, killer pizzas (again!), and a short but unreal beer list. I had an Electric Nurse “White Skull” imperial milk stout and an AleSmith Hawaiian Speedway stout. Both were utterly fantastic.

We went back to our killer AirBnB to hang out, introduce Tess to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and relax before dinner, which was another big one. SK Mat also has a Michelin star, and we went full 8-course + premium wine selection. When in Gothenburg, right?

Unfortunately I forgot to steal a tasting menu, and the restaurant promised me they’d email it to me but didn’t. That’s a particular problem, because after eight glasses of wine (plus champagne to start) our memories of the night are a little fuzzy. I do remember a pretty spectacular glass of Grenache blanc, and that the meal as a whole was fab. But, uh, not much else. Happy birthday Linds!

UPDATE: the restaurant emailed me with our tasting menu. Except…we don’t think it’s quite our tasting menu. It’s close, but…whatever. Close enough. Gives you an 85-90% accurate view of what we ate.

Smoked trout roe with elderflower, fennel and potato crisp (Frank Millet, Sancerre, Sauvignon blanc, Vielle vignes, France, Loire, 2016)
Salad with artichokes, quinoa, miso and grated yolk (La Spinetta, Vermentino, Italy, Toscana, 2017)
Halibut with vinegar, horseradish and raw shrimps (Juliusspital, silvaner, iphöpfer kronsberg, Germany Franken, 2016)
Scallop with broccoli, green tomatoes and oysterfoam. (Famille Perrin, Chateau de Beaucastel Blanc, Roussanne, Grenache blanc, France, Rhône valley, Chateau-neuf-du-pape, 2014)
Arctic char with beets, browned butter and hazelnuts (Bernard-Bonin, Meaursault, Chardonnay, France, Burgundy, 2016)
Sirloin with baked potato cream, onions and duck liver (Bodegas Roda, Roda 1, Tempranillo, Spain, Rioja, 2011)
Local cheese with sea buckthorn, fennel and short bread (Fernand Engel, Pinot Gris, France, Alsace, 2015)
Pears with caramel ice cream, sunchokes and walnuts (Chateau Tirequl de Gradier, Semillon, Muscadet, France, Monbazilliac, 2015)

Saturday 20th

It was a very slow start on Saturday. VERY slow. Tess was the only functional one among us so she got up and retrieved coffee & bagels and fruit. I actually went back to bed for a while, I’ll admit. When I finally got up and moving we were all starving, and after hunting around for a bit ended up right back where we’d started the day before: Brewers. More pizza. More beer, too: the AleSmith Speedway Stout (the non-Hawaiian version) and Electric Nurse “Dark Skull” imperial stout. After that all was right with the world again.

We made our way over to the Konstmuseum, grabbing a coffee from Viktors first, and ending our visit at the Konsthall next door. It’s a pretty spot with a great view, and the weather was so lovely we decided to walk back to home base.

There we chilled, watched more Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, opened some red wine, and listened to funk while we got ready for dinner. We’d booked a sister restaurant to SK Mat called Spisa, just around the corner from our place. We had to make a late reso as we booked last-minute, but that was fine with us. It was a great option as we could order small amounts a few plates at a time (it’s a tapas/sharing place) and we wanted to take it a bit easier than we had the night before. I don’t remember the order in which we ate everything, but I’m pretty sure this is what we had:

olives in za’atar
spicy chips of rice and sesame with labneh, baharat
deep fried corn with pecorino, chili and aioli
artichoke with lemon/thyme butter
merguez sausage with harissa mayonnaise
n’duja croquet with pickled zucchini
octopus skewer with chermoula and crunchy chickpeas
deep fried cod cheeks with spicy yoghurt
gruyere

These plates were all 1 or 2 bites each, so it was a lead-up to two shared mains: pan-fried ricotta gnocchi and grilled lamb shoulder. However, when we ordered that our server informed us that the kitchen was closed. No warning, no last call. No apology either. Just…nope. Kitchen’s closed. So you’re done. Even though your reservation email said you had your table from 9:30-12:30 and didn’t mention anything about kitchen hours, you’re done. We were livid. The meal up to that point had been so good, but that ruined it for us. Your food is good, Spisa, but your service sucks.

We were still really hungry, so we dashed to a nearby grocery store before they closed. We bought some chips, but Lindsay made an amazing discovery: Bubbies. They’re little balls of ice cream wrapped in mochi (sweet rice dough) and we killed six of them and found out we can buy them at Whole Foods in Toronto and suddenly we were less mad. Ice cream, amirite?

Sunday 21st

Alas, all trips must end, so we dragged our asses up, finished packing, speed-ate some more bagels, and Ubered to the airport. (Nice airport, too!) We said goodbye to Tess, eased through security, hung out in a lounge, and hopped our quick flight to Frankfurt. The weather had finally turned, having spared us our entire trip, so we said a little thank you to the weather gods.

There was no avoiding our 4-hour layover this time, so we ducked out of the airport for a while to visit the Paulaner restaurant across the street. I had a delicious weisswurst and hefeweissbier; Lindsay had a schnitzel and a dunkel. Germany!

We went back through security (during which a security dude joked about our flight being canceled, which was NOT FUNNY GIVEN OUR EARLIER TRAVAILS, SECURITY DUDE!) and got to our gate.

Our flight home was pretty brutal. We were sitting in Economy because Air Canada fucking sucks, and everyone around us — elbowers, pocket stuffers, leaners-back, knee-bashers all — annoyed the bejeezus out of us. I managed to watch a few movies (Deadpool 2, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and All The Money In The World) amidst the assholes, and then on (late) arrival at Toronto, wound our way through the labyrinthine customs lineups to finally flee, home, safe, sound, sleepy, and in no way ready for work.

Traveling means improvising, I guess, and while this was a little more improv than either of us would have liked, it was still a pretty lovely trip. Some of the best meals of our lives. A wonderful 36 hours with Tess. Gorgeous places to stay. My baby’s birthday celebrations.

Lovely.

Back from Sweden

October 22, 2018October 22, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We got back from Sweden late last night. More to come later, but for now it’s mostly getting back into work, cooing at the cat, doing laundry, and overcoming jet lag.

Dam Stock Goth

October 12, 2018October 15, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

After a very long (and very emotional) week at work, we’re off to Europe tomorrow. It’ll be Linds’ first time in Amsterdam (!) and we’re also going to Stockholm (following up from my too-brief visit for work last year) and Göthenburg.

See you in ten days.

[UPDATE]

I spoke too soon. Lindsay’s passport was 85 days from expiring so they turned us away before we could check in to the flight. We spent the rest of Saturday night re-booking everything, and Monday getting her passport renewed. We’re flying out Monday night instead. In much worse airplane cabins, mind you, but we’re going. Wish us luck!

Forty hours of Montreal

September 29, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I was back in Montreal ever-so-briefly this week, from Wednesday night to Friday afternoon, and — in between meetings — had just enough time to hit a few old favourites. I was staying at the Hôtel Place d’Armes so I was walking distance to both Tommy and Philemon.

I also got to try a new restaurant: Sinclair, in the St Sulpice hotel. I get that big group dinners aren’t the best way to judge a place, but this one still wasn’t great.

My Friday meetings ended early so I caught an early flight and got back to Toronto for a quick drink or two at Chez Nous before Lindsay joined me post-work.

Hard edges. Delicious middle.

August 28, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It’s amazing how much difference a half-hour can make. We left for Niagara half an hour later than we wanted on Saturday, and it ended up adding 90 minutes to our trip. A trip which should barely take 90 minutes anyway. Stupid GTA traffic.

We hadn’t been down to Niagara this year, and needed a bit of a weekend away, so down we went. I wasn’t planning to do the epic winery visits of years past, but I did have a plan. (Obviously.) First up: lunch at Two Sisters‘ restaurant, Kitchen 76.

I want to hate Two Sisters, with its obnoxious faux Italian villa and perpetually-selfie-ing clientele, but the wine is just too good. So, it turns out, is the food. Our caprese salad was excellent, as were our pizzas, and the patio space is stunning.

We planned to do a tasting as well, but my god…the crowds. Too many people, too drunk, too loud, too woo-hoo-y. I dashed in, bought the three bottles I knew I wanted (cab sauv, cab franc, Lush sparkling) and fled.

Our hotel for the night was a new one for us both: Queen’s Landing. It might be one of the least precious of the Niagara-on-the-Lake hotels, and our room had a nice view of the river, so we made the most of it. We checked in as soon as we could, and checked out the next morning without a minute to spare.

That afternoon, while Lindsay had a nap, I walked into town to check out the Exchange Brewery. I’d tried one or two of their beers before, but hadn’t been to the brewery itself. When I got there it was pretty hectic, and their bottles aren’t labeled super-well, and when I asked the taste the bartender sent me upstairs. I ended up lucking into a prime balcony spot, since some rain had just ended. I tried their Saison, Berliner, Porter, Bill NyePA, Oud Bruin, and breakfast stout. The Saison and Bill NyePA were pleasant surprises, but the Berliner, Porter, and Oud Bruin were a touch disappointing. The breakfast stout was as good as I thought it might be. Points for trying a few interesting styles though. I bought a few bottles (the Saison and stout, and another stout called The Exchange stout) and walked back to the hotel while it drizzled.

By the time I got back it was pretty much time for dinner. We’d booked a table at what I consider the best restaurant in Niagara, Treadwell. Sadly, the menu they have posted online bears no resemblance to the meal we actually ate, so I won’t remember the finer details of each course. But here’s the gist:

We had trouble deciding on which two appetizers to choose, but landed on the peach salad, which was chock full of local fruit and veg, and the tuna, served with (among other things) some amazing smoked cashews. We had this with a bottle of Kew Tradition sparkling.
Ultimately the other appetizer we’d considered — the cured duck — was too much to resist, and we ordered that too, while finishing off the sparkling.
For our mains Lindsay got BC halibut with mussels and smoked tomato risotto. I got the pork tenderloin with pork belly and crispy polenta, and I fully expect that dish to end up on best-things-I-ate-this-year list. We paired it with a bottle of The Farm Pinot Noir 2014, which I learned is made by Thomas Bachelder from the same grapes that produced Le Clos Jordanne’s “La Petite Colline” wines. And it was amazing.
Not quite ready for dessert, we ordered a little tasting of aged cheddar to go with the rest of our Pinot.
Still, amazingly, having room for dessert, we shared the cheesecake coated with graham cracker, alongside maple bourbon ice cream and some cherries. We each had a local ice wine with it.

By this time we’d pretty much shut the joint down, so we wandered slowly back to our hotel and konked out.

The next morning was a master class in chilling out. Room service breakfast (an absurd amount, really), leisurely showers, and dumb TV. We rolled out of there at the very last minute and into our trusty steed. After a brief stop on the parkway down to admire the quiet and the river, we arrived at Ravine. I hadn’t been in four years or thereabouts. We hurried through a quick tasting and bought a Cab Sauv and a reserve Chard before heading to lunch next door at their restaurant.

We had PEI oysters, followed by spiced cauliflower ‘steaks’ w/ navy bean salad, smoked eggplant, roasted garlic emulsion, labneh, and dukkah (Lindsay) and duck leg confit w/ K2 milling artisanal grains ‘salad’, Niagara corn and peach succotash, tarragon aioli, sour cherry, and duck jus (Dan). We each had a glass of cab franc, but given my driving duties mine was shockingly small.

On the way back to Toronto we had three stops lined up, two for tastings as it was my first visit, and one for a quick pickup. The first visit was Westcott. It was a little chaotic but we managed to try two chard and two pinots, and loved them all. We left with four bottles.

Next: Domaine Queylus. I’m more than familiar with their wines (and winemaker) but this was my first visit. Again, I couldn’t really taste thoroughly as I was driving, but I fell hard for the chard, the reserve pinot, and their cab franc. Oof.

Finally, after a winding drive through the back roads, we made our last stop, a quick in-and-out at Thirty Bench to acquire some of their recently-lauded 2015 Cab Franc. I’ve always been a fan of that wine — it might have been the first Ontario wine, or any wine — that I fell in love with, and have bought every vintage. But ever since Decanter freaked out about the 2015, I was worried that I’d miss out, so I grabbed what I could and ran.

Speaking of running, we quickly realized that the drive back to Toronto was going to be tight to make our 5pm drop-off. As it turned out, we pulled in to the rental place with about five minutes to spare, and Ubered home with our loot.

So, fine: maybe the drive down and drive back weren’t all that relaxing, but overall it was a damn fine 30-hour break.

Snozberries

July 29, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last week I was back in San Francisco for the first time in about five years, this time for a conference which would take up the better part of a work week.

Monday

My flight was around noon, so I worked from home and then had a nice easy commute to the airport. Almost too easy, really — my Uber driver and I were both freaked out by how smooth a trip it was.

My flight was similarly simple, and with a little extra leg room in the exit row. I watched The Post and Red Sparrow and landed at SFO in no time. The night before the conference began I spent a night at the Inn at Union Square, which was fine, if a little noisy. It was well-placed, though, to try a good place for lunch: Hogwash, where I had a dirty sausage sandwich and a Little Creatures Juicy Pale Ale.

It was also convenient for that night’s dinner with other conference attendees, at Scala’s Bistro, just a few seconds around the corner. Dinner was fine. Too loud. Too cramped. But gift horses and all that. Afterward I walked up the hill to check out another beer joint, Hopwater Distribution. I unwound from the forced interaction and closed the place down.

Tuesday

The next day I switched to my home base for the remainder of the conference, and spent the day attending session. That night some of us got to attend an event at the SFMOMA, which was showing an interesting Magritte exhibit (and has lots of Cy Twomly pieces that I really liked). There were rare whisky tasting and dessert art stations set up outside, so I…had a good time.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, after the conference day ended, I skipped the planned social event for the 20,000+ (!) attendees and had dinner in the hotel restaurant, Luce. My meal was outstanding, and I got to try Keenan Cab Sauv for my first time since visiting the winery eight years ago.

Pacific blue prawn, roasted with espelette chili + lemon, pistachio & brown butter (+ Château de Brézé Chenin, “Clos du Midi,” Saumur 2016)
New York strip steak w/ , rosemary + garlic Yukon potato “Anna”, Trumpet Royale mushrooms & date marmalade (+ Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2014)
Chateau Laribotte 2011 Sauternes

Thursday

Before the conference started I made my way to the nearest Blue Bottle Coffee for a cappuccino. It was a long wait. It was not worth it.

After the conference ended Thursday I made my way to the Mikkeller Bar SF to have some lunch and do some work. I’d heard good things. I’d read better things. I was immediately overwhelmed. There were at least a dozen beers I wanted to try, most of them stupidly strong.

In the end, in addition to another tasty sausage, I had:

Mikkeller “Blue Hour” gose-style ale brewed w/ pineapple, tart cherry & yerba buena
Mikkeller “Orange Yuzu Glad I Said Porter?” American porter brewed w/ yuzu
Barrel Brothers “The Snozberries Taste Like Snozberries” blonde sour ale with w/ wild berries
Jackie O’s “Oil of Aphrodite” imperial stout brewed w/ black walnuts
Prairie Artisan Ales “Bomb!” imperial stout aged on coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla & chilies

I walked (slowly, carefully; those last few beers were 10% and 14% ABV respectively) back to my hotel and chilled for a bit. I was in the mood for more steak, and made dinner reservations (solo) for Alexander’s. It was a killer meal, and one of the best steaks I’ve ever eaten. And because I was sitting at the chef’s bar they kept sending over little tastes and treats , and the Sommelier led me down a very lovely path indeed.

Hon hamachi w/ avocado, serrano, cilantro, yuzu-soy, garlic & radish
Scallop crudo w/ avocado, fresno chile, honey vinegar, apple & mint (+ their customer Riesling from the Mosel, which had been aged just long enough to be outstandingly petrol-y)
20oz Nebraska-raised prime black Angus ribeye chop w/ yuzu kosho chimichurri, baby corn, Blue Lake green beans, charred lemon miso & crispy shallot (+ Corison 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon)
Dream Weaver goat cheese from Paso Robles (+ 1968 D’Oliveiras Bual Madeira)
Lime cotton candy (!)

Friday

Nothing to do Friday but more work in the morning, and then fly back to Toronto. In the crap bar at the airport I happened upon one last killer beer: the Ballast Point grapefruit “Sculpin” IPA.

The flight home went super-quickly: I was somehow upgraded to premium economy, and watched two movies (Avengers: Infinity War and Detroit) and suddenly I was back in Toronto. Body tired, brain full.

50th & 12

July 2, 2018 Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We arrived back in Toronto last night, ending an awfully busy 5-6 weeks of travel. The last ten days have been pretty intense family time, spread across a few locales.

Last weekend my mom was in town, in the middle of a trip to visit her sister in Guelph, so a bunch of family and a few friends drove into town for dinner before they went to see Come From Away. We all met at Locale Mercatto for an early dinner and had a good old chat, not to mention some good food and nice volcanic wine. Apparently we were also meant to go to the play but we got our wires crossed; in any case I had a work issue in progress, and we had packing to do.

The next day we flew to Halifax, had a quick stop in Bedford, then drove to the Annapolis Valley and met Lindsay’s mom and brothers at the same cottage as last year — but for two nights this time. We played games outside and had a big grilled steak dinner the first night, but spent the second day huddled inside around a fire for warmth on what turned out to be a cold, rainy day. It was still completely relaxing though, and the rain broke long enough for some grilled sausages after our games were complete.

Tuesday morning was much nicer so we squeezed in a last game of washer toss before departing. We stopped at Lightfoot & Wolfville on the way back, having just missed their grand opening last year. We bought a few bottles to bring back, and ate (extremely delicious) pizza and garlic fingers outside. Then it was back to Bedford.

We spent the Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Lindsay’s dad’s place, zipping downtown for a quick dinner Wednesday at Your Father’s Moustache, and on Thursday attending her youngest brother’s graduation. After a big feed of Chinese takeout that night back at their mom’s, we played washer toss ’til it got dark and Yahtzee (seriously) into the wee hours and then crashed.

We took it easy Friday, eventually exiting Bedford and driving to my parents farm. We arrived late that night, just late enough to crash hard in the nice cool basement. The next day we slept in a bit before getting up and getting to work — it was the day of my parents’ 50th anniversary party, and there was an open house from 1-4. A friend of mom’s (the same one who accompanied her to the play the week before) catered, and we were all put to work slicing and setting and placing and cleaning. Nearly a hundred people wandered through the house on a stiflingly hot day, all to congratulate my parents on a pretty remarkable accomplishment.

We did manage to squeeze in a tiny bit of relaxation time at the farm as well, from playing many games of crib, to perpetually scratching the dogs, to lying in a hammock.

Everyone left Sunday morning after things had died down. We got to the airport and had a glass of wine at Vino Volo, which might have been ill-advised since Porter boarded their flight almost instantly, resulting in us actually getting paged as we walked down the terminal. We worked on the flight back, arriving to a moist blanket of heat draped over Toronto, and have scarcely left the loft since.

It was a fun trip, if not terribly relaxing. Frankly, we’re pretty excited to not have plans to fly or drive anywhere the next few weekends.

Skirl | Dan Dickinson

Skirl: (skûrl) n. A shrill wailing sound

Category: Trips