Lunch with a Prince

If you know me, then you know I love to text… This is how this one started:

Friend who worked on the City of Vancouver Protocol team: “Any resto suggestions for hi-end delegate btw UBC & Kits? Doesn’t have 2 b open 4 lunch”

Me: “What type? What genre? Provence? Lumiere? Bishops?”

Friend: “Can be very hi-end… Local foods”

Me:  “Bishops then, he’s the king of local”

So that explains how Prince Edward came to lunch at Bishops on Friday March 19.  But how did I get there?  Let’s just say I was lucky enough to have a friend (above) pull some strings because I have a boss who loves the Royals. That’s how I got to “do lunch” with a Prince.

My biggest concern leading up to the day was, what I was going to wear?  Was I to wear pantyhose? Was I was going to look dorky wearing pantyhose with the open toe shoes I had picked out?  I’m glad I’m confident enough eating in fancy dancy places, that I wasn’t worried about my table manners.

When we arrived, we were seated in a great position right in the middle of the room.  John Bishop took a liking to us and spent a lot of time talking “food” with us.  We were told the one of the farmer’s that supplies Bishops was also dining at the restaurant that day.  John brought out a plate to show us their fresh bounty and made us eat the sprigs of spring nettle to taste the freshness on the plate, (is that from the White Spot commercials?)

I ordered last in my group because I wanted to make sure we covered as much of the menu as possible.  My strategy led me to a meal that I normally wouldn’t have chosen.  I was confident enough though, with Bishop’s kitchen , that I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed.

I started with the lamb ravioli.  I remember the flavors being quite wonderful, but aside from that, this dish was a bit of a blur.  The advance group for the Prince had arrived while we were eating, so we knew it was only moments until HRH would walk through the door.  I really didn’t want to be choking down a mouthful of food in front of royalty, so I ate this dish quickly.

Moments after I finished, Prince Edward arrived.

After the Prince was seated and the buzz died down, we were served our next course.  For my main course, I chose the halibut, even though normally I would have ordered the venison, (which coincidently is what the Prince ordered).  I never order halibut in a restaurant because it’s rarely cooked properly.  But like I said, I trusted the kitchen and I was not disappointed!  The halibut was still moist and subtly flavorful.  The accompanying vegetables were perfectly tender and maintained their true taste.  The decadent butter sauce pulled the whole dish together.

I finished with the rhubarb and dried cherry galette.  This is a surprising choice for anyone that knows me as rhubarb is 1 of 3 foods that are on my no-go list, (the others are tripe and blood cake).  But I thought, if anyone could do rhubarb right…

I’m happy to report that from this experience, I may have taken rhubarb off of my no-go list.  Dessert really isn’t my thing, but this one was darn good.  Overall, an amazing meal!

Here are some photos of the other dishes at our table.  I sampled almost every one of these dishes and my tastebuds are happy to say every single one of them was wonderfully delicious.  Sorry if some of the photos are blurry, I didn’t know what the etiquette was around taking photos during lunch with HRH so I was rushed through the process.

Unfortunately due to the fact I was technically working, I did not sample the wines being served at lunch.

I hadn’t been to Bishops in years, yet I didn’t hesitate to recommend it as THE place fit to serve lunch for a prince.  Bishops isn’t trendy, or glamourous but has always had the reputation of setting a high standard for West Coast cuisine that others try to follow.  It definitely lived up my expectations.  I’m so fortunate, not only did I get to lunch with a Prince, I got treated to eat a fine lunch as well.