Cooking with a View
Posted by Duncan Holmes | Sep 15, 2008
The view from Linda Meinhardt’s kitchen, atop a highrise not far from her Granville Street store, is a northward-focused panorama that stretches from the misty mountains of Howe Sound to Burnaby and beyond—with Vancouver in between.
If she ever needed inspiration to put a meal together, it’s all out there in any season, any time of day or night.
The kitchen, in complete contrast, is remarkably simple, and strikingly white. For one of the city’s top foodies, there’s little evidence that anything much happens in this kitchen. Her appliances are well hidden; the fridge, along with the staples we all need, has enough in it for today, and maybe tomorrow.
“There’s a lot of Europe in me,” says Linda. “I shop often, but just for what I need. That means freshness and variety. I pick up what catches my eye, and build around the protein to make my meals.”
Linda prepares her meals with grace. And the same sense of design that have made her two Vancouver food stores such icons of eye appeal. Yes, she says, food really is art that we can appreciate on the shelf, as we prepare it, cook it, serve it, eat it, and remember it.
“Some of the best remembered times of our lives,” she says, “revolve around meals big and small. We remember them in great detail—so it’s worth the effort to make all of them special, even if you’re alone with a bowl of granola for breakfast.”
The kitchen, in complete contrast, is remarkably simple, and strikingly white. For one of the city’s top foodies, there’s little evidence that anything much happens in this kitchen. Her appliances are well hidden; the fridge, along with the staples we all need, has enough in it for today, and maybe tomorrow.
“There’s a lot of Europe in me,” says Linda. “I shop often, but just for what I need. That means freshness and variety. I pick up what catches my eye, and build around the protein to make my meals.”
Linda prepares her meals with grace. And the same sense of design that have made her two Vancouver food stores such icons of eye appeal. Yes, she says, food really is art that we can appreciate on the shelf, as we prepare it, cook it, serve it, eat it, and remember it.
“Some of the best remembered times of our lives,” she says, “revolve around meals big and small. We remember them in great detail—so it’s worth the effort to make all of them special, even if you’re alone with a bowl of granola for breakfast.”
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