Last night Jesse and I had the pleasure of being invited by SYSCO reps to enjoy a night on the ice for one of Winnipeg’s best winter events, RAW Almond. Jesse has cooked for this event for the past 6 years and I have been a couple times, in the first couple years and also for the brunch that they have on weekends. The event is pretty exclusive and the tickets usually sell out very quickly, so I was very excited to be invited to go this year as the last time I went was when Jaxson was a baby for the brunch.

RAW Almond is always situated at The Forks on the river where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet. If anyone knows anything about Winnipeg they know that this is the ultimate winter location, being one of Winnipeg’s biggest tourism spots and their emphasis on winter fun. It was a gorgeous, clear night and we stopped at The Common for a glass of wine beforehand. Our seating was at 5:30 so it was perfect for us parents to enjoy a night out without being out too late.

Another thing to know about RAW Almond is that there are different chefs for different seatings. Some are local Winnipeg chefs who have been doing the event for years and in recent years there have been more chefs from around North America. Canadian and American. Our chef for the night was JC Poirier. He is Montreal born but now resides in Vancouver where he owns his own restaurant.

The menu was simple but decadent. Duck, duck. duck. duck was all that was on the menu. I did try every course but because i’m not much of a meat eater I struggled a bit. My favourite dish was the tourtière and the simple cake with maple syrup. But it was nice to just get out for the night and do something a little different, especially since Jesse always works this event and we’ve never been able to go together. Because Jesse has worked with/friends with the creator of this event, Mandel Hitzer, we got to get a tour of the kitchen which was pretty cool. I guess him and Mandel had also talked about my situation during Kelowna and he gave me the biggest, most comforting bear hug which was very much appreciated. At the end of the dinner we enjoyed a beautiful clear view of the waxing gibbous moon in Taurus. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed our evening and we were able to meet some great, new people and try some delicious food and wine. Date night was a success.