Some time ago I had the pleasure of reviewing a very special cookbook, written and compiled by  Dancing Chef, Natasha MacAller. The book was called Vanilla Table. As it happened, Natasha was visiting Vancouver, and I met with her at the Granville Island Hotel.

Among the many Mediterranean dips like humus and tsaztiki, my two favorites are taramasalata and babaganoush. I've experimented with making my own taramasalata but it just does not compare with the one from The Greek by Anatoli. Picking up a takeout container of taramasalata has become my current guilty pleasure.

A rich lobster bisque and a creamy mushroom soup are my two favorite soups so my natural first choice on the BRIO Tuscan Grille restaurant week lunch menu was the lobster bisque. I was pleased to see that the restaurant week menu featured items on the regular menu.

The highly recommended choice for our second night of gourmet dining in Lima was Cala, also located on the water. We had a table on the terrace overlooking the sea and enjoyed a spectacular sunset view and another excellent dinner.

Driving in to the city if Lima from the airport, my attention was caught by a striking structure jutting our into the sea. Our driver informed us that this was a restaurant, La Rosa Nautica.