On day four of our Vancouver summer holiday we had dinner at Hitesh’s long time friend John’s home.  John is Hitesh’s elementary school friend from Kenya who now lives in Vancouver, Canada. The two grew up together in Mombasa, Kenya and were best friends until they graduated high school.  After high school Hitesh came to study at University of Texas at Austin and then started working in Santa Cruz, California, while John went to college in London and then moved to Canada for work. Both got married and had a family and through it all they have kept in touch. They have been friends for over 40 years! Pretty awesome! When John heard we were coming to Vancouver for a holiday he invited us for diner at his home, how could we resist?

We had a wonderful time with John and Lorraine and their kids Meghan and Mathew. We spent over four hours chatting and catching up, just like old friends usually do 😊.  Even the kids were having a good time despite having met for the first time ever 😀.

As for dinner? John had made a delicious meal for us.  Here is the kicker, Hitesh was surprised and in awe of his old friend’s new culinary skills 😄.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hitesh this speechless 😮.  Not only can John cook a mean dinner, the parishioners at his church covet his culinary skills so much that he auctions of his chef services at fund raisers. This was a special day in another way too; John and Lorraine were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.  We took some flowers for the happy couple.

Here is a look at the dinner menu for the evening all prepared by John with dessert made by Lorraine.

Dinner at John and Lorraine’s

 Indian style bruschetta
Kale and cabbage salad
Kerala style chicken in spicy coconut broth
Grilled Cod
Chick peas with dates and anise seeds
Daal – lentil soup
White rice
Naan
White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Everything tasted outstanding 😋. John especially asked me to try the gravy of the chicken dish and I did.  I loved the flavor of the coconut sauce and asked John for the recipe so I could make the dish with vegetables and maybe tofu. I’ll post that recipe once I’ve made it. The Indian style brushcetta was delicious too and I got that recipe from John as well. White chocolate raspberry cake was yummy and I will be making that cake with summer berries myself.

Kerala style chicken

White chocolate raspberry cake

Indian style bruschetta

It was a perfect evening spent with old friends with delicious homemade delicacies and wonderful company.  What’s left to say about this very special evening?  Thank you John, Lorraine, Mathew and Meghan for your warm and loving hospitality ❤️.  We want to come back to Vancouver to see you all again and the beautiful city ❤️💕.