I feel so lucky to be able to squeeze in a dinner at The Mackenzie Room on my recent trip to Vancouver. It is not easy to choose one restaurant in a city full of fabulous eating establishments and constant new comers to the food scene (www.scoutmagazine.ca). The Mackenzie Room is located across the street from the Oppenheimer Park in the downtown Eastside. Not exactly the safest part of town but that’s probably what adds to the adventure of this dinning experience. I love fine dinning sans pretentiousness! This very intriguing restaurant sources fresh local ingredients and staffs it with people who cook and serve with a passion. How can you go wrong? You just can’t! No wonder it was voted the top new restaurant – Golden Plate Award 2016. The menu is on a very large chalkboard and changes regularly. The delicious quail with cornbread and Pork topped with mole and sorghum are no longer on their menu when I went back to their website (www.themackenzieroom.com) this week. According to the co-owner who served us, the inspiration for the menu comes from Sean Brock, the author of the Heritage Cookbook. The dishes we ate definitely showed off uncommon Ancient grains in a delicious combination and an artful presentation.