“Tia Carrere is in the production offices,”producer John G. Lenic informed me. And then added: “She’s stunning.” Seconds later, my Canadian agent, Carl, swung by, Tia in tow. And – damn! – John G. was right. She IS stunning. And absolutely delightful – which didn’t really come as a surprise given that I’d heard nothing but great things about her from people who’d worked with her on Relic Hunter. Anyway, she and Carl were on the lot, pitching a show, and thought they’d drop in to say hello. Well, we ended up hello-ing and then spending a good half hour chatting about her terrific series idea, travel and, of course, food. Turns out Tia is a HUGE fan of duck but, despite her frequent visits to Vancouver, she had yet to enjoy the city’s most awesome duck offering. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
I rectified that by taking her to – where else? – Refuel for the – what else? – whole confit crispy duck for two.
I’m pleased to report the duck was a hit. Less so my go-to before-dinner-drink, Campari and soda. “Try this,”I said. And then, as she was taking a sip: “I think it’s the closest you can get to the taste of poison without actually drinking poison.”
In Tia’s own words…
Besides being an accomplished actress, model, and Grammy-winning singer, Tia also happens to be a dessert aficionado. A desert aficionado with a weakness for key lime pie. So after we’d packed away the leftovers (the dogs would be thrilled!) we hopped in my car and headed over to Coast. There we grabbed a seat at the bar and had dessert: the kaffir-lime tart for her, and the tasty but tiny molten banana coconut cake with caramelized banana, coconut creme anglaise with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for me. After we were done, we checked out the lounge. We stepped inside and “Wooohooooooooo!”whooped one of the customers so loudly I assumed she’d just won the lottery. Alas, no lottery win. She’d simply recognized Tia. “We LOOOOVE YOOOOOU!”she shouted and her companions, all smiles, nodded in agreement. For her part, Tia was adorably demure, responding with a shy smile and a big wave before we headed off.
A great night. Hopefully, she had no cause regret her decadent outing the next day on her scheduled helicopter ride over the city.
Speaking of charming company, I had the honor of hosting another lovely guest the following day when author Marjorie M. Liu came to visit. Marjorie, as many of you blog regulars know, is a New York Times best-selling author and comic book writer who I’m lucky enough to be sharing shelf space with in the recently released superhero-themed anthology Masked. Marjorie was in town visiting relatives, so I invited her to come by and say hi.
After lunch, we headed back to the Bridge for a little tour…
Successful, intelligent, well-read, loves desserts, a fan of SF, Fantasy, and comic books AND a total sweetheart! I mean – COME ON! Her visit was all too brief, our conversation ending way too early – even though we’d started talking at lunch and continued, uninterrupted, until I saw her off hours later.
Well, hopefully she’ll be back soon – once she comes up for air amid her sea of novels, short stories, and comic books in progress.
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