jamiemaw

Post moved to Thanksgiving Wines thread.

You could sell the photo to GQ.

Restaurant Anthropology A cleansing ale to the first person who can tell us who the 'Bud' in Carlos and Bud's was. I use the past tense as he has moved on. Here's a hint: he also started Peter's and !Viva!

Arnē, Are you suggesting he got even more plugs than Frank Gifford? This thread: Much adieu about nothing. Yours until my Christmas Special, Kathie Lee.

Arne, I have also made subtle changes to the header of my first (in a series) of posts. Anticipate more regional allusions (rather than generic disillusions) in its forthcoming chapters.

Designs for Western Living Department Tips for Xmas Party Etiquette & Deportment in Vancouver, British Columbia Part I: -- The Spirits of Christmases Past Amongst my favourites are the obligatory, mind-numbing corporates (when you could be home soothing something nubile such as a pubescent bottle of Macallan's). Often these dinners multi-task, strangely morphing into awards pageants (Assistant of The Year: Muffie! From Forensic Accounting! Was there ever any doubt?!), typically with buffeteria line-ups in souless hotel convention spaces where I know no more than five people including the barman, whom I'm getting to know quite well. The mind numbing is best accomplished with inappropriate quantities of malt beverages because the wine could double as the steno pool's nail polish remover. If the CFO is anywhere near you in line, order a triple of 'premium' scotch and then hand it to him. Say, 'Merry Christmas, Mel.' Needless to say, eating in the buffet line is required so that you're finished the cheap fillers (pasta salads. cold cuts, aspic, devilled eggs, scalloped potatoes, nerf buns etc.) just before pulling up to the roast beef station. One tip, do not move until the plate is covered liberally. Even establishing eye contact with the carving guy could mean your time is up. You worked hard all year and it's time to get all your beefs back. Exact your due. With horseradish. One year I saw a chap haul an entire dinner plate of (Lasqueti Island) shrimp back to his table, slathered with 1000 Island and, yes, (Albertan) bacon bits. I gave him a nod of approval later at the Salmon Wellington station. 'Nice job on the shrimp,' I said. 'Thanks,' he said, and perhaps recognizing a fellow traveller asked, 'Hollandaise?' Unlike the tips and techniques for office parties published each year in middlebrow women's glossies such as Redbook, Cosmo and Flare, I for one say: Misbehave. Mickey fin the CEO's daughter's drinks. Share furtive smokes with her on the rain-lashed balcony. Offer her your suit jacket when it turns to sleet. Take it back when she starts to turn the colour of Habitant brand pea soup. Later, when she receives her 'maximum $10 joke gift' from under the aluminum Christmas tree, and is visibly disappointed with the MidValley Insurance coaster set, offer her yours. I mean, what are you going to do with another whoopee cushion anyway? Alright, the band is starting up. You already know the line-up: Jingle Bell Rock. Then those Yule classics: Brown Eyed Girl and Stayin' Alive. Out in the foyer, Roy, the barman hands me another, CFO-sized Dewar's. The band lights into Gimme Some Lovin' by the Spencer Davis Group. It will be followed by a swoony Have I Told You Lately. . . 'Have a nice evening,' Roy says to me. 'Actually, Roy,' I say, turning away, 'I've made other arrangements.'

Laura, In a bid to keep the peace, Mum used to roast extra drumsticks so that our turkeys loooked as though they'd wandered in from the Love Canal. But a more recent solutions for the stuffing dilemma? Two turkeys. One for dinner, one for sandwiches. From the latter, decant the extra stuffing into two bowls, yes, one for extra that night, and one (well hidden), for the sandwiches.

Thanks for that, jgm. Although I'd heard about the concept a few months ago, I just started looking into it over the weekend. Seems there is a franchisor in the marketplace already! The individual stores publish menus on-line. Let us know if you visit the new store--apparently opening next month. Jamie

Cooking on the Barbie Down Under. Quite possibly the best topic title ever. Cooking on the Griddle Up Here just doesn't have the same ring to it.

I think the buzzword for the prepared food phenomena is Home Meal Replacement or HMR. And certainly EMP is a riff on that. By 'sweeping North America' I meant that most of the 410 stores have opened within the past 24 months. If you look at the EMP Association website, you may be able to find one near you. It's a phenomenon that is clearly calibrated to the needs of the harrased soccer mom (life as chauffeur), two-income or single parent demographics . . . There's no 'consolidator' in the market yet and franchises might be redundant. And, as the start-up costs are fairly modest (+/- $100,000) it's too early to see if the penetration curve will parallel the mom-and-pop video store phenomenon of the 80s. Note that it's suburban and small town thus far. Urban centres may require more sophisticated recipes, cross-branding with celebrity chefs and ancillary (non-perishable) sales, etc.

I'd second the Oyama choice, Bubbalicious, and not just because they're half the price. Oyama will also scoop some rendered duck fat into your package--a more succulent way to reheat the legs. Also very good for frying eggs to top the frisee salad you'll no doubt serve them with. J.

Percy, Many thanks for your vivid tour--both indoors and out. After a mixed day of birdwatching (Hawks hit upright on last-second FG attempt; Eagles post comeback of the year), your good humour and cooking were terrific. My business partner lives in Lancaster; now I know where to go besides the American Bar & Grill. Jamie

Last Dollar begets First Quarter Manny Ferreira's new restaurant in the former Coco Pazzo space will be called Senova. It's named after his hometown in Portugal, but also means 'first quarter', not in the KPMG kind of way, but as in an area of the city. An area of our city, let it be said, where it's notoriously hard to separate the residents from their quarters. David Radler is a neighbour, but recent reports are that he'll be out of town for a while.

Looking forward to your report, John.

This concept—cold prep a week’s worth (or more) of meals in a couple of hours at relatively low cost—is sweeping North America. The The Easy Meal Preparation Association reports 178 companies with 410 stores in the US. At less than 2,000 square feet and with few (if any) ovens or stoves, the start-up cost is relatively low, the cash flow relatively high. There's a social element thrown in for free. It works like this: 1. Select a prep session from the local store’s calendar; 2. Choose on-line 12 entrée selections that serve 4 to 6 people (≈$199) from a pre-determined monthly rotation of 14 to 20 choices; 3. Pre-pay on-line; 4. Attend session and assemble meals from provided recipes (no cooking required); 5. Take home the finished dishes in zip-loc bags or containers for freezing; and 6. Serve by following provided cooking instructions. If you don’t have time to attend a session, they’ll assemble it for you (≈$25) and deliver (≈$20). A sample recipe from one store: Mandarin Barbecue Pork Boneless pork loin is smothered in a rich, dark sauce made with Hoisin sauce, white wine, soy sauce, and other flavors and then baked until the pork is tender and the sauce is thick. Serve with steamed rice and baby sugar peas. [freezer bag] Yield: 4 - 6 servings Approximate per serving (excluding unknown items) Calories 437 Protein 32gm Carbohydrates 47gm Total Fat 11gm Cholesterol 90mg Fiber 0gm Sodium 2236mg Net Carbohydrates 47gm Weight Watcher Points ™ 10 Some early research suggests that most outlets are suburban or in smaller cities. Most entrée menus are chicken and pork-centric, with a bit of fish thrown in. Here’s a link to a store (chosen at random) called The Full Plate in Walnut Creek, California. At about $2.50 to $4 per entrée, this seemingly makes economic sense for the harried two-income family. Anyone tried it?

Welcome back, Annette Rawlinson--most recently Annette stepped in to lend Chambar her disciplined hand . . . Excerpted from the Metropolitan Hotel's press release: VANCOUVER, BC - Continuing with its tradition of excellence, Diva at the Met is pleased to announce the appointment of Annette Rawlinson as the new Restaurant Manager, effective immediately. An 18-year veteran of the restaurant business, Rawlinson began her career in Toronto at such destination locales as Franco Prevedelo's Centro Grill and Wine Bar, Aqua, and Oliver & Bonacini's Auberge du Pommier restaurants. In 1997, she packed up her culinary and restaurant expertise and headed for the west coast where she quickly put her skills to work at C Restaurant. It was here that she led a very successful team as General Manager for five years. "I've been fortunate to have worked in some exceptional restaurants over the years, and I've come to appreciate the challenges they are presented with," notes Rawlinson. "With so many fine dining places to select from today, the discerning guest continues to demand more. The joy is in taking an award-winning restaurant like Diva at the Met and lifting it to a new level through exceptional service, top-notch cuisine and innovative relationships within the community." A graduate of the Hotel & Food Program at the University of Guelph and a recipient of Vancouver Magazine's Premier Crew Service Award, Rawlinson continues to apply her knowledge, talent & passion for food and service to all aspects of her life.

I dunno. Aspic's making a comeback.

I certainly am, Cayenne. I think the Joey's story is fascinating. And in six months we'll have three of the best CFD concepts in the world strung along a three block stretch of West Broadway. That will be more convenient for the many concept owners and managers who come from Europe and the US each year to examine just how Earls, Cactus Club and Joey's got so good. I eat in the Kelowna Joey's fairly frequently because it's handy to many of our suppliers' and sub-cantractors' offices. I have yet to have a poor experience there, and many that have seen significantly better food and service than in many independent restaurants of foodie-derived reputation. One clue to their success might be just to look at their development chefs: Michael Noble at Earls; Chris Mills at Joey's; Julian Bond at Cactus Club. Not bad. Another clue is that they are family owned and operated. Joey's recent purchase of the Cucina! Cucina! chainlet in Washington will be an interesting foray into that concept-heavy market. I think they'll do rather well. J.

Promising a September start-up, here's Quince's still-static website.

John, Has Illumine opened yet? Any early reports? Care to take one for the team? Jamie

A few thoughts: You might want to fit in a chilled and hoppy India Pale Ale. If anyone in your party doesn't drink alcohol, a lemon-ginger-soda is a good accompaniment; drinking chai through a multi-course meal gets rich quickly. Other budget-friendly whites to consider: • Balthasar Ress • Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner-Veltliner And some reds: • A fruit-forward (young) pinot noir of your choosing • Domaine Perrin Reserve • A granache, such as Artazuri • Errazuriz Cabernet Sauvignon • Monte Sans Reis Boa Memoria Each of these bottles will stand up to the food. Good luck with your dinner, Jamie

Well, sure, that's a given. But I would argue, and I'm sure you would agree, that the difference between customization for critic and customer, and I really think what is the point of your book, looks like this: 1. When a restaurant recognizes there is a critic in the house, there are few things they can do to elevate the proceedings on short notice. They can try to shoot some extra plates, but sycophantism doesn't play well: it's easier to 'improve' quantity versus quality. And any experienced critic will recognize upgraded service straight away; as the expression goes, 'in a Vancouver minute' . When it's all said and done, the forensics of restaurant reviewing are similar to the due diligence required in other businesses, including my own in property development. Ultimately that information should be published in the context of 'full, plain, and true disclosure.' Only then can the back story and entertainment begin. 2. Precisely. One of the major tenets of Turnig the Tables, as I recall (Andy is enjoying it so much that he has yet to return my review copy ), is indeed that the customer, with advance notice, can achieve a better dining experience. This, in part, explains the tremendous surge of 'private dining' (incorporating a pre-selected menu and accompanying wines) rooms for groups within larger restaurants. If only the average civilian diner would invest a little more time in pre-planning, the customer-as-victim experience would be diminished. I hope that Steven's book assists to this end. Many are the times when, in non-review (read: sybarytic) mode, I've organized a celebratory dinner. Inevitably, I want to see a bottle of iced Bolly on the table, and some complementary (as opposed to complimentary) hors'douevres the minute we sit down. This is especially true if I'm trying to get someone to do something that they don't necessarily want to do. Or at least hadn't thought of yet. Again, and quite rightly, Steven points up the value of 'setting the table' in his book. Good point, Jonathan. And indeed the issue of conflict has been thrashed to death elsewhere here. But in deference to Steven, I think it important to delineate the apparently nuanced difference between 1. and 2., as above. The point of the story is that most of the best food writers can and should be encouraged to do both: i.e. review as well as write on the sociology (the W5) of both dining out and food itself. Not unlike London cabbies, guys like him have 'The Knowledge', and, although (as mentioned upthread) I disagree with a couple of staements in Turning the Tables, overall I think it a valuable and practical resource, written by someone who knows of what he speaks.

I often wonder why the regard ‘restaurant reviewers’ should be so different in their anonymity or potential for conflict than other critics, or for that matter, other journalists. Take that very mainstream duo, Ebert and Roeper. They speak at film festivals, have relationships with major studio-heads, producers, directors and actors, and yet mittle-America still trusts their judgement. They are certainly not anonymous. While those relationships deepen the extended backrounders they write on the industry, they seemingly do little to detract from the independence of their reviews. The same holds true for other journalists: without the relationships and industry contacts, there is no story, and, in the case of restaurant reviewing, the writing quickly falls into the finite scope of the New York Times “I came, I ate, I left” school, i.e. coruscatingly drab. That some of their reviewers choose to cross-dress only speaks to other, rather more personal issues. Not incidentally, this type of reviewer, as opposed to say the AA Gill school, has the average shelf life of a plough-horse because they quickly become one. But let’s start with this premise: there is no such thing as an anonymous restaurant reviewer, at least not after a year. Those who delude themselves with this notion aren’t honest. In Canada, the chief perp is Joanne Kates of the Globe and Mail, who, after 20-plus years, still fools herself. I was speaking with a Toronto restaurateur on Friday who said, “Well, James was in last week, and Joanne the week before.” There is a tacit contract between reviewers and restaurateurs—while the latter may know that we’re there, doing our business, that they should leave us alone. There is little, if anything, after all, that they can do once the process of dining is commenced. Once anonymity has fled the barn, independence is the order of the day. That’s achieved by a budget, observation, experience and expertise. The ability to write with clarity doesn’t hurt either. I served on the board of the Webster Foundation for Journalism for seven years and as its chairman for two. Journalistic ethics often dominated the informal discussion before and after board meetings. Not once did I hear financial writers or other investigative journalists chastised for the depth of contacts that they had constructed in order to deliver the back story. I organized and edited a cook book last year with 54 chefs. It was fundraising project. I worked closely with them. But that in no way stole my independence in writing this tough review. Although there were a couple of other things that I disagreed with in Steven’s book, at least in the unedited review copy that I read (relative service standards in other countries—without explanation; and the overawing New York-centricities of begging for restaurant reservations—these problems simply don’t apply in most of the western democracies), this certainly wasn’t one of them. If you want to see real conflict in ‘criticism’ look no farther than travel writing, where the budgets of all but the largest periodicals disallow independence of opinion—the notorious FAM trip remains rife. To be sure, there are many conflicted restaurant reviewers as well, especially amongst weekly give-aways. I discuss it in greater length here.That’s because there isn’t a budget sufficient to divorce the tripartite (reader-consumer, restaurateur, reviewer) and write the post-nup.

Ouch. I can feel the pain already. Friday, a smallish family celebration for eight--turkey, stuffing and the usual accesories. Saturday, baked ham and scalloped potatoes at our neighbours. Sunday, dinner for 16 with friends--more turkey. What are your plans and what will you serve?

James, Greetings from Treetops, our glorious little cottage high above Okanagan Lake. It's a beautiful day--the temperature spikes (close to freezing at night, probably well over 20 degrees today in the sunshine) are extraordinary. Right now I'm looking at the new vines planting next door at Tantulus (the former Pinot Reach). They ripped out a lot of old vines over the summer but replaced them, I'm afraid, too late--some are barely six inches tall and will struggle when we get a few nights of hard frost. But that seems distant; in an hour it will be warm enough to sit by the pool. You've gotta love these Indigenous Persons' Summers. Yvonne and I had a lovely lunch yesterday at Quali's Gate. There are special paired Wine Festival menus on at lunch and dinner right now. Yesterday chef Judith Knight prepared a simple arugula salad over a pissaladiere topped with local goat's cheese and mushrooms, paired with the the 2001 Limited Release pinot noir. The second course was a bouillabaisse with a decent rouille served with the 2003 Family Reserve chardonnay. For dessert we ate caramelized-apple bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and whiskey sauce, paired with their 2004 Optimus. Delicious, and winemaker Grant Stanley, who returned from New Zealand with his charming wife Annabel three vintages ago, sat in with us. He gave a lot of play-by-play on the harvest, which is in full swing right now and looking good--you can hear the fruit heaving on the stalks, eager to get indoors. QG has changed its harvesting method, especially because of the warm picking conditions. Instead of each picker working a bin, they have as many as 10 pickers filling one. Those are then rushed in to be cooled and crushed--all to prevent oxidation. Reservations are tough for the next 10 days during Wine Festival (a lot of the restaurants are matched with wineries for tasting dinners), but certainly Bouchons is good, as is the next door Waterfront Wine Bar (the chef is ex-Fresco sous Mark Filatow); he serves a light menu of small plates and some excellent wines by the glass. Try La Boulangerie in rapidly gentrifying Pandosy Village (just south of KLO) for lunch--excellent soups and homemade gravadlax. We're building Abbott House between West and Groves on Abbott Street; the village is quickly becoming Kits-by-the-Lake. The big news in Kelowna this week was the opening of the new Cactus Club. It seems a more credible validation than the adjacent East Side Mario's, and eegads, the new BMW franchise opens next month. Like all their new rooms, it's beautifully designed and the service is smackdown. The opening team (drawn from Lower Mainland stores) was crack. And Julian Bond, their new development chef, was cooking on the line. What can I say, other than we had a very good dinner: from a bandara salad to ribs and apple pie a la mode, and what Yvonne called the best steak she'd had since breakfast.