barolo

Rum, cognac, calvados all come to my mind.

Yes the ferries are still in use - busier than ever, I'd say. I live in the west end and the ferry is my usual means of travel to GI.

It is time to cook spot prawns. Tomorrow the Spot Prawn Festival is launched, as reported by City Food: Launch date: Saturday May 3rd, 12:00pm - 5:00pm Duration: The Spot Prawn Festival will run for six to eight weeks. Buying times: Between 2pm - 6pm daily Location: False Creek Fishermen' Wharf, 1505 West 1st Avenue (North-West of Granville Island, between the Burrard Street Bridge and the Granville Street Bridge - http://www.falsecreek.com/p_map.htm)

City Food reports that Finest at Sea is opening up in the space beside Lobster Man on Granville Island. Apparently they took over the Granville Island Smokery spot at the end of April, will renovate, then open in a couple of weeks.

An interesting 2004 New Yorker article on ketchup: The ketchup conundrum

Here's a little more from the Globe: The full Globe story is here: Toronto's super chef Susur heading to New York

It's official, according to the Globe and Mail today:

It is open: 781 Denman St., Vancouver

I'd say he's got a pretty well oiled pubicity machine behind him too - he managed to mention his charity work and his TV show, both which also were mentioned an other unrelated interview I've heard. I realize that is not a particularly relevatory insight but it does remind me that the messages are all well thought out in advance. His TV show - you can watch an episode - is After Hours A Starchefs.com interview:Daniel Boulud A blip.tv interview: Drinks w/ LX

Yes, I listened to it. No podcast unfortunately. He's pretty articulate. He was very concious of looking at price-points, local ingredients, what will work in Vancouver. Gets excited when he talks about ingredients. Thinks hot dogs are the best snack food. Doesn't like banana as a flavour. I checked out some menus on his website: a 3-course prix fixe at Daniel is $98. At Cafe Boulud and db Bistro the highest priced mains are $42 (extra for the truffles, like on the db burger which is $32 otherwise). A 3-course prix fixe at Parkside is $65, the Winter Tasting Menu at West is $98, the 5-course tasting menu at Le Crocodile is $75. I think it will be very interesting to see what he does, how he does it and how he impacts the city's restaurateurs. And conversely how the city, the local ingredients and the local restaurateurs impact his restaurants.

If you haven't heard enough there's an interview with Boulud on CFUN's The Best of Food and Wine, announced on the City Food website today as follows: CFUN

From today's Globe: Full story here: Boulud's Bold BC plans

Two years later and I thought this topic was worth bumping up to the top of the pile. It is interesting to look at the dining landscape now as compared to where the predictions were back this time in 2006.

Thanks for reporting on your trip. I always like to hear what others have experienced when visiting Vancouver to get a fresh perspective.

I'm an idiot - the seawall you follow is on the right (ie, west) from Anderson Street south bound, not the left.

For kayaking check out Ecomarine . They are located on Granville Island so should allow you to coordinate easily with your other plans. I'm not a kayaker, so if someone with more knowledge wants to provide advice, please jump in.

To find Go Fish, walk off Granville Island using Anderson Street -you will be heading south and you will be walking underneath a bridge - as you pass the boat mooring and before 2nd Avenue (also just before Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts) you will see a seawall on your left. Follow allong the seawall to the fishermen's wharf and you will see Go Fish, a small blue building. This a short walk - 5 minutes or so. I'm not really sure how much of the fish served at Go Fish is fresh vs frozen, but the reality is that most fish is frozen at sea here anyway. We don't have much of a day fishery. I think to enjoy Granville Island best you need to actually buy stuff to eat, maybe some supplies for your trip to Whistler for example. Other than the Public Market, the Island has a lot of artisans - potters, fibre artists, jewelers etc - an art school, some craft guilds and shops, an aboriginal art gallery, an artist's supply store, a brewery, an artisanal sake maker, a coffee roaster, a hotel, a community centre, a kid's market, boat building, a bunch of theatres, a bunch of restaurants - nothing spectacular - etc, etc. The Net Loft, immediately across from the Public Market, has a craft shop, a wine store, books, cookbooks, kitchen ware, eyeglasses, beads, potters, weavers, and a few other shops. As for what to do in Vancouver besides the food quest, I would say if you are sporty and the weather is nice, go kayaking. Or walk the seawall - it is a very pretty place, especially if there's sun. Both Robson Street and Le Soleil are good locations. Le Soleil is in the business district so quite dead at night in the immediate area, but, as you noted, closer to Gastown. Robson is a shopping street and - heading west from where your hotel choices are - has a ton of restaurants serving language students, mostly from Asia, so there's lots of cheap and boisterous restaurants in the area.

Yes, in Vancouver we have: Edible British Columbia:

Congratulations Melissa! And thanks for the report Andrew.

If the $30.00 3-course prix fixe lunch at Diva at the Met is still available, I would highly recommend it. I checked the web site and don't see it listed, but it is worth a phone call to confirm, in my opinion and I'd go for lunch even without the prix fixe option. Lunch menu

Well John Thorne agrees with you, Shalmanese, in his most recent book, Mouth Wide Open:

A green risotto, made with lots of chopped parsley and other herbs that you like/have handy, is easy and beautiful. As for nutritional value - lots of vitamin C. Some parsley nutrition "facts" (not sure about this website source accuracy):

I think it has moved, but I can't remember where.

What John said.

The January/February 2008 EAT is on the street and web. This edition’s features include: - A Chris Stearns interview with David Hawksworth: Intriguing comments on what to expect from his restaurant-to-be in the Hotel Georgia, he still doesn’t have a handle on Pacific Northwest Cuisine and the joys and sorrows of cooking locally in Vancouver. - Andrew Morrison on Nuevo Latino cuisine in Vancouver: Only 1 percent of British Columbians are Latin American according to Morrison, but there seems to be a lot of interest in the cuisine judging by the posts I see in this forum. - Heidi Fink on Victoria’s Chinatown which is celebrating its 150th anniversary - Gary Hynes on politically correct chocolate - Andrew Morrison on Vancouver restaurant openings - Elizabeth Smyth on Victoria restaurants - Michaela Morris and Michelle Bouffard on Oregon Pinot Noir - Shelora Sheldan, Julie Pegg, Sylvia Winestock, Larry Arnold and various other regulars