barolo

I will, I promise. Sometimes steak just calls, and I have to respond.

The July/August edition of EAT is out. Here's some of the contents: - restaurant reviews of Glo Europub, Sanafir, Nyala, Markus' Wharfside Restaurant, Dunsmuir Lodge, Panache at Bear Mountian, April Point and Equinox - wine from the south of France and Italy - Shelora does odd things with an iron - Julie Pegg drives from Vancouver to Bracebridge Ontario and reports on the cafes, diners, cafes and bakeries along the way - a big section on local purveyors of good food - Treve Ring on the first fruit distillery in Western Canada

I had an excellent dinner at Cafe Brio on the weekend. Perfect steak frites and a rhubarb lemon tart for dessert. The frites were crisp and fragrant, and that tart was a delight - clean, clear flavours, nice crisp crust. I really enjoyed the warm and relaxed setting and the friendly service. I also managed a little tour of Saanich wineries:Marley Farms which specializes in fruit wines - a lovely spot with some interesting wines; Winchester Cellars - where Ken Winchester was offering a barrel fermeneted Pinot Gris, a quite burgundian Pinot Noir and a fruit bomb of a Cabernet Sauvignon, the Chardonnay was sold out (Ducky had a hand in that, I believe); Starling Winery had a big line up of whites, my favourite was the Pinot Blanc, and a nice Blackberry Port. Church and State has a large attractive facility which looks rather underused right now. I gather they've had a number of changes in the past year or so and are regrouping a bit. Of their line-up of wines, I tried only the Pinot Gris and a Cab Franc, which I liked. The only winery we didn't check out was Chalet Estates at the north end of the peninsula. Overall I was impressed with the quality of wines being produced. Post wine tour we stopped in to Brentwood Bay for a lamb burger and beer at the Brentwood Bay Lodge Pub and Cafe. The burger and fries were mediocre - rather dry burger, rather limp fries - but the beer was cold and the view from the deck was lovely.

There's yet another izakaya opening, on Denman in the Enthuze location across from the library.

We knew the review was coming out so we decided to shut the place down for a long weekend. We try to make ourselves exclusive be not being open. I don't expect another break until the Christmas holidays. Hopefully you will have another opportunity before then. Marc ← I hope so too!

The Vancouver Sun's Mia Stainsby reviews Brasserie L'Ecole in today's paper - very favourably. The electronic version is available only to subscribers unfortunately, but here's a short excerpt: Four stars each for food, service, and ambience. The sad part is that I'm going to the Island for the weekend and Brasserie L'Ecole is closed on Saturday. I'm jinxed - I still haven't managed to get to Victoria on a day that this restaurant is open.

Here's a link to Mackey's June 26th reply: Detailed Reply to Pollan Letter. And a short excerpt:

This sounds just right for me too.

I was there about a week ago and although I love the overall selection I did notice that the B.C. section was pretty small, off in a tight corner where the majority of customers were crowded. I'm sure that this will change as the demographic becomes apparent. The only immediate problem for Liberty will be the lack (for the moment?) of air conditioning as it was very warm the day I was in and this weekend should really test the staff (and the wine). ← Regarding the small BC selection, apparently the problem is short supply. They did not get much of an allocation and it all sold very quickly. Allocations of the higher-end BC wines are notoriously small it seems and, as you noted, the Island demographic tends to be looking for BC. Good point about the air conditioning. A problem for most of the stores on the Island but more of an issue with wines.

Edible British Columbia is now open in the Granville Island public market, beside South China Seas. I stopped by this morning to chat with Eric and and Cecilia and check out the wares. Aside from the jams, salts, and vinegars, there's take out from Rangoli, Les Amis du Fromage and Quince, local cheeses and lots of other good stuff. I think they will do well in this location, especially as I always hear tourists asking what they can purchase in the market to bring home. Of course somewhere up thread Jamie Maw suggested a store with best-of-BC products would be a good fit for the market, so the potential has been recognized for a while. Good for Edible British Columbia for bringing it to life. Liberty Wines has opened too and Eric told me they sold out of their BC wines almost immediately; there's lots of other selections though and they seem busy whenever I go in.

So far the West End market is being held the same place it has been since 2004 - on Comox Street between Thurlow and Bute. No construction has started at Nelson Park and no one mentioned anything about the Market having to move.

The Georgia Straight reports that KaRV - taking over the old Adesso space - has opened:

I'm pretty sure Galloways had it in their store on Denman (now closed). You might want to give them a call: 604-270-6363

Just weekdays. From 5:00 until 6:00 or 6:30 pm, I think

Great topic, this should be fun. OK, one that sticks to my neighbourhood: Breakfast: Apple focaccia, Terra Breads and JJ Bean Coffee, Granville Island $5 Lunch: Grilled cheese (aged cheddar with onion chutney) take-out from Raincity Grill, includes salad and baked good, on a bench at English Bay $10 Drink at 900 West with free appetizers $10 Dinner: Crispy skin free run Wentzel Duck Breast, Pemberton nugget potato, pancetta, goat cheese hash, truffled hericot vert, port sundried cranberry sauce $14, Bin 941 Dessert: Lemon tart $4, at Nu

I have made stock from smoked duck. It tasted fine to me and, similar to your suggestion, I used it to make a bean soup.

Here's what Tim Pawsey had to say in the most recent Courier:

This is what I have been told.

Are you thinking of Galliano and Harvey Wallbangers?

Here's a link to the Vancouver Magazine review: To live and dine in West Van. The first half of the article is about Ocean Club, the second half focusses on Rare. A short quote:

Well it has already been discussed a number of times on this forum. Most recently here: Park Board Eyes Concession Overhaul . I don't see that Gill had any revelations.

Cityfood reports that Addess Bistro is closed:

These are rough guesses: Bis Moreno opened in mid to late 2003 the Greek place was open for a year or less before Bis Moreno Zinfandel was open for about a year and half before the Greek place Etoile closed in 2000/01?

That's how it worked here - but I've never been to the one in Vancouver. They actually moved their showroom here a couple of years ago and I haven't been to the new place, so I'm not sure if it's the same as it was. Best bet would be to phone them. I was also wondering if the minimum order on the website wasn't referring to the printing and not the actual products... ← All the stuff I bought was cash and carry from the showroom - cellophane bags, food safe paper bags and ribbon. I can't remember what I paid, but it wasn't a huge amount. I agree with Pam that you are best off to phone ahead to inquire, especially if you have a pretty good idea of what you want.

The Old Foodie will have some historical recipes I'm sure. Visit her here: The Old Foodie . A quick search found The Old Foodie's essay on marigolds, including a recipe for eggs cooked with marigolds, here: Days of the Dead