barolo

By "other reviews" do you mean reviews of Habit, or reviews by Gill? Both would be correct mind you ... A. ← I meant other reviews of Habit which have been pretty positive.

I stopped in to Century too last week to check it out before the early reviews and Opening Soon epsiode aired. Count me as another fan of the room - it has respect for the past, but the murals and soft colours make it modern, elegant and warm. I was also glad to see that there were enough soft surfaces around to suggest that the noise level might be bearable for those of us who like to talk in restaurants. Ron was behind the bar and I put myself in his hands. As an early arrival, I had lots of time to chat with staff as they finished setting up. By the time I left, I felt like part of the family. I started off with a Fidel’s Choice (amber rum and blackberry liqueur with muddled cranberries and brown sugar) while I looked through the menu. Hot grilled flatbread with a light cumin flavour arrived along with some olives - very good - and a red pepper dip. Ron recommended the BBQ Baby Octopus, Spanish Lubina or the Braised Shortribs and Beef Cheek Adobo. A copy of the menu is here on Waiterblog. I decided to go with the Spanish Lubina and Ron recommended a Malbec to pair with it. I wouldn't normally choose a Malbec but Ron thought it was a natural with olives in the dish and gave me a taster to let me decide for myself. I kept faith with Ron and ordered a glass of the Malbec. The fish, which was wrapped in potato and cilantro, was good, but the house cured olives that came with the dish stole show. The Malbec with its soft tannins worked well. I decided I might as well try a dessert too and needed no guidance from Ron - the Century's Blend, a coffee flan with coconut foam and three cayenne truffles on the side was my choice. This came in a huge portion, but I had no problem devouring it. The truffles had just the right touch of chile heat and the flan was cool, rich and velvety. The fresh coconut foam added a delicate contrast to the flan. A decaf Americano was last on my list. By now the room was filling up with lots of wine festival-related folk in the crowd. I outed myself to Sean on leaving and we managed a quick chat. The staff were all attentive and friendly but I have to give my special thanks to Ron for good conversation and advice. There's lots more on the menu that I want to try, and those olives are calling to me, so I'll be back. I'm looking forward to Century opening for lunch as it's just a few blocks from my office.

Oh, and Alexandra Gill has a review of Habit in yesterday's Globe. She doesn't find much to like about it, in contrast to most of the other reviews so far.

Jamie Maw provides his take on Main Street dining in the March 2006 Vancouver Magazine.

I think it probably depends on what you count as BC wines and how you count them. I believe there's lots of low-end "BC" wine sold to those looking for quantity over quality. Are the Chilean wines bottled in BC counted as BC wines? ← BC Wine is wine with a BC label that is bottled in the provinve. VQA wines comprise only a portion of the total. ← This inspired me to check out the most recent BC Liquor Distribution Branch annual report. According to the stats in appendix C, the most purchased white wine was Domaine D'or (Canada - is this from BC?) at $4.7 million, the most purchased red was Yellowtail Shiraz at $9.6 million (a 74% increase over the previous year!). VQA sales are reported too; it is pretty interesting reading actually.

I've been following this thread with interest. I'm happy to report that the local library has now has Market Day in Provence on order and I have the first hold on it. So I shall read the book and provide my comments as soon as possible.

Last night was Italian night, except for the baguette which we cut into an epi (wheat sheaf) shape. Tony demonstrated a classic tomato sauce; taught us about buying and using canned tomatoes and dried pasta; and waxed eloquent on the beauty of Italian cooking. We made two dried pasta dishes - pasta with broccoli rabe and bocconcini and pasta with the aforementioned classic tomato sauce. Using the fresh pasta dough prepared by Tony, we made prawn and leek tortolloni with smoked salmon cream sauce. Rolling out the pasta super thin made such a difference to the flavour of this dish! I'll never be able to buy the fresh filled pasta on Granville Island again. Dessert was cornmeal biscotti. I hope one of the others has a few pictures to post.

I think it probably depends on what you count as BC wines and how you count them. I believe there's lots of low-end "BC" wine sold to those looking for quantity over quality. Are the Chilean wines bottled in BC counted as BC wines?

Eric's comments are consistent with my observations during the one major international event with which I was involved. Being hooked in with VANOC, the IOC, sponsors etc will be one key to getting major benefits from the event. Also, there'll be lots of people with special roles, liaison-type work, and expense accounts moving into town in the months leading up to the Games themselves - they'll all be looking for places to eat. Vancouver's restaurants, with their focus on drinks and small plates, seem to me to be a natural fit with the major event crowd.

I liked Winnipeg's downtown a lot when I was there - admittedly some time ago - especially around the Art Gallery. I think there is lots of potential for culinary tourism. Jamie knows far better than I what the elements of a successful campaign are, but clearly tourists are not going to solve all the problems if the locals aren't also helping with the bottom line. Although maybe there is a chicken and egg thing there - once the locals see their eateries as being an attraction to tourists, they'll start appreciating them too.

Congratulations and thank you for taking the time to post about your new venture. I haven't been to Saskatoon for over a decade, but I haven't forgotten its small city charm. I'm sure your restaurant will be a welcome addition, especially with such great ingredients at hand. I'll echo the call for pictures, when and if you have the time and energy. Best of luck!

Interestingly, I just read an article about healthy TFA's in butter: Full article here. Just scroll down a bit to A letter from Victoria Pawlowski, a nutritionist with Capers Markets

I am an early morning shopper at the market so my consumption revolves around JJ Bean, Lee's Donuts and Terra apple focaccia but I'll add a couple of comments. Bridges Bistro is overpriced I think ($17 for mussels, $8 for edamame), there's a new restaurant on Railspur Alley replacing Kharma Kitchen (?) which may be worth checking out. I think you are better off making a picnic out of ingredients purchased in the market than eating at most of the food court places.

As I recall someone drove a car through their window. It is boarded up, but they are still open.

He's referring to Chef Rodney Butters, the owner - ex Wickanninish Inn, Pacific Palisades and other Vancouver restaurants. He owns the restaurant along with his wife Audrey Surrao.

I think I heard stew and baguette for the next class. Laura, Chef Tony does talk about what is coming up but I think he likes to improvise and see what is in the markets, so he leaves room for some last minute decisions. As was noted, class was really busy this week. The actual techniques were very basic – searing chicken and the goat cheese pucks, caramelizing onions, blanching beans, roasting garlic, oven drying tomatoes, kneading dough, roasting chicken, making a basic vinaigrette, etc – but there was lots to do and it gets more complicated when you are up and down between the kitchen and the classroom. A couple of additional comments on the olive oil – nothing earth-shattering - keep it in a cool, dark place, as light and heat will break it down, and buy it somewhere where they have high turnover or buy a dated product, so you are not buying two-year old oil. The school uses Golden Olive Eleni oil which is widely available in Vancouver. I’ve heard Chef Tony’s comment about canola oil tasting fishy when heated before, but canola oil doesn’t seem to be universally rejected by chefs. Thomas Keller uses it extensively at Bouchon, his bistro restaurant, or at least he claims he does in his Bouchon cookbook – I’ve never been to Bouchon itself, sadly. I’ve been using grape seed oil for the past year or so, as it has a very high smoking point and I have very sensitive smoke detector. I’ve been a convert to brining for a while but I’ve never butterflied a chicken. I liked the approach and results a lot, especially for my kitchen where high heat roasting usually means the smoke detector going off. Searing the chicken in advance makes for crispy skin and lets me keep the oven temperature lower. Chef Tony told us he even cooks 20 pound turkeys this way but no way would a butterflied 20 pound turkey fit in my oven. I did bring my camera this week, but the batteries were dead. Perhaps by week 4 I’ll have it together.

Lots of independents in Vancouver have very noisy rooms too, so you can't pin that soley on the CFD chains. I don't believe I did. I pinned it on Cactus Club. A. ← Fair enough.

Lots of independents in Vancouver have very noisy rooms too, so you can't pin that soley on the CFD chains. In fact there's lots of independent places with food I enjoy but the noise has driven me away. Of course, I'm at the age where I can't read the menus either.

I don't know - Jamie describes Vancouver as the "epicentre of CFD dining - globally" in his Vancouver magazine article so it seems Milestone's or Earls or one of them really is representative of Vancouver restaurants, like it or not.

I noticed you were not shy in your West Ender column this week either .

This did occur to me but my experience tells me that these approaches are much easier in a hierarchical, top-down type of organization than in a collaborative multi-organization model. Not that I'm suggesting it isn't worth pursuing, just noting the challenge is probably greater. Training often has a lot of up front costs that can be justified when you train lots of people but can be tough to swallow for someone who only trains a few, or even one, at a time. Again, not to say that it couldn't be done. Interestingly, I didn't find that my servers at Saltlik were especially comfortable answering questions or "selling" their menu, although they were clearly trained.

Yes, for sure it does. Whenever something is available to the "masses" (I consider myself one of the masses, by the way) it can hardly be desirable to those who see themselves as the elite. However, I do think the predominance of chain restaurants, CFD or not, in smaller centres can become rather tiresome. I'm not sure if ultimately they stifle the independents or encourage them as niches open up to serve those who want to move beyond the CFD restaurant. I think I could make the same argument for Starbucks, as reviled as they are. While it is trendy to despise Starbucks, it seems to me that they opened the door for quality independent coffee houses in Vancouver beyond Commercial Drive and a few other spots. I am interested in getting more detail on the lessons the indies can take from the CFD's. Cleanliness is a good one, but aren't many of them reliant on economies of scale, which just isn't going to happen for an indie?

Amorous Oyster and Cafe Madeleine are gone. Topanga Cafe, Simpatico, William Tell (not at the same location though), Cafe de Paris, The Cannery, La Bodega?, Las Margaritas probably, Vineyard, Bishop's. Do chains and franchises fit into your notion of restaurants? Lots of those must be hitting or surpassing the 20 year mark - The Keg for sure is well past 20, Hy's. Lots more, but I don't have time right now.

Jamie, I have a less favourable impression of the local CFD establishments than you. I rarely even consider these places when I’m thinking about local restaurants. Mostly I see them as a place to go with friends or work colleagues who aren’t very interested in food or a handy place to stop at if I am traveling and not familiar with the restaurant options. Years ago when I drove between Edmonton and Vancouver fairly often I’d stop at the Earl’s in Kamloops because it was visible from the highway and a convenient stop. I did go to Saltlik recently – with a colleague. The room is attractive in a corporate, airport executive lounge kind of way, but it feels a bit like an airplane hangar when it is half empty. Lots of young attractive female service staff – the primary indicator (and attraction?) of CFD in Vancouver - who provide a balance to the aging male baby boomer patrons. The servers are obviously trained, but not very knowledgeable and seem to rely on their training rather than common sense when faced with questions. Lots of errors – wine arrives with drinks and appetizers, steaks arrive before we finish our drinks and appetizers, no steak knives until we are well into our steaks. Food is average. I order a rare steak and it looks like medium-rare to me, my baked potato tastes as if it was cooked hours ago and reheated. Best thing we ate was the chicken wings. Good value? Perhaps, but there’s not really anything to make a person like me rush back. Previous to that I visited an Earl’s in Victoria with an experience somewhat like Keith Talent’s – badly aging room, mediocre food, reasonably priced wine list but nothing to get excited about. Ultimately I don’t think I’m their target client so I’m not surprised at my lack of enthusiasm. I can appreciate the effort that goes into making these places “work”, as Matt has so eloquently described, and your article was an interesting read, but that doesn’t make them more appealing to me. They are much more fascinating from a business perspective than a food perspective.

Marquis Wine Cellars is my recommendation. Especially Dave Lancelot who has worked there for many years and is unfailingly helpful, plus a really nice guy. He did not pay me to say this. Prices are good too, and they always have a stack of EAT magazines and City Food.