Keith Talent

If I hadn't had an idiot for a guidance couselor in high school, this could have been me writing, with the exception that I don't want to work as hard as a cook, and I like earning money. What a cool adventure however. Very interesting read, feel free to continue posting more observations. Cheers

Two tactics. First, anywhere listed in the city guide found complimentary in your hotel room. Yeah there can occasionally be gems there, but good luck figuring which ones they are. Second, find the tourist restaurant strip in your home town. Commit the look and feel of the street to memory, next time you stumble across a similar streetscape in a foreign locale, turn around and walk the other way. I was given a tip here on e-gullet from another member, (sorry I don't remember who, if I'm stealing your idea feel free to grab credit). It was for Europe, mostly France Italy. When confronted with an unplanned lunch, find a chubby mailman and get his reccomendation. Civil servants are frugal due to low pay, plus if he's plump, he likes to eat. Cheap price + good food= one giant win. I haven't tried this yet, but ceratainly have every expectation that it would work, and will test it next time we're in Europe.

Am I alone in thinking that Peaches and Cream is now too sweet? It barely tastes like corn anymore. We ate "regular" corn on the cob the other night, and it was a refreshing change from the cloying sugaryness of the other stuff. Corn is merely a crunchy vehicle for butter/salt conveyance anyways. Peaches and Cream seems to have too much sweet, not enough corn flavour. Or maybe I'm just feeling difficult today.

I give up. Smoothies are wrong. Blender drinks are wrong. Human powered mixers are wrong. I'm packing it in. I'm searching a lunch of 100% GM foods, preferably that were grown on torched rainforest using to much pesticides along with a farmed salmon sandwich.

Crap, I seem to be out of material, the well has finally run dry. Then again, universal truths bear repeating. Regardless, feel free to smack those idiots clogging Trout Lake today with thousand dollar baby strollers and five hundred dollar cars. Enjoy the tomatoes.

I'd say that three quarters of my meals are eaten in cash only establishments. And right or wrong (probably wrong) I've always assumed it was a sign of "alternate tax accounting" practices at work, plus an inability to get Visa merchant status. FWIW the cash drawer usaully is left open in these places. Totally off topic and not even vaguely related to anything food, but as we've had an endless procession of home repair people through the casa lately, it's shocking that without exception ALL have offered to accept cash in return for eliminating the GST. It's amazing how brazen these people are. The underground economy is huge. I must not give off a Revenue Canada auditor vibe.

All this illustrates is that the editorial and sales departments work independently. If you want to take the mag to task, do so for using the word 'burbs on the front cover. I look forward to "dude" and "whoah" next month. If I was Mr. Maw, I'd be praying that Keanu Reeves isn't interested in going into food writing.

The crowd at Trout Lake would respond better to a supply side economics tome, and a stick of Rightguard, maybe brandish a copy of the National Post too, just for good measure. Nothing scares hippies more than being clean and Reganonmics. I've also always meant to mention to the clueless hemp-clad throngs down there that it's pale sallow people like them that give organic produce a bad name.

But then it's a catch 22, if the clientele doesn't tip, why not fling dishes? And for what it's worth, perhaps due to my appearance, no scratch that, reality of being a clueless caucasian, I always almost universally receive helpful service. Yeah the waiteresses at Hon's can be brusque, but I always figured that was part of the schtick.

So what we need is a definitive Chinese restaurant tipping protocol for Vancouver. A couple questions need to be answered. Is tipping not the norm for asians in North America? What about second generation asian/canadians? Do they change the habits of their parents and begin tipping as a custom? Do chinese restaurants expect caucasians to tip and have no such expectations of asian customers? Are asian tips the loose change as in asia variety, or the rigourously calculated 15% variety? Enquiring minds want to know.

That's the thing, if it was cheap I could forgive and enjoy it for all its tacky mulleted '75 Camaro driving, eastside Grandview Highway swarthy Medditerainian white shiny track suit wearing goodness. But ask me to drop a hundred bucks too? C'mon.

I like the idea that smokers need to "make it" through a meal, very west coast, take something pleasant and add elements of competition to it. A hike? No besting your personal best up the grind! Out for an alfresco meal? No, a personal test of wills to see if you can make it two hours without a fag. Sometime sthe lack of tolerance in this town pisses me off.

A) They're not coming to Chambar. B) They'll need intensive therapy regardless of if I take them to the PNE. Besides I enjoy the show with the rednecks jumping motorbikes over Honda Civics doing barrel rolls. I also like watching and questioning the sanity of people that go on that giant propellor thing, or the Mighty Mouse. I also quite enjoy a yearly mullet spotting outing. It's just the total crap food people are waxing about that I hate. Most of the clientele of the fair resemble hairy monkeys, so you'tre going to be a biut more specific regarding the elastic ones. And besides, I'm obligated to attend. The current battle at the Casa Talent revolves around the fact that I'm incredibly reluctant to give those completely evil bastards at Disney any cash (do a little reading, they make Rummy look sincere.) Ergo, forced to pick my battles I'll be at the fair, eating crap donuts and worse hot dogs.

See, here's the thing with the donuts that the vendors don't get, you're paying approx. twenty five cents for the ingredients, and four bucks for the freshness. The donuts are merely a way to convey heat/grease/sugar. It's not the donuts that are good, it's the fact that they're smokin' fresh. And I'm not joking about redirecting money away from the fair, and towards a local dining spot. I could easily have a great dinner almost anywhere for the cash dropped at the PNE last year. Cheap it's not.

Walla Walla has been moved to Kelowna? Wonders never cease. I'd have far prefered if they moved Vidalia to Vernon, or even better, Maui to Naramata.

Granted you're right, but any equasion where you've voluntarily submitted to having to pick where one side is "barF' is perhaps and equasion yo0u should avoid. Here's a better idea; Avoid the PNE spend the money at Parkside/Chambar/Wherever instead.

I hate the PNE. The burgers at Jimmy's Lunch are total crap, quite possibly made with rodent, rather than beef. Gray, greasy and cold. Mmm. What the hell is wrong with you people? Give your heads a shake. The PNE is horrible, it's not even camp ironic fun like Nightmarket. It's brutal food below a quality that would be deemed unaccepatable at the Surrey Place Mall Food Court. Onions? Onions are the draw? Seriously? 'Cuz it's pretty easy to cook them at home you know. You could even take some down to Vera's or Fat Burger and load them up if that was the sole attraction. Plus that way you wouldn't have to endure parking on the lawn of some sour faced east side Nimby rip off artist. Those crap donuts are no better than Timbits, and not nearly as good as Krispy Kreme. I hate the PNE, I wish it and it's simple minded civic cousin, The Symphony of Fire or whatever the hell they'tre calling it these days ("Hey look Cletus, lights in the sky! And purty music! And a big boom!) would depart our city and allow us to at least maintain a slight veneer of sophistication. Stupid PNE .

I thought all booze needed to move through the LDB, at least on paper. How does Earls buy wine without everyones favourite nanny corp having a finger in the pie?

The Akbar and Jeff-esque named "Dosa Hut" is on Hastings, right across the street from the new Gourmet Warehouse location, which is very similar to the old location, but with less hookers and more crap giftware. Never eaten there, but it may fit the bill, plus I like the name so much that I'd be willing to forgive sins of cuisine. And House of Dosa's is very good, can't vouch for authenticity as I have no idea what constitues authentic Sri Lankan cuisine. Quillon in Richmond is also very good. A Potato Masala dosa could be one of this cities great undiscovered treats.

So being that the discounts available to a restaurant are detailed above, how does Earls make any money selling the wine? I don't quite get how "buying power" would benefit someone when dealing with the monopoly.

The restaurant was pretty obviously a set built on a soundstage, ergo the dorm. I was always curious about the actual prize restaurant, why we never saw it, were told of it's location etc. Pretty obvous there never was an actual prize. I'd be certain the deal all along was the internship with Ramsey.

We need a thread for gaellic cuisine horror stories. Like the time in Scotland I was asked if I wanted chips or baked as a side, bearing in mind of course that chips were already an included side, so really did I want double portion or baked? And a basket of chips were already on the table, very much like a basket of sliced bagette in France, or tortilla chips in Mexico. So really it was a triple portion of chips. Along with my entree, which was duck a la orange. That was one frightening meal.

Just because you enjoy being drunk and topless doesn't make you soul mates.

Sorry, as cool as that tavern looks, I should have clarified I want them at retail for cooking. And if I had no kids, I could waste a fair amount of time in Toby's

I'm going to be on Whidbey Island this weekend and would like some fat Penn Cove Mussels. Are they in season and if so where do you get them on the south end of the island. We're going to be camping with four couples and two or three hundred preschool aged children. (And granted when you add up the number of kids in each family you get a sum total of seven, but when you stand and observe the general level of hooliganism and chaos, you too would conclude that there's at least two hundred, the noise level points to an estimate closer to three.) We'll be at South Whidbey State Park if that helps with suggestions. Any other lunch or grocery (artisnal cheese?) suggestions welcome also. Thanks.