eatrustic

The beer bottle Xmas tree is courtesy of Grolsch so I imagine you can get it for free as long as you don't mind looking like an LDB shill!

They have now erected a lovely (not!) beer bottle Christmas Tree on the patio. How warm and cozy.

Thought I would dust this thread off seeing as the Open Table topic has got us thinking about DOV. I was wondering what changes the participating restaurants have implemented this time around to address some of the problems of last DOV. Neal, I see, will be offering only his DOV menu for instance. I'm curious as to whether there was some kind of mini summit to come up with strategies like dealing with no shows. As there was a lot of criticism of the "pack 'em in pack 'em out" style of service how many restaurants will focus on showcasing their establishments with the idea of future business vs the "pack em in cause they won' t be back in any case" scenario? Are there any major players who will not be back this year as it was just not worth the stress?

Pantry moths or Indian moths as I know them, always a shock to those of us who have moved from colder climates. They seem to thrive here on the West Coast. (I'm sure there are threads that have dealt with this in the past but here goes....) Once you have cleaned them out the only way to keep them at bay (and that only works if you don't bring them back in with new purchases - often from bulk stores) is to keep everthing in glass or heavy plastic containers that are completely sealed. The little buggers can eat their way through regular plastic bags so the trick is to use heavy duty containers that seal perfectly. Once I did this I have almost never had a problem. Occasionally as I said before they can be reintroduced in contaminated bulk items. Distasteful as they are I would rather deal with them then 3 inch flying cockroaches or ants!

And while we're on the topic - what has become of the plan to build a boutique hotel above the Yellow House/Il Giardino space? Has Mr. Menghi changed his mind?

Patisserie LeBeau is still up and running on W. 2nd. I dropped by today and the sign on the door simply states that they have a wholesale business in another location and that their waffles are available from both locations. Their hours are listed on the door. Closed Mondays I believe. They do close damn early in the afternoon though. In this age of more personalized service they seem to be thriving on minimal hours and service.

I managed to pop by Harmony Donuts (Lonsdale at 29th - above the highway) to check them out Saturday while searching for a Mexican restaurant near the Safeway (just off Lonsdale) that seems to have dissappeared.. The place is a bit on the odd side- a sort of a deli with a motorcycle parked beside the display case (inside!). The donuts are made in a tiny deepfryer (commercial but barely). They are dense and a very homemade style but don't (IMHO) come anywhere close to Lee's and Honeys. Worth a visit if you live in the neighbourhood but thats about it.

I don't usually pay too much attention to the price of chiles as they are most often (for me) a seasoning element in the body of whatever dish I'm making thus a fairly small cost regardless. Now if we're talking about something like Poblanos for stuffing then I notice the $$$$. My concern is more that they have the appropriate heat level, a real problem at times (especially with Jalapenos) which can have the same bite as a bell pepper or take you head off.

Decided to gamble and went for dinner at Murietta's Grill last night (Wednesday). The space is beautiful, a nice combination of classic and modern with dark wood and cream walls and a fireplace topped by a trio of colourful food themed paintings. There is a bar area, main dining area and a very nice overflow or private room that leads off the main dining area. Kudos to the designer whoever he/she is. Alas, the food does not do the room justice. Prices are in the $8. - $17. bracket for apps and $18 - $29. for mains with a selection of pastas and flat breads thrown in as well. We started with a half dozen oysters $15. which where nice. My calamari was neither crisp or rubbery and was undistinguished in taste and presentation. A spinach salad was good and a nice portion size. A double cut pork chop ordered pink arrived dry and flavourless and was returned to be replaced by something quick - Rigatoni with Roasted Chicken. It came quickly and was ok but swimming in cream sauce. My other dining companions ordered: the Bouliabaise which was tasty and nicely presented and the crab cake which arrived lukewarm with slightly wilted mixed greens as a garnish. The food was too hit and miss for this price point and you know what you are in for when the vegetable garnish on the entrees is composed of : a spear of asparagus, a carrot, the classic red pepper slice, etc. There is a nice wine list with a good selection of wines by the glass and the service was pleasant although tables around us were left uncleared on a night when it was not very busy and a number of staff were in evidence. The room truly deserves a better level of cuisine or at least a more polished take on the items offered. Jack's Grill or the Hardware Grill would have been much better choices for the money. I do have hope that they will improve as they are new and from comments farther upthread seem to have a good management team (who I will contact with my feedback).

So, has anyone been to Murrieta's Grill yet? I'm thinking of that or Jack's Grill (the battle of the grills!) one of my favourites whenever I visit Edmonton. Anything else new and of note?

I never discriminate against a pastry (I consider a donut to be a blue collar pastry). If it's tasty and goes well with my coffee I'm there. I have always loved a good donut - from Lee's excellent every day variety to Mark Israel's Donut Plant donuts in New York (some made with Valharona chocolate and some with gold flakes and rose petals) -and when travelling will go out of my way to find good donuts as much as I would check out a great bakery. Timmy Ho's and Krispy Kreme are not in this category with Horton's being just boringly average and KK's too sweet and once they've cooled down are terrible. Lee's, on the other hand, has somehow taken what looks like a storebought mix and turns out donuts that are so well made : perfectly crisp on the outside with an almost creamy moistness inside without a hint of artificial flavouring. Alvin, the donut maker from Monday to Friday is a large part of that I'll bet. Try asking for a warm glaze when they are available. My current favourite with my morning coffee is the Dutch Crumb (which I just finished!). Somewhere, back in the files a year or so is another donut thread but not much has changed in Vancouver since then ..... that merits talking about.

A couple of weeks back I flew to L. A. on a Sunday for an early Monday meeting. As the meeting came up at the last minute I didn't get a chance to do my usual intense research on where to dine that evening. As my hotel was in the neighbourhood and I had heard good things about the kitchen at Spago Beverly Hills I thought I would go for a late bite to eat at the bar. (Obviously this falls into the trendy category but my point will be made.) To my shock and great dissapointment I arrived just after 10:00 pm to find that the kitchen had closed 45 minutes earlier! ...and that just about everything else in the area was closed as well. It never dawned on me that things closed so early in L.A. Even bar menus. Granted I should have checked but I figured that this was a given that the hotter spots would be open later. I ended up at the Beverly Wilshire's restaurant The Blvd where I sat at the bar with two or three other patrons and had a reasonable but not outstanding dinner with a couple of nice glasses of wine. The main course arrived long before I had finished my starter. (Definitely not expected in that caliber of establishment no matter how late it might be.) Oh well, next time plan ahead as I know that there must be all kinds of places that have interesting food later.

Thanks Schnitzel, these look great! and I'm going to try them. My favorite version was from the Noe Valley Bakery who where selling at the Ferry Market in San Fran.

I was visiting San Francisco recently and noticed that many bakeries there sell "Morning Buns" which seem to be a cinnamon bun without all the goo and a bit of cinnamon sugar spinkled on. . Are these a common item across the country and are they always called Morning Buns? What is the dough they are made from (typically)?

I 'm wondering what the standard is for the quality of a danish dough as the Julia recipe makes a flaky style and yet I often see the flat spiral danishes with the fruit in the center that have a nice moist, non flaky character. Both are good, I just wonder which is the official "Danish"?

Water and chocolate do actually mix very well when the technique is good. There is a chocolatier here in Vancouver (Bad Girl Chocolates) who makes all of her chocolates with a water based ganache - as opposed to using cream. They are excellent, not at all the watered down flavor that you would expect, just a nice clean chocolate taste. As for what the saying means best ask on the Latin Forum.

Feeling the need for a good steak and remembering Jamie's mention of Earls my brother and I popped into the location on Broadway (near Granville) to check it out. I haven't eaten in an Earls for a good couple of years as I found the food to be ok but never very satisfying. Hopefully Michael Noble is set to turn things around. The selection of steaks is not long, basically the 10 oz. California cut New York Steak (the server couldn't explain why it was called California) is the way to go $24.95. Two steaks ordered med. rare with two ceaser salads to start. ......and a bottle of wine from their incredibly well priced reserve list. Due to the dock strike they are out of a couple of items such as the Beringer Knight Valley Cab. which is listed at $46. and actually sells for $49. at the LDB!!!! No wonder it's out of stock. Instead I ordered the Chateau Reynella Cab / Merlot. $41. There are no vintages on the wine list so I asked what year it was and to my astonishment it was a 1997 which was a great year for Australian wine and should be long gone by now. It was obviously well stored as it was completely delicious and went well with our steaks which were perfectly cooked (baseball cut, with no waste) and very tasty. They were served with ok mashed potatoes, roasted veg and fresh grated horseradish. I'll go back just for the wine list. I assume that each location will have different wine treasures to discover. Dessert by the way was pumpkin pie and it was one of the better pumpkin pies I've had in a while despite a somewhat leathery crust.

OK, so where exactly is Michelle's? I thought it was on 41st near Arbutus but not. I've been buying my cocktail buns at Pine Bakery on Kingsway as it is on the way to the inlaws. They were steaming hot out of the oven yesterday with the aforementioned salty sweet taste and are my current favourite. They do stale fast though (like a Siegel's bagel), best when warm. Bought some egg tarts as well that were so warm they were still not set in the center. I tried a Danish roll with raisins (even thought it was a straight braided stick) that was very bland and forgetable. You can't fault the prices though.

K. Ken the new Thai place on Cornwall beside Starbucks (just off Yew) is open. They are apparently the first Canadian branch of a 200 store chain from Thailand. The food is not bad at all. We had Yum Woonsen (saw it going out and said "one of those please") It's a warm salad of glass noodles with minced pork and prawns $6.95. Very tasty, with nice bright lime, and cilantro flavours. Spring Rolls- ok. The Pad Eggplant with Chicken was also very good with lots of chicken and eggplant $7.50 (all the portions and prices are great) ! The Green Curry Chicken was a little too much on the coconut-milky side for my taste but still good with lots of content. Ask for more heat if you are so inclined as they are geared towards the N. American palate. If they keep it up they will be my new fav for Thai takeout. My bet is that this cursed spot will finally have a keeper.

The durum flour found in most Indian grocery stores is the Atta which I agree is less prefered for the Italian recipes. The light, very fine Durum flour is hard to find as relatively very few people bake with it in N. America (certain Southern Italian bakers excepted). Try contacting a local bakery supply company and see if they carry it (of course in at least a 20k size) or see if they can order it for you. Also, liv4fud, flours lower in gluten do not normally benefit from more kneading.

Don't jump to conclusions on the plywood covering the doors of Red Pepper. It may be a coincidence but I was walking by yesterday afternoon about 5:00 and a car had jumped the curb and smacked into the audio video store right next to them. (Is it me or are there way more of these kinds of accidents lately?) I remember remarking that Red Pepper was finally open and there was nothing covering the doors then.

Now that his production has started Milan should be at the G. I. market every Thursday and at Trout Lake every Saturday- Aug and Sept. The line ups for his stuff are as bad or worse at Trout Lake. Thank God they have a strict no sell policy before 9:00 or it would be chaos. I have to hand it him on his egalitarian sales policy because he could easily sell everything he makes to the restaurants and yet he still takes the time for the markets. Don't cross him though or he can be worse than the Soup Nazi...... "No tomatoes for You!!"

Quince is a former Dubrulle instructor - Andrea who used the name for her catering. I think she plans to do catering, classes etc.

My dear departed aunt (one of the great social drinkers of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's!) swore by her gin and tonic with a slice of cucumber when the weather was really hot as she said it was so refreshing. Is this an aberration or a classic garnish?

After popping into Vintropolis (the B.C. wine store on W. 1st) to pick up a nice Rose (they, by the way, are surprisingly well priced with a nice selection of inexpensive B.C. wines) I decided to grab a loaf of bread at Pane From Heaven. Well, I guess Heaven has stopped delivering as they no longer sell bread and apparently haven't for the last three months. By default I thought I would try the relatively newly renovated Bread Gardens to see what they might have. Again, just mediocre take out food and no bread. Has Cobbs taken over to the extent that local bread places are having to eliminate their reason for opening in the first place? In the case of Pane From Heaven (and Pane Formaggio on W. 10th) the selection of breads and baked goods borrowed heavily from Ecco il Pane recipes that a former baker took with him when he left and perhaps he just decided to return them!!! As for the new Bread Gardens I don't give them a year.