Foodie in Vancouver

If you contact Bill he will email you when he is coming to Vancouver and he delivers the wine directly to you. Bill is the epitome of salt of the earth. There isn't a more honest, direct or more hard working guy. It is so great to see him enjoying some success. And is wines are definitely worth a try.

I have eaten in the steak restaurant in Grand Central Station and was fortunate to attend the opening of the station following the renovation. The restaurant is owned by a basketball player whose name escapes me - I want to say Michael Jackson but I know that is very wrong. Anyway it is Michael something and apparently he was/is famous. The restaurant overlooks the grand hall and it should feel more special than it does. But to me the steakhouse concept seems wrong. When I ate there a family of 6 at the next table ordered a humongous steak (64 oz if I recall correctly) and the mother served everyone as if it were Sunday dinner. That was the only memorable part of my dinner. Everything else was so meh. I was faintly embarassed for the Station to have to be a part of the steak restaurant/basketball shrine/celebrity atmosphere. She deserves so much better. The opening, however, was magical and it made you wish that you could save every grand building everywhere. Everytime I am in NYC I go to to station and wonder at the marvel of the restoration and how close they came to demolishing it. It brings a tear to my eye everytime. And as for the food stores - amazing. Unbelievable variety, everything from an honest-to-goodness butcher (no shrink wrap in site), fishmonger, vegetables, tea, coffee, olive oils, wine store and so on and so forth. Shop for dinner, catch a train home. Good concept - better than a steakhouse. I always have to remind myself that I am staying in a hotel and purchasing fresh fish is not a good idea no matter how wonderful it looks.

Just purchased a case of the Juan Gil at the Arbutus store. The person who found the wine for me (it wasn't in the Spain section but against a wall - who knew?) raved about it and said it was a wine one simply had to buy by the case. I did. Hope he's right - I need more wine like I need a hole in the head but I couldn't resist a raving BCLDB employee. Arbutus still has at least 3 cases left. The Chateau Sainte Eulalie is only available at the Thurlow or Cambie/39th store - if anyone is interested.

We are taking in the Snides of March at the Waterfront this week (Bob Robertson and Linda Cullen of Double Exposure fame). What should we consider for our Quick Bite? And it will need to be in and out in about 1 hour so I think that lets the PCIA off the list. And I have never had a successful meal at the Sandbar so that's another. Any recommendations?

Jamie - while you may extoll the efficiency of WestJet I must remind you that there is a limit to the amount of wine one can easily bring back on a 737. A Honda minivan on the other hand has been known to manage 39 cases of wine without complaint up and over both the Penask Summit and the Coquihalla. So on that front, advantage Honda Odessey. Unfortunately for us we have traded in the Odessey so those feats of wine transport are but memories. I will now be forced to exercise restraint when visiting the wineries. A whole new experience for me. (Maybe there is a 12-step program?)

I just realized that I forgot two of the real standouts of the evening - how I could forget I don't know. The first was was the bread with anchovy/herb butter. TO DIE FOR! Over the top wonderful. It was the combination of the ever so slightly sweet bread with the salty bite of the butter. My sister and I came close to arm wrestling for the last pieces. She swears she never eats anything white (you know - no rice, no pasta, no bread, yada, yada, yada) and won't touch chardonnay unless it is a real chablis. But you should have seen her with that bread. Almost embarrassing but I admit to being right in there with her. We avoided any unpleasant scenes but I am now drooling on the keyboard. Do you think Brian will share the butter recipe? I got a peak at the starter mixture later in the evening. I am thinking of offering up some choice bottles of wine in trade for a hunk of starter. Although it might be dangerous to think you could have unlimited access to something that tasty. The other small but truly tasty little touch was the praline with citrus panna cotta served in an Asian soup spoon. Sweets are not my thing but I scarfed that down in mere seconds. Again - it was the contrasting play of flavours and textures that made it so memorable - crunchy/pillow soft and sweet/citrus. These guys are really onto something with the compare/contrast of flavours and textures. Makes your mouth do the happy dance.

There is one element that could drop away that would please me no end and that is the complete disappearance of Highway 97. I can't express strongly enough what a blight the highway is. If, in the resurgence, some 'high streets' were to emerge it would be a real addition to the area. Other than the limited areas near the lake there are no places that induce strolling. The greenway along Mission Creek is more of a nature trail and isn't what I had in mind. There is far too much reliance on cars and not enough sense of neighbourhoods with local shopping/village areas. Lose the malls, those god awful strip malls and that wretched strech of Highway that runs from the bridge to the airport. Gain some charm that matches the potential. (My two cents worth).

We had our first meal, of what will be many, at Rare last night. First a note on the room - minimalist in style but way warmer in execution. The only suggestion I have is to consider a tapestry on the wall across from the hostess desk or something similar to help with sound absorption. Hard surfaces can make for noisy rooms and it is always distracting when you are unable to hear your dining companions. Not that it was a problem last night but as the word spreads on what wonders Brian, Tim and Quang have wrought the sound levels may veer upwards. (Although I bet the eGullet dinner was the test of that!) The 4 of us all opted for the 6 course tasting menu. I applaud the decision to limit the courses. I have been deterred in the past by the course-count, knowing there was no way I would appreciate the later courses. While waiting for my always-late sister, we were treated to an amuse of the pheasant rilette and the rabbit pate. Heavenly and a good match with the Black Sage 2002 Merlot. Because others have done such a wonderful job of describing the menu items I will simply list what we ate. Assume that I echo everything that has been said up-thread as others have done a much better job with the descriptions. Citrus- marinated ahi tuna, with avocado mousse - I could have happily eaten this all night; the avocado mousse was impossibly light and a foile for the faintly briny tuna. Scampi with pineapple carpaccio and fish sauce foam - I found myself struggling to get the last bits out of the shell - my knife was a bit too big for the job and I didn't want to pick the little guys up with my fingers; the pineapple carpaccio was a perfect match with the Babich sauvignon blanc. Cauilflower soup - as noted above, some at our table felt that the temperature could have been hotter. It was more lukewarm than expected but the lobster salad and roe was remarkable Frogs legs with sorrel reduction and beignet. The sublime garlic flavour was a perfect balance to the slightly salty and very tender frogs legs. I was instantly transported to my salad days in the 70s when frogs legs were the height of chic. Where have they been all these years? The sorrel was also a great supporting flavour. Definitely a winner if only for the perfectly sweet garlic with not even a hint of bitterness. Unilateral salmon - awesome. I have never grown tired of salmon, especially cooked with the care and passion that this was. Tender, flavourful and suggestions of the subtle oily flavour that gives salmon that moist flavour. Best of all was the crunchy skin. Gone from my plate in nanoseconds. Squab breast with squab confit, braised fennel and fennel puree. This is the point at which I began to run out of room. Much like duck, the squab breast cooked to rare was firmly tender and flavourful. Fennel punched it up the flavour some more. I particularly enjoyed the fennel puree, artfully smeared on the plate in the shape of a whatelse? but a fennel. By now we have switched to a Petit Verdot from Australia which was a nice pairing with the squab. It got lost a bit with the subsequent beef course but came back to life for the cheese course. Next up was the beef tenderloin with mushroom ragout for all but me. I had creamed leeks due to my propensity for hives et al when I eat mushrooms. The beef was seared and served very rare. I truly enjoyed the leeks - almost comfort food and they provided a bit of backbone to the beef which was almost etheral in flavour. On to the 6 Spanish cheeses which were lovingly introduced by Chef Quang. We all got the sense that Quang doesn't need a love life as long as Spanish cheeses are available. He positively glowed when describing each one. Like a mother with her children, each was special to him. Pressed to choose one, I fear he would have had his own version of Sophie's choice. All in all a wonderful evening. The service was excellent and all the staff seem very proud of the food and the room. Definitely a place to revisit frequently - everything feels very approachable. Clearly no pretentions on any level. At the end of the evening I was reminded of the Torino slogan - Passion lives here. Rare is the perfect embodiment of the phrase. Congratulations to all on such a wonderful accomplishment.

Oh dear - I hope I didn't sound as if I was disappointed in the hotel as a dinner option. It is just that when one is at a hotel for several days of meetings, getting out, at least for a meal, is quite welcome and can often be the only real clue that you are somewhere. It seems when you have all 3 meals in the same place for several days that one starts to get just a tad weary of eating. God forbid I should feel ambivalent about my food.

Thanks for all the ideas. Turns out with everyone's flight schedules, food preferences, issues and concerns that we are simply can't manage to get everyone out to a restaurant so we going to stay in the hotel for dinner. The hotel is the Siena and I have been assured that it will be good. Who knew organizing dinner for 17 people you haven't met could be so difficult? The good news is that this project will bring me back to the RDU area several times over the next year so I, at least, will get a chance to try all your suggestions. My sincere thanks to all who offered such great ideas. Please let me know if you are ever in the Vancouver area so I can return the favour.

Hello from Vancouver, BC. I will be in RTP on the first weekend of February for a business meeting and need to host a dinner on Friday, February 3rd for approximately 12 people, mostly physicians. My ideal restaurant will have wonderful food with an emphasis on fresh and/or local, a good wine list at reasonable prices and a not-too-noisy room allowing for conversation. With the exception of myself and 2 colleagues none of us will have met previously thus a quiet room will be helpful, as will good food and wine. The group will be staying at The Siena Hotel so the restaurant should be close enough to take a cab. Oh - the last requirement is not too pricey - I would love to get away with approximately $75 - $90 pp inclusive of food, wine and gratutity. (Is this a reasonable price point or am I hoping for the impossible?) Three restaurants that have been recommended are: Elaines on Franklin, The Lantern Restaurant and 411 West. What do you think? Do any of these fit my requirements? Are there other restaurants I should consider? And, last question - where should I go on Thursday evening - I will be on my own and have way fewer requirements, other than good food and good wine! Any advice will be gratefully received. Don't hesitate to ask for Vancouver restaurant recommendations if you are ever in this area.

I am so in agreement with you Andrew. While I have enjoyed the DOV experience in the past I realize that I prefer to dine when I am not so acutely aware that someone wants my table, I have to go to extreme lengths to secure a table and less coordination is required to check each restaurant's menus to see whether I am intersested in the menu they are offering and then the mad scramble to secure a reservation at a time that makes sense. We dine out regularly and I really don't think we are the target audience for DOV. So we will be resting quietly at home and enjoying the experiences of others via eG. I am sure the rest of you will help us discover some new gems which we will visit at a time that suits and sample the full menu. But please don't misunderstand me - I know that DOV has a place and is a great chance for both diners and restaurants. Enjoy!

Merlin - I don't know the episode but it sounds as if I need to track it down. I am sure my sister and I wouldn't have too much trouble having a good laugh about hotel turkeys. The funniest part about my brother cooking the Christmas dinner and the turkey is the fact that he has only ever cooked steak and roast beef and the occasional surf item to accompany the steak. And as far as he is concerned, boil-in-a-bag niblet corn is the only vegatable one ever needs. Forget anything green! Should be an interesting Christmas dinner.

I can't express strongly enough how I wish I was going out for dinner and not celebrating Christmas with the family and all the bits and pieces that comprise the contemporary family. (We put the fun in dysfunctional) In past years either my sister or I have made the dinner. Our dirty little secret was that we let Sutton Place Hotel do the cooking - we just drove down and picked it up. We did add a lot of family-favorite sides and the desserts and appies but the turkey was outsourced so to speak. My brother found out last year and was horrified - so horrified in fact that he is insisting that he cook dinner this year because "I'm not eating hotel turkey for Christmas". Long-winded way of saying that the Sutton Place turkey is just fine if traditional is what someone is seeking.

My daughter loves the cupcakes that are strategically placed by the cash register at Cafe Artigiano. I haven't tasted them but they have pastry cream in the middle and a cream cheese icing and come in vanilla and chocolate flavour.

I would love to have this system available - I find myself doing more and more online and resent having to go into a store - ie Staples when I can do the shopping whenever I want. (If only Cafe Artigiano had on-line coffee service I would never need to leave my office!) The ability to go online to book during DOV makes me positively giddy - imagine how many more dinners I could squeeze in. I usually run out of energy to coordinate the bookings before I fill up the nights available. It certainly sounds like it would be worth it for the restaurant as well. I am reminded of the play at the Arts Club several years ago that was based on a reservationist for a high-end NYC resto (Daniel's perhaps?) It was hilarious - a one-man show in which he attempted to deal with the hoi-poloi as well as the rest-of-us and he played all the wackos inside and outside the restaurant. I think it was called Fully Committed. Would the DOV website direct us to the OT booking - it seems that few of us in Vancouver know this is available?

I was once at a cooking class at Barbara Jo's in Yaletown. Romy Prasad (then of Cin Cin) and Caren McSherry had just been introduced by Adrienne (Barbara Jo was in NYC for the James Beard awards - poor soul) when the power went down. Without so much as batting an eye, Adrienne set about lighting candles, many, many candles and someone else started pouring wine. I think Caren barely noticed - she kept talking and entertaining us and Romy started to cook. Quite literally 2.5 hours later when we had all eaten and drunk ourselves to satiety the lights came back on. It is a cooking class I remember, that's for sure and the food was wonderful. Romy gained much admiration from all of us - talk about the show must go on. As for 9/11, my husband and I were in Manhattan at the time and were walking down to the Village and Murray's Fine Cheese. We saw the second tower come down at which point I agreed that a visit to Murray's was simply not in the cards for us that day. We turned around and started walking uptown with the crowd. But first I insisted that we go to the nearest ATM and withdraw as much cash as possible. The next stop was a wine store for as much wine as we could carry back to mid-town. And the third stop was to call our family in Vancouver and let them know we were OK. Dinner that night was a challenge - so many restos were closed because either they hadn't been able to get supplies during the day or more frequently, the staff couldn't make it to work as no one was allowed into Manhattan. We eventually found an open restaurant and had a real communal dinner. Everyone talked with everyone and exchanged their stories of the day. Many people spoke of the little differences that resulted in them being alive - late for work, diverted to an errand on the way to work, a child refusing to let the Mom leave her at preschool making the Mom late for work. That is a day and a meal I won't soon forget.

One of my clients recently relocated to Yaletown so we have been on the search for decent coffee. Given that there are a boatload of coffee bars within a 2 minute walk of the office it has been an interesting quest. The first place I tried was recommended by my wonderful morning barista at Cafe Artigiano (41st). Citto (or is it Cito?) is directly across the street from Urban Fare and SB on Davie. It is truly wonderful and I highly recommend the latte. Sweet, rich and sensous without even the faintest hint of bitterness. Needless to say my quest has been stopped in its tracks. Others in the office have not been nearly as successful - definitely caveat emptor in Yaletown when it comes to coffee.

I took the last copy from Barbara Jo's at Granville Island Net Loft this morning. I have only had a chance to glance at the first 3 or 4 pages and have to say - GREAT STUFF. I am almost (but not quite) ready to drop $140 on a BC ferries ticket to Van. Island. Then I remember what that could get me in food and wine locally and decide I don't need to go to the Island. Maybe sometime soon - there certainly seems to be many wonderful reasons to go to the Island.

The best blueberry muffins in the world were from Szasz's. And I have fond memories of getting off a stretch of nights in the ER and all of us heading over to the Normandy for breakfast. If you had enough of their coffee you could stay up all day and feel great. Of course I was a lot younger in those days - so it might not have been the coffee.

Re RCG: So I'll bite - why is the room raised in the middle and dropped in the back? How about Opus Elixir? I am not a fan of the restaurant space. The chairs in the garden room are brutally uncomfortable and it is too noisy/bright sound-wise for a nice dinner. The rest of the room is so broken up. We had dinner there the other night and were placed "under" the bar. Nels looked straight into the kitchen and all the wait staff did a pivot turn beside our table. There was a table of hockey fans seated above us who talked loudly down into our meal. I looked around the room and couldn't see a good table. I desparately wanted to leave. We stayed and endured. And as for the curtained off room. What's with that? Bit of a rant - sorry Neil. How about the Bins? They are looking a bit tired, dark and dim and IMHO are overly noisy. They are so small the budget might go a long way.

I can second the recommendation - I am sure this is the wine I had at Tapastree and was totally blown away by the complexity and depth of flavour at the price point. I had written the name down but promptly misplaced it. The lost is now found. I am off to buy more wine!

Jamie - thanks so much for starting this thread. I, too, have been asked this question frequently by business colleagues and associates. There have been many occasions when a private dining room was what we needed rather than going to a restaurant for a meal simply because of the need to continue our business agenda. In some instances it isn't appropriate to continue the discussion in a public dining room because of the sensitive nature of the content and in other situations the room is simply too noisy to enable the type of intimate discussion teams often need to have over the meal. In this age of virtual companies with teams working from disparate geographical locations, when the team does get together for meetings, often some of the best work is done over a meal and wine. I look forward to the responses - they will be very useful.

I can see a paella Sunday for us in the very near future. Thanks for updating us Jamie.

Thanks Kurtisk. I don't think I know much about wine other than I love to drink wine. Practice, practice, pratice.