Foodie in Vancouver

Don't know if it is too late to add a recommendation for Kamloops, but we spent a night there in June while on the Rocky Mountain Railtour. Dinner at our hotel was included but one look at the menu had us out the door looking for something else. We stumbled upon the Brownstone just down the street from Ric's in a former bank building (118 Victoria Street). The food was good - very good, service was excellent and the wine list very interesting and very reasonably priced. If you are in Kamloops for a meal I would heartily recommend the Brownstone.

I have to add a plug for the breads at Mix as well as their scones. Our favorite Mix breads are their ficelle, the rustic baugette, 3-chili-cheese, toasted pumpkin and the whole wheat (can't remember the name). All of them make awesome toast as well as sandwiches. The cheese-herb scone is to die for especially with a latte from the Elysian Room or from Cafe Artigiano. My husband swears by the chocolate scone but it's too sweet for me. Their sandwiches are also wonderful - my fav is the Chimayo Chicken and the Apple Gobbler. I've made myself drool on my own keyboard. Edited for poor spelling.

Glad to hear the positive comments about Coast. We were recently at Silver Star for a week of unbelievably great skiing - snow and sun in abundance, and ended up meeting many, many folks from Britain and Australia. This is one of the restaurants we recommended to a couple from Aus who had a single night in Vancouver before they headed to Washington DC. Interestingly, the guest services desk at Silver Star made a reso for them and when the couple offered to reimburse them for the phone call the guest services desk assured them it was all part of their service - they wanted them to have the best experience possible while in BC - and if helping them to get a dinner reservation in Vancouver was what the guest needed, then that was what they wanted to do. Made me proud! Anyway, I will follow up and let you know if dinner worked out.

All this talk of the dearly departed - so many wonderful restaurants that I had forgotten about but when brought to mind make me smile. Il Barino for sure was a real favorite that vanished in an instant - so quickly it made me wonder if in fact it had ever existed. I am trying to remember the name of a restaurant that was upstairs on the corner of Thurlow and Davie. It wasn't a great restaurant but they had a version of the famed shrimp and black bean linguine that we all remember so fondly from the Santa Fe Cafe. Was there a restaurant there? Or am I having a form of gustatory flashbacks?

Just a quick thank-you to Soba for providing the link to the reviews of the great NYC restaurants. I read the entire thread from start to finish and basically lost an entire afternoon of work. I have eaten in some of the restaurants that were reviewed and I have eaten in a lot of restaurants in NYC. I know how seriously they take food and how avidly the Times reviews are read and how they influence who eats where. His posts literally transported me back to New York for the afternoon. It was an amazing experience. As for posting our opinions, I too am hesitant for the future. Certainly during DOV I posted 1 less than stellar review and have done so in the past. But, I also try and be specific about what I found lacking. And, when I do enjoy a restaurant experience I make sure I let everyone know. Now the big question of the day - since I have finally caught up from yesterday's lost afternoon - Where should I go for dinner tonight? And will there be any room or will the Valentine's Day madness have started?

Thanks for the info on Silver Star. Looks like I am going to have to do some original research myself. Will report back with all the details.

We will be at Silver Star, skiing. And I am still hoping that at least one of my fellow eGulleters can make at least 1 recommendation for a reasonable meal in the area. So far, things are looking bleak.

I don't know if they have cherries but Chocolate Arts has the most inventive and wonderful selection of chocolates in the city. IMHO

The dreadful Okanagan Vineyards was at a big banquet so it might be a special order thing. But, as the dinner was for business types from all over the world, it was unfortunate that the BC wine was so stunningly dreadful. I spent most of the dinner apologizing. Suprisingly, the salmon was wild and was actually nicely cooked for banquet salmon. Tip of the hat to the Westin. I just looked in the product guide and there is an Okanagan Vineyards Merlot 2001 for $5.99. I was cetain it wasn't a varietal - but I have been known to be wrong on many occasions. This might have been one of them.

We just had a bottle of the Inniskillin Cab Sav with dinner tonight. This is wine we picked up in Alberta and interestingly, it isn't listed in the LCBC product guide. The number on the bottle is 632117 in case I am reading the book incorrectly. We drank from the Reidel stemless glasses which were a Christmas gift. I am still trying to decide how I feel about them. The wine. Reasonably big nose with lots of leather. Still a fair amount of tannins left so it is best with food and obviously could stay in the cellar longer. We had it with a piece of Costco fillet. The wine is definitely a medium bodied Cab and has almost a sweetness to it. Flavours of berries and some plum. Tannins give it a bit of a dusty flavour when not paired with food. I also think I can taste pencils? OK time to stop drinking when you think you can taste pencils.

I like Inniskillin so I will be so upset if they are pedaling that swill. Maybe we should get the Alcohol CSI unit on it. I know just the guy for the job

Thought I would pass on my comments on Dr. Taurino. We tried it with spaghetti bolognase. As some of you may remember, I and some friends have been involved in a spaghetti cookathon for a soon-to-be aired TV show. (And yes, I will let you know when it will be on). Suffice to say, I am not too eager to eat a lot more spaghetti in the near future. But I digress. Where I was aiming for, was to say that yet another plate of spaghetti seemed a good reason to break out the Dr. Maybe not the best match - I found the wine to be almost over-done in a fruity sort of way (oh boy - I can see the eyes rolling - this woman doesn't know squat about wine talk). No one flavour came through at all - it was just a mish-mash of alcohol and fruit. I like wine that has more definable flavours. The flavour was muddled. But it wasn't awful or even, not good. Just not anything that made me go - yummy. Anyway, the upshot is that we wouldn't likely purchase it again. Speaking of bad wine - I was at a conference dinner at the Westin last night at which they served Okanagan Vineyards Red Wine and White Wine. WTF is Okanagan Vineyards? Whatever it is - it was some wickedly bad wine. I didn't even drink it and that is saying something. It had a VQA label on it which is really concerning. Maybe I should have been suspicious when I saw the fluorescent yellow cork (plastic). Anyway, word to the wise - even if it is free, it probaby isn't worth it. And, going back to the Yalumbas recommended by waiterblog, I wasn't able to warm up to the Vignoier (I know that is spelled wrong) but have since bought more of the Grenache. We had the Yalumba Y series Cab Sav at the HSG the other night and really enjoyed it - so thanks waiterblog for getting me to try something new and different. Anyone want to recommend some more wines? But this time we better stick to the rules and make it something local or not readily available elsewhere. (I am not sure how we figure that out - even the BC wines aren't always easily available at the LCB) Sigh. Sometimes even the simple stuff gets complicated. Off to open a bottle of wine Something I know how to do.

OK Trans Fatty Acid - that was really funny. Made me laugh out loud. Thanks so much for the free therapy. Laughter is so good for the soul - and you really got me giggling. I hope whatever the rest of the day brings you is wonderful. Thanks again for the chuckle.

I've used Mayer's which is at 308 East 5th. Their website is www.mayerspackaging.com.

Cafe Artigiano has now opened in Kerrisdale and I must say, in a neighbourhood with at least 4 other coffee houses, it is a great addition. I have been several times and had great drinks each time. It is much less overwhelming than either the Hornby St. or Park Royal location and I think the staff is much friendlier. Now I just wish they would get their bakery items from Mix - I have this incredible hankering for the cheese-herb scone with a CA latte. Although in honesty, I haven't even tried the CA scones/muffins. They just look too sweet for me. And I have a major love affair with the cheese-herb scone from Mix.

I know it's not downtown but my husband and I like the bar at the Fairmont hotel at the airport. Another "grown-up" bar we like is the one at the Sutton Place Hotel. Comfortable chairs, quiet and subdued - which is what I want in a grown-up bar. My only experience with the bar at the Opus was during the Bourdain book signing. It will take me a few more months to recover and venture back there.

Stong's Grocery store has had Peets in the past. I haven't looked recently, but they usually have a very extensive selection of coffee. I will look when I am in the store later this week.

As a committed fan of Lisa and Artie's I am thrilled to hear that indulging myself in their wonderful food no longer means I also have to brave the elements. The only saddness is that I can no longer stop at the Chocolate shop on our way out of the parking lot. I wish them all the best and hope that the new location is successful for them. A great move from the diner's point of view - dry and great food.

One of these days I'm going to learn how to do the quote thing. Then I can join in on the fun.

Cru always has a 3-course prix fixe menu for $36. Good value for great food.

I had posted in the summer about our dining experiences in Whistler. The summary is that we had a less than excellent meal at Bearfoot and an excellent experience at 5280. Mind you it was the late summer - that might have had something to do with it. But, the fact remains, that on the whole when we are at Whistler, we rarely eat out - even on the mountain because the prices are just too high for us - especially when you have wine. The markups are beyond our wallets. We haven't been yet this year because of the poor snow conditions but I have a loaded Edge card so I am anxious to get up there. I hate to think I have paid for lift tickets I won't use. It will be interesting to see what happens this year and whether we pre-buy our lift tickets again. It really burns me to think I might eat the whole thing. Let's pray for snow. Please.

The rest of our DOV lineup looks like this: Wednesday - La Terraza Friday - Feenies Saturday - Aqua Riva Sunday, Feb 6 - HSG

Not that I can add anything to the other posts, but I took notes last night so I might as well tell you what I managed to record. First off, let me say thank you to Tricia for getting us together. The energy in the room was so wonderful - 9:30 on a Sunday night and the place was buzzing. It felt wonderful and quite frankly, I needed some transporting! And a huge thank-you to everyone at West. We have considered West our celebratory restaurant since our first DOV experience there 3 years ago. Every meal since has been memorable, even the short ones when we were dining before the theatre. This is an establishment that instinctively knows how to make each and every diner feel at ease and ensure they have a wonderful experience from start to finish. We started with cocktails at the bar- Jay who is so gracious and welcoming made us a lovely version of my usual Lemon Drop. And you know what? His is definitely better. I can see me stopping in of a Friday to end the week with a flourish. At the table we ordered the Falanghina, an Italian white which was on the list of suggested pairings. As a rule, I am not a white wine enthusiast but this wine was crisp, had lots of structure with apple and fennel on the nose. It paired perfectly with the delightful amuse - albacore tuna wrapped in Yukon gold potatoes. I have to admit to some trepidation about the match with my selected first course - the terrine. I noticed that Waiter Blog and Montrachet were drinking the Lincourt PN, one of my favorites. I started to sweat - what if I had ordered the wrong wine? Don't worry, dear reader - all was well and the Falanghina (sounds like those guys in the box outside the Chinese consul on Granville) was a great match with the amuse as well as my first course. The terrine had elements of salty earthy ham contrasting with the feather-light foie;the cauliflower piccali provideded a perfect crunchy-sour contrast against the softness of the terrine. The sesame oil on the picalali (have no idea how to spell this) provided a nutty note (in the best sense of the word). Next up was the sublime "gift from the kitchen". As has been mentioned by Andrew, the food runner whose name didn't make it into my notes, was an enthusiast for the food and hightened our anticipation with his perfect explanations. The Khurri squash risotto was truly a thing of beauty. I could have stopped at this point and been completely satisfied. (Even without a cigarette!)There was a subtle curry flavour matched against the tender arborio (or caranoli) rice. No flavour dominated - it just happened all over your mouth and finished with a beautiful blend of flavours. If there was a superlative for the evening this might have been it - a perfect balance of texture and flavour. Again, the Falanghina was a match for this dish. Next wine was another Italian - Cantina Santadi (my notes start to fail me at this point) Carginano Shardana 1999. First impression on the nose was leather, followed by blackberry. At first I thought there was a lot of tannin so I was concerned that it might overwhelm the veal breast - but fear not, gentle reader. The tannins disapated quickly and the wine was soft and supple, much like the veal breast. My overall impression was "amazing". The creamy, crispy polenta was the perfect foil for the meat which was tender and the epitome of braised meat. The wine by now had faint licorce notes and was the perfect underpinning for this course. Normally I don't "do" dessert. It takes too much effort to repent for my sins but by now, I was not in the mind to resist the wonderful options. Chocolate is never my weakness so it was easy to migrate to the other desserts. I chose the tropical fruit and marshmallow dessert. Total whimsey - light, focused and flavourful. Shards of pineapple and kiwi on blood orange with a mound of marshmallow (don't for God's sake think campfire marshmallows) and pomegrante accompanied by severa; dainty scoops of ice cream. Again, texture was the point - smooth, creamy, soft, yielding, citrus segments and pineapple spears. I had a moscato (now I am going from memory - the notes have long since ended) which was a spritzy little flirt of wine. Light, fun and a perfect ending to a perfect dinner. Our waiter was cheerful, helpful and clearly enjoying the evening. He was there to guide us through the experience and ensure we got the most from the evening. A consumate professional. How the kitchen managed to meet the expectations of the group so perfectly, I shall never know. But they truly met and exceeded my expecatations and well worth getting only 5 hours sleep. Thank you to one and all. I floated out the door on a cloud of good food, good wine and a wonderful experience shared with great people.

If Sobo is open, it is a great lunch option. It is really just a catering truck in a parking lot the staff at the Wick know it well because when we were there last year, they were all eating at Sobo. The food is awesome - the only glitch is that it is al fresco dining, so in the rainy season that can be challenging. But well worth it. Anything on the menu is wonderful but I was smitten with the shrimp cakes. We almost missed our ferry because I refused to leave Tofino without one more lunch from Sobo.

Interestingly, Ling's experience is pretty much what I have heard from at least 3 other people and is one of the reasons we haven't been to Bis. Overrated and overpriced. Indifferent service without the excellent food to carry it off. Too bad Ling. But knowing you, I know you will put this experience behind you and charge ahead. Take one for the team so to speak.