stovetop

When I worked at the Havana we had a few great sandwiches, my fav was an open faced sandi called Media Noche; they said it was a famous Cuban Sand, one side with roast pork the other with ham, one side swiss one side cheddar, finaly pickle and tomato, the bases was mayo and dijon mustard. do not know if it is still on the menu I have not been there for years, so I can not say anything about what they have now for sandwiches steve

Lets see: 1) H20-4 2) blue door 3) Smitty's 4) Swale rock 5)Stamps at the Best western 6)Roadrunner restaurant 6)Capelllis cafe 7) Coast Hospitality's The Harvest restauarnt 8) Westwind Pub 9)Steamers Cafe 10)The Arli 11) the Rootcellar cafe eleven places that do breakfast steve

1) CRU Restaurant : Vancouver We all had a great time at Cru; Chef Dana Reinhardt does a great job with her menu, all the dishes were of the best quality meats and ingredients, flavours were fresh and not overly complicated, you could taste all the subtleness of all the ingredients in every dish. All flavours and taste were executed with greatness and all wine pairings worked out great. I can see why Cru has had all the great reviews; for me it was the best dinning experience so far this year and was worth every cent. steve 2) Acme: Nanaimo What a cool space; Sade playing in the foreground, suits in abundant pushing the envelope of the business lunch, very casual, a fusion of food cultures and interior design; I do not know what is more eclectic; the menu or the décor of the Acme. Located in downtown Nanaimo, the Acme has seemed to grow into its space, for years I have walked passed it many times never entering, until this day. The menu covers a huge amount of ground, from sushi to pizza to tapas and has an average wine and beer menu. Service is friendly and efficient but sometimes lacks in product knowledge, but it is Nanaimo after all and the Acme is a casual place so they do not pretend to be anything else, so one should not have huge expectations, they do well by what they do, providing Nanaimo with a fun food place, that covers lots of ground and try to please a little of everyone in the market. It is a great inspiration for Port Alberni, it shows one can do more with a restaurant, Port could take a page from the Acme and break away from the same tired menus all restaurants in Port Alberni have been doing for years, it is not the eighties any more, thanks Acme, I had a good time. steve 3) Blue door: Port Alberni The Blue Door is becoming my Fav breakfast place in Port Alberni; it is a total old school café from days gone by, it is not the cheapest breakfast joint in town but has a consistent charm to it and after ten visits I would say it is in the top five egg slingers in town. steve

In regards to Privatization, the one thing I wish would happen is some objective reporting of the industry in Alberta. So far all that seems to show up here in BC is content supported by the Union or by the Pub association; this prospective is a bit biased and is full of propaganda. I was in Alberta at the end of the summer and what I found was very different pricing and supply, but what I love best is a much better selection of wines from all regions, I know that Alberta does not have a wine industry so this could lead to a non protection type of industry, there is not a wine industry pressuring the industry to lean one way or another in the supply of wine. It does though produce an excellent selection of wines from all regions, this I like. The service of the Gov will be their down fall, if the union wants to keep this poor service going we in the industry will eventually not to support your job. You are gov workers, you work for us, and I just wish that you would provide way better service for restaurants. The knowledge of wine in the liquor store is average to poor and secondary service is non existent, when a restaurant spends thousands of dollars, why can not the gov deliver. These are all questions for the Managers of liquor stores, we are not out to get the Union but you need to be more proactive in the pursuit of excellence. steve

Go to Commercial Street and have a Joe’s Espresso it might help you out, it is sweet and not biter, at least it was when I work at Havana’s, I used to have my Kitchen meetings at Joes. steve

Ling do you like strong coffee; do you like it sweet or that bitter roasted coffee like the way Starbucks does theirs. A good espresso can make a great cup of coffee, add your cream and sugar and enjoy a great cup of coffee, I believe the same way most Europeans did, an Americano came about right from the American soldiers during world war two, they were used to coffee being done the way they had it at home, Europeans from what I gather, used a new way to make coffee and called it an Americano?? steve

It is a place called "Tosi's" and it is in China town, part of an old Italian nebourhood that shared space with China town; it is on the east side of Main Street south of Hastings. It is a hold back from earlier days, it is a true food purveyor, your mind will slip back into days gone bye, the smells loft and blend together with the dusty and mustiness of a very old building. You see old scales and antique counters and high ceilings it is definitely a blast from the past. They sell all things Italian. Olive oils, olives, pasta, pickled veg, and cheeses to die for. If you are looking for that best wheel of Pandano, this is the place to get it

Run on sentences are my forte. Wow; nicely said; this conjures up so many beautiful food images in my mind. Food comes from raw ingredients, the road side cart is so close to the source, it can not help but be good, and there is something about chowing down on some good eats on the street.Doing authentic regional Mexican food requires someone who is versed in the craft and an owner or chef who is not afraid to explore. Stubborn Vancouver knows the existing Mexican restaurants and may take a while to warm up to new ideas. Although once they open the door, it could be a perfect timing for a new regional Spanish and Mexican place; there might not be any burritos or deep fried food there. What you will see is great Moles, stews, stuffed corn husk dishes, great local grown chicken and beef dishes. The sea will bring all the great Mexican coastal area cuisines with fresh salsas, Chile paste, civiche and so much more. Hey wait a minute this philosophy can apply to any good food, if the chef spends some time sourcing out their ingredients and does a little research on his or her menu engineering and bring the seasons into the foreground by building on the accessibility of food at its peek and the cost being lower because of availability. The biggest problem for restaurant buyer’s theses days is they are being swayed by the so called easy purchasing from Sysco, and all in one purveyor. This system though does not bring best quality but food products that all taste the same. They are also very expensive and can sometime s be very inconsistent because of their sweeping buying practices, searching the market for the cheapest product available at the time. This does not produce: ; Yes you are right it does not, it makes Taco Bell; as we say in the trade use the KISS method, keep it simple stupid.steve

"Hey; I did not mean any disrespect by saying how hard this room is to cook for" Taste in food is highly personnel; who judges what is good and what is not, it is a highly subjective thing and have a hard time with the so called level of expertise there is on defining what is and what is not Mexican food. My God Mexico is a huge country, Mexico City has more people then all of Canada, and they themselves have many nationalities and cultures so trying to define “Mexican” in Vancouver is silly. Firstly the lot of you have not gone to all the restaurants that do Mexican food, you all mention the same restaurants and do not even give credit to a Company that has been doing Mexican food and selling Mexican product for years, that company is “Que Pasa” it used to be in Kits now it is in Richmond. It Exports Mexican Food to the US and western Canada, they are one of the best and consistent food Companies we have in Vancouver and if you are dissing them, I have hard time in taking any of you seriously, when you are judge how can you judge something if it is only what you like and dislike, that is not how you judge food, you know sometimes you have to judge food that you do not like but have to be more objective and judge based on its substance not what you think is good or bad, ones taste like I said are personnel, being a chef one of the things that has drove me crazy over the years is restaurant owners who make food in their restaurants that they liked, what the hell is this , it is not your home kitchen, it is a business and treat it so, give it the sense of professionalism it deserves, it is not about the egos, but about the customer, he or she rules( customer), it is up to the owner what customers they want, this is the toughest part of the business, the customer chooses but do we choose the customer??? Mexican food has many forms, you can have the Spanish influenced and many regional foods, this is out of my knowledge so I will not pretend to be an expert, but I do know that you have Texas Mexican and California Mexican styles of food, they all interpret a little different, so if you think that Vancouver should be the same you are mistaken, even in the US you will find huge varieties and interpretations of the same food. "When is a burrito a burrito";” When is Enchilada sauce, Enchilada sauce" these are one of many questions that you could ask. As for Mole, well is Vancouver ready for this type of food, I have not seen to many restaurants doing things with chilies and mole and it is hard to find the raw ingredients to make a good Mole. We need more data before we jump to conclusions to what is good Mexican food?? steve

'Que Pasa"..... Richmond Que Pasa "Topanga Cafe"....West Fourth; MCdonald "Sophies" .... Great Enchilada's Sophies Las Margaritas

Sophies Cosmic cafe Fun for the whole family steve

I think you need to take some Valium. Any way back to a nice Thanksgiving dinner Make a variety of vegetables and carbs that everyone will enjoy. You are having stuffing right; make a nice wild mushroom stuffing second have a steamed veg like brocoli, cauliflower, carrot ... have a roasted squash of some kind, maple syrup, nutmeg, ginger or gralic Have a roasted mash like turnip, or yams or sweet potato Have a roasted medely of veg, like cauliflower, carrot, yam... do any number of lentil or bean dishes Make a veg lagsagna with all night shade veg potato, tomato, peppers, ect steve

Maybe that is what I should do with a bread bowl, use it as a bike helmet; it would be great on a long days ride, feeling hungry reach up to your head and you have lunch, go into the bar and you do not have to worry about leaving your helmet behind, well somewhat any way, tasy treat and keep your head safe. steve

Paul there must be a few more places around this area then just what has been listed; are you just looking for semi- fancy as in high end or can you go for lunch to a place that serves good food but is not high end; the main thing is a place where all the group can have fun, talk, celebrate right?? eat- drink-good service-good food steve

Hi Jamiemaw I am with you on your feelings about bread bowls; they are a throw back to the eighties, if eighties music has had a come back why not the food, although some restaurants somehow have never left the eighties, it is the strange enigma of living in Van proper is that you are somehow hidden from the goings on of the burbs and small towns around who are not on the same train as Vancouver; take Van island for example, I have been living here for the past two years, at first I thought they were just being retro with things eighties, then as time protruded itself from my mind pieces of days gone bye began passing my eyes every day, that is when I realized, hey the eighties never left, it was not nostalgia it was just a slow pace of life, more specifically Port Alberni. The Bread bowl is king and so is so many eighties things, they hang on for dear life to the past, I guess back in the early eighties the island was the center of the universe, so much money, drop out of grade eight and make a hundred thousand a year logging, why waste time with education, hell go out and make the money, then the floor dropped out, 25 years later you do get a very strange retro approach to things on the coast. Bread bowls are just an the tip of the ice burq (lettuce); you might just want to put the bread bowl down, it might go away soon enough, or maybe the retro will cherish the memories of days gone bye, for Tim ho's which for me sometimes is like going back in time, but then I open up my eyes and remember that Timmy’s is not even owned by a Canadian company but is owned by "Wendy's". Times change some us change with it and some us become nostalgic, but I am with you: “what is with the bread Bowl", I did not like it then and I hate it even more now. steve

Thankyou 2roost for bringing us back on topic. I was trying to communicate this point, many were making comments about save on meats but have not gone in, they were more concerned of the hood then the store, this is not justified for them to make opinions of a place that they have not gone, sorry I got carried away. steve

It is less for the younger worker, not sure what it is?? New law brought in by the provincial liberels. steve

Not even in fifth place, by the way it is one of Canada's poorest places, not the most dangerest, although go to the towers of Young and Bloor, I forget the exact cross streets, man if you leave your car in that area un proteted, it will be gone or broken into in like ten minutes, Hastings can be that bad but it does not own the problem of crime.

Hey; there was a guy killed at kits pub and someone shot and killed someone at another club in kits in the last decade so it is not just downtown that has its atrocities, chef my head is quit on straight, I just can not get that excited about the so called bravado of downtown East Side, the convergence of the Queen and King scares me more then any area Vancouver has to offer, there is not such an area in Vancouver that even Cops, Taxi and Pizza Drivers do not go, Toronto has such areas, even the brave of heart become fools in the eye of the needle, Vancouver is quit tame compared to the Big City. The West Side is not invisible to the Crack head, it is their fav target, the amount of B.E.’s has doubled in the last five years, just walk down Broadway or West fourth and you will see the invisible changes; the Naive kits has grown up, it shows signs of damage, property damage, not one building has been spared from the grasp of the crack head. The eyes wide shut will definitely lend to ones inability to see reality; even the rich and elite can not hide from the grip of addiction; it tends not to judge but smell any opportunity that might present itself, the thing is Media tends not to broadcast such afflictions done to its citizens, one would not dare harm Westsider’s in their own realm, one is a victim no mater where you live in Vancouver. My eyes are wide open and I see some things that have been done to Vancouver and hiding in the West Side will not keep you safe from the grips of addiction so I say go out in the greatest community in Canada and take back the power of the street; Enjoy some of the other great things that China Town and Down Town has to offer, such a thin line between Gastown and Cracktown, almost invisible, weaving in and out; a thin line, almost visible; showing itself but once again vanishing between the bodies of the poor. steve

In BC it is $8.00 hour. steve

I am with you on this one Jaymes One of the tougest people on the west coast in the early days was a women Mertle Phillips- Alta Lake ( AKA Whistler BC) She was a hunter-fisher-mid wife-doctor-hostess-cook-lodge owner with partner, her husband, she did it all, and what sex she was did not matter. In the outdoors you must takecare of yourself or you die. steve

Hi Marlene I am glad that it worked out for you. I too have made and seen many dishes with cottage cheese in the recipe; it is very good, it is not a mater that it is traditional, that is not the point, in the seventies many persons in Alberta did not know what the hell ricotta cheese was, but that is assuming that the cottage cheese was a substitute for ricotta, that is being a little presumptuous, from what I can see, I see no direct evidence to that theory, but actually the cottage cheese being one of many ingredients in a or the lasagna recipe(s). I have used béchamel as well, but for me this is a more recent experience, it is more of a West coast thing, and we used different kinds of cheese such as Edam, jack, and Moza. Building layers of sauce with the ricotta or cottage cheese mix in, the sauce could be a meat sauce or tomato sauce, or both; I generally use tomato sauce and cheese for the top, less burning, I have used fresh and dry pasta and dry pasta that is put in the recipe dry. There are more ways to make lasagna then I can count, if it works for you do it. steve

I do not see other sales people giving away the money they earned and worked their but off for to fellow workers, if you have partners who help you in your endeavors then yes share or give them what the deserve, it will help you in the end, the good relationships you developed with bar and support staff will always help you out when needed, when you give them what they deserve; other staff are not stupid, they know when you make money and when you do not; also the government is becoming less stupid as well so it is a matter of time before they catch up to idea of how much a professional waiter can make, also slinging booze can bring in a least a hundred bucks a night in many bars up here in Canada and I am sure the US is about the same??? Servers work hard for their money, it is their sale not any else’s, if they got help then, the people who assisted on that sale deserve their cut, other then that keep your Commi hands off our money ( JOKE ) steve

Hi Merlin, I must agree with you on this one, this was the biggest and worst change in Edmonton in the four years since I was last there, this whole area is just become one big mall with the Biggest free way in Alberta running through the middle of it, I know that the population will catch up to this development, the whole southern Edmonton district is going to double in population and I am sure will fill up this whole South common area but where is the common sense and traffic planning, the freeway is going to get more congested and they do not have any over passes and it will be impossible to get in and out of this area as time passes, the mall concepts are destroying urban life and downtowns all over Canada, when will Urban planners get this out of their heads, Look at Nanaimo, this is a great example of the Urban mall gone awry, it has helped in destroying downtown Nanaimo, which is doing something to improve itself; I am quit happy with what they have done (Downtown Nanaimo). Back to Edmonton, why would any one go to south common when you could go to Old Strathcona and get some great restaurants and street experience that is as good as any place in Canada has to offer, it cranks my brain trying to figure out what all the excitement of this kind of Suburban development, do they really go to school to design this type of Communities, when I do the math it does not add up. As for Fullers new concept, I am sure the family and company will move this Concept in the right direction, it could be the location?..; I hope they got a good deal on the land.

There are just as many crack heads in kits, you just don't have to step over them, and they usually have some kind of home, remember Campbell won the election because he was going to continue with the three pillars, every one else would not handle the issue. Go to the area around noon to three PM and just mind your own business and do not give any eye contact pretend they are not there, they generally leave you alone. Crack heads generally are not violent until they have no crack, so this time of day they are in the fix so they are usually busy being high. There are lots of great food places in China Town and around Hastings area, this area was a great food place and was part of little Italy, which has moved up to the Burnaby/ Van border. My main point is we do not need to become victims and be afraid of our own city, at this time of day you have the same odds in kits to be hassled as on Hastings street, the crack heads are in every place in Van even Kerissdale has them; they are generally not homeless in this area but are still crack heads. steve