stovetop

Yes; thats it. Thanks!! That place sounds so cool, their web site is very good. It sounds like a great company, I would work for them in a heart beet. steve

Sounds like Whistler (Disneyland), you get about five minutes there, soon there will be no free parking in the whole valley, Vancouver is bad for tickets too, the tow truck guys will tow the cars in about five minutes, I have seen it with my own eyes, 4th and Arbutus area, I was eating at Sophie’s and this guy jumps out of his car, runs for an errand and he was gone like five minutes and this guy had his car jacked up and gone by the time he got back, boy you should have seen the look on his face, he was not even a tourist. Traffic cops are Bastards all over the world Thanks for the Hawaii stories steve

Hi Daddy-A: Portland restaurant and brewpub scene is really cool from all the things that I have read over the years, When I am looking for inspiration and ideas I always do a Portland search and see what the chefs are doing, from my perspective as a chef I always find some cool stuff from the menus there, I also see a lot of Woman chefs there, Woman chefs approach things a little different then the traditional male dominated kitchen brigade, I like their approach and in the 25 years in the business two woman chefs had a big influence on my food, they were both way more laid back then the men but they where tough on quality, amazing creativity. The other area I like is New Mexico, like Taos, I find this area also has a very strong Regional cooking style that I like, they also have a strong Micro beer industry. Portland rocks in that area as well, there is a company called McCewans (sp), they have about 10 locations. Some day I will make a trip to Portland and try things first hand, but until then I will get my inspiration from sites like this. Thanks again Daddy-A for a great write up. steve

I am so there!! steve

Yes; Thanks for for sharing Kyaksoup. steve

It has its market, that is who they serve, if you do not like it, then the next time do not go, there are not there to please everyone, well for that matter is any restaurant not there to please everyone, we in the business do chose our customer just as you the customer chooses the places you go, why is it that people need so much affirmation to go to a restaurant, do like most public pay your money take your chances, learn the hard way. I feel that a bad restaurant usually does not last, usually??

Andy, is it like if you were creating a painting and you started with a white base, adding the colors and layers, then you just thought that it needed a bit more color, you were feeling bold that day, you had a beautiful landscape and the sun just setting, so you thought you would pick out the color but instead you lost the color and got to much gray, so you painted it white and started again. Fusion can cause to much confusion for a lot of people, it is kind of like Mingus, or better then that someone trying to interpret mingus but going way out, multiple shots, trying to be a little too outside, somehow missing the message, or just to complex for the average person, I mean art still has to reach the common man, then somehow it is like a jazz musician just wanking off for the sake of being or that he or she can. The whole idea of communication is to reach as many people as you can that is kind of what I see you thinking, a lot of writers and critics have the same opinion of "C", and I see a common criticism of the restaurant and the style of Chef Rob Clark. But did you or could you have chosen or see any thing else on the menu, is all the menu out there or did you just try something and it did not float you boat, A menu can have many layers to it, so that is why I always feel that writers can not really objectively give a critic of a restaurant or chef just after one time, can you really make judgment by that one time, it is like making love, can you say that after just one time, and that time was perhaps not that good or as I say how can you judge something only after one time, you are just getting to know your partner and perhaps not knowing your own pleasures, how can you pass judgment onto your self or your partner. Also a menu like I said is multidimensional do you eat the whole menu, really get a feel of the restaurant, I say no, I feel you must try at least half the menu, go to the restaurant when other people other then the chef is cooking, is it still great, if it is yes then to me this is a good sign of a great restaurant.

jcsaucey; yes the other side of port that I knew nothing about is the Agriculture sector, it is a big part of the Valley, they go about things rather quietly and without fanfare, every sat all year there is a farmers market, it has some good stuff. The valley has two local chicken processors, one big pork processor and BC hot house green house, with a very good product, better then some of the hothouse stuff, there is many mix and sustainable agriculture practices all over the valley, some of the area is well over a hundred years, and it has history!! Now all we need is a good restaurant and retail store

Tofino; I live in Port, everyday I see something more about Port and the Alberni Valley, so many years I just drove through town on my way to tofino or uke, just bypassing port. This past year of living in port I have gotten to know another side of the town, this town is in a valley with the biggest inlet on Vancouver island cutting a crag across the island and hitting smack dab in the middle of that valley, so just this characteristic gives the town a very special thing, you are at the end of a inlet that leads to some of the most beautiful areas that BC has to offer, at the moment it is very cheap to live. I see it on its way up, they say that even a bum lying in a gutter still sees blue sky, well that is what I see for the valley of Alberni, like its namesake it is a tough place full of wacky characters and beautiful scenery, but it has a bit of a identity crises, caught between being an industrial town and a place that people want to live travel and play. It reminds me of what Squamish was like about ten years ago, so I am hopeful that it will pass the same cross roads that squamish did and choose better paths economically and pick better industrial directions, clear some of the water front and make it more accessible, better restaurants and better promotion of what tourism inventory they do have, if this town could catch half of the traffic that would be a huge economic boost for a town that needs all the help it can get.

Tia Na Mara Qualicum Heritage Inn Landing

Why would you grind up tenderloin or New York strip, besides once it is all ground up you will not know the difference and besides chuck, sirloin or but all make better burgers from what I have read and experienced over the years. The fat content in both those meats is low, also tenderloin does not have that much taste, it is tender, but chefs always put sauce on it, so its real self is hidden under the saucier's amazing port wine sauce or a peppercorn sauce. I put pork in my burgers, meatballs and meat sauce cause pork fat rules!! steve

I saw my Grandma use chicken fat or rendered pork fat to make dough for meat pies. I guess on the farm you have to make your own shortening, rendering some kind of fat, probably your own butter too, that stuff probably made great pies. Butter Fat Rules!! stovetop

Thanks Andy for putting my feelings into such a much more elegant and graceful way; I wanted to say so much but held back, I can not believe that someone can say so much (edm), but so little, if you have some solid issues please we are all eyes and ears. Your silence can and will say a lot if your position is not defended Vancouver dinning scene now is far from what you described. Andrey Durbach is one of the most passionate chefs I have worked with, he never settles for anything but perfection; John Bishop lives and breaths food, how much more passion do you need; Scott Kidd has been passionately and sometimes quietly toning his craft for years, when I first moved here ( BC) in 1989, he was at Gavroche, I love the food he did then and I still really respect his whole approach to food, he is a well educated and methodical chef, one of the best guys to work for, his passion for food is out there too. There have been a lot of chefs that have left BC, but one by one they return to this great province. Cause in the end they realize that to have passion one needs the palette of colours that a chef needs to furor the passion onto the canvas (plate). This is not France!!! Welcome to Canada Who has been winning the medals ( culinary Olympics)????????????

Wow; I am impressed with all the knowledge this site has with things pastry, there is a huge pool of resources and experiences that are bursting at the seems and exploding through my monitor and into my office I can just taste all the pies that everyone is making; an inspiration to make one myself. Thanks all steve

I think almost everyone has said their peace?? well said Pan; for me if there is a God, frug will get his judgement. Death though can be a bit final. stovetop

Me too; I don't get it. Last year I spent a whole summer on a farm in the Alberni valley, it really helped me bring energy to myself, replenishing my body and mind to get back in the kitchen and create, there is nothing like going to the garden and picking some food, walking back up to the house and making dinner. Sysco is not food I would like to recommend John Bishops movie Deconstructing supper, he really asks the right questions, I was really impressed with the whole movie. steve

From what I understand about the chemistry does not the milk fat have something to do with the good quality of the dough???

Good point!, I agree with you, question though which freezes better? jgarner53, good points too. I like butter my self, if it is a hot day, I will put ice in my water, then take it out before I make the pie, like jgarner53 says do not work your dough to much. Keep going and make more, you are now hooked on pies stovetop

Sorry I feel your pain, Sometimes I forget, I kind of had three moms, all could cook, all different, but all amazing in their own way, one was my birth mom, one was my dads second wife and one was a neighbor, I spent more time over there then my own house( parents). Dinner at our house was 6:30; dinner at my neighbors was about 5 sharp, I would go there and eat then go home and eat. My dad re-married when I was 18, Margo his new wife is a great entertainer and cook, once again different styles. All theses great woman cooks had some influence on me, Yes I know that not all moms were great cooks, but at least it was a skill and cultural thing that that woman learned and past down, from mother to daughter, but learning how to killing a roast beef is not a skill and one that needs to change, we have had fridges now for well over 60 years, so we do not need to kill our meat any more, but people still have to kill it, just like mom used to make, oh well?? It has not been until the last ten years that I have really pursued the cultural aspect of food, the whole restaurant style food is really killing me, all that fat, crap and Sysco food, I longed for home style food, started getting into my cultural background for a restaurant project, a Cajun based restaurant about ten years ago, and I have not looked back since, I really enjoy my own projects, I like to let the food speak for itself, food has no ego!!

shelora said: That is the problem with traditional French cuisine; how long can you live the past, and cook the same concept that Escoffier did 100 years earlier, to me the whole idea of cuisine is the ingredients not the chefs name or ego, like how many expensive ingredients can you fit into a dish, foie gras, truffle, why are we so hung up on all this stuff, it has all been done before, but he put it on a burger and you are original; this though is not the chefs fault, I wonder how many units he sold of those burgers last month, chefs are driven by you the critic and the customer. We could be like jazz players and hang out in a smoky bar playing Mingus all night long to a small audience or go play crap and make a living; this decision is tough for us cooks too, what would you do, the money or the food, pay your bills, or not. Being a "CHEF" as oppose to a "cook"; a chef to me is someone who engineers a menu, develops all the concepts research and style that goes into the menu, does he or she actually have to cook, well?? To me a good cook is someone who opens the fridge and looks inside, not much there, so what!!... they can make any thing out of nothing, 30 minutes later you have a great meal, now that is a chef to me. Some cooks can not cook at home, chefs fridges can be a sorry sight, it is a frightening thing, and how can one be so hot at work? But at home they are just ridiculously boring, go figure, what’s up with that?? To me that is a industrial thing, they learned how to cook industrial food and that is all they know, Mom is still the best teacher, cultural food rocks for me this is cooking, not some big name chef charging tones of money for expensive stuff, good dinning is those places cooking traditional (ethnic) home cook ethnic food that was once ruled by the imperialist, fusion food, they took the best thing from their victors when they left, mix it up, Bang!! (Sorry had to do it), now that is food. HBC Now that is Canadian!!!

I am Canadian born and raised chef , never been to Europe, and I have no plans as yet to go, I am having problems just getting out of Canada, my family has been here for three hundred years, I am a 39 year old who has been cooking as a pro longer then I want to remember, I think I washed dishes and slinged burgers when I was about 15, somewhere around 79 and cooking in Canada has changed a lot since then. My travels have taking me to TO twice, it was a 13 year gap between the two times living there. I was impressed with the variety of the Toronto scene in 2000, there was about 30 restaurants on Queen street and for about three blocks you would not see any similarities in the menus posted in the windows, this was an impresive thing for me to see, so much more variety and restaurant life compared to the Van scene in 2000 I am a chef and have worked many years before in the front of house, I have been a GM and chef and bottle washer, as a Canadian we do not feel it below us to get dirty in the pit, hell when you work in a small place you better get used to washing some dishes, from my personal experience, I have only seen a few Euros do that You said: “having West and Lumiere as flagships of the local gastronomy is a sad sign for Vancouver” Who says these restaurants are the flag ship; they are just two of many types of restaurants in Vancouver??? “Although those places might feel like a bargain for wealthy americans, i do think that they're usually overpriced for what they have to offer” My god if you come from TO they are a bargain, shop around, and check out the price difference. “. Lumiere used to be a good deal 5 years ago, when the tasting menu was about 75 bucks and the room half empty (when it didnt feel like being a anchovy packed in a tin)”. What the hell do people have with making some money and getting famous, why are we as Canadians so damb scared of success, I get the feeling we should all hide in a box??? “A night at Diva last year was a total joke. Although the room was nearly empty, the waiter (who had been working there for 5 years) still managed to forget my amuse and bring my glass of red wine 5 mn after i got my venison, and so on... Some of my friends were totally overlooked and poorly treated when going to Ouest and Sooke harbour house... Maybe we should just blaim ourselves for being locals, 25 years old and not wearing an Armani suit ?” I will get my Armani suite Ya, welcome to the Wet Coast, if you find a good waiter keep them!!! “Coming from Europe and being a chef, i have a very different idea of what a good meal should be in a high-end restaurant. i feel like Vancouver doesn' t have a solid craftsmanship and lack integrity, and that creativity in that context can only be disorientated (to say the least “ Which side of house are we discussing here; from what you say, it is not that clear to me, sorry????? “I had diner at Cafe Brio, really enjoyed the room, the very warm and sympathetic staff, the knowledgeable owner who takes great care of his wine list and who'll spend time with you figuring out your taste and mood to come up with the best match for what you've ordered. I had an excellent evening. Cooking and seasoning of the produce were under control, and you got the feeling that people working there were really enthousiastic and serious about what their profession. Lunch at Zambri's was really nice. Coutryside italian bistro cuisine. Simple and very flavourful fare. My friend had a duck ragu with sage for 9 bucks, and i felt truly happy to find this european bistro atmosphere, where workers from around come for a satisfying and unpretentious meal. Ah, yes, that was great and got me nostalgic. Their 5-urse tasting menu on saturday nights are without doubt worth a try.Spinnakers brew pub offers a great getaway from downtown Victoria. Good traditional brunch, and a pub fare that's conscious about produce, getting most of his veg from the island, wild fish and free-range poultry. For my last trip, i went to The aerie for lunch. Had some really good salt spring lamb, perfectly cooked, and could only look at the tasting menus with curiousity and envy. If anyone has had a meal there, please let me know about your experience. What i really appreciate when eating on the island is the authenticity and generosity of restaurateurs. They also seem to be commited to local produce and very organized as a community. The food is comparable to what you'd find in Vancouver, but the passion perspires. And that's contagious. Food wise, Vancouver is a very self-centered and self-satisfied city. I'd like to see chefs more humble and working on getting better. Cooking is a mode of expression and can be taken to the level of art (the most satisfying one ). So please, get out there in the woods, on the ocean, in the mountains. Open your eyes, get inspired by the unlimited natural wonders of British Columbia, think it over, and stop black-boxing your menus. Interpretate. Cultivate a terroir and drop the duck confit ! Yes I agree with your assessment about the island, it is why I now live on the Island; I am child like now, so much new things to learn, the whole Cowichan, Victoria, Sook, alerni alley, Tofino, Ucluet corridor is amazing. This year has been crazy times for us BC restaurant people, BSE—Mad cow—911---chickens, techela shortages ( oh shit that was a few years ago); why then is the state still charging huge bucks, any way cost are hard to keep in line. Local food rocks I am looking forward to more insight into your chefing adventures, welcome to the wet coast stovetop

Is that a Cologne??

Let’s see here, is this based on the fact that the pastry chef won't do a cake, or are we just talking about someone who just assumes that it is OK to bring in a cake without inquiring right!! Well if like you said in the US you would get sued then, this is what I would do if I actualy had a pastry chef; have always some different cakes in the freezer, take their cake back to the kitchen replace with one of the pasrty chefs famouse chocoltae cake, throw the candles and all the fixings into the restaurant cake and bring it out, will I get sued if I was to do this, on the way out bring the cake they brought in, back to them?? Life is full of solutions,there must be one in this situation, there is always a way out.

paul mitchell said: Yes; please tell us more, I too enjoy a different point of view. thanks stovetop

You could always have them sign a waver, in Canada it would probably save your ass, I do not know law in the States but from what I have seen, you sure do sue each other a lot more then we do??? stove