stovetop

Ya!!...; that is it exactly, you are eating on the run at work, so you go for the straight line, so sometimes that something worked, you go with it for a while, mine for a while was the pork loin for my poor boys heated wtih creole sauce, put on rice and sides of red beans. God I loved it, if I ws really hungry i would grill some chorizo. steve

We need some decent food media here on the Can west coast; so do not feel so dirty, you gave a milk crate, so people could express their desires for better food media, we should just start our own, ha ha ha !!! stove

If it is; that is a very big cat?? stovetop

Oh Shit!!!..; I forgot about that?? Have video games at the dinner table, serious gamers? stovetop

Communication!!!...; it is an amazing thing, …yes; you should have expressed your feelings right away, ask questions, what's going on???; from there you at least know what’s going on, you can always bail, you can always just proceed and hope for your best, It is a fast food restaurant, so the level of professionalism is not that high, the manager is on his/her own, a captain fighting a war with a bunch of rookies. stovetop

paul mitchell I look forward to your reports. there is so much out there paul and the marketing here on the island is terrible, the BC gov is not doing tourism any justice, just because they get the Olympics does it mean they know what tourism is, they have a lot to learn, BC is a fractured palette of colorful business' on their own, we need to work together rather then fighting each other, the pub association looking after their interest; chefs after theirs, restaurant owners after theirs and so on, we are all in the same boat and must start acting accordingly. here is a toast to a great future on the island, many jewels in the making stovetop

A chef is as good as his or hers raw product; no matter how good a chef is, if he/she uses garbage, garbage in, garbage out...; the trend in Toronto is chefs leaving the shackles behind, leaving all the constraints of any particular cuisine and finding the best product and letting the product speak for itself...;gone is Freud’s interpretation of penis envy, hockey pucks full of potato, topped to the heavens; coming back is good proteins with real stocks and sauces with seasonal local vegetables, the farmer is going to be a local hero and the chef will be the partner and developer to an amazing taste, Canada is home to cultures all over the world, you can not help as a chef to be influenced by all this great food, a next generation of fusion but without all the confusion going on, the best product mixed with the best of many cuisine, although one must have the basics down, which is the key element to this next trend, there is a lot of chefs now in Toronto who have been plugging it out for years, they will lead the next wave, they are ambitious and content to work with the farmer and move to the next level of the game of food. open your minds and stomach to the next generation of Canadian chefs and imports, the new generation of eaters is graduating from high Scholl, they will bring their worldly stomachs and experiences to the table, I can hardly wait, because they will help lead us to some amazing eating and are way more open minded to this next trend, not so bitter and jaded to what has gone down, fresh minds and stomachs to experience what is in front of them, plus there is a lot of them, the echo is being heard in every market of the food business, if you do not look after their needs you will not be in business for very long, they make up now a big chunk of the market, this in itself is the new trend; you better get used to it, because they are not going any where, they are just getting older, they can drink and eat there way around the world of Canadian Cuisine, their parents have come from Jamaica, Africa, Middle East, India, south America, Europe, Asia, United States and many another points of the world, they went to school with kids of many skin colors and have experienced things that many of the last generation did not. I can hardly wait. In Vancouver they already have a huge influence on the market...; from what I have seen so far I really like. stove

Have to put all that drug money somewhere; nobody even bats an eye at a million dollar loss, fun for a year or two, free drinks, food, and drinks for all my friends. stovetop where do you think all the money in the seventies went??

In Canada you can put a taxable benefit on your staffs check like 2.00 a shift, for them it is a taxable benefit , for you it is a right off, thus not affecting your food costs. stovetop

paul mitchell that is stovetop another BC'er Keith you could always buy it already done; I have been to many A Filipino BBQ, they are experts at this sort of thing, Van has to have a few catering co that could do this, or break out and go hog crazy and do the biggest shin dig any body on the block has ever seen.

Hey paul what do you know about Eagle Nook Wilderness Resort it is in the other sound, the Barkely sound. thanks stovetop

good luck chasmartel. You have a tough road ahead stovetop

Yes on both Beet soup boil the beets set aside; cool, peel beets cut into chunks, add to soup at very end make a good chicken broth add large chunks carrots and cellery saute some onions with garlic bay leafs and thyme, add to stock; simmer add lentils or potato or any starch or carbos because carbs rule/ calories cause fat not carbs/ lack of exercise yum stovetop

Yes, that is a good idea, I have began to have those same kind of thoughts, Some kind of secondary products that you can outsource, open day hours, close two days a week, no nights, stay away from the booze, not so many restrictions, I personely feel that booze is not always the huge cash cow, at least up here in the great white north, big brother gets most of the money any way. stovetop

Tim D; I too have desires to once again don the multi hats and embark on the restaurant train, it is my life; I started in 1979 in Edmonton Alberta at highlands golf course; this summer job has turned into a life long obsession with things that are restaurants and food, I enjoy opening restaurants which is one of the most challenging things to do, it utilizes all the brains powers and problem solving skills, nothing ever goes exactly what was planed, I have made those journey on other peoples money as well as my own money, most of the projects I have done where on subleases or contracts, so not too much money was lost, the last one I did was in whistler BC, I lost a years income and a few brain cells, but I feel it was worth the experience, I am not married but know many in the business who have experienced the pressures that the business can have on a relationship, the partner has to be fully engaged with you so their is no hard feelings, both being involved in the business helps but still it can put huge pressure on the relationship and marriage, if children are involved, even more challenges, will be faced. I am still looking now for a business venture but I have streamed lined my concept to be a small business that can have more then one income center, I want more control over the hours of operation, thus controlling the amount of time needed to spend in business; the one thing I did learn is that you do not make more money opening more hours, I found that all that happens is costs increase, but not profit. Staff is a big headache, I do not enjoy baby sitting staff, and just being a employment and tax collector for the government, so if I do it again; I would have very limited staff and only open the hours that I can be there. This would alleviate some of my frustrations with the business. I believe in this day and age it is hard to make a living if you only have one income center; you need something that brings in money of site; like catering or some kind of wholesale or service that you can provide with increasing your capital cost. I have been researching this for about ten years and feel that I think I have something but now I must get all those ducks in a row like getting rid of personnel debt, get some cash flow, find a suitable town or city to try again, or maybe just get out like you did, oh what webs we weave. stovetop

Thank-you again Merlin stovetop

Nice addition to the thread; Tim D. I hope you are not completely jaded about your restaurant experience?? I have been there a few times my-self, so I understand the scenario. stovetop

chasmartel and merlin; both of you had great timing with the weather which was amazing on the island, I am glad both of you had a great time. chasmartel nice story on the drive in vancouver, it is one of Vancouvers great neibourhoods. stovetop from mid island port alberni

Fat Guy you have a very funny sense of humor; you are joking are you not?? stovetop I am the cook who likes cooking your well done steaks, I just mark the steak off, season nicely and put in my 500 degree oven, I never go all the way to well done, my understanding is people who eat well done do not like any blood or color, let it rest, put on plate, if you are with a group, the cook has to learn to time the steaks with your steak, I think cooks might have a hard time with timming these days?? Oh!! One other variable; the beef these days suck, I miss my Alberta beef, Aussie beef is not as good, to lean and grainy and taste like ba!

Adding pork is good advice, use the same idea and make burgers, or what ever, the fat in the pork will keep the deer from getting to dry, it will add flavour but will not dominate the deer. It will also increase the volume if you wanted to feed more with less. YUM YUM enjoy stovetop

lol stovetop

What are you on Keith; Hawaii is a great place, there are bad restaurants every where; when it is -40 below, would anybody leave Maui and go to Calgary for their Christmas holidays, I do not think so, Alberta drops a few thousand every Jan, where do you think they go???........ Maui or any other Island, there is more to Hawaii then Maui and tourist traps, do not blame the great gods of Hawaii because you can not do better booking and go somewhere different then the traps. stovetop

Vancouver is a place with a bunch of hippies who eat granola, the Naam would not exist in any other city with that horable and inconsistent service they have there, every time I go there it like every body is stoned, oh wait a minute is not every one in Vancouver stoned?? They all wear fleece and donate money to green peace; come on every one in Calgary wears a cowboy hats and boots. What the hell is a Calgary food writer doing at the Naam any way, she must be getting ready to move to Vancouver, she probably is buying fleece at the co-op too. stovetop

The basic four things are the same no matter where you are in the world you buy the food, make the food, sell the food, collect the money, then buy more food. The menu is very important, the atmospher is key, who do you want to sell too, who are you??; what kind of place do you want to spend all your time at, so you better open something that you will enjoy, Mornings and lunch are very important to peoples day, they are usualy in a hury, going to something, coming from something, they are hungry, want it now, it is a meal that you can get someone every day, so you will have very regular customers; thus you got to like these people, in the end it make life so much better. Keep the cost down, especialy opening cost, your debt load has to be low, just like the lease, watch your labour, keep it simple, less staff the more money in your pocket, instead of theirs. count the pennies stovetop cafe's have a way better average then high end restaurants low cost better returns

Does it have enzymes that break down the protiens or gluten??? So you do not have to work the dough stovetop