Daddy-A

I thought her name was Mulva. The only "odd" thing I found in the report was how you started by saying "go ethnic", and then the first glowing review you gave was for Go Fish! I agree with you completely, but it just struck me as odd. Nice report ... thanks for making it. A.

Ouch! I guess my point Sam was that IMO, a business shouldn't open it's doors until ready to do so. Seems a strage business practice for an establishe company ... Thai Terrace. Noted ... thanks! A.

I tried to have lunch there on Tuesday, only to be greeted with a sign saying something about the hours being "irregular" until they get things "worked out" (staff training, etc.) Must be nice to hit the ground limping like that. Unfortunately, my experience afterwards wasn't as happy as I had an appointment to keep and ended up with Pad Thai from Thai Away Home. It was OK, but it weren't no Cambodian Jungle Currey! A.

"Hello, Pot? Yes, this is Kettle calling. Um ... you're black The difference with you OG, is that at least you talk about stuff outside of your "work experience" Yeah, what he said. I have no trouble with what Don is doing. Hell, we've all got to eat, and I don't suppose his Podcasts rake in the dough. A.

It turns out my wife & I will be in Paris the very weekend of this year's Fête (Website). Since I'm awlays willing to take one for the team, I'll be sure to bring the camera and post anything "interesting." A.

Henry & Lorna, J, the boys & I just got back from vacation yesterday and I was thrilled as all get-out to see you guys had blogged while we were away. Not that I wanted to miss it, but if I had have been home while the blog was running I would have been completely ignoring anything work-related. Both J & I have spent the better part of this morning reading your adventures, and wiping the drool off each others' chins. Really awesome stuff. Since I've known Lorna for a couple years, and have had the chance to meet Henry on a couple of occaisions, the chemistry shown during this blog was not a surprise. You're a good team, and it shows in so many areas of your lives. My favorite moment from this past week? Amen brother. A. ps - Part II of the Lorna & Lo Show needs to take place on this side of the 49th!

I work really close to Tomato so I've had more than just a few lunch's there over the past few years. Personally, I prefer their ToGo menu. They've just added a really good Reuben sandwich, and the Coco Loco cookies are always good. I agree completely with the service issues, and the fact that it just feels over-priced ... in a "holy crap I can't believe lunch added up to $50!!" sort of way. More often than not I walk by Tomato to Thai Away Home or some such place. A.

It's been a while since the Gulf Islands have been mentioned. My wife J, my two sons and I frequent this part of the province for our summer vacations ... 3 out of the past 4 years have been in the Gulf Islands with the misfit 4th being on Vancouver Island. Let's just say we like the ocean Our trip this year was to Galiano Island. the "Gem of the Gulf Islands." We rented a beautiful cottage on the east side of the island and spent the majority of the time cooking our own meals. Our usual m.o. is to seek out local products to incorprate into our meals. Most islands have a farmers' market of sorts, and Galiano is no exception. Unfortunately, the local market on Galiano is mostly craft related. Not that this is a bad thing mind you, just not what we were looking for in the way of food. The Galiano market is held Saturday mornings at the Lion's Hall. We had a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun (home made that morning!) and then discovered we had to also wash our own dishes! While washing my mug I discovered from the cinnamon bun lady that Galiano doesn't produce much in the way of it's own food as there is very little arable land, and water is an extrememly prescious resouorce. There is however, Trincomali Farms: Not so much a fruits & veggies stand as a help-yourself-and-please-leave-money-in-the-bucket sort of place. We picked up a few heirloom tomatoes and some tomatilos for $5. The owner also has a couple Clydesdales that she hopes to use to bring the veggies to market for next summer. Another place to pick up your food can be found in Montague Harbour, on the west side of the island. Posters like this can be found on the bulletin board at the marina. Of course, if baking is more your style: This is the Atrevida. She sails out of Maple Bay on Vancouver Island, sits herself in Montague Harbour, and bakes ... bread, cinnamon buns, cobler (pre-order required). The folks at Galiano Island Kayaking swear by them and even offered me a kayak if I wanted to go pick up fresh bread in the morning. I passed ... to much like work We did manage a couple meals out. There are many options on Galiano, from burgers & sandwiches to fine dining ... the web site I linked at the top covers them all. We had lunch one afternoon at the Daystar Market Cafe. Pretty simple stuff with very friendly service. Juevos Rancheros Bagel, Lox, Cream Cheese & Salad Smoked Turkey Sandwich, Cherry & Raspberry Soup I think I made the chef's day by ordering the soup. All was really tasty. J spotted this sign on the way to our cabin: At the bottom, the sign reads: "Purveyors of the finest pub food anywhere" A pretty ambitious claim that we inteded to sort out for ourselves. Onion Rings Cod Burger Seafood Club - ordered because the Swimming Scallops weren't available Fish & Chips Hummingbird Burger - Bacon, Cheddar, Onions All in all a fine pub-food meal. The burger was one of the best I've had in a while even though my 15 y.o. son was so selfish he's only let me have a tiny bite! The cod in the fish & chips and the burger was really nice. Very moist and not greasy at all. My club sandwich was ... meh. But at least they called the mock crab pollock and not "mock crab." Was it the "Finest Pub Food Anywhere"? Well, for my sons, perhaps ... especially considering it was their first (I hope!) pub meal. One last thing about The Humming Bird ... they also offer a shuttle service to various points around the Island, all ending up at the pub of course. Nice of them to get you home safe, don't you think? Our last meal on Galiano was breakfast the morning we left. We had seen this stand ... ... down by the ferry dock when I went to pick up my oldest son on the Monday ferry. This is Max & Moritz's Spicey Island Food. German & Indonesian cuisine? Sounds like a perfect way to start the day! And just look what they have on the menu (Item #9): Currywurst!! This is one place I'll definitely come back to try again. Very friendly folks, and really in love with what they do. There are many more places on Galiano we'll try on another trip. After all, there's only so much eating you can do when you'd rather be looking at this: A.

Does this mean I don't ket a key to the VIP room? Sounds like you've got a big project ahead. You sticking to jazz fr the music? A.

Welcome to Vancouver, where the "dress code" is just a suggestion. I have to agree with a couple other comments upthread Kent. You're of course entitled to your own opinion, but the "dress code" comment seems a bit odd, especially when contrasted with your other statement: Inspiring? Really? I can think of a dozen people who do this exact sort of thing (cheese, meat, wine) in their own homes every Friday night, yours truly included. It's hardly a new idea, so "inspired" seems a bit strong. What impressed me about Salt was the fact that once again Sean & co. have created a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Bringing this concept to Blood Alley took some courage and foresight. Now, if city council would just fast-track the Whitecaps Stadium I could have some Pinot & prosciutto before watching the beautiful game in the world's most beautiful city! A.

But without Waiterblog & Waiterforum, where will he get ideas for who to review? A.

I was going to suggest killing the vegans and feeding them to the rest ... but it looks like you don't need to worry about that now! A.

You can do as many as will fit. I have done as many as four, or I guess three and a half, but over on the Weber Bullet site there are stories from folks about even more by doing mods to the cooker. Both racks are meant to be used. 4 10 pounders may be pushing it for space, but I would do whatever fits ← You should be able to fit 2 butts of that size onto one rack. It really depends on the shape, but there's usually a fat end and a skinny end, so if you stagger them they'll fit. The only trouble is on the top rack where the dome shaped lid on the WSM makes the surface area a little smaller. MMMMMMM. 4 butts at once! A.

You see what happens when you leave the roost for an evening Neil? (And before any of you go nutso over the beating comment, I'm almost 100% sure he's kidding. ) My last 3? Taco Shack - My 12 y.o declared these even better than the tacos in Mexico! Definitely the best of the 3 visits I've made, convincing me it's best to eat them ASAP after ordering. Salt - Meat, cheese, wine & chocolate for dessert. Sure, I'll hurdle a few winos for another visit. Dairy Queen - after a belated birthday rib-fest last night, my stomach just wanted something cool. Chocolate milkshake. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM A.

For $10,000 for a "fridge", it oughta better work perfectly! Well, with that POV you'd better not go buy a Ferrari either A.

Having dealt with SZ for almost 15 years now, I can honestly say I see nowhere near the problems with them in my professional life as I do here on eGullet. I've read the Consumer Reports, and have in fact had SZ's go "lemon" on my clients ... but not as much as seems to happen here. I think it's a case of "I just spent $10K on this fridge ... why the hell doesn't it work PERFECTLY?" My point is, SZ didn't get it's reputation and market share by building crappy fridges. Having said that ... Thermador, GE Monogram and Viking all offer really good product. Do they have the "name" offered by SZ? Nope. But imo they offer much better bang-for-buck. A.

I just had a very similar thing happen with our freezer ... except it involved a bottle of vodka knocking the "COLD" dial to a not-so-cold setting. Bottom line, pretty much everything was found in a partially frozen state. I found just as many sources on the internet that say "don't worry about it" as said "even partially thawed should be tossed." Seems it's really a chicken breast by chicken breast situation. In the end, I tossed out 4 thighs and a couple backs I was keeping for stock. While I was 90% sure it was okay, the 10% risk of getting sick more important than the few dollars it would take to replace the chicken. A.

Okay, this may be naiive, but why can't we just buy direct from the supplier? I can buy corn, wine, bread, etc. etc. direct from the supplier, why not fish? I suspect it's the DFO or some such government body, but it seems really strange to me that I can go over to the Sunshine Coast, or Saltspring Island, and the best I can do for buying fish is frozen salmon caught in the Charlottes! A.

*sigh* If only Coop were here to read all this. Parkside is one of my top 3 or 4 patios in the city (except when the locals decide to toke up just on the other side of the hedge). Strage though that I've never been any time other than the summer. A.

Okay ... I feel like a total moron. I've been reading along with the rest of you, and it wasn't until I saw the pictures of the party, that I realized that TexNewMex hadn't been eating the BBQ along the way but was in fact saving it for the party. I damn near yelled out loud when I saw the curry dinner, which I thought was on top of 4 or 5 BBQ meals! I'm still impressed, just slightly less so now. We have NOTHING like this in British Columbia. I am utterly and completely jealous ... and am looking into air fares as we speak. A.

Since we don't know what those expectations were, it's difficult to say. If you were expecting "tasty" by Greek Festival standards (over salted and covered in garlic & olive oil) then yes, by all accounts, you would have been disappointed in the lamb at Pear Tree. Nothing wrong with either, but the comparison has me at a loss. A.

Amen! A.

Why? ← Gee Jeff ... you must have missed Marcus's sig line In his defense, Fish is in Kits. Then again, so is Watermark. Joana, the other question I forgot to ask was if you would be mobile (car), or not. A.

Dear God Talent! You are one sharp MF! A.

Joana, As you can imagine, your question has been asked (and answered) numerous times. So rather than repeat was has already been said, this collection of threads is a really good place to start. It might also help to know what sort of price range, and cuisine preferences you might have. Check out the "Best of" thread (link above) first, and then ask specifics here afterwards. Boyfriend not a foodie? Send him to Stanley Park and do the serious eating on your own! A.