Daddy-A

That's the one attached to La Rustica & La Lorraine. The old joke there was that when an entre left the kitchen, it either received a cream sauce and then went to La Lorraine, or a tomato sauce and then to La Rustica. Pretty average fare. Burger Haven (77 10th Street) springs to mind - really good burgers. There's also The Waffle House (600 block of 6th Street) for more basic fare. They've been there a long time so they must be doing something right. The Keg is down near The Quay along with The Boathouse. Unfortunately, you're essentially in a restaurant wasteland. Hop the Skytrain to Commercial drive. That's what we do here in North Burnaby when The Pear Tree is beyond our budget A.

No worries Neil ... tourists get the "export" BOV. The good stuff stays here. A.

How about a whole mess of tour guides who can direct you to one or two places to eat? I was teasing Jamie yesterday that Tourism BC must be paying him a hefty fee for all this publicity. The fact is, that he, like myself and others from this part of the world, LOVE this place. Truly and honestly. We just want the rest of you to come visit. Oh, and bring your appetites. And then go home. BC is full. A.

In 2006, I will eat better, but less frequently. I will make more stuffed pasta. I will find a real butcher in the area. With thanks to jsolomon I will learn more about wine & pairing. I will teach my wife how to use our new Nuova Simonelli OSCAR Espresso Machine (she's scared of it at the moment). I will read more recipes before actually starting to cook. This is the year I will try to make my own sausage and pate. I will taste life. I will use up that jar of duck fat in the freezer. I will give my family more time. I eat, therefore I am. We need more people to join us at the Oregon Brewers Festival in 2006. My kids are the reason I learned how to cook. For that, and for them, I am forever grateful. A.

Indeed I did ... and I'm completely surprised Jim let you take his picture!! Or at least didn't charge you for the privilege! Without reservation this is my go-to place for Seafood. On that subject ... do you find that Vancouver (or coastal BC for that matter) has a surprisingly low amount of locally-sourced seafood suppliers and/or restaurants? Case in point, when my son & I were camping up the Sunshine Coast last summer, we were completely unable to find a store that carried a) a decent selection of seafood, b) much in the way of local seafood, and c) anything that wasn't frozen! All we wanted were a few oysters and in the coastal community of Gibsons we struck out. A.

I forgot to ask you Jamie ... please be sure to query Michael on his experience in Lynchburg, TN at the JD BBQ Championships with Canadian Champ, Ron Shewchuck. I think Michael has been bitten by the BBQ bug, and it would be interesting to see if there's been any influence on his cuisine or the wine (Fume Blanc anyone?). A.

I wouldn't think they'd have the strength! Seriously though ... can't we all just get along? I see Moosh has mentioned Yogi's ... their Tandoori-Cauliflower is really awesome. Problem is I always end up dropping by Memphis Blue for my protein fix afterwards. Pretty much any Indian restaurant can handle the needs of the few vegetarians I know. A.

[host] Enough of the Furniture Store stroll down memory lane please. [/host] I'll second the Hamilton Street Grill, and add the Steak Frites at Salade des Fruites. A.

This, folks, is what I'm waiting for! Chocolate & charcuterie! What a week! Too bad the icewine harvest couldn't have happened last week when we had the cold snap. Ah well .. a little late harvest never hurt anything, except perhaps the winemakers' pocket books. A.

[host] Title has been changed to avoid confusion. A. [/host]

One might want to send DutchMuse a PM. Certainly a more direct approach .... A.

Well, considering they park next to me ... It's a very good pizza. Not great, but very good. My sons and I eat there whenever we go to a show or a game after work. Thin crust, good (although a tad too much IMO) sauce and an interesting selection of toppings. Web Site HERE It's not my favorite pizza in town, but my favorite (Marcello's at the moment, that is when I don't make it at home) is not close enough to the showroom to pull me away fro Firewood Cafe. A.

[host] Yes indeed there are MANY and they're all over in General Food Topics. Jamie started this thread to get a sense of what tips were like in Vancouver & Western Canada. This is not a thread to discuss tipping etiquette. Any comments that are not germaine to regional tipping will be removed. This includes thinly veiled comments like: "I refuse to tip 15% on a bottle of wine in Western Canada becasue an expensive bottle of wine costs no more to decant than a cheaper wine ..." You get my point. This is a REGIONAL thread folks ... keep the discussion REGIONAL. A. [/host]

It was Gordon Fitzpatrick ... he's been doing the rounds this week. Heard him on CKNW with Bill Good the day before. Congrats to them! A.

The one on cambie just burned down about 6 weeks ago or something. I think it was a little longer ago than that ... ... but there's still the Firewood Cafe (3000 block cafe ... right next to this really cool kitchen design studio ) that fires up their oven at around 3 every day, filling the air around the neighbourhood with that wonderfull campfire smell. The pizza's not bad either. *sigh* Must be the snow .... A.

[host] Thank you Kurtis ... I couldn't have said it better myself. A. [/host] Even though I spend a lot of time on-line (doh!) I still prefer booking things like tables over the phone. Something about the personal touch and being able to "tweek" the time to suit specific needs. However, I do use it when traveling out of town (Seattle, Portland, etc) to save LD charges. More money to spend on food .... A.

Y'all have Way too much time on your hands! So are we actually getting together to try this Turbogasm? A.

Well, he did grow up in Burnaby ... so I wasn't really surprised. My guess is he's looking at the Brentwood Town Centre area to open in. There are a lot of new Condo/Retail spaces going up along the Skytrain tracks. It would be very cool if he went into the bottom of the new towers at the Holdom station. It would be just a roll down the hill for me! A.

Memo, What can I say? Truly that belongs in the eGullet "Best Posts of 2005" category. A.

[host] We need to bring this thread back to a local focus. That means discussion of ... whether or not schools can/should be responsible for our children's diet whether or not schools can/should raise funds through junk food sales what foods our kids like/dislike etc etc etc ... while all valid discussion points, do not belong in this forum. There are numerous threads in General Food Topics for these more generic topics. Thanks A. [/host]

Yet another Chef "uncloaked"! Welcome Karen! And thanks for your input! What I'm wondering is how effective you feel you can be through the BC school system. I may be way off base here, but my impressions are that there are not a lot of school lunch programmes in our system, at least not outside of the high schools. How can you affect change outside of the schools? Do you feel Shirley Bond and the current government will work with you (or anyone else for that matter) or will you always be fighting the "budget battle"? A.

[host] Let's keep this thread focussed on local financial/economic issues. There are lots of threads on the trials and tribulations of opening a restaurant in General Food Topics. In order for this thread NOT to be moved, it needs to stay regional. Thanks A. [/host]

I'm sure Rob enjoyed that. I see Vikram Vij several times a week as he lives very near the showroom. Do I get an extra diamond on my eGullet ring? Welcome pastrychefwanttobe! A.

These were questions that were running through my mind when I saw the Barnaby story this morning. My oldest son only just started being able to buy his lunch at school ... and the cafeteria there isn't much more than a place that makes fries and re-heats pizzas. I know there are inner-city lunch programmes, but I don't know how many schools (percentage wide) offer them. A.

So anyone wanting to join the Advanced Serious Foodie course at NWCAV .... yah need to get in line behind me! They're taking registration now. It's only 6 weeks and $550. Info HERE. Need to get a boning knife ... A.