Daddy-A

Thanks for the welcome everyone! The encouragement is serving me well this morning, as I didn't sleep to well last night You see ... Mr. Mooshmouse & I (aw hell, his name is Ian!) go for an extended bike ride every monday afternoon. I'm not hurting fro the ride, but rather from the fall I took in the middle of the Lions Gate Bridge [insert collective AWWWWWWW here]. Other than the fall, it was a great ride. Started at Kit's Beach, over Burrard Bridge, to Stanley Park ... through the Park to the Lion's Gate Bridge, fall ... ride up into the British Properties, across to the Cleveland Dam ... back over Lions Gate, through Stanley Park, through English Bay and back to Kits. Did I mention the weather has been very nice lately? 17C (64F) and sunny. Anyway, I'm a little stiff this morning. Time for breakfast: This is the Java Altar in our home. It will be making a regular appearance at this time every day. Guess which mug is mine, and which one is J's We re-fresh our mug supply everytime we go to Disneyland. They're looking kinda old don't you think? I use JJ Bean "Nero Forte" beans for my espresso. The portafilter only holds enough for a single shot, so I pull it a little long for our morning lattes. JJ Bean's newest store is on my visit list today, so more on them later. I'm a creature of habbit. This is my breakfast 90% of the time, with the dry cereal switching between Vector, Raisin Bran or whatever looks good at Costco. Breakfast & the morning news. First "hobbit feet" comment gets a virtual whack on the head! More in a few ... A.

Is it bad form to start Foodblog admitting to be lightly intimidated? I mean, seriously, having to follow Kew & Tepee's blog is like a comic having to follow Robin Williams! I hope I am worthy. My name is Arne Salvesen, I'm 39 (40 in August - egads!) and live in Burnaby, BC, Canada which is the next municipality east of Vancouver - home of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games Bottom line, I'm no more than 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver. My family consists of my two sons (who gave me the Daddy-A handle) who live with their mother in Pitt Meadows (we'll be making a trip there this week), my wife "J", and our two Jack Russel Terriers, Ringo & Gromit, who graciously allow us to share our home with them. I'll be posting dog pictures later, but in the meantime my avatar will have to suffice. My connection to the "food" scene is completely amateur in nature. Never worked in a restaurant and have only really thought about it as a "hobby" over the last couple years. Professionaly some of you already know I am a Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD), so that is probably my closet "professional" connection. My web site is in my sig line, or you can PM if you'd like more information. Still, one of the greatest joys I have in life is cooking for my family & friends, or enjoying a meal out in one of the most vibrant food scenes anywhere. That is what I hope to share with you this week: a small sampling on how Daddy-A cooks & eats his way through a week in Vancouver. We'll visit some of the better known places, but I hope to also introduce you to something new. Along the way we'll also meet a few of the local eGulleters, and see what I can do with my brand new Weber Smokey Mountain! Heaven help my waistline! A.

North-East corner of Commercial & East 4th Ave. Nice place ... in a minimalist kinda way A.

Now you're just being mean Besides, no true Canadian would ever consider wasting even a drop of good beer. A.

Yes, no worries at all. Just make sure whoever makes the countertops understands that the cabinest are "full-overlay" and will require "build-up". i.e. you don't want the front edge of the countertops hanging in front of the doors. A.

Wow! I have to admitt when I saw the original layout, and then heard you mention you were looking for a 48" range, I did this: The plan looks really workable ... the backdoor is a great addition! A couple questions: Where are you sourcing your cabinets? What kind (wood, painted, etc.) The eating bar extending into the dining room ... is it raised or the same level as the other countertops? The countertops to the right of the fridge ... any specific use for them? What kind of countertops? A.

Dang ... that explanation was just a little disappointing At least make something up! Personally, I'd go with the "trapeze" explanation A.

Other than your last idea Bruce, nothing explains the ceiling yet. I'm perplexed! A.

Like a built in smoke-house? I was thinking it might have to do with providing a secure anchor for the shelves that will be going in the pantry. But that wouldn't explain the ceiling. A trapeze perhaps? A.

Wow! Can you tell my wife about the plasma screen tv I need? A.

Maybe I missed this part of the thread, but I'm wondering why the walls & ceiling of the pantry are lined with plywood. Is this a "southern" requirement, or can I learn something from this A.

Fifi, Here yah go! Sorry ... I just really like this range and am living vicariously through this thread. A.

Dropped by Lilykate this morning ... Neil wasn't around for a free cuppa so I had to shell out! Americano was good ... pastry (Orange Curd Bar) was nice & flaky, not too sweet. Good choice for the coffee. I like the room a lot ... but would like it better if it was about 1/2 the size! It feels like a caffeteria in there. Perhaps that was the point. Maybe I'm just getting tired of bright hard surfaces and 16' ceilings. Agree about the prices for entrees, although the Anerican & pastry only set me back $4.50 which is pretty damn good in my books. A.

Deborah (not Debra) is into Radiohead. Not sure how she feels about Beck. Think it's time to kill this tread A.

Ummm Keith? It's WWE now. They lost out to the Pandas (World Wildlife Fund) a couple years back. Don't ask why I know ... or care I stopped counting at 4 typos ... *Deborah* would make a year's salary with this one! A.

What's with the Rockford Files theme music? A.

I feel so OLD! Just don't ask Ling about "Welcome Back Kotter" A.

Again, I quote the illustrious shelora ... A couple really great ideas contained therein. Pit barbecue ... design the restaurant so that during the warmer months the roof would open up and have the pit "outside." Don't you think Lower Mainlanders would jump at the chance to have a fire on the beach ... with a nice Pinot The specialty salts, dired chiles ... all good draws as well. Well, if we could get Carlos Santana as the house band, I think we'd have a slam dunk! A.

What? We don't get a report? Whaddya order?? A.

Just to show you all what a food-geek I am ... I thought of this idea as I was driving out to Pitt Meadows to see my kids this afternoon. I was so worried that somebody would beat me to it that I raced home... but only after I had a wonderful relaxing walk with my sons along the Alouette River Dykes I've been thinking about this topic for a while now. Really been enjoying the posts, but wanted to take a more serious look at the idea. The first question that popped into my mind was "What sort of food is not well represented in the Lower Mainland?" On the way out to Pitt Meadows it hit me ... Mexican. We were talking about it in this thread (CLICK-OLÉ) a while back, and IIRC we came up with a pretty good definition of what we're missing in the way of true Mexican cuisine. Time to fix that. The cuisine works well with the Jericho location ... but I have another idea Inspired by the recent "Sobo Moves" thread (CLICK-OFINO) , I thought that a couple of taco trucks cruising the city might be in order. There could be some liscencing issues here, but that's somebody else's problem. I'm an idea guy. In addition to the restaurant, we'd have two trucks cruising the city during the warmer months. One truck would be, say, green, and the other, say, blue. The menu in each truck would be slightly different, so as to create a desire to seek out the other truck. Neil: I had a great Ahi-Taco (sorry - I couldn't say it ) at the Green Truck yesterday. Joie: Those are great, but you gotta have the Mole Chicken from the Blue Truck! Of course, all items would be available at the restaurant, plus daily specials. In the Mexican thread I linked to above, shelora already outlines a great menu: Then there's the bar: Is that enough to start with? A.

Thanks a bunch Moosh! I just gained 20lbs just looking at those pictures. I should at least get the pleasure of eating the dessert that goes along with all the guilt! A.

Kinder Bueno has washed up on our shores recently. My kids (okay, me too ) were always fans of Kinder-Suprise eggs. Bueno just allows me to enjoy my Kinder fix as an adult. Milk chocolate covered wafers with chocolate cream inside. Nice & lite with a rich hit inside. Isn't Duplo really big Lego for babies? A.

Definitely making stock. Not only because to me it represents the act of caring for my family, but also because it involves so many other theraputic tasks ... chopping, peeling (with my new Wustof paring knife!), skimming, tasting ... I also enjoy filetting fish. I learned from an old employer who I still buy my fish from. It's something that I can do that neither of my parents can do ... or my wife for that matter. It makes me feel "needed." A.

I only caught the last few minutes of the battle. It looked to me like Donna wasn't taking the whole thing all that seriously. He was laughing and throwing flour around. It doesn't make for very dramatic television, but you gotta admire the guy's outlook. A.

From the Godiva's Web Site (über-clic): So now it's a hip show with a message?? A.