Daddy-A

Trust me, Food Network Canada sucks just as baddly. This is really reminiscent of the Dumbing Down of the Western Palate thread. Food Network, and any of the specialty networks are facing the fact that there just aren't enough niche viewers to make such channels profitable. Solution: appeal to a wider variety of viewers. A Cook's Tour is a great example of a show that appeals to food lovers, but when FN wanted to appeal to a wider audience, they suggested that Tony not go to so many "foreign" places. I guess Mall of America makes for "better" television. A.

Chunky's Choice. I'm sure that Intrawest could sell it to Ben and Jerry. Named for "Chunky" Woodward. My profile, circa 1971, is embedded on a fir tree on the starboard side of the run. Not by choice. Damn! Here I was actually working and I missed the quiz! I knew that one too. A.

Not going for a repeat of your Thanksgiving dinner Neil?? Champagne at the Wedgewood? Now that's damned civilized ... just gotta figure out where to ditch the kids! A.

Sean(s), I'm no Angelina Jolie, but I'm in on this collaborative. I have a connection in the historical community that may help as well. There have been efforts with other buildings, but I don't know of any pertaining to the restaurant industry in particular. Great idea! A.

Now that I've met Ling, I have only one question ... Where the hell do you put it all??? 1/2 a box of Almond Roca would have finished me for the day! A.

Frances you rock!! A.

maxmillan, Would this have been a local broadcast only? If not, you might want to post it in Food & Media so other Candian eGulleters can comment. I'd really be interested in hearing the show. A.

What about Hamilton Street Grill for yam fries? (he says looking around for the shill police ) Still don't know why anyone would have a problem with Commercial Drive ... Belgian Fries is well worth dealing with the parking (which is best on the streets to the West of the Drive.) Can't do much about morons running red lights 'tho. A.

Le Soleil is a great hotel! This is the second Christmas party where we've stayed there, and I'm sure we'll be back next year. Besides, it's nice and close to Baccus, where we had breakfast ... or I should say brunch since it was 11:30 when we ate. As much as I like the greasy-spoons, this morning was a linen-table-cloth kinda morning. Baccus nicely fit the bill. I find stovetop's comments about the chefs not wanting to work breakfast somewhat prophetic. However, it was the service staff who didn't seem too interested in say, oh, I don't know ... re-filling my freakin' coffee!! I realize this is not Denny's, but jeeeeez It wasn't until we spoke with Farouq (the dining room manager I believe - Jamie??) that cup number 2 showed up. Farouq actually came and spoke with us because J had ordered one of Chef Parsons new creations: a salmon and sun choke hash, topped with a poached egg and a nice grainy mustard sauce. He was interested in her impressions of the new dish ... which were favorable. I had the wild boar sausage with churizo & corn rosti. It was served with two fried eggs. I add the emphasis because I really wanted them poached. True, the menu said fried, but one thing I have learned from this group is that you can at least ask to have things altered. I never got the chance to ask. The fried eggs were excellent. Perfectly done. But they weren't poached. We finished the morning buy ordering some new furniture from the Bay (Merry Christmas to us!) and picking up some Sparkle Cookies from sen5es. Thanks eveyone for your input! A. & J.

That my friend, borders on brilliance!! Reminds me of my days as an usher at Nat Bailey Beer Garden & Ball Park. If a "customer" partook of a few too many beverages to comply with proper etiquette (i.e. was sh*t-faced ) we'd escort him to out of the stadium, and hand him a pair of tickets to another game. Stu Kehoe's philosphy was that anybody could have a bad day ... we just didn't want them spoiling other people's evening. A.

Wild Rice Never actually eaten there before. Always a martini or something, then off to somewhere else. What was I thinking? J & I had a wonderfull meal here after a really lousy day for both of us at work. Many many small plates and several Tanq 10 martinis Started with the Halibut Congee, and could have closed down voting for best item right then and there. Wonderful lemonny congee with flakes of halibut, and crispy fish crackers. Perfect. Continued with potstickers (squash, and lamb w/water chestnut), enoki mushrooms wrapped in kobe beef (my second favorite), and edamame. Mains were kung po chicken (J's second fave) which had 3, count'em, 3 different types of broccoli, and the su dong po wild board. The chicken was amazing ... the boar as well, nice and sweet with lots of fatty bits to keep me smackin' my lips. A little too much rice served with the boar IMO. On the plus side, it was very tasty rice. Desert was 4 spice sticky rice ... didn't read the menu closely and was surprised with ... chocolate! This dish could have used a bit more cream, as it got a little dry once the cream was gone. Finished with tea and a round of Jaeger with the bar staff. Service was attentive (helped that we were sitting at the bar) and knowledgeable. I've heard the room critisized for being noisy. We were sitting just below a speaker and could easily hear each other over the music (jeez I'm sick of that Ste. Germaine des Pres jazz-fusion crap!). We will definitely go again, probably to the detriment of Chambar Go Fish! "Yeah so what else is new!" I hear you say. I only mention this trip because I made it with our very own stovetop. I won't put words in his mouth, but he seemed suitably impressed. The soup was a Red Thai Curry Chowder, perfect for warming up on that damp Wednesday ... and I had a grilled salmon steak & frites. I still maintain they have the best fries (is there a difference between frites & fries? Or is one just more pretentious than the other?). For a sockeye steak, it was very moist. The citrous glaze made for good fry dipping too. Boston Pizza After Christmas shopping with the kids in Coquitlam. What a wasteland it is out there! I had a steak sandwich. At least they got the medium rare part right. Oh! And I earned 3 Airmiles! A.

Although Mr. Talent certainly is doing his best to discover what that "acceptable" standard is! A.

Exactly. It may be sad, pathetic, disgracefull, etc. in our eyes, but it's his choice. I'm quite sure the decisisions he makes have to do with $$$$. After all, isn't the USA the "land of opportunity"? A.

Welcome Deborah to your new addiction! So, have you gone back to either of your two DOV experiences? A.

Morning all ... Sorry for the short notice on this, but J & I are going to her office Christmas party tonight ("The Roof" of the Hotel Vancouver) and then staying overnight at Le Soleil. We're looking for a good place for breakfast Saturday morning downtown as we're going to do a little shopping as well (I have a feeling this is going to be an expensive weekend - anybody want to buy a kitchen??). We'd prefer it to be reasonably close to the hotel as we're on foot. So far I have: Diva at the Met Bacchus Elixir (a hefty walk, but doable) Any suggestions will be most welcome. A.

Welcome aboard Sean! Forget about that wussy big toe stuff. You just have to plunge in like the rest of us. You're post has already made in-roads. I knew about Irish Heather, but not about Shebeen. I was mentioning to Foodie's hubby a while back that I am woefully lacking in whiskey-knowledge. Sounds like a visit is in order. That's pretty typical for any building Vancouver ... until the building codes are allowed to be "grandfathered" restoring buildings to modern codes is just too damn expensive. We're getting better, but not fast enough IMO. A.

Melissa, when I first read this post I thought you had missed the point of this thread ... and I was going to post as much. Fortunately discression won out and I have now seen the light! I no longer believe it's a case of the population "dumbing down" ... it's that part of the population is "smartening up" (is smartening a word?). I was going to rant about how corporations were dumbing down food as a way to reap greater profits through reduced production sku's. But I kept running into exceptions; the growing wine industry in North America, the fact that mom & pop coffee shops still thrive in spite of uber-coffee-corporations, the increase in organic produce ... If the corporate world was ruining our society through homogeny, they were doing a piss-poor job of it. But GG's argument makes more sense. There have always been people of varried tastes and abilities in any field, be it art, scholastics, or cuisine. There have always been people who like KD, and processed whatever. True, there is more of it now. However, one cannot conclude from this that the "dining inteligence" of the average person is lower, any more than we can conclude that because there are more vineyards our collective "wine intelligence" has been raised. Markets are growing, and companies are finding ways to fill them. This then becomes more of a POV question. From where we sit, more and more people are eating crap. From where "they" sit, we're a bunch of food snobs. This dawned on me after my sons & I had a meal at Boston Pizza, a medicore chain in Western Canada. A couple years ago both my kids would have fallen all over themselves to eat there. Last night, my oldest commented that the ribs at Memphis Blue (a local BBQ joint) were much better. Dumbing down? I don't think so. A.

Les Amis du Fromage Don't waste your time anywhere else. A.

I gotta think you're looking for Ground Cherries. I grew some (okay, J grew them!) last summer on the patio, so saddly I don't have any for your gift. Anything you're going to find now will be from warmer climates, so I'd go with Urba Fare (sorry Moosh). A.

I don't know why I thought Parkside was closed on Sundays. Here's the website. You can reserve on-line. Another great choice. A.

Thank you for sacrificing your taste buds for eG. We thank you. No we're encouraging reckless dining? I agree with Keith ... he knew better and got what he deserved! Note to self: sell short on MCD. A.

I had to read that twice ... sounded like Emma was asking for the burger!! Congrats to you & Mrs. dodger! A.

Yeah, I found out about the changeover last week. As you mentioned, the service at the Commercial store is slowly getting back up to snuff. Still, JJ is my source for the beans I grind at home. And a new location at Main & 14th??? Life just improved a whole bunch! I'm glad you "out" yourself in your threads ... this was sounding suspiciously self-indulgent. Thanks for letting us know ... will have to check it out soon. Do you give eGullet discounts??? My second favorite joe in Vancouver. The Main street location (@19th) is the best IMO. Thanks for the synopsis hopkin, and welcome to eGullet. A.

Jamie you are right, I have been to Villa del Lupo and have had their excellent osso buco, all this wonderful food makes up for these cold rainy nights. AAh and to have a full bodied glass of merlot to pair with it would make it perfect, but that is going to have to wait as I am pregnant.. aaah only a few more months! ← Would you guys cut it out!! I just had dinner at Boston Pizza with my kids and am fealing depressed about a missed dining opportunity (albeit a great parenting opportunity!) Osso buco indeed! Try gristly steak sandwich and warm salad. Congrats on the impending addition Danielle! A eGullet baby! How terrific! A.

Moi? Never! Always room for another open mind in these hallowed halls. A big welcome to you and your new addiction. Actually, my beef with *$ (I like the shorthand!) has little to do with their insipid coffee. It's more about their lack of corporate responsibility and the Walmart-like way they seek and destroy the competition ... but that kind of discussion has no place here on eGullet which is focussed on food and not the homogenized "culture" companies like *$ creates. Sorry ... been shopping at Coquitlam Centre with the kids and was forced to eat at Boston Pizza A.