Mooshmouse

Vancouver Magazine January 2006 issue Diner: Seriously Fun – Vancouver’s Casual Fine Dining restaurants lead the world. Step inside their ultra-competitive universe. (Jamie Maw)

My guess for the secret ingredient? Cheez Whiz.

First evidence that the Rapture will soon be upon us? ← A sure sign. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will be the sous chefs, two per team.

As a north-of-the-49th dweller who's never tried this beverage/snack combo, I have a question for those who have: have you ever inadvertently choked on a peanut?

Don't worry Laura. Chef Tony splits the class into groups very democratically by numbering everyone off. And it's not two straight hours of chopping. Cooking is, after all, more than just mise en place. I'm sure you'll be just fine as you'll have cooking partners to share the load. Depending on what your class size is, though, there may occasionally be groups with just two people in them. You might want to mention to Chef Tony before class starts that you'd prefer to be in a group of more than two people so that there's a greater distribution of slicing and dicing duties. Bring a pen, everyone. You'll be taking lots of notes. And remember to have fun!!!

I've been following from the sidelines until now. What a warm and truly enchanting blog, John. Sending you my best wishes for many more wonderful birthdays and cassoulets to come!

Oh... how could I have omitted Mistral Bistro!

From one mid-move blogger to another, more power to you sistah! Looking forward to seeing what this week has in store for you.

My knee-jerk reaction would be a list of izakaya restaurants: Hapa Izakaya, all three Guu locations and Yuji's Japanese Tapas on West 4th. There's Baru Latino too, as well as Pair Bistro. Don't forget about The Pear Tree. Was just there on Saturday night... the new space is gorgeous. Scott Jaeger and his BOH crew were firing on all cylinders.

Gauging from last session, your class might be the lucky recipient of a plate or two of truffles to sample at some point. The ones that Chef Marco left for us to try were amazing.

That it is, Wes. Here's a link to Wink's website which also includes their menu.

The Vancouver Courier Friday, January 13 edition Picking the perfect heartbreak grape – Tim Pawsey chooses Pinot as a worthy option for Valentine's Day wooing. Tickets are still available for the 12th-annual B.C. Wine and Oyster Festival which is being held on January 17 at the Hyatt. Proceeds to benefit the B.C. Children's Hospital Oak Tree Clinic. Arts Umbrella is sponsoring the 2006 Sonoma Wine Affair at the Pan Pacific's Crystal Pavilion on February 1. Approximately 70 wines will be available to tickle your palate.

Keith, if you're tooting your own horn, you forgot to mention how good this week's chicken curry special was... one of my new favourites!

I believe you're thinking of either Mafran, Del Monte or the most commonly known Jufran Banana Sauce which is available in both regular and hot varieties. Horrendously addictive stuff!

The Globe and Mail Friday, January 13 edition Ditch those diets – Alexandra Gill gives us good reason to indulge with her best bets for Dine Out Vancouver meals.

The Vancouver Courier Wednesday, January 11 edition Chinese New Year takeout – "For over a decade, T&T has offered Vancouverites a refreshing alternative to run-of-the-mill supermarket shopping-and a lively window for non-Asians to experience a slice of culture that helps set this city apart." (Tim Pawsey) The Georgia Straight Thursday, January 12 edition Best Eating: For many local foodies, Dine Out is on the menu – "During these traditionally lean and hungry months, Vancouver annually gets dedicated eaters all fired up with Dine Out (January 20 to February 2)." (Angela Murrills) Uncorked: Wine fest and auction bid for world fame – "Never mind your Aspen cluster fucks, your New York Wine Frenzy—[the Playhouse Wine Festival], here in good old mellow Vancouver-by-the-sea, tops them all by giving us more of what we want: wine and plenty of it, wineries and plenty of their principals, dinners, tastings, seminars, and that auction thing." (Jurgen Gothe) Food of the Week: Blood oranges (Angela Murrills) Drink of the Week: The second of the best-of-2005 brews – (Jurgen Gothe) Straight Goods: Selling sauerkraut – Oyama Sausage’s choucroute festival runs from January 26 to 29. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Scarlet temptation rav – "Construction is seriously affecting Cambie Street businesses, so do make an extra effort to support the strip’s retail and restaurants" such as "Tomato Fresh Food Café, which consistently promotes regional ingredients." (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Double decade deals – To ease the post-holiday cash crunch, the Pan Pacific Hotel "has slashed menu prices back to 1986 levels now through Sunday (January 15." (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Buon mangia – Quattro on 4th and Gusto de Quattro are both offering $35 three-course menus until February 28. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Fish on – A sizeable awning and newly installed heaters take the edge off of winter at Go Fish. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Boffo bill – "Cowichan Valley chef-author Bill Jones [adds] a second global Gourmand World Cookbook Award to his collection for his 2005 Salmon: The Cookbook (Whitecap Books)." (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) The Westender Thursday, January 12 edition (Lifestyles section) Bin 941 still a model of consistency – Since opening in 1998, Gord Martin and crew have continued to fire on all cylinders. (Andrew Morrison)

Not even that one either. It's now Original Joe's... has been for some time now.

The Vancouver Courier Friday, January 6 edition School of hard gnocchi – Gnocchi-making is taken to an all-new plateau with Dave Waring's novelty invention, the Spudometer. (Tim Pawsey) Wine of the week – Beyerskloof Synergy 2002 (Stellenbosch) The Globe and Mail Friday, January 6 edition Alexandra Gill finds the food unmemorable at Saltlik, her "nominee for worst restaurant design of the year award."

The Vancouver Courier Wednesday, January 4 edition Cheap eats to ease your wallets into 2006 – Tim Pawsey helps tighten the purse strings with a few cost-conscious dining options including The Kolachy Shop, Accents and Chutney Villa. The Georgia Straight Thursday, January 5 edition Brighten new year with cheap, cheerful food – Angela Murrills find food bargains a'plenty during a month rife with budget-cutting measures. Uncorked: The wines of B.C. that made 2005 go ping – Jurgen Gothe gives us his "year-end rundown" of the province's best bottles. Food of the Week: EbiTen (Angela Murrills) Drink of the Week: Best of '05 – Jurgen Gothe lists a six-pack of this year's best domestic beers. Straight Goods: Green thai event – A new line of packaged curry sauces is available at Thai House restaurants. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Dream team – Tickets are now available for the this year's tenth-anniversary Chefs For Life in Whistler. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Making air waves – Kootenay Co-op Radio's new series Deconstructing Dinner is available for online listening on Thursday evenings. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: The wrong stuff – Coalition for a GE-Free BC helps make sense of genetically-engineered food. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Discord – Zizanie's Isabelle Paulin sets her sights on opening another "nouveau bistro Québécois". (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Open secrets – CBC TV's Canada Now sleuths out the off-hours food haunts of Vancouver's chefs. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Pre-ice prefix – La Terrazza features a $35 three-course meal to start off game night right. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Opening soon – Presto Cucina's third location now open on West 4th. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) The Westender Thursday, January 5 edition (Lifestyles section) For savvy restauranteurs [sic], smart marketing goes beyond the kitchen – A myriad of ways to generate restaurant buzz before the doors even open, courtesy of Andrew Morrison. Foodie Q&A: Pining for that elusive Moroccan meal – Profile of Jason Malloff, chef at Fiddlehead Joe’s Eatery.

and that brings up the whole cheesecake/beefcake thing: cheesecake, yes, it exists. but beefcake?! what the hey is that?! ← Or "He's such a biscuit", as in Hot as a...or makes me melt like butter on a... ← Oooh, baby, nice buns!

The Vancouver Courier Tuesday, January 3 edition 2005 a good year for wine – "Poring through the tattered pages of traveled tasting books, the Hired Belly is trying to make sense of 2005-a year of big winery shake-ups and neat little guy start-ups; concept wines that often left us cold; and more would-be Yellowtail killers than you'd ever want to taste." (Tim Pawsey)

Lee, I'm glad to see that you still eat like a rock star even when you're NOT in Vancouver! I know we spoke about this earlier today but, for the benefit of our fellow eGulleters, how does Vancouver's Chinese food scene stack up against what you found in HK?

Or, X is all over Y like a slug on a strawberry. ← I'm all over it like white on rice.

I managed to unearth a couple of previous threads along these lines: Expressions of praise using food Food sayings Food Related Insults I'm Stuffed -- Expressions used to describe being full

Bear repellant? ←