Mooshmouse

Two suggestions: Armando's Fine Meats on Granville Island (Telephone 604-685-0359) and Windsor Quality Meats at 4110 Main Street (Telephone 604-872-5635). Both are highly reliable purveyors of meat.

Though it's not a grocer, you could try Pan-O-Pan on East Broadway, 1 block east of Main Street on the north side of the road. With any luck, either snacky_cat or mamacat will chime in as I know they swear by Chef Marta Pan's goodies.

As noted on the CityFood Calendar, both The Four Seasons Hotel and Raincity Grill are serving special Christmas Eve meals. The Four Seasons will be offering a more traditional four-course dinner including roast turkey, and Raincity Grill's menu will be showcasing regional fare. Wherever you decide to dine, have a great meal... and welcome to the eGullet madhouse!

Here are a few details on Christmas dining at Adesso Bistro, The Four Seasons Hotel, Provence Marinaside and Raincity Grill courtesy of the CityFood Calendar. Menus are included for all but Raincity Grill.

Lo and behold: Cookworks has a Le Creuset Tagine for sale. Give them a call. With any luck, they'll still be in stock.

Funny that you say that, Zuke. As much as Noah enjoys going out, there are days when I couldn't pry him out of the house with a crowbar. While I type, Noah's examining all manner of small things with his newly acquired magnifying glass. Mmmm, Solly's. It's been forever and a day since I've been there. Have you tried the newer one on Yukon and 7th? Do me a favour and order a jam rugelach and a mushroom knish for yourself while you're there, would you? I need to eat vicariously through you as we'll be on the opposite end of town.

The Vancouver Courier Monday, December 19 edition Give the gift of the grapes – Tim Pawsey proffers a few last-minute gift suggestions for the oenophiles in your life. Wine of the Week – Gobelsburger 2001 Grüner Veltliner and Pfaffenheim 2004 Gewürztraminer are two of Tim Pawsey's picks for pairing with turkey.

Zuke, no blog that's this rich in creativity and love could ever fly economy class! I'm greatly looking forward to discovering the surprises that your week ahead holds... knowing you, I'm certain that there'll be plenty. From the Mouse House to the Zucchini Patch, warmest of wishes for a fabulous holiday season. And a special hello from Noah to Ullie.

I suppose it all depends on whether you're going the Prix Fixe or à-la-carte route. My current favourite dish at Cru is the Smoked Albacore Tuna, with beets, truffle vinaigrette and crispy shallots. Heaven on a plate. Before that appeared on the menu, I almost invariably ordered the Beef tenderloin Carpaccio with aperberries, truffle aioli, shaved parmesan and crostini. And if you're in the mood for soup, try whatever soup of the day is bubbling in the kitchen as they're unfailingly excellent. Their Herb-crusted New Zealand Lamb Loin with provençal-style tart and haricots verts is a newer menu item introduced this fall along with Baked Butternut Squash Spätzle with caramelized onions, squash, mornay sauce and parmesan cheese. Both dishes are outstanding. Shortribs are phenomenal. And the Beef Tenderloin cabernet mushroom demi, blue cheese soufflé is definitely one of my go-to dishes. I know you're a dessert girl, so I'd definitely try the Goat Cheese Cake with sour cherry compote and biscuit sablé and Bitter Chocolate Torte with port-stewed rhubarb and crème fraîche. Word on the street is that they also make a mean Lemon Tart served with cranberry sorbet and orange caramel. Oh, and if it's a frou-frou girly cocktail you're looking, ask for a "Mim-tini". Delish! If you do a search for my previous posts on Cru, you'll find a number of photos from my meals there which include a few of the dishes I mentioned. In fact, I have a few parked on my camera right now from dinner there last week. With any luck, I'll get around to posting them sooner rather than later. Have a fabulous meal!

The Globe and Mail Friday, December 16 edition Reasons galore to celebrate and drool – Since the expansion and redesign were completed in late October, Scott Jaeger now has ample room to stretch his culinary wings at The Pear Tree. (Alexandra Gill)

The Vancouver Courier Thursday, December 15 edition Mistral wards off winter's chill – Tim Pawsey finds that the bistro fare at "smooth, cossetting and unpretentious Mistral" comforts both the stomach and the soul. Help support C.H.I.L.D. (Children with Intestinal and Liver Disorders) Foundation in its search for a cure for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis and pick up The Salmon House, Horizons and Aqua Riva's West Coast Recipe Calendar which includes monthly recipes and dining deals at all three restaurants totalling $220 in 2006. The Georgia Straight Thursday, December 15 edition Best Eating: Put a little extra red in your dinner with a Chinese-style BBQ turkey – Jenny Uechi interviews Jim Wong-Chu on "a dish that not only tastes (and looks) spectacular but also reflects Vancouver’s multiethnic history." Best Eating: Gifts to gobble – Angela Murrills investigates a few mouthwatering gift-giving options. Uncorked: Setting it straight – To correct an error in last week's column, Jurgen Gothe notes that there's plenty of Tyrrell’s Long Flat Red and Long Flat White at the BCLDB; however, it's the Sumac Ridge Black Sage wines that are in short supply. Uncorked: Diverse blends make for happy Meritages – Jurgen Gothe samples five white meritage blends... and, yes, "meritage" actually does rhyme with "heritage". Food of the Week: Chocolate Arts – Angela Murrills lauds Greg Hook's "series of bronze-dusted chocolate baubles". Drink of the Week: Race Rocks Amber Ale (Jurgen Gothe) Straight Goods: Meals on wheels – Check out Savoury City on Fraser Street for gourmet fare delivered to your door. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Baby stollen from hotel – Miniature giftwrapped versions of this traditional holiday bread are on sale for $10 each at the Festive Desk of the Four Seasons Hotel. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Berry Christmas – Stock up on the wares of Abbotsford cranberry farmer Judith Tilson, aka The Cranberry Lady, at Capers, Choices and Urban Fare. (Judith Lane and Angela Murrills) Straight Goods: Book this – Last-minute shoppers can find inspiration in the Twelve Books of Christmas gift-book picks at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks. Straight Goods: Pork-belly future – The brunch menu at Nu is a fresh take on the traditional. Straight Goods: Stocking stuffers – If you're stuck for a present, there are gift certificate bargains to be had at Morton's and The Fish House. Straight Goods: Meat market – The latest addition to Vancouver's steakhouse roster, Saltlik quietly snuck onto the local food scene last week. The Westender Thursday, December 15 edition (Lifestyles section) Aurora Bistro's humble charms flirt with perfection – "Having surfed the gentrification of Main Street for the past two-and-a-half years, Aurora Bistro has done very well in pinning down a youthful take on Canadian cuisine while skirting the edge of improbability with its stigmatically sketchy location." (Andrew Morrison) Foodie Q&A – Profile of Karen Gin, sous chef at the Metropolitan Hotel.

At the outset of this blog, I expected nothing less than the best from our local emissary of good food and drink. Clearly, you've delivered in spades, Jamie... you even have the Vancouverites spellbound. Thanks for whisking us away on such a magical, delectable ride. Warmest wishes for the best of the season to you and Eva. Santé!

Gee, and I thought I could sneak in here unnoticed. I'm kind of jealous of all the camaraderie and snacking going on at the Pi Mu Sigma (Π Μ Σ) sorority. May I join if I bring chocolate and a nice wedge of feta cheese? ← Dark chocolate, Fresser. Preferably a Scharffen Berger chocolate/espresso bar. And no feta, please. Brie. Or a beautifully creamy cambozola. Don't forget the crackers.

We actually have a family friend who works there making rice noodle rolls ("cheung fun"). I've been there a few times, and while it's good, it's not mind-blowingly good. Their rice noodle rolls are quite good though ← I've only ever had dim sum at South Ocean. Nothing remarkably memorable (sorry, chocomoo, didn't have the cheung fun that day). On a dim sum scale of one to 10, I'd give it about a 6.5-7. Yes on both counts. I don't remember the food, but I do remember the scuttlebutt!

As an update on the availability of Swiss Vacherin at Les Amis du Fromage, here's a quote taken from the December 14 edition of Dine & Dash: Also of note:

That I did, and here they are! Amuse-bouche: Foie gras parfait, red wine poached pear, sultana raisin agrodolce, toasted brioche Seared scallops with green-bean salad and new potatoes Tagliatelle of smoked sockeye salmon, cucumber, pink peppercorne, chive crème fraîche Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than the foie gras. This dish was so good that it bordered on the obscene. Deborah hit the nail on the head: if she wasn't such a good friend, there would have been no sharing one iota of my tagliatelle with her. Deep sea cod in a prawn crust, crispy brandade potato cake, shellfish bisque and garlic butter jus Hot on the heels of two remarkably stellar starters, I found this dish somewhat anticlimactic. To my palate, at least, the seafood bisque had a rather overpowering flavour that shocked my tastebuds after two dishes with such subtle tastes. Medallions of venison, purée of cèpes, port wine sauce, potato and fresh herb gnocchi A tiny sample bite was enough to assure me that the venison was outstanding. Deep, rich, earthy flavours. Wonderfully tender meat. The perfect dish for banishing winter's chill. Dark chocolate cannoli with sour cherries and chantilly cream Though the combination of the dark chocolate and the brandy snap was a bit on the sweet side for me, it was nicely tempered by the chantilly cream... enough that I was able to polish off both cannolis, thanks. Sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream Trio of sorbets: mascarpone, blackberry and mango A shame that the Smoked Salmon Tagliatelle is only served as an appetizer; I firmly believe that I could live quite happily on it and the Foie Gras Parfaittogether with a bottle of the Domaine de la Grange des Pères 2000 Vin de Pays de l’Herault. Oh, and a bit of the Mascarpone Sorbet for good measure. All in all, a lovely meal.

Meez, you've got three of my favourite things in the world all on one plate. Welcome!

Last night's quotable quote from around the dinner table was courtesy of our 4 1/2-year-old son: "Dinner always tastes better when 1-2-3-4-5-6 hands make it instead of just 2!" It was, indeed, a joint effort in the kitchen with Mom at the stove and Daddy and son stickhandling the mise en place. Noah took care of cracking, whisking and scrambling the egg for the garlic fried rice. He then took it upon himself to take the ends off of all the snow peas and slice the orange bell pepper while Daddy took care of the chicken and the more unwieldy broccoli. Dinner was a Jade Chicken stirfry with a few extra veggies thrown in for good measure; here it is still in the skillet. No photos of either the accompanying fried rice or the actual plated dinner... we were way too hungry to wait!

Good catch on Caffé de Medici. It's been years since I've been, but we were always pleased with our meals there. Though some like it, I certainly can't say the same for me. To each his or her own. I made a couple of posts about my May visit to Black Tuna in the "Endangered Coastal Fishery" thread.

Let's see... where to begin. Most of these suggestions are on the more casual side. Hapa Izakaya and Guu with Garlic on Robson at Bidwell for izakaya options, as well as Gyoza King. Lolita's on Davie Street, perhaps, for casual drinks. CinCin or Café Il Nido further up Robson, though that might be straying a bit from the West End proper. Clove on Denman for Indian fusion. Central Bistro, also on Denman, owned by fellow eGulleter Harry Sturhahn. There's Jang Mo Jib on Robson for Korean food, one block east of Robson on the north side of the street. Zakkushi Charcoal Grill on Denman Street for Japanese robata. Kintaro on Denman for excellent ramen. Falafel King for takeout shawarma. Vera's on Denman if you're looking for a great burger. Won More Szechuan for their spicy long beans with chilis. Wherever you end up for dinner, happy eating tonight!

You should make a point of visiting Cafe Artigiano when in Vancouver. Sammy Piccolo won the World Barista Championship in Rome a few years ago. And interestingly, Artigiano used to import Intelligentsia from Chicago, but now roasts its own. ← The Elysian Room and Prado Café are my two favourite coffee shops in Vancouver. Included in my foodblog is a pictorial and writeup of Prado. Their beans of choice are a Fair Trade Organic Espresso Blend courtesy of 49th Parallel Roasters which, as Jamie mentioned, is operated by the fine folks at Caffé Artigiano. Amy York's roster of talented baristi includes Tina Albrech who took second place to Sammy Piccolo in the 2003 Canadian National Barista Championships and was dubbed the competition's most technical barista. As a side note, Prado Café recently placed second in the the Krups Kup of Excellence Awards which recognizes Canada's best independent cafés.

According to an eyewitness account from Chef Sven Chen Lenson, Executive Chef of the Kung Pow Phat Soy Ristorante who was an invited guest at the Grand Opening of Chez Jim, this smouldering piece of protein was contraband in the form of Supersized Elk Balls containing illegally obtained penguin meat. Trusty server Bjorn Thorsenblorgenstadtlanderen tried valiantly to extinguish the flames, but local authorities suspect that it was a case of arson started by none other than rival Chef Huggy Bear. Rumour has it that the flash point was a dish of flaming GBP catapulted over from the Hammy hotdog cart. Stunned witnesses refuse to comment. Film at 4:00 p.m. PST. FOOTNOTE: If you think we're all certifiable, this is the source of our lunacy. We now return you to our regularly scheduled Foodblog.

The Vancouver Courier Monday, December 12 edition Tiny bubbles, big selection – Tim Pawsey aids the shopping process by narrowing the field of holiday sparklers.

This is probably the soda that you're referring to: Zesto Calamansi. It's one of my favourite Asian pops ever. Dirt cheap, especially when they go on sale at T&T for $0.69/can. As noted on the website description, calamansi has a flavour that's similar to a cross between a lemon and a lime except less tart. I'll take Zesto Calamansi over 7-Up or Sprite any day.

Nice photo, Deborah! That combination of flavours sounds incredibly good. I'm only skeptical of one thing, however. You say 8 servings. Does that mean I have to share it with other people if I buy one?