SBonner

I'd recommend some Australian Clare Valley Rieslings "lovely lime flavours", rich Alsatian Gewuztraminer, Spanish Cava, and if your want reds go with those with low tannin levels (Beaujolais, South African Pinotage, Southern Spanish reds) and of course refreshing beer especially India Pale Ale. Cheers, Stephen Bonner Vancouver

Helen and I enjoyed a two night stay at the Talbot Inn in Cirencester. Stephen Bonner Vancouver

I'm a big fan of sparkling Shiraz. We usually have it at Xmas with the turkey, roast kamb, and duck. We enjoy it also during the summer with anything of the bbq. These wines may seem a curiousity to many North Americans but they are a truly unique tasting experience. We enjoy Fox Creek, E&E, and the Seppelt. Serve them cold in a flute and enjoy Cheers, Stephen Bonner Vancouver, Canada

Keith, I have a smaller cellar than you and use pen and paper as well. It's a welcome change from having to develope hugh inventory datasbases fro clients etc... also a nice reason to use the Mont Blanc fountain pen my wife gave to me as a gift as well I use a small moleskin folio with the revelent information: date purchased, location, price, vintage and a locator number for my wine fridge and rack. I also keep my tasting notes in it as well. Cheers, Stephen

Jasmine.... The industry in Vancouver is starved of servers wth a passion for food and wine (you're on e-gullet so we know you like food and drink ) and alot of restaurant managers/chefs/ and owners read these pages. You may be suprised and one day get a pm for an interview If you want; I can put the word out for you. Passion, a good sense or humour, and food/drink knowledge will open doors. Learning the basics is not too hard. It's a people job. Learning the menu and the pos system are probably the hardest tasks. Dealing with customers...well that's another issue Cheers, Stephen Vancouver

Like what? A cork with a red circle and slash through it?? That could make for some very unattractive menu icons, I'd think. All I've ever seen is the peripheral reference to "cork-free", if anything. I don't think the world at large is ready for drawing attention to screw-caps yet. I think we're still looking for attractive semantic references. ← Katie, Good point on the menu design. In Hong Kong I saw a wine bar that had a small screw symbol on the list to indicate Stelvin. In London, a small Stelvin logo was used, just curious if there are any other ideas out there. The idea of "cork-free" to the average consumer would just create more confusion and even more discusssion by the server or sommelier (not bad thing if you are not too busy to chat at length about wine and closures). In Australia, where Stelvin is common, I do not think that drawing attention to Stelvin is an issue. Funny how in N.A. we are pre-occupied with such issues The reason for my post is for some creative input. I'm working on a large wine bar project and at least 15% of the wine list is Stelvin. Cheers, Stephen Vancouver

I'm thinking this thread went off track I was looking for specific examples on wine lists where there was an icon or symbol to indicate to the customer that the wine was stelvin. Cheers, Stephen Bonner Vancouver

Cunning linguist aside, Sandy, I had absolutely no idea you were a pilot. Trainee or instructor? One reason I was prompted to post this topic was Frank Bruni's introduction to a scathing (mile wide and inch deep) review of Morimoto's new Manhattan outpost today in the Times: "It's a stunning piece of work: a sparkly wonderland for glittery people, who always get the word and always hop onboard. They drink their bright cocktails, fiddle with their chopsticks, survey their compatriots and tap-tap into their cellphones and other devices, presumably checking on the whereabouts of less fortunate friends, perhaps informing them that the place to be is right here, right now. It's Morimoto's moment." This in turn reminded me of a local food columnist's review of a popular Italian restaurant here a few years ago. In it, she spoke of the lovely giardino, the pleasant, mainly Tuscan food, and the glittery crowd, which - she also allowed - she couldn't stand. And then she took a firmer stand, stating quite chastely that she would prefer not to dine around this 'type'. Hmm, I was given to wonder, first about the crowd: Excess cash flow chasing social validation? Or merely dinner? Well, both. One thing that a restaurateur can't entirely control is who shows up: the socially-aspirant broker, the moth-eaten food critic, or even the increasingly rare sighting of Genus Wing-Tipped Tourista Winnebraskas. Each has his or her own pupose for being there though. Mainly, I strongly suspect they are looking for people who look just like them. Or slightly more so. Tribally yours, J. ← Jamie, As a bit of a lemming I would probably go for the hype of the place. Stephen

I'm curious if anyone has seen any unique icons or symbols used on wine lists to indicate to a customer that the bottle has a stelvin closure. I would appreciate any feed back. Thank you in advance. Cheers, Stephen Vancouver

Holly's suggestion of handwritten checks are fine if you don't wish to avail yourself of the reports that a computerized system will provide you with. How useful those reports are and how much time they'll save you depends entirely on how much volume you're talking about. You could easily set up a spreadsheet system and hand log item sales and do the math longhand to get your Cost of Goods percentages, etc. But I find those reports pretty useful to compare to inventory on a weekly basis to look for loss, theft, waste, etc. At least for wine, beer and liquor. ← I think in today's restaurant industry some sort of POS system is required as Katie pointed out above for recording of waste, theft, loss and etc They are also a god send to the BOH operations for the prompt and correct order of service, for customer modifications and legibility (it's seems like alot of servers write like doctors ) Even a small 50 seat restaurant will make good use of a pos system. I'd recommend buying one whether new or used. Stephen Bonner Vancouver

Living beyond my culinary expenditure tribe A love for the finer things in life: expensive ingredients (boutique olive oils, outstanding wines, truffles, pine mushrooms, lobsters, game) and kind of a lemming following the pack of stylish and trend setting writers from Conde Nast, Gourmet Travel, Wallpaper...you get the idea. My wife and I have a soft spot for great hotels, restaurants, culinary travel, and exotic world locations. Although Vancouver is home, we have yet now in our mid forties, decided where we truly feel at home. Home in the past has been London, Madrid, and Barcelona OH! these places have all of the above I just mentioned how strange Stephen Bonner

I would also look at Halo, Profitek, or Igourmate. They all work have a similar user interface and have short learning curve. If you buy a used system see if you can get a service and tech support contract (120-150 CDN$ per month). You may also want to purchase a copy of an amzing inventory control program called Optimum Control which is great for analysing costs, inventory movement, loss etc and it is fully intergratable with Micros, Halo, and Profitek. Cheers, Stephen Vancouver

Not sure what you've had in the past but "minerality" is your thing you cannot go wrong with some crisp Chablis, Sancerre, or Loire Chenin Blanc. Cheers, Stephen

I know that VCC has a Chinese cooking program. I'm not sure about Japanese though. Good marketing for a Japanese restaurant to offer classes the three big cooking schools focus on traditional European cuisine/techniques as far as I can tell. Stephen

Many of my clients like cellartracker for their home cellars. I do know that it is sluggish sometimes as stated in this thread. Cheers, Stephen Bonner Vancouver

I've tried both in restaurants and in bottles we brought back home from our Australian holiday: Joseph Cold Pressed and the Nolan Road Robust. Both a very intense and flavourful olive oils. Cheers, Stephen Vancouver

Living North of the U.S. I can say thank god Canada is part of the Commonwealth and most of our lamb if not local is from Australia or NZ. Lamb from both Australia and New Zealand is far superior to anything I've tried from the U.S. Cheers, Stephen Bonner Vancouver

I'm suprised this place is still in business. Helen and I went there about a month ago on a Friday night and we were the only table there for two hours. I miss the inventive cuisine established by Hiro, the original owner, chef, and sommelier. Stephen

If I was free I'd head off to the Irish Heather. A Guiness, a shot of Red Breast Whiskey, and some bangers and mash. I'll pop in for the Irish breakfast on Saturday and see how the staff coped Cheers, Stephen

Check out this website. Contact Information International Sommelier Guild of Canada 269-762 Upper James St Hamilton Ontario L9C 3A2 Phone: (905)-858-1217 Canada Toll Free: (866) 399-5009 Fax: (905)-858-3440 E-mail: info@internationalsommelier.com Cheers, Stephen Bonner Vancouver

I just bought some of these to finish off dinner we are having at our place with Daddy A and the Michael and Hiedi from Joie tonight. Cheers, Stephen

Each province has its wine laws some (Alberta) being more liberal in execution and taxes. Overall I think Canada's laws are just as if not more confusing than what you experience. Cheers, Stephen

Sounds interesting. I have not had an old Zin for some time. I'm guessing it is old school style with the alcohols up there in the 15.5-16.5+% range. Yummy. Stephen Bonner Vancouver

It seems ironic here in B.C. our provincal government, which is really up tight about wine and wine laws, started allowing patrons to take home unfinished wine just over two years ago. All we have to do is seal the bottle up in any type of bag and tell the customer to put the bottle in the trunk of their car. I would have thought it would be much more common in the States? The sealed bags are a great idea much more professional than a bag stapled and handed to a customer. Interesting thread topic. Stephen Bonner Vancouver

The bacon came from Michael and Heidi's Joie Cooking School, the rabbit was from the Crannog Organic Brewery in Sorrentino, and Helen and I brought the three types of oysters. Eric and Gael suppplied the wonderful farmhouse cheeses. "Fud" I believe supplied the lamb? They rest of guests items are now a faded memory Cheers, Stephen