SBonner

I'm going to be in Norwich for a couple of days next month. Any recommendations on where to eat? Thank you, Stephen Bonner

Picked up some hanger steak from Sean yesterday; he has a small quantity available. very tasty indeed. SB

There could be a market for high end dog and cat food from St. John's

Just heard from a "good" source that all the entree items are now re-priced and all under $30. Nice!

Three to four days is enough for a wine country tour. I'd divide the okanagan in half to see and taste the variations in climate, soils, and geography. After a couple of tours you'll get the idea of the how and why of wine making. I'd make a trip to check out La Frenz, Golden Mile, Dirty Laundry , Tantalus, and Black Hills. I'd limit my tasting and touring to four of five wineries a day. Stephen Bonner

Thanks... just read her article as well. Service and the wine list is the weak link. Anne I think would enjoy the room and food. Cheers, Stephen

I remember as a young man in the early 60's there being limits on the amount of sugar you could purchase. Not sure if that was a post war hang over or not? SB

The Transcontinental 601 West Cordova St Vancouver, BC My Review: Helen and I have been into Eli’s new establishment four times over the last fortnight and must say it’s a great space with friendly service and world’s above the food at Steamworks. The room is reminiscent of a grand old 1930’s train station restaurant with vaulted ceilings, lots of wood, and art deco influences. On our first visit we had lunch in the lounge and ate from the lunch menu. The lunch menu is a paired down, less meat, menu with some great salads and burgers. Helen opted for the House salad $9.95 (mixed greens, air dried blueberries, goat’s cheese, hazelnuts and a refreshing pear and white balsamic dressing). I had the grilled bison and stilton burger $13.95 with a side salad (same dressing as Helen’s house salad). The bison burger was juicy and full of flavor topped with some beer braised onions. Lunch service was friendly and prompt we were in and out for a quick lunch in less than an hour. The biggest disappointment is the draught beer selection (no microbrews) and the limited wines by the glass options. The only service issue we had was the kitchen forgot to put dressing on Helen’s salad but a quick mention to the server rectified that problem. Dinner Service: We had an 8pm reso on fireworks night so the restaurant like everyone in Gastown was pretty quiet. The dinner menu options are much greater than the lunch and club car menu with a variety of salads, pastas, fish and seafood, and meats and fowl. Two glasses of the house bubble (Sumac Ridge Stellar’ Jay) started off the night. For starters I had the vine ripened tomato salad $13.95 which had a trio of organic heirloom tomatoes and a simple cracked sea salt, olive oil and balsamic dressing. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and had lots of flavour. Helen opted for the classic prawn cocktail $13.95 made with Clayoquot prawns. She was pretty impressed with the flavours. For entrees Helen ordered the grilled lamb trio $33.95 which was a combination of free range lamb chops, lamb tenderloin, and Oyama lamb sausage. It was accompanied by roasted tomatoes, mint gnocci, and Okanagan Merlot demi-glace. She ordered it pink (medium rare) and it arrived perfectly cooked. I had the 8oz bison rib eye (medium-rare) $33.95 which is aged in brine and maple syrup. It also came with roasted Yukon potatoes and a side of seasonal veg. The veg was slightly over cooked but my steak accompaniments ( there are 8) $2.95 each ,of Saskatoon berry demi-glace was outstanding with the meat and wine I selected. The Katnook Cab/Shiraz from Australia was our wine for the night and worked extremely well with our meat course. For dessert we shared the cheese plate $14.95 which was one of the better plates I have had for a while. There were three cheeses (Poplar Grove blue, Fraser Valley Cheddar, and a Quebecois cheese) served with Ontario honeycomb, local honey glazed nuts, and a selection of local field fruits. Biggest issues: Our entrée’s arrived before we had finished our appetizers and our cutlery was cleared so we had to wait several minutes for our server to notice the food runner left use utensil free. Our server knew the menu and was on the ball throughout the evening. The wine list is pretty new world oriented and is laid out as light, medium, and full-bodied. Many of the wines on the list are not in the right categories in my opinion (i.e Township 7 unoaked Chardonnay is not full-bodied) and there are way too many Sauvignon Blanc based wines in the medium-bodied field. Beer selection needs some work with the addition of some local and Quebec microbrews to round out the whole continental concept. It’s great to see Eli and his chef have embraced locally sourced food supplies and the Ocean Wise program and taken dining up a notch in Gastown. We will be back many more times to try the rest of the menu. Stephen Bonner

Never met Kate but enjoyed her posts. All the best! Stephen Bonner

As a London and Vancouver resident this falls on deaf ears. We have horrid government mark ups on wine so even with an exchange rate of 1 pound equally $2.20 Cdn it is still cheaper for us to drink wine in a restaurant in London than Vancouver. The English market is dominated by private wine merchants vs NA government monopolies - you are still getting a fair shake. What irrates me is wine writers or MW's who have a vested interest in a wine merchant company writing about wine in the papers and making a profit off the sales (a whole different post and thread I think) Stephen Bonner

Both Metro and Boneta are great. I'd try Metro. Sit at the kitchen bar and watch all the action. The ability to purchase meat and seafood by the ounce is a great concept.

I went to the Butler's Wharf Chef school to study restaurant management back in the 90's Not sure if it is still there? SB

I'm off to the Amalfi coast for a month....not sure about getting a twig On a serious note I do not know if they are grown anywhere else. They sure make great Lemoncello though. SB

I had my first dinner at Boneta last night and was totally impressed. Neil Ingram, Andre McGillivray, Mark Brand, and Chef Jeremie Bastien really are an A team of food, drink, and service. Attentive from the moment you step in the door; the service is slick and polished. Last night from the menu I had the Peking Duck and Scallop dumplings (complexly flavoured with a sublime texture) and the duck confit. A glass of Tahblik Marsanne, Givry, and Bandol rounded out the night. Neil's compact list offers some interesting wines at decent price points based on their rarity and curiosity factor. Mark has put together a great team of bartenders that when put to the challenge to make a cocktail not on the list do not let you down. I'll have to walk over to this new hip place much more often. Cheers, Stephen Bonner

Overall not the greatest comments on one of our up and coming varietals. I agree the Golden Mile estate is the one to watch. SB

Overall not the greatest comments on one of our up and coming varietals. I agree the Golden Mile estate is the one to watch. Thanks for the tasting notes. SB

Here's my review: Dinner last Friday at Metro was without a doubt one of those nights to remember. Metro is a beautifully designed room with great acoustics and sight lines. We reserved seats at the kitchen bar and got a bird’s eye view of the proteins being cooked and plated under the watchful eye of Chef Brian. The evening began with a couple of well executed cocktails and attentive service of the bartender’s. We started off with a sampling of the Metro plates, tapas with a Canadian twist; The mildly spicy Bahjis dumplings and truffle parmesan pomme frites get the thumbs up for flavour and great presentation. The Metro plates range in price from $6 to $9; next time we are planning on trying the grilled citrus humbodlt calamari and steamed dumplings. Although we opted out of ordering oysters, we had some enroute from So.Cial, Metro has an innovative selection listed as 12 varietals and catagorised as West Coast, Premium, and Ultra-Premium ranging in price from $11.94 to $21.95 per half dozen. All oysters are served with a fresh horseradish foam and citrus vodka mignonette. On the Cut to Order menu, in which you can order your meat and seafood by the ounce, we ordered a series of proteins in various weights based on mine and Helen’s preferences. Top marks for the Berkshire pork tenderloin, $3.52 per ounce, with its apple puy lentils, sautéed fennel, and birch vinaigrette. I thoroughly enjoyed the rabbit roulade, $3.50 per ounce, and its accoutrements of turnips, baby carrots, and lemon thyme gravy you could not help but smile at the juxtaposition of the rabbit and its favourite veg on the same plate. The Nicola Valley venison, $3.48 per ounce, was perfectly paired with a cherry preserve, taro root sticks, and bean and olive salad. From the sea we had the Baja Diver Scallops, $10.66, which are plated with a wine and truffle broth, wilted lovage, and prosciutto. The sablefish, $3.86 an ounce, was superbly flavoured with a smoked oyster mushroom risotto, brandy glaze, and apple chips. Dessert concluded with a sampling of the rice pudding ice and baked cheesecake mousse. The rice pudding ice cream was a delicious creation enhanced by some poached rhubarb and brown sugar crumble. On the wine front the list is offers a good breadth and width of varietals and regions with a heavy weight on wines of provenance with wine enthusiasts. I see a Lumiere, a.k.a East coast sommelier influence, on the list. The wines by the glass are well suited to the cuisine so there is a lot of flexibility in wine and food pairing options. I was pleasantly surprised to see ½ litre formats of wine available. Many fine dining restaurants opt out of this option but I think it is a great idea with the sharing aspect of the menu. My only suggestion would be that their food and beverage buyer have a few more BC options available by the glass to compliment the locally sourced focus of the food menu. I do like beer and the beer selection needs some work – possibly some great bottled options from some of the top BC microbreweries on the Island. Service was extremely well executed, I think with Chris Stern’s time at Lumiere and stages at Trotter’s, shows here. From the time we walked into the room, through dinner service, and on our departure, we felt looked after, entertained, and spoilt. Sitting at the kitchen bar it is a load of fun to have the chef’s chat with you and even in some cases present and describe your dish that they just made with enthusiasm and pride. Metro – we will be back many times to experience the entire menu. This restaurant gets my nod for best new restaurant. Stephen Bonner

I'm off to Metro tonight with Helen . I'll report back. This should be a great night. SB

The bartender last night at the oyster bar mentioned an opening on Thursday the 12th. This is going to be such a great addition to Gastown. SB

The Petales d'Osoyoos is not bad but I think you could do better with comparable priced wines from other producers in the Okanagan. If you like BC rose try to find some of the Joie - very tasty. SB

Fat to me seems more of a textual concept rather than a flavour in regards to wine. On the other hand many Rhone Syrah's have that distinct bacon fat aroma...so who knows. Stephen Bonner

Great post. I'm just about to sit down to a glass of Chateau Guiraud (bought from a government run wine shop) and some foie gras (frozen from France) now all I need is a Cuban cigar to finish off the night SB

Thanks for the tip.... I'll wunder over there sometime later this week. My only days off for the next month are Sunday and Monday...looks like they close those days Cheers, Stephen

Jules in Gastown. Salad, Steak and frites, and dessert for $20. Stephen Bonner

Bacchus and Tom Aikens get my nod. Bacchus more in the Fat Duck vein. Stephen Bonner