kurtisk

Jeff, Ian and I went to Nu on Sunday night. We'd been in West Van since noon, catering at an awesome modernist dwelling for a wedding that featured (among other things) Chinese drummers and dragons. Last week had been a long push for us, the Waiterblog dinner on Monday, a solid Tuesday through Saturday, and then this wedding. When we finished up in West Van, Jeff was kind enough to take us out for dinner, and we were quite excited to a) sit down, b) have a drink, and c) dive into some food. Feeling quite spent from our week and the function, we opted to sit in the lounge- a little hidden from view and somewhere where we could have a little more elbow room. 'Twas nice to see Keith again, he made sure we were well taken care of throughout. We did the Fried Oyster/Beer Valve thing, which is always a lot of fun and quite the taste sensation. DON'T LET THIS DISH SCARE YOU, I'd even offer that it's an integral plate that should never be missed. We had the Scallop Ceviche (citrusy and delicious), the Goat Cheese Chicken Wings (again, a fun dish that rewards with intense flavour), and the Bone Marrow (nice to see on a menu, wonderfully executed, and just TRY not to steal the marrow spoon {Harry, I promise we didn't}). Drink-wise, we were boring typical restaurant-folk and quaffed some Stellas. Oooh, the Beef Dip, we had one of those too & it's really tough to go wrong in that department. The Horseradish lent some nice clean heat. The Foie Gras Croquettes were kick-ass, and the warm Cheddar-Filled-Crackers were an odd sensation (for me, at least), but delicious nonetheless. Our server, Linda, was spot-on and laughed at all our jokes (which in our opinion makes for excellent service...). All in all, wicked! Thanks to all! k.

hear hear!! k.

Sorry I missed you! I was in Vegas for the weekend, but am happy to be back to 'reality'. Glad to hear the shop was being taken care of... k.

Um, let's say she's 'new' to the industry. k.

Well, Hello Sydney Australia! Is MG Garage still there? 'Twas our favourite restaurant in Sydney. k.

Andrew my friend, this could be a can of worms all right. Are we to assume that anyone who gives a place a public lashing here would've already addressed their concerns to any discussed restaurants and any/all points will be valid and appropriate? Otherwise this seems like a flat-out bitch-fest. I'm puttin' 10 bucks down that this thread'll implode in 5...4...3... k.

"The Distillery" is owned by a wealthy lady who thought it might be fun to open a restaurant. She hired Matt (Elwood's/Nevermind/Five Point) as a consultant, who got it up and running. It's been pretty quiet whenever I've been past, in contrast to the always-thumpin' Hell's Kitchen across the street. k.

Aw, DUDE- yeah! Good call, k

Hon's? Go Fish? Kolachys? k.

I find the whole thing interesting. A few years ago, while travelling wine country in Australia, they were poised to take over France and Italy as the biggest global wine consumers 'per capita' (or whatever the actual stat was). It certainly fits in with the Aussie lifestyle, and is much respected as a nice finish to your day, night cap, lunch compliment, what have you. So here in BC, it's certainly not a shock, but definitely worth a glance to see the stat in question. I think it speaks volumes as to how far our local wine industry has come. Also, I think we're extremely fortunate as to the selection and range of wines we have available to us. In California most lists and stores are 80% California wines, in Australia, same deal. Over in London and so on, it becomes about 70% French (I'm speaking extremely generally), which makes the diversity and options we have locally quite impeccable. I think this is a great thing, and the increasingly global outlook we have on wines lends itself quite nicely to local production, not being bound to a specific style or grape. This AND the best weed in the world (which I have to say is claimed by pretty much every one of the couple dozen countries I've been to), we are truly fortunate (and probably pretty chilled) people. k.

We always go to Tatlow's on 4th. The screens are good, with decent sight lines. The menu and food are quite good, all the usual pub fare plus many options from the 'broiler bar'. Rather cheap as well. As an added bonus, two sets of twins waitress there. k.

Andre's been back at Lumiere for a while now as Director of Operations. Mark leaving is indeed news. k.

Damn, I knew the thought rang a bell... k

I noticed, upon posting something earlier, that there are many places that we rarely mention in this corner of eGullet that are noteworthy. The post in question was about Tapastree, which I believe to be a great local dining spot. Consistent, delicious and wonderful, educated service. So the question is: While we discuss dozens of restaurants on a regular basis, who do you feel we are ignoring that provide a great dining experience? I have many favourites; Cin Cin, Zizanie, and so on (to be delved into later) that seem to rarely be brought up around these parts. What are yours and why? k.

Tapastree is also great for varying diets. A little off the beaten path, a fun way to have dinner, and superb service staff... http://www.tapastree.ca/ k.

Ouch! I guess I'm the optimist here. While I'm aware that the writer in question didn't visit, she's someone who has been here in the past, and yes, it was telephone and web research. I guess I'm just content with a whole page of ink in the Sunday NYT (as a fellow subscriber to boot) and wouldn't be in the least disappointed were I to end up in Artigiano, Brix or most other places mentioned in the article. Anyone makin' the trek here isn't going to solely go by one page of newspaper ink and I'm sure that in their other research, they'll come across C, Lumiere, West & Vij's more than a handful of times and everyone can sleep better at night. Keepin' that glass half full, k. PS- BTW, the current issue of the New Yorker is the Food Issue! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

Personally, I think it was nice to not see the same Top 5 that always get mentioned everywhere else. Yes, they're always mentioned for a reason, but our local dining landscape is quite rich and it's great to see others get a nod here and there. The article was heavily researched, and I think that this shows that they weren't just 'calling it in', but offering alternatives to the obvious. Though there was a glaring omission of places on Main Street between 8th & Broadway. heh, k.

Good on ya! A hearty congrats & wishing you well! k.

Considering Go Fish! does 2 fish tacos for $9 (with no sides) this strangely seems in line. A. ← I just did the fish taco thing at Go Fish! yesterday and got a side of the coleslaw that has the perfect touch of heat at the end. Does it not usually accompany the tacos there? k

Went to Go Fish! today, and had a kick-ass Fish Taco. Pretty damn incredible. Last night we went to Bin 942 (a Tuesday night tradition amongst us around here) and had mostly drinks, but we did have the Navajo Fry Bread with goat cheese & salsa. I always burn my fingers on the bread 'cause I just can't wait for it to cool down before I dig in. We went to Hell's Kitchen on Monday for lunch, had a pizza with chicken, double-smoked bacon, roasted corn & tomatoes. We were rather impressed with the quality and execution, a bottle of Sol washed it down perfectly.

Where's that quote from? I was lookin' for a little context to no avail... k

Is that the crispy, flakey one? (Not you, Jeff, the Lotus thingy...) k.

Yup! We go to the Bin (942) quite often and for years, I've always come back to the Angus Beef Tenderloin phyllo wellington, pecorino parmesan, portabello, chive roast garlic whipped potato, grainy mustard marsala glace [ $14 ]. A glass of Petit Verdot topping it all off can always turn an idle Tuesday into a culinary pinnacle. k.

This sounds like such a cop-out, but we do it however it's ordered. In saying that, 100% of people have (thus-far) ordered the cheese course first... k.

Tangerine, I think Sam. Could be a great looking room too. David Nicolay designed Tangerine and Coast. I like them because they look like Vancouver and not, say, like TriBeCa-by-the-Sea. Besides, we need more bull kelp chandeliers in our lives. ← OK, I guess we're all free to discuss it then... Heh! k.