Edible Vancouver

Mrs. Gourmet here...thanks all for the fantastic evening. Unfortunately a belly full of great food and drink makes me sleepy so it was a Cinderella exit for us. Nonetheless, I enjoyed meeting all the characters which make this site so interesting (despite a couple of those pics which indicate otherwise...I was smiling on the inside, really!). I loved all the food...I think I died and went to foodie heaven...to have chefs of the calibre of NW and BF working so hard to host an amazing evening...made the $95 crush at the AB signing well worthwhile. (Sorry, I'm not up to speed on the egullet handles yet...I'm a post virgin. But what an initiation...) The Mr. and I look forward to following this group's food adventures and to more food functions. We're off to a Szechuan dinner for 10 hosted by Stephanie Yuen at Ba Guo Bu Yi Fine Szechuan Restaurant tonight in Richmond with stars in our eyes...last night will be hard to top. PS...Are there any leftovers...I'm hungry again!

I will have had the pleasure of meeting you at the Bourdain dinner so I shouldn't have any problem picking you and your Mom out. See you at the dinner!

My wife and I will be going up for a few events. We would love to stop and say hi - where are your "working"?

Stopped in and had dinner at L'Emotion last night and was dissapointed. The room is very nice and the menu sounded impressive (4 course Prix Fixe) but the food was average at best although Minna Benoit was the consumate host as always. I would recommend Chambar and Parkside hands down! As for brunch (and since you mentioned eggs benedict) I would strongly suggest Feenie's as he does a lobster eggs benny that is to die for. At least that is what my wife tells me everytime we go and she orders and extra side of hollandaise (which she says is the best in the city). The also have the regular versions with ham and salmon. Diva at the Met still offers the best "hotel" breakfast in the city if you are in that area. Hope this helps! Eric

It's open - my wife and I had a fabulous meal there last night - see my brief description under "Opening Soon". I also have PDF copies of the menus which i snagged last night as well, so if you want to have a copy, send me a PM before 11 am with your email address and I will forward them to you. Eric

My wife and I managed to hit two new restuarants last night. First was the opening party for One Restaurant Lounge. For our second stop we made it down the street to Chambar. One Restaurant Lounge is a great new room in Gastown. The color and mood of the room are great and Cate Simpson threw a great opening bash. We did manage to try some menu items at a cozy table while the party raged on around us with free wine, beer and martinis. The menu is reminiscent of Earls or Cactus Club styles but without the consistency. We only ordered small plates and found the Tuna Carpaccio with a spicy sesame dressing to be very good while the Duck Rolls with a Blood Orange Dip were very short on the duck. The other plate we shared was the Gyoza with a Sweet Ginger Sauce which was poorly presented but otherwise tasted good. After watching other plates come out of the kitchen for some of the surrounding tables us we surmised that the kitchen still has some work to do as the other people did not finish a lot of what was brought out and none of the plates looked overly spectatcular. I can't really give a fair assessment on opening night or without trying some of the mains, so I will try and get back one day in the next couple of weeks. It should be a fine place for a late night dinner or drinks! http://www.onelounge.ca/ Our second stop was Chambar - I think I have found my new favorite place in the city! We arrived shortly before 10 pm and the room was still busy. The room is intimate but spacious with great acoustics so you can actually hear your date while the people chat around you as well. The menu offers some unusual but exciting dishes such as Lamb Tajine and Duck with Juniper Berries. I have not been this excited about a menu since living and working in the UK. My wife and I shared the Lamb Tajine with honey, figs, cinnamon, and cilantro on a bed of cous cous that was perfectly prepared, if not way too big. Two full lamb shanks came as part of the dish, which for $19 is one of the best deals in town although my wife would have preferred to just eat the cous cous it was so good with all the nuts and fruits incorporated into it. We also shared the Grilled Salmon with Haloumie Cheese, Shaved Fennel Salad and Pomegranate Syrup (with a tapenade type of crust not mentioned on the menu). This was one of the few times I have actually been asked how I like my salmon cooked and they were excited by my “rare” response and when it came it was perfectly cooked. As with the lamb, at $16 this is an amazing deal! The service was execellent but they are still waiting for some of thier wines to come in so selection is a little limited at this time. I am sure I will be back to Chambar over and over again. http://www.chambar.com/ I have copies of the menu in PDF form but I can't figure out how to attach them.

I am in as well....along with my food loving wife (I think I already responded to Arne requesting to be put on the list). I will hopefully have at least a couple of room nights donated from local hotels for the auction as well. Eric

My wife and I will fit right in the middle (30) with no kids to speak of (yet), so no babysitting problems either. Can't wait for the evening! I guess you could desribe us as wine and food people - we dream about and discuss food for more minutes of eveyday than anything else, we are always planning the next meal or dinner party, our house is filled to the rafters with wine (sorry - but not mostly BC - I am still an old world fan) and food stuffs from the Gourmet Warehouse that we will never possibly use but just had to have and every anniversary present, birthday present and christmas present had better have something to do with food - hence the evening with Mr. Bourdain was part of my wife's recent anniversary present! Jewelry possibly - food always!

I purchased tickets to the event yesterday (at Opus) and would love to meet some more people who are into food in Vancouver as much as my wife and I are. Please post the details of any dinner on the boad. Thanks, Eric