Wine_Dad

Try Note Bene, Harbor 60, Colborne Lane, Lucien, Bravi, Aria,

Try Paradis, on Bank Street, north of Billings Bridge. Bring them in and stay and browse while they sharpen them. An outstanding establishment.

Just had dinner at Le Chien Noir on Wednesday of last week. As a huge fan of the french bistro concept, I found the restaurant to be very good considering that it must not get as much traffic as a major market bistro of equivalent size. The service was very good and the food above average.

There are indeed tables that are not adjacent to the stadium kitchen. They even have a small room. I'm sure they can accomodate a four top off to the side by the windows. If your clients are foodies, Perigee's the place to be.

I thought about this some more over the weekend. In fact the restaurant business is really three businesses: real estate, project management, and food & hospitality. Only with the right location, fitted-out at the right budget can good food and hospitality be in a position to turn a profit. In short, it's a business pure and simple, if the main elements aren't working together, it all falls apart. Take Peter Oliver for instance, if you ask him the secret of his success he will tell you that real estate is an important element. At Biff's for example (same building as Houstons and suffers the same traffic challenges), he stepped in after a huge remodel and secured a great rental rate and some decent fixturing. Thanks to some creative sponsorships for the Zinc Patina bar and French Bistro Awning, and a couple of coats of paint he went from New England Chowder House to French Bistro in short order and at a rediculously low budget. This real estate success is not to take away from the fact that the Oliver Bonaccini partnership isn't succesful; it's obscenely succesful. Major landlords will accept a much lower rental rate from a proven brand name restaurant operator in exchange for a participation in the profits. There isn't a landlord in town that wouldn't want a premier restaurant operator or succesful "named" chef in their building. Houstons isn't locked out because of the rent. Their rental situation is a function of their inability to run a business. The took the least desirable corner of the building that used to be a retail Investment Advisory space resulting in a poor location with huge conversion costs. Combine poor judgement with lack of project management experience and you get locked out before you char your first rib-eye. Their restaurant is a little known, middle of the road steakhouse. To add insult to injury, they've been advertising franchises since well before the first tape measure came out. Ask yourself if the elements of this story support a well run business at the mercy of an unscrupulous landlord or some food loving, franchise salesperson's folly. The funniest part is that Ki is also in a former Retail Investment Advisory space in a relatively weak corner of a different building but it's being done in 1/10th the time and backed by one of the best restaurant names in the country. Furthermore, the landlord there is far more aggressive. It all comes down to paying attention to all facets of the business. I can't wait to see who takes over from Houstons. Anyone have Thomas Keller's number handy?

I work there and that place has been under consturction for 16 months. They were recruiting in Jan. My sense is that the founder(s) is/are franchise salespeople and not restauranteurs. Ki, on the other hand has been under construction for about 4-5 months and looks ready to go next week.

I was there in June with three foodies (1 from Chicago, 1 from Connecticut and 1 from NYC). We asked of the cuff if we could have a tastings menu and got 7 interesting and imaginative courses. The kitchen was only too happy as they had three large groups of "overly perfumed" customers that had mutiple dietary requirements. As for the service, I found it attentive and very good but not excellent - it's west of the Bovine Sex Club remember and priced accordingly. The wine was another issue. We had two bottles of 2000 Tom Eddy Napa Valley Cabernet at almost $300 each. The wine was worth $300 but in about 4 years time. One of the NYC guys bought the wine without consulting the table and short of putting it in a paint shaker, we couldn't get it to open up. I've had some good drinkable 2000 Napa Cabs but this bad boy needed some time to mellow. The wine error is our own damn fault, and I never really consulted the list as the decision was made in a nano second. Long and short of it, I'm 12 restaurants into my global top 50 and while Czehoski may be in the next 50, I think they're onto something like other trendsetters in their own market place. I should add that I'm not "in the business" either. I for one want to encourage these guys to continue to be out there and experiement. I'm quite happy to go and tell them how I fell and would encourage other e-gulletters to do the same. It's the price you pay to encourage innovation. Frankly, if I see one more Rack O' Lamb/Halibut/Veal Chop/Salmon/Chicken/Tederloin structured menu, I'm going to flip.

I don't know if it's still around or how young at heart you and your wife are but my all-time favorite eclectic diner is Mimi's on Bathurst just north of College on the west side. It's beside the "Oakleaf Steam Bath" off all things but the food is out of this world. Hot steaming coffee, homefries, and a mexican omelet that defies description. Don't be surprised or put off by Mimi if she's got Blue Rodeo blasting and she's smoking a joint - it's all part of the experience. The other favorite of mine is still the Tuplip on Queen St. East but that's because I can get there quickly and my kids love the staff.

I was there in December last year for a function. I'm not a fan of flamenco anything - music or dance, but I do love tapas. The food was acceptable but not first rate, if anything I think that the portions were a little small and the tastes were a little too subtle for people used to authentic Spanish food. Compared to the now defunct El Cid/Tapas on Carlton at Parliament, Embrujo will have to do for now.

There's one at the Windsor Arms and one at the King Edward. You might want to try Perigee - not a chef's table per se but a seat ring side overlooking the kitchen.

What does not appear anywhere here is that from a supplier point of view, it is much easier to deal with one buying group. The fact that all of the agencies and distributors only have to deal with one group that handles distribution all over the huge province is a significant factor keeping the LCBO in the hands of government. Imagine the cost to the suppliers/distributors of having to cart their product to Timmins to satisfy the clauses in their contracts. The fact that the LCBO assumes all distribution and inventory risk goes a long way to keeping costs down to the consumer. Coversely the argument can be made that they are doing it less efficiently than a thrid-party logistics company but it's the best we've got right now. Unless the Government can completely remove itself (and the resulting massive ineficiencies) from the process and allow free market forces to take over, we might as well accept the reasonable prices and limited selection offered by the LCBO. Anything in between where we are now and the state of "free market" nirvana is likely going to be much worse than the current situation.

I usually soak the chips in water for 20-30 minutes prior and refresh with a little moisture every 2 hours. I add another handful of moist chips again after about 3.5 hours. The temp reaches about 140F if soaked and 170 if not. I've also added dried berries that burst once re-hydraded in the smoker and impart a wonderful fruity taste to the smoke. And I once soaked the chips in a water/port combo.

Virtually every place has a nice private area. Biffs, Canoe, Reds, Hy's, Ultra, Rosewater (lots of them), Czehoski's (upstairs), Perigee. Take your pick and good luck.

For what it's worth, I haven't tried to cure a damn thing yet. After reading through this thread and considering that I only got 51% in Biochemistry, I might wait to be professionally trained. I have however, constructed a smoker from two terra cotta pots, a 15' circular grill, one hot plate, a thick pie tin and a thermometer. As soon as I remember how to post a picture of it I will. I'm into the thing for $40 for the terra cotta, $35 for the grill, $6 for the hot plate on e-Bay, pie plate, wood chips and thermometer are all in the pantry anyway. Long story short, soaked the chips for 30 minutes, drained and placed in pie tin with hot plate on high, smoked 10 lbs of home made Andouille at about 175F to 190F for 6 hours. I'm hooked, doing a whole duck, some salmon and some black cod this weekend.

As a better than average home chef with a huge expense account, I have had the honor to dine in great establishments around the world. I am personally very critical of my meals out but I have also worked in the business during university and I concurr with Chefpeon that there are two many elements out of the Chef's control to blam every lame dish or cold course on the Chef. Rather than be disillusionned by our external dining experiences I would encourage those of us who feel like Nyleve Baar to take those experiences and expand upon them in our own kitchens with our own guests. I have a friend who's professional and I constantly invite him over when I enterpret his creations that I find mediocre. Quite a bit of fun actually.