John Jameson

Hi Pao Pao, Thanks for dropping in and trying us out. While writing my business plan I thought of you and your many positive reviews of Heather's operation. You've been Heather's most outspoken supporter since Diner's opening and I was convinced that it would be impossible to win you over. The Browns/Milestones comment really hurts and while there is nothing wrong with those two particular operations, to compare the combined efforts of Mark Brand, Kurtis Kolt, Quentin Kayne, Dan Tigchelaar and myself to a Milestones, is a slap in the face...at any rate, we will have to agree to differ. I would hate for anybody to read your post and think that we were overpriced....for the record our Dinner mains (save one) are $11-$15, our sides $4, our starters $6-$7 our desserts are $7. Our lunch mains are $11 and under, etc. I find your $100 comment to be misleading....We have one main course priced at $28 and you had it. This sheds a slightly different light on your total spend. It is true that we are more expensive then "Diner", but we need to be for "Lucky Diner" to succeed...actually Heather needed to be more expensive for "Diner" to succeed. Heather's dinner prices were the same as her lunch prices...you cannot survive in Yaletown if you sell your main plates under $10, unless you skimp on service and quality. The food is definitely a far cry from what you might expect to see in a greasy spoon diner and has more in common with the fare at San Francisco's Fog City Diner.....that won't be changing. Cheers, Sean

Diner will reopen as Lucky Diner today at 5pm. More details here: http://www.salt.inknoise.com/pepper Cheers, Sean Heather

Hi Kimabima, I use a lot of Irish goods in my businesses, but mostly as menu items. That said, I could sell small amounts to you if you are interested. For cheese, I currently have St Gall, Gubbeens, Cashel Blue & Dubliner. You can get details on these items at http://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/thecheeses.html KerryGold is the most famous and best Irish butter produced, however I have never seen it in BC....if you find it let me know. Cheers, Sean Heather

SALT UPDATE With a winter chill looming large we have begun to adjust Salt's menu accordingly. We’ve added a monthly “Feature Terrine” and this month we are offering a Foie Gras parfait from Chef Andre Durbach at Parkside. We have also added a brine cured, smoked pork chop from J,N & Z deli and a shaved fennel, celery and parmiggiano reggiano salad with lemon juice and olive oil dressing. We have retained the services of pastry chef Jenn Hette, formerly of Feenies and Leslie Stowe. She creates two desserts for us weekly…my current favorite is the Valhrona chocolate tart with a salted walnut caramel centre. New items to watch out for are “Daily Soup” think cauliflower and lemongrass puree with a dollop of stilton cream or Grilled Cheese i.e. Isle of Mull cheddar with Guinness Wholegrain Mustard, J,N & Z Pancetta and Crushed Olives As we flesh out Salt’s menu our hope is that folk will also view Salt as a place for Lunch and Dinner. To that end, Salt opens for lunch from noon onwards on Friday, Saturday & Sunday starting Oct 13th. Cheers, Sean Heather

I long ago gave up any notion of seeing my girlish figure again. That said we did take care to sit at the bar, order only small plates, share everything and pace ourselves. A lot of the establishments that we visited were open early 'til late so we could have a small early lunch, followed by a small late lunch, etc. We also walked whenever we could. At any rate the blog is fixed and ready for viewing, however it does take a while to download due to the amount of photos attached. Cheers, Sean Heather SALT BLOG

Love to see what you guys were/are up to but better do a bit of maintenance on your website. ←

New York last week My business partner and myself headed to New York on a 3-day binge. We are opening a cured meat, cheese and wine tasting room and were looking for some inspiration. Both of us are big Mario Batali fans and were interested in checking out the Salumeria sections that have become features in several of his establishments. We were quickly sidetracked, managing to clock up 30 plus establishments. We ate: quail, langoustine, squab, Paris ham, lamb sweetbreads, hangar tartar, béarnaise ice cream, sturgeon, trout, corned duck, quail eggs, pork belly, fiddleheads, octopus, razor clams, mini burgers, English chips, charcuterie, pounds of cheese…I can’t remember everything. We visited (ate or drank or both) : Del Posto, Morimoto, Bar Jamon, Casa Mono, Tasting Room, WD 50, Dash Dogs, Tide, Liquor Bar, Turks & Frogs, Tom & Gerry’s, Pop Burger, A Salt & Battery, Hogs & Heifers, Otto, Gramercy Tavern, Artisanal, Le Pain Quotidien, Dean & Deluca, Spotted Pig, The Otheroom, Vesuvio Bakery, Wine Bar, Teany, Blue Smoke, CBGB & the Porto Rico Importing Co. For a full report view our blog at www.waiterblog.com, click of SALT Blog

‘make the lambs stop screaming’ I once read a story about a chap who in the 1940’s started selling hot beef sandwiches at a streetside stand . He was open late and proved a big hit with taxi drivers, police, ambulance drivers, etc. Late night eateries nearby, started to feel the pinch and the next thing you know a rumor is circulated that the meat in his sandwiches is in fact horsemeat. Business dropped dramatically and the fellow was faced with a potentially disastrous situation. (Disclaimer: my memory is patchy, so don’t roast me if I’ve got the date wrong, etc.) His solution was to take an add out in the local paper offering $5000 reward to anybody who upon buying one of his sandwiches could prove that it was horsemeat. Overnight business was back, busier then before. In the case of a bad review, if handled properly there is almost no downside, believe me…I’ve been there, done that. It is what you make of it. The route that I chose certainly wasn’t for the squeamish. While it made me a lot of friends, it also made me a lot of enemies, but more importantly put a lot bums in seats. If you use blogs to promote your business, you have to be prepared that it may backfire. You can’t join the army and then complain when people start shooting at you. If it backfires, you have to be prepared to manage the situation, and our brave lads are doing a fine job. Brian and gang will ride this out and be better/busier for it. Buckle up fellas…it’s a hell of a ride. Sean Heather www.irishheather.com

Hi Paul, Is this supposed to be funny? Sean Heather

On a foggy evening in London back in the winter ’86, I found myself in the Grill Room at the Dorchester, shaking hands with Anton Mosiman. I was a commis waiter at Maxim’s de Paris, sister restaurant to the great Maxim’s in Paris, made famous by Toulouse Lautrec, beloved by exiled Russian blue bloods, and frequented by allied officers during the 1st world war. Pierre, another commis, had agreed to cover my shift out of a sort of kindred spirit, as we were both outsiders in that very French world. I was the only non French national in the entire dining room and Pierre, with a Vietnamese mother and a Legionnaire father killed at Dien Bien Phu, had a face that reminded the French too much of that humiliating defeat. Seated at my table were Francis Brennan, the owner of the Park Hotel in Kenmare, Ireland’s only Michelin star property, Liz O’Mahony HR manager for Dromoland Castle in Co.Clare and Dan Mullane owner of the already famous Mustard Seed Restaurant in Co. Limerick. I was 18 and completely out of my league but they were gracious enough to nurture me. At a pre-dinner drink at the Ritz they gently pointed out that my cardigan would not pass muster with the Grill Room Maitre D’ and then procured a jacket from the concierge. It was that very night, as I stared at the venison medallions, that I decided to make the Hospitality business my career and through the many highs and lows I have constantly reflected back on that night and remembered why I chose this path. Another such night came on Friday, November 18th, when I looked up from the lobster terrine, sipped my champagne and looking down the length of interesting characters at my table, saw Rob Feenie and Charlie Trotter fussing over plates. My favourite dish was the lobster terrine whilst my least favorite was the quince jelly and candied celery. I’d love to give more details, but a combination of great conversation and too much alcohol robbed me of the ability to recall exact details. Suffice to say that from now on I have another evening to add to the Dorchester night. A week prior, whilst in Vegas, I had two great meals. The first at Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak and the second at Kerry Simon’s eatery. Craftsteak is a steakhouse without the “old boys club” feel. Earlier this year I dined at Colicchio’s casual New York spot “CraftBar” and was blown away by his “hen of the woods and raclette panini” and so I was expecting excellence and that is exactly what I got. Two of us shared the porterhouse and the third had the hangar steak. All were delicious but the kicker was the marrowbone that accompanied the porterhouse. The marrow once removed melted over the meat for an unbelievable flavor. Only one of us ordered dessert, (vanilla crème brulee) and instead of just the extra spoons that we had asked for, our server brought us an extra brulee. A nice touch, but we are as yet unconvinced that she wasn’t just avoiding the spectacle of three red faced Limerick men brawling over the last spoonful of a fancy custard. The next night saw us at the Hard Rock Hotel, across the hallway from NOBU, at Simon Kitchen & Bar. I’d eaten there before and knew that this kitchen was definitely worth a visit. Pumpkin soup with crispy sage and applewood smoked bacon to start, meatloaf perched atop garlic mashed potatoes for an entrée. At the end of the meal the server placed a giant bowl of blue candyfloss in the center of the table. As most of us had not touched/tasted candyfloss since our childhood, we had a good laugh….in hindsight our giddiness probably had more to do with the free pour Bombay & tonics. The guys in the booth next to us looked vaguely familiar and we fell off our seats when we realized that they were the lads from Twister Sister. I knew that things were about to go pear shaped when one amongst us placed some floss on his head and started singing “we’re not gonna take it”. I spoke to Kerry about his Iron chef experience (aired last week) and his competitor Cat Cora….he thoroughly enjoyed himself aided in no small part by his victory. He also mentioned that he has had meetings with a certain Vancouver hotel re: opening a Simon Kitchen & Bar here. I’d be delighted to see it happen. Cheers, Sean Heather

Stinky Cook Posted Yesterday, 10:47 AM I saw some construction activity in an old diner space on the 400 block of east Powell St. (near the sunrise market). I've heard it may be some type of gastro pub. Anyone know anything? The old diner space in question is Tommy’s Diner and the construction activity was actually the space being set for a scene from “The Collector” TV series. It is unlikely that you will see a relaunching of Tommy’s in the near future as the landlord is looking for an unrealistic rent of $2500 per month. The gastro pub that you heard about in the 400 block of Powell Street is rumored to be a project owned and designed by Terry of Wild Rice fame. Also in the hood, the Ovaltine is about to be put up for sale and we are about to launch “Fetch” an upmarket hot dog cart on the corner of Abbott and Water Street. Cheers, Sean Heather

Lunch at Feenies with my better half. A relaxed affair with a shared plate of steamed white asparagus, shaved pecorino and Parma ham followed by braised short rib over papardelli for me and steamed black cod for the missus. All were great, ditto the service which was executed admirably by a chap named Frank...it helped that he wore a Claddagh ring (Claddagh = member of the Irish tribe) Friday 730am, (middle of the night really) found me bleary eyed and bedecked in a seldom worn suit at the Four Seasons for a breakfast meeting with the President of Ireland. Sounded important but it was really myself and 200 other business folk. I barely got to see her, however she was very impressive. Anyway, the Four Seasons put on a full Irish breakfast: black pudding, white pudding, pork sausage, rashers, grilled tomato, potato farl and scrambled eggs. It was a fairly decent effort...the farl was more mash potato than potato cake and the bacon (rashers) was cooked crispy which is fine for fatty cuts like streaky bacon but not for lean rashers. Side note-I was delighted to host the Presidential entourage back at the Heather that night for a few bevies. While in Seattle on business I found myself with enough time to visit Salumi. This tiny space, located on the rougher side of Pioneer Square, is Mario Batali's dads homage to cured meat. Mr. Batali took early retirement from Boeing and four years ago opened Salumi, a meat lovers Mecca. http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/ All of the Salami and prosciutto are cured in house and are then sold by the 100g or used in the sandwiches. I was most curious about the Lamb Prosciutto but unfortunately this was sold out. All was not lost as I managed to secure a delicious sandwich of roast leg of lamb, herbed caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and fontina cheese on some sort of rustic loaf. Despite a mere 14 seats spread over 3 tables this marvel had already served over 200 guests that day. This place is a must try the next time you are in Seattle. Sean

Friday 13th May was unlucky for some but great for my wife and I. Dinner at San Francisco's Fog City Diner started with a glass of Estancia Pinot Grigio for my wife and a locally distilled rye with ginger ale for myself. Rye was the first Whiskey to be distilled in America, long before Bourbon. Every now and then a distillery will briefly resurrect this style, most notably Jim Beam. The bottle in this case read Old Potero Single Malt Straight Whiskey and is best described as a smokier, rougher version of what we are used to...kinda like Tom Waits versus Michael Buble. I'm always intrigued by reservation etiquette in the States i.e. a reservation for 8pm means that they are expecting you at 8pm but that you shouldn't expect to be seated at 8pm. At any rate we drank several beverages, standing out on the sidewalk waiting for our table to free up. It took an age but what matter, we were in the land of Jack Kerouac and for a couple of hours at least, we were on the road. I had the grilled Niman Ranch pork chop, my wife had Chicken Schnitzel and our pals had the Angus Beef Pot Roast. We ate off of each other's plates and loved it all. For fun we washed our grub down with a couple of bottles of St. Francis Merlot from Sonoma ($41 each). The evening finished with way too many Irish coffees at the Buena Vista Cafe...the North American home of this famous Irish drink. God help us but they went down way too easily, should really come with a warning. I am amused by people that try to convince you and themselves that the coffee is neutralizing the effects of the whiskey....sure it is. A shot of whiskey is still a shot of whiskey unless of course you are in the land of the free pour. The next day was a slow start but we managed to grab a late lunch at Zuni Cafe. What a class act! One of those places that doesn't try to be excellent, it doesn't have to, it just is. It was just the two of us this time the others preferring to dine at "In 'N' Out Burger". We had Prosciutto Daniele with a sizable garnish of freshly shelled English peas tossed in creme fraiche and chervil...simple and perfect. Next we had a caesar salad, anchovies in the dressing, crisp romaine, freshly grated parmesan. To finish we had a plate of house cured anchovy fillets, shaved parmesan, nicoise olives, drizzled in extra virgin olive oil. The bread came fresh & frequently from the wood burning oven located on the other side of the room. We washed all of this down with a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc and watched the world go by. Later that day we headed for home. On Monday I snuck away from work to grab a grilled cheese sandwich & coke at the Ovaltine Cafe. Wonder bread, processed cheese and vinegar thinned ketchup served with equal doses of suspicion and indifference. I got exactly what I was expecting, but then I really wasn't there for the food or the service...I went for the ambiance, the nostalgia. This place has so much unrealised potential that it bugs me each time I pass its beautiful neon sign. I have tried several times to buy the Ovaltine but to no avail. Were I ever to become its owner, there is very little about the Ovaltine that I would change, save the menu. I would transform the current Chinese/Canadian line up to a menu of; smoked Mennonite sausage hot dogs with cherry tomato relish hand shaped hamburgers moistened with bone marrow & melted asiago turkey meatloaf with cranberry gravy brisket with braised vegetables & horseradish mash fried chicken with spicy Jicama Slaw corned beef hash with creamed corn deep dish apple pie smothered with a slice of melted cheddar lemon meringue pie that zings in your mouth I am aware that this last paragraph shouldn't be in this thread as I haven't actually eaten these meals, however, these are the meals that I eat in my mind as I deal with the grilled processed cheese sandwich, bite after bite. Sean Heather

DOV has been a fantastic experience. It is Thursday evening and to date we have served over 960 guests. No double bookings, no major errors, timing has been pretty good and feedback has been very positive (save the egullet kind). In the middle of DOV my family and I moved into a beautiful heritage house, our first home. Lunches in the Deli have been busier than normal and the Shebeen is also unusually busy. I was feeling pretty good until I heard from a customer that there had been some negative posts re: DOV Irish Heather on egullet. My curiosity now being aroused I was seriously keen to read what was being said. Unfortunately, my computer was still packed away and I just didn't have the time to borrow somebody elses. On Saturday morning my sister brought me a printout of all previous posts. I was stunned and then I was outraged. Sunday and then Monday brought even more cheer. It appeared that the herd had begun to stampede and that even if Jesus Christ himself had come down off the cross to cook and serve for these people, they still would not be satisfied. Here is my opinion on this farce. If constructive critisim was the intent, any of you could have quietly PMed, Emailed or Phoned me to point out any perceived flaws in my operation, be it service, food or otherwise. The fact that all of you felt a need to post your "reviews" on egullet for all the world to see, was a hostile action. Either known or unbeknownst to you, you have potentially damaged my business. You have certainly called into question the integrity of The Irish Heather and the professionalism of my staff. This of course presupposes that your points are valid, however, in truth (something that has been in short supply) most of your points are not valid. I have great difficulty with the fact that none of the people reading have any idea who you are. If you are going to say nasty things about my business at least have the guts to tell the readers who you are. As far as I am concerned until we know who you are, there is a major credability issue. For example, who is to say that you are not related to a competitor, or that you simply don't like Irish people or that you don't know what you are talking about. Actually some of the posts give a pretty good indication of just how poor the food knowledge is. I have been in the business P/T & F/T for over 25 years and in that period I have worked FOH, BOH, in both fast food & fine dining. I have managed everything from an airline catering dept to a bagel bakery, from a country house restaurant to a public house. My knowledge has been gathered through jobs in London, Ireland and Vancouver and there isn't much about this business that I haven't experienced. I would pit my palate and knowledge against any of you so called reviewers, any time. For those readers that don't know the Heather, here is what we are about. The Heather is working class, the food is working class, peasant if you like...terrines, pot pies, cassoulets, bangers and mash, house smoked salmon, etc. We have never served wings, nachos, or burgers and never will. We are not the kind of place that greets you with "Hi, my name is Sean and I'll be your server for this evening" nor are we the "Good evening Mr RooStew, I just got in a nice merlot in from the Clare Valley". The service at the Heather is honest, friendly, funny and refreshingly different. If you are an ass we will tell you, if you are rude to my staff, I will ask you to leave. We don't hold with, "the customer is always right" philosophy, because they aren't . We have 100's of regulars who eat and drink everyweek and if you visit us you are more likely to hear "How are you doing folks, are you here for dinner? Grab a seat upstairs and I'll be with you in a minute...we're slammed tonight". Or "Well lads what are you having". When it is busy we put our heads down and get the job done, we become very business like and we don't hang aroung to discuss the fact that the salmon in your ravioli was purchased earlier that day from one of the trawlers next to "Go Fish". We are not going to recommend things unless you ask and if we don't respond to a question, it is probably because we haven't heard you. One of you was appalled by the fact that my staff asked a customer which entree was theirs as they approached a table....."ok folks I have a chicken and a beef, who is having what?". This is what we do, it is what we have always done and will continue to do. If a waiter hasn't collected your bill it is because they are too busy, and if you aren't able to get up off your arse and bring the bill to them, then you shouldn't be here. I'm not interested in pandering to you, occasionally we won't get back to the table to collect your bill, deal with it. When it comes to food, we take it very seriously. My philosophy has always been that we don't buy something if we can make it ourselves. Fresh baked breads, house made icecream, from scratch soups (always vegetarian, often vegan), handcut fries, braised meats, etc... we even make our own pot pies. I let the food speak for itself. The sausages in our bangers and mash are handmade by the British Butcher, our corned beef is crafted and delivered by the one-man-show Mike Vitteau & our cheese is now mostly from Neal's Yard. Actually the cheese plate is a pretty good example of what I am talking about, for $12 we give you four 1oz portions of artisan cheese, paired with matching flavours (nod to Feeny for this) ie instead of just fruit we also provide flavours for you to experiment with ie reduced balsamic vinegar, candied orange chutney, etc. This is not dissimilar to what you might receive at the excellent Lumiere's Tasting Bar, however my servers probably won't know the history of the cheese or their particular qualities...they'll tell you what is what and what country it is from. For me, this is kind of what the Heather is all about, excellent quality product, presented in an unusual manner (matching flavours) at a great price washed down with an imported beer or whisk(e)y. If I am around I'll offer suggestions for whiskey/beer pairings and answer any question that I can, however if I don't know the answer I'll say that. It is up to you to remember what you tasted and research it yourself. If you think that this is a little too casual, or maybe you don't drink beer/whisk(e)y and want a larger selection of wine, then the Heather isn't for you. The Heather casually serves well prepared, honest food to people who are not uptight, in a unique setting and has been doing so for eight years. Now back to the matter in hand. I was present every single night of DOV, save tonight and the dinner at West, and on that occasion I worked until 8pm. I do have three busy businesses, a young child and I did move house, however I am not offering this as an excuse because as far as I am concerned I have done nothing wrong. I tasted everything that went out, every night. Almost every plate that left the kitchen was passed by me. My chef, Tony Marzo is a graduate of Dubrulle, served a four year apprenticeship at the Wickinnish Inn, worked for a couple of years in Victoria's Cafe Brio, then on to Langdon Hall, a Relais & Chateau Property in Ontario. Tony is the guy who oversaw the preparation and plating of your food, I coordinated its delivery and my sister Roisin (who has been working dining rooms in Wales, Ireland & Vancouver for 14 years) managed your room. On behalf of the three of us, I'm here to tell you that you are full of shit A hostile action demands a hostile response and I certainly will not be pulling any punches in the following paragraphs. I feel that the best way to deal with these reckless posts is on an individual basis. First on the list is "Fluffy", super name by the way. Not much to say here except that it is hard to take a person seriously when they can't tell the difference between salmon and tuna! However she did have a valid point about the melted ice-cream and the absence of the sour cream drizzle. Mea culpa, I was on desserts at that point of the evening and obviously asleep at the wheel. When it comes to the service aspect of the complaint, you & I are probably going to fall out. Fluffy if you are trying to suggest that you and your guest sat there for 20 mins before anybody took your order then you are simply wrong. There is no doubt that you were left alone for too long, but 20 minutes...no chance. Your server that night has worked for me for three years and in that period I have received only two complaints and customer neglect has never been one of them. Next in line is RooStew. Now this guy is a peach. According to RooStew he arrives a "touch" before 5pm and has a pint in the beer garden before dinner, I don't have a beer garden. According to my staff it was closer to 430pm when he arrived and it was more like his second beer he was supping as he sat for dinner. Here are some highlights from RooStew's review: He felt that his starter of beet and goat cheese roulade lacked seasoning and depth of flavour. Tell me RooStew, I'm dying to know what you would have done differently..what seasoning would you have used? That nice dried Italian mix that comes in those small jars at the supermarket? How exactly would you have imbued the beets and goat cheese with a greater flavour? He also felt that the Coq au vin tasted like it had been boiled in water and shredded from the bone. Well he is correct about one thing, we had to hand pick all of the meat from the bones, how else were we going to stuff the coq au vin into the onions? The notion that we boiled it in water is both ridiculous and insulting. Incidentally this is the exact same batch of coq au vin that "Fluffy" appeared to enjoy, leastwise she didn't say anything bad about it. RooStew also felt that the accompanying "mash" was lumpy and starchy. It isn't clear whether he knew that he wasn't eating mashed potatoes...at any rate he found it lumpy and starchy. "Fluffy" to her credit acknowledges that it was a celery root puree and describes it as "light with a melt in your mouth quality". Who isn't telling the truth? Who is misrepresenting the facts? Amazingly, this chap is three pints into the evening and still feels that he can make a valid comment on the taste of our food. "I wasn't sure but maybe I could taste salt on the tart tatin"...wow, quite brilliant really. I'm curious RooStew, was it Sea Salt or regular Table Salt? This guys keeps getting better and better. His closes his review with some advice for the chef "maybe the chef coulda spent more time in the kitchen and less running food". He sees me running food to a few tables and thinks that I am the chef. Please bear in mind that I'm wearing jeans, a dress shirt and a bib apron. Perhaps RooStew thinks that this is what people wear in kitchens...weird. However, all is not lost as RooStew will be back again to have a couple of pints...not if I can help it. Next is Ling. I laughed out loud when I read Ling's response to Neil's post about PMing me. Incredibly, she felt that contacting me directly might be rude so she chose the more polite route of running my establishment down in public....baffling really. If I am remembering correctly, our only crimes were that the sugar cookies were undercooked, the portions too small, the chips too thick/soggy, the beef lacked salt and flavour. Overall we were kind of unremarkable and fine. I personally tasted everything that went to her table and assigned my my sister Roisin to attend to her. Ling we knew that you were coming and after the Bis Moreno post we weren't taking any chances. When you ordered the fries we dropped two baskets and picked through the lot to find the best ones...won't be doing that again. A couple of points worth mentioning, our sugar cookies are not meant to be hard and I tasted one of hers before it went out to her table..it definitely was not doughy, it had a soft chewy center. The fries that Ling describes as thick, are actually ¼ inch squared. With regards to still being hungry, why not order a basket of bread, or a cheese plate with dessert? You were getting 3 courses for $15, you could have splurged. Judging by Ling's mauling of Bis Moreno, I should really consider myself lucky. I noted though that on a subsequent DOV Irish Heather post, Ling couldn't resist sticking it to us again. Apparently her father likes anything with puff pastry and this is probably why he liked our Tatin.. Way to go Ling, drive that knife in a little further. From now on the herd is moving at pace. We heard from "T" who felt it necessary to echo Ling's comments, so much so that he cut and pasted her entire review into his message. He did however trump her beef complaint by slamming the sauce as well. Next comes SushiCat..another great name! SushiCat wasn't sure whether to post or not but was then spurred into action by the flurry of activity on the DOV Irish Heather post. It would have been great if you had gone one step further and contacted me directly, but hey nobody else was doing it, why not go with the flow? My servers were probably "muttering" that they were so busy because they were. As an aside I find the word "Muttering" to be particulary offensive......for you to suggest that my sister was wandering around the room, muttering, really boils my blood. Who the hell are you? And was it really everytime that a waiter was within earshot? You should read your post out loud a couple of times, even you should recognize how ridiculous it sounds. Just because you could see empty tables doesn't mean that the waiters were not busy....I have 160 seats and maybe 30 were in your line of vision. It is mind boggling that you found fault with the fact that my servers ask diners who is having what? Did you forget that you were in a casual restaurant, charging $15 for a 3 course meal? If you wanted silver service you should have gone somewhere else and paid for it. Is this the reason that you thought the service was poor? I am surprised that you didn't complain about the lack of table cloths and the fact that your napkins were paper. The funniest thing of all is the fact that you managed to notice from your vantage point that the nut pie looked like the best thing coming out of the kitchen. How exactly did you make that decision? I'd really like to know how you spied the nut pie from across the room and deemed it the best thing coming out of the kitchen? Perhaps it was Ling's previous post prompting you. SushiCat of all the posts yours is arguably the most ridiculous. Not to be outdone, hayasaka.k quickly chimed in with more of the same. He/she bonded with fellow foodies RooStew and Ling over the poor state of the Tart tatin except his/hers wasn't even cooked. Over the next few posts I was now expecting to read that someone's apples were maggoty. Word to the wise hayasaka.k if your server is too busy to pick up your bill, and you want to leave, get up and bring it to them. I would much rather that on a busy night my wait staff concentrate on getting food out to hungry people then collecting bills from already fed customers. Also hayasaka.k I am dying to find out exactly what you meant when you said that the food lacked development? How would you know? What are your credentials? Everybody went to bed and in the morning we hear from appreciator. Her dinner starts off OK but then came that old chestnut, the ribs. Not to be outdone by the previous posts her ribs are now "completely lacking in flavour". The way that things are going I expect the next post to say that the ribs were cardboard like!. Not content with picking apart her own meal, appreciator then asks the diners at a neighboring table what they thought of their food. Nobody should be surprised to hear that their food also lacked flavour, but on this occasion it wasn't the ribs, but a relative newcomer to the flavourless line up...the vegetarian entree. Somehow we had managed to make a ragout of braised kale, carrots, wild mushrooms, canellini beans and truffled cauliflower puree lack flavour. Who were these people at the other table? We don't know and apparently we don't need to know, lets face it we don't really know who any of you are? Appreciator next suggests a reworking of the entrees and creates a Frankenstein-ish dish composed of the entire vegetarian option perched atop the blue cheese polenta...brilliant. God help us! We definitely did mix up the ice creams and that's how we know exactly who Sarah is. When she went to the rest room her dinner mate told the server that Sarah was a food critic, that she had been reviewing us and that we were doing very well...four stars apparently. Sarah likes to play food critic...what fun. Somewhere between dining at the Heather and posting her "review" Sarah changes her mind...perhaps it was after she read some of her fellow reviewers posts. Keep 'em rolling, rolling......rolling, rolling, rolling, rawhide. Next comes DameD. I had a nice chat with her on the phone and I had high hopes for her. I assigned a solid, friendly waiter to her table, an Kiwi actually and a nicer fellow you would not meet in a days walk. I thought a nice server for a nice lady, this should work out just dandy. I was counting on Danielle to break from the pack but alas it wasn't to be. I was however heartened by the fact that she found the salad to be the tastiest, as this was contrary to almost everybody else's opinion. Then she took the safe route by slamming the beef. A suggestion for you, if the waiter doesn't answer your question perhaps he hasn't heard you. What could he have done to make you say that the service was great? He had an extra chair with a booster seat on it for your child. He made sure that your child's food came with the appetizers. Topped up your water glasses, brought your drinks, brought you your food, cleared away you plates, etc. what else did you want? Here comes the cavalry. A regular customer and neighbour Sbonner tries to defend me, but is scolded for his efforts. Thanks anyway Stephen RooStew is back and now my food isn't even decent, in fact it is sub-standard. He mentions something about "an establishment of that calibre", but hold on, didn't he previously state that he didn't expect much from a pub? So what calibre is he talking about? I love this guy. He finishes with a wrap on Steven's knuckles, asking him if he had the "Heather DOV culinary delights?" Steven hadn't, so that was a point scored for the Aussie. DameD is back and now she and RooStew are bonding over my lack of good pub fare. Where did that come from, I'm having difficulty keeping track now. (By the by the Westender readership just voted us 2nd in Vancouver for Pub Grub, but you folks probably don't rate the Westender). DameD is also entering some new information into the mix, apparently she asked the waiter other questions and on these occasions he spoke but did not know the answers. DameD if it isn't too much trouble, perhaps you will let me know what those questions were? Sarah is back and she has identified part of the flavor problem, perhaps the chef has an aversion to salt. Brillant deduction Watson. Then she scolds Steven for defending the Heather. The second wave of cavalry arrives in the form of Neil from HSG. He suggests that perhaps you guys should PM Sean and within seconds there are 2 messages for me. Has the herd now moved in a different direction or are these simply a few strays, time will tell. Sushi Cat is back and it is now a feeding frenzy. She suspects that I wasn't around on the night that she was there, suggests that my business isn't being run properly and then offers a pearl of wisdom...."perhaps the overall combination of all the factors is just too much for the Irish Heather this year". Sushi Cat, you really bug me. I was there the night that you ate, I can state categorically that your food was hot and tasty and that your service was just fine....you are a boob. She finishes with a gem, a warning. "it is also important to realize that the dining (and drinking) public does have a choice, a wide choice in Vancouver of places to spend $$, so one bad or indifferent experience leaves a mark" Susi Cat come out from the litter box and tell us who you are. From where have you gleaned this insight? To date over 2500 people have read the rubbish that has been printed about my business and had I been on line sooner I would of have never allowed it to go this far. For the record, Ling, "T", Sushi Cat, RooStew, Fluffy, Appreciator, DameD & hayasaka.k don't ever darken my door again. Your actions have the potential to damage my reputation and ultimately my business. The Irish Heather is my life's work, it is how I pay my mortgage, how I will pay for my son's education and the source of income for the 22 people that I employ. It is unforgiveable that you would decide to play food critic and endanger our livelihoods. Your posts have been at best incorrect and at worst malicious. Of the 100's of people that we served, yours were the only complaints that we received. Sorry I forgot about the lady who sent back the mushroom ragout because it was too mushroomey. It is my word against yours with the only difference being that everbody knows who I am and what I stand for. I'd like to see you put your livelihoods on the line and give me a chance to offer some "constructive critisim" on how you do your jobs. This is hardly likely as I imagine that you feel pretty safe behind your masks. Shame, Shame, Shame. Sean Heather, Proprietor, The Irish Heather

Cheers Neil for posting the above. I am finally able to view the posts using my cel phone. The dining room is starting to fill up again, got to go, more customers to disappoint with our OK service and tastless food. Sean Heather