winegeek

Finally made it to Chambar last night. I can't believe that I left it for that long. We had a very early reservations (5:45) as it was a last minute decision to go. We were the 1st to arrive for dinner but the room filled up pretty quickly. Keep in mind a few things while reading my comments; my memory sucks, even though dinner was only last night; and while I do love to dine out, I'm not one to try to figure out every last ingrediant in a dish. I'm just happy to enjoy what is placed in front of me. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. I started off with a Duvel and Colleen (my lovely wife) had a Vesper Lynn, an earl grey infused cocktail. Let me telly ya, I could picture myself on a sunny patio in the summer downing glass after glass of that cocktail. For the 1st coarse Colleen had the Mushroom Cappuccino Soup and I had Ostrich Carpaccio with beet (I think) horseradish and buckwheat noodles. Both were fantastic! For coarse # 2 Colleen had a Winter Salad (Red wine poached pear, watercress & endive salad. Caramelised pecan stilton vinaigrette - *disclaimer *copied from their site). I had Scallops with lentils and parma procuitto. Probably one of the best salads that I have ever tried and my scallops were one of the best dishes I have ever had! Both incredible. For our 3rd coarse Collen had the appy of Braised Short Ribs with six grain risotto. Colleen loved the ribs. I had the Mussels Congolaise (fresh tomato, smoked chilli and cilantro with a touch of coconut cream and lime **) The mussels were perfectly cooked and a very generous portion. Very good (and with excellent frites). For dessert (boy I'm full) we shared a Chocolate Terrine with chocolate cake. Sorry Lorna, can't give you a better description! Maybe Quintan can help fill in some of the blanks. Between all the food Colleen had another Vesper Lynn and I had a Duchess De Bourgogne, a very strange but well enjoyed beer. This was actually a gift from Quintan. Thank you. I also had another beer but the name escapes me. We were seated in the back and while the room did fill up, it was never really overly loud. We both love the look and feel of the room, although, while not an issue with us, I'd be way to much of a klutz to negotiate around the tight fitting tables. Our server Cora was attentive, cheerful and quick with recommendations ( and patient when we couldn't make up our minds ). Quintan was an excellent presence and came by often to check on us. He also very graciously brought us over a complimentary dessert wine from Barossa Valley (I know the name starts with a "T") to have with our dessert. After close to 3 1/2 hours, we finally stumbled out, very happy in the knowledge that every accolade they have received in the past 1.5 years is very well desrved. A fantastic dining experience!!

Me N Eds on Lonsdale in North Vancouver! My wife and I are in mourning...services to be held this afternoon We have been ordering from here twice a month for 4 years. By far and away our favourite take out pizza. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the last 4 times (I kid you not) they reversed the sizes of our orders..my wife orders a small with.....and I order a different medium. For some reason I get the small and my wife the medium. Not a big deal to me as they have to send me another small but how many people do they do that for before they're out of business. Obviously they passed that number .

Congratulations Sebastien! Very well deserved.

Good question Jamie. My only thoughts right now are "who thought up those stupid ads and do they still have a job"?

Oyster Bob has probably shucked somewhere around 3-4 million oysters!

Here is a little something I found today. It would appear that the Winegeek has made someones day ! ← I've been racking my brain to see if we have another Derek at Joe's. Over 40 servers, only 1 Derek (ask anyone there, one's enough ). Thanks Neil. Nice to come home from work and read that.

This is kind of funny. I don't think Steamrollers set out to be a top-notch restaurant. I think the idea was to provide an alternative to a high fat burrito. I like to think of it more as a wrap. I eat them. I like them. It' an alternative to all the fat food, fast food out there. When I'm in a rush I'll got there for a healthy, nutritous wrap. To me it's the best fast food out there.

Check out Mia Stainsby's article in today's Vancovuer Sun. I'd say she is a fan of at least one CFD.

Hi Lorna, I'm happy to hear about your great experience with Jamie at Cin Cin's. I worked there for 5 years before heading off to Joe's and Jamie and I would always chat about wine. He is one of the most intense human beings when it comes to wine discussions. I run into him every so often after work and our conversations always come around to wine. He is so animated in describing a wine that he makes me laugh .

Please don't take this personally but I always get a laugh this time of year when people call the day before valentines and ask for a table for 2 at 7:30 . Even though Joe's is definately not what I would call a romantic restaurant, we were pretty much sold out 2 weeks ago. For next year, I would suggest calling before the calender hits February!!

Thanks again for the educational seminar. With the exception of the ride to Quadra Island, it looked like a great experience .

First off - what great deli's Kelowna has. Even the Save-On foods seems to have a really strong selection (San Daniele Mortadella - do they sell in the Vancouver Save On's?). Med Market is fantastic - really large selection of meats and cheese - very busy - so great turnover. Well edited selections of pastas, passatas, and spices - staying away from the chi-chi and concentrating on what people use. It seems like the locals still do alot of home curing and pickling - my client was telling about buying grape juice from Med Market and making his own wine. L&D Meats and Paul's Produce were also good. Illichman's deli was not as good as Med Market - but they had great slabs of dry aged porterhouse and rib roasts (I was really tempted...) Also - they seemed to have the largest selection of Ritter's bars that I have seen in one place. Bought some Blackwell Dairy Ice Cream - Maple Walnut and it was good. Wonder why it is not available down in Vancouver? I was feeling so food optimistic that I even went to try to find some good Chinese food. Well I won't mention the restaurant - and making snarking comments would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Not evil - just not good - in fact I was asked 'Was the food passable?' Saw 'Hector's Casa' for mexican - menu looks okay - but again am I being too optimistic? Also went and dropped by the Bar at the Eldorado - but the menu is pretty heavy duty. The lobster cocktail is now $20 - still a good deal - but I was told that it would not be enough food for a light dinner. The grilled rib chop looked good but at 24oz (and $64) - I need to fast a little before trying to tackling a pound and a half of meat. Had the salami pizza - nice crisp crust - but way way too rich. It came with a wedge of lemon to squeeze over the pizza - and at first I thought that it was over kill - but I was wrong. A big douse of lemon juice did nothing to cut the richness. So far - so good. But it is realy only day 3 of my two month stint. If I find anything interesting I will post about it. ← Don't miss Freso's. It is far and away the best restaurant in The Okanagan. Also, if it hasn't been mentioned, The Heritage Inn in Naramata is a favourite of mine. It is a great spot for dinner or a glass wine.

Agreed. Pino`s book of kitchen insults and put downs. I`d buy it . ← I'm not familiar with the industry, but if the cookbook was peppered with insults and put-downs directed at the reader and his/her general incompetence in the kitchen, I'm sure it'd still sell. Channeling Tony Bourdain...? ← Lorna, I think TFA was referring to the fact that while Pino is indeed a great chef, he is also quite well known in the industry as having a voice that carries far and wide. It's been heard by many servers at very close range. I'm going there for dinner next month. It's been far too long.

Great Pics Lorna! I've really enjoyed reading about your experience at Bearfoot Bistro. And Chris, thanks for sharing all your great knowledge with the board. I've very much enjoyed reading your posts and learning in the process. Oyster Bob said you're not such a bad guy . I look forward to dropping in to see you next time I'm up in Whistler.

Good for you Lorna! I see no blood, which is better than I did some months back. I had never shucked an oyster before , so I asked one of our shuckers at Joe's to give me a quick lesson. After explaining his technique I grabbed my first oyster and preceded to jabb the knife into my hand! Ouch!! It was at that moment that I knew that my career would not involve a knife. Looking forward to more pictures.

I think that's a great idea. There is just one flaw to it;you must take a credit card number to confirm the reservation. For a restaurant our size, it just isn't viable. It would be just like NYE multiplied by 14 . I'll check with Guest services to see how they feel about that idea . I think it would be a great idea for smaller places that really suffer from just a few no-shows.

Hallaluhyah(sic), It's over!! Don't get me wrong. I love the 2 weeks each year that dine out occurs. It allows me a few extra shifts that I would normally have been called off. The money was great, with the exception of last night. We averaged about 375-425 guests each night, along with 30-40 no-shows! A great success once again. And damn if I don't make the most incredible hot-water-with-lemon-and-honey you have EVER seen .

Obviously I'm going to chime in with........Joe Fortes. We celebrated our 20 year anniversary in October, although officially I think it was May.

As a server, my preferance would be to have a printed list of specials. I beleive that most guests zone out after the 3rd recited item. One of the top restaurants in Vancouver actually verbalizes over 10 items everday. And as a guest i'm supposed to remember what special number 3 was? I can't even remeber what i had for breakfast!! As for mentioning the price; if a special is out of our regular menu's price range I will always mention it, if it isn't I will not. If it is that important to a guest I beleive they will ask the price. Very few times do guests ask for a price. If I get flamed here for this practice I promise I'll change my ways .

What's with the names of West Van restaurants?? First we get Marine Drive (guess where?) and now we have Bistro1734. Come on folks; where's the imagination???

Tim, Thanks for taking the time out of your busy life during such a trying time(divorce) to let us into your world. I've really enjoyed reading this thread, probably more so than any in the past.

My current pet peeve is men(boys) who do not remove their hat in the restaurant. Emily Post is turning in her grave!

I would have to say false. They just added another partner last month (Executive Chef Scott Pratico), and that would be a strange thing to do otherwise. As Mctee said, Mr. Kanke now only owns Joe's.

Staff drinks? ← Andrew, Andrew, Andrew.......... I work in a hotel........ Staff drinks don't exist anywhere that the Human Resources party poopers/liability experts exist. I haven't had a staff drink since......... 1998. mmmmm.. staff drinks..... Hopefully I will revisit them soon, as I am out on the job hunt. ← I'll trade you my staff drinks for your higher wage and benefits anyday!!!

As we have just recently become an Oceanwise restaurant, I am still learning everday on sustainability and different catching practices. Definately a huge, ongoing practice. I may be wrong but albacore and ahi are in the same boat (excuse the pun) in regards to sustainability. It's the practice of how each is caught. Here is a LINK with more information. Hope this helps. Now for the shameless plug Joes serves up Ahi 2 different ways; one simply grilled with chive beurre blanc and the other sesame crusted and served with a soy ginger glaze, along with wasabi mash potatoes. We also serve sesame crusted albacore at lunch.