Andrew Morrison

Diner gets the Tim Pawsey nod in a review out in today's Courier. LilyKate must be pissed.

While it's doubtful my review will send people in droves, I hope they get a handle on wait times as well. Keep in mind there is no better motivator than a busy room to light a fire under things. I spoke to Heather yesterday afternoon over the phone, and she hinted that the schnitzel will likely see a dijon aioli on the side shortly. I'm off on an island recce this morning, but I'm thinking of little else beyond Red Truck, chocolate souffle, and Duran Duran cranked.

WE review out this Thursday.

Not at my best in the AM.

Congratulations to Chambar and the Rosemeade! Chris Johns from En Route unveils his top 10 best new restaurants for 2004. 1. Garcon – Montreal 2. The Rosemeade Dining Room –Victoria 3. Le Club Chasse et Peche – Montreal 4. Raza – Montreal 5. George – Toronto 6. Chambar – Vancouver 7. O Chalet – Montreal 8. Fleur de Sel – Lunenburg, Nova Scotia 9. Panache – Quebec City 10. Thuet Cuisine – Toronto

Is a Bentley worth it? Depends on who's answering. This is not a meal for those short of pocket. Is it worth it? To those who pay, clearly yes.

Dude, after about two or three bites of a burger there yesterday, I asked to have one of their prepped patties weighed. 2/3lb hand molded. Cooked medium. Subtly flavoured. Perfectly textured Positively massive. Pungent garlic aioli hung around for a while but ultimately succumbed to soda gun coke refills. Could have used some extra savoury or tang (perhaps even bacon), but that's just me and my baggage. For burger purists and fans of $8.95 accessibility...WOW. Like any new place, they'll likely sit on their labour with volume so low. Though this might sound weird, wait times should go down as soon as they start getting rocked. If you go in the next week or so, you might be able to witness the end of it's Age of Innocence.

In CityFood tonight. pretty harmless, and then... Please discuss.

Thanks for the hospitality Neil (the coconut shrimp, as always, were a great lager foil).

I'm afraid it's too late for that, Jamie. It's a move I patented long ago (no innuendo - I speak plainly). But getting back OT. My favourite restaurant reviewers in Vancouver fluctuate on a weekly basis depending on how much I agree or disagree with them. I like Ian King at Terminal City the most, simply because I've never met him.

Agreed, Jamie, though perhaps a bit of a struggle for me due to my diminutive stature. I'm with Arne on this one. I'll try anything once.

That would make sense....

Of course. Chacun son gout.

It's a wonderful room, best seen close to empty. The quality in the food and the cocktails are there, and I'd argue it warrants the occasional surrender to it's varying atmosphere rather than a reluctance to give up going where we want when we want. For me, I go early and leave early so I never go in after 8pm. If I dropped in for a martini and a bite at 11pm on a Saturday night, I too would likely never return. The crowd, almost literally, is night and day. More than most, George is a tale of two restaurants. Choose the vibe better suited to you, either early and excellent or late, crowded, and blonde, but I hope you don't feel reluctant to go again because you saw Dr. Jeckyll turn into Mr. Hyde.

In my WE column this week I talked about wireless dining and settled on Havana, Bacchus, Lift, and Nu as the best four afternoon office options. Thanks for the input. This sidebar was in the print version, but never made it online: "Since most fine dining managers don‘t have the balls to say “no“, let’s talk etiquette before you take my recommendations and run. There are three rules to follow: eat something, drink something, and tip obscenely well. If you sit down for an espresso and hog a table to surf porn or play solitaire for two hours, you deserve to be drawn and quartered with your eyes pecked out by a murder of avian flu-carrying crows. As a courtesy, always call the restaurant to ask if bandwidth is on the menu, and should you want to make table 22 your office, let them know (they‘ll likely make a note of it and reserve it for you the next time you check in). This gives the waiter enough time to draw the shortest straw, as the only thing more disheartening than a solo diner is their small bill..."

I agree and had similar thoughts. I was going to write a full page orgasm (i can do that), but scaled it down to one para instead in a differently themed article. That being said, don't hesitate to check it out for yourself. I doubt the full force of eGullet couldn't knock this lady down.

That's what I had, but it's not working today. Thanks anyway. BTW, 411 is about as much help as Cloutier with 3 left in the 3rd.

Does anyone have the telephone number at Diner? I'm a proud google-sapien, but I can't find the damn thing.

True. You can try "Matinee Idol" on for size. See if that works for you. There's also "Plasma God", "Hanger Wyles", or the simple but stylish "Gingerbread Ghengis". Way off topic, I know. A rather roundabout way of swinging discourse back to Diner, I admit. What say you all of this place?

Yes, that was me. Pity we didn't meet . I'm still stuffed. 24 hours later, and the meatloaf is still with me. Better than my mom's, which is saying a lot (and that's just between you and me, K?). I went too far in ordering the perogies, too. There was no room for dessert, but Heather gave me a cookie for the road. I can see myself spending a lot of time there. A very refreshing departure from the Yaletown shishi. Simple, honest, unassuming, inexpensive, and good.

I'm there.

Whaaa?

From a Top Table press release this morning. Congratulations to all at West! Vancouver, BC. On October 16th the UK’s Sunday Independent broadsheet reported Vancouver’s West restaurant to be amongst “ten of the best, worldwide.” In the article, West is the only Canadian restaurant to be mentioned alongside cutting edge gastronomic greats such as Alain Ducasse’s Louis XV, Monaco; Arzak, in San Sebastien, Spain; Fergus Henderson’s St John, London; Alinea, Chicago; David Kinch’s Manresa, Los Gatos and Marque, Sydney. “David Hawksworth trained with notables including Raymond Blanc before returning to his native Vancouver to open West.” reports the Independent, declaring “Wagyu beef with Cascadia porcini and broken red wine jus is one of the best plates of animal protein you’ll ever eat”. More delicious dishes currently featured on West’s menus include a 36 hour slow cooked local lamb with parsley and grainy mustard dumplings, “the lamb is cooked ‘sous-vide’” explains Hawksworth “to retain moisture and flavour, it’s succulent and beautifully textured.” Fresh handmade spaghetti with truffle veloute, and shaved white Alba truffle, has also proved to be a current seasonal favourite. Both Chef Hawksworth and Restaurant Director Brain Hopkins are thrilled with the Independent report “we are honoured to be placed in such high regard and to be in such excellent company”, says Hopkins, adding “it just makes us more determined to continue to raise the bar, to strive for excellence in service, cuisine and wine and to play our part in placing Vancouver firmly on the culinary map”.

My travels in the last few days. Habit is a bit delayed but the space looks great. Pretty much a full restructuring inside. Look for a more kicked back Evoke design this time around (certainly more relaxed than Glowbal, Crush, and Lilykate). 60 seats. 5 seat bar. Polished concrete floors. One long banquette, lots of birch, several booths, and a simplified menu with small plates of global reach. Still very much under construction. Good to go first week of November. Scuie is awesome and I hope they have it in mind for a franchise. Quality pizza and pane romano with a selection that varies daily. Heart warming pasta fagioli soup. Perfect gnocchi (my favourite winter buddies). Suprisingly good wines at a 5.95 to 7.95 price point per glass. The crowds were tremendous (at 3pm?!). Off to an excellent start (would love to hear one of the pros here - hopkin, vin, barret - tell me of the quality of their coffee). Baristas looked studious. Open two days. Yagger's looks to be a lot of fun for some late night nosh and not a few pints. Played a game of poker and helped christen the Jaegermeister machine the other night. The unfinished look was pretty minimal. Nothing fancy, but then again I wasn't privy to any finishing touches. Weird location (across from Cassis and next to the Ramada). Eager to try Stuart Irving's menu once it's scored. Interesting to see what he comes up with outside Wild Rice. Sean Sherwood has a new chef for Lucy Mae Brown that will eventually move to Century to create a menu. I don't think I've ever heard a better name than this: Remy Du Bois. He's apparently very young, and plucked for the Ritz Carlton in Boston (I believe). Never met him, but I'm attending a staff tasting tomorrow and I'll post again. There's talk of an Opening Soon show for Century (also in the running - Emad Yacoubi's Sansafir on Granville - opeming aimed for April). Still very much under construction. Doors likely to open in January.

My column this week was on Earl's going overboard on plasma screens at the new Paramount, but after last night, I've found a closer contender to Fort Morrison. The Cactus Club in Park Royal (West Vancouver) was like a the North Shore HQ for the PPV Disenfranchised Club. In the lounge the screens abound, and should the beer specials steer you often to the tinkler, fret not sports fans, individual tv's are tuned to the game in each of the washroom stalls. A bit weird to find oneself cheering in such a situation, yelling things out like "GO!" and "C'mon, SHOOT!", but you get used to it in such a high scoring game...