Andrew Morrison

Sciue opened yesterday, so if anyone is still looking for sexual innuendo on their lunch hour....bon ape tit.

I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed it. I dropped by on Saturday night for a visit, something I'd been looking forward to for several months. I regret I couldn't dine there at the time (went to check out Chambar's menu changes instead - one of the best soups I've had in recent memory!), but I hope to sit down and feast soon. To be clear, this is not your typical Yaletown "hotspot". Think Lilykate with better food (for much less) minus the Evoke International stamp of swank in the design. I love the small neon sign: "DINER". Nice and clean. Sort of Rockwell meets Kubrick. Aside from the high ceilinged, open room with the glass front and comfy L banquette, this is not a sleek, modernist take on ironic retro. It has the palpable soul of a classic diner, without the tired look. No pretension. Plenty honesty. It's about the food, and I can't wait to try it. Every time I dropped in during construction Heather Clark (the chef/propreitor) was covered head to toe in paint and dust. Perhaps someone can confirm this, but I believe she did all the contracting for the reno/design herself. She is a dynamo, and from all the reports I've heard so far, the food hits the mark. As far as I know, there is no website, so get off your chair and report back. I'm eager to hear what eGulls make of the place.

Agreed, love it though I do. I second the nomination as West.

seanw I doubt she'd lose a job over criticism on an internet board, almighty though this site may be. Besides, everyone loves her column, so a few "Hey, that's not fair" type of reactions are piss in a mud puddle. None of this really matters. Remember, we're a backwater. As to the "flippant methdology": I'll quote Stearns. Hell, I'm a neophyte of the pre-pubescent order and no Julia Child, but all critics (even those with vernex behind their ears) know they're are playing with livelihoods when they put pen to page. I don't think Annette, Henry, Haas, or the poor sap who served these two will get canned, or even reprimanded simply because the review read...as it did. As I remarked upthread, though, these aren't the folks who patronize Diva's. Rather, it's the Globe readers. And nothing cleans out a desk in this business than the consistent lack of bums in seats. Like the Ring (that in the darkness binds us), wielding a quill for an ad rag or a leading daily is a weighty responsibility, and in reading her review I felt she didn't appreciate or respect that responsibility. That was my gut reaction, but the truth hinges on whether or not she fairly and accurately gauged the sum quality of the restaurant. So, get back OT. Did she or didn't she? BTW. I'm always confused by Ramsey, but in this instance I was bang on.

edited for the sake of restraint

I've had a flood of PM's and e-mails over the last 24 hours, some of them lambasting me for calling out a fellow critic. Trust me, I took no pleasure in doing it! Chances are I'll likely see some trouble coming my way very soon (like a glass of white zin in my face). I should admit that what I wrote on page 1 of this thread was a heavily edited and "cleaned up" letter to the Globe's editor. When I read her review, I was aghast and then quite angry. There was no intended malice in what I wrote, and though it reads as the product of shock, I mean Ms. Gill nothing but the best. Like her or not, she isn't going anywhere. She gives good copy. That being said, there is some serious venom for Gill right now in Vancouver's restaurant community. I went out to several restaurants yesterday, and wow...she is about as well-received as a malarial gnat on a gnu back. Though it's doubtful a chef with balls will pull a Gord Ramsey the next time she walks in (throw her out unceremoniously), it just goes to show you the depth and reach of the Globe's circulation. My point? Waiters, bartenders, chefs et al might recognize a load of crap when they read it, but the majority of readers won't. This was what pissed me off, nothing more. The writing is great, but I take exception at the flippant methodology (especially because there are jobs at stake). Look, I grew up in restaurants. It might be a tough business, but it's not a mean business. So when someone saunters in and starts using their bloody big megaphone to relate cruel tripe simply because it makes for copy easily wrapped in advertising, I'll call them on it. It wasn't a review. It was a murder. I hope next Friday she does a better job.

I would argue that it hasn't.

For 24 hours, I'll put McTee on my signature as my middle name (done), change my position from Food Writer to Freelance Imbiber of Ill Repute (done), and start every conversation thus: "Hi, my name is McTee. Can I start you off with some sparkling or still water?

Forgive me, for my eyes are more blunt than sharp. This was an inaccurate and rather silly review for several reasons. I may have bit my tongue when she referred to Watermark's food as "crap", but her irresponsible review of Diva is just too laughable to leave alone. This my 700th post, everybody...and since no one else is going to tear this review up...I'm gonna It hasn't been ten years since they racked up the awards. Check this out. Anyone else remember the Diva crew walking to the stage at the Van Mag Awards last year? Inserting a quote(s) in a restaurant review from someone who is uncertain if the food is good or bad? Now I'm just getting pissed. What entry level establishments? The ones haven't you slammed yet? Good old Chocoholic from last week: "Anyway, last week I went to Diva at the Met for a work dinner. I hadn't been there in quite a while, it used to be one of my regular places. We were happily surprised to see a $75 6-course tasting menu as a special for the evening. It came with a $35 wine pairing as well. We went for it and I have to say it probably was one of the best value for money menus I have had in quite a while. Now $110 for dinner and wine isn't cheap but considering the quality of the food and the wine we got that night, I think it was a steal. I am glad to see good old Diva still delivers the goods." Based on one visit? That's a ten minute game misconduct. If you think this impressive group of professionals are worthy of a pithy punchline, there goes my subscription to the Globe. Poor Diva (the restaurant I mean). Most waiters would throw throw their aprons down and storm out at this point. Top marks for patience, Diva! Ah, the glory of overstatement. After getting two amuse comped...tsk tsk...you poor thing. And who's doing the reviewing here? Gill or Morrow? I don't know many waiters who have the balls to overrule a restaurant critic. I think it's your responsibility to remember it came with a lemon and tarragon cake. It's nice that you "take the blame", but when you shift the blame the whistle I will blow. Five minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. 16th Annual Vancouver Magazine Awards - GOLD - Best Last Course. In the end, it just reads as if two spoiled ladies got lost in a restaurant on the Friday before Thanksgiving, with one of them facing a Monday deadline. Pity Diva was in the crosshairs, but God help who's next.

A rather wretched welcoming for Annette, but a meal's a meal - chacun son gout and all that. Hell, if she walked in (and I was a MOD) I'd buy her a mink, say a prayer, polish my harikari blade and carpet her swathe with dalias and tears. Who's next?

Well done Neil!

I take my family to Thai Pudpong on Marine Drive in West Van. Excellent food and service.

Gosh, you guys are lethal. Good Italian food is simple by definition (at least in my humble opinion). If anything, we all too often over complicate it. It should be simplest expression of the fewest ingredients. And since when have the Italians restrained themselves from mixing food with sex? Let's not surrender to our western prudishnes and indulge, or at least wait until they peel the paper from the windows to show us their undies. If it is at all autentico, I'll give them all the room in the world to advertise their penchant for Venusian excess and idolatry. I'll give them a shot for sure, and perhaps a kiss, too.

Some sad breaking news. Bis Moreno ist kaput.

Since Sean is likely eye high in City muck right now, I'll pipe up (if you'll permit me to stray OT for a sec!). Century is due to open up probably around Christmas time in the old Lola's/Up&Down location on Richards. I had the pleasure of playing poker in the space recently with Gerald (Vera's), Edward (Bin), Pablo (Lucy), Sean (Heather), Trevor (Wild Rice/Yaggers) and several others recently. It s a truly magnificent space, and I'm very eager to see what Sean and Sue are going to do with it. The dining room on the main floor (with it's vaulted, gold leaf decorated ceilings and marble floors) will offer cuisine with a latin edge to it (from what I gather), and the upstairs will be more of a cocktail lounge. There is a story about the poker game(s) coming up in the next issue of EAT Magazine. Here is a pic, just a window into a debaucherous evening and hardly a glimpse of the space (which was just a shell when we played - I think the table we used was a door!).

If they are, then they better drop the alcopops at Tantra and get used to the juice.

Gawd, Keef. Nicely on the money. The Ocean Club is in a crappy location, right under the "Black Tower" in Park Royal South. That being said, the money boys behind it are very well connected to all that glitters in West Vancouver, and though "Ocean" might be a misnomer, I have a feeling that "Club" isn't. Will people cross the bridge for it? Likely not, but West Vancouver's Merc mad legions will go if only to swim in the same gene pool. If I were to suggest anything to Darryl, it would be to get White Zinfandel on tap. Bring out the Cougs! Grrr.

Oh, I take heart alright. No one but Jamie could have written the article. Someone mentioned upthread that perhaps I should have, but I'm one-fifth the writer Maw is and have next to zero in the way of comparable experience. I could never have done the man justice. That being said, I wish I could have, if only to repay the glasses of help he's poured me. Not only has Jamie been a great help in getting me set up at the West Ender, but he's been instrumental in steering me to the back pages of Van Mag as well (6 of those Cheap Eats snippets are mine, dammit!). Class Act? Thanks, very much, but I am but a pretender, a colossal fraud of the first order. I don't even like mushrooms.

Hey...I don't even like chopped liver.

I nominate Luciano Loi to be the Grand Marshal of the first annual Taste of Kitsilano. That would be fun. How many slow seasons are left on the restaurant calendar?

Thanks Moosh. While far from comprehensive (and not a little out of date!), wifi mug has proven a good source for me so far.

They don't.

Kolachy Shop has it. Just returned with a belly full of bacon dog. Just learned Opus has it. Elysian Cafe, too. I've only just bought a laptop this month, so I'm still trying to figure out how it works fatport, WEP, passwords, pay-to-play, et cetera. I took a bus the other day and opened up the puter to listen to music as it weaved through Georgia traffic. The thing went crazy. TD signal, then Hotel Vancouver, then someone's apartment....hilarious. At my neighbourhood Delany's I can pick up the signal from a restaurant across the street and an architecture firm up the way. You feel like a bit of a thief, but there it is. I really like Bacchus because of the atmosphere, and it's nice having a cold glass of Chard while abusing the English language. Thanks for your responses so far. Please keep 'em coming.

Where are the best places in the city that offer a menu, a bar, and a wireless connection? I need mobile office options all over town. Any ideas? I like Bacchus, as I've mentioned before. There's also SOMA.

Agreed. I'm keen to try some roo again. I'd love to see kudu, eland, impala, springbok, and cape Buffalo make it over here, too.