Andrew Morrison

I'm going to Tofino for the first time in over two years at the beginning of April. One glance at the internet tells me things have changed considerably since my last trip - most annoyingly, the prices! Wow! They've gone up! We're looking for great places to eat on a waiter's budget, with maybe one high-end fine dining experience thrown in. We're up there for three days only. We're looking for the best bang for our bucks in accomodation, too. Criteria: 1. Fireplace. 2. Steps to beach. Please share your experiences and knowledge. I'll bring back a shell for you!

I've been told some of the PM invites didn't go through for the upcoming Taste of Liguria at Adesso. If you didn't get one, you should have! PM for the details. Yours with fork and knife, Andrew

Jamie, two questions: How do the judges decide on the best service crew? For all of the awards, is there a list of the nominees that we can peek at? AM.

Just to clarify, I was talking about Watermark, not Nu (which is also a great name). I doubt Mr. Kambolis could mess anything up.

Check your mailbox, butter.

I agree, but would many on the other side cross the Johnson Street Bridge going the other way? It might be quite a gamble. Is there anything at all in Vic West right now? I lived out there for a year or two and I don't remember seeing any restaurants other than "Chicken on the Run" (which I recall was immediately nicknamed Chicken with the Runs").

Travis' tasting menu for the upcoming "Taste of Liguria" is now up.

Great name. Let's really hope they don't mess it up.

1. HP 2. Ball's Fruit Chutney 3. Taylor Fladgate Rule Brittania, baby.

I think Cassis is where that little 50's diner is now, next to the bookstore. Not the best location on the strip, but still...I sense a shift in the dining habits and in the demographics in the area since its demise. The little punks of Vic are all grown up. I agree about the parking, but there are tons of side streets around, and I would assume most of their traffic would be from the neighbourhood. Bottom line, I think there is enough. Speaking of the neighbourhood, I've watched it morph over the years and things have really begun to accelerate for the better, as Shelora noted with her reference to all the condos and lofts springing up (condos and better in the same sentence? ). The advent of the lantern festival is another indicator. The number of chocolate labs and jettas speak volumes, too. If Victoria had a Kitsilano-type of area, then Cook Street Village is fast becoming it. The newly weds and the nearly deads have died and divorced long ago. It may well be past the point of chrysalis. It's time to be a butterfly. A restaurant that took its cues from the community would score here. A modern West Coast focus using local, organic ingredients with plenty good wines and fairly priced plates is what I'm thinking. Maybe plates made from driftwood and some skunk bud apps, I don't know...concept isn't my thing.

Good on ya Sean! Great article, Jamie...thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Arne. I forgot to mention PNP. One of the most beautiful places on the island that is close to Victoria (I haven't been to the Aerie yet). We go once a year.

In Vancouver, it's Il Giardino. My wife and I were married in the courtyard. There is a little hamburger shack on Pender Island at the ferry terminal. Triple O cafeteria on any BC Ferry. In Victoria, it's Torrefazione on Government Street. We can't visit my old hometown without a few hours sipping on their patio, regardless of weather. Also the Blue Fox and Herald Street. Steamer's, too. Plus Foo Hong's. In Toronto, where we met and fell in love it's Prego, SpaHa, and Cafe le Gaffe. England, the American Bar at the Savoy. We bring the love wherever....

Yeah, what she said. Corks, though? More like rattlesnakes.

Victoria is a really difficult place to open a restaurant, but with the right people with the right ideas and enough capital, a place in Cook Street Village would be a little goldmine - no joke.

Yeesh. I get it. Every once in a while when checking the stats for my site I see that someone has done a "who is" search on me. It makes me a little nervous to see how easy it is. It lists everything, down to my home address (I just moved so all the freaks are free to torment the new tenants ), phone, et cetera. As to how they got the info about my drooling problem is beyond me. I'm pretty sure my mom told them about my penchant for yoda underoos. Out of curiosity, can I send these "who is" people an e-mail telling them to buzz off or is my identity public domain and there's nothing I can do about it? I wouldn't want this cookware thread to veer even farther from the kitchen so please PM me if you've got some inside dope on how it all works. Thanks.

Topanga on West 4th tonight with my wife and wee Jack. My wife introduced me to this place when we first arrived in Vancouver. She had a pregnancy craving for enchiladas, guacamole, and chocolate cake (her holy trinity). Jack and I were only too happy to oblige. Packed on a Tuesday night! I loved it, as usual. Jack and I had a chicken burrito smothered in creamy guac and sour cream with rice, beans and melted cheese strategically placed alongside, ready for amalgamation. The beef enchilada had a nice spice kick and came with the same sides. Everything was served piping hot. If you haven't already tried the chocolate cake, I recommend it. My wife regards it with near superstitious awe, so I held my tongue when I nearly asked for a side of whipped or ice cream to counter the dryness. I had to settle for a OK Springs Pale ale, which set me right. Service? Brisk as all hell. Turn, baby, turn seemed to be the focus. Cost? $32.50 plus tip.

Nothing really to eat in Cook Street Village except pub grub and fish and chips. Wait, there is a weird little miniscule food mall around a corner that offers over the counter Thai and Ethiopian food. Don't know the details. Zambri's, Brio, Blue Fox, and J&J Noodle House are all within a fifteen minute walk. One day someone is going to open a fantastic restaurant in Cook Street Village and it will do very, very well. The neighbourhood is seriously getting a dose of gentrification and a sleek restaurant that plays the right local notes will be able to print their own money.

Mocha House, I believe. Always busier than the Starbucks which opened across the street (not very nice of them!).

I'm a Vic ex-pat, too. I did a lot of growing up there and working in some of the places you mention. I grew up in Pag's. Many friends worked there as bussers and dishpigs. Almost everyday after school we'd go in for coffee and have bottomless bowls of their yummy soups with mounds of their bread. We were stupid kids. We never tipped. They'd roll their eyes whenever we walked in. We never understood why. Come to think of it, I doubt we cared. At sixteen those looks are pretty commonplace. Funy thing, though...Howie loved us! I make a point out of guilt and shame of going big at Pag's whenever I visit the island. The price of penance! BCinBC, I wonder if we've crossed paths?

I'm not sure about this but pressure seems to be a good motivating factor in tipping Vancouver towards some semblance of excellence as far as restaurants are concerned. Isn't there immense, diamond-making pressure on places to excel these days? Successes have been begetting successes. Vancouver might still be considered fresh soil for capital soaked restauranteurs. There are great local ingredients. There are excellent vineyards. And there remains a near symphonic mix of cultures who love to eat out in an increasingly fickle, affluent and urbanised society. Couldn't these plus-points possibly combine to create pressures that are measured in the thousands of ppi? It certainly would be symptomatic of a city that has grown absurdly fast in the last twenty years (with expo, hong kong, and the arrival of eGullet ). It's a no brainer that there isn't a tipping point in the singular, but pressure sort of encompasses it all. Just a thought.

I'd like to work just one shift in every one of Vancouver and Victoria's best restaurants. I'd just pop in to Wild Rice or C or insert restaurant name here, having memorised the menu the night before. Train for an hour on their systems, get the table numbers dialed in, and then hit a small section of four or five tables. Have a beer and a staff meal with the crew after the last table leaves. That would be an interesting exercise! Not a bad idea for a TV show. Any producers out there?

The free market and intellectual property law aren't big buddies. If I make make a carbon copy of a Vera Burger and call it Waiterburger (trademarked ), I'm fine. It only appears to be underhand because it's being brought to our attention, when usually our response is along the lines of "Mmm, this tastes awesome. Idea and Method theft remain the backbone of growth in our industry, otherwise we'd be stuck in a timewarp circa 1990. If we're quoting the letter of the moral laws we're wading in here, then the cookbook industry is guilty of churning out thousands of carbon copy meals by thousands of amateur and professional chefs year after year. Want my risotto recipe? We can dream a little dream...

We do a whole Atlantic Lobster but the chef does all the cracking for you and the exoskeleton is just a lift and discard garnish, so bibs are not needed. But feel free to wear one, just the same. We like a bit of entertainment! We also do a whole Dungeness, and it's BYOBib (we'll supply the hot towel and the proper implements). Come to think of it, the only bibs I've seen in the last few years hang to dry over the kitchen faucet.

I forgot to mention where I would go... 1. The Wick or the Long Beach Lodge in Tofino - Always wanted to learn how to surf and I've never worked in a hotel before. I'd love to learn how hotels function. 2. The Bengal Lounge in the Empress - just one shift to see what it's like on the other side of the teapot. 3. One of the Top Table places (the closer you are to Caesar, the greater the fear). 4. One shift as a dishpig with Feenie or Hawksworth on the line - just to watch. 5. Bathroom attendant - Cactus Club in West Van.