canucklehead

I was just looking at that recipe last night - good for you for trying it out. The RC recipes are always tempting - just because the weather seems like its pretty close to Vancouver. Take some pictures. You may want to contact the Gourmet Warehouse to see if they can locate some saltpeter for you. Otherwise - beside Oyama, the British Butcher on the North Shore could perhaps provide some guidance. Good luck!

Dude - those are some seriously glorious photos. Sounds like it was an excellent meal. As a home cook - I tend to underseason too - you can always add salt. But nothing infuriates me more than when I ruin perfectly good ingredient with sloppy seasoning.

ditto! ← So you actually tried the food then - well you have a right to your opinion of course.

So early - I think of Mont d'Or Vacherin as a Christmas sort of thing - or is this a different kind of cheese?

Burrata? Seriously - you would not break my heart with a joke like that would you? When do you get stock of burrata at Park Royal? I am assuming that it is the same producer of buffalo mozz.

You should give the food a chance. I agree that the menu reads simply - but the execution was exemplary with all the little things done well. Personally, I was thankful for a menu that was not over-reaching with extraneous bells and whistles. Given Travis' cooking pedigree - it will be intersting to see how the menu develops.

Went to The Cascade Room last night and thought it was terrific. The room is warm and evokes an old school bar without tipping towards irony. And finally - a room where we could sit and talk in normal speaking voices without yelling over the din. With a full house - there was a pleasantly happy buzz with an undercurrent of well chosen music. I know that Evoke design is everywhere - but I think that they have really hit the mark here. Cascade feels well designed rather than over designed and this is reflected in the low key mix of people that were there last night. Travis William's cooking similiarly well executed and self contained. Really really well done comfort foods. Standout dishes include trap caught prawns with linguine brightened with preserved lemons and a lamb sirloin sandwich that was perfectly pink. We had just missed out on the Pemberton Beef Steak special. I am looking forward to trying the red curry braised lamb shank next time. Pricing was extremely reasonable - 2 appetizers, 3 entrees, 4 drinks - just below $100 before tips.

Is Xinjiang cuisine Halal? There is a Halal chinese restaurant in the South Bay (California) that serves many of the same dishes that you discuss above. Darda Restuarant in Milpitas

If you have a venue - Whole Foods will do a whole dinner to go.

I've always gone by one dish per person - perhaps even ordering one less per person depending on the size of the group. What's the number of dishes to order for a funeral though? Was it 7? Therefore one should never order 7 dishes as it is bad luck.

I think older generations are also taking a new view though - due to health problems with over eating or too much starch, my parent's generation now do not insist or finishing everything. In fact - a meal with rice has become a rarity - with alot more vegetables being consumed instead. This is a real turnaround from when I was a small child and dinner time was a battle of wills about finishing food. I still remember sitting at the table with a mouthful of food - refusing to swallow - as my mother tried to get more food into me. This could continue for an hour or so, with my mother saying "this food is getting into you one way or another!"

I think the strength of operations lies in the butchershop and the chacruterie. Had lunch recently - the best items were the cured meats. The sandwiches looked very good and there was a steady stream of customers.

I think most entrees were about $15-$20. I think it was pretty good value.

Closer to the quay - there is Jagerhoff - crispy schnitzel. Mmmmm.

I liked Thuet's (French Bistro fare), Lee, and Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar alot. JKWB was probably my favorite - small plates, great wine list, well executed cooking. Lai Wah Heen at the Metropolitan Hotel has an extremely civilized dim sum service - though I would Vancouver the nod for chinese food.

It was my first FOF - and I really enjoyed it. Beautiful weather and venue I don't have the full descriptions infront of me - but here are some highlights for me. I agree that tomatoes were in full force - but given the brief season that we had - I did not mind. Savory Coast's risotto in endive cups. Nu's duck breast - delicous! Aurora Bistro's gazpacho in heirloom tomato cups - I loved how these worked with the weather and venue - bright and refreshing - like eating an gushingly juicy tomato. Wild Rice's flatiron steak. C's slow cooked salmon on heirloom tomatoes. Chambar's halibut brandade. Rare's annatto braised pork on tortilla's - I could have eaten plates of this - Best in Show for me. Bishop's slow roasted tomatoes with chevre creme - sweet and intense - John Bishop is amazing - and his food is always spot on. Rob Feenie's house cured proscuitto. It was served with a drizzle of peppery olive oil - a real show case of simplicity. I had a snooze under the shade of some trees, got stung by a bee, and watched the kids feed the free running chickens. Great way to spend an afternoon.

Papa Beard is a Japanese chain that specializes in fresh cream puffs. I've been to their outlets in HK and SF - and both do a brisk business. I suspect that the opened in Richmond because of the large Asian population. The outlet's footprint is usually very small - so it will be interesting to see how the economics work out. The cream puffs themselves are quite delicous. Not sure if they would be a regular purchase though.

The cheater's answer would be to say Whole Foods - which carries bread from a number of local bakeries. Le Picnic in West Van recently changed hands is no longer as good. Danish Bakery in Westridge is now a Cob's. Very sad.

The miso itself is very salty - so I think it would inhibit further mold growth - but I think using one of the moldy disks would work.

Sorry not to get back to you sooner - not sure about wheatless soy. I suspect that flour used as a medium to help mold take hold - and I am not sure what would happen if you ommitted. Perhaps I should suggest keeping one of the disks as a starter in a jar - then sprinkle it over a batch that had no flour to help the fermentation process. That's the part of the process that amazed me - simply leaving out the soy disks to mold - all wild and by chance. Nature is wonderful.

Homemade Soy Sauce is done! My uncle has removed the first draw - and the miso is being used for a second batch. He thinks that he will simply let the miso evaporate out and use the paste as a marinade for fish and seafood. The miso has a plum-like tartness that is particularly good with oily fish. The soy has an very interesting flavor - it is unlike any store bought soy. Less salty - more complexly savory - undercurrents of fermented flavors (like fish sauce). It's been boiled to sterlize it (which has killed off some of the more delicate nuances - but better than killing off me) - will keep in the fridge for a while. You can see that it is lighter and cloudier than commercial soy. It has not been filtered - and no coloring has been added. Watching the process has been interesting - it is relatively easy, but time consuming. It would be interesting to see what would happen in a sunnier climate (say like - Sacremento) - if the soy would darken further.

It seems like the Hunanese like bone in chicken - heavy emphasis on the bone. Its good - but they should have mentioned all the bones. Try the beef with cumin - it looked intersting - and I did not get a chance to try it when I was there. The heat should not be as crazy as other dishes. But there is no escaping it - Hunan food is HOT. I had it 'da lai' - or big heat - and I could feel the burn in my stomach all afternoon.

Just wanted to through it out there again - I was in the OK this weekend watching the Iron Man in Penticton (pretty amazing) - and stopped by the Indian restuarant in Oliver. Tremendous home style cooking - cholle bhature - chickpeas and puffy fried bread, saag rich with fresh mehti, and house made paneer. Seriously - just about the best Indian food I've had in BC.

Genius

Kiyo in Richmond has a cold soba dish that is quite good - thin rice noodels (shomen?) - slippery but with good chew. Quite a trek though by bus.