canucklehead

Nice neihbourhood place - a modern take on a diner food with a focus on fresher and greener ingredients and homemade food. Service can be harried and prices can feel a little high - but it is worth checking out. The hazelnut shakes (well all their shakes) are hand mixed and start with italian syrups - delicous.

I think that Salt is open at 3:30 or 4:00 - so it would make a nice afternoon respite. And depending on how you order - you would still have room for a later meal at CinCin.

If the weather stays warm enough - you may consider the patio if you decide on Parkside. Really great food and a nice outdoor space. Best of luck on everything.

They cut the bread to order - I got it thick cut - it looks about 5cm thick. Drizzled with honey on butter... man o man - I know what I'll be eating for breakfast this weekend.

I went in today - and I must say that I really liked their offerings. I had the matcha cream red bean pan - it was very good. Real matcha in the cream and red bean that had some 'bite' to it. Very authentic - just like the bread I used to get in the basements of Japanese Department stores in HK. I have the melon pan, banana pan, and some thick cut sandwich bread sitting on my desk right now. I am trying to ignore them - but they are sending out "try me, try me, TRY ME' vibrations through the plastic bag. I may have to take a bite out them to shut them up. BTW - one of life's greatest pleasures in toasted thick cut Japanese sandwich bread dripping with butter or perhaps peanut butter and a glass of icy cold milk. I know it sounds like something a 8 year old would eat - but it's gooooood.

Zuke - holy shit. What incredible photo's - and letting us see first hand what incredible work Dan is doing. Food Porn of the best sort - Vargas instead of Larry Flint.

I saw the chef from the Noodlebox on CityCooks and it was good show. The cooking seemed well informed with a good eye towards using authentic ingredients. The chef (forgive me not remembering his name) - had a great enthusiatic and generous vibe. The cooking did not seem to be just throw away "Asia Fusion" food. (I mean - have you seen Emeril try to cook Chinese? Now that's something to take issue with.) But as with everything - the proof is in the eating. So I will give it try as soon as I am over my stomach bug.

I think that chinese food made the similiar jump in Vancouver a few years ago from sweet and sour to pretty high end. The key though - was having a large Hong Kong chinese population that drove the demand for higher quality chinese food. Is there a large expat group with informed pallattes to support the restaurant? However - your talking about Calgary - where money is flowing like water right now. Would'nt there be room for a Pretossian style restaurant. I mean - not necessarily just the caviar focused items - but the rest of the menu sounds interesting also.

I went to for my weekly lunch with my Aunt - and she took a few of us out to Gingeri for a set meal.. We had Braised Shark Fin Soup, Stir Fried Dungeness over Ginger Rice, Scallops and Mixed Mushrooms, Braised 'Bamboo' Mushrooms (these were particularly excellent), and Poached Free Range Chicken. Everything was very very good - bright clean flavors, impeccably fresh ingredients, smart table side service. But the show stealer was the dessert that my Aunt somehow got comp'ed. Baked Tapioca Pudding with Taro Root. Rich, creamy, eggy but without any heaviness. The taro bits were meltingly soft... adding another soft mouthfeel note. Really excellent dish - tight and balanced. We also got a small plate of almond cookies and sesame crips - amazingly crunchy and light - not a hint of greasiness. Whoever handles their sweets is a real pro - consistently some of the best desserts for a Richmond cantonese restaurant.

Thanks to the most cool Vancouver Lee - I got treated to the best view and some damned good pie today. As some of you know - Vancouver Lee is building up his piloting experience and he graciously invited me along for the ride. It was one of the funnest things I have ever done. Check out the incredible view.... We flew out to Chilliwack - the flight was incredibly smooth and piloting surehanded. At the Chilliwack airport - we headed in for some pie. Now - apparently these pies attract pilots from all over to stopoever for a little fill-up. And damned if there were not some of the best homemade pies I have in a super long time. I polished off a Peaches 'n Cream pie - lickity split - before I even remember to take a picture. It was served a la mode - with old school yellowish Dairly Land vanilla ice cream. So fucking good! The peaches were clearly fresh (this pie is available only seasonally) topped with this creamy/crumble mixture. The crust was flakey and hand made (vegetable shortening). Here is the aftermath of my Pie Gorge (during which there was no conversation between me and Vancouver Lee): I brought back some Strawberry Rhubarb, Peach Pie, and Peaches 'n Cream Pie to the friends I was having dinner with. One of them is a Pie Expert (she makes her crust from leaf lard, and her mother is one of those born and bred BC Interior ladies that can bake) declared them truly excellent pies. I liked the strawbery ruhbarb the most - it was fruity and tart and the straightforward filling really showcased the crust. Now - I would not drive all the way out the Chilliwack for the pie - but the next time you are in the area - check out the pies at Chilliwack Airport. A nice respite during a long drive.

Let them know about it - if you kept your reciept bring it along. They are pretty good about working out a solution with you. They mischarged me on some asparagus one time and ended up gaving it all to me for free. While they were giving me my money - another lady was at the customer service counter who had some issues with scallops she had purchased (she was very reasonable about it, more customer feedback than complaint). They also refunded her money even though she did not have her receipt. WH charges up the ying-yang for alot of their things... the flip side of the coin is that they are very customer focused.

The only downside to the patio was the lack of dining music - what a difference it makes when you realize it is not playing. It made things seem a little more serious - but as the patio filled out, things felt a lot looser. I am sure it is is deference to Parkside's residential neighbours that music is not played.

Had dinner at Parkside tonight and really enjoyed everything. Perfect summer meal on the most civilized patio in the city. Vitello tunnato - cool and savory. Tempura fried zuchinni blossom stuffed with herbed riccotta - served with a sweet savory tomato fondue - tremendous. Trio of Lamb and Red Deer where rich and almost autumnal. Great frangipane fig tart made with Richmond grown figs. Really satisfying, perfectly balanced flavors - grown up sophisticated food that was unfussy and perfectly handled. Good good stuff

After eating there 5 times in 8 days - I have entered a 12 step program. Seriously - I have had a number of out of town friends rotating in and out of town and Salt has been a big hit with everyone. Nothing but good experiences so far - I am looking forward to returning once the restraining order expires.

Dimsumfan Tremendous write up! Looks like you are basically on the same page as alot of the other chinese food fans on this thread. Impressive quantity and a good eye on quality. I particularly agree with on Shanghai One - which has quite good food but the service issue are ridiculous. I had to pull all of my HK-ness pushiness to make sure that my table got seated. The whole hovering over the table is simply unacceptable - but it is made necessary by the lack of FOH control. Sounds like you had a great trip - let us know when you are coming up next and we can give more advice. There are a still a number of places that are worth checking out that you have had not had the chance to hit yet. Dude - I love food pictures. How about the 5 best things you ate?

Well - its not the low income aspect of things - but I agree that the location for me is an interesting issue. It shows vision and courage on the part of Sean, but for some customers - it will be more that a little off putting. The friend that I went with last - said her parents would love Salt - but they would probably have to cab it directly to their front door. And this is no exageration - the night we were there -all aspects of the Downtown Eastside were out in force. These are observations from people who have lived and worked in very big cities - so urban grittiness is not a surprise. No judgement call here - just an observation. In SF - when the creperie Ti Couz first opened up - it was the lone place for blocks around in the Mission disctrict that people would go and eat. You would not park more that a block or two away and preferbly cabbed in and out. Today - Ti Couz is in the center of a vibrant, livable, and socio-ecomonically diverse neigbourhood. Though I am sure that Sean does not have some sort of grandiose vision for Salt - it shows that this kind of thing can be part of a larger positive change. Look at what HSG had done for those poor people down in Yaletown.

I've been a couple of times - and have never had any service problems - even when it was packed. Good that you brought up service issues that you experienced - so that they can be fixed. But by the same token - my praise is not mindless. If there were issues, I would have said so. I've really enjoyed everything about Salt so far - here's hoping that they can be consistent for everyone.

JNZ products are prominently featured at Salt. Now that I have sampled their sausages - I am really interested in checking out their full selection.

Tim - I will be interested in hearing about your experiences. I have driven by it and there is nothing that indicates what kind of food is being served. The website is not that helpful.

I don't think I can lose what I never had. Ha! I know am gushing like a school girl about Salt - but it is alway so nice to find a place that you really like. Irony be damned!

I headed down to Salt with a suburban Dad friend of mine. His wife and kids were out of town - so this was his big chance to rediscover his "cool". We walked into the Irish Heather first to check our directions with one of the servers. Turns out she is Sean Heather's sister and she says to me: "You're Canucklehead aren't you?" I was floored and embarassed that she had identified me from my ramblings on eGullet. Suitably directed - we headed down the alleyway to Salt. So, does it live up to the hype? In a word - yes. The room itself is georgeous - a beautful mix of glass, concrete, zinc, and brick. A long communal table, a number of smaller tables, some seating at the bar. The room is spacious and effortlessy smart. The concept is straightforward mix of cured meats and cheeses and condiments. $15 for three items with matching condiments. It works beautifully. We had, belfast ham, cured tongue, salumi salami, comte, cheddar, ash camenbert and a basket of various sliced breads. The condiments balanced and accentuated the meats and cheeses (the similikeen honeycomb was a real treat). A really intelligently edited collection of food that worked well together. Sean introduced himself to me (again identifying me as Canucklehead - yikes!) and let us sample a little wild boar sausage and york ham (which was like a a beautiful proscuitto). It was all tremendous. Chris Stearns and the rest of the FOH team were really great. Orders flowed smoothly, waiting diners organized, and everyone was made to feel warmly welcomed. The servers are informed, friendly, and speedy. Later I was chatting a little with Chris and he asked me for my name and I said "Oh I post as Canucklehead" to which Chris responded - "Uh - your real name dude". Doh! So what is it about Salt that makes it so great? It feels comfortable in its own skin and in what it's trying to do. The meat and cheese selections have been carefully made and the focus is on good old fashioned quality - no weird ingredients or concepts. My friend said it's the kind of food that his parents would really enjoy and recongnize the good craftmanship in the products. Real substance - which is better than "cool".

The Savuer article made me re-read Jeffery Steingarten's essay on whether or not there is an actual PNW cuisine. At the time (1990 or 95 - I think) - his conclusion was 'no'. Great raw materials - but no real cuisine yet. Things have progressed over the last decade or so. But the Saveur article is over-focused on sourcing rather than what is done with the ingredients. And this where I think that VI dining experience is sold short. One always reads about Sook Harbour House and their (extreme) dedication to VERY locally sourced goods. But as I diner - I am less interested in food dogma and more intrested in good honest food period. The article left me thinking - wow, what great stuff - but where are all the places that I should go to eat it?

I have a number of Chinese friends who families lived in Calcutta for generations. My friend's mother still makes her own garam masala blends and speaks hindi perfectly. Many of the contractors in Vancouver are Indian and she surprised them one morning with fresh Chai and rambling on and on in their native tongue. Reflecting this are a couple of Indo-Chinese restaurants - here is a review for a place called Green Lettuce. I have not been myself - but I looooooove Indian Food and I looooooooove Chinese Food - so I am a little leary of what the combination might bring....

I don't think even the "recently opened" excuse can apply here. Joey's have a number of locations that are operating at full steam already. The whole point of these places is that the operations should be replicable and consistent. If it falls short in this measure - then the big redeeming factor in favor of dining at a CFD's has evaporated.

Last I read was the big kurfufle over staying open until 5:30. Time to hit the snooze button again.