canucklehead
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Posts posted by canucklehead
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Not sure what the average Canadian wine drinker thinks - but the generally feeling I get from people who enjoy wines is that they would rather not see a ban.
However - the fact that things have gotten so far is a real demonstration on how frustrated Canada is with US trade policy. The NAFTA Board has ruled on numerous occassions that the US imposed tarriffs have no legal grounding yet the tarriffs continued to be collected by the US government and there is a move by a few US Senators to give the tarriffs collected to US Companies.
The quoted wine industry response is not helpful either. It continues to show 'so what' attitude to the possible Canadian sanctions. The lumber tarrifs are a crushing penalty to the lumber industry up here. It really is effecting alot of people's lives. Banning US wines one of few levers that Canada feels like it has.
Anyways - let's hope cooler heads prevail on all sides of this issue.
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Weirdness on my part - I like raw fish (except for raw shrimp or lobster - ugghh!) but for some reason ceviche gives me the creeps.
It always seems a little "pre-digested" to me. Again - as with so many of my posts - I apologize for the graphic language.
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I don't know if I should be posting this - but you should check out Sean Heather's posting to egullet comments (in the Vancouver Forum - look for Irish Heather). Not picking sides - but it was a very interesting interchange.
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Uggh - you are right of course Deborah - I was hoping that nobody was going to call me on it. Who said egullteers are not a smart bunch?
(A "bunch" of what though - is the real question).
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Off topic a little - I had dinner at Gaddy's at the Peninsula Hotel in HK a few years ago and got to speaking with the Chef - who told me that when he was interviewing with Hotel Management he asked what was his food budget. He was told not to worry about the cost but to concetrate on producing the best food he could (the guy had Welsh Lamb flown in daily). Insane or what!? Should cost be a consideration in our little dream restaurant.
Also - doesn't 'uber' literally translate to 'over' not 'super'. Well - maybe Yaletown is 'over' (except for the g-bread pudding pusher).
Been reading this thread - and I what I would love in Vancouver is a Delfina type restaurant. A really excellent restaurant where the food and wine is taken seriously but set up as though it was a neighbourhood place. Emphasis on seasonality and local ingredients and civilised prices and portions (please not too much). I would love to have things like local dungeness crab (cakes, w/ pasta, cracked pepper - in the singapore style), deep fried stuffed zuchini blossoms stuffed with young a local goat cheese, sweet local spot prawns, panne cotta made from local cow's milk dressed with BC berries.
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A british thing - but strawberries and a grinding of black pepper. You don't taste the pepper but the strawberries - for some reason - taste more intensely of fruit. Don't know how it works.
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As a chinese guy - cooking Italian and Indian feels much more comfortable to me than cooking chinese.
I've always felt like Italian food shares the same philosophy as cantonese food - emphasis on freshness and having a light hand with the goal of bringing out that inherent liveliness in the food. Marcella Hazan's description of good pasta ("lightness and bouyancy in the mouth") was exactly how a chinese person would describe good noodles.
But wierdly enought - cooking chinese food is very nerve racking to me. I tried to cook a meal once and everything just tasted like soy sauce to me - terrible! I think it is because I love cantonese food that it is a crashing disappointment to me when I f*ck it up. I am trying to get my mom to walk me through cooking things and setting it down on paper though - before its too late.
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Having a few strippers in the dining room would really complete the holistic dining experience.
But that's just me.
Hey - are you a writer for Godiva?
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Thanks for the reply Jamie! So what's your recommended dishes at Cioppino and Tojo's? I'm always fascinated by the popularity of the two yet fail to find a truly impressive plate.
TIA!
For what it's worth Mangez - I had a spring Quebec Lamb (there was a specific term for this lamb - but I cannot remember it now) dish once at Cioppino's that was spectacular. My friend and I ordered a saltspring island lamb for comparison and the Quebec lamb was better in subtle but fundamental ways.
It was a simple grilled dish but the flavours were so delicate the texture was like silk. Delicous!
I've been to Tojo's a number of times and have not really enjoyed it. It was pricey, the service so-so and as I have said before - the food has always seems over handled. It's like they should dial it down a little and not worry so much about impressing the diner with their chef-y skils but just letting the food do the impressing (am I making sense here?)
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If we're at Jericho, can we have a beach-volleyball court next to the bar? And shower facilities so I can wash up after playing so as not to offend the other diners?
Hmmmm - egullteers showering for the patrons. We may have found our source of funding.... Not sure if people are going to pay to watch or pay to not have to watch.
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I went last night with my brother and really enjoyed the food. Had the osso buco and with rose sauce - Arne's comments are dead on. They were also serving rabbit last night and apparently has had tripe (yum!) on the menu in the past.
The pasta was the best part of the meal. Perfectly al-dente and generously napped in the sauce (without swimming in it). My brother had the penne with gorganzola sauce and it had the right amount of cheesey bite to it.
The pizza was a touch on the salty side and my brother being a big Marcello guy - gives marcello's pizza the slight edge.
However - the Da Francesco experience is much better. I agree with Neil's comments about the service at Marcello's. You cannot rely what kind of service you will get (at least if was consistenly crappy - then you could plan around it). The server at Da Francesco was very young but very enthusiatic about the food. The food came out hot and fresh.
Great recommendation and I will be back to check out the Carbonara - a dish that I think is one of the hardest to pull off well.
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The commentary back and forth on this thread has been most illuminating. I certainly have a better understanding of the process and the steps that are taken to keep the judging fair and objective. There are always ways to improve the process - but as this thread proves - there are pitfalls to all methodologies. Things are never as simple at they first appear to be.
I myself always prefer seeing where informed judges' rank restaurants vs. readers polls (which ALWAYS seem to leave me baffled).
A quick scan of the names on the judges list reminded me how many people in Vancouver have dedicated themselves to raising the level of food quality and food knowledge and discussion to our city. I think Neil is right on both counts - that visibility has helped certain restaraunts but at the end of the day - the food has got to be good.
Thanks Jamie for taking the time to walk us through the process and addressing our questions and comments.
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As a user of the guide - the results of the Vanmag awards provide an excellent overview of what is good out there.
Where the Vanmag listing is not useful for me is when it gets into Asian foods - and in particular Chinese and Japanese. Vanmag's selections are not so much 'bad' but the selected restaurants seem to be the most visible but not necessarily the best. For example Sun Sui Wah and Hon's are proverbial winners, yet for me there are better places. I have never been a huge fan of Tojo's whose food for me seems overly handled.
I say these things not to pull the reverse snobbery thing but I am curious as to how the judges guage ethnic food and how much exposure do the judges get to regularly dining in ethnic restaraunts. I not a proponent of the whole "hole in the wall is best" dogma - but the ethnic food landscape may not be so visible to the casual diner.
Also, I don't agree with the argument of the judges not knowing what "real" chinese food is. I think that an educated palette can always decern good food. This is a question about keeping abreast of ALL of the things that are going on in the Vancouver food scene. Though this is a medium sized market - it is a rapidly changing and evovling one.
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This is from watching Ernie eat this on Sesame Street - but I love the combination of Grape Soda with Pepperoni Pizza. Ahhhh .... delicious!
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I've been wanting to try Cru out - but I am not much of a drinker. Would you recommend Cru to a non-drinker - or would I only be getting a "half" experience?
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I walked by Lift yesterday at about 2pm and it seemed like it was pretty busy - or at least it sounded busy. I haven't been inside yet - but the hard surfaces seem like they reflect alot of noise. I like the looks of the exterior and the close proxmity to the bayshore should help with business. I am curious to check Lift out and plan to do so soon.
Jamie - I read the magazine version of your article and it was very good. Your review of Henry's makes be anxious to try it out. Sometimes I wonder if when you come across a place like Henry's - if you ever think to yourself "you know - I think that I am going keep to this place to myself."
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Just a word about Chambar.
I heard the owners went away for 1.5 weeks and when they came back - there were 12,000!!! requests for reservations. They had 16,000 seatings (tops?) during DOV apparently.
Amazing!
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On FTV's New Classic's - they featured Feenie's burger. And it looks INSANE - chuck burger on top of short ribs meat and topped with Foie Gras!! Plus they had crazy poutine.
I will join the burger club when it hits Feenie's
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Word up on the Hanger Steak if you have'nt had it. It is a well excercised muscle so it has a great - how do I say this - red flavour. It is very meaty tasting and has a great chew (in a good way). But it may not be for you if want a milder cut. I personally like NY Strip.
As mentioned before HSG does have a mind blowing hanger steak. It was my first time trying the cut and I thought it would be closer to flank steak - but it was much much better. Plus the bonus of that the gingerbread pudding....
Maybe Neil could put all in a blender and we could all have the HSG experience in cup form. It would certaintly be better than those *$ frapp craps.
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From living in a couple of other cities - I think that compared to other city's attempts at a public markets (just look at grubby public markets in the GVRD) - GI does work as a real market. I think to a large degree - GI is a victim of it's own success. Other's have carried the 'local' and 'fresh' mantra to more convienent locales. Getting into the island whenever the weather is remotely nice is a logisitcal nightmare. And there aren't alot of compelling reasons for me to brave going to the Market. Though Oyama, the Lobster Man, and few others make it worth going all on there own.
How to make me go more often? I don't know - I live very close by Whole Foods and even their goods are cheaper than GI. It needs to reconnect with the local shopper again. Unfortunately - it's physical isolation and turned into a mental one for me (out of sight, out of mind).
That being said - more than a few of us listed GI as a culinary tipping point for our city. I learnt alot about food during weekend visits as I was growing up. I was there this past xmas on a quick walkaround - and it was pretty nice with the holly and evergreen boughs on sale. Definitely something worth making better.
The commentary about politics is interesting - I wish someone would I elaborate as I am pretty niave about it all.
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Kiyo Sushi
110-11590 Cambie Rd.,
Richmond
Tel: 604-214-1388
It is in one of those faceless mini-malls behind the Dairy Queen. Don't expect any awards for interior design either. They usually have a fresh sheet that is worth ordering from.
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I knew I had a larger point to make than a desire to try dolphin. I've got to quit drinking at lunch. I see that the Vancouver Park Board is thinking of closing the petting zoo. Anyone know what thet plan on doing with all those delicious looking animals? I bet the goats go cheap. We should plan a get together.
And we're going to need someone that grew up on a farm and is willing to do the deed. I nominate myself to hang around and bitch about how long the butchering process is taking while slagging BC wine. I'll also get the fire started.
I have a personal theory about eating animals - I think that you have to be willing to kill them if you are going to eat them. You cannot hide from the fact that something has died for you to eat it. So respect it and use every bit of it. The River Cottage Meat cookbook has a series of photos of what happens when a cow is slaughtered. Hugh Fearnly does it for two reasons 1) to show animal slaughter can happen in humane way and 2) there is no escaping that the moo-cow is being killed.
So - if Keith holds down the animals - I will do the deed at the petting zoo. I say this even though the last time I made lobster pasta - I was a little shaken when I dispatched the live lobsters.
The only thing that I can't seem to eat are blood products. Most notably the blood cubes that some chinese place serve. Thinking about has made me very very queesy.
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What about Kiyo?
I've been a couple times and the sushi has always seemed of a good standard. They have cold undon noodle that has a nice slickness and chew. It is resolutely Japanese run - in a good way.
What was the final straw that has caused you to lose faith my son?
But I agree with you on the all you can eat sushi thing - it is simply terrible.
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I've seen it for sale at Nikuya - usually there is no english sign - just the japanese character for 'horse'
EAT! Magazine
in Western Canada: Dining
Posted · Edited by canucklehead (log)
Shelora
I just wanted to say how much I enjoy EAT. Though there were a couple things that I would have comments about (what a surpise eh? - an egullet person who wants to say something) it was great to see such a BC focused publication. It also confirms alot of what I have heard about Vancouver Island being the next big food destination - in the Napa Valley league of things.
I went through the last issue pretty quickly and I was all eager to share this new 'find'. Then I saw your name and it looked awfully familiar...
Anyways - I went to capers in Vancouver today it was not there. I think that I got it at Whole Foods in West Van last time. Are there other places that I can be certain that they would carry it?