barrett

just come back with a car full of wine. he can't be angry forever.

the mint chocolate and the lemon are money. sometimes they will have a special... like blueberry or creamsicle (creamsicle, by far, the best ever. EVAR!) the special ones are always worth a try.

I had my birthday dinner at Rare. Arrived on the dot of 8:30. Pondering over the menu, and musing at the customization of it: "Rare welcomes the Jones party" when I was spotted by Chef Fowke. He suggested a seafood tasting menu - an option on the menu, which I was already contemplating. We agreed that he'd worry about the choices - I'd worry about eating them - with the wine pairing selections which Tim provided for us. Being as my guest doesn't enjoy wine with near the same vigor which I do, I took one for the team, assuring that there would be no wine wasted - I squeezed the last drops from each glass before it was cleared - with exception, the Chateau St. Jean chardonnay - by this time, the wine, was catching up with my day of fasting - only a spinach salad and a couple cups of coffee off the Clover machine all day. Saving the intimate details of dinner for myself, it was the first time I'd had frog legs. They were fantastic. I will certainly return. Barrett

is DV8 open again? every time i walk past, the stack of mail inside the door gets a little bigger. great place to take your vegetarian and vegan friends... if you'll admit having them.

Elvis Platter or bust.

manatee anyone?

for the after work - early morning hours snack binge, shell out the extra 51 cents and hit numero uno at davie and granville. on a friday or saturday night, all the other late night places will have a few people in them - numero uno will have a lineup... line up at the door, proceed to the back of the store, then again forward to the till. As for cheesy larceny, I've heard a tale or two that it went on, but never looked into it. Perhaps this calls for some sort of hidden camera newsreporter piece. cheesy idea?

Mr. Pickwick's perhaps?

on the very rainy walk home tonight, i noticed a couple people sitting in aelfe - as well as a light shining a large, red, "a" logo onto the sidewalk. (were it not for the light i would have walked on past, as i had my neck tucked in my collar, doing the 'forgot the 'brella' dash. it was just after midnight, perhaps they're open late? i'll check on a drier night.

Chef Wyles, with the new screens at the HSG. There is a mirror image of these two just out of reach on the left side of the frame. Note the left thumb technique - carefully guarding the "last channel" button to scan the other games in our division during commercial breaks. Those barstools just got prettier.

It's called a "mango tango."

Stone Temple is a great place to go with friends... if you're 17. This will be the 3rd (possibly more?) place in the area to buy 'wines and spirits'... the liquor store on the north side of the mall and the store at Steamworks. Perhaps they should aim for a niche market - put in a drive-through liquor barn and cold beer emporium. The idea of white zin on tap gives me a cold sweat.

I've been told that the food has improved dramatically over the last few years. I can only imagine (from the horror tales) what it would have been like years ago.

In the mass of paper that UBC gives you when you're a student there, I once read that "The Pit" and "The Pendulum" - another eatery in the SUB were derived from the writings of one Edgar Allen Poe... not exactly fine dining... but clever enough for university chow.

Artigiano does not use skim milk - it's 1%. It's no secret either, the baristas will gladly tell you. We have 1% and homo milk and soy in the fridge. The problem with skim milk is it steams horribly. I would much prefer to steam a decent soy milk or even rice milk over steaming skim milk again. Rather than a silky froth, you get a fluffy... substance on top of your coffee. It's just not my idea of a good time. Now, for another tip: If you are serious about your coffee, try a traditional breve macchiato... it's somewhere between an old school italian macchiato, and a latte, but made with cream... about 5oz in total. It's a favorite amongst several of the baristi.

I was there on day 4 of the reopen. It was lined up to the door at 7pm, so not much has changed. They'll now be closed Mondays. Seems the delay was due to a car hitting the front of the business next door - their kitchen equipment was sitting there.

there are plenty of tourists down there. just look at all the cali license plates, fanny packs and black socks with sandals. i saw the corporate trainers a week/10 days ago too. interesting times.

The one on Hastings has a full kitchen, so we do! Look forward to seeing you.

Shameless plug: Caffe Artigiano on Hastings. For the Hollandaise lover, the smoked salmon and scallion rosti, for the omelet lover, there is a daily omelet special. We're open 7-3 on the weekend.

a coffee place in kitsilano about 2.5 years ago. while waiting for a coffee, i've had a couple of different job offers. one of the fireworks nights a couple of years ago, a man was waiting for 3 hot chocolates and a latte, i believe, he told me, "you can come work in my restaurant anytime." i was a student, had my schedule tuned perfectly to pay rent, so I didn't. i got better, the place didn't, so i moved on to artigiano.

Within 7 days. We run out intentionally, so that freshness never becomes an issue.

Actually, I prefer Prince Charming.

No argument here. The places i mentioned have the same issues. I think because of the volume your establishment enjoys you have the option of affording the three baristas and their friendly comp/policing. They can also keep up with the millions of people coming through your doors. All the places i mentioned staff less and when they get slammed have to suffer through it. Often resulting in some 'underattended' shots . As you know, some places get around this bc its easier to pass off a less than perfect shot under twenty ounces of steamed, flavoured milk. Others by assuming the customer can't tell the difference. (oh i hate that). To be honest, when i pass on an artigiano coffee - it is more often cuz i want to sit in a different room. You guys have already made it. Good luck with the roasting. 3WC ← I worked for 2 years in one of those cafes. Most of the time, I was the only one on that machine, doing everything, and it's actually easier to attend to your shots if you only have one going at a time. I could dust anyone I ever worked with at that job for turning out coffees, but it still took me a couple of weeks to adjust to the pace of Artigiano. Anyone can be taught to make a great coffee, but turning out a great coffee every 30 seconds for 8 or more hours... that is a different game entirely. I remember one prominent barista that was in the store one day that was amazed that we have to preprep the milk... thinking back... I did, once upon a time, prep milk for every single coffee I made. Someone suggested the West Van store wasn't as friendly. I doubt that. One of the luxuries of having 5 stores is that we will randomly swap people between stores for a week, so most of the full time staff have worked at at least one of the other stores. Some have worked at all 5 - like me. And some have worked at all 5, plus the stores in Korea. Something else that needs to be taken into account is that every store has a different clientele, which expect different things from the staff.

We attract a different crowd than the green machine. Just as there is a big market for fast food, it's not the place you go if you want a real burger. Coffee is just like food or wine - once you have the really great stuff, you realize how wretched 99% of the stuff out there is, and you can't go back. At least I can't.

Yes.