appreciator

I posted some of the following on another foodie site a while ago…. But have now modified it to better encompass the query at hand. A while back, on a lovely fall day, I found myself at Earls (in White Rock) for lunch, with a couple of friends. I must admit... my expectations were quite low. Twenty years ago when I first moved to Vancouver, I thought that Earls did a pretty good job for what they represented. Then, a few years later, it seemed to have changed (and not for the better), so I have only visited their establishments on rare occasions since then. Shockety shock… my opinions changed during my last (and most recent) visit. The Earls I had grown to hate had become the Earls I love (well, not quite ). We're not talking fancy cuisine here... but if you are looking at bang for your buck, well then, I think it's a pretty darn good option. I can definitely see the influence of Michael Noble. To me this is an interesting turn of events over the past year. I do believe that having an executive chef of his caliber on board, shows in the outcome of the plates that Earls is putting out on a daily basis. (edit after the fact, I’m not sure how much influence Noble has had up to now ~ but someting is sure different from the last time I was there ) On to lunch: I had chicken with Panang curry sauce (I think – slightly faulty memory and I couldn’t find a confirmation online) served with basmati rice and a toasty tandoori naan bread. The flavours were well integrated and the hot bite of the curry was not overwhelming. Portion size was quite generous so I took half home. My friends both had sandwiches, which they thoroughly enjoyed. One had the fries to match and, I've got to say, they were some of the best damn fries I've had in recent memory. All in all, a good experience... Have also had some pretty decent meals at Milestones…one included steak, and an absolutely frickin’ fantastic swoon-worthy dessert, that may (or may not) be called caramel chocolate pot. A friend of mine works in their head office so I’ll get the real name to confirm. Cheers!

My point was that they're all a chasm away from fine. Anyone with a suggestion for a new name to replace CFD? ← Oh, I see..... So how about: Casual Average Dining (CAD) Casual Occasional Dining (COD) Casual Regular Dining (CRD) Casual “Let’s Feed The Masses” Dining (CLFTMD) Guilty Pleasure Dining (GPD) Please Don’t Tell My Foodie Friends I Like It Here Dining (PDTMFFILIHD)

Just some contact info for a couple of recommendations above: Quince http://www.quince.ca/index.html (as a side note, I've just completed a 9-day studio course with Chef / Sommelier, Andrea Jefferson, and it was fantastic.) Phone: 604-731-4645. AbFab Foods http://www.abfabfoods.com/ (Lynn is a hoot, her food is great and her prices are extremely reasonable in comparison to some other caterers.) Phone: 604-733-5105. (Edit: I note that in the catering section of the website, lunches are not listed but I know for sure that she does this.... and, quite likely w/i (or very close to) your price range as well.) Please do let us know who you decide to go with, and how it turns out.

I am pretty sure that most of these places have been around for the past 20 years…some, even longer. Café de Paris, The Chef and the Carpenter, The Eatery, Nemoto Café, Sunshine Diner (though it’s moved locations in the last year), Woodlands, Alexi Greek Taverna, Pineway Restaurant, Sala Thai, Café Procopé (not sure if they are still around though), Las Margaritas, Topanga, Simpatico, Kitsilano Café (again, moved locations in the recent past), Shijo, Chiantis, The Red Onion, The Cheshire Cheese Inn

Damn fine idea, but it doesn't go far enough. Sophie's Cosmic Cafe and Burgoo are casual dining, but surely the Cactus Club is something totally different? Please submit your new, more accurate names here. ← Andrew.... do you really consider the food at Sophie's to be better than Earl's, Milestones and CC? Personally I don't. But then, I guess, as your latest WE article points out... different strokes for different folks and all that.

At Thanksgiving this year, I experimented by paring the usual turkey feast with a Pinot Noir from Orofino Vineyards (this was not out of the blue, nor an original thought (sigh)… I’d read somewhere that Pinot Noir made a good pairing with the usual T-Day fair). As an additional challenge, I asked my brothers to contribute a Pinot Noir from Oregon and one from New Zealand. Guess what? The PN from Orofino (in the Similkameen valley) won, hands down! Joyously, I did buy two bottles so will be going that route again at Christmas. Though I do wish that I'd picked up at least a half a case. Oh well..... there's always next year. What about everyone else? Are you pairing some nice BC whites or branching out into red territory? Sticking to BC wines or.....

^ Leonard and Harry... can you please expand upon what the offerings will be at "C", Raincity Grill, Nu, and Central Bistro on Christmas Eve? Are you offering your regular menu or something special? Or... a combo of both? Inquiring minds and all that......

I am pretty sure that I saw tagine's for sale at Hafatzim on West 4th Avenue. You could give them a call at 604-739-9903 to inquire.

Zuke.... I'm really enjoying your blog. Christmas is a very special time for me.... no matter how much I try to deny it In a way though, the best part ended when I was about 13 and we up and moved to Salt Spring Island. Prior to that, 4 neighbouring families used to get together every year to celebrate. It was very ritualistic. We had the same thing for lunch (particularly remember the clam chowder) and the same thing for dinner. Each family would take a turn hosting either lunch or dinner. After dinner we'd all gather in the living room for a spirited game of charades - though everyone grumbled about this - I know they all secretly loved it. To me Christmas is all about the rituals: this of course, includes good friends (and family if you choose: biggrin: ), fabulous food, good wine, seasonal traditions and great conversation. That's what makes it special. After a few years of topsy turveyness due to familial illness (elderly parent issues and, in my father's case, transitioning on to his just reward), I am setting things afresh with new traditions. This year I'm renting a house on Galiano Island with a few friends. We're all into good food and wine so I am really looking forward to our getaway. Menu planning for my assigned meals is underway - I've got Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day dinner. Just trying to figure out how to incorporate all the foods I love whilst accommodating the food preferences (and dislikes!) of others. How is it that people actually don't like mushrooms? And what about delicious Brussel sprouts? Oh well, to each their own Do you have any particular rituals that you absolutely must do every year?

Anyone tried either of their existing locations? ← Hi Sarah I have been to the new one on fourth, and i`m not overly proud of that fact either. Its a theme park, with unremarkable food. I`m sure the young staff mean well, but they have the oddest facial expressions. i`m a big believer in cooks not being on show for this very reason. they can look so gormless when not occupied by the task of cooking. ← What did you have to eat, TFA?

I note that my new favourite place Cru, has a fantastic looking New Years Eve Menu: Now if only there was going to be a poker game afterwards

I had the best dining experience at Cru last night…. It is my new favourite place! To me it has all the elements: great food, great atmosphere and phenomenal service. Originally we were going to go for the prix fix menu but changed our minds and decided to share some of the “small” (not really small imo) plates. After hearing what we wanted, our server brilliantly suggested that we have the food in two courses. We started with the local Mussels and Clams steamed with leeks and a mustard-saffron cream and the Smoked Albacore Tuna, with beets, truffle vinaigrette and crispy shallots. Both of these were outstanding. I loved the smoked Albacore tuna more so than my dining companion so I got to eat most of it. Lucky me! With these two plates we also had the Hand-cut Frites with garlic aioli and some bread to sop up the cream sauce from the mussels. The frites and aioli were extremely moreish and a huge portion to boot. This first course was paired with Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris… as suggested by our server. It was deliciously crisp. Next up… Crispy Duck leg confit, warm bacon dressing frisée salad and organic potatoes and the Warm wild Mushrooms on grilled crostini with rocket salad and aged balsamico. Again, two more winners, though for me, I found the confit a tad too salty but my dining companion loved it so she got to eat most of it. Nice when these things work out so well. With these plates, I had Jim Barry “The Cover Drive” Cabernet Sauvignon. Not necessarily the best pairing but it is a wine I really like and as I spotted it in the wall cabinet, that’s what I decided to have. Now partway through this second course, a woman sat down at the table next to us absolutely reeking of perfume. (Why do women, and some men for that matter, do this? It is really unnecessary). Anyway, it was so bad that we actually had to move to the bar in order to be able to enjoy the final portion of our meal. This turned out to be fortuitous because we ended up chatting away with the bartender, Mark (whom, I might add, is an extremely gracious host), the other servers and one of our fellow diners, and just had a great old time. We each ended up having another glass of wine at the bar and of course dessert - Goat Cheese Cake sour cherry compote and biscuit sable and a glass of Sauternes for me (as it was my birthday ). What I thought was going to be an early night (our reso was for 5:30 p.m.) turned into a long and luxurious evening of food, wine and conversation. I think we left around 11. When we were out the door, we both commented that this was one of our finest restaurant experiences EVER! I can’t wait to go back!

I asked the chef at "Quince", the new gourmet shop if they are still in season, and she said no they would be hard to find now. However, if anyone spots them, please give us a heads up as I'd still like to try to make some quince jam. Zuke ← A week or so ago, I saw quinces at the Parthenon. They looked a little bit bashed about but may be okay for jam / jelly making. I need to pick up some other things there this weekend so will keep you posted as to whether or not they are still available..

Hmmm. That CC has a "test kitchen" behind it on Ash. Perhaps we can get them to give us the entire test kitchen for a group rate so we don't scare the other patrons ← On the other hand...just think of the marketing opportunity: "if it makes these food snobs THIS happy, just imagine what this burger can do for you!" ← Here's the ad that just ran in my head. Picture if you will... VanLee cast as an executive who is berating his minions in the board room. Minion 1 played by Canucklehead leans over to Minion 2 played by Deborah. CANUCKLEHEAD Geez, someone could really use a good [sound FX] doing! cookoo! [/sound FX]. DEBORAH Or maybe just a good Burgasm! Cut to V, C and D walking down Broadway and entering Cactus Club. Seated by a lovely hostess. Order and receive food - everyone is obviously starting to shed their office stresses. V takes a bite of his burger, goes into Burgasm routine, pauses to wink at the camera, returns to Burgasm. Cut to Meg Ryan staring at V, then turning to waitress and saying: MEG I'll have what he's having. And starwipe... and scene! ← Heh..... you're missing out on the other major burger fanatics..... You need to at least have a guest appearance by COOP who was a major player in burger club way back when.... Then of course you've got the whole Mouse Clan..... they could traipse on in just prior to the burgers being served. In keeping with your theme above, perhaps they could all be dressed in leather. Then..... who could miss out on..... THE ULTIMATE BURGER CHOW DOWN FACE OFF STARRING Ling and Thoughtbox. Ding, Ding! And, someone better try to get a copyright on "Burgasm”, otherwise it’s only a matter of time before that’s snapped up elsewhere.

I've had brunch there once.... the food was good but the service was extremely sketchy. I realize that they make everything to order but it took a very, very, very long time to get the food, not to mention coffee refills and the pepper mill. Actually, after our plates arrived and our server asked us if we wanted fresh ground pepper, we did, she promptly disappeared, not to be seen again until we wanted the bill.

I think this closing before 11 p.m. may be a common occurrence for Watermark. A friend and I decided to check it out for a drink on a Monday in October, after we'd had dinner elsewhere in the 'hood. Went up the elevator at about 10:15, maybe 10:30, and when we arrived at the top, we were greeted by two servers telling us they were closed. I noted that their sign said open till 11 and they said they closed early on slow nights. Fair enough but change the sign to say "we close whenever the hell we damn well feel like it", or something to that affect. Not impressed.

^ LOL

In case anyone is still looking for the wine that JK recommended at the beginning of this thread: there is more to be had at the Jericho Village Liquor store.Interesting though... the Innes & Gunn oak aged beer was all gone. Guess one does need to stock up before making recommendations

Just a note for anyone looking for EAT at Choices on West 16th Avenue... they don't have any at the moment. Apparently, I was the third person asking for it today

I'm really enjoying this foodblog Abra, your photos are great.... and Riley is such a cutie patootie... As to your roasted vegetable tart query, I've made this recipe several times now with good results. Of course I do it the lazy way and use prepared pie crusts but I'm sure it would be way better if one was to make their own.

Well.... it's been a rather long time for me to get back to this thread with additional comments and information about the fall wine fest.... I'm debating about the merits of following through with day 2, 3 and 4. Not that it’s going to be life altering or anything, ... but I do wonder (and this doesn't just pertain to this thread).... if one is out of the loop for a while, is it still worth it to post comments?

Anonymity.... gosh... that's a tough one. I guess for me it comes down to vested interest. If someone has a personal stake at hand and is posting with that in mind, then hell yah, I wanna know who they are. If it's just your average joe or jane blow (like me) then who cares? I'll leave it at that.... I had a whole post written out about conflicts of interest but as it was completely OT (unless replying directly to the previous post about the Daily Gullet would be considered On Topic), I should really just zip it up!

Wow! What a night. Sounds like quite the party... with the Hustler magazine chip cones and naked women as serving platters for sushi... the demographic for this event is abundantly clear. Too bad they had to cancel the tigers... But thank gawd for the good wine! P.S. On a more serious note: Way to shuck'em OG... 1300 in four hours is, indeed, impressive. And glad to hear that you managed to go unscathed.

^ Sounds like you had a wonderful evening LB, thanks for the report. A couple of questions: 1) As you dined at 5:30 p.m., did you have the early prix fixe or items from their regular menu? I'm curious as to whether their regular menu is available earlier in the evening. 2) Did you have wine(s) with your meal and if so, do you recall what it/they was/were? Inquiring minds want to know Ta!

I must have missed that segment.... unless you are referring to something upcoming.... or perhaps this is what aired tonight????