3WholeCardamoms

i think that's why they kept the staff

Vinoteca, the restaurant at Zanatta winery in Duncan, serves no beer and only its own wines and some pretty fine food. This place is a really nice stop. Just don't drink the red. And a swim in the Cowichan river is recommended.

Bravo on Davie is finally dead. Now it is something like Theresa's Family Restaurant. Breakfast specials sign in window $4.95. Cafe Rio, down the street, has been taken over by the folks from Ethical Bean.

no

yeah, it is pretentious to quote myself... but it is July now, any new recommendations?

the machine is a Synesso. custom made?

Moby's Marine Pub - on Saltspring is closing within the next two weeks (13th i think). Future unclear, rumours include health club and juice bar. The marina will remain open as the new owners are/tied in with the Seattle Yaht Club and also own the Hastings House next door. Around 40 islanders will be looking for work. If anybody is overthere, the last open-mike (music) night is on wednesday. Some of it will surely be crap but the place will be packed.

Stickler: Bannock/ fry-bread existed b4 Canada. As did smoked salmon (candy). If the Chinese claimed momo's or the Spanish claimed longanisa...there would be fighting. ps. happy birthday (belated), thanks for sharing the cake.

Eight East - at 8 East Broadway is open or almost there. Coffee and... Cito Espresso - at 116 Davie, accross from Starbucks/Urban Fair(Fare). Espresso drinks and pastry. Not an opening but an expansion of sorts: Cassis is now doing Sunday BBQ's in their nicenice back patio spot.

What ?? Burned to the ground ?? ← N, i have not been by yet to see the damage but they were pumping water in through the roof to extinguish the fire - so that is bad enough. Sorry to have so little info. I just heard last night secondhand. Apparently the VancSun had a short story. Might wanna google.

DV8 burned and burned and burned the other night. So, they are closed.

Well, 3W, this kind of invective leaves me a bit cold. My point was really quite modest, viz., that during two weeks in Tibet we found no culinary offerings whatsoever (and believe me, we did look) that would incline us to seek out a Tibetan restaurant in Vancouver. I made this point in reply to post that speculated why a Tibetan restaurant on Broadway might have disappeared rather quickly. Based on my experience, I think I understand why this restaurant might have failed. If there is something I am missing about Tibetan cuisine - please enlighten me. It's a tired point perhaps, but not all cuisines are equally interesting - and there is a reason for this. ← I don't think that it is mere invective to state that something could be read as ignorant. Where did you seek 'culinary offerings'? I understand in what context you made your statement(s). Correct me, but did you not deny the title 'cuisine' to Tibetan 'offerings'. To you it seems merely food, 'cuisine' is reserved for something higher. To you, it was uninteresting. Fine. The Tibetans I know are all about food, all about the meal and that ritual. Those I know are goooood eaters. Apparently they are without 'cuisine' and eaters of unmentionable yak products. This could be seen to render them a people who are satisfied by simple or boring or uninteresting food. And that seemed ridiculous. To me, this read as ignorant - your subjective opinion based on your tastes, palate, experience in Tibet is your own. I only contested what i thought was safely contestable. PM me if you'd like.

But also - having once been to Tibet - I am not sure there is much of a cuisine there - though I would like to think I'm wrong in this. The place is landlocked and bog-poor and most people are just subsistence farmers. We saw lots of bad Chinese food to be had there - and some local Yak-derived things that don't bear mention in this forum. Perhaps there were some distinct and interesting culinary traditions in Tibet in former times. Does anyone know? I saw the sign on Broadway for a few months, but found the prospect about as exciting as, say, a Rawandan restaurant. ←

If you were craving a really fresh meal, ie. where you would believe the chef actually went into the garden this morning, where would you go right now? Beyond the places that ensure evrything is 'freshest quality no.1 ingredients blahblah'. I'm looking for a restaurant to go to in the next few days and my criteria is freshness (in Vancouver). I know it is only june but there is still plenty growing. Recommendations? Money is secured for one night only (within reason). And as a side/related question...to those who regularly grow their own food, which restaurants consistently satisfy? thank you, 3WC

ok, i know this post is supposed to travel to the 'new moniker for seasonal, local whatever..." but thank you mr talent for voicing displeasure with the standard restaurant hype re: the whole "we use the localest freshest organicist blah blah". my thing is that if you actually truly use the good real stuff. smart people who care will catch on and be rewarded for paying attention. f--k the moniker. as you can seee, i've chosen to, once again, use all lower case. because it just doesn't matter.

Not so fast BigDaddy... i still want to know what's wrong with flip-flops and shorts on the plane? 3Wc

I agree that eating is a very personal thing and the danger of generalizing in this thread is potentially messy (and telling). However, I would like to add that we can't ignore how our desires and choices are greatly influenced by culture, class, ethnicity and gender. The rooms we enter and the places we patronize say much about us. As does what we order, how we share and prepare food, and how we talk about it later. I think these are personal decisions that are also under the influence so-to-speak. As one example: Doesn't the concept of the 'food adventurer' who is willing to try the stuff deemed strange and adventurous eminate from a cultural perspective which is presumed the norm/centre? And Jamie, What do you mean when you say we dine with someone "who looks like us"? Do you mean the person we arrive with or the people we can reasonablyexpect to see in the room? If it's the former, can you say more cuz it doesn't make sense to me and my experience. 3WC edited to death

maybe i should limit my posts to topics i really care about. maybe i should be more cheerful. i just feel like registering my dissent in regards to your (surfer...) generalization. that no, i don't want that success. yaletown success, to me, is like hives. (sorry to those who have made their biz down there - it has obviously been good to you. well done.) some people love peanuts, some are allergic. maybe you were just writing really quikfast. so maybe you would agree that there are other standards for success besides a full lounge in this [professional business] world. 3dblc

A new place on Dunbar at around 28th (?) called Mexicali just opened this week. Peeped the menu to see if they had tamales, no luck. Anyway, the place is casual with some funny palm tree murals inside. Haven't tried it yet, but in this neighbourhood - easily the worst food vortex in the city - it is welcome. 3WC

i frequent the dollar a bag specials in a few places. u know, the 'damaged goods'. i find in places where the avrg wealth is higher they are less tolerant of bruised fruit and saggy eggplants -surprise! so the richer neighbourhoods might be a good spot to check. i just noticed the organic place on davie - middle of the block near nasty cobs bread- has one of these dollar bins at the back. i usually shop for the cheap stuff and share the secrets with my friend who is also from detroit - damn, is that you k? 3W

Mavis's Kitchen inside Jericho Square or Plaza or whatever that thing is called at 4th n Alma. Spice Islands (Indonesian) at 41st and Dunbar ('lunch specials from 4.95")

you'd be suprised at how many places serve previously frozen croissants. although they are baked after they come out the freezer. i also spied what looked like 'Tenderflake' pastry shells (look under the chocolate) at a place that gets lots of egullet love... 3wc

Damn This is my favourite egullet sentence ever. You got some nasty stores down in CO. 3WC

I noticed white tablecloths at Spice Islands on 41st the other day and I seem to recall a blotchy white tablecloth at "A Taste of India" - it had some cooties on it. I forgot to ask the servers if they were civilized (the establishment, not the cooties.) 3dblC

I was wondering if we would reveal what we still make at home because I'm feeling that aspect of our culinary worlds is often de-emphasized in this forum - for whatever reasons. Home cooking remains in the shadows of our 'greater' discussions of where to get this and buy that, and how good or bad it was. People make reference to ingredients bought for home use but we seldom hear or discuss what we made or who was with us. No disrespect to the other 'threads' or the conversations held within, I'm just wondering about 'the other side of eating' - shared meals at home - that we made for ourselves. I know "people are busy" and "I cook all day at work..." might come up a lot and I know many of us may not want to share the less glamorous and revealing little secrets we keep about eating-in (like last night's snack of crackers and salsa). Maybe I'm just asking to see what the napkin-scribblers really eat when not darkening the doors of Vancouver/Western Canada's finest establishments! Maybe it will open the discussion up for those who don't eat out as much by choice, habit, tradition or financial neccessity. So... Last Night: Corn tortillas, rice, beans and fresh tomato salsa (ok, I know there are no fresh tomatoes in March). Fed three friends. Night before: Sockeye (from last season) in tamari/ginger/garlic and grated apple marinade - on the bbq. Alu Gobhi. Fed two friends - one brought the fish from last years' stint in the Charlottes. Day Before: Roasted Acorn Squash and yellow pepper soup. Fed Two friends. 3WC