eatglobally

Surprised not to see at least La Gavroche or Le Crocodile on this list. As quoted it's pretty hard to put together a top 10 or 20 list. Ralph

The food does not look all that appetizing on their website. Better get a real food photographer I have never liked schnitzel here in NA or Europe. Ralph

Where and what is Loden? Thanks

I'm not a big fan of the running shoe look in any establishment whether it be casual or not. Nice photo's and I agree on the noise. Ralph

Looking forward to Andrew's new website. Love his column in the WE.

On a not so cool moment my Lexus was broken into the night I went there and it was parked just across the road from the Heather. An expensive evening $90 for wine and cheese and $2900 on the car Note to everyone take a taxi to Salt and do no leave your car anywhere on Carrall after 11pm.

In regards to location. I'm guessing based on the previous four restauranst that have been there including Umberto's none have ever lasted. The street in general is a barren waste land in regards to neighbours and foot traffic. Chambar on the other hand is close to the skytrain, bridges the gap between the Gastown and Yaletown, and the night time "homeless situation is far greater than Beatty Street.

I was there four night ago and it ws pretty quite. Great drinks and all round great service. I'm convinced that the location is a restaurant graveyard. Such a beautiful room but no one goes there even with valet service. After having a couple of drinks and appies we walked over to Chmabr and it was booked solid even at the bar

Sbonner and I were at Nu for brunch on Saturday at 11:30. Nice and quite and even better after Stephen paid for two bottle of Champagne Our Australian server was great. I'd highly recommend Brunch. Bonner was pretty happy to have an omelette with truffles in it now he can't eat brunch at Aurora. I'll have to try Nu for dinner soon. Ralph

Nwyles nailed it! It is a deli with wine service. Nice room without service pretension. SALT is a tasting bar not a restaurant. It is loud and a neat hang out for a light meal. Just wish it had a patio instead of an alleyway across from low income housing. Ralph

10 Sherries; that is brave. My annual comsumption of Sherry is about four glasses a year Ralph

A WSET courses are longer than two weeks and are also available in Barcelon and Madrid. Ralph Los Angeles

Head out to White Rock or Crescent beach and then enjoy the sunset as well. You could also look at Commercial Drive but not late at night when all the industry types appear.

We are chocolate mad too!. We are heading off there on Monday with Stephen and Helen who just love hot chocolate in the Spanish style. What kind of prices are they charging for hot chocolate and chocolates. Ralph.

Ling, Just got the Susar cookbook...I will be attempting a couple of recipes on Sunday night. Great read. Ralph

Hmmm. When I moved to Vancouver seven years ago, I was living at the extended-stay suites at the Sutton Place Hotel. The concierge highly recommended CinCin. I checked it out and left thoroughly underwhelmed. Several months went by and I decided to check it out again, wondering if, perhaps, I'd visited on an off night. Well, make it two off nights. I had a terrible crab risotto and vowed never to go back. Flashforward to last year when some guests from out of town surprised us by taking us out to, yet again, CinCin. And strike three. Like Cioppino's in Yaletown, its one of those restaurants whose endless "buzz" continues to mystify me. ← Well said; I've been underwelmed by this restaurant on my four visits both solo and with small groups of wine friends. The wines are great but food is nothing to write about. I'll also add that the same goes for Blue Water which is way overpriced for the food quality. West on the other hand is the best of the Top Table restaurants. Ralph

Nice book...but I would prefer one book/one chef from start to finish. Just a personal thing when it comes to cook books. Ralph

The chef (Ben)? at Cassis Bistro, Wild Rice for a modern take on Chinese food with wine matches by Andrew Wong, Chambar (Nico)with a unique Belgium beer suggestions. Ralph

Contact by pMING sbonner from ABV he has a hugh 2000+ list of restaurant and F&B buyer e-mails. Ralph

Stephen his wife and I tried out this new restaurant on Commercial Drive this evening. Stella's Tap and Tapas Bar "Old Santos location". It is owned by the same people as Incendio Gastown and Incendio West. The Decor: lots of light woods, tile, and stone. Imagine a lightened up Keg. Concept: Belgium beers, mussels, and frites and a New York or San Francisco bistro with tapas or small plate offerings. Drinks: "Taps" 7 beers on tap, 4 Belgium (Stella, Hoegaarden, Leffe, and Bellevue Kriek) as well as local R and B Sun God and Raven Cream Ale and U.K. import Strongbow Cider. 20 "caps" or bottled beers evenly split between average local and popular imports. and "Grapes" 17 wines by the glass all pretty average ($5.5 to $8 per glass) Food: Tapas with a selection of 28 ranging from $5 to $12 each along with a selection of 8 P.E.I. mussel bowls in either 1/2 pound $6 or 1 pound options $11 plus $4 for a bucket of frites. Service: 10 days of operation and still some growing pains: We started off with two glasses of wine - the server got them mixed up. Lots of over pours on the Belgium beers (good for the customer) not good for cost of sales for the owner. and servers who had on idea of seat and table numbers. What we tried: Tandoori rubbed AAA Alberta beef skewers $10 3 skewers of plumb juicey beef cooked medium rare. Very tasty but slightly spoilt by the very oily deep fried red pepper raita. Blue swimming crab and shrimp cake $11 1 cake with wonderful crab flavours balanced by a smoked apple and corn slaw. Szechewan pepper crusted jumbo scallops $10 3 scallops perfectly cooked and well suited to the spaghetti squash bird nest and green onion vinegrette. Salmon Trio $12 A trio of wild salmon: house cured gravlax, maple cured Indian candy and salmon cervice (more like salsa but very refreshing) Moules Normande $1/2 pound $6 plus the $4 for the frites Small mussels but tasty sauce with Granny Smith apple chunks, mushrooms, bacon, Calvados and cream. The fries were crisp and loaded with potato flavour enhanced by a lime or lemon salt dusting and a lemony aioli. Better than Chambars. Cost: $92 for 5 dishes, two glasses of wine, and three glasses of Belgium beer. Overal: Very good drink value. The Belgium Bellevue Kriek was $6 a glass compared to $7.5 at the Lennox (Granville) as was the Stella $5 compared to $6.5 to $7 and Hoegaarden $5.5 compared to 6.5 to $7.95 downtown. Wines were pretty average and nothing to get excited about. Food similar to the Bin's in presentation but still in need of refinement. Small (very) plates- so plan on sharing with friends to experience the menu. The room is loud due to the dynamics (wood, tile, and stone). A great addition to the drive bringing an upscale dining style to the drive...surely needed. Thanks to egullet guy Stephen for picking up the tab tonight Cheers, Ralph and Stephen "the guy with expensive glasses"

You could try the WaaZuBee Cafe I was there afew times for lunch and dinner. If I remember correctly Sbonner took care of the drinks list there so some good wines and martini's for lunch Clove is great and if it's sunny the patio at Havana works well. All have fast service if in a rush and decent quality. I'm back in California again so I'm missing the Vancouver restaurant scene.

After the move back from LA. Vancouver food has my taste buds excited. I checked out the drive last week now I'm onto Main Street. Any suggestions?

I'm guesting the language barrier is even harder for a server trying to take an order from a foriegn visitor...oh just wait for the olympics! Ralph

Nope.... just like drinking good booze at reasonable prices. Jut moved back here from LA and it's refreshing to see the changes all over the city. Spending time checking out the drive then off to Main Street next week. Ralph

Checked out a couple of the places mentioned by you.... still think the wines at WaaZuBee blow anything away on the drink front on Commercial. Dropped by there again this evening for some dessert and a flight of dessert wines: Clos Vegouts (France), Taylor Fladgate LBV , and a black currant wine from B.C. Not bad for 6oz of wine for 9.95$. Ralph