BCinBC
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Hello folks,
Apologies if this has been covered before (as I'm sure it has, I just couldn't find it in a search of the forum)...
My wife and I will be in France for the last two weeks of September. We will be heading in from London, but bypassing Paris straight to Lyon (family friends headquartered there). After a few days, we will be moving onto Cavalaire where we will be spending the rest of the trip. We will have a car, so we'll be able to tour around the south as well.
We both enjoy simpler foods, occasionally ordering the heavy items but not with any regularity. To give an idea, I am usually content to have perhaps a pate or terrine, moules or steak frites, duck confit or cassoulet, cheese plate, creme brulee...
Any suggestions - bistro, brasserie, or must-visit Micheline restaurant - would be much appreciated. Or even if someone could point out another thread that I can read, that would be great as well.
Thanks in advance!
-Brian
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The smell of frying onions is definitely a draw when the alternative is the smell of barf. Is Jimmy's Lunch enough to draw me to the PNE? No. But once I've been "convinced" of going there, well, what can you do? (I haven't been for a couple years now, perhaps it's time to moisten up my bingo pen and get a new Pokemon keychain at the ring toss.)
Since I don't eat cotton candy or candy apples anymore, I will definitely agree that the Richmond Nightmarket is superior in the food dept, but the PNE has what it has: carnie food.
Mark: what is a bamix?
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There was a lot of news this week on CBC radio about the Coastal Health Authority considering banning smoking on all outdoor patios. This is based on a 66% increase in complaints from non-smokers that they can't sit outside to dine anymore due to the smoke. Now, being that the health department is involved and there have been no studies showing the damage of cigarette smoke outdoors, they cannot dictate patio's non-smoking like they have been able to do indoors. However, they can recommend to City Hall, and the governments in various other local municipalities, that they mandate patios as non-smoking. While places like Burnaby and Richmond should be fine, we in Vancouver stand a very good chance that those bleeding hearts in Vancouver City Hall, including whacko's like Fred Bass, who is a fervent anti-smoker, may well try and go for it. My advise to restaurants is to nip the complaints in the bud by having non-smoking sections on their patios and keeping those sections away from any entrance or windows into the restaurants if they can. Banning cigars until after dinner hours like 10 or 11:00 (which I think C does) and finally, vote those bloody Cope, Cope Light, Cope Classic, and all their other splinter groups the hell out of local government.
Excellent rant Fanny Bay.
The one thing I will say for our current reign at City Hall is that they seem pretty open to public opinion (eg. the Walmart rejection on Main and Marine, thank God.) So perhaps if the hospitality industry stands up and makes some noise about this issue, they may take notice.
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When I was a kid I loved the cotton candy, candy apples, corn that had spent the day soaking in butter, greasy crappy fries, etc.
Now when I return to the PNE, Playland, or just about any "carnival" type atmosphere, the smell that first wafts up my nose... well unfortunately I associate it with barf. :shrugs shoulders:
However I can quickly rectify this by walking over to the burger cart where the smell of frying onions overpowers everthing else.
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Well if we're expanding to sausages, I'd throw Koni on Granville and 69th into the mix as well. Just last night N and I had a selection of bratwurst, "Spicey Devils" and sweet Italians for dinner along with a homemade Caesar. Brat was good - very reminiscent of German street food; Spicey Devil had a good burn and was more pungeant than the chorizo they also make; and the sweet Italian continues to be my favourite - not overly sweet, just enough to bring out the pork flavours. With a bottle of La Frenz Montage 2002, it ranks among the top of simple but excellent dinners.
The Koni butcher, a German gentleman, also does a beef sausage, the chorizo mentioned above, and even weisswurst on weekends. And they carry a variety of pfeffer sticks.
Perhaps too much of a stretch for the Hot Dog thread, but I gotta plug the house made pate (regular or fine) which rules as well.
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From this past weekend's trip to Vernon where we played soccer, swam in the OK lake, drank a lot of beer, and generally broiled under the intense OK sun.
White Spot in Merritt
I will forever think of Keith when I eat at White Spot. Breaded spicy chicken burger. It was okay, it filled my stomach for a while.
DiVino in Vernon
Winner of several awards the past couple years (voted "Best ____ in the Okanagan" under several ____ categories; voted by whom you may ask, and I could not answer). N and I shared a large Caesar to start, which was bland, but the ravioli stuffed with veal in a rose sauce that I had for my main was great. The sauce was a mix of tomato with a slight spice, and a cream garlic sauce. House made raviolis were large and the veal was seasoned very well. The pasta itself was a bit thicker than I was expecting, so the texture was a little on the "hard" side of al dente, but otherwise the taste was definitely there. N had gnocchi with tomato and bocconcini (sp?) which she thought was great as well (I didn't taste though, too busy with the ravioli). Edited to add price point: with a beer and a cocktail, $40 NIC tip.
Waddy's in Vernon
Sunday's post-tournament meal at the local diner in Vernon. I had weak diner coffee to go with the standard meat (bacon) and eggs (poached) with hash browns and toast (brown). What can you say, it's a classic. N had the clubhouse on brown; real turkey which is always nice and a pile of fries. Solid food, slow-ish kitchen but totally made up for by our humming-bird-like waitress.
Finally, we stopped in at Quail's Gate on the way home. No time to enjoy the Old Vines patio unfortunately, but we did a tasting and walked away with some pinot noir, cab sauv (which we both really enjoyed, moreso than the award-winning merlot - there's no accounting for tastes eh?), old vines foch, and (the highlight) the fortified OVF. The last port-style wine was excellent, it has all the stand-up flavours of the OVF but with a totally smooth consistency, no explosiveness due to / despite the high-alcohol content. At $19.99 a half-bottle, I think it is a steal.
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Although I'd agree that pricing of a glass of wine based on 1/5 of the bottle price is great (amazing really), I actually don't mind paying a small premium on a glass of wine. Anne you mentioned the resto running the risk of having a bottle open for some time - I imagine this is the main detractor for having all bottles by-the-glass. I understand that there is a possibility of a portion of the bottle going to waste (or more likely into some waiter's belly), and therefore if I have to pay $1 for the privaledge of having wine by the glass, so be it.
Having said that, where the new-ish take home policy really comes in handy is when you only really want a couple glasses or a 1/2 litre or something. Then it's handy to be able to buy the bottle, drink what you want, then cork it and take the rest home.
As for markups, I find myself almost giddy when I see 100% only. Otherwise I'd swear the "standard" is to sell an $18 bottle for $47-49.
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I can't remember where I heard/read it, but Michael will apparently get $100K/year to take the abuse that others are lining up for free to receive.
Good for him if this is true, but one must remember that salaries in London, as in NYC, are inflated because the cost of living in those cities is so high. I saw an ad taped to a lamp post in London a few years ago offering secretary jobs for £30k /yr and up. If you do the conversion that seems pretty high.
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Sounds like the last few posters had unfortunate experiences, which is too bad. Maybe I got lucky, because I most definitely did enjoy the food I was served. But lack of consistency is a real issue, and I could see how this would turn me off fairly quickly. If the man is not producing the goods, I agree that there isn't much else to attract diners to this place.
Shrinking portion sizes - I have no frame of reference, but I was okay after one app and one main.
The single hostess / waitress / runner (well Henry actually does half the running anyway) did make for inconsistent service, and she did not have a clue when I asked her a wine question (she brought the bottle over so I could read what grapes were in the blend). However, given the establishment I was also not surprised (well okay I would have expected an answer on the wine as they only have a short by-the-glass list and the place has been open awhile).
Decor - same thing: given the establishment, it's about all I'd expect.
How could he improve the experience, make his server wear something less casual? Perhaps. Clean up the decor? Sure. Hire one other person? Definitely. But again the place is not downtown or on South Granville, it's basically in the middle of nowhere - on Macdonald and 23rd across from the DMV.
Like I said before, I'm going back for the carbonara so we'll see how visit #2 goes.
PS: Cate, I'm curious what you had that was so bad.
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p.s. Did anyone notice that ralphs wife was a piece of a$$. How did HE land THAT! gotta be the charm, baby.
OK, I absolutely must object here... this woman looked like the quintessencial mafia hooker! No class at all...gimme a break! Piece of a$$, yeah, probably and also probably not too hard to get either.
Genny you hit it on the head. It's like she just got off the set of Goodfellas or Copland.
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Yeah I don't want to offend anyone, but IMO he went from odd to downright flaming with the "I wish you'd call me Brad Pitt's wife" comment, then back to odd. Perhaps, as with Jessica, they were trying to downplay any gay references, but that comment was too funny to pass up?
Edited to add: I'm talking about Dewberry again.
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Well, another reality TV show in the books. If there was another HK I'd watch, but if there is not then I probably won't lose too much sleep. I like GR, but I prefer Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
Agreed the clips of Michael talking to himself etc were weird, and possibly non-spontaneous (read: scripted). But what if you were being recorded 24 hours a day, can you say that the ruthless producers at Fox would find nothing to splice into the show to make you appear "weird"? I'm not trying to defend the "reality show" format, because frankly I hate it in most of its forms (HK and the Amazing Race notwithstanding). I'm just saying that the producers can manipulate Michael or any other contestant into whatever they want to portray.
Also agreed that Ralph's choices on the line were completely baffling. Why did he take Andrew over Elsie or Jimmy? And why Wendy over Elsie? Okay Andrew did come back after the cut thumb, that shows dedication... But the skills.
And the diamond wallpaper... Good thing that stuff arrived at the stroke of midnight. Phew. Now his clashing wall patterns can really induce vertigo / epilepsy / vomiting. Seriously, the place would have looked good with a plainer wallpaper, but the diamonds and the brick?
Regarding the customer approval ratings, yes one has to take them with a grain of salt. But were they paid to eat? I would have guessed that they lined up to be "on TV" and did not get paid at all. Maybe the question was, or should have been, "Would you pay $X to eat another meal at this restaurant?"
Poor old Dewberry was obviously inserted to be the butt of more jokes, but I suppose that's the danger when you sign up for reality TV. And whether Ramsay's "Trump" offer was spontaneous, well, I have my doubts - it was too convenient to not have to float the HK restaurant for a year or whatever then let it sink, but it does require GR to hire someone full time (does Fox pay Michael's salary now?). In any event I was glad to see Michael take it, as any real cook would (unless circumstances truly prevented relocation to London). I am definitely curious to see what position he got and how he's doing with it.
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I finally made it to Henry's Kitchen on Friday night. It was a spontaneous decision as I was driving around thinking of where I could eat. At 8 PM, pretty much all 30 seats were filled but I got lucky as a walk up single and was seated right beside the till / display cooler. The in-laws would love this place, it is so unpretentious. The crowd was a mix of Vancouver "business casual" (ie collared shirts and jeans) and Vancouver "really-casual" (ie bums like me). The phone was ringing off the hook, but no one had time to answer. No need either.
I started with a Caesar, which had a very smooth background anchovy flavour in the dressing (and fresh, crisp romaine). Then, despite the summer weather I had to get the beef bourguinon - and was rewarded with a rich broth soaked up by two "scoops" of rice. Too full for dessert (the heat!), but with a glass of wine, total was a very reasonable $24 + tip.
It is all very simply presented but the flavours are "classic" and full. Pastas looked great, I almost got the carbonara. Next time.
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Before we took over the space that is now Aurora, it used to be a chinese reataurant called Gou Bouli. Not sure if that spelling is correct, but I was told it meant something like "the dog doesn't care"
Goubouli is actually a really old restaurant in Tianjin, China. I don't speak Mandarin, but the translation is something along the lines of "even the dog wouldn't eat there", so named because the original chef was reputedly very very ugly. I'll grant you the name is crazy, but the dog is crazy too; the dumplings are excellent.
Here's my question: why is there a chain of restaurants, with head offices in Vancouver, named "Cactus Club"? They don't even have a southwestern theme.
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I've had a Henckels 5-star santoku (no scalloped / granton / whatever sides) for almost 2 years. I loved this knife and used it all the time until recently, when I got a 10" Henckels 5-star chef's. Now the santoku is in a drawer, perhaps I'll pull it out again when the novelty wears off on the new knife. Perhaps not.
I almost bought a 10" Shun (the D-shape, it's like it was moulded from my hand), but I up getting the Henckels for half the price. No regrets. BTW we also have an 8" 4-star in the kitchen that my wife uses, and there is a humongous difference in feel between 4- and 5-star.
I don't like Globals myself, the handles feel weird. I actually prefer the heavier "European" knife feel in my hand and since I'm only a home cook and don't use my knife 10+ hours a day, weight fatigue is not a real issue.
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And why must I see Emeril everywhere? Am I the only one that can't stand him? Or is it just his audience that makes him so aggravating?
I have to agree, it is his audience that I really don't like - although he does everything he can to egg them on.
Emeril: And then I add a little gaalic, bu-bam!
Sheep in audience: Whoooooa yeah! Woop woop woooooop!
Emeril: And them some wine...
Sheep in audience: Whoooooa yeah! Woop woop woooooop!
Emeril: Oh yeah babe, how about a little more? (hums ridiculous song to self)
Sheep in audience: Whoooooa yeah! Woop woop woooooop!
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One of my pet peeves (of which RR is guilty) is when someone takes a bite and immediately, immediately starts going on with the Mmms and Yummos etc. You haven't even tasted it yet, stop telling me how good it is! Chew, swallow, then report.
Personally I think there is better porn factor watching Nigella anyway.
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Chlorine will eventually dissipate from water naturally. Assuming your water is safe, I would advise that you try skipping the boiling and just filter it through a Brita (activated carbon removes some chlorine) and then let it cool in your fridge. You should have relatively chlorine-free water. Depending on the initial chlorine residual level out of your tap, of course.
THM is one byproduct of chlorine disinfection, and again levels are dependent on the chlorine dosage, but yes they should be miniscule. Water quality regulations in N.America do specify THM and other byproduct residual levels, so assuming Japanese regulations are similar, your water utility should be doing occasional measurements for these chlorine byproducts. The common logic in THM and "carcinogenic" byproducts is that they are preferable in the miniscule levels you get from chlorinating water, when the alternative is possible gastro infection - which can cause more immediate illness or possibly death in the young, elderly and immune-comprimised portions of the population.
Edited for spelling.
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And not an opening or closing, but kinda. Salade des Fruits is closing as of tonight for a month and re-opening around August 5 with a new menu and new "grand chef".
3WC, thanks for the clarification. The guys have a 2-month break every fall to return to France, but this sounds like they might be changing the guard a little. If they have a new "grand chef", is it still the same ownership? (As one of the owners was also the chef I believe.) Also, does a grand chef mean grander pricing?
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Ha ha, once again let me chime in about dim sum in Victoria with the usual disclaimer that my relatives own / operate Don Mee. I personally think it is the best dim sum in the city, not based on family but on the fact that I have eaten at most or all of the dim sum places in Victoria including the place by the Red Lion.
Jade Fountain enjoyed some buzz when it opened (my Mom (of Don Mee) was even extolling it) so we went over Xmas. Based on my one visit, I found most of the items to be greasy - and it didn't matter if they were fried or steamed items. But the worst part was the manager, who seemed to have graduated from the School of the Hard Sell.
Manager walks over with a platter of fried squid. "You must have some of this squid, it is the best! Here, let me put a couple plates on your table. No? You don't want them? But you must!"
Five minutes later, manager walks over with a platter of chow mein. "You must have some of this chow mein, it is the best! Here, let me put a plate on your table. No? You don't want it? But you must!"
Repeating in my head: Please fuck off.
In all seriousness, for quality consistency alone I would recommend Don Mee. The staff is pretty good too. If you see a 5'7" Chinese fellow with a deep tan named Stephen running the front of house, tell him Brian his "nephew" from Vancouver sent you - you may or may not get anything out of it.
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No showing up and just whipping it out.
The joke is so easy I refuse to make it.
And let me get something straight. As per 2roost, I should buy a bottle off the list in addition to the corkage? Why? In no other industry I can think of does provindng an service for a customer entitle the vendor to extra compensation.
Mr. Talent - I believe what was meant was buy a bottle that is on the list - ie bring in your own wine, but make sure it is a bottle on the list. That way it will still look like it has come from the restaurant. I don't really know if this makes a hell of a lot of sense, but I think that was what was meant.
I don't think so, otherwise why wouldn't you buy the restaurant's bottle? That's like walking into a restaurant and saying, hey I don't like your halibut, use this piece I brought with me to make the dish.
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I was going to say that I read it as "buy" ie bring a bottle that is not already on the list. However, when I read it again I see what you're saying. It might mean "buy" a bottle on the list, then the waiter can bring your contraband bottle over for consumption. As you noted, that means double-paying for both a bottle and a corkage. Assuming you don't actually drink the bottle from the list, why the corkage fee?
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Yikes, Daddy-A has found a lieutenant!
Just a secret on Sun Sui Wah: if you know what time you'll be up and ready to eat on Sunday, you can probably make a reservation. Or if you want to stay downtown, I'd personally recommend Shanghai Bistro over Imperial for the food (but Imperial over SB for the view and the more lively ambiance). Shanghai Bistro is located on Alberni over the Liquor Store and Tim Hortons, and has excellent spicy wontons.
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Crap! I hope they are not selling. We need more places like SdF, not less. I hope this is a vicious but untrue rumour.
They do take a regular break 2 months/year, but it is usually Sep-Oct I think.
Oh, I just had a thought... STARTING POINT OF ANOTHER RUMOUR ALERT! Perhaps they will be taking the Coco Pazzo spot on W57th. Too perfect to even consider, duck confit whims fulfilled in 10 minutes...
Lyon, Cavalaire and the South of France
in France: Dining
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Thanks menton1 for the link and the suggestions.
Michelin stars are of course not required, though I would like to try one at least once, to get a sense of context. My feeling is that I would probably prefer a one-star over a three-, where I could focus less on the service being immaculate (with which there is nothing wrong) and enjoy the food in a more "relaxed" atmosphere. Therefore we will almost definitely try at least one of the two restaurants you mentioned in Grimaud.
Also there was a debate a while ago on whether Vancouver's own David Hawksworth of West would or could be a starred chef, so I would like to at least get a sense of the standards of the house - something that has to be experienced I think rather than watched on TV or read about in a guide book.
Cheers!
PS: any more suggestions in the south would be welcome!