BCinBC

^ Hear hear Chocoholic! Get people out on patios and bring some life back to the city! Back in the day, we used to kill afternoons on the Kings Head patio or similar. What fun it is to drink beer in the sun - CoV please don't disallow this pleasure!

Because of the witty banter between Keith and a particularly inspired Jamie Maw, or perhaps in spite of it , I was drawn to revive this thread. Also since the last post, I bet the Vancouver/W.Canada contingent of eGullet has quadrupled so more people might be interested. Oh, and a question to the original list posters: which restaurants are still on your list 6 months later? Just curious. My own embarrasing list includes (not exhaustively!): Cru, C, Chambar, Aurora Bistro (all of whom have participation or at least are lurking on this board, so it's a little extra embarrasing, but at least Chambar will be stricken from the list as of Monday), Le Croc (I know I know, it's an institution!), Bis Moreno, Parkside, Villa del Lupo, any Guu, Go Fish, Kolachy Shop (only on this board would this be an "embarrasing" admission?), Kaplan's Deli... I'm working on it as fast as time and finances will allow!

This morning Global News carried a story on Lumiere, about how Rob Feenie was sent a letter from the City of Vancouver to take down his patio as it is not in accordance with City philosophy or something similar. (Incidentally Rob is going to comply, but he seemed right peeved that he had to bring in a landscape architect.) I tried to find a link on the Global site but to no avail. In a segue, they talked about how Remy Prasad formerly of CinCin opened a new restaurant Savoury Coast (as we all know). The point is, the story ran at about 7:37 in the 7:30-8:00 segment. It led, among other things, the latest tragedies in Iraq. Is this a sign that, as someone mentioned on the Feenie's manager thread, Vancouver chefs are moving more into the limelight? Or that our media is becoming Americanized? (When was the last time that Q13 news did not start with Shooting in Everett, followed by Armed Standoff in Tacoma, followed by Cat Rescued from Tree in Queen Anne, followed by ... oh and there is a new leader of the Roman Catholic church. G'night everyone!) Thoughts?

I've been to Calvin's for brunch, but I thought the menu was French influenced. Great fixed menu brunch tho, for that other thread floating around out there...

On the west coast, in our current home (1 year) our herbs sit in a pretty well sheltered west-facing area and our rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme made it through the winter just fine. But even in our previous place (4 years), a 3rd floor balcony facing north, the rosemary and thyme still survived. Basil was and continues to be a problem – it seems to really need a good dose of sunlight for a large portion of the day, so if at all possible, try to face it more south than southwest (does this make sense?). In comparison, peppers are notorious for sunlight thirst, and we can grow jalapenos no problem and serranos with limited success. Other peppers haven't produced. About mint: we put in apple mint last year and in grew way faster than I could use it. However, what my wife (the gardener) does is she cuts the bottom off a plastic planter to contain the roots and it totally works to not overrun other herbs. Same treatment for oregano and some others. Chives and basil seem to attract aphids like nothing else, so you may have to occasionally invest in ladybugs. We're giving parsley a go this year too.

Keith or anyone for that matter, if you actually did spend $ to see Gigli (and I'm seriously doubting you did), wouldn't that support the old "There is no such thing as bad press" adage? To clarify, I'm not saying Rob Feenie is to cooking as Ben Afflect is to acting, when it's in fact just the opposite. Just a point that the ads may trigger the public's curiosity, which would in turn pay White Spot's bills. The more I think about it, the bigger I think the coup by White Spot's PR team was.

Okay I saw the ad this morning over a bowl of Cheerios, and I had a similar reaction as Peppyre did. I wasn't put out. In fact, I was surprised at Rob's "supporting" role - I too thought the point of the ad was that Chuck was the exec chef at White Spot and that the sell was the Mediterranian Chicken Salad. Rob's line was something like, "Hey I like that." Not particularly earth-shattering in terms of all-out support of White Spot, just a simple message that he likes the salad. Does it affect Lumiere being my favourite restaurant in the city? I say who cares, the ad was pretty inoffensive, I respect Feenie but I was not moved to try the WS salad. Let's see if Mr Bishop has better luck convincing me. Edited for clarity.

Thanks for the link, GG, it provided a good chuckle and reminded me of a character I'd actually forgotten about from Mr Hartman's vast repetoire. I think it's safe to say that this guy and the Swedish Chef of Muppets fame define the two outlying points that everyone else falls between.

Chocoholic, I was in the neighborhood Sat for lunch, and Picnic was going great guns at the time. Overflowing, in fact. I too would be curious as to what happened. Also I peeked into the "Pan-Asian grill" space but like you said, nothing to see there. And that modern Thai place has been teasing for a while, to the point where I've lost interest.

Mangez, you are absolutely right. If/when I try the food, I will post my impressions of it. My reaction was to the restaurant's name itself. Their yin/yang fried rice - is it not the regular tomato-based chicken side, cream-based shrimp side concoction? I ask because you mention adventurousness, and thought that maybe they did something different. And if it's even better than the original, that would draw me into the joint (despite the name ).

Okay, I'll answer. waylman, as per Neil's call for an "official Forum Host" yesterday in the Vancouver Steak Houses thread, the best thing to do is to search this board for similar topics. Go to the lower right portion of the forum page, type "Chambar" in the keyword box, and hit Search Forum. Very recent threads discussing Chambar include Neil's (the one with the U2 reference), the after VanMag awards party, DOV experience, and most likely Where Have You Dined Lately as well. Check em out. As a note, I'm in the same boat when it comes to new members wondering how to do certain things (eg how to use quotes, italics, post pictures, etc). For those who are unaware, there is a forum on eG tech tips. Remember, it's okay to leave the friendly confines of the Vancouver forum! Cheers!

The challenge is where to draw the line between which “technological” advance to support and which one not to because, as you folks have pointed out, even “natural” modern breeding involves human (and mechanical) interaction. Today we (can) eat engineered vegetables. The rationale is, who cares? A tomato is a tomato. Looks the same, feels the same, tastes the same. And if you can grow them with increasing yields, what the hell! Feed the world! Someday, when financially viable, the government will officially rule on the safety of cloned meat, and we actually will be faced with the same choice. NulloModo, I’m imagining somewhere in the future when cloned meat is so cheap and available that the backlash occurs and wealthy people actually pay a premium for “natural” (or “organic”?) steak. Diner: I think I’ll have the 8 oz Filet. Now this is the real stuff, right? Waitron: Of course, Sir, we would never dream of serving Kobe v3.0 here! Now of course the steak comes with organic gorgonzola, but would you care for an organic baked potato on the side? We just received a shipment, and are offering them tonight for only $70. Organic fixings extra, of course.

Wonton King? Total gang hangout. I just found out that Mooshmouse was in a Asian girl gang in high school. Just ask her. Testify! ← The spate of gang shootings in the 90s coupled with my Mother's overdeveloped sense of, well, motherliness, instilled a false "paranoia" about Asian gang restaurants. As a result, to this day, I choose to sit facing the door whenever I can. Not because I think I'm gonna get shot up, but because hey if it happens at least I'll be ready to dive under formica. I've been curious about the Langara Gardens restaurant for a while. Still I remain unsure, as I am not a fan of HK style western food. For example, I mock the name "Cafe Glouchester" all the time even though I never eat there (once I stopped out of curiousity, but just ordered mango ice cream). It seems so weirdly HK, like (again a 90s reference) those jackets people used to wear that said weird shit like "High Rollers Club" on the back.

I also don't think people are trying to incite other people into arguments. Mabelline, I'm sure your cattle is absolutely fine, as is the vast majority of the stock in the US, as is the vast majority of the stock in Canada. Nonetheless the incidents of BSE have been harmful to both sides of the boarder, to be sure. Many ranchers have literally lost their livelihoods, and as nwyles mentioned, the trickle down effect is significant. From the CBC News Online, March 29, 2005: My curiosity is to why the story isn't taking off in the States. Also why is the USDA reducing it's testing program when it would (seemingly obviously?) be to everyone's benefit to increase consumer confidence?

sasskitty: thanks for the tips. N loves fish & chips so we will definitely try the King's Fare. Also I noticed people in the Chinese place when we were at the Greek place. Now I'm a little less apprehensive... Moosh: as we were leaving I was totally thinking that Japone would be a great omakase place - almost or possibly? as good as Tojo but at a fraction of the cost. Only problem is N is too picky for this, so if you and Ian are up for it (or anyone else out there) then just let me know when! D-A: mayo on grilled cheese?!? Where is the :ralphing: emoticon?

^Keith, you've won best post of the day. Such a simple statement, yet I can't stop chuckling about it.

It's almost eerie that the only posters so far are Canadians or transplanted Canadians (assuming hodge-podge is from the Toronto area and Mr Fagioli is from the Montreal area as those seem to be their home forums). I too refuse to believe that it's a lack of interest that keeps others from posting. Perhaps it is the lack of media coverage? (In contrast to the Trotter incidents, which were carried by at least 2 major newspapers.) Of course up here it's a big story because of the trade / economic issues, not to mention human and livestock health. But this simply isn't an issue where "ignorance is bliss". And the focus shouldn't be solely on Americans either, because this issue affects any country that imports US beef.

I like your post Andrew, but I will add that Lumiere for $100 w/o drinks is impossible unless of course you're in the tasting bar, so Stalder if you make reservations make sure to mention that part. When I was at UBC, all they had to eat on campus was shite. First year I was in res (Totem Park!) so that was even worse. I haven't eaten there for many years, but may I suggest you get off campus for as many meals as possible. In addition to the others mentioned, I'd add Bistro Pastis on 4th Ave, the early prix fixe menu at West on Granville (actually see South Granville thread here for lots of ideas), C and Chambar downtown, Kirin on 12th and Cambie for Chinese… Oh, and don't forget Hamilton Street Grill for hangar steak. Basically if you stay close on or close to 4th or Broadway (which is the theoretical "9th" Avenue), or if you're going downtown, you can get a bus fairly easily. After that check the Translink site for ideas on how to get where you're going. It probably costs $10 just to get a cab to the edge of campus. Finally, for cinnamon buns I’d throw Grounds for Coffee (or whatever it’s called) on 10th and Alma into the ring. You can get as little or as much goo on top as you want. Actually I prefer their corn bread but you have to get there pretty early to get some.

Quote from the above article (bold added): "One of the USDA's top officials told CBC News that the U.S. testing program was never designed to catch every single case of mad cow disease. It was simply meant to measure how much disease there is. After testing thousands of animals the USDA believes if BSE exists, it's at a very low level. Next year, the U.S. plans a major reduction in its BSE testing program, from a high of 300,000 animals to just 40,000." And yet Canada is increasing its BSE testing standards. More general and economic info here. Please pass the Canadian AAA beef.

After last night, I would give my vote to Japone. I know it's way the hell out of your way Deborah, but if you have car you should travel. Asozzi (I'll leave the official greetings to DA - but welcome - oops Deborah beat me to it), there's another small place near Metrotown that I used to frequent when I worked in the area. It's called Kura, in the building beside the GVRD. Haven't been for years but at the time it was my favourite sushi place in town. Great sized nigiri, and fresh! Any recent visitors?

Thanks to Keith’s (and Shellback’s) reminder of its existence, we tried Japone last night for the first time. I read about this place once upon a time in VanMag (though I can’t recall if Jamie wrote the piece or not, please don’t revoke my eG hat) and have meant to try it, but for some reason just plain forgot. For those of you unaware of the location, if you have ever driven to the ferries, you have most likely unwittingly passed by Japone. It is in the strip mall on the south end of Oak beside the Dan-Dee Market. Anyway, the food. Since this was our first visit, I wanted to stick to the basics; however, I could not resist one item off the rather extensive fresh sheet – the jellyfish with kimchi. As it turns out, I much prefer the dim sum version of jellyfish (with sesame oil and a bit of pepper flakes), because the spice of the kimchi totally overpowered the extremely delicate flavour of the jellyfish. Still they had a lot of other interesting stuff on there that I'll try next time. To follow we had agadashi tofu (because N really likes it), veg tempura (really crisp but non-greasy, and the shredded onion “clumps” instead of big ass “rings” provided a really soft and pleasant flavour), dynamite and spicy tuna rolls (both much better than average, esp the spicy tuna mmmm), and assorted nigiri: N had ebi and that one inside the tofu pouch, name escapes me; I had salmon which was almost the colour of overripe strawberries and absolutely delicious, amaebi – sooooo creamy good that it led me to believe I’ve never had proper amaebi before, scallop – okay but at the back of the pack here, and unagi with a beautiful crispy skin and really nice balance of flavour. The eye candy value of the salmon and unagi alone was worth the visit. Highlights definitely were the sushi and the tempura. And the actual price, with a beer, was totally reasonable at $42 all-inclusive except tip. Last night it was running about 40% full, but I bet weekends are busy. One word of warning: the service is extremely laid back, so if you are also laid back then everything will be Fonzie (cool-a-mundo). However, if you are on any sort of schedule then you probably want to save this for another time. Despite its weird location, or in our case because of it, Japone really works!

And here it is. (I'm not claiming to be smarter than KT, BTW, just happened to be grabbing the link at the same time as he was posting.) Edited for clarity.

Keith - thanks for the reminder. Japone has the combination of rep and bizarre location that I was looking for. Maybe tonight. SC - it's true we are in the Vancouver 'burbs. God was I relieved when Koni opened, it was like the sun came up on Granville and 70th. Edited to add: tried Panos the Greek place for lunch, it was okay but damned busy so I think we'll try again for dinner. On Marine near Fraser. Shelly - we went to Flamingo for dim sum a couple weekends ago, and didn't like it that much (other than N prefers carts to cards). The beef balls (not to be confused with elk balls) were greasy, instead of light and slightly crunchy with water chestnuts and cilantro. We like the place in Oakridge for dim sum - the only thing is, the order form is in Chinese (which I can't read, so I reuse an old form with a couple translations on it). Another place, almost as good but more expensive, is the Granville Seafood Restaurant or whatever it's called at 64th or so. Great seafood dumplings (har gow etc), okay everything else. Thanks for the other suggestions, Kedah is coming up soon I think. Keep 'em coming people, if there are any others to be had!

Keith’s horning in on Deborah’s thread totally rang true for me. N and I have been in Marpole (near Cambie & 59th) for a year now, and have yet to experience a great restaurant meal here - by which I mean inside the rectangle bounded by Granville and Main, or even Fraser, and 33rd and Marine. Not to say that there's nothing - we have had some good (but not great) dim sum and noodle house-type food. I'm thinking a place like Coco Pazzo, which wins the "best close" place award (yet still not in the rectangle). A bistro, or a nice sushi place... I would kill for a Salade de Fruits Part Deux. What are we missing, if anything? Peppyre? Jamie? Anyone?

I'm somewhere inbetween too. I like: reading cookbooks, but mostly for ideas. I don't like: religiously following a recipe. Or if I do follow one, usually it’s once or twice to get a quasi-grasp on a technique, then I’m back to winging it. I am impatient, and the damned book takes up so much space, and I hate measuring... Basically, I cannot bake. That said, I like to have most or all of my chopping done beforehand. The exceptions are when (1) I’ve forgotten something, (2) I think I have time to chop before additions. No small glass bowls though, because I hate the cleanup portion of the evening so I absolutely minimize things that need to be washed. To a point where it's probably actually working against me! (me to wife: ack, why are you using that extra plate, I can fit a tiny bit more stuff on this corner of the chopping board!) So is there a category for “winging it with mise”? PS: I assume everyone considers a glass of wine or a beer an integral part of mise.