BCinBC

I'll add my cheers to Chef Fowke, Quang, Tim, Chris and the rest of the crew. Food was really excellent; standout for me was the salmon (I can't remember the exact details, perhaps Moosh or Chef can fill them in) cooked ceviche style on one side and seared "conventionally" on the skin side. Skin ended up perfectly crisp, and the fish medium inside. Plated (or bowled?) perfectly with that fennel broth, it really was an excellent marriage of flavours and an inspired dish. Also loved the blood orange "seltzer" palate cleanser. Zuke mentioned the sablefish, which was like eating bacon with the texture of fish it was so smokey; Sarah the cauliflower soup and lobster salad, both well done in their own right but perhaps overshadowed (in a good way) by the roe and the truffle oil. Rabit liver pate and pheasant rilette with brioche (and kumquat!), luxurious. Mushroom ravioli, too, would have been a standout on any other night but in this order it was yet another hit in a parade of them. And who could forget that stanky Spanish blue? Smells of feet, tastes of heaven. Agreed Zuke, it was a night of aromas as much as flavours. No one has mentioned the Pinot, which was not only an excellent glass but also an excellent pair for so many of the courses. Tim your crew did very well considering the challenges of opening night, and the fact that we were playing musical chairs, and that we crammed ourselves onto the one table. Will return for, amongst other things, suckling pig, scampi, and those mussels. ETA: Oh yeah and where else can you run into such an orchard of eGullet royalty - Kolachy Keith, the Master Chef Wyles... Us (just kidding).

Truly, a tragedy.

Thanks for the link Kurtis, I would go beyond the "not bad" and say it is quite flattering for the city. As for the pineapple express, if you watch Global news with any regularity eventually you will hear either Wayne Cox or Zach Spencer will use it. Except like Jamie said, to me it means rain and a lot of it (the story seemed to imply a pineapple express was just a nice warm breeze).

Link to Koni update in Currywurst thread (German butcher on indefinite hiatus).

Ah, SushiCat, you are correct (tragically in this instance) - I just went down to Koni to get the scoop. Apparently the butcher somehow cut ties with one of the partners, and is no longer doing their charcuterie. If you can believe it, he is biding his time doing vegetarian (?!?) sausages somewhere until he figures out what he wants to do next. Veggie currywurst, anyone? Didn't think so. Oddly, the butcher's wife Gerta (? I believe) is still working there, she just shaved some very nice pastrami for my lunch. Anyway, in the meantime Zarko says he is keeping his case filled with a mix and match approach, with a lot of the good stuff (sausages and pates) coming from Black Forest Deli in Park Royal. Didn't see any Weisswurst in there today.

I too miss Currywurst with a vengence, moreso than anything else I had in Germany (even the beer). If you do go the make-it-yourself route, try the Weisswurst from Koni on Granville and 68th or whatever, across the street from Safeway. I have had it and it is very good. He employs an in-house butcher to do all of his charcuterie, and lo and behold, the guy is German. (He can still make a killer serrano ham though.) Link to the Koni thread. ETA: They only do Weisswurst on weekends, so check in on a Friday if they're going to have it ready for Saturday morning. It usually sells quickly. Also, post #666. As Count Floyd used to say, Ooh, scary.

Zuke - speaking of Dan-D, there is one on Oak at around 63rd or so? that has a large assortment of pre-packaged nuts as well as ones in the bulk bins. Also good nut butters to be found there, BTW. As for the pistachios, I last picked some up from that Grainery dude on GI, but I'm pretty sure I can get them for cheaper at either Weight To Go or the Dan-D store on Oak.

Hey Zuke, someone recently turned me onto Weigh To Go (or something like that), it is a bulk place beside the Dunbar VQA which I believe you have been known to frequent. So on 41st just east of Dunbar, across-ish from the IGA. Perhaps this fits the bill?

Great post Memo, I love the Baker soup (no comment on the gingerbreadface). I'm impressed with the room, the wood warms up an otherwise wide open looking space. I haven't been to Oak Bay Marina for most likely over a decade. And the soup really does look elegant. I like the gingerbread presentation as well, although I'm imagining it before the ice cream ran away.

I'm not too sure about the pear fans (or whatever that fruit is), perhaps they could have used smaller slices?? However I agree that the pistachio sorbet itself really looks great, like a ball of marble.

Thanks for the photos, sounds and looks great and like I said in the other thread I'm glad to hear CinCin is still running on all cylinders. Just a note though that I thought this statement might be a bit too general. Good bread does not necessarily have to have a very thick crust. Plus, your personal preferences still count for something!

^ Agreed Stephen, I like to add the eggs to the mix raw (not pre-scrambled). This way they also thicken up the sauce.

Hey, great to hear CinCin is still going strong even though it doesn't get much mention on the boards these days. Crazy coincidence, did you happen to run into D90 last night? I seem to recall he had a last minute / late reso there too.

So has anyone backed out of the CC special burger club meeting yet? I am sitting on the taxi squad awaiting news.

Could it be that they have been forced to find an establishment that brews better coffee than Blenz?

Ah, thanks for the clarification Barolo (and Lee).

Great looking meal, Lee. A quick question tho - when you say Chef Butter, do you mean our very own Butter has moved on from Wedgewood? Anyone?

So I was surfing last night and caught the Chef at Large last night that featured Milan (pronounce it MIH-lan so you too can be in the know) and his legendary tomatoes*. Interesting to see a bit more of his personality, it's true he is a Tomato Nazi - he was talking about crossing chefs off his list if they mistreated his tomatoes, giving them a few weeks to think about it, then maybe reapproaching them to see if they have learned from their time-out. Also Chef Andrea from Raincity did a couple dishes: gaspacho and tomato tower topped with dungeoness leg (watching Milan trying to eat that in one bite - probably should have ended up on the cutting room floor though), consumme with seared scallop. Looked good. Was waiting for Chef Jeff to appear, no such luck. Anyway, if it repeats this weekend as I'm sure it will, it's worth the watch. * Can you overhype a tomato? I don't know. They are increadibly good; when Michael Smith tastes his first one, he proclaims it the best tomato he's ever tasted. And I agree. Anyway, the nice thing about this is that he rations his tomatoes so even if the bandwagon wheels splinter from the weight, us regular folk should still be able to get a taste or two next summer.

Thanks for the link Patrick. Of all the spin-off problems, I think the most significant is the transportation of water. Not only does it deprive the original location, but it also burdens the consumer's location with having to treat the waste.

Recent bottled water / safe drinking water article.

^ But Batali, Morimoto, Flay and Cora are all "real chefs", with their own real restaurants. (Actually I'm not sure if Cora is in that category at present, but the other three definitely are.) If you want the food, go to PBS.

Nicely done Zuke.

And they have spent all that time trying to perfect bacon. They are very close.

Another very famous non-mention is Soylent Green.

Thanks for the link. I have submitted a help request, though it just occured to me that I forgot to mention I know nwyles. Damn.