chef jeff

you have larger huevos than me Neil!

oh ya, nice work with the cell phone/flash light Lee!

Abra, I just wanted to say how great it was to meet you and Shel. It was a pleasure doing a menu for people who just appreciated what we are doing, and have a great knowledge and passion for food and wine. It sounds like the rest of your trip was amazing. It shames me that I still have not eaten at Phnom Penh! I will be PMing you the next time my wife and I are in Seattle. We keep going to the wrong restaurants, and need some guidance. Cheers, Jeff

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed everything Sushicat. This is our first time doing dine out, and we are very happy with how it's going. My staff has really risen to the occasion, and the clientelle has been great. We've seen lots of new people coming through our doors. Next time your're in, pop back to the kitchen and say hi. The rest of you too. I like to put faces to your "names". jeff

I'm so with you on Duffins Zuke. I've said it before, probably on this thread. There are so many mediocre over-priced sandwiches in this city. Duffins however makes a damn fine sandwich. All the prerequisits are there: good bread, fresh ingredients, perfect proportion of filling to bread, just messy enough, and delicious. I really think they make some of the best sandwiches in the city. Just stay away from the donuts!

The place is called Budgies Burritos. I can safely say our kitchen staff has probably consumed a good thousand burritos from there since they opened last spring. Despite the fact that they are vegetarian, and we all love our meat, we still eat tons of them. Lately I find I've burnt out on them though, but that's bound to happen with anyone's food, no matter how good. I would suggest giving it a try. It may not be for everyone, it's not a purist's burrito, but they are tasty and cheap. This is a bit off the main st. topic, but I used to go to a place on commercial called Pastor Taco that served a wicked braised beef tounge burrito. They closed a few years ago, and I've never seen another beef tongue burrito, or "Burritto Langue" (sp?) since. If anyone has a suggestion, let me know.

My wife and I had one Christmas dinner with our urban family of friends on the Monday before Christmas. We opened a 1999 Black Hills Nota Bene from BC, and a 1996 Chateau Musar from Lebanon. While not exactly perfect matches for turkey, they were fun wines to drink and compare in the company of good friends. I was amazed by the Nota Bene. Nice deep colour, soft tannins, stewed plums, and a bit of leather and tobacco on the nose. What was really amazing was the similarity between the two wines, despite the fact that the Nota Bene is a Cab S/Cab Fr/ Merlot blend, and the Musar is a Cab Sauv/ Syrah blend (if I remember correctly). Also, the Musar had a VERY light colour, which was wierd because it tasted like it should be a very dark colour. I've never seen that before. Christmas Dinner on the 25th was out at Gary and Naty King's of Hazelmere Organic Farms. Standout BC wines from that dinner were a bottle of Nichol Pinot Gris, and a bottle of 2003 Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Chardonnay. The Nichol Pinot Gris had a beautiful light orangy pink colour, which I'm told was achieved through 20 minutes of contact with the skins after being crushed. This wine went beautifully with the organic ham. MMMMmmmmmm! The Cedar Creek Chard was, to me, one of the nicest Chards I've had from BC. Ah, Christmas. Four days off, lots of eating and drinking. Thanks for being open on boxing day Sean. We had a great reunion of old friends in the back room at the Heather. Your new haircut is very dashing. Jeff.

I second (actually, I guess I third) the recomendation for Pan-o-Pan. Marta is a passionate cook who understands your needs! The food is great, and since you kind of assemble it yourself, you can take some, or all, of the credit. I've even bought stuff from her for parties at home when I had no time to do it myself. Jeff

Chocomoo, why would you post a review of our restaurant if you were sick and not in the mood to dine. How can you comment on the food if you can't even taste it? Jeff

Hi Bigorre, it is true that many great Canadian chefs have trained in Europe. It is also true that I have worked with numerous chefs who have trained in Europe, who are hacks! Many, many graet chefs in Canada didn't train in Europe. I have encountered this attitude before, and personally take offense to it. Cheers, Jeff

We are starting to get calls from people asking if Aurora is open Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We are closed all of these days, but we want to be able to send people somewhere we feel good about. Customers always ask us, in the industry, where else they should dine, and I feel it really reflects on us who we reccomend. I think most of the large hotels are open and do some kind of christmas dinner, but are there any other options? Somewhere with a big communal table would be great if they did a family style dinner. Sun Sui Wah also came to mind for something less traditional. Any other thoughts? Jeff

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out last night. It was nice to meet some new EGers see some of you again. Zuke, your writing always makes me smile. I was sitting nekkid in an english country garden there for a bit! Someone should give you a column. Maybe they should get rid of that Morrison fellow (I love you andrew ), and let you review restaurants. Imagine the dining allowance! The cheeses were: Poplar Grove Tiger Blue, Hillary's Blackberry Port washed rind goats(I forget the actual name at the moment), and Armstrong 3 year reserve cheddar We will start playing with some Mead cocktail and food recipes soon, as well as cheese and mead pairings. We'll let you know. Cheers, (raising a goblet of mead) Jeff

My mother-in-law's good friend found that wrapping the doughnuts in duck bacon and then dipping them the syrup was quite tasty. I love her!!!!! Jeff

Congratulations, Quinten (and Nico and Karri of course!). Very well deserved indeed. I've been meaning to come in again in the next little while, but it might be a little harder to get a table! I raise a glass (of Belgian beer) to you! Jeff (and all the staff at Aurora)

The letter is on the way Jamie, every little bit helps. Especially when you hear about how these two (brothers, by the way) could only afford cookbooks in Estonian! They need some direction, some guidance dammit. They do, however, make a fine borscht. They need an evening with Chuck and Bob. Jeff PS. Free Dutch Clog Dancing lesons, any night, around 11, in my kitchen, after a few cold ones.

Not the first time I've been called a bar tool. I sure was full too! My virgin voyage on the good ship Hammy. Great food, great host. Jeff

Me thinks I will have to come down to see you Tuesday, Niel, and watch the game. This will be the first game I have been off work for this year! Your bar looks like the kind of place a feller could get comfy. If the restaurant gods are smiling on me, and let me have that day off, I will see you then!

At Aurora we have Soma and Our Town Cafe in very close proximity, so I'm told if the winds blowin' the right way...

Next week Aurora!

[Cedar Cottage pub ( KingswayQUOTE] I have to agree, the cottage is the shit for hockey watching. During Canucks playoff games, they have $1 soft tacos that aren't bad. Good deal, I guess they figure the Canucks playoff runs aren't that long, so they won't lose too much money! They also have the wierdest hot wings there. It's like all the meat has been pushed up the bone so it balloons on the end. Some kind of Chicken Wing Popsicle. How Modern! "What's the matter, Daniel, SORE P-U-S-S-Y?"

Is that the crispy, flakey one? (Not you, Jeff, the Lotus thingy...) k. ← Wow, work is going to be akward tonight after that comment Kurtis! The lotus wrapped rice comes, as it says, wrapped in a lotus leaf. They cut it open at the table. The rice is sticky and glutinous, and so fragrat from the lotus leaf. In the middle is chinese sausage, and I think shrimp and maybe chesnuts?? It's been a while. The flavour is incredible. Earthy, salty, sweet and aromatic. Magic

Actaully, I gotta agree with Dave on that one too! How's things Dave? Where are you cooking in HK?

Laksa at Hawkers Delight when the stress of owning a restaurant gets to me, I start to crave a bowl, and head up main street, sit in the window, watch the people walk by and let the flavours of this magical dish take over Agadashi Tofu and Tuna Tataki at Sushi Yama fairly pedestrian dishes, but they are done so well. Something about the quality of the bonito that they garnish with adds an almost smokey flavour and aroma

not much of a speller either

Try cooking meat @ 180 F for an hour and see what you get. Forget crispy pork, try food born illness. ← You're right roostew, I was way off on my conversion dammit Jim, I'm a chef not a mathmatition