privatejet

Thank goodness they are looking at change. Watermark may have had poor reviews on the food [justified IMO] however the strcture is gorgeous. All of the concessions stands should be as sleekly done. Personaly I find all of the concessions, but particularly Sunset, English Bay and Second Beach miserable. They are dowdy and the food is worse. Nostalgia is great for some but the concesssion food does not speak to the Vancouver food scene -and unfortunately many of our visitors will take that away as a Vancouver experience. How about Gord Martin movinn Go Fish to English Bay? That's killer!

Perspective I guess: I worked at Earls from 1989-1994 and did every front of the house job under the sun. They certainly did invest in training you in food knowledge and drive home the 'its your business" philosophy. At that time, it seemed there was a genuine commitment to trying to ensure that customers experiences were just "right" of course the place was also a hornet nest of palace intrigue and much sleeping around. I had a massive amount of fun and among my fellow works met many of my closest friends to this day indeed one of them is a contributor to this Board, though in a much loftier culinary position] I thought I was a shit hot server, and I did go on to serve for a few years at a higher end restaurant in Edmonton but truth be told given what I know now [and the prism that is looking back on your youth], I have no idea if I was a good server. In reality, I can only say that I could cope well, got no complaints and therefore only did closing shifts. I shudder to think what my customers experiences were when I was dealing with a late evening slam. In the Vancouver market, I think that Earls food is quite expensive. Many of their en trees are at the price levels of Chambar, Nu, Zin, Glowbal and I certainly don't think either Earls food or service are in that category. On the other hand, having spent a few years out East recently, I believe the West Coast CFD are miles ahead of their competitors such as East Coast Marios. I was told numerous times by colleagues and acquaintances in Toronto how thrilled they were with Milestones. And sitting here in London, England writing this I dont think these CFD have many peers. There are a few chains such as Bierodrome/Wagamamas/Pizza Express that are the closest in concept, IMO to our CFD but the food is far more specific and the service standards are nowhere close to what one would expect. I certainly agree with Mr. Maw's assessment that our establishments our certainly first rate CFD and perhaps both the sophistication of the CFD market in Vancouver and the bevy of fine casual one-off restaurants in Vancouver has kept most of the truly horrible CD restaurants such as the Red Robin, Red Lobster, etc. out of Vancouver. And Cheesecake Cafe: I have only eaten there once in the past six months in Bellvue but I'll give you 2-1 odds that it would be Earls that would eat their lunch should they come north.

The Sun is reporting this morning that the owner of the Normandy plans to re-open and that the lease is not up another three years. That would be great news the place is an institution. Here's the link (subscribers only) http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouvers...1a-c1a56ab27543

CKNW reports that the kitchen suffered serious damage. Apparently the Normandy was suppsoed to close Jan. 9/ http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local.cfm?ca...=news_local.cfm

We were back again tonight. They had only one table plus a seat or two at the bar available when we arrived. Had desert this evening -the chocolate souffle was as hyped, the cheesecake extremely light and fluffy, but the consensus at our table was that the creme brulee beat them all. Great texture, with a wonderful vanilla flavour.

It's on the 1200 block of Hamilton Street. Between LK Dining Lounge and Automotive Billiards [closer to the Drake than Davie] In the Alda building. I believe hours are a bit irregular at the moment, as mentioned above they are trying to work kinks out before spreading the net, but definately for dinner.

Diner, south next to LK Dining Lounge and automotive, in Yaletown has opened. From my first impressions its the perfect addition to the neighbourhood- particularly for those of us who actually live here. Personally, I need a place a step up from take-out to eat at regularly. This isnt sophisticated food. I had the Chicken schnitzel. Perfectly cooked with a spinach spatezle. My companion had the meatloaf, which he raved about particulalry the braised tomato accompaniment. The owner, Heather, seems like a great gal with lots of enthusiasm and has promised me an upcoming mac & cheese. All in all, IMO, off to a great start. Welcome to Yaletown.

Noticed on the 1000 block of Granville, in one of the new retail buildings a sign for a new restaurant, Sansafir(?) from the Glowbal Group

I'm pretty sure this link to the Sun review is public Sun Review

failures seem not to detract anyone from Yaletown. I saw restaurant equipment going into the space south of Lilykate (in between Lilykate and Automotive -Hamilton Street) No signs on the outside...anyone with some insights? Rumor (and this is truly rumor) that Mini dealership in Yaletown is not renewing their space and a number of well known restraunteurs have taken a look. Again- insights? Mark James has/close to having his application oked for having 2 stories (work/live condos) added to his Yaletown location (mainland. Hamilton @ Helmcken) -I've noticed that currently there is a fairly substantial amount of mechanical on the roof; does anyone know if the addition will cause the restaurant to be shut? or will business carry on during construction? Saltlik's doors were open (literally but not in terms of an on-going business) on Alberni on Friday -it looks like there is still some very substantial work to take place. It appeared they were working on drywall. I would wager that they will not open in September. Helmcken & Richards -at the moment, IMO, still a rather unfortunate corner and the evening clientale is not really into dining. There was the Montenegro Tapas (in the space that I think was formerly occupied by the Cozy Cafe). Montenegros was extremely short lived but it seems another entrenpreneur is willing to give the location a go and was busy do renovations to the space over the last few days.

I disagree. If you followed the Watermark thread, you will know that the restaurant was more than a month late in opening, for one reason and another. I would say that staying closed to the public once one has an occupancy permit, on a delayed and much-anticipated opening, and not making hay while, literally, the sun shines (in this town, in heavy tourist season) qualifies as a luxury. As in, yes, a very expensive choice. Whether it would have been a better choice given the uneven reviews, of course, is open to debate. ← Not to belabour the point but if one goes back in the Nu thread, Nu was aiming for an early June opening so they are roughly 2-3 months late. And in an overall multi-million dollar restaurant opening budget, I don't think a few days of a soft opening is a really significant $ item. So I think it's perhaps a reflection the proprietor's priorities.

Well having a "soft" opening to iron out kinks, is neither a luxury nor a neccessity but simply a choice on the proprietor's part. And perhaps, the best way to describe the bar food ("for the hand" on the menu) is to say they are updated takes on some classics.

I have been curious about this place too as I walk by there numerous times a week. Anyone have any more insight into the menu? The difference between this and Hapa is not there is not a sign of any customers. Occasionally tow old(er) men (the same ones) playing backgammon on the patio.

^Got to second canucklehead's review of Lolita's. Had dinner there last weekend- drinks a tad steep, as are appetizers (for what u get) Tacos were a stand out (and good value at $13) as were the mashed potatoes that come with the smoked chicken. Atmosphere was great and though I was sorry to see Random go, a nice addition to Davie Street. I wish them the best there.

Happened to be jogging by Nu tonight and found it open for business, so went back for dinner. I was impressed. The decor is perhaps the most controversial. Think 70's yacht for a theme. It divided my dining companions; 2 of us liked it, the other 2 basically hated it. None the less it's an interesting look that I am sure cost a million bucks (likely quite a bit more) [As an aside whatever your opinions on the theme the patio chairs seem quite cheap and inappropriate) Food. Many of the dishes on the menu seem to be updates on some classic food items -chicken wings, dry ribs, ham & cheese sandwich, beef dip. We had the beer battered oyster with lager pepiche (~$4) as an amuse. It's simple and what's not to love about chewing a deep fried oyster while squirting beer into your mouth. We then shared dry ribs & chicken wings. The dry ribs didn't do much for me -the smoke spice from C used on them was a little underwhelming, however the portion size was quite amply for ~$10 and they were certainly a cut above the usual casual restaurant dry ribs and yet the price point is pretty close. The chicken wings (~$10) -well I will admit that I have a thing for wings so I thought I had died and gone to heaven. They pull the meat out and then stuff with goat cheese (so it's a Popsicle). And we shared a main of crispy braised pork belly with walnuts and apples ($19). Very tasty. Mains come sans sides. I was drinking beer and didn't carefully scrutinize the wine list, but the price point is very friendly. If I remember correctly glasses from $7-$10. Bottles from $32 with most bottles under $80. First night open, the food was great, service was attentive, friendly. Of course the view and the patio are killer. For the bar food alone I wil be back late night to twill a few drinks and munch (it's basically old style Earls appies for the same price but way better) I look forward to going back and trying some more of the mains.