tarteausucre

I haven't contributed to this thread in a while but here goes: I went to Culinaria for lunch on Wednesday. I've been meaning to go for quite some time. I thought that the meal was lovely and very reasonably priced. I had the salmon with hollandaise sauce and sauteed vegetables. My friends had the lamb tenderloin with apple and squash gnocchi, and the lobster clubhouse with fries and lobster bisque. Our server was pleasant although exceedingly nervous. All in all, a good place for lunch. Friday night I went to Cioppino's since I had been craving good pasta as winter has made itself increasingly more apparent. I started with the scallops with risotto, followed by the agnolotti of beef short ribs, finished with the milk chocolate mousse with raspberry cream centre, sour cherries, and mango coulis. My friend also raved about her garganelli witih lobster and crab in tomato-cream sauce. I am never disappointed when I go to Cioppino's. The service is impeccable, the ambiance cozy, and the food divine. Lastly, I had brunch at Cafe Campagne in Seattle yesterday. I had their "Oeufs en meurette" which consisted of poached eggs with onions, bacon, mushrooms in a red wine and foie gras sauce. The eggs were served atop garlic croutons. There were also pomme frites on the side with garlic lemon aoili. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I went to the Transylvanian Bread place last weekend and it was a rather bizarre experience. I felt like I had entered the twilight zone of bread. I walked in at around 2:30pm on a Sunday and was greeted by shelves that were all but empty of bread. I believe there were two loaves in total. The two men at the counter looked at me blankly and I looked back at them blankly. I think I said something to the effect of "what kind of bread do you sell?" and their reply was "wholewheat." Apparently, they had sold out of rye for the day (and just about all their wholewheat as well!). They also informed me that they make rye only on certain days (phone ahead to find out - I can't remember which). Anway, I had wanted their rye so I'll have to go back another day.

Any recommendations on the best places to buy Paris style macaroons in Vancouver? I have a major craving - I'll probably land up making my own but it's always good to know where I can go for a quick fix.

Ling, I am incredibly jealous of your Feenie's gorging!! I, alas, only had Diplomat Cake. I finally attempted to make one and it was worth the effort - 2 layers of genoise, three layers of puff pastry, and layer upon layer of rum buttercream. Yum!

Is there a Salt Spring Island Farmer's market event happening in Vancouver some time in the near future? I could swear I read something somewhere about it but for the life of me, I can't remember the details or whether I just dreamed the whole thing up.

My students have informed me that they have been offered black market cheese on Translink buses. I have this great image of someone opening his/her trench coat to reveal row upon row of brie, gouda, and gorgonzola (might explain the smells on the bus). In fact, I believe my students said that the "cheese dealer" was trying to move huge blocks of cheddar.

Just thought I'd mention that I went to Coco et Olive yesterday (on West Broadway just east of Dunbar). The place is disarmingly sweet - don't expect anything lavish or grand though. The people who run it are lovely and I found it to be the perfect place for a foggy Sunday afternoon. I had a chai latte and a cranberry coconut oatmeal cookie. My friend a caramel latte with a triple chocolate cookie. The selection of sweets is fairly limited (although those 2 bite brownies did look enticing); however, all in all in a great place to go if you're in the neighbourhood and craving sugar and caffeine.

I would second the moules frites recommendation!! I love how they only offer you mayo (homemade) ... perish the thought of dipping those fries into ketchup!

For my bulk food needs, I usually go to "Weight to Go" on West 41st (Dunbar), just opposite the IGA. The items there are very reasonable and fresh (high turnover) and the owner is extremely pleasant. I'm sure you could get your pecans and raisins there.

Yesterday, I had a craving for Chinese baked goods so I made the mini trek to New Town Bakery. I landed up buying egg tarts, sesame balls, and the requisitie coconut buns (I had one as part of my breakfast after I nuked it in the microwave - does anybody else enjoy the pleasures of a microwaved coconut bun?) Just thought I'd let everyone know that they're having an Anniversary Sale - 20% off from November 1st to the 15th! I'm going back today to stock up on bao.

In addition to all these great suggestions I would add Shota Sushi Bar in Kerrisdale. It's a smaller restaurant with great rolls. It would be a bit of a trek for you (a 20 minute drive) but if you feel like exploring outside of the downtown core, it would take you to a different more residential Vancouver neighbourhood. There are shops and lots of coffee houses and sushi restaurants (most of them not half as good) Enjoy your sushi explorations! http://www.shotasushi.com/

Quite the cryptic hint ... "belying" - so Manny is deviating from his Portuguese roots? Does that mean he is adapting them, or shifting to a completely different culinary realm? I suppose it's futile for me to try to get a definitive answer Look for something belying Manny's Portuguese provenance. ←

I'm actually trying to remember the last time I ate a home cooked meal. I think my waistline is telling me that it was quite a long time ago. The last three dining experiences were at: The Modern Club on Dunbar : Amazingly, I only discovered recently that the Modern Club was a Japanese restaurant. I had driven by it numerous times and wondered what kind of food they served. I finally went there and was pleased overall. My friend and I shared miso soup, mackerel sashimi, ebi avocado spring rolls, a salmon maki, mixed tempura, and one of their famous okonomiyaki ("modern" pork yakisoba pancake). Loved all of the dishes especially the latter. The service was a little uneven; our server's English was quite poor so there was a mix-up with one of our dishes. Also, the food took a fair while to get to us. However, other than these minor quibbles, I thought it was a charming neighbourhood restaurant. The decor was endearing in a cozy sort of way. Circolo: I dined here for my birthday dinner. It's been a while since I've been to Circolo. The meal was enjoyable although I have to say that I think their entrees are a little overpriced compared to other recent dining experiences. I had their seared arctic char with potato pancakes and lobster foam. Fairly expertly cooked as evidenced by the fact that I licked my plate clean. I finished the meal with a chocolate souffle with grand marnier icecream. Once again solid, although not out of this world. The restaurant was fairly busy with mostly older diners - I've always wondered how it does since it gets little mention on this forum. The pianist was in fine form with such classic standards as Moon River and Yesterday Nu: And last but not least, I finally went to Nu. I have to admit that at first I was not overly impressed since we too had to wait a considerable time for our reserved table to open up and it was awkward waiting in the lounge area. I also felt some ambivalence over the decor - I wanted to like it since it was a sincere attempt to be Nu in a "nostalgic postmodern" sort of way and differentiate itself from all the other uber-modern places out there but I'm still not sure whether its impact was entirely pleasing. Plus, I found the seats to be bit of a practical inconvenience. They were very heavy to move and they were quite uncomfortable given that I couldn't lean back in them. All that being said, my dinner at Nu was one of the best I've had in a very long time and would most definitely return. The recent media reviews were bang on. The food lifted itself above the ordinary - poetic culinary simplicity. I had the scallop ceviche as well as the salmon mosaic with asparagus in shallot butter. Perfection. Also, the restaurant entirely redeemed itself with its stellar during-dinner service. Our server was a genuinely caring, attentive, and unfailingly helpful individual. He was obviously very passionate about what he was doing and where he was doing it. I forgave the initial wait since the restaurant treated us with such grace and attention once we were seated. That's all for now, sorry for the length!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind and thoughtful responses to my question. All the suggestions were excellent but in the end, I could not resist the call of what is Nu! I landed up booking for a slightly later time when the kitchen can accomodate us. The other restaurants suggested will have to wait for other eating extravaganzas to come. I'll be sure to report back after the dinner.

604-733-0046, address 2585 West Broadway Please do report back

Yes, congratulations to Chambar for all their hard work and deserved success! Always inspiring when a labour of love receives its due rewards. I noticed on Chambar's website that they are having a 1st anniversary bash on Saturday, September 17th. Media, 7pm, Public, 8pm onwards. The website asks those interested to RSVP by phone or e-mail. I alas, will be at gorging at a wedding buffet and so everyone else will have to report back to me about the soiree. http://www.chambar.com/invite.html

I'm not sure where I got this recipe but it's the best one I've tried so far. It's quite a bit of work since you have to basically pan fry the skins before you assemble them, and then deep fry the assembled samosas. I usually use flour and water to seal the samosas. The skin is crispy and nice and thin. It's not like the doughy samosa skin that sometimes results from some recipes. Ingredients: 4 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp salt 4 tbsp olive oil 2 - 3 cups cold water 1/2 cup extra flour for rolling out1 /2 cup extra olive oil to spread on pastries Directions: 1. Mix salt and 4 tablespoons of olive oil in the flour and bind with cold water. Knead to make a soft dough 2. Take 1 1/2 inch round balls of dough and roll out with a velan or rolling pin. Make 20 - 25 two inch flat rounds 3. Spread oil completely over the surface area of the 2 inch round pastries. Sprinkle each lightly with flour 4. Join two, 2 inch round flats together with the oiled sides facing each other. Press the 2 together gently with your hand. This is now ready to roll again 5. Flour both sides of the double 2 inch flats and roll out to about a 6 - 8 inch round 6. Heat a tawa or flat frying pan on medium heat. Place on hot pan and cook lightly on 1 side then turn over and cook lightly on the other side for approximately 20 seconds 7. Remove and place on a clean tea towel. Separate the 2 from each other at the point where they were joined before rolling. 8. Place covered in the tea towel so that the rotis do not dry out 9. Once the skins are all made and piled on top of each other, cut them into 3 inch wide strips with the edges cut at an angle. This gives the pastry a trapezoid shape *Keep the ends and deep fry them until crispy golden brown. Sprinkle with salt and serve or sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon powder and serve. Makes a great snack!

Oh ... Chambar and Nu are off my list since I've spoken to both of them and they can only take us at around 5:00 pm on the weekend I want. Coast is off the list because the group's dined there recently. Would love to have the dinner at any of the three but circumstances prevent it. Bluewater might work. Hadn't thought of them.

Hey, I'm looking to organize a dinner for ~15 people in a fairly "cool" "higher-end" restaurant with a good seafood selection, preferably one that won't force us to use a set menu. I'm having trouble finding one. I'd also rather not go to one that the group has gone to before. Has anyone tried the Quay Lounge? Ones off the list already are: LIFT Cardero's Sandbar Coast Nu Provence Marinaside Feenie's Anyone?

Ah ... it's been a week of dining highs and lows (I won't report the significant lows that involved noshing at restaurants that really cater to those seeking quantity over quality): La famille et moi decided to go to Raincity Grill to celebrate my mother's birthday. A few of us had the early prix fixe menu. I had a shrimp, cucumber, peashoots gazpacho; the others the grilled caesar salad. My father had the seared albacore tuna to start. The gazpacho was a refreshing start to a very pleasant meal. For mains, we had the seared salmon with blackbeans and asparagus, the ciocchetti, and the bison. I think we were all fairly satisfied with our choices; I thought the salmon was slightly overcooked for my taste but this seems to be a common complaint for me at most restaurants. For dessert, we had the blueberry semi-freddo - very nice indeed! This week, I also went to Relish for the first time. It was an early Sunday meal so the restaurant was fairly quiet. Impressive decor. I had the tempura salmon sandwich with mixed greens and my friend had the vegetable panini. The rest of the menu did look tempting though. I thought the food rose slightly above similar casual establlishments since the menu had slight creative leanings above the usual crowd pleasers. Finally, checked out the new Lolita's on Davie. I was most impressed by this restaurant, especially given that it just opened. The place was packed and the vibe was palpably upbeat. Bodes well for their future success. I had the beef taquitos and my friend had the bbq pork with plaintains and black bean rice. The meal was scrumptious indeed! The food came with little delay and the service was pleasant. We then grabbed a chai and headed to the beach to enjoy the sunset. It was a perfect Vancouver summer's night.

I was just doing some menu cruising in anticipation of future dining escapades when I came across rice pudding on the Raincity Grill menu: Brown Butter "Rice" Pudding: Apples, walnuts & raisins in brandy tuile, nut & seed vinaigrette Also Adega has: ARROZ DOCE Portuguese style rice pudding Enjoy!

I have to admit that I rarely tip more than 10% at Chinese restaurants purely because I rarely receive what I would call "service." Invariably, the servers are surly at best and the dishes are usually flung at me. True, the kitchens are usually hyper efficient but the niceties of service are rarely present. I'm not referring to many high-end restaurants like the Kirin where I would pay at least the standard 15%. I once had an argument with a friend about why I have to sacrifice decor and service when I go to most "authentic" Chinese restaurants. He claimed that "it's all part of the experience" and that's what he expects and enjoys at Chinese restaurants. Interesting...

Make sure when you buy your slab of crisp pork that you don't let the butchers cut it up for you lest they butcher it up. They may be able to wield a cleaver but they have little regard for presentation or uniformity of pieces. My family always takes it home uncut and gets my grandmother to cut it and plate it. Much more aesthetically appealling than the mess they make of it.

I would agree with the last post regarding Henry's Kitchen. I always like to support neighbourhood, family-run establishments but my visit there left quite a bit to be desired. I would rather pay a wee bit more for better service, more consistent food, and last but not least, more pleasing decor.

I'm not sure if these places are any cheaper but I do know they carry matcha (can't remember the names): The tea place in the Granville Island Market (they also make a really good Matcha Chai on the spot) Also, I've seen matcha sold at the tea place in Park Royal Village And ... I believe Blenz also sells matcha (not sure how good it is though) You could try T on West Broadway (near Granville) as well.