Shiraziste

Curious: is "Shiraziste" your first name, or your family name? ← It's a way of life, a worshiping, perhaps a religious experience would be a more accurate discription

You make it sound like an epidemic, but I suspect you're only talking about a few posters. Regardless, I agree with your point about transparency and consider it "good form" to reveal any such affiliations. ← I think it's far more prevalent than most want to believe, actually I know it is........ I'm not here to OUT anyone, and I won't, but I think one should use some common sense in indicating who's their daddy here. As well, the fishing for more responses on specific threads by those who work at those restaurants is also disturbing. I understand it's a tuff business (more than you know), and everyone could use a little free advertising, but this is just the wrong way to do it IMHO. Neil, I should kiss your ass, you've been really good to my friends - but I try to send you hotel guests all the time - steering them away from pricey establishments meant to soak our lovely tourists. PS - my man is Christian Bale, I wuv him

Don't your friends know what you look like? ← Usually I'm not noticed until the dinner is served, and most of my friends are pion's

Andrew, I love BRIX, I do, I really do........ I'll wait till next year to go back to George though - never say never. Just waiting till the new flavour of the week comes by and all the poseurs find a new place to prance

I come and go here and I do find it a pretty good resource for dining in Vancouver. The reason I rarely stick around for long is the issue of the large numbers of those who feel it's alright to promote on their own restaurants. It may not necessarily be the owner, but a server, chef/cook, bartender, assistant manager, dishwasher, or other ........... Many posters don't tell you they are affiliated with the 'said' space they are commenting on, and I think this poses a serious conflict of interest concerning the validity of their opinions. Of course, I find it acceptable that those who wish to confirm or deny the details discussed on the forum on their places, but to come on and shamelessly promote a space without divulging an affiliation is blatantly self-promoting and does nothing for those who wish for an unbiased and fair opinion. Then there is the issue of those who are invited to their 'friends' free restaurant or menu launches, those who are drinking free Moet while eating their way through the night. Hard to be unbiased in this situation, and one involved wouldn't dare to criticize 'the hand that feeds you' so to speak. Fake names and loose monikers don't make it easy to point them out by those not ITB unless otherwise indicated, but I've noticed a few. Is there not a policy in effect concerning this particular practice here ? One would think that anyone ITB should disclose this info, either by tag-line or by a comment indicating such. Sadly I must dismiss those I suspect are being less than honest about who they are and who they connected to, but fortunately I know many people in this industry and can discern between those who are fairly posting and those who are not. Furthermore, I also find it difficult not to question the fairness of a restaurant reviewer who ius well known, doesn't everyone in this town know WHO Jamie Maw, Mia Stansby and Tim Pawsey are - please, if I saw them in my place I'd be kissing their bums and draping them in foie gras, then accompanying dessert with a lap-dance. Cheers, Shiraziste PS, I don't even tell my friends when I'm going to eat at their restaurants so I receive a fair outlook on what can be done when a nobody who's not anybody dines there.

www.georgelounge.com Ok, so this is the center of the Universe in hip Vancouver right now, for this minute anyway. Along the way through Yaletown we walked by the Opus Hotel, which has a big windowed space lounge that looked like a big empty shower stall. I hate that place so it was a funny and pathetic site, a place that rose to such heights last summer but now not a soul sitting in it. It looked so bleak, cold, bright and stark, because everyone who's anyone in this town was in George last night. Attached to the bum of Brix on Hamilton Street is this new lounge whose entrance name is an illiminated 'spotlight word sign' on the black painted wall entrance. This place is right next door to Ciopino's if you can't find it during the day, since the name light obviously won't work during the day hours, a cool concept of signage if you are only open when the sun goes down. Inside is a sexy design of mahogany, copper, brass and red hues, with velvet red seating banquets and tables, a private room called the G-spot (500$ minimum spending, seats 6 ppl) just for the VIPs who may want to orgy I guess, and an amazing and huge central bar. The real center piece though was a fabulous piece of lighting hanging from the ceiling that looks like a exploding star of red, yellow and orange hand blown glass, a really cool piece of art. The music is a loud and pounding thud of percussion beats that could be heard from the other side of the street, I suppose the house music is all the rage but people were yelling at each other inside. This atmosphere makes me nervous and causes me an uncomfortable anxiety. Upon entering I realize this is where Vancouver's entire allotment of brightly dressed peroxide purchasers hangs out, all with straight white-blond hair, every girl is strangely underweight but also have unusually large, gregariously displayed breasts on their thinly constructed bodies. It's a colourful sight of boobs and glittering bling, shiny pink make-up, 4" stilettos, and chain slung clutch Coach bags. An entire room of Paris Hilton wanna-be's , if we hadn't planned this visit last week already, I would've left immediately. I wondered silently if they'll even allow us in, as my mistake was not wearing anything labeled Armani Exchange, with my feet clad in practical shoes, my ass may or may not fit through the door . I felt dowdy and completely under dressed. My friend fortunately looked fabulous in Prada jeans and a dressy navy jacket, but after scanning around the room all the boys they were wearing exactly the same things - dark styled jackets, button down relaxed shirts and designer denim. Patrick Mercer is manning the door in a black Crew suit with effective swooping grace, but he's clearly and seriously multi-tasking, moving people from the bar to tables and from cluttered door to cluttered bar. Even with Patrick there looking so good it seems way too busy for me because of course we chose a night where the lounge was just written-up in the Vancouver Sun as one of the hippest places to be, AND it was a Saturday night. I hate bloody crowds, I like serenity and relaxation, and I especially hate being treated like a number, fortunately Patrick engaged both of us with eye contact, concerned conversation and serious regard for our buisness or I would've split right there. Within 5 minutes we were seated, which was miraculous I thought, but it was on the patio, fortunately under comfortable heat lamps overhead. It was a nice night after a beautiful Fall day so it did seem like the better option anyway, rather than being crowded into a room where seating seemed restricted to a long narrow tabled space that went further than my near-sighted eyes could see. The seating area in the lounge is like a hallway and made me feel claustrophobic. Finally seated outside I felt relaxed with room to spread my elbows and swirl my wine about, it was much quieter there and I felt calm.We were given what we realized was the food menu, one small but long strip of paper with about 10 dishes listed that appeared to all be share plates. It didn't impress, this place is definitely not about food but neither were we last night, so we chose something light. Well, being rather low-maintenance I was just happy to be seated and all I really needed now was a big glass of red wine. I had just worked a full week and a back-to-back double-double and accidentally walked into a bus bench along the way (while laughing at Opus's empty space, no doubt karma for my catty behaviour). My knee was bruised and I saw stars for 10 minutes so sitting anywhere to mend with a drink was all I really wanted. Amazingly no wine list was offered so my friend bravely entered the establishment to fetch one from the bohemian Stevie Nicks look-a-like, a colourfully dressed blond bomb-shell hostess with the huge gazongas - this seemed to take many minutes as she is dealing with 15 people waiting for a seat We waited and waited, about 10 minutes passes before we are greeted at our table, it was another 10 till we received our drink order. I like Brix's wine program of well thought-out practical selections with 100% mark-ups, so this is exactly the same as it's owned by those very same men. The list is not long or lofty and 15 reds are offered by the glass, and another 40 by the bottle. 11$ got me a glass of Leasingham 61 but when it came I realized I should've ordered a bottle, a teeny but cute carafe was brought with a decent stemed wine glass. I drank that glass in under ten minutes and tried to order another but no waitron was in sight for 20. I'm anxious again. My friend ordered something in a tall glass with pureed mango fruit and ginger. I'm not the adventurous type with cocktails but I tried it and loved it, at 10$ for a double it was very inventive - called Mumbai sling. We had ordered our food as soon as we ordered the drinks but an after 50 minutes and two drinks later our food still hadn't arrived. After two glasses of wine I really wanted to leave but we were still not served our food , so we were held hostage by our tab and very slow service. No food, no server, now no drink and with a dozen people surrounding us we went virtually un-noticed most of the night. Now I'm getting growly, even the people-watching had quickly becoming boring as EVERYONE looked the same, and we clearly didn't stand-out enough to command much attention. We finally receive the veggie appy we ordered after an hour +, served on a long rectangular narrow plate. This was essentially a take on antipasto with a couple of fried chevre filled mushroom caps. I didn't quite 'get' that fried mushroom addition with all the pretty coloured and healthy foods assorted around it but they were good, the rest was standard grilled veggies with drizzled balsamic and olive oil - 18$. We ate it in 10 minutes, another 10 passes before our empty plate was cleared, and another 10 until we receive our bill. Our server was nice enough but it probably took her ten minutes just to get to us through the long hallway and crowd around the bar. I couldn't wait to get out of there, go home, put on my sweats, slippers, and put my feet up with a bottle of Cabernet while Natalie Cole sang me a lullaby. I've become a shoe fit for comfort and not style, a hush-puppy who obviously prefers walks to runs, so this place is just not my scene, but I did like that funky light thing in the room and the fruity cocktail list. Opus be damed, you've got what I thought was virtually impossible to acheive - an even more pretentious competitor !!! Great place for Platinum Amex-ed girls and their queers (like me and mine ), and boys who look queer but are straight. Blond highlites in your hair will likely get you in more quickly if you're a guy

www.parksiderestaurant.ca I love this little tucked-away space and I've been a fan for two years, I'm glad to report not much has changed in the food quality and service over the years, this was my 5th visit there. This is a rather practical place, I like to refer to it as a restaurant where the locals go when explaining the concept to hotel guests. I made the reservation at 2 pm by phone for last Saturday night by leaving a voice mail message, this always makes me nervous as confirmation is impossible until after 5 pm when the hostess arrives. Fortunately no hitch is encountered when I'm able to call back after work to ensure I have a seat for three at 8 pm. Of course like many parties, we get to chatting and find we are behind, and call the restaurant to ask if we can push that reso up an hour, no problem they say so we arrive at 9 pm for dinner. The guest of honour is my dear friends sweet but spunky Italian mother, her first visit to Vancouver up from Belleville Ontario, originally via Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. My friend wants her to experience what we've come to love about this place, a classy warm environment where friendly and comfort is as important as good food and value. We were seated in the middle of the room but felt comfortable there with enough room to pull our seats out a bit. Our server greeted us promptly, he was a nice looking young guy with a warm and friendly smile, we eventually liked him so much we invited him into our conversations often throughout the evening. We inevitably felt like a part of the family, conversations included people at neighbouring tables discussing the dishes served and Vancouver tourist areas to see, as well as nightlife. The wine list was presented and as usual it is handed to me, I'm a control freak so this suits me fine . I quickly scan the list and spot the Morgante Nero D'avola '03 listed at 53$. Our server is prompt and professional as well as warm and inviting, after bringing the wine and decanter to the table he pours me a taster - ugg, corked ! He doesn't blink or even seem to question the off wine, quickly bringing another bottle. Once again this bottle is opened and a taster is poured - perfect I declare and we are ready to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. My friends mother has never had foie gras so we insist she try this appy, a Foie gras parfait, poached pears and Gewürztraminer wine gelée served with toasted brioche. We all order it as we are suckers for this little touch of hedonism, and it's brilliant, rich and delicious. The only distressing part was being given only 3 brioche each when we clearly required 6 each to finish our plates. The service being perfectly prompt we need not wait to flag and are quickly given warm brioche extras. Just for that dish alone this dinner was already off to a perfect start. I ordered the Grilled medallions of venison, cognac & fresh chanterelles, with potato gratin for my main. My venison was perfectly cooked MR, tender and artfully displayed, the sauce gave it zippy pizzaz, and of course the chanterelles made it a warm, gut sticking comfort food. My friend ordered a crispy skin Cornish hen, garlic pomme purée, lemon, crushed pepper and rosemary jus. To my surprise this dish became my favourite of all as for some reason this was simply delicious. It seemed simple enough and what can be so great about little chickens eh ? But it was and if I go again I will surely order it for myself. Completely deboned the entire body is delicately breaded and pan fried, it was crispy but light and savoury. My friends mothers lamb, also her first lamb ever was big and beautiful but I see it's already been replaced on their internet menu by a veal shank osso bucco. A load of dark sauce rich reduction and chopped tomato with peppers it looked like a lamb rack statue on potato mash. She loved it. The grande finale was a sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream. Man oh man I think I was in heaven with every bite, we were all so excited about this dessert we insisted the entire restaurant order it before they go. Two bottles of wine, a big bottle of sparkling water, 3 americanos and gratuity brought our bill to 340$ for three. Not cheap by any means but not entirely expensive either, but were doing it up for a special guest. I felt I got my money's worth and left satisfied after having a wonderful evening with entertaining friends, new and old.

Nu (1661 Granville St., 604-646-4668) Go to the source, my dogs are aching again, my week has just ended, and I had a brutal day on my Friday - I needed love. I batted around several ideas and couldn't think of anything to inspire me. I finally asked David, the super awesome concierge at my hotel - David please give me a new restaurant idea that won't break my bank account. I need flavours and style baby, mommy also needs love, and I need it by 9 pm at a table for two tonight Brilliantly David tells me about NU. Oh yeah, I know about this place, I loved this space but hated the food and never returned. David books me a reso giving me and my friend an hour leway prior to stop for a drink at Sip along the way. Perfect ! Oh my God, my NU favourite restaurant ! I've often thought to myself what can be improved or how I'd redesign a restaurant space, consequently I love that show in Food TV called Restaurant Makeover. I remember when I first came to Vancouver I was taken to The Riley Café, what a fabulous setting but what terrible food, a sad but common story. This place needed some love and serious respect to food culture, a real Chef with inspiration and focus on quality, and friendly warm service. No easy venture, this room was tired and dated circa early 90's since since it's inception, it was fortunately gutted. Over time it was left to slip and slide in neglect the last ten years, a real wonder it survived as long as it did while putting out such mediocre cuisine in a prime location. To me it seemed a shame that such an amazing space would be so abused, resting entirely on it's laurels and depending on it's view to attract customers who will likely never return. Then in rides the white knight Harry Kambolis,his BMW parked across the way on the cobble-stone seawall for the past seven years, fortunately a man with abundant means. A restauranteur extraordinare with unique vision and a big pocketful of Cha. Everything he touches turns to gold it seems, first his Raincity Grill, then the awesome C, now his new NU. Walking into the restaurant reminded me of those '60s and early 70's television shows, I thought I should be dressed like Jackie O in classic Channel, big black glasses and a pill-box hat. These are the thoughts and feel this place inspired. A myriad of baby blues, soft greens and marble tables, we we sat in the middle of the windowed room. Black molded ceiling tiles and wave inspired blue glass wall dividers, rich textures coupled with retro pallet on smooth lightly hued glass. It's fresh and cool with a sparkle of twinkling light reflections, like an ocean wave against a bright sun. Clean and fresh modern design of retro chic. The bar/lounge area is quite unique, several stools located near the entrance along what looks like a long pear shaped bar of clear glass and lights. I noticed wine bottles line the inside of the glass bar in some sort of rotary-like device, but quickly ignored it as we passed by quickly to our seats. Suddenly while seated, out of the corner of my eye I see something turning and I notice the bar is moving! Well, not THE bar per se, but the inside of the bar is rotating - someone ordered wine and the rotary device kicks-in, spinning the bottles around the bar to to the bartender. Hard to describe but bottles move much like a winery corking machine or beer bottle capping system towards the bartender - very cool. Sitting on False Creek every table has a view, ours was looking at the Burrard Bridge and Granville Island, what could be better than that ? Seating is in blue bucket chairs that seem designed to fit me well, the short of leg kind, low to the ground and spacious for the ass. My date is tall but found himself comfortable, yet we both realized we couldn't lean back or we'd fall out. I prefer a supporting back to my dinner chairs but because of it felt inspired to sit close to the table to hear my dinner companion over the spazzy music. We later noticed a big man barely squish himself into the chairs next to me, beware anyone over 220 and 6'2". The music is really too loud but the whole place is frantic and abuzz with activity. Today ironically I don't mind sound, I actually want action. I was still coming down from my crazy day so I'm buzzing on endorphins and feel excited by this place. Nu is French for naked, and it also describes the concept of it's food combos, few ingredients yet all very impacting on the palate. Many small plates, and unlike his previous restaurants a place conceived for locals who like to dine out every week. This has a myriad of share plates and everything seems easily designed to split. This is what I'm all about, I want flavours and I want to try as many things as I can as I like getting a full perspective into a Chefs soul and the restaurants core concept. Anyone who knows me knows I love to eat but I hate to pay through the nose for the right to sit in a nice place for an interesting meal. I don't want BIG food, I want flavourful dishes, I want to taste and nibble my night away. This place is almost perfect for me. The sour note was the wine list, strangely the wine by the glass offering was the absolute pits , and limited to three offerings of reds and whites which I quickly dismissed. What a shame to not be able to order a wine glass to match each course, when will restaurants ever notice those of us who wish to pair flavours, the food-hounds who want serious respect granted to a full experience ? Well, sadly I was forced towards one bottle from a narrow mostly new world based wine list. Considering all the continental classics infused in a very eclectic menu, I was deeply confused by this lack of thought shown to this list. I reluctantly chose the Burrowing Owl Merlot '02, then was informed it to be sold-out, probably because it was the best offering within a certain price range of limited (approximately 30 reds) wines on the list. I don't have a problem with smaller wine lists personally, but this one bored me heavily. Mass produced Yankee reds from California, a few PNW and BC wines. Where's Europe represented here ? It certainly is on the food menu, but........ I can think of so many forward and well priced wines on our shelves to charm this menu but this seems to be an after-thought here. Too bad and very frustrating to me The sommelier/manager came by to assist, I told him I'm not excited by this list and don't want to spend beyond 60$ for a bottle of wine. First suggesting the Sawtooth - yeach, that Idaho wine that has never inspired me much, then he suggested the Three Rivers, a Bordeaux blend from Washington called MC2. Ok, that sounds good enough, I like 3 Rivers mostly but have never had this. A richly textured blend of full flavours, a bit too much oak but quite well structured and ripe with blousy fruit. Now the food - holy kooky menu batman ! http://www.evevancouver.ca/food/menus/nu.htm French, Italian old world infused with PNW and Asian flavours. It's creative alright, I'll give it that. Some flavour combinations are difficult for me to wrap my head around, so we went with those main ingredients we have both always loved. To our distress we were informed the Foie Gras -our first choice was sold-out but we trudged on. With so many interesting sounding dishes it was hard just to pair down only 4 selections anyway. We started with the goat cheese stuffed chicken wings, what a painstaking task this dish must be to prepare. Each little wing is turned inside out, partially deboned and filled with cheese, then wrapped back up again in a little ball with one major wing bone protruding for finger grabbing. Sitting on a long plate with a sweet chili gastrique. These were brilliant little wing Popsicles. I asked our server if there was one person assigned full time to the preparation of this little appy, as I can't get over the tedious detail it must take to stuff and rebuild this so lovingly. The ball of chicken wing was crispy and sweet, moist and tender, and served with a dark demi-glaze of Asian inspired sweet sauce. We just loved this dish ! But why served with only five wings , the fight was on on who got the final wing-ball, finally we sliced it in half and I forfeited the larger slice to my friend. Then came the crimini mushroom and Brie pithivier. I didn't know what the hell this was going to be either, but love shrooms. Out came a pretty pie pinched in a single puff pastry served on a green bed of lightly flavoured asparagus cream sauce, framed with 4 big asparagus sticks. Inside this cute pillow of puff is the most delicious concoction of hot melted Brie and mushrooms. We made yummy groans with every bite. Pure pleasure although I would've preferred a much less rich sauce accompanying an already rich filling. After those plates were cleared we were ready to embark upon the larger plates and what we expected to be fuller flavours. We let our waitress decide on this next dish without telling us what she chose, and to our surprise and she brought us out Duck Confit/foie gras with rhubarb. The only reason we hadn't picked this ourselves was because we originally thought we were having foie gras already, until the dreaded news of it's sold-out status. It was like she was in our heads and knew we loved cooked duckies in confit The sauce was light, almost a glaze and tasted a bit like ripe apricots and with a delicate sweetness as well as the richness of duck smoky dark fat. The duck was the thigh/leg portion served once again perfectly cooked and wrapped around some foie gras, nicely browned and crispy braised. I tasted the love I wanted to feel tonight, and what a brilliant fall meal. I dream of French country foods and my mums Alberta stews, this dish was like a fussy blanket in front of a fireplace. Finally, what I consider my basic staple and most reliable dish, the lamb. This was a caramelized lamb cheek dish, I didn't read this would be coming with radishes (which I do hate), but I've never met a lamb I didn't like and these radishes are easy enough to pick off. Hmmm, well now I have finally had a lamb dish disappoint me. A half a dozen brown balls marinated and infused in diced pure mint leaves, topped with shaved radishes, I put one in my mouth and immediately sensed the lightly applied but icky bitter little things, the clash was with these and sour mint in a soft sweet reduction. A war in my mouth, I wince in unhappiness, quickly glug a big sip of red and try again. This time I remove those radish slices. The cheeks are grainy in texture, a bit stringy, and really rich with almost a gaminess in flavour. The mint inspired thoughts of spiced garlic souvlaki, but greatly lacking any moisture from fat. I didn't like them, found them dry, and found the spice combination intrusive and aggressive. We both agreed this to be the only dud dish we tasted. I probably could've ordered a little dessert but felt perfectly satisfied with my appetite comfort level at that point. Dinner of four plates, with wine (57$) and 15% tip was 170$. Service was friendly but slow at first, a long wait to finally order our food, although our wine came promptly. The timing of the dishes was perfect though,and we noticed a large number of friends and past colleagues dining near us. It a place for foodies, and a mostly casual downtown hip swinging environment in a beautifully refurbished restaurant space and setting.

Ouisi's awesome (I always go in the summer and sit on their garden back deck), West is brilliant - two thumbs up Ebert But how can you actually walk past Memphis Blue BBQ and not get weak at the knees ? Salad Fruilli is closed at lunch, I think Cru is also (call before). Cheers

...........and The Panoramic Roof. My dad was offered a jacket to wear while dining I wish I could re-open that space, it could be so cool with big band style music, Martinis, and yes, PLEASE bring back the pheasant under glass ! This city completely lacks a dining and dancing establishment with real class and sass.