the g-man

I had a great breakfast over the Christmas holidays at Mole or Mo:le or whatever this place is called. Overheard staff talking about Andrew Morrison of E-gullet fame and his positive review of the restaurant. Cool art on the walls, too.

I snuck into Century today, incognito-style. The cool kids inside were putting the final touches on the room, and it looks amazing. They told me that the public opening is scheduled for next Friday...

I agree with Jeff's post above - for classic west coast you need a dungeoness crab dish. Crabcakes with local greens? like so: Mix crabmeat with some chopped green onion, fresh parsley, egg to hold it together, coat the crabcakes in panko crumbs instead of bread crumbs, serve with wasabi mayo, put it on the appetizer menu priced at $10. Make the cakes in the morning, refridgerate until needed, then sear both sides in oil and finish for a couple of minutes in the oven. Easy as pie. I don't work in the restaurant business, though, so this is all just talking out of the ass.

Have you thought about Sugar and Sugar in Gastown? They are designed for private parties, but I don't know about the rental fee situation.

Maybe you could re-name the thread "Where can I find small squeeze bottles and a gated community?"

I remember reading in a seafood cookbook that Grapeseed oil is recommended for cooking fish because it reaches higher temps before smoking.

I first learned to cook back in the day with one of the Urban Peasant cookbooks. What is Mr. Barber up to these days? I used to watch his t.v. show with my late grandma, who was going blind and could not see the t.v. screen but used to love to listen to his voice and the sounds of the sizzling foods. Then I bought the Lumiere cookbook (the first one) and learned how to REALLY cook. Based on my skills at the time, however, it was like giving the Tantric Sex book to a cheese-eating high school kid going on his first date. I didn't know what the hell I was doing with ingredients that I had never eaten let alone cooked with but it opened up new worlds. One of my favourite local books is Simply Bishops. Great recipes emphasizing fresh local ingredients and most of them are not too complex. I have cooked most of the recipes in that book over the last couple of years. I love the goat cheese salad (pictured on the cover), the dungeoness crab soup with lemongrass and coconut milk, and the duck breast with apple puree.

^Those cakes look nice. Did you eat them with ice cream or anything to accompany them? Looking at your photos, I was thinking of our local celebrity chef's gingerbread dessert served with pumpkin ice cream and caramel sauce.

Diner in Yaletown has a good hot chocolate on their dessert menu. It has a dollop of homemade marshmallow on top and is served with cookies on the side.

You can also get them at Armando's at the Granville Island market. If you are from the North Shore you can probably find them at Whole Foods too, but I would call first to be sure.

Where is this Centry House? How exciting! ← Is this restaurant in that beautiful old building at the foot of Richards Street, next to Macleod's Books? If it is, that could be an awesome room and I really hope they can pull it off. In a city that seems to have torn down most of its old architecture, that style of space is pretty rare.

The goat cheese cake gets my vote, too.

If its done at 3 or 4 in the afternoon you could pull it, wrap it several times in foil and maybe a blanket and let it rest for a couple of hours in a cooler, no problem. I have been in a few competition barbecues and was surprised at how early teams were pulling their shoulders out of the cookers, wrapping them in foil and blankets and just letting them rest until judging. Although I have not tried it, the Cooks Illustrated Grilling and Barbecue book claims that the best method for pork shoulder is to cook it in the smoker for about 3 hours and then finish wrapped in foil in a 325 degree oven for a couple of hours, then let rest in a brown paper bag for an hour. They say this produces the same results as traditional barbecue but in considerably less time. How long to let it cook? just let the internal temp guide you. cook it to 195, 200 degrees and it will love you like your high school sweetheart.

Any chance of posting a photo? I am ripping out a kitchen and re-building it from scratch, and would like to see how this would look. Thanks!

east from Ming Wo, on the other side of Main Street.

Make a truffle butter sauce with it to serve on ravioli, halibut, maybe scallops or other shellfish... A little truffle butter goes a long way, you can use mostly regular butter mixed with a couple of tablespoons of truffle butter. Simmer 1/3 cup rice vinegar and 1/8 cup white wine and reduce until it forms a light syrup. Reduce heat to low (do not boil) and whisk in 1/3 cup chilled butter, one piece at a time (this is where you can add a bit of truffle butter). Add a bit of truffle oil if you have it, some salt and lemon juice. This will be sweet, seriously.

I like the tasting bar better than the main dining room, especially the roundtable in the back corner where you can lean back, sip moscow mules and take in all the action. There is a roast chicken dish that has been on the menu for years that is very good.

The Granville Island spot is South China Seas Trading Co. They have galangal about as fresh as anywhere else. If you want to get if from a Vietnamese market, try some of the shops along Kingsway.

thanks! the ceviche vinaigrette had different citrus juices, a little jalopeno, some diced red pepper, and a bit of XVO. This bottle was a gift that I accidentally cracked open on Friday night at about 1 a.m. before I realized what a nice bottle of wine it is... whoops. After a glass I realized that this wine could have been saved for a better occasion than watching Star Wars after stumbling home from the bar in the middle of the night. So the cork went back in and we cooked a feast a little more worthy of the Amarone the next night. I am no wine expert, but this was a beautiful, truffley, chocolately Italian red.

^ Daniel, you are on fire! Here is what we cooked up tonight: Scallop ceviche with arugula and grapefruit salad: Duck with chanterelles + fig sauce and jicama slaw: Washed down with a bottle of 2000 Tommasi Amarone. Very nice.

^ that is a good looking soup.

I heard that. Those little donuts are amazing.

Tortilla chips are good company for chili. Your friends can use the chips to scoop up the chili nacho-style.

^ that all looks so mighty fine. Wendy, how did the French Laundry chocolate dessert go over? Did you make the ice cream yourself? It looks amazing.

Roast Pork with rosemary and garlic: