ColinD

Hey Colin, Can you post a link? Do you have your menu worked out yet? Would love to hear about what you are doing up there. ← The only link is one for Tourism Nanaimo and they'vs changed the dates so I will have to call them in the morning to get the scoop. Nothing outrageous with the menu as March is when we see the majority of our local owners in house and we tend to be very busy, we will definetly be putting the wood fired grill and rotisserie to work though. Unfortunetly no gingerbread pudding, although my pastry chef does make some mean cheesecakes (maybe even a gingerbread pudding flavoured one) as well we will run our Tuxedo Mousse. Colin edit. dates are confirmed as March 1 - 30

Just an FYI as well, Dine Out Nanaimo starts next week, Feb 20 - Mar 16 for all us Mid Islanders. Colin

I'm having a bit of an identitiy problem, I've been asked to make the menu more 'West Coast'. Is there an actual definition of West Coast cuisine? I've always felt it to be more of an infusion of different styles utilizing west coast ingredients. What are your thoughts? Colin

Shelora, yeah lots of exposure but to mostly a group of people that already know you exist-other chefs. There are definetly some great competitions that do give a degree of exposure, i.e. The Black Box comp at the Eat Vancouver show, but quite a few others are during industry events (BCFRA @ BC Place). I've had the opportunity to compete in 2 Cold Salons that were held in malls(1 in Victoria a number of years ago) which allowed chefs to showcase to the general public, but unfortunetly the cold shows are becoming rare, less than 35 entrants at the last one in Vancouver. The amount of time and cost required disuades a lot of chefs now a days from competing, I have to ask myself if I can afford to take 3 or 4 days off to do a competition, not to mention the weeks of planning and practicing that go along with it. Thanks for the compliment, I think we have one of the most unique rooms on the Island. Colin

Quady Dessert Competition, Fetzer Great Beginnings, as well as the Junior Chefs Assoc. Hot Competition at BC Place http://207.81.157.54/bcchefs/comingevents.html Should be a few apprentice competitions coming as well, Karl Schier, Knorr Apprentice of the Year, chaine des rotisseries commis Always lots happening, although deffinetly not as much as when I did my apprenticeship in the late 80's, its tough to justify the time as an employer to let your staff do these competitions. Colin

The scary part is the fact that their 1986 prices are the same as my 2006 prices in Parksville!!, its times like this that I miss the Vancouver market place. I hope their celebrations go well. I miss the rivalry between us at The Waterfront and The Pan. Colin

In the long run when it comes to keeping your knives sharp you are better off to learn how to use a stone properly. KnifeX, HOK and the dozens of other places that will grind a blade for you only do that grind the blade, if you take a chunk out of a blade or an edge is worn beyond repair then by all means have someone grind it for you. But for everyday household use a good stone should suffice. As far as buying knives, Ming Wo gives a great industry discount as well they have a great selection at their Chinatown location (40 years old and still cautious about buying on line) Colin

Dinah, check the Wine Cellar on the Stephen Ave mall, we scored a whole case of Burrowing Owl Merlot when we were there in Nov. ( rare to see a whole case in BC) The didn't have any of the Black Hills when we were there (had a bottle the night before at Muse and were trying to pick one up for home) but I bet they could get a case in when it becomes available (May?). Colin

Really enjoyed Muse on our last visit, will definetly be returning. great room, great food, professional staff. Colin

open til 9pm Colin

If you are willing to drive 20 minutes north you can come and try us out (sorry shameless plug). Colin

what I wouldn't give for a generator, we have very limited refridgeration in the rest. Our walk in is 3 floors down, when the power is down for more than a couple hours the fridges upstairs have to be emptied and put downstairs, 30 trips up and down 6 flights of stairs in the dark is not fun. Colin

We operate a wood fired rotisserie oven and broiler, when the power goes out so do our ventilation hoods. Dinning room fills with smoke very quickly, we manually bill the guests and clear the room as fast as possible. In the kitchen we have to remove as much of the burning wood as posible and quickly get it outside, its choreographed mayhem. In February the power went out at 3:00pm and did not come back on til 10:00am the next day, last power failure happened at 7pm on a Friday night with a full dinning room. Colin

Check out Grand & Toy for overhead projection sheets, slightly thicker than acetate but seems to work in a pinch, can be cut to any size or shape. Colin

Doh!! correct you are

Marsh mallow should be available through heath food stores I can't for the life of me remember where we got the dried root from (its been a couple years) possibly Galloways. Colin

T & T has it some times, might be able to find it in one of the Asian markets. Sometimes called oyster root I believe (Gobo is the Japanese version?) Colin

I concur with making your own, when i worked at The Fairmont Waterfront we made lots of them, all flavoured with different herbs from the garden. We also used actual marsh mallow root (some that we grew and some brought in) which meant that we didn't have to use as much gelatine, the consistancey would end up a lot lighter. Colin