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kissmekate

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Everything posted by kissmekate

  1. Hi Gulleter's! I am on my way to NU tonight for the first time, really looking forward to trying it and as I was out of town all of September as well as early October I missed all the reviews and buzz so I am looking forward to going in a bit blind! To the subject (or topic) at hand - Lumiere is one of my clients so I will have the inside scoop on the complete menu with wine pairings as soon as it is finalized and will post it for you right away. What I have seen of the menu is rather spectacular, as are the wines that are short-listed. I have not seen Chef Trotter's portion of the menu yet but I know Rob has. Jamie is correct, Rob is donating 6,000 dollars to the Chefs table society as well as 6 seats to some up and coming young chefs/students/apprentices (a lottery draw) for the dinner. I think it would be a great idea to lottery off one ticket so one of you could attend. If 100 of you put in $10.00...or 50 of you put in $20.00...I bet Neil at the Hammy or Arny would be happy hold the lottery tickets and maybe Jamie could do the draw. Anyway, I will report back as soon as I hear the menu is finalized. Cate PS If I get the time I will e-mail you about some pretty amazing meals I had in Portugal, Spain, London and Miami this Summer and Autumn (ate at Norman's in Miama, as well the the Blue Door, all very good)
  2. Hi BC in BC, I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu. Dry and tastless. I soldiered through as I can pretty well eat anything when I'm hungry and I didn't want to appear ungrateful in front of my hosts - Who I hope don't read e-gullet, gosh I only just thought of that...
  3. Hi gulleter's! I tried tracking Thai food as a search, then tried your various best of threads but I can't seem to find anything on recommended Thai restaurants. Normally I would send them to Montri's but they are staying at the Hyatt and want a downtown restaurant. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Cate
  4. I ate at Henry's on Friday night. Now granted I did not pay the bill, in fact I didn't even see it, so I can't really speak to the value aside from guessing based on my menu items but I have a pretty good idea. I must have been in on one of those hit or miss nights and it was a miss night. My hosts mentioned that they felt the food was going downhill and that the portions and food quality were below what it had been. They, as regulars, were generally becoming luke-warm about the restaurant. Having never been there I was unable to compare it, but having said that, I still don't see what all the fuss is about... It's a family restaurant. Very casual diner, garage sale style décor. Wife up front in shorts and sneakers, hubby in the kitchen, the kids back there somewhere being babysat by the TV. You saw them as you walked through the kicten and dish pit to get to the washroom...The food was OK...my dish was actually quite terrible, only ate it because I didn't want to be rude to my host. They were satisfied but not overwhelmed with their meals. Service was next to non-existent as they don't have ANY OTHER staff in a 30-40 seat restaurant other then this one woman. So you wait for menus, wait for approach, don't get offered drinks and have to wave her down for anything you need. If I am going to go cheap and cheerful give me the neighborhood Earls any day over this for value, and if I am going to go family, well there are a lot of family run restaurants in town that offer better food, better value and deserve my business by supporting industry and fundraising events, paying to have staff and offering consistent service and food quality. I might try Henrys again on a quiet winter night just to see if all the fuss about them was deserved before they got so busy, but based on my first visit, I would give them about a 3 out of 10.
  5. Is this a different place than Ho Yuen Ke on Fraser? Or one in the same? Cheers! ← Hi Vancouver Lee, I can only assume it is the same place as the recommendation came from someone else and I just wrote it down phonetically. Surely there can't be two places that sounds that similar at 43 and Fraser? Thanks!
  6. I was praying that the weather would not be so good as to guilt me into getting up early this morning so I was pleased to see the clouds, had a little sleep-in, then did my favorite Saturday morning routine. Make large cup of tea and take back to bed with the first of my 3 Saturday newspapers. Watch Global TV's Saturday Morning Chef (this week it was Morton's, next week it's Tina Fineza, formally the Exec Chef at Bin 942 and the new Exec Chef for George, a new Ultra Lounge opening later this summer (a partnership with owners of Brix and Seattle's best Coffee) Second cup of tea and now halfway through the National Post. Third cup of tea and time to get up, still in PJ's, and hit the Globe and Mail. Breakfast was left over Kolachay's from yesterday's lunch takeout - New peppercorn beef was yummy! Brian you are right, they are better heated up in a microwave then conventional oven. Will that be enough get my microwave fixed after 2 years of it uselessly sitting there taking up space in my kitchen? The newspapers took me through to CBC's Vinyl Café show (10:00 am Saturday morning's on CBC Two and 12:00 Sunday's on CBC One) The Saturday morning show is followed by this amazing music anthology show which I love, then Kasey Wilson's and Tony Gismondi's Best of Food and Wine Show at 12:00 on Cfun Radio -Are you beginning to see why I like rainy Saturdays! Had dinner at La Bodega last night for the first time in about 15 years. It was easy to order as the menu hasn't changed since then. We used to go there for late night dinner after work when I was still in the operations side of the restaurant business. We were treating the couple who have rented their apartment in Portugal to us for the month of September, and I must say it was the perfect place to have to pick up the tab. Very inexpensive, great value, good food. Nothing earth shattering but well cooked Calamari, fresh tomatoes with sweet red onion, chicken, prawns in garlic (I have a garlic hangover this morning) lots of bread for dipping and a great potato dish with tomato sauce. The food comes out fast and has lots of small dishes; in fact I think they may have been the first Tapas restaurant in Vancouver. The small dishes and simple food is perfect for kids as well. We had tons of Sangria, started with red but actually preferred the white sangria (the white sangria at Savory Coast is also just delicious by the way), tons of food and our bill for 4 was under $120.00 with tip. The two of us dropped into C afterwards to see if it was late enough that they would sneak us in for dessert, which they did. Lovely table outside, a delicious Raspberry Daquois and really interesting chocolate dessert that I ordered because it was garnished with Fleur de Sel. I love that sweet and salty combination, and besides it would go with a glass of red wine, a Benzinger Merlot that was fabulous! OK maybe it's a wine hangover and not a garlic hangover... We stopped in at Brix after Bard on the Beach Wednesday night after seeing the opening night of Hamlet in the smaller studio stage. It was fabulous! The best Hamlet I have seen. Modern costume, no set, just a plain stage. The 2nd half was riveting! Brix is my client, but I have to say that was the best pizza I have had in ages, might even be the best ever. I had the vegetarian pizza, as I liked the combination of veg and cheese, then added Chorizo, as I am a carnivore! My guest had the burger, which I tasted, and it was great. The best was we were able to sit outside and have dinner at midnight, and the place was packed! Favorite place in town for a burger though is the Sailing Club at Jericho. Can't say if it's the best burger or not as I have yet to try a Vera's, but it is certainly the best location to have a burger! Our guests last night gave us some excellent dining tips. She is Chinese, he Portuguese. They eat in the neighborhood a lot, and like many people who are really into food go to specific restaurants for specific dishes. They recommend "Kevin" at Victoria and 37th for spicy Szechwan style food and the wraps; Moi Garden (various locations in Richmond, Coquitlam, Main Street and Vic Drive for the curry or free range chicken, and Ho Gee Kee on Frazer and 43rd for the crab or lobster in rice dish. My dining companion, who is also Chinese, got very animated at the mention of the crab dish at Ho Gee Kee saying he drives in from Maple Ridge just for that dish. Our Portuguese guest told us the Senior Rooster (terrible name) on Rupert Street has excellent Portuguese food. Apparently the Chef is a 4-5 Star Chef from Europe… Dinner at Lumiere tonight so I had better get some exercise in this afternoon and preburn some calories!
  7. Here is a few excerpts from some press I was sent on Marmalade...I haven't tried it yet, but plan to. Cate "Marmalade Kitchen & Bar located on Vancouver's Beach Avenue waterfront is now open and set to become your local. The retro-mod setting seats 75 including a spacious patio"... "Marmalade is the brainchild of owner and designer Ash Sharifaie. Sharifaie has spent 15 years in food service within the U.K. His last role was as a buyer for food industry leader the Compass Group, the largest food service company in the world" ..."Chef David Alsop - formerly of Aphrodite Cafe, Tomato Fresh Food Cafe, and Mad About Food - steers the menu"...."upmarket cafe menus by day and intimate lounge bar items by night"...Marmalade..."is now open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night" Marmalade Kitchen & Bar #3 - 1010 Beach Ave Vancouver, BC T: 604.689.7800 info@marmaladekb.com www.marmaladekb.com
  8. Hi Karole, your story about how a thrift store ended up on the corner of 41st and Arbutus is quite true! Great stuff huh! Guess that landlords not too popular... I don't think that Linda is going in to that location as she is still tweeking Picnic and has some plans for remodeling the store as well, but I will ask her as I should see her in the next week or so. Cate
  9. Does this belong in this thread? as it's not a restaurant... Barbara-jo's has opened a "wee culinary bookshop in the net loft on Granville Island. We are not fully dressed yet, but please come visit us in our underwear. et Loft on Granville Island" It's a little annex store, opened today. Her much larger new "main" store on West 2nd will open in August some time. Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks www.bookstocooks.com
  10. OK, next time I have a hankering for Italian, Quattro it is! I swear I have been in their loo's and never noticed anything strange... They have a pasta dish on their menu that they served as staff dinner all the time and it made it onto the menu. Very spicy, excellent! I have worked in/for a few restaurants now where a favourite staff meal has made it on to the menu. In fact, the cover of Rob Feenie's first cookbook is a pasta dish that his old Sous Chef Marnie cooked for staff dinner all the time. Jamie, I thought Enoteca was Sushi, why did I think that? I love roast chicken, order it all the time up at Provence. I will have to give Pino's a try. Cate PS I have a very crude, and I think funny..., story of an experience I had at Cipriani's a couple of years ago. I was on a really bad date. I think I have to drink lots of wine before I can actually write it down and have the nerve to share it in public! Naughty words! Stay tuned...
  11. I was speaking to Caren McSherry this morning, she was preparing to move her Gourmet Warehouse to a new location at the end of June. If you haven't shopped there, it's amazing! Her new location will be at Hastings and Clarke, still on the East side to keep prices down. She mentioned she was going to have a sale at the old location on Pandora (Hastings and Victoria) about 2 weeks before she moved and said she would let me know. I will pass that date, as well as the new address on to you e-gulleters. Her products, selection and prices are great. Fleur de Sel at half the price of other locations, great pepper, all sorts of goodies! That's where I do my Christmas shopping! Cate
  12. Read the Media Digest Arne... July 1! ← OK, I finally decided to stop lurking and get a cute/wierd e-gullet name and post or rather get questions answered by y'all. I just ran by this yesterday morning and there is no way they are going to be open by June 15th. It is certainly a very "solid" building... Daddy A, was the menu posted somewhere outside? I didn't see it.
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