ozver

I will answer cubilularis entirely in quotes

Had a chance to check out 1215 last week with C, and our thoughts fall pretty much in line with Mr. Morrison. In fact we were there the evening that his younger one fell through the somewhat dated high chair (we were the couple continually looking over at your table, hoping to read into your thoughts, almost like a preview of your review). Food was interseting but had more misses then hits for myself. The room has a neat feel, but the chairs and tables are the last remnants from the previous restaurant and as such look and feel quite out of place. I will probably be back in a few months to see how things have progressed.

When I was working at Blue Water Cafe we served them with a tomato and lemon Fondue with bread crumbs on top and then baked in the oven. We definitely had to warn guests ahead of time that these were not your usual scallop, but people loved them. Their heartier flavour allows for a slightly more aggresive saucing I think.

I know at Glowbal they have Belgian Waffles cooked to order, but only on Saturday and Sunday brunch. I think they come with white chocolate mouse on top and caramelized bananas, and they are buttermilk waffles.

So this is my first review on eGullet, and I a posting it after reading the incredibly interesting side forum based around positive and negative EG reviews stemming from the AG review. Before I get started a little Disclaimer - I am an industry worker who is in the process of entering the oh so fun world of ownership, for these two reasons I was probably way more critical then most. This review is also from the second night the restaurant was open. Despite these two things, and the way I may come off, I had a great night that night, and a great meal. The night actually begins about 3 nights earlier with my first attempt at an open table reso. We booked for three people and it worked out fine. The principal diners were myself, my girlfriend (whom is also in the industry), and my father who owns 12 restaurants throughout the prairies (tough crowd). The night before the reso we decided to up the numbers, and to try to change to opening night, no luck with the change of nights, but uping the numbers was not a problem. We arrived the night of and were shown to our table right away. Upon sitting down my father and GF ordered cocktails while I decided (you know, you'd think someone in the industry would realize just how annoying multiple cocktail orders for the same round is). Finally I decided upon a French 75 (having worked with Jay Jones at Nu for the last 5 months I was spoiled on some of the best) and then proceded to the washroom. My GF ordered my cocktail at the table. In the meantime I ran into Chef Fowke and introduced myself having dropped food off to him at nu not a week earlier. In my defence I was unaware it was him at the time or I would have introduced myself then. When I went back to the table I noticed my rather social father had walked over to the "servery" bar area and was chatting up Mr. Keller so I wandered over and joined the conversation. At this time My dad and I were both handed our cocktails while C, My GF waited for hers which was ordered before mine... Realizing our rudeness we returned to the table to enjoy the Amuse of Rabit and Pheasant Pate with Seared Ahi tuna and marinated Mushrooms, the type of which I can't remember. The Ahi was beautiful, and I enjoyed the Mushrooms although the vinegar marinate was a little too strong for my dining companions. The pate however was not such a hit, and I wish I had been instructed to eat the tuna first as the pate had a rather strong flavour which overpowered the flavour of the tuna. We patiently waited for our menus to be dropped off (at this point I think they were waiting for guests to finish the amuse before dropping them, this may have changed, and IMO I would prefer it sooner, but if I wanted fast food I would have gone to McDonalds). When they were dropped off the server explained that the left and right side were not printed properly in terms of the menu format however we could extrapolate (sp?) what the correct format was based on the center menu. We opted to have a small 3 course meal (having already been to Vij's earlier that night... another story for another time). We ordered, after having been helped by chef Fowke at table side, which was a nice touch. While chef was table side I mentioned that I was intrigued by the Smoked Steelhead caviar, but didn't want something as large as the cauliflower soup it came with, so he said a small taster of just the caviar would be possible. It took a while but the first thing to hit the table was a smaller version of the soup, complete with caviar and it was amazing (a very kind gesture as it was complements of the chef). At this time we ordered our first bottle of wine, it took longer then I would have liked, but a strong love of vino goes hand in hand with the restauratn industry so perhaps it was just my need for wine in the blood (iv hook ups for the next visit...). The next course we had was the trio of oyster, we each had this as we all love oysters. Tasty little morsels, the only thing I would have changed is that we had three different oysters with three different mignonettes. I would have preferred three different oysters with the same sauce or vice versa, this way I could base each flavour off of a different one. We followed this with Prawns for me, and Scallops for C, dad opted out of this course. Prawns were tasty, if a bit over cooked to my liking, and the scallops were done cevice style if i'm not mistaken. Wonderful texture and interesting flavour. After this was Hedgehog mushroom ravioli with truffle foam (its like someone ripped my dream dish from my head), Frogs legs for Dad, and Quail for C. As one might guess, I loved the Ravioli, and the frogs legs themselves got a great review from dad, however the sauce was bitter and the thyme begniet was fairly firm. C on the other hand said the quail was nice, however the accompaniment was not to her liking. Around this time the music took a wierd turn for the worst, Daft punk remix of Music by Madonna. Something for Yaletown, but for a finer dining environment, it threw me off a little. From this point forward the music stayed rather upbeat, and sometimes entered the realm of Industrial. Finally I finished with the Striploin (10 ounces please, I think I could challenge Ling for the title of healthiest eater), Dad had the Squab, and C had the Sablefish. Squab was nice, but another odd accompaniment (sorry, i'm forgeting what it was), Sablefish was good. Striploin on the other hand was a bit of a dissapointment, it was tough and still cold in the center, by the way it was ordered Medium Rare. The leeks with it were wonderful though. Pre Ling-era dessert was a little bit less then expected, but keep in mind that I had the opportunity to get my fill from Maureen's desserts at Nu and also love Thierrys desserts at CinCin (i'm a little bit of a chocoholic). The chocolate terrine had a wierd texture, for lack of better words. The guiness feature with guiness ice cream was also not to my liking, but niether is the beer. We also ordered some cheese, which brings me to Quang Dang vs. the Front of House. I personally like servers with lots of personality and confidence, but our server was very restrained the entire evening (but they may be the direction the boys are going for), despite our attempts otherwise. However Quang came to the table to describe the cheese's, and although our fourth (who had arrived at by the mains) tried as best possible to rattle him, he had us laughing and comanded our attention and provided a few minutes of food related entertainment. Cheese's were great as well. Service was a little slower then expected throughout the evening, as we had to ask to have our wine refilled a few times, and had empty glasses before being asked about a second bottle. We weren't the only table experiencing this as even Mr. Keller, who was dining with a local critic, had to ask for the next course's matching wines with empty glasses on the table. Which brings me to my next point. To quote Wesza however I understand that this was media, but I think that our small service hic-ups would have been less noticable, if not there at all, had Mr. Keller been able to devote his time to the Dining Room. All in All a fun evening with a couple of minor issues. I will be back, and am happy to see someone taking the risks to do something different, to be "Rare".P.S. Deborah I did very poorly in High school english so try to be nice about my grammar and spelling.

It is not a myth, I worked for a restaurant in Downtown Toronto Purchasing wine, and we purchased over 600000 dollars of wine alone a year. Ninety percent of the wine was "consignment" wines purchased through wine reps that never see the light of day on an LCBO shelf. Wines like the Newton Epic Merlot (try to find The Vine/Rob Groh Agency). These wines, despite the fact that they are not sold in any LCBO, are still purchased by the LCBO. This might help explain how they are the single largest purchaser, and their closest competition in this respect is apparently COSCO in the US where they are allowed to sell Booze. About six years ago the LCBO went down to E&J Gallo to taste throught their high end wines. On top of the Estate level wines and the gold label single vineyard wines, they tasted a couple of blends. Well they loved one called that they loved so much that they asked Gallo if they could purchase it. Cuvee #5 was only available in Ontario for $10 less then any of their gold label single vineyard wines and was just as good.

Had a great dinner at Raincity Grill yesterday as part of their DOV Menu. Being that I am a part of the industry, and we are usually extremely busy during this time, I was wondering what other restaurants are doing DOV before and after the regular DOV dates. I found out that C Restaurant and Nu are extending theirs as well.

As far as lumiere is concerned for dine out, they are offering any course from their tasting bar for first course and second course and then a duo of desserts. The courses from the tasting bar are usually $14, so $28 for two, and then desserts. This means that you will probably get the same experience in the tasting bar all year round for the same price, with out the crazyness that is dine out.

just thought that i would chime in and mention that i payed 100 dollars for my magnum, retail, making the mark up on the magnum only %300. This is, in my opinion, a fare markup in a town like whistler, where the rent is probably through the roof. Do you know for certain that the 750 was being sold for $150, reading your statement mkjr, it seems you have arrived at that price based on the price of the magnum. The winery sold the magnums for 3 times the price of the 750 ml, so that would equate to a mark up that appears slightly higher.

An increase in size, as well as a decrease in size are both very difficult to deal with, but a no show is horrible, and the highest rate of no shows happens during these times, DOV here in vancouver and Summerlicious/Winterlicious in toronto. A lot of people will pick friday the 20th for instance as their day to go out for DOV, and then leave 5 messages for that day on 5 different answering services and then forget to call back after deciding which is the best location. This is what drives everyone in restaurants crazy, as Daddy-A was saying not everyone has great manners, if they did DOV would the easiest dining experience to provide in the city. On the other side of things, if someone only wants to come in for water and lemon and DOV so be it, i think its great that these people are coming out to enjoy a dining experience. So to everyone enjoying DOV this year have great 2 to 3 and a half weeks (depending on which locations you are dining at) and i look forward to hopefully serving some of you.

the website for the new bis moreno location is Rare one, the name of the locations is explained throughout, sounds like it could be a great place.

Andreas is doing a Carbonarra(sp?) at CinCin now. It is a true version using egg, and the pork is boar bacon that tastes amazing.

The Burger at jump, if they still have it, is easily as good as the one at ByMark, and for half the price. I have sampled both burgers on multiple occasions, and i can say that my worst jump burger experience is better then my best ByMark experience.

Ive been in a few times now, and it always seems to be an extended stay. If you have someplace to go, or antsy diners with you, you may be inclined to spend less time somewhere else. I like to go when I know I have a lazy afternoon to spend.

In terms of how i myself do financially, i can't say that i track it to closely, nor do i make any attempts at disecting(sp?) which group of people will tip me more. It took me a few years to realize this but regardless of what class or country of origin someone is from they are sitting in my section, in the restaurant that i work. If i do a great job they will probably leave me a tip that is on the upper end of their tip scale, and they might come back and be a "bum in a seat" as they say on a slow monday night that i am working where i would have not even had that table sat. On the other side of things when i am out to dinner i tip fairly with an average of 20%, if service is lesser, i have been out and rounded up to the nearest dollar (the worst service i have ever recieved, but thats another story) and at other times left a 100% tip on a 300 dollar bill.