Since my article is the subject of this thread, I thought it was time to pipe in and clarify a few things: I don’t stomp on tables for attention -- I usually do the cha-cha, but only after many tequilas and never while I’m working. I'm not a food-industry insider – although in a previous life, I did do time at more than a dozen restaurants on three continents. I don’t claim to be a food geek – I write from the view of the average customer; this one having had the good fortune to consume many extraordinary meals in her life. Food geeks account for only a tiny percentage of the people who read my column – which is why I sometimes contextualize it with broader themes (culinary web sites) and feature elements (dialogue – how novel!). I have the strong suspicion that my writing voice annoys some people – but it has kept me employed at Canada’s most prestigious national newspaper for almost a decade and did earn me a National Newspaper Award nomination last year (so I’m not going to go changing). I still think tuna melts should only ever be prepared in an Easy Bake oven, but I applaud Chef Fowke for sticking to his guns (even if I believe he could do much better). I’d say the same thing to Chef Fowke – but I’ve never had the opportunity to meet him, certainly not tableside during my dinner at Rare, which has been erroneously reported in this forum. The review wasn’t a total trashing – my dining companion that night actually thought I was being kind. In the world of professional journalism, judicious silence is not an option. Or at least it shouldn’t be. Can you imagine a big, blank editorial page during a political election? “Oh, we don’t like this candidate so we’re just not going to take any position.” Hmm. Doesn’t quite work that way, does it? I really do like Ling (or what I’ve read from her posts). The milquetoast reviews on the eGullet Vancouver/Western Canada forum -- I'm not referring to other regions -- are merely a symptom of a larger problem in this rather small town: see evite attached below. This is an invitation for a free dinner that was sent to all of Vancouver’s food critics, to which I was replying in a private email posted by someone else somewhere up above in this thread. Cheers, Alexandra Gill The Globe and Mail An invitation to dine at RARE this April RARE one restaurant 1355 Hornby Street, Downtown False Creek Executive Chef/Proprietor Brian Fowke and Restaurant Director /Proprietor Tim Keller, along with Chef Quang Dang and the staff of Rare, invite you to dine with them this April. RARE one restaurant is a new concept in Vancouver dining. One where you get just what you were looking for! Rare is about letting you make the choice about how you eat. The upper portion of the restaurant offers modern renditions of classic libations; hand pressed and muddled, small tasters and more casual dining; oysters and prime grade striploin by the ounce. Menu items are available in half portions, priced at half price. The main dining room offers superb cuisine and just the thing you were looking for after an event. Summers will see a small urban courtyard patio off the back of the restaurant and front windows thrown open once the rush hour traffic dies down. Tim is sourcing rare and unusual wines; Quang works with Brian to perfect rare cooking techniques and serve the very freshest fish, oysters and seafood, whenever possible using only sustainable and wild stocks and local and regional ingredients. A la carte, Tasting and Seasonal menus will ensure the menu changes to meet the needs of the season and the local regulars, and from the kitchen, food perfectly cooked, sauced and served by knowledgeable, warm staff. Tim and Brian invite you to dine as their guest, with a companion of your choice, on any night in April. Please call ahead for a reservation or book your table on www.rarevancouver.com and link to opentable.com RARE one restaurant Open 5 nights a week - Tuesday through Saturday 5:00pm - 11:00pm 1355 Hornby Street (between Pacific and Drake) Downtown False Creek, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1W7 604-669-1256 – Valet parking in effect www.rarevancouver.com Contacts: Executive Chef Brian Fowke brian@rarevancouver.com Restaurant Director Tim Keller tim@rarevancouver.com Chef Quang Dang chef@rarevancouver.com Publicist, Cate Simpson simpsoncpr@telus.net
