McTee

Staff drinks? ← Andrew, Andrew, Andrew.......... I work in a hotel........ Staff drinks don't exist anywhere that the Human Resources party poopers/liability experts exist. I haven't had a staff drink since......... 1998. mmmmm.. staff drinks..... Hopefully I will revisit them soon, as I am out on the job hunt.

Done. I will scatter them to the four winds. ← What was their reaction? We have found a LOT of these requests, and the most obvious challenge is that the one server gets two tables at once, and then because things are so tightly booked, they flip together, and get seated at the same time again for the 2nd seating. Nothing like being slammed for the whole night..... Any suggestions as to how to tactfully communicate to people that we are not at all interested in trying to cram them and every friend they have in to our restaurant on a sold-out night during the biggest dining promo of the year? We choose to use our tables "as is", deuces on deuces, fours on fours etc. My logic is that when it is this busy, the hosts, servers and manager's time is best utilized serving the guests, not constructing and deconstructing tables. In a hotel, we also run the challenge of having hotel guests (who have no clue of what DOV is) being less than understanding when they must wait for a table on a Tuesday. Why do we love this business again?

Hmmm.... Last 3 meals..... CinCin for dinner on the 19th, Braised Fennel Salad to start, just awesome. Anything with goat cheese and pears in it is right up my alley. Garganelli with Shiitake Mushrooms and Grana Padano - Excellent as well, the whole meal was definitely better than I had anticipated. Wine - Qupe Marsanne and Benziger Cabernet Sauvignon - Very nice wines, both. I love good wine with my meals. Savory Coast for lunch on Tuesday Caesar Salad to start - I liked the presentation of whole romaine leaves, but otherwise, a caesar is a caesar. Chicken Penne - with goat cheese, again, I love goat cheese. I thought the sauce was a bit thin, however, but the flavours were there. Zin for a drink and a bit on Tuesday evening. Their menu looks really, really good. I asked why they aren't busier, and the server's opinion was that most people walking down Robson aren't comfortable going into such a funky room without being a bit dressed up first. Makes sense. I had the bison burger. Lots of flavour in the spicy tomato relish, but the burger was a bit overdone. I know the bylaws are the bylaws, but this was overdoing it. The Sylvia Lounge on Wednesday evening Another burger and a beer flight. I love the Sylvia, now that it's renovated and smoke free. Absolutely no better place in this city to relax and have a beer. I feel like I found myself again.

I went in with my brother around 3pm one day last week. We were the only table in the place, which we didn't mind. I had been wanting to try Diner since I started reading all the posts here, and this was my first time. I didn't want anything large (dinner resos at CinCin later that night) so I opted for the Grilled Cheese sandwich. My brother (a chef) ordered the Chicken schnitzel with spaetzle. A bit of a wait for the food, but we didn't really care all that much, but the first thing out of my brother's mouth was "they shouldn't serve hot food on a cold plate". I tasted the spaetzle, and it was barely lukewarm. "That's because of the cold plate." He says. My grilled cheese sandwich was fine, but if it was my place (which I have dreamed about forever) my grilled cheese sandwich would make people rethink the concept of grilled cheese sandwiches by getting funky with it. This GCS was good, but nothing special, and when you pay for a GCS, it should be special. I would have it again, but I'm just saying it didn't wow me. Overall, I would go back when my appetite was bigger and I had the time to try something more interesting. And Heather is definitely cuter in person than in the pictures. She sounded like she was having lots of fun back there, too.

DOV is a promo designed to put bums in seats during a notoriously slow time of year, and that is the long and short of it. To read Jamie's protocol list that started the thread, it is great to see some acknowledgement on do's and don't's to make the experience better for everyone. In reality, however, for every person like me that gets dragged against my will to a restaurant that simplifies their DOV menu to the point that it isn't a true indication of what they offer year-round, there are a thousand people that approach DOV salivating more over the opportunity to save a few bucks than the food that they would be eating. If I do go out for DOV, I definitely splurge in other areas (wine) to offset the savings on the meal, but the restaurant industry as a whole has already identified that this promo is not going to result in guest loyalty, which is the lifeblood of the business, because for the 3 thousand covers that you see in 2 weeks, you get a lot of "See you next year!" comments at the end of the night. At least it results in more shifts for servers who wouldn't be working otherwise, which is great for staff retention. I wish more people would take Jamie's advice, as DOV can easily cause more sick calls and vacation requests due to the guest behaviour that servers anticipate at the end of January.

I had an amuse of the mushroom soup and due to the aforementioned allergy, I got to have both!

Whatever you do, book as soon as you can. Hotel restaurants fill up VERY fast for Christmas dinner.

I ventured to Chambar last night for a birthday dinner with my love. In a word, the food was memorable. I don't have the time right now to go into too much detail, but I had the Tenderloin appy and the Venison. The venison melted in my mouth like a Dairy Milk bar and the gin & cherry compote was simply incredible. This dish was the best dish that I had eaten in all of 2005 and it was the first dish that made me recoil in awe since my last birthday dinner at Bearfoot Bistro. And if you had put the dish in front of me and told me it was only $20 I would have slapped you before I would have believed you. The dark chocolate filled Chambord poached pear with chocolate lavender ice cream was also excellent. To me, there was one thing that was truly exceptional... The dessert that my GF had was the Pineapple sorbet with coconut foam. Since she has a very sensitive dairy allergy, it was nice to see something on the dessert menu that she could eat other than a simple sorbet. Although the coconut foam was just one addition, to me it went miles that someone thought to put some more effort into it. On that note, does anyone know of any good non-dairy desserts out there? It is painful for me as a dessert lover to know that I must abandon the love of my life on this journey into the heaven that is dessert. I have told numerous people of my experience last night and through this post, no doubt the word will have been spread to countless more. I have already followed up and expressed my delight with my friend Q, and it's a pleasure to see him working the room. I remember working with him years ago and I'm proud to see where he's at now. The Edmonton Oilers support has got to go, however. I can't wait to go back for a pint of Stella and I gotta try the Poutine!

West End is officially classified as the area west of Burrard and bordered by Stanley Park, Beach Avenue, and I believe it is W. Georgia but might be Robson St. on the north.

Simple question, simple answer. Do you want your server to work for your money or just show up for it? Also, with the system the way it is, when it's busy, everybody wins and when it's slow, the labour cost isn't going to make the difference between a struggling restaurant being able to give it a go for another month, or closing down permanently. A server working an 8 hour shift (common in hotels but unheard of in private restaurants) making $120 on that shift is $15 per hour. In a private restaurant, if a server were to get paid $23 per hour, ($8 + $15) and you have 4 servers on the floor, the establishment pays $100 per hour on labour + CPP +EI + any other benefits. As it is currently, restaurants make approx. 10% profit. If restaurateurs were to raise wages, it wouldn't be by 15% to 20%, it would have to be a 300% raise in order to make up for the absence of gratuities, assuming that the raise in menu prices goes directly to the staff. And to get back on topic, I haven't been to LK as of yet but I want to go if I end up around Yaletown.

As all of us in the industry are aware, the purpose of the autograt is to ensure that after all the guests in the group have chipped in their share, the server ends up actually getting a fair gratuity. The reasons are: If a server has a table of 20, it is highly likely that this is the only table that the server will be serving for their shift, so essentially your table has a private waiter. Without an automatic gratuity, the server's entire night is at the mercy of the very likely event that guests incorrectly calculate what they owe + tax + grat, and when the bill barely gets covered in the end, they must rely on the chance that someone will notice. Can you imagine serving 20 people for 2.5 to 3 hours and making $20 on a $500 cheque? You wouldn't be very happy when the other servers in the room with regular sections are walking home with $150. So it basically functions as a tool to 1. ensure a fair grat and 2. it takes the responsibility from the guest to calculate the grat. Not that I agree with 20% as a number, however...............

And will there be something on the TOP of Shangri-La? ← Since the top umpteen floors are all condos, I would be surprised if they did have a rooftop restaurant. I believe there is still the presentation centre on Alberni and Bute, they may have that information. When I worked at the Fairmont Waterfront, I always thought that it would be amazing to knock out a few of the HarbourView rooms on the 23rd floor and make it a high end lounge, with fine champagnes by the glass, 18+ year old single malts, large selection of premium vintage ports........ah, it would have been beautiful.

Hmmm...... From what I see, hotels seem to be leaning towards looking at their restaurants as independent businesses, evaluating their financial statements accordingly. What does this mean? In short, hotels are looking at how much money is coming into the restaurant and how much is going out without subsidizing with rooms or banquet revenues. Since a hotel restaurant needs to try to make a profit while paying servers $12+ per hour and about $18/hr per host, it can be highly challenging at the end of the day. However, any 4 or 5 diamond hotel will need a foodservice outlet that can handle the volume that their hotel demands based on the number of rooms. My gut feeling is that the Fairmont Pacific Rim will have one all-day dining restaurant and one bar, likely attached. The Shangri-La, with their reputation for quality, may go the route of having a casual outlet as well as a fine dining room, to allow for a distinction between the environment that serves up the eggs at 7am and the one that serves your Filet at 7pm. There is no coincidence that hotels have gone the route of having one room open per meal period, or having one dining room, period. The only hotel that I can think of that would have 2 rooms open at the same time is the Pan Pacific, with the 5 Sails and Cafe Pacifica both open for dinner (seasonally). For those of us that have worked in both independent restaurants as well as hotels, it is amazing how different these two worlds are.

Had dinner at Tapastree the other night, despite memories of 2 years ago, when the menu bored me silly and the food was along the lines of something I could make myself. Once again, same old menu. Ended up getting Bruschetta, Grilled Asparagus, Beef Tenderloin, Duck Confit and a Spicy Tuna Tartare. Bottom line is that until they change the menu, I won't be returning. What I would love to do is see the restaurant go up for sale. I would jump at the opportunity to buy the place, make a couple of much needed changes (cocktail list, smallwares, no more paper on the tables, etc...) and really revive it. But as for now.........Tapastree bores me. It baffles me how they can get such consistent praise.

Andrew, was your reference above to managers who act strictly in the capacity of floor supervisor?

Last 3 places: 1. George, for a drink after dinner at HSG. My first visit, and I thought it was a funky room, but the crowd made my stomach turn. Lots of "beautiful" people hanging out simply to be seen at the flavour of the month. The cocktail list was excellent and our two drinks were very well made and had lots of flavour. Expensive, but I work in hotels, so I'd be a hypocrite if I mentioned much more. Luckily, we were almost finished our drinks when the drunk guy came along and started telling us that he was ordering a Drambuie and soda because of the commercial on TV, and then started singing and generally acting like an idiot. Overall rating: Thumbs up on the drinks, Thumbs down on the atmosphere. 2. HSG - stumbled upon a large group and my immediate thought was "EGullet". Then I thought that maybe it was an early Christmas party or something. BUt once I saw a few faces that resembled the pics here and saw Daddy-A make a speech and get heckled, my original thoughts were confirmed. Hope everyone enjoyed themselves. As for my experience - Started off with the Black & Blue Ahi Tuna, I remember it from a few years ago and still very good. I could do with a touch less sauce. Also started with the Sweet Potato Fries, always a good change of pace from the norm. Mains - My love had the Lamb Sirloin and I had the infamous Hanger Steak, my first. I would definitely order the steak again, as it had a great roasted garlic flavour, but I have to say that it has been hyped up on the threads here to the point that it couldn't possibly live up to its reputation. My love said that although she enjoyed the Lamb, she wouldn't order it again, but she isn't a big fan of aromatic spices as much as I am, so I would just chalk it up to the dish just not being for her. 1/2 Litre of Casillero del Diablo Carmenere, a very nice wine and excellent value. Overall rating: Thumbs up on the food and wine. 3. Epic at 1st and Cypress, upstairs. Saturday night, it was slow when we arrived at around 9pm, but the place started to fill up while we were there, as they have a DJ playing on Fri./Sat. starting at 10pm for the cocktail crowd. Dinner - Started with the Grilled Portobello Mushroom with Zucchini Risotto. A past favourite and it delivered again. Also started with the spinach salad with Brie wrapped in Prosciutto - yum! and the cured beef with arugula which was very good as well. Mains were the Veal and Lamb Sausage pasta which was a bit oily, but it was supposed to be, so it was very good and the Gnocchetti with Ricotta and Bacon which was very rich, but very, very nice. Had a 1/2 L of Negroamero, which my love wasn't too fond of, but I liked it. Overall rating: Thumbs up on the food and service (which is infinitely improved from opening). The food is very rustic in presentation and the flavour is there. Now my vacation is officially over, so back to the grind and eating in the cafeteria.

Thank you, that picture turned out extremely well considering I almost forgot to take it I just wanted to dig in, hence the bite mark. We also picked up a couple dipped and filled waffles a couple days late for my friend’s plan ride home. Here is another picture from that morning, remember this is after a very long evening out and very little sleep, and waking up just to have breakfast, I hope she doesn’t mind lol. Well I have searched my hard drive and it looks like all my La Terezza dinner and desert pictures are gone, except one that I found on my the picture didn’t turn out that well. I am sorry. But I recommend if you ever have the chance just drop by for desert and order the white chocolate cheese cake (pict above) and the lava cake along with a couple martini’s (lychee is always good) and just relax in their lounge area. Iam disapointed to hear about Patisserie LeBeau anyone have any information on their new locations and if really have switched to a whole sale business only? Thanks ← I can vouch for the White Chocolate Cheesecake in Phyllo at La Terrazza as well. I haven't had it in a couple of years now, but it has stood the test of time on their menu for a reason. It is simply phenomenal. Another of my fav restaurants for desserts is Cioppino's. All the desserts are also available at Enoteca, and they are simply amazing. I distinctly remember a pistachio creme brulee and a raspberry espresso chocolate mousse and both were incredible. Parkside has some great ones, I remember a grapefruit dessert with Riesling reduction that stands out and Bin 941's desserts are always excellent. Their mascarpone cheesecake was fantastic. Now I'm all excited just thinking about it!

To add to the point of the reservation system topic upthread, one must also consider the point of view of the business minded restaurateur who also wants to please their guests. Allow me to put a few situations forward from a guest perspective and also from a restaurateur's perspective. 1. You walk into a restaurant, hungry. You see a few empty tables, so you are relieved to see that you won't have a problem being seated. You approach the host, and say "Hello, table for 2, please." The host proceeds to tell you that there is nothing available, and there would likely be a 20 minute wait. Why? you ask yourself, can I not be seated at that empty, set table over there instead of waiting. The answer is that you can not have that table because another person called to save it 15 minutes from now. Your options? Walk away or wait for the next table to come up, all the while staring at that empty table, taunting you with its mere presence. Restaurateur's perspective: Why should I save this table for later when I can seat it now? Understanding that guests would prefer to know for certain that they will have a table in a busy restaurant before committing to coming in, the fact of the matter is that no business person in their right mind would prefer to sell their space once at 6:30pm when they can sell it at 5:30 and 7:30 instead. It really is that simple. As one who understands all the pros and cons for both sides of the argument, I absolutely love Vij's. I love it for all the things that set it apart from other restaurants, for all the things that Vij's isn't. I have never seen another beer and wine list that communicates so loud and clear that someone actually put thought into what is offered and why. Although mentioned above many times, mention a better host, please, I would love to hear of anyone comparable. Vij's speaks to me not just as a great place to get Indian food, but of a place that very caring people have poured their hearts and souls into creating, for the purpose of spending their lives making experiences great for others. When I walk in, I feel cared about, and I feel that my reservation was not accepted because someone else was cared about too.

Herons at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel has a PDR that can seat up to 20ish comfortably, with floor to ceiling windows. Also, Hy's Encore has their upstairs room that can probably seat up to 30-35.

I had the oysters, it comes as one battered deep fried oyster on the end of a white plastic syringe-like pick. The pick is filled with about an ounce of GI Honey Lager, and when you put the oyster in your mouth, holding this pick, you bite down on the oyster and squeeze the beer into your mouth with it. You get the hot and cold sensations with the bitter beer taste and it all seems to come alive in your mouth. A very interesting experience that I personally think everyone should be forced to try. Twist my rubber arm, and I may try it again..........

I was about to write a big Oliver manifesto, but Karole summed it up perfectly. She knows her stuff and you should do as she says! k. ← I agree. Toasted Oak is the place to go in Oliver, as Burrowing Owl is the only other restaurant and it is too out of the way and may not even be open. When I was there in mid-August, the only wines that BOV had were the Merlot and the P. Gris. Black Hills - nothing. Inniskillin had lots to taste, and Tinhorn was nice as well, but their food offering is strictly deli meats, cheeses, bread etc. for you to create your own picnic and figure the rest out yourself. My recommendation is to just get in the car and drive. See what you can see, get a map and figure it out. End up at Toasted Oak and work your way back. At Inniskillin, try the Zinfandel, the first BC winery to make a true Zin. Great stuff. And hit Desert Hills. If they have any Syrah left (doubt it) then BUY IT! Rich, full, velvety Vanilla and Chocolate flavours just caress your mouth like dessert. Very interesting and unique wine. I gotta stop now........getting myself too worked up.

My first Nu experience was a few nights ago, and after reading about it here, I thought I had a good idea of what to expect. We were the only table in the room, having chosen to go late on a Sunday night. Luckily, I knew the server, which made that aspect bearable. For drinks, I had a bottle of Unibroue's Ephemere, a subtlely apple flavoured wheat beer. I felt like something different and I was extremely pleasantly surprised at how well this went with the food. My lady chose one of the cocktails, and it was quite good, but took a while to prepare. For food, we started with an oyster amuse, which was very inventive and we love new and interesting ideas, and this certainly delivered. Then we tried the Beef Tartare, absolutely excellent. Next, the much celebrated Gruyere and Onion soup for me, the Tomato soup for my lady. The soup, which has been hyped here beyond belief, was great, but I was expecting something a bit better after hearing the reviews. The tomato soup was excellent also. Mains: Lamb Cheeks with radishes and mint & Pork belly with the pears and walnuts. My thoughts on the lamb was that it was pretty good, but the lamb needed the radishes and especially mint, or it would be very boring otherwise. The pork belly was about 75% fat, and 25% meat, so the likelihood of putting a bite in my mouth that consisted entirely of a chunk of fat was very high, and it happened. The pears and walnuts were great and the sauce was extremely rich. Bottom line - when I go back I will not be ordering either dish again, but I have confidence in the cooking as a whole. I will also try to go earlier, as the ambience that we experienced consisted of loud music wih no background buzz, and visually, I had a great view of the cooks cleaning the hood vents and the staff sitting up at the bar, not to mention what seemed to be other staff on their night off having drinks on the patio. I say that it seemed like staff on the patio because of their casual dress and their familiarity and comfort with the restaurant. All in all, I was glad that I tried it, and I will go back, but will carefully choose the time.

My last 3.... Gyoza King - they were out of the Ebi Mayo - (catch your breath, Ling) as well as a marinated Albacore tuna special that I wanted to try. Settled for Gyozas, Kimchi fried rice, chicken wings, two large Kirins, the usual. Food was good, service was horrible as usual again. Felt forgotten about in the corner, but I've come to expect it, and there aren't a lot of places to go at 11pm on a Tuesday. Milesone's on Robson - lunch. Chicken, tomato and goat cheese sandwich on foccacia (If I remember correctly). Good sandwich, pint of Stella, smartass Leafs fan serving us (she was SO cute, so I will forgive her). Steamrollers on Robson - lunch - Chicken Wet Burrito, no beans please. Fills the bill on the way to work. Great place to people watch with Mole sauce all over your face.

I'd venture a guess that the reason is called a union, most likely Local 40 to be exact. Pretty good job security and wages at a nice job site, certainly wouldn't encourage a high turnover rate or burnout. I remember seeing much the same at the Delta hotel by the river at YVR, at the Pier restaurant, before they changed it to the Elephant & Castle, ← Hmm that's interesting. I'll have to ask my friend about that. I probably would suspect so now too. I have a friend who's young and works at the Chateau Lake Louise. The chefs at Griffins were quite young too, working their magic at the open kitchen. But I guess seniority gets the tips Any experiences with other hotels? I know the staff at DIVA is fairly young, or at least some of them.. ← I can answer that for you. Yes, there is a union in place at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, it is the CAW. A lot of the servers are much more experienced and have been with us for quite a while. This, of course, gets perceived as positive and negative depending on who you talk to. As for the menu choices? I will let the chef know about your feedback regarding the asparagus, and honestly, although the crab cakes are a very popular menu item, I would say that there are other items that I would recommend before it for the same reason that was mentioned, the accompaniments. There is a great Halibut dish on the menu and I would put the Prime Rib up against any in the city (at $15 - $20 cheaper than the big steakhouses). No excuses, it sounds like it wasn't a memorable experience. If you come back, ask for me and I would be happy to assist in selecting a better dinner choice. And a guided tour of the dessert buffet can yield significant rewards! All of the desserts are made in our pastry shop and there is a lot of talent in that room. Although I don't usually work in Griffins, I was the floor manager tonight and may be pulling more shifts in the future. I look forward to meeting my first eGulleter!

The one thing that I am curious about, and a lot of others referenced this earlier, is which wines will be poured? To my understanding, great chefs are reluctant to serve top notch wines with their food, risking the possibility that the wine may just overshadow the food itself. And in my experience, great wines and great food are best consumed on their own, to enjoy everything that was intended by the winemaker or chef, respectively. I would not be surprised at all if the $1000 is mostly for the food, and wines would be chosen not by price, but for suitability in pairing with the food. A great vintage of Chateau d'Yquem could be in there with dessert, however. With 12 to 15 courses, even at a 2 ounce pour with 10 of the courses, that is 4 full glasses of wine for the night, which most restaurants would hesitate to serve that much alcohol per person. I do remember my dinner at Lumiere whereby the tasting menu was $90 and the wine pairing supplement was $50 and I was familiar with every single wine that was offered. I will say that it was surprising to see how low-end the wines were that were being offered. If that was $140 pp, I would think that if you up the number of courses from 8 or 9 to 12 or 15, serve some great (hard to obtain, but not 'special') wines and add in the Charlie Trotter (and his expenses) and 10th anniversary factors, one might say that it would end up at 7 times the price. Am I an analytical personality, or what?