jahvay

Thanks Cap'n, thats exactly what I am looking for. With a name like that, I will be stopping in for a treat, and thinking of you. MORE PLEASE!!!!

My god, another soul who realizes that thier is life without Tims. Great suggestion.I am liking all so afr. Thanks. Keep em coming. I still need a place for that serious breaky, and the General Store on that strip of Highway near...

It is time for a road trip to visit a friend in Saskatoon. We are interested in hitting a few real unique, interesting food establishments on the way. Love old diners, butchers, fine dining, and especially hole-in-the-walls that have been doing cool things for a long time. We have not decided on a route just in case someone tells us of a great place that we must visit along the way. Thanks for the info!!

My classic rib roast is cooked in a Weber kettle BBQ using Mesquite Charcoal wood chunks. I get it from a local restaurant(know the chef). The charcoal comes from Mexico. I fire up the charcoal, push it to one side, and sear it off. Then indirect heat, and keep the lid on for 2 to 3 hours, smoking the #%$% out of it. Serious schmek. Sorry about the profanity, but I get passionate about my Rib Roast.Last one was 10 Lbs. and took 3 hours on a cold march day.

I had some nice food at Banana Leaf recently and told my malaysiam friend how much we enjoyed it. She laughed and said that Banana Leaf was Malay food for white people. So she took us to Kedah (new location). The food was indeed even better and more authentic as she had promised. They had just openned the new location so the service was horible, with one server getting overwhelmed by a rush, but they will hopefully iron that one out.

Just a thought. Is it necessary for the judges to actually go to the restaurants they are voting on before they vote. I have not seen any of the judges at the restaurant I work in. Shouldn't they have to visit in order to be able to make a educated vote. Or is reputation alone enough, or who you know, or who advertises, or who sends out gift certificates. Hmmmm....

The Cheesecake restaurant is a classic haunt for the young asian crowd for many years. I suspect the cheesecake style is aimed to that group. They seem to like their cakes very light. I, being a nice jewish boy, like my cheesecake dense, and creamcheese thick.

The classics from our steakhouse are creamed spinach, grilled beefsteak tomatos with balsamic, and herbs, spicy sauteed mushrooms, and Lyonaisse potatos ( pot, onions carmalized in butter, and duck fat combined and fryed up). The 3 cheese sauce at the Keg is another hit with the baker and steak. Ofcourse Ozzy Osbourne needs nothing with his well done Porterhouse.

Ms. Gill hints at her credentials as a professional restaurant critic. Professional reviewers of food, wine, music or art must be experts in their field. Either they received formal training at an established institution or they had extensive training "in the field." What exactly did she do at these restaurants that establish her credentials and expertise? By expert, I mean someone who has the practical and academic background and knowledge to understand and appreciate what constitutes excellence in a particular area. But this is not enough and in fact, many excellent reviewers offer this knowlege sparingly in their reviews. Professional food and wine writers should be "super-tasters" and geeks in their field. The best food critics have a depth and breadth of knowledge that extend far beyond having had many extraordinary meals. They are passionate about knowing the history of the food and region, and delight in their ability to know what ingredients work best together and why. I know super-tasters who can consistently identify wines in blind tastings and who can identify most ingredients in dishes. Now, IMO, one of the things that makes a critic great is their ability to also take on the perspective of the average customer and explain to that customer why the food is great or not so great. In other words, to take the customer by the hand and show them "This is why this tuna melt is so superior" and have the average customer say, "I get it." This ability is why I like Antique Road Show so much, and why Julia Child was so popular and why that nun (whose name I forget) who is an art critic is so fantastic. So, it's the style (writing voice) rather than the substance (her expertise as a food critic) that keeps her employed. (I've only read the one review in question, so I don't know if it is typical of her style.) ← Once again we return back to the critic who suggested that a chefs food tasted like CRAP. We have a few interesting food writers in this city who can explain what the food tastes like, and even my favorite (Mr. Morrison) who can do it and get a little edgy but still be informative. Ms. Gill's column in VAN MAG shows how trashy she can be and the cartoon of her in same tells alot. You hit it on the nail. She is unable to give us the kind of QUALITY writing/critiquing we expect in this city with so much good going on, and ofcourse so much not that great needing to be discussed. Oh by the way, Mr. Maw, you write for VAN MAG, any thoughts

To add to the discussion, but take it away from the $$$ issue, one of the facts of life for a line cook is that it is a job where you are always giving, giving, and giving. You read the bill, you cook, and you give. The people who are always taking(F.O.H.), are making much more money, and are percieved to be doing less work, sweating, and hours. The waiters are taking, taking, taking...So, if you have the passion, you keep giving, and you recieve satisfaction, training, experience, until you get to the top to make the $$$. But if you are just trying to make the $$$, it is a battle to figure why you should be working for 9 to 12.00 an hour( and paying taxes which afects the botom line),under extreme pressure, and drinking beer, while waiters look clean, suck on their Bourbon Manhattens, and hang out front. Also unfortunately, too few Waiters thank the cooks for the hard work, or even say hello to them. So money is important, but their are many factors to why it is hard to keep the flow of cooks into the system.

Well, at my house I make wafles, and then I will insert a slice of ice cream, and voila, a simple but amazing ice cream sandwich. I just love getting square box of ice cream and slicing off an inch. Yum

Wow what a great place. I think I'm going down there to roast a big clucker over the fire. They offer marshmallows and a fire but i'll bring my own grill and get busy. Thanks for the link

I have heard from a couple who work in the industry that they will be moving to Calgary because they can get better pay, and the cost of living is lower. Ofcourse as long as we pay our kitchen staff poorly, we will not be encouraging others to start, or continue in that trade. Some are in to it for the passion, and many are trying to make a buck. Many have to work double shifts to make a decent living.

I couldn't help but notice that all these coffee shops are chains (with the exception of #4). How does a coffee shop chain maintain its independance? Is this similar to the Hollywood trend of calling any movie not produced by Jerry Bruckheimer indepedant? Aren't there actual independant coffee shops that need support? Perhaps the category needs to be expanded to "Best Coffee Shop (chain)" and "Best Coffee Shop (Independant)" (It should be noted that as my brother owns an independant coffee shop in Vancouver, I have a personal axe to grind.) Regardless, I think the point stands. ← I would have thought Artigiano qualified as independent (not sure about the others); having more than one location doesn't make you a "chain" per se, does it? Doesn't that relate more to the corporate or non-corporate nature of ownership? If your brother is successful enough to open a second storefront, won't he still be independent? ← Actually JJ Bean is owned by John Neates Jr. Son of the original independant coffee guy who ran Neates coffee in Vancouver in the last century. I remember serving his father lunch all over the city. He was a famous lunch diner who would go to all his accounts and have a few glasses over his meal, and shmooze up the staff. One of the real class acts of the old Van. food scene. John Jr. has a local roaster on Powell street, and has added 3 other locations on Commercial drive, Main Street, and Granville market. The coffee is as good as the best in town. I would definetly classify him as independant.

I tried La Casita today for lunch. The food was very average. We had the enchiladas, and the chili relenos. Both were very average. The tortillas are home made. The are too thick and doughy for a decent enchilada. The releno was big and lacked any sophistcation. A good releno is lighter in style. Not a big mound of the ingrediants on a plate. I love mexican food, and love it when it is simple, or fancy in preperation. You are only as good as the guy in the kitchen. Maybe monday lunch is the chefs day of. I enjoy Sabroso/Rico on Hastings, and miss Mexican Village that was in Bellingham for many years. Anyone remember Mexican Village. It was so good it was full of Canadians driving down for dinner.

How about the private room at Hy's Encore. Take em back to the era of their courtship for a great steakhouse dinner. That place is a winner for special events.

The place is called Bar Le Clos in Amsterdam. A big U shaped bar with a kitchen off to the side. It is dark, and bar like, with an amazing menu of chops, and seafood. Worth the trip

Umberto sold his Gastown restaurant, Al Porto, a couple of years ago. Circolo manages to hold its own in Yaletown, but is easily bested (food and revenue) by Umberto's former consigliere, Pino Posterero (who will be opening a new restaurant in the Thurlow nexus), at Cioppino's and Enoteca. The Whistler restaurants are largely as you reported. Il Giardino remains wildly popular and a cash cow. Its designer, Werner Forster, who was responsible for those intimate rooms and the wonderful garden, recently died. A couple of meals there over the past few months told me several things: Bobby Copiak remains one of the best hosts in the city; the antipasto platters are savagely overpriced; the food, for the most part, remains quite good, if expensive. They do a lot of event groups in the Yellow House (the original Umberto's) private dining room, which has been attached to Il Giardino for some time. The old Umberto's Fish House now serves as his ops offices. Find a partial list of Umberto's restaurant CV here. Note that it does not mention his Creekside restaurant at Whistler, his two Seattle restaurants, or his San Francisco restaurant in the Embarcadero. In our recent Eating + Drinking Guide to BC, we rated Il Giardino with two out of three stars and awarded it icons for its wine list, patio and bar. Here's what we said: "The city's longtime Tuscan standard-bearer is beautiful and not a little wise. Owner Umberto Menghi pulls pretty crowds, many tongue in chic, to the city's prettiest garden patio for salmon carpaccio mediorente and a rack of lamb with onion confit, but hell, it's all good--and highly seductive--here.GM Bobby Copiak is one of the city's most gracious hosts. ** $$$$" ← Yes, a gracious host, but not a pleasure to work with. I am tired of hearing nice things about a man who has made the lives of restaurant professionals misserable by his abuse, tirades, and unreasonable requests. You perform for him or you suffer. Thank god I got out.

The place to get a pig is Columbus Butcher on 1st and Renfrew. They will give you a raw pig or the classic pig roasters are the Phillipinos. Ask a phillipino about the local Lechon, the guy in the community who roasts for a special event. He will deliver it to you.

Not to say that PRIME is the top 3%, but that within the PRIME grade there are diferent qualities, and what I understand from what I was told is that we source the very best of that grade. For the price it better be damn good.

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QUOTE([/quote) Here are some of the better steaks in town: Canadian AAA/Certified Angus Beef 1. Hy's Encore (begin with martinis, Caesar salad and cheese toast; admire portraits of dead waiters on walls.) 2. Hamilton Street Grill (end with world famous, house signature lemon meringue pie) 3. Smoking Dog (order rib chop, on the bone, with sauce Bordelaise) 4. Earls. That's right. 5. Le Gavroche. Entrecote for two carved at the table. 6. Cioppino's. Steak Fiorentina. Ditto. Take money. US Prime 1. Gotham 2. Morton's There are other pretenders but this should give you a start. Full report please. ←

WOW, sounds like you are a real mortons fan, hawking coupons. I will be upfront to say I work at Gotham, so I am also a little biased. If you were served in the bar then your servers are always there. If you asked for a rare steak and it was overcooked then you only have to alert any staff, and a new steak is on the way. Gotham is a very busy restaurant, and many say they prefer Gotham, but thats because they are there. I'm sure Mortons has lots of fans who think think the opposite. Come to Gotham and have a rib eye and enjoy it, and if something is not perfect, do the smart thing and ask for a litle help. Dont be helples, and then go away and complain. I always say it is better that something goes wrong, and it is rectified in an impressive manner, than to go to a restaurant, and nothing happens of any signifigance.

I have to wonder why Mortons has to offer a coupon and is on cash basis with suppliers. Why not go to GOTHAM STEAKHOUSE for the best steak, sides, and an amazing ambience. Service is solid, and you can get out of thier for just over 100 if you are smart, or more if you want to go full meal deal.