Newbie alert: this is my first post on the eGullet forums and since I recently took part in Dine out 2006 I figured why not start in this thread. And a little about me: I love to cook, I love to eat, I'm learning about wine, I never skip a reservation, and to receive a less-than-15% tip from me a server would have to pretty much be one of the worst in the city I've seen a few posts discussing whether or not DOV is successful in attracting new (and hopefully repeat) customers. I can only speak from the customer's point of view, but I believe it can. I personally view DOV as an opportunity to try new restaurants at a decent price (so yes, I'm looking for a bit of a deal too - not bargain basement food at bargain basement prices, but just a bit of a savings over the usual menu). I won't bother going to a restaurant during DOV if the price is basically the same as the regular year-round menu (as others have mentioned, why go through the chaos when the same thing is available during non-DOV times?). I went to one restaurant during DOV 2005 and had a less-than-stellar experience. Surly waiter, lousy seating, and down-sized portions as compared with the restaurant's regular menu, meaning that my $35 meal was probably worth that, if not less. To give you an idea of how much this establishment "shrunk" their main dish, the scallop (and I stress the singular) in the cioppino was sliced in half horizontally to give the appearance of two scallops in the dish. Or the scallops this restaurant was serving were the skinniest known to man. I was so put off by this experience I wrote the general manager of the establishment that very night and told him what a disappointing experience DOV had been. To his credit, the manager contacted me immediately, was very apologetic, and forwarded a generous gift certificate my way. That gift certificate is nearly one year old and I haven't gone back to use it. That's how much of an impact DOV can have on potential customers. My DOV 2006 experience was much better, although the start was rocky. We arrived early for our 5:30 reservation. The server was somewhat unfriendly and commented that our sitting ended at 7:00 pm. It was then that I realized she thought we were 20 mins late for a 5 pm sitting when in fact we were 10 mins early for our 5:30 sitting. I mentioned to her that we were a 5:30 reservation and *voila* change of attitude and all was good. We had great appetizers, pretty good mains, and fabulous desserts. We ordered the VQA wine flights and really enjoyed how they complemented the food. It was a $25 menu and I feel I received good value for my money. Immediately after dinner, we went to the associated bakery next door and purchased $50 worth of cakes, cookies etc. and just last week we had a birthday cake from the same establishment. So that one $25 DOV experience led me to make two return visits. I guess you could title this post: Dine out Vancouver: The Good and the Bad! And I apologize in advance for my tendency to be long-winded......
