Clover

Or culture in the broadest sense? It seems to me that the way that cooking has been taught through the ages, from one person to another, younger person, required full attentiveness to a variety of senses. You can't quite say "At just this moment, listen" in a cookbook the way that you can when you're standing in a kitchen with someone. ← One cookbook that does try to get the reader to listen to the food is The Zuni Cookbook. In the recipe for roast chicken the instructions say that you should be able to hear the chicken sizzling in the oven within 20 minutes or else the heat needs to be turned up. But it requires that kind of well-written, thoughtful cookbook that Judy Rodgers has produced to incorporate hearing as well. This threat makes me appreciate what is so great about that book and its narrative style.

Just wanted to add my thanks. I too am coming down from Canada for a conference in the same hotel with similar time constraints. This thread was *exactly* what I was looking for -- thank you!

I've been wondering when we might find this in Vancouver. Thank you eatrustic for the update and pictures! Your pasta looks amazing.

One more I would add is House of Dosas for south indian food. The place is family-run and welcoming. Most important, the dosas are good. They have a particular cheap dosa deal on Mondays IIRC. Edited to add: it's located on Kingsway at Knight.

I am intrigued -- I am definitely trying this place soon for delivery.

Is the french patisserie on Arbutus you are referring to the Pastry Club Dessert Cafe Ltd - which is on 41st... so obviously, you are not. Ha! Have heard good things about Pastry Club. Also have very good things about the morning croissants from Chef Bryan from Nwyles. ← Is the French patisserie La Petite France? On Arbutus near Broadway? I wonder if the new owners are French like the previous owners... Hmm, I'll have to check out Pastry Club Dessert Cafe... ← Yes, that's it! I could not come up with the name for the life of me. I haven't been there in several months, so I'm not sure if that would be new or old owners.

I think I recall that 49th parallel on 4th ave sells TH croissants. Wherever they get them from, they are pretty great and located in Vancouver. The french patisserie on Arbutus has pretty decent croissants as well. I often get mine from Coco et Olive, which are not bad and come with great atmosphere.

I was also really happy to see both the Art of Eating and Vij's review in the mailbox. I find it interesting (a little funny perhaps) that he praises the cookbook for not offering wine pairings with Indian food and not having photographs of the food. It's a short review and those are two of the few things he pulls our for comment and they are in direct contrast to his own approach and book.

If you decide to braise, I had great success with a bit of a spanish variation -- sliced chorizo, orange peel, bay leaf, smoked paprika. I can't remember now if I altered the gremolata to pick up the orange as well.

I just wanted to say how glad I am that I came across this threat before my 2-day stopover in London. My boyfriend and I managed to get a last-minute lunch reservation at Arbutus and had an absolutely wonderful lunch. Between the two of us we managed to have each of the items on the fixed lunch -- smoked eel risotto, caillette de porc, beet and frisee salad with hazelnuts, and lambs tripe -- and everyone was great. The two meat dishes were so robustly flavoured but with a complexity to them. The smoked eel risotto had the perfect balance of richness, smokiness, and acidity. The carafe of Hegarty (or a name close to that) that the server recommended was a perfect accompaniment. This is certainly a meal that will remain a very pleasant memory of London -- thanks again!

Thank you so much for your replies. I quickly realized that this needs much more planning than first thought, but we will probably take the replacement bus to Paddington and then go from there. Funny to be planning this London lunch while wandering through Delhi markets.

I am wondering if anyone could help with suggestions for lunch on Christmas Day in London. My boyfriend and I have a long layover at Heathrow between Delhi and Vancouver and would like to come into the city for one midday meal. A quick glance at Open Table looks like few places are serving. Does anyone have any suggestions for where we might try to book?

I always use the pizza from the Cheeseboard in Berkeley for inspiration. It's not really tradition and pretty California in style, but so so good. They don't use tomato sauce as a base, but rather garlic olive oil, thinly sliced onions and s/p. In one of my favourites they top that with mozzarella, french feta, tomato, and lemon ( I usually use some zest and juice at the end). After it comes out of the oven, you brush the garlic olive oil on the crust and sprinkle with herbs. They post their pizzas every day here: http://cheeseboardcollective.coop/Pizza%20Collective/z.htm Another favourite is tomato sauce and fresh ricotta. Add arugula to the warm pizza and drizzle with olive oil.

Anyone been to Taco Shack? Haven't heard much from them either. A. ←

That was the impression I got.

I forgot to add that they try to be there at the dock at 3pm.

I picked up some live dungeness crab at the false creek wharf today for $6/lb. The guy who sold it to me was great and really wants to get people interested in buying crab at the dock. He killed and cleaned the crabs for me right there on the dock and gave me pointers on doing it myself next time. How much does it get for fresh seafood than casting the shells off to the seagulls and taking the fresh meat home?!? I've cooked live crab before, but I am going to have to get me some of those giant rubber gloves before I tear into them before boiling. There were a number of people who came down to watch from Go Fish, but most something was holding a lot of them back (well, except for the guy from C who took away lbs and lbs of beautiful crabs). I hope this takes off as there are few things better than really fresh dungeness crab.

GR said as much in the New Yorker article on him a couple of months back -- basically he said he's doing another season because it lets him be in NY.

In the days when Whole Foods was the nearest stop for wine between work and home, the humor came from the employees as well. I overheard the employee telling a customer recommend a wine from the Carneros region, which was particularly interesting because it was an example of how California wine growers are now trying to copy the Argentinian and Chilean producers by using Spanish words. I am pretty sure it was the the same fellow later informed me that there was no such thing as a dry rose. I like to think I've learned my lesson and seek out better wine shops.

I went to Metro on Sunday night for a light late supper while watching the fireworks. All national holidays should be observed in such fashion! We went with the four-ounce versions of the dungeness crab and sable fish, as well as the tomato and mozzarella salad. All were good, but I can't stop thinking about the rich, smoky, sweet, complex flavour of the sablefish with a brandy glaze. I found the opening and closing of the meal particularly charming. First, I love that the bloody mary comes with an oyster. We ended with the baked cheesecake mousse that created this wonderful sensation of starting with light and tart flavours of apple and something like whipped cream (but not quite, perhaps the espuma?) and then as you work your way down you find the earthy, rich, crunchiness of a delicious walnut cookie. I am looking forward to getting back at an earlier hour when I can enjoy some heftier portions. The hanger steak lunch is calling... The service overall was pretty good, especially considering the surrounding craziness from the fireworks and crowds. I'm also sure things will get smoother. I was really impressed with the hostess who offered that exceptionally thoughtful and inviting service I found at Rare.

I just bought a Weber Q a couple of weeks ago and can't stop using it. I especially love the heavy cast-iron grill, though I'm still trying to get it fully seasoned. It works great without taking up my entire balcony space.

Wow, those look beautiful! I am really glad I signed up for the NWCAV bbq class as well.

Intriguing indeed. I am definitely going to see if this might be workable on my balcony. Thanks for the idea!

Without a backyard to work with, I am experimenting with 'balcony gardening'. I have two cascading tomato plants (a Tumbling Tom and something appropriately called Cascade) that I have planted in hanging containers. There is also an Early Girl perched on the ledge that is blooming already. We'll see if I can get the tomatoes and basil up high enough to get our somewhat sporadic portion of sun. The mint, dill, chives, rosemary, thyme, and lemon thyme are all planted and doing well in the flower boxes. I really envy those of you with berry bushes of any kind. The Trout Lake Farmer's Market had a nice variety of tomato plants and herbs on Saturday.