Coop

I don't think the lack of a great jazz club is exclusive to Vancouver. In the US they have pride in what is their unique musical style, jazz. That being said it is slowly dying. All the great jazz musicians are long gone and have been replaced with artists like David Sanborn, Kenny G. or the slightly better bunch like Chic Corea and Stanley Clarke. Let's face it the intellectuals that supported the bop era that spawned the greatest artists like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk are now more interested in bands like The Violent Femmes, The Shin's etc. Believe me if people were truly interested in supporting the jazz and great food thing we would have jazz bars.

Not offended just confused.

DameD there is never a line up at Hapa. I would recomend you go at around 7:00 on Saturday.

What's the name of the place that used to be Carnegie's on Broadway? Check the club listings in the Georgia Straight.

So let me see if I can figure this out....uh people ask for recomendations. I tell you about the places I love (Kim Phung, Parkside, West, Cru etc) and I get accused of being a shill. Has anyone ever been to these places and not enjoyed them? So from now on if some one asks for a recomendation should I say eat at Milestone's, they always seem to busy? I think that the places I recomend deserve to be successful because they are independently owned and do a great job in my opinion. I have never mentioned to any one connected to any restaurant that I would say anything about them in this forum. It's pretty well known on this board that others have used their E-gullet connections to pave their way to special treatment in return for pimping on this board (check out the Joe Fortes post), I have always thought that was stupid. BTW DameD don't ever go to Parkside, Cru West, or Le Pichet, The Harvest Vine or Union in Seattle because they all suck. Here is a link to where I actually work, it is not connected to anyone in the restaurant business. http://www.starlinebyirion.com/

Went to Hapa Izakaya with my sons on Saturday night. We liked it a lot but maybe prefer the Bin 941 type feel of Gyoza King a little more. Both places have great food though. Especially like the Tongue and Daikon, the Ebi Mayo and the Kim Chi. Does anyone have an opinion on any of these places? Does anyone know what the staff are yelling at Hapa? It seemed cute at first but after a while...

Twenty four days later?

Jeffy Boy I'm glad you liked both places. The people who own them deserve the support they get especially from the Asian community. The job the Sun has done on this subject is so lacklustre.

Keith what is Duplo? Is it a french candian cheese like Oka?

Let me come down in favour of West. Every time I have been it's been brilliant. I've never tried Lumiere but I have been to Feenie's three times and it makes me wonder about spending the kind of money they charge at Lumiere. West is brilliant and so is Chef Hawksworth, who has been in the kitchen all three times we have been there. A small step down from West is Parkside on Haro. I actually find it a little more comfortable then West, and the food is nearly as good. The prices are about half what West charges. Nearly as good is Cru and Bin 941. As for the various suspension bridges I have alway's chosen to just say no! A walk around the sea wall then dinner on the patio at Parkside would be more my style. Start at the Sylvia and go all the way around to the Vancouver Rowing Club, cut under the highway head for Haro and have dinner at Parkside. Total walk about 10 kilometers. Btw I think the best view of the city is from in between RVYC and the rowing club.

The fois gras and chicken liver parfait in apple jelly! The oyster in custard. Actually if you want the whole experience let the chef decide. Make sure you request that parfait though.

I rate the idea of a film on Robert Parker 85-90. Potential for greatness, see after 05 and forget by 07.

In response to breakfast near the Wedgewood, how about Caffe Artigianno, one block north on Hornby. As for the cheese. It seems to be the mandate of the US customs workers to protect the jobs of fellow americans. So I believe their attitude is why should we allow you to bring in cheese when we have perfectly good cheese makers in the US. So until every cheesemake in all 50 states is gamefully employed there will be an unwritten ban.

I love Cioffi's but find their sausage to be mediocre. Santa Barbra has much better sausage and a pretty good selection of veg and bread. But what a dump! Cioffi's on the other hand is spotless. A Bosa is kind of smelly, but has a great selection. You have to take the best from each.

By far the best place in Vancouver for truffle oil is the Gourmet Warehouse. Find the Italian product called uhm...Rustica... It is indeed olive oil flavoured with truffle essence. May I suggest cooking a pizza dough with nothing on it but a little olive oil, then when cooked and still hot slice it open like a bun, smear with goat cheese and truffle oil, return it to the oven for about another 5 minutes, drizzle top with olive oil, slice and eat. Drink a decent Chianti Classic or Jumilla with it. Use it sparingly and never cook it or it will loose it's flavour. There is some debate about storage. I keep mine in the refrigerator and take it out before using so it will loosen up. i believe it will go rancid after opening if you leave it on the counter for a month or so.

I think Gord Martin's place sounds interesting. I still haven't been to all the new places that opened last year. Have done Parkside 3 times, Feenie's and Cru twice. Still haven't tried the Aurora Bistro or Umami. Chambar sound's like a real winner though. Do you think the wine list is decent? By the way does anyone have any news on the Fat Guy's favorite Vancouver chef's Brian Fowke's super restaurant? I can't wait to hear how we all missed the boat on that one.

I love Cioffi's but I'm not totally sold on thier sausage. A better bet is The Santa Barbra Market. Great Italian, fresh Chorizo and great Merguez. They don't make any of them there but they sell a ton, so the volume keeps everything fresh. BTW the Freiden Mergeuz is the best in the city, even better in my opinion then the ones at Oyama.

So is this going to turn into a Vancouver vs. Seattle thing? Does anyone have anything to say about this underground dinner thing? Let's face it Gentlemen's clubs in jolly old England have been doing this sorty of thing for a couple of centuries, so it's not exactly fresh. I agree that Seattle is the core of Gen X thinking, with Microsoft, Starbuck's and Nintendo being large players in the community. Let's not forget that the very term Generation X comes from West Van's own Douglas Copeland. So we are not without blame here. I am by no means a world traveller, but I have never been to two cities who share more in common then Vancouver and Seattle. As for secret dinners in clandestine locations. I geuss I'm just getting too old for that sort of thing. How much better could it be then the patio at Parkside or one of the kitchen side tables at West? Put me down for a couple of those 25 year old dancers though.

If there is a contender for the title of worst donut ever, it would have to come from any Tim Horton's. They are all capable of making foul tasting dough, covered with some bizarre chemical enhanced sugar topping. Only beverage suitable to wash one down would be straight Everclear to wash away the taste and memory of ever putting such a thing in my mouth. I looked the previous sentence over and i think I have gone a little easy on this Canadian institution. I geuss it's just my desire to be positive. What about thier coffee? Perhaps Moises Alou can replace his current blister treatment with Tim Horton's coffee.

I did a year at VCC in the early eighties. i completed the chef/cook one year program. It was divided into three basic sections, Cold Kitchen, Industrial and A la Carte. It spends the large amount of the course preparing you for basic kitchen jobs. Vegetable preperation, Soup making, Institutional cooking etc. There was a lot of people there just trying to extend their Unemployment or Welfare benifits. People like me were called fee payers and made up about30 % of the classes. Without the training one learns at this type of school one would be lost in the real world of commercial cooking. You learn to make 50 yolk mayo, 10 lb Hollandaises on a gas burner, 50 gallons of chicken stock etc. I learned more about cooking in the 3 months I spent at the end in the a la carte program then you ever would in a year at Dubrulle. I think thogh that was just because the chef at the time was the real deal. His name was Ryan Mills. He is long gone though. It was the best year of my life because it taught me the basics, although I don't work in the industry any longer I feel like I can make just about any dish I eat or see, and that is because of my basic training at VCC. BTW nothing can prepare you for what really happens in a restaurant kitchen.

There is actually a place in Maple Ridge that serves decent Indian Food called the G and M. The good news is it's right next store to a Source Adult video store. Thus satisfying both subjects of this thread. Porn and Papadam! Samosas and Sodomy! or perhaps Dildos and Dahl?

Sam Salmon: Nice work on getting the word "Usurious" in. I thought it was for Bankers only!

If pie is part of your quest how about The Savoury Island Pie Co. I don't really think that american style pie is the hieght of culinary enlightenment but thier's is very nice. Btw anyone see the wine list for that Chilliwack Airport place? Nice.

If you value quantity over quality then Costco is the place. Occaisional things though are good value like Parmessan Reggiano, or some of the vegetables. I also like to get toilet paper there.

Hastings and Nanaimo ish a block east of Nanaimo I think. I'm not the guy to recomend smoked meat. I do like Siegal's though. How about Solly's? Their bagels are really nice.