Coop

I agree that the list at a place like Lumiere should favor the high end. I believe that a large number of the guests in the room are there for a food and wine experience or are on an expense account. There is also a fair number who think that the price of the wine or it's provenance are the thing. That being said I also think there are a fair number of people who need to consider the price/quality ratio. I fall into that category. a list could show some imagination in this respect. ae35, I have collected and drank wine for over 20 years now, have a good job, have a wife with a better job and also lived and was schooled in the highest income "hood" in Canada, but I like T also find the price of some of the grape juice on your boy Feenies list to be out of hand. A fine list in MHO should show imagination and fiscal responsibility. It's great that you only drink Bordeaux, Burgundy and Napa Cabs, but what of the other great wines that don't have the cache of the wines you mentioned. Like Sassacaia, Chateau du Beaucastel, Domaine Tempier, Ridge Monte Bello, Hecula, Ruffino Gold Label, Grange Hermitage, or the wines of Villa Montes? BTW $1400 for 82 Mouton does seem insane. I would rather drink "Cos" a better wine in 82 and in most vintages.

I doubt there will be many people lamenting the closing of Boleto. It was first opened by the owners of Ecco il Panne. I found the food to be mediocre and the servers and owner Pamela G. to be very snooty. Obviously they were on this earth to serve a higher purpose than feeding moi. On a related note does anyone know if Ecco il Panne also closed thier other location? I hear the owners divorced and were closing everything except the wholesale business.

For certain the place for the amazing dinner would have to be West in Vancouver. Our market at Granville Island is not as exciting as Seattle's Pikes Place though. It is unique and clean just not as all encompassing. If you have any interest in Asian food you must come to Vancouver. I have only ever had one good meal in Oregon, At the restaurant in the Vintage Park hotel. If Portland has a gourmet experience I must have missed it. If you end up in Seattle a pretty good meal can be had at the Harvest Vine or Le Pichet, however they are not anything to be confused with an amazing experience. West in Vancouver is unequalled north of The French Laundry. IMHO.

Chef was only good because of Lenny Henry. If you like him you must seek out Bernard and the Genie. His reminiscing about his mother's stir fried camel dung was funny. Speaking about English movies has nyone seen 24 Hour Party People? Soon to be a cult classic.

Dude: Decant half of the liquid off the top of the soup. Re heat the remaining soup and add back the liquid as required. Don't be surprised if upon reheating the soup it has gotten thicker. Like when you store a soup with pasta in it the pasta expands as it take on liquid. Don't make this simple problem into anything huge. It happens to me regularly when I make pea soup. (I used to make it at least once a week when I owned a restaurant). Oh yes if you decide to use the insane advise of reducing the liquid, be prepared to stir frequently or it will burn to the bottom of your pot.

Oh no, start an Egullet investagation. Inconsistent wine at this price point. I'm shocked.

The first thing I would recomend is you have the room well insulated. I agree that an air conditioner is the way to go. Refrigeration units are not designed to cool rooms to 55 degrees. In Vancouvers mild climate you may find that a well insulated room seldom needs extra cooling. I built my self a well insulated room in my house with 2 below ground walls and 2 walls touching other rooms. This room fluctuates between 55 and 65 degrees. This change in temperature occurs very slowly. In ten years I have found no ullage in any of my bottles. Check out the wine room at the Cambie and 39th LDB store. It seems a little too cold to me. Perhaps they will let you see their reefer unit. I think that the more passive you can make your wines environment the happier your wine will be.

BTW. The biggest problem with stainless steel is the name. It will always be a compromise of price point, hardness(as in knives) and visual appeal. I believe cookware is like life, Who umongst us is unblemished? The tarnish shows the life experience we have all been through.

elyse. Why put aluminum in a dishwasher? The surface area if unanodized will oxidize very quickly. That oxidation will then leach onto everything it touchs.

I believe that a lot of the damage occured on the way across the Atlantic. On the decks of frieghters in unolled containers. is this the problem you refer to?

I learned a technique years ago that yields perfectly cooked mussels. Heat an empty pan on the stove top until just before the point of no return. Throw in your very clean mussels, 1 cup of your favorite cooking liquid (wine,beer, apple juice, saffron infused chicken stock) some roughly chopped parsely or herbs and one clove of garlic or ginger. Put on the lid and shake pan. This way they all seem to cook quickly and evenly. Beware though the pan gets very hot. It can warp. I did warp a Calphalon pan this way.

Nick and Cathy. Please tell me you didn't use a meat grinder to make Tartare. Did you then cook it? Were you not worried about the bacteria and enzymes that live in even the cleanest meat grinder? Isn't this why we don't eat sausage tartare? Or raw burgers at jack in the Box?

In decending order. Minced by hand fresh garlic cloves, chopped by hand with rock salt, morter and pestle crushed with salt, minced in food peocessor, pressed in garlic press, bought in jars, powdered and last on the list garlic salt

Thanks for the update on the 94's. Here in Vancouver we rarely have the opportunity to buy older ventages from our government run retail stores. I have 2 bottles of Beaucastel 81 cellared. What can I expect from these wines? I thought the readers of this thread may be able to help me with this question.

Once you have sampled the true 12 year old plus product you will realize the intense raisiny flavour can not be duplicated. I agree that reduction can yield a sweet syrupy liquid that is full of concentrated flavour but.............. I wonder if I took six bottles of Corbett Canyon Cabernet and reduced it down to one bottle would I get the concentrated flavour of a great vintage of Heitz Martha's Vineyard. Or if I put kraft Parmessan in a Hyperbolic chamber would i end up with two year old Reggianno? I do know that if you travel cross country with a Hormel canned ham on the exhaust manifold of your car you don't get Prosciutto di Parma

I am not familiar with the circumstances of Chef Loiseau's life or death. I just find it a tragedy when anyone takes thier own life, wether it is a street level junkie or the president of a corporation. That being said I find it obscene that anyone could blame the media that makes these chefs the superstars that they are. How many of us would of heard of Bocouse, Troisgros, Point, Escoffier or Careme without the food press. The modern chef in most cases seeks out the praise and adoration of the masses. Without the media they would be loved, but in much smaller circles. It is when things go side ways that they say I want my life back! Well you can't have it back because you made your deal with the devil on the way up.

To me Yaletown is a very cool destination, however the restaurants I have tried there seem unexciting. Here is what I think about the spots I tried: Provence Marinaside: Not as good as 10th ave location. Good appetizers. Yaletown Brewery: Fun pub, consistent restaurant, good brew. Brix: Nice room, poor to worse food. Thier rissotto is worst in city. Elixer: Just awful, lunch there was disappointment of 2002. Barbra Jo's: Limtied selection, great atmosphere. Urban Fare: Same Save On crap in yuppie wraper. BTW. Has anyone noticed that the same baby boomer (Jack Polle, Bruce Allen, Arthur Griffith, Martini swilling Gordon Campbell and various others) phonies that told us the NBA was something our city needed are now telling us we need the Olympics in 2010. Just another insult for our city.

This seems to be a huge issue in Alberta, but here on the coast we don't eat beef with every meal like the folks in Calgary. Yeah the certified Angus beef they whore at Save On foods is noticably better then the other crap. Does this mean I will give up all other meats and vegetables to stuff my face with Alberta beef? I don't think so. Incidently the best meat shop in town Cioffi's has Aussie beef. Why? I don't know but it seems good. Now start a debate about sockeye salmon vs. farmed atlantic or malapeques vs. olympic oysters or hierloom tomatoes vs. beefsteak. Then we will care.

I have to get in on this mark up discussion. Went to Bacchus and on thier wine list was the hugely popular Farnese Sangiovese, LDB. price 7.95. Bacchus price 33.00. Now that's usery. The rest of the list followed suit but nothing quite like the Farnese. The food was good, however if I want to get skinned I will go to the taxidermist.

For beef it's T bone/ porterhouse so I can make Fiorentina. Pork it has to be the leg. Veal the rib chop. Chicken the thigh. All of Selma Hyak.

I think it probably has more to do with funding then location, although the two can be related. also every restauranteur has a differnt tolerance for cleanliness. I love Le Pichet, however I would say that the back of the house appears to be less than clean. I also thought thier inspection appeared to be less then stellar. It is a constant battle to keep restaurant clean. I have found the inspectors here in Vancouver to be much harder on new locations that seem to have some money behind them. Although it caused me grief in the past it is probably fair.

It seems that modern technology is helping make better and better wines world wide. The trick is to get our attention. The wines of Ontario don't jump off the shelves at me. But niether do the wines of many other parts of the world. Can Ontario and Canada compete with the 3rd level of wines from countries like Chile, Argentina or non AOC wines from France or non DOC wine from Italy. This remains to be seen. There seems to be enthusiasm from the food industry in Canada to make this happen. It is just very competitive in the great wine lake.

I can't imagine that ones heritage or place of birth would allow them to corner the market on filth. I have found people of many heritages and background to be complete slobs. on the other hand I have also found the opposite. That is why I don't let the colour of ones skin or thier ethnic background affect my judgement. Can you say the same eat eat eat? Check out the report for Canlis or Sazarec. Or even the much loved Le Pichet.

I believe this is a question best asked to beer drinking professionals. Everyone knows one. They can usually be found hanging around various places 24/7 because they don't worry about things like jobs or eating or looking after thier families just that never ending quest for copious amounts of beer. I'm not sure this is a good E gullet question. BTW. If my only reson for drinking was to get wasted then Moosehead would be my favorite as well!

In the early days of Oregon Pinot my favorites were Bethel Hieghts, Erath and Rex Hill Marsh vineyard. I remember all these wines being very nice in the 83 and 85 vintages. Are these wines still worth finding? I have had Rex Hill recently and found it a bit spotty.