Chef Fowke

I am very pleased... BUT! I am pleased because of the reasons Mia picked Rare. It is a statement of where the Vancouver food scene is going. We have some of the best service, rooms and product in the world, but it is now time for all of us (in the industry ~ and the customer) to step up the technical excellence of what we are plating. Vancouver is/is going to be a leader in the world food scene soon. We all (restaurants and customers) have a lot of work a head of us. It is going to be a fun time in Vancouver over the next ten years! Post Script: Eat at Fuel!

You are the man, Steve! Thanks for all the suggestions... Unfortunately the trip has been postponed, 30 000 pounds of grapes just got harvested where I was going to be staying/eating Thanksgiving dinner. Grapes before friends. I will be rescheduling in early November. I hope the Okanagan is still open for business!

Hmmmm..... I hear what you are saying; we need to be careful not to dilute our $35 prix fix menu promotions/charities. What is the magical number per year for a city the size of Vancouver? I am personally going to attend 5 dinners over the Taste of Yaletown promotion ~ I feel good about supporting the charity and look forward to trying 5 NEW restaurants at a less then market price!!! COOL FOR ME ~ the consumer. Toronto (...and I would never compare Toronto and Vancouver) has two big events a year ~ Summerlicious and Winterlicious ~ they are HUGE events attracting 100’s of thousands of diners. Dine out is huge in Vancouver....but is it a charity like Dineout or Citydine? ...I signed Rare up for a Charity week/prix fix to support St. Paul’s Hospital this year ~ and it was cancelled because of lack of support from local restaurants. I was supporting this charity for personal reasons, not financial gains and we could not get it off the ground ~ a charity for a local hospital that needs help! Obviously the Vancouver market is saturated. For myself, and Rare ~ I am going to sponsor two (customer driven) charities over the next 12 months ~ Tina and the children's heart fund and next year we will be part of Citydine and Dineout Vancouver. If the public will support, we will be involved helping St Paul’s. Is this the best contribution of our time and money? Which of these events are embraced by the local public and industry as being worthwhile? Any comments from other industry people/customers would be appreciated? Tim and I will be donating more then the average company to charity, because of our values ~ where/how should that money be spent? This is a little off the original topic ~ hopefully we can merge this into a better titled thread.

Finally, Tim has given me a weekend off ~ the first since we opened in April.... But he is only giving me the weekend off so I can go to the Okanagan to research our Harvest Seasonal Menu. He wants me to tour all the farms and orchards and come back with the best BC has to offer. I am really excited about this project, but I only have 3 days to explore the Okanagan and have only been there once as an adult (...for a wedding). Being raised and reared in Alberta, my family made many trips to the BC interior...but only a few to the Okanagan. What do the indigenous BC people associate fall with cuisine? What are the essential BC autumn menus and/or meals? I leave in 48 hours and any help on ideas, farms to visit and places to see would be appreciated. Brian.

I am always the first to add the little "ahem" but we will be closed for an Xmas break. ← Rare will be open between Christmas and New Years, 40 people would mean you could have the entire room, with the lounge for cocktails and mingling. No truer PNW food to be found... www.rarevancouver.com edit: nwyles and I are not really gay, hairy lovers...we wax. ...and obviously do not vacation togeather.

What a great event...and a great cause. I heard the number 500 covers floating around Rare tonight...but I think we did closer to 350 City Dine cover the last two weeks. Because of the demand/waitlist, we are going to offer the menu until Wednesday and are going to teir our tasting menu going forward ~ starting at $40 for 4 courses and keeping the $65 menu and adding a $115 menu. Also, because of the popularity of City Dine and Mondays ~ we are going to be always opened on Monday nights, so the new hours are Monday thru Saturday. Tonght had fresh sea urchin on the menu. FANTASTIC...but I will start a new thread about that. What a beautiful food.

First two nights of City Dine has seen us full. I think with the change in the weather and this great promotion people are leaving the beaches to dine out at night. City Dine, even with a $35 menu has not seen our average cheque go down, we are actially selling more top end wines this week! Altesino BDM, Benziger Cab, Burrowing Owl P. N., St. Francis OV Zin, Tignanello 2001, Cakebread Benchland, Osoyoos Larose '03, Fontana Barolo, Carpiento Chianti, Ridge Zinfandel, SF Nunn's Merlot, Sandhill Merlot and Liberty Cabernet. It would seem that the Vancouver Dining Crowd is taking the savings on food and applying them to the wine. Anyone else have any comments on this local event, or what they would like to see? I believe that the menu reflects the west coast's customers needs and allows the customers to be wine forward and experiment: $35 Three-Course Prix Fixe ...add to your dinner a $35 Rare Wine Pairing | First Course| Wine pairing ∙ Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc 2004 Weathervane scallops ∙ sautéed savoury clams ~ fennel broth Cauliflower Soup ∙ white truffle spot prawn salad ~ smoked steelhead caviar Romaine Hearts ∙ garlic dressing bacon rasher ~ sourdough crouton ~ anchovy | Main Course | Cornish Hen ∙ lemon thyme walnut crust ~ golden beet puree ~ verjus vinaigrette Wine pairing ∙ Benziger Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Queen Charlotte Island Halibut organic carrots ~ chorizo ~ asparagus sauce Wine pairing ∙ L’Ecole No.41 Columbia Semillon 2004 Canadian Striploin Steak pepper crusted ~ slow cooked leeks ~ fondant potatoes Wine pairing ∙ St. Francis "Nunn's Canyon" Merlot 1998 | Dessert | Meyer Lemon ∙ tart maple ice cream ~ hazelnut crisp Wine pairing ∙ Buller Fine Old Muscat Rare Cheeses ∙ medjool dates Wine pairing ∙ Buller Victoria Tawny | Featured Wines by the Glass | Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc 2004 $19/g L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Semillon 2004 $14/g Benziger Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma 2003 $16/g St. Francis Merlot Reserve Nunn’s Canyon 1998 $18/g Buller Victoria Tawny $9/g Buller Fine Old Muscat $11/g

When chatting with foreign fisherman/suppliers overseas I hear the same thing over and over again ~ Vancouver is a dumping ground for #2 products. Vancouver is the largest producer of boneless, skinless white (nameless) fish filets (and puree?) for North American, Asia and Europe. Case in point, 75% of the fish sold at Pike's Place Market (Seattle) is from Canadian or Alaskan waters, yet we can only buy a fraction of it locally.

very casual Vancouver cuisine in a clean (yet historic) room. Why go to Earls when you can go see Alex....I am so keen because he bakes his own bread! ...ask to see his Combi oven! SOOOO COOL!

$17.50 ~ Grilled Cheese, just make sure to have your eGullet decoder ring. (yikes...this was post 666)

Dave...you are so Hong Kong; Good bye. Edit: not Long Dong.

PM me....I have a supply ~ and I will show you how to butcher them. You bring the wine, I will bring the bunnies.

Mayo and butter serve a dual propose ~ taste and as a moisture barrier.... If you apply, liberally, the bread will never get prematurely soggy. MW does not have the same 'moisture barrier technology'!

I don't get it. Are Happy Hours not allowed in Vancouver? And I thought I lived in a Puritan Country! ← BC Liquor Laws are designed to discourage overconsumption. Therefore, all discounted prices (specials) for alcoholic beverages must run from open to close, unlike Happy Hour which encourages people to go out for an hour or two after work and pound back a bunch of drinks within a limited time. There is no regulation in terms of pricing or costing for food, so complimentary hors d'oeuvres and other food are perfectly acceptable. 900 West Lounge does offer complimentary snacks M-F from 5pm to 6:30pm. They have 7 selections that rotate on a daily basis. Get there on one of the days that chicken drummettes are offered, they're very good. Other days they have: Har Gow & Sui Mai, Mushroom tartlets, Spanakopitas, Samosas and I forget the rest. Drinks are expensive ($10 for martinis), but the food does make it more bearable. ← ...actually, if you read the fine print ~ salty foods and foods the promotes excess 'beverage' consumtion are against the law... Try putting double salted peanuts on your bar and see how long it takes the LDB licencing to close you down...

A little tangent.... I CRAVE KFC every year or so...usually when I am sick. Last week I went DOWN with a serious virus and ended up in bed for a week. KFC was the answer on the rebound ~ WOW...love the flavour, it is so artifical and nothing in nature compares to it. I love it. Unfortunately, my wife ate it as well, and spent the night clutching the toilet.... Fried chicken is not for everyone. Chef Wyles eats it, by the dozen pieces, everytime his wife goes out of town ~ IN ONLY HIS UNDERWEAR AND WITHOUT A NAPKIN. I am just hoping someone opens a Fried Chicken and Waffle House in Vancouver soon...and knows how to make a proper white gravy with sausage chunks! oh to dream....

My favourite is still Bistro Chez Michel at Lonsdale... Chef Joseph is one of the old guards and cooks consistently great food. If Joseph had a fan club I would be the president. The patio overlooks Burrard Inlet and Downtown Vancouver...spectacular! ...many a nights I have enjoyed a glass of wine and a bluecheese pizza at the bar. Not to forget: • Steak frites • Seafood bouillabaisse • Rabbit stew!!!! • Crepes And for dessert ~ chocolate profiteroles.

How long were each open?

Someone once said something about a Greek Restaurant?

This is hard, because I do not want it to sound like a Shill… My wife is a historian and wants to create a timeline of restuarants at 1355 Hornby. Jamie Maw wrote a review about RARE one Restaurant in Vancouver Magazine today. The review was glowing and exceeded my expectations. I expect sales to increase by 100% to 200% next week… With that said: he talked about the suicide location I was in….does anyone know the history of 1355 Hornby? WHO HAS BEEN HERE? From the beginning….. What did they offer? Who was the owner? Who was the chef? Who were their neighbours? How has the neighbourhood changed? What were their successes? Why are they no longer at 1355 Hornby? This could be a cool study in the changes in Vancouver!

Once I watched James Barber scream when a squirrel bit his toe. I am sure that James used a Van Mag to beat the animal down...It was a sad day, the rodent scampered off.

He was in Rare for dinner last week. At Joe's he would show up a few times a year.

I LOVE THE HOT DOGS AT THIRD BEACH... Why are they messing with a good thing? Walk the dog, get hungry. Eat a generic, but tasty hot dog and a lemonaide ~ all is good. And the price: under $5.00.

Oh they are open on Mondays... my kitchen staff and I tried to drink all the beer and wine one Monday a few weeks ago....the kitchen staff won; I lost! A well deserved review for a well thought out business. If century had a fan club I would be its president.

mmmmmmmm. yummy

CBC Rocks! What an easy and fun interview to do ~ and the rabbit saddle and confit of rabbit leg ravioli were tasty!