Chef Fowke

Saturdays have been in the rotation for two weeks now. This'll be their third weekend open. ← ..and now we have added the Premium Breakfast/Brunch Kolachy ~ This week: roasted pepper, brie and pancetta omellete...and at lunch; peppercorn steak with Vancouver Island woodland mushrooms. The Bald Guy is on vacation all week so I will be in shop...I always have time for a chat, drink, eat, etc...and I am wireless (finally!!!) so email me and I will recieve it during the day.

My team and I cater functions up to 225...

I just checked with my inside source: you are correct. This phenomena has actually happened only once before, with the mushroom pesto (and rightly so).

Come on! This is great stuff! Clever as the day is long... Personally, if I had never worked in a kitchen, I would be so scared that I would never, ever, ever go out to a restaurant again. The average public eats this stuff up and believes it. THIS IS BRILLIANT!!! I am sure that Joe American Average will think twice about the origin of the dish he/she has ordered next time he/she eats in a LA restaurant. I cannot wait to see what lows/highs this show can achieve. Brian

LOL!!! Private Message I just recieved from Neil Wyles (society donor. Posts: 827 Member No.: 9,521 Joined: 4-July 03), Chef and Owner of the Hamilton Street Grill (The Hammy)... " I love it so much I bought the company " : Victor Kiam, Remington Electric Shavers , circa 1979

As per earlier article... The hot dog stand down the street from the Wedgewood (at Robson) is my favourite. Smokies, Hot Dogs, Veggie Dogs and my favourite ~ Veal Dogs. The guy even has a handwashing station! Brian

Okay, I promised not to shill...one last thing: Keith has never, ever added a feature to the daily menu: Tuna Melt and Butter Chicken may be the first two!

umm...it's almost July and marching time....GET OUT! ...Quang still has the 'package' you dropped, give him a call. Brian

Time to come clean... But first, I want it understood that the following happened after I started this thread! Really! The Holding Company I work for has acquired an interest in the Kolachy Shop and I have been appointed the 'lead guy'. I can tell you that the input and the passion of the eGullet members in Vancouver made the decision easy. Why did they buy it; 1. Unique product (not another coffee, pizza, hamburger, donut, bagel shop). 2. Tag line: fork free society (really embraces the on-the-go West Coast professional lifestyle). 3. Tag line: Filling the Gap between the Bagel and the Donut (...gain unique marketing and lots of room to RUN!). 4. The dough is brilliant and made fresh everyday using old world standards. 5. The spectrum of filling is unlimited. 6. No deep-frying, not only does it taste good, but it is a healthy alternative to most fast foods. 7. Very fast, very fresh. The Kolachys are baked 4 -5 times a day. 8. ..and mostly because of Keith. What will be happening at the Kolachy Shop in the short term; 1. Feature Kolachys will be 'chef inspired' and developed/made by me ~ starting with the Steak and Guinness feature starting Tuesday. 2. A feature breakfast Kolachy ~ starting with a Pancetta and Brie Omelette Kolachy (by the end of the week). 3. Will be open from 7am until 7pm Monday to Friday so all eGullet members can get their fix! 4. Will be open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am until 5pm ~ again to allow eGulleters who work regular hours to enjoy the culture. 5. Free WiFi so all eGullet members can post while eating Kolachys. 6. Keith's (real Texas) BBQ Sauce packaged and available for take home. 7. Everyday ~ Keith's (real Texas) Chilli will be available (rumour has it that it will be offered with a mini-cheddar-stuffed Kolachy). 8. New POS System ~ Halo, with a customer loyalty/Charge Card and a CRS linked to a website for free Kolachys, retail, etc (this will include an eGullet discount). 9. A whole new line of Kolachy Retail Ware! This will be bigger then Sean John, Polo or Riptide. 10. Five new locations So, I will abstain from posting on the Kolachy Shop from now on. I appreciate all the input eGullet has given. Anyone interested in seeing the shop can visit me on Tuesday, after 3pm. I will be onsite working on new recipes. The shop closes at 7pm and I am free for a beer (at Dix, across the street ~ my other favourite place!) with anyone who is interested. One last SERIOUS SHILL...Feature Premium Kolachy of the week ~ Steak and Guinness at $3.75 each. Now proudly serving Boylan's Hand Crafted (pure sugar cane) Soda Pop. Post Script: for those who are not in the know...A Kolachy is an Eastern European Sweet bread stuffed with sweet fillings. The new Kolachy came to North America through Texas. The rebirth added a whole new level of savour fillings more inline with the Western Culture.

Irishgirl, you are spot on!! But add one more...graduates who have a student loan of over $10k because they went to Dubrulle! HARSH. ...must pay back within 6 months or pay !!!interest!!!

Interesting.... All the top chefs (exception Earls...thanks Nobel for returning from Calgary!) are imports to BC or are locals who travelled abroad to get an education with the exception of Rob Fennie (did he work outside of BC?). In my last job I hired students from both Dubrulle and VCC and was very pleased. The students from MiraPosa (spelling?) were even better. Unfortunately in my last year ALL culinary schools seemed to take a paradigm shift and became businesses. Ultimately this will be GREAT for the industry, but unfortunately it corresponded with the collapse of the government sponsored apprenticeship program. Supply and demand (please refer to my grandfather's work) will all prevail and the problem will find a natural conclusion. It is time for the industry to become proactive vs. reactive before it loses its market share. Brian.

Exactly! My last job before I moved to Vancouver was 200 miles north of Toronto (haha...near the tundra!) and the average menu price was $10 over Vancouver’s. Apps were $12 - $21 and entrees were $29 - $45 with desserts at over $10 a piece (cooks started at $12, ended at $21 with room and board!!! ~~~ Surprise CANADIANS, they were all European raised and trained…). My best guess is...people in Vancouver are very well educated, travelled and fed. When they return to Vancouver they want to return to a simple 'lotus land' and are complacent and are unwilling to pay world prices. I agree. This is our backyard, enjoy the mountains, ocean, fresh air, etc....entrees cannot be over $30. I am a Chef, how do I enjoy this mind set and support myself? You cannot, you have to make sacrifices and enjoy the free things in life, and the Vancouver scene is about karma for the BOH and becoming a movie star for the FOH. This will not change until the paying public is willing to allow Vancouver to be a world class city. Is it worth it to be a world class city?

Thanks for your response. Salary Man Pot-au-feu! ← HEY! My Pot-au-feu (in Alsace) didn't have foie gras....rather it was a HUGE cauldron, in the middle of the town I was staying, with boiling chicken stock in it that the locals all brought and poached different animal parts, vegetables and starches. I did not know it refer to a specific dish, rather then a process (peasant celebration) of preparing food... I might add, foie gras would not be within 50 miles of this preparation. ...just my input, for whatever it is worth. Brian. Edited because pheasants are not peasants...

Sean, your description is poetic!

I agree, being new to the term; Gastro-Pub. The room works on many different levels, I think most importantly it does not smell of a deep-fryer. I was surprised, then pleased to see that their were no chicken fingers, burgers (?), chicken wings, poppers, etc on the menu. What a risk in a town like Vancouver.

I have not made enough trips to the Irish Heather, in my life! I dropped by tonight for a 'pint' with NW after a grueling day of strategizing and planning Thursday night’s events. The food and beer were enjoyable, but it was all about Sean. I really am impressed with his persona. The room is an extension of him. I believe it is time to re-visit what makes the perfect Vancouver Pub! England, France, Italy, (Europe as a whole) and the USA all have very neighborhood oriented 'watering holes' that exemplify the culture of the area. Sean is a master of his location...and I do not fully understand why I am driven to his establishment to abide, yet I return and enjoy! What is the magic of this location? Is it prevalent in Vancouver....and where else can I find this ambience/hospitality within the city? More importantly, how do we get Sean involved in this board again? Has anyone phoned or PM'ed him about Thursday? What a coup to get his insights back into what drives this phenomenon in Vancouver. Seems to me the Vancouver industry could learn from his balance of food, drink, ambience, service and proprietorship! The balance is in the proper execution of proportions in the given situation.

I spent the day with the owner of the Kolachy Shop, very interesting young man. Seems the Shop is in a growth pattern, in a few weeks they are going to extend hours to 7am - 7pm and open on Saturdays! Free WiFi is already installed and a HUGE convenience for us eGullet geeks! I can now post WHILE I am eating the Kolachys! More importantly I got to tour the kitchen and got an 'insiders' view of the operation. Everything is made and baked fresh, to order; very old world quality. All I can say is very cool. Quality product, with an amusing twist, is being branded to a clientele bored of the same-old-same-old. I helped make the soup for tomorrow, a Jamaican Jump-Up Black-Eyed Soup; roasted sweet peppers with jalapeños, coconut milk, lemon grass, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Slightly spicy with a sweet coconut finish. As authentic as it gets, I could almost feel the Jamaican sand between my toes… And I hear that the feature Kolachy is slow roasted, glazed, pork loin with apple! I think tomorrow afternoon will be spent on the patio gorging on those savoury buns of flavour!

AHEM!

Can you elaborate Brian? How recently were you there, and what did you have? Hungry minds want to know. A. ← Nope, cannot elaborate...the company was the focus (business presentation), I just remember it being as good as when Adam was the chef; and I was surprised!

Try it again, I had a friend treat me to a meal....9/10 on food and a solid 8.25/10 on service.

And again, you are right.... Please, oh please understand that you are a friend, but...I agree with Cubil (he introduced me to the Hanger Steak, I was previously a Ribeye guy)....I want a Mercedes on Saturday...please come with me and explain to the salesman (who is in customer service) why he is going to upgrade me to the 500 from the Kia I can afford, just because it was my birthday in March!... edit: sorry, I am no Jamie Maw!

NO, NO! This cannot be happening.... The horror, the horror.... The lines are long enough, stop talking about this place!

...so you are related to ee cummings, and must be 12 years old!!! She is the matriarch of modern cuisine. If you were truly a chef (trained and a leader of the cuisine)...this would not be a mystery. ← I don't know about that. I'm 35 and I do not have this connection to Julia Childs. I remember seeing some of her shows on PBS, but it did not have any relevancy to me. A few people here mentioned how bad it all was before she came on the airwaves. That America was not the America I grew up in. I also grew up in household where everything was made from scratch and my parents grew Korean herbs and vegetables in the garden. I learned about French cuisine from the source, travel and through marrying a French chef and working with him in restaurants. And let's not assume we are all North Americans here. Many true chefs, in France for instance don't know or care who she is. I'm not trying to be contentious. Egullet is an international forum with a large North American membership, but it's still international. And yes, I know chef koo is in the States, but he's much younger than I am. By the time he was learning about food, there were many more voices and experts to learn from. She may be the matriarch of modern American cusine, but her cuisine was French cuisine. So in answer to Chef Koo's initial question, she invented nothing but revolutionized a country (not the world) called America which is sometimes confused as representing the world. ← Very well written and relevant; unfortunately the reality is SHE INSPIRED Jacques Pépin and other great Chefs of the world and pioneered French cooking into the modern world (and to the USA/Canada)...

maybe....HOGTOWN!

Jamie, the Doctrine of the Anti-Christ is a 28% food cost, $8 pint...