merlin

Was it not the Bearfoot that was one of the subjects of Joanne Kates' excoriating review of Whistler dining some years ago? The waiter who mentioned that the chef was making a special ham dish for the high spending Americans. That "special" ham called "jambon" The lavish spending party including the purported FI race car driver who was subsequently arrested and identifed as the con man who had been bilking people from coast to coast passing himself off as a "French Rockerfeller" or some other such family name.

Thanks Foodie in Van. Will print out that recommendation for Kamloops. In the past we have just made to with "family dining" at the Copper Kettle and a decent meal last trip at Rick's Grill. Brownstone will probably be where we head on the way back to Alberta

What an intriguing thread. I just happened to notice it as I was scrolling down to reply to another topic. Will have to get cracking and whip up a batch using Katie's recipe. I was wondering, has anyone tried a brand called "Lemonce"? I have seen it advertised in a number of wine and spirit and other "foodie" magazines. The only quibble I have with limoncello generally is that I find it too sweet. I like the tartness of lemons. The Lemonce adds suggest without specifically stating that it may be more lemony/tarter than others.

Paul: That sounds like an offer too good to decline. I'll look for the details on your website. It is looking more and more from the comments we are receiving that despite my intention to park the van once we arrive in Nanaimo that the short trip south is in order to try out the Mahle House.

Much obliged Daddy-A. That is exactly the type of info I wanted. I will allow 5 [looks like breakfast will be from the drive-thru window of "Mickey D's" or Tim Horton's as a result] and assuming the RCMP highway patrol do not "ding" me again on that gradual decline into the Nicola Valley near Merritt...ouch, that speeding does hurt the vacation pocket book...I should make it fine. We'll be trying for the 12:30 p.m. ferry so it will be mid-day and the week-end after Thanksgiving so those factors should be in our favour. Sounds like Horseshoe Bay is not as desolate as Tsawwassen when it comes to eats to pass the time so that is good should we miss the 12:30 and have to wait for the 3:00. Even the Boathouse I understand is not bad according to our friends from North Van who we introduced to Cru during our short visit to Burnaby. Thanks again.

Thanks for the correction and clarification M'd. Reread the post and that was what the poster was trying to tell me. I misunderstood the reference to Cedar. One web-site says it is about 10 minutes or so south of Nanaimo. Tried the website referenced [www.mahlehouse.com] without success.

Shelora: Thanks I have "scribbled" those names down. The "frazzled prawns" sound very much like the "Popsicle prawns" that a local, relatively new spot, the Wild Tangerine serves. They too I am told use phylo v. a batter on the scewered prawns which are accompanied by a wasabi flavoured mayo dip. Appreciate the input.

This year for a change we will be stopping in Nanaimo for a couple of days en route to our annual "recharge the batteries" vacation in Tofino in mid-October. I am not familiar with Nanaimo at all as we usually just pass through it en route to or from Departure Bay or Victoria. I have seen the comments about the Acme Food. Co. and Amrikko's in the threat concerning the Parksville/Qualicum area. We are going to be staying in the downtown area and after driving from AB I expect that I will prefer to walk rather than drive anyway. Asian [despite the recommendations of The Blue Ginger] whether Chinese, Japanese or Thai will likely not work as my "better half" is not a "big fan". West Coast, bistro...something that both permits a fish eater like myself to get my fill of nice halibut as well as some meat options for my wife would be the best. Price is not a big factor. A good wine list would be a bonus. However, we usually end up drinking BC wines in any event especially those which we cannot find on this side of the Rockies like Poplar Grove, Venturi-Schultze, Alderlea, etc. The Mahle House and The Wesley Street have been recommended by others. As far as catching the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay, can you west coasters advise if Friday afternoon lineups are an issue in Mid-October? I'll be driving from Kamploops that day. Assuming normal highway traffic [taking the Coquihalla] and bridge back-ups what amount of time should I "guestimate" to get to the ferry terminal? 4 to 5 hours? Thanks in advance....wish October was closer than it is.

canadianintexas: Thanks for the detailed post above concerning the ill-fated efforts of Earls' to expand in the Lone Star State. Made for an interesting read. By the way, dropped back into Publik a couple of week-ends ago. Hot, hot, hot Saturday afternoon but the place was empty. I like the look but I am not sure that it is going to make a go of it. The adjacent Earls' was packed but it,"death valley days". More staff than clientele. I will have to take a run down to South Common and take a look at the new Joey's. Am told that the interior is quite striking. They have come a long way from all that circus like schlock that used to dominate their interiors.

Yogi: As chance would have it, my wife and I had lunch at the Wild Tangerine yesterday. We both had the shrimp "lollipops"...love that wasabi spiced sauce. Shared an order of the star anise flavoured fries with home made "ketchup". Quite good. My wife had the Oriental Caesar salad and I, once again had their terrific octopus salad. All washed down with a decent bottle of Cedar Creek pinot gris from B.C.. Another good meal.

Had to chuckle when I saw the post Jamie. My immediate reaction as a result of an outstanding evening a month or so ago at Cru and a very poor meal during my one visit upstairs to Catch [other meals at the Oyster Bar have been better] was that Catch can use the assistance.

Mayhaw Man: Am looking forward to the more detailed review. It is always nice to read something from someone who has recently visited a city. "Selling short" can often happen. I found much the same thing when I inquired about Regina. It was not the "culinary wasteland" some replies had lead me to conclude. The mosquitoes must have got the "street gangs" Ketchup dammit? No way, white vinegar rules!

We were visiting Vancouver a few weeks ago and much like you were deciding where to dine. We opted for Cru. Invited good friends from North Van and we had a terrific evening. If I was living in Vancouver, I would be a "regular". We should have gone to Parkside on the Monday rather than the Beachouse at Dundarave Pier...can't beat the view but the food was disappointing.

I am not too sure about that Yogi. However, I have no personal knowledge to the contrary. It just seemed to me that it had a real "Earls' feel" to the place with appetizers I had seen earlier but with an Asian "influence". Given what Jamie had written about the menu tasting he did some months ago I would not be surprised at all to see many of the same or similar items on the OPM menu given what I have seen on the internet of the fare on hand at P.F. Changs which I think the Earls' folks are attempting to emulate. However, as you said the menu at Publik is a work in progress and no doubt they are doing some "culinary tire kicking" to see what works there and perhaps at OPM as well. Nice to read something from another [at least I think] Edmontonian. Also interesting that after little of note happening on the restaurant scene we have Culina, Wild Tangerine and Table de Renoir opening.

Yogi: I have been back a couple of more times since I first posted. The 2nd time I started with the "wok stickers". Agree with your assessment. Essentially a thinner version of those green onion cakes which are everywhere in Edmonton come festival time cut into triangles and served with what tasted somewhat like a reduced balsamic or red or black Chinese vinegar. Not an appetizer I would have by itself again. Would be different if bought with several others and you were dining with a group. I then had the braised pork which was quite good and a more substantial serving than for example than the lamb. The 3rd time I reverted to the "tried and true" and had the shrimp lollipops with the octopus salad which as you mentioned was interesting, refreshing and good. I hope Wilson and Judy do well. The reviews in the Sun and Journal certainly will not hurt but it is "cottage time" of course now and you certainly are correct about the location. Parking, apart from the vacant field to the east is not very good.

thanks for the reply...as luck would have it I am currently in Calgary on business and the wine store is just across the river from me...I have another on 8th Ave that I will check on the way back to my hotel but otherwise, I willl give Kensington Wines a shout...thanks again

Paul/eatbc: After posting above I did a "google" search on the wine and confirmed that there are some more expansive tasting notes from Gismondi and the like on the Interet. Also confirmed that this is a traditional merlot [66%], cab sauv [25%] amd cab framc [9%]. As eatbc indicated the producers have also planted malbec and petit verdot, quantities of which will likely be added to future bottlings. A review would be worth your while just to confirm the variety of tastings confirming how subjective this "activity" can be. If it was available locally I would probably buy 3 bottles. I to try again right now and the other two to "bury away" for a few years.

Paul: I was in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago and ended up deciding to dine Saturday nite at Cru on West Broadway. They have an interesting wine list and I was surprised to see that the OL wine was being offered by the glass. They were charging a lot for it but the quartet I was part of, all had glasses. We drank a lot that nite so tasting notes are out of the question My impresssion was a solid albeit understandably young purple red with rather more restrained tannins than I had expected but with some depth than will likely improve with some time in the bottle. I did not see the bottle so cannot say what the grape varietal percentages were/are. I say this having tried some Burrowing Owl, Quails Gate, Sumac Ridge and the like reds involving Okanagan Bordeaux varietals which were initially quite thin but seemed to develop if you left them alone. I liked it but was not overwhelmed. Indeed, opted for the Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc to finish off my cheese....a blue from PG. At this point I would rather drink Black Hills' Note Bene if you offered me the two but in a couple of years...not sure.... All in all, very good wine given it is the first vintage. By the way, had lunch in an Earls' here in Edmonton and was astounded to see it being offered by the bottle for $49....yes I know that is not cheap but given its retail price, pretty modest mark-up. Cheers

jaeger/stovetop: Too bad about the brewhouse/restaurant project falling through. How far along did they get? I see from the photos that the structure was up but did they get any further along with the installation of the kitchen and brewing facilities. I expect it was quite the venture. It cannot be cheap to try to do up a free standing eco-friendly building and then operate a restaurant and brew pub in a resort setting like Tofino. More cash to spend at Shelter or the lounge at the Wick I guess 3 1/2 more months to go

Had the opportunity to try another recent addition to the Edmonton dining scene at lunch today. Wild Tangerine is a small [approx 35 seats] Asian influenced restaurant that is open Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m.. It is in a strip mall which also houses a Starbucks on the south side of 104th Avenue, just west of 112 Street near the Sidetrack. Minimalist, cool, crisp interior. Checkered wall tiles, glass and dark wood. Polished cement floor. Bench seating runs down one side with a number of tables for two and four filliing out the restaurant. Wilson Wu and his sister/chef Judy used to operate Polo's across from the University Hospital. They closed it down one or two years ago but are now back with another Asian-influenced menu. I understand that Judy did some travelling and has brought back some tastes from around the culinary globe. For a change this attempt at incorporating some more exotic flavours does not end in "confusion" rather than fusion. I usually distrust the moniker "fusion" as I have found it often meant an overabundance of citrus or heavy handed lashings of 5 Spice Powder and not much more. Definitely not the case with Wild Tangerine as I even I had the octopus which indicated it was flavoured with the "dreaded" 5 Spice Powder. The appetizers run from $3 for Green Onion Wok Stickers and/or Potato Fries with Star Anise and homemade ketchup to $6 for Shrimp Lollipops with Wasabi Yogurt up to $9 for Grilled 5-Spice Octopus Salad with Spicy Tangerine Vinaigrette. The appetizers are rounded out with two takes on variations of caesar salad, tofu pancakes, a mushu salad, rainbow noodle cake and sun-dried oyster hash. I opted for the shrimp lollipops to start. Three good sized shrimp skewered and tempura battered and served standing up in a cup with a terrific wasabi flavoured yogurt sauce. They were delicious. Lightly battered. Not greasy. That wasabi sauce is something I'll make for backyard barbeques at home. In its list of "noodles, pastas and grains" the restaurant offers Thai green curry with prawns $15, red curry mussels with linguini $13, Pan-seared scallops with Tarragon-Chinese sausage risotto $14, Szechuan spiced Beef Short Ribs with gnocchi & Asian mushrooms $16 and Chinese Cioppino with glass noodles $16. These is an Asian chili with tofu and rice cracker $10 and a lemon grass-Thai basil flavoured lentils $11 for I assume those who lean toward vegetarian dishes. I decided to skip these and leave the short ribs and cioppino to another day and opted for one of the four specials. I understand that the menu which is likely a "work in progress" will change depending upon what is popular with the diners and that the "specials" will be seasonal. In my case I ordered the slow cooked marsala-masala spiced lamb $15. Delicious. Simply served in an oversized bowl were some tender slices of lamb shoulder which were spiced wonderfully, a nice blend of sweet and spice. It came with some braised rapini or broccolini and a stewed tomato. I might quibble a tad on portion size. OK for lunch, would likely want more at dinner. Rounding out the Specials were a So-Tung-Po Style Sturgeon Valley Pork with Natural Jus $14, Adobo-braised Chicken Breast $13 and Almond-crusted Salmon with Cardamon-Mandarin Orange Compote $13. I was still hungry after my shrimp and then the lamb so ordered the octopus salad. It was delicious. A decent portion of grilled octopus served cold over a mound of salad of julienned greens, veggies like jicama and some fruit. Pear or apple perhaps. After the 3 dishes I was stuffed. Probably the next visit I would share the shrimp and have a salad with the main and then leave sated. An interesting dessert selection in the $5 to $7 range but they are not my weakness. Very nice and interesting wine list. Wilson knows and enjoys his wines so expect that he will have quite a few "special bottles" in the back other than those on his list as the menu indicates, Note: an eclectic selection of unique and reserve wines is available for special occasions I think that this spot will do well. Service is casually competent and friendly. I will check it out again later in the week I expect. It reminds me in many ways of Culina which I posted about when it opened some weeks ago. Small place, more relaxed than fine dining, good food with a different flare from what the standards usually seen in these parts....funny usually never seen Philipino influenced food on local menus and then, the past two new restaurants I have gone to both feature chicken adobo. Wild Tangerine should be a welcomed addition to the Edmonton dining scene.

Chromedome: Enjoyed reading your Halifax posts..unfortunately that trip back east fell through so will have live vicariously through the posts of others who are more fortunate. Maples surprised me. I know that they had been closed when we visited a few years back. I thought it had had something to do with a fire. In any event they were open when were actually in Hlfx. By that time Micheal Smith was long gone. We had a good meal in their multi-tiered dining room and had thought that they were putting the final touches to a wine bar in the entrance area. A lot of fine dining [unlike when I lived there in the late '70'...mind you I would not have been doing any fine dining back then apart from a "Midtown steak" <?>, an order of fried peps and a cold Moosehead...the original red label not the Moosehead Special, etc. etc.]...can you believe that they are going to put a high rise where the Midtown currently operates incorporating a "new" Midtown? The Iona area is beautiful. I recollect early visits to Cape Breton in the '60's where a lot of the "older" folk spoke gaelic fluently and even later on when one visited the senior' residence in Baddeck for example. Do you have good recipe for molasses cookies? One of the fondest memories of my godmother who lived in Cape Breton were the "care packages" of molasses cookies that she mailed to me when a student at Dal and then later when I moved to Alberta. The reference to the Highland Village brought it back as I bought one there. Are you in the restaurant trade out here in Alberta now that you have left the Maritimes? If so, where?

Last evening we went to Cru with a couple of friends. All in all a terrific evening and I am glad I ignored the 'nay sayers and tried this spot on West Granville. Yes it certainly is narrow. Cozy to say the least. Nice warm tones and even the banquette seating along one side which I usually avoid was comfortable with the way it supported ones lower back. Service was friendly, casual but professional and not intrusive. I noticed all of the people on the floor would keep an eye out and remove cutlery, glasses, etc.. They were certainly busy but we stayed a number of hours working our way through many of the wines served by the glass on their well selected list. Rather than the prix fixe menu we all opted for the small plates. Not a "dud" amongst them. We tried the caesar salad, seared foie gras feature of the evening, the grilled asparagus with a lemon scented marcapone cheese [i think] garnish, the wild mushroom bruschetta served with "rocket" i.e. arugula and shave parmesan and then seconds of, the pan seared scallops, braised shorts ribs with a side of "mac and cheese", grilled Italian sausage with white beans and fennel and I had the duck confit. The duck was just the way I like confit, dark and crisp on the exterior and deeply flavoured and moist inside. A couple of desserts including a very good creme brule and a nice piece of blue cheese from Poplar Grove finished off the meal. I would easily head back again if I lived in these parts. Not sure about tomorrow. When I described Parkside to our friends they were ready to go there. We'll see. Have reservations at Ciopino but if the weather continues to improve we may end up on the North Shore at The Beachouse at Dundarave Pier which our friends say is much improved. Cru is a "must go" if you like wine and interesting food and do not mind a little entertainment and noise and getting to know your "neighbours".

Aw Paul...it is a cloudy day here in Alberta and you have me wishing I was out on Chesterman Beach....oh well another few months and we'll be out your way. Yes, the dining room at the Wick is breathtaking...good weather or huge storm...good bottle of wine and sit back and daydream...especially if they have the directional microphone turned on so that you can hear as well as see the surf. A lingering lunch, is, in my view the better way to go rather than the more formal dinner. We are looking forward to doing exactly that on at least one of the afternoons we have on Chesterman come fall. The Chris fella you dealt with is likely Chris Mustard. Tall, dark haired friendly guy? He was heading up their wine program a couple of years ago when we last stayed part of our trip at the Wick. Knows his wines. Especially the ones from the Island and the Okanagan. He was good enough to get us a bottle of La Frenz Merlot that Jeff Martin had left with them along with a pile of labels as the wines had just been bottled. Chris...aka Tofino was and I think still is, the concierge at the beachside addition to the Wick. I expect he'll "chime in" once he reads your post. Cafe Pamplona is certainly a nice spot. We rent a house now when we head up there, theoretically at least to save some "dough" by being able to cook our own food and consume our own wine but inevitably we have several lingering lunches at the Wick or Cafe Pamplona chatting with the folks who work there. Has the new restaurant and brew pub opened up in town? It was supposed to go into that new building constructed with retrieved and recycled lumber, etc.. It was just a shell essentially when we were there last Fall. Thanks for the post, I can close my eyes and see the breakers rolling into the beach and the black birds picking up mussels and dropping them onto the rocks beside the restaurant windows getting their own "seafood" meal.

barolo: Unfortunately I suspected what you have confirmed. Thanks for the reply

maxmillan: Do you know if there is any way to access this paper or its Victoria equivalent via the internet? I usually look for them upon my arrival in either city and despite the comments that they are usually plentiful at liquor stores and certain restaurants and food stores cannot put my hands on one. Mind you during our last trip to Victoria I looked for that paper without success and then later noted that a whole stack were in the corner of Brasserie L'Ecole which we had been to our first nite....sometimes one cannot see for looking.