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nwyles

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Everything posted by nwyles

  1. I had a chance to taste five kinds/varieties of wild salmon this past fall at the Canadian Chef's Congress and I was a little surprised at how vastly different they tasted, side by side. I must admit that without someone telling me which was which, I doubt I could have identified all five correctly. As with a farmed salmon vs wild salmon..........I could probably pick that out no problem. One would taste like wild salmon and the other like styrofoam.
  2. I showed up on Friday and washed a few racks of dishes!!
  3. The Cioppino's example is a little excessive. Would you grab a hot dog from a cart instead of going into the Bean Around the World sandwich shop for your lunch? Would you grab a taco from a street vndor instead of the Mexican place on Pacific. These examples are probably more fitting. Ok, the hot dog might be cheaper, but he does not have to pay $10,000.00 a month in rent and $2500.00 a month in property taxes. In a business where profit is made in nickels and dimes, we do not need the City putting extra competition right on my doorstep, literally. Oh, and BTW, the Hot Dog vendor wants to know if he can use the bathroom, and can I have a bucket of hot water?
  4. That is quite a list. IIRC, the number of restaurants is down from last year. Because of the timing of DOV, I think some of the people have stayed out. We started our menu this week. I like to start early just to get things sorted out in the kitchen....placement, amount needed etc. Every year I think I know how much of each item I will need and people surprise me and order the other. This year the surprise is more Goat cheese and white balsamic vinegar salad over the soup. Had I thought about the time of year a bit more rather than year's gone by menus, I would have known this. On the positive side, halibut is in season and we are featuring it on the menu.
  5. Was that when Brian Fowke was there ( the last few months of operation ) or during the first six months? The first six months had a few different chefs. Brian was brought in to help with the concept, but alas, it was too late. I like the new version room : clean lines, simple, not cluttered. I have always been a fan of Brian's food. This menu is a reflection of Brian's cooking. Anything he might have done in the Mon Bella days was trying to stay inside the French / Italian / Bistro / trattoria theme ( hence the name ) . Try and make it down and show him some support. He has a kitchen staff of, well, none..........just him. The menu is full plates ( hence the price ) , although he will do a tasting menu if requested. Cheers
  6. I never left Anne, it just got a little quiet in here. This topic is going to get a little more traction in Vancouver in the coming months. It is my understanding that a brick and mortar type business cannot also operate a street cart. With the new Japadog storefront opening up, it would seem some new rules are getting written. I am all for some diverse choices but as a business person in Yaletown ( and as the President of the Yaletwon Business Improvent Association ), I would not want to see any of the restaurants harmed by having to compete with a street vendor for customers. The guy who spent a million dollars on building a place, paying for staff, opening rain or shine, paying high rent, incredibly high taxes and levies cannot compete with a guy who rolls his cart onto the sidewalk to operate a cash business all the while buying his hotdogs from Costco. There is no review process once a permit is issued, nor is there any follow-up. We have a street vendor directly competing with a brick and mortar business and there have been numerous complaints about it. There has been suggested relocations proposed but the reapplication process is automatic without any oversight. The permit keeps getting issued again and again ( this has been going on for years) The excuse from the person who issues it.............wait for it, here it comes........................you are going to love it............................................."Oh, I forgot about that. I will try and remember next year." Anyways, there is no perfect solution to this and I, like everyone else, want to see some diversity but placement is an issue.
  7. As a business owner, I would be a little upset having a street vendor open outside of my business. I have invested in this area and am committed to it. The street vendor does not have to pay property taxes which goes to help maintain this area and keep it clean and safe. The street vendor does not pay into business improvement levies, nor do they pay for garbage removal for which they would be contributing. There is very little monitoring of these street vendors because of the transient nature of the business. If there was to be an expansion of street vending......................and I do agree that we should have something other than hotdogs..................then they should be placed in an area where they do not harm any brick and mortar type business, like on the seawall or near the beaches. If the City is so supportive of these businesses, let them compete with the concession stands that the Parks Board runs, and not me, the business owner who pays lots and lots of property tax!!!
  8. I have them at the Hamilton Street Grill from time to time. We use the heritage breeds from Sloping Hill on Vancouver Island................but Chef Robert Belcham at Fuel is the master of everything pork. Your best bet would to head to Fuel, get a seat at the bar and let the boys do their thing.
  9. Things are going to be very different for 2010. Sponsors are dropping out, belts are getting tightened and I think not everyone is going to be able to survive until the Olympics. I will re-read this thread and see if any predictions are anywhere close to becoming a reality.
  10. These ratings are part of a new upgrade to Opentable. The above list represents nothing more than the highest frequency bookings through Opentable. The list is based on volume through Opentable, so West, although an excellent restaurant, because of it's size, would not rate in the frequency. If you click through to Opentable.com, you will find a few other charts which might give you some of the stats that you are looking for.
  11. It was my pleasure. I had forgotten your real name and could only remember your "handle", so I did not use it in front of your friends!
  12. You were never really good at math. great pizza + hot offspring = $$$$ Oddly enough, that same calculation = trouble!!
  13. I met him once, and I was so star struck that I could not manage to string a few words together. And that is something to behold.
  14. Marcello's on the Drive has great tiramisu.
  15. Good Luck !!!! Bring home some hardware. funny, Wayne Fettback has been to the HSG a few times................tell him I hope he comes in second, after you !
  16. I am crossing my fingers that he would want to work a few nights at the HSG to keep his skills sharp, and it is a mere stumble from his front door. He has not called yet, but the phone lines are open.
  17. Oh, and I have two apple trees on my front porch. It would appear that i am going to have some "shovel" time this weekend.
  18. My wife took the kids on Sat. afternoon. A bit busy, some stuff sold out etc, some long lines but it was a perfect crisp fall day, and everybody had the same idea. My kids are nuts for apples and my son can identify quite a few different varities at 100 paces, and is quite picky aboout which ones he will eat, so they had a good time, learned something and stayed off the candy for a sat. afternoon, so all in all, a good day.
  19. More details. what temp, how long etc. I could sacrifice a couple of misshaped filet mignons to the experiment.............and then I would eat them.
  20. I could not figure out what you were talking about as far as the glassware goes, but so it happens, I was asked by one of the servers a few minutes ago how I liked to see a whiskey sour served. Before I could respond , one of the other servers starts talking about the traditional way to serve it blah, blah, blah and coaches the first server into using a port glass ( small hurricane without a flared rim ! ) I stopped them both and directed them to serve it in a small rocks glass, on the rocks. This is the way I have seen it served before..................how they came up with the port glass, I do not know. So what glass do you serve a whiskey sour neat in. I have seen it served in a fluted glass often. Same for a amaretto sour. ←
  21. About 40 miles. 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on traffic. Where will you be staying? ←
  22. Is there a website to Marche Moderne ? We have a couple of days in the area. Perhaps I should have been clearer. Vancouver is a small, tighly packed city, so getting from one side to the other is not a big deal, especially when good food is involved. I forget how spread out L.A. and the area is. We do not mind driving a bit, but hours in the car just to please Daddy's dining curiosity will not go over well. How far is Craft from Disney ? in minutes ?
  23. IIRC, Brian..............you were lounging on my couch last year after a big feed, exclaiming how nice it was not to work on Thanksgiving!! would you really want to do a turkey dinner at Rare, or perhaps just take the day off ? Me, closed, full on turkey and a little nap. Bliss.
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