nwyles

But they were out of Heineken ! Jamie, perhaps a boycott ? ! ?

I had a rather nasty comment card from a guest who complained that I did not have enough on my menu for a health concious diet. That in it's self is ok but here is the part that really pisses me off. In the middle of the rush on a busy Xmas lunch, a server let's me know that a guest has a series of special requests. Rather than rely on second hand info, I go to the table, introduce myself and ask him what he would like. It was a rather long list of things that he wanted, all of them prepared in a very specific manner. I proceeded to make him exactly what he wanted, in the exact manner that he wanted it made. There was no way on God's green earth that all of these things could have been combined in a meal on a menu that anyone would have bought so I really do not see what his problem was. He got exactly what he wanted. Exactly ! Period. Why the parting shot ? What a shithead ! Sorry about that ! Thanks for listening.

Jamie, What a fantastic imagination you have ! A wonderful tale ! You have turned our rain soaked, barren wasteland, skunky beer, weak wined little corner of the world into a Garden of Eden all with a few pages of prose ! Lovely pictures ! Please folks, Do not come here on vacation or, worse yet, move here. It is not how you have seen in the pictures. The wine is bad, apples full of worms, acid rain, pot holes in the highways, single engine World War 1 planes as transport, smoky double decker busses with no tops to cram more people on. The only vegetables we have are carrots. That was the entire provinces herd of pigs. Not enough bacon to go around. I get to eat bacon every third Tuesday of even years ( shitty luck this year ! ). We do not have any salmon, only rockfish ! The only beer we have is "no name" Beer. Do not come here and drink our beer, worse yet, drink our wine. Jamie, I can see you let this get away from you ! It is a good thing I was able to post and dissuade people ( and their friends )from coming here and eating and drinking the fantastic bounty that we have. Could you imagine this roving band of gulleters, flashing their decoder rings all over the place, drinking our allocations of Burrowing Owl !! Stop this lunacy before this plague of locusts decides they are coming for summer vacation !

A little off topic but I looked at a property to open a second HSG on the Langley Bypass, so I could serve great steak to more people ( an weak attempt to bring it back on topic ) Anyhoo, the rent out there was double what I was paying in Yaletown. I was astounded. We looked at a few other properties and they were all in the ballpark. When I asked one of the realtors, he replied " This is the LANGLEY BYPASS !! " " I said, yeah, I know, the langley bypass, big deal ! " Another hope and dream of bring steak to the masses dashed.

Shoot for the stars and try and get him into either Lumiere or West. ( staff members of both places post here so they might be able to help ) But if you want to go to one of the spawning grounds of these two hot chefs, call Michel Jacob at Le Croc. Franck is his main restaurant chef and would be someone to reach out to. Chef Jeff is doing lots of cool things. Aurora Bistro would be a good resume builder as well as two members of that restaurant post here so you could find him some digs real quick. Now, if he has any interest in the hanger steak, Hamilton Street Grill would be a good place to spend an afternoon learning everything about it. Good luck,

Please, must I beat you all down ! Certified Angus Beef 8 oz Sirloin steak ( that is half a pound of meat folks ), Roasted garlic mashed, vegetables, Caesar salad with dressing made by me !, fresh baked bread with chipotle butter and a cool refreshing glass of ice water all for the low, low price of $18 , and if you time it right, IT WILL BE COOKED BY ME !!!!!!!!! ( at no extra charge or appearance fee )

Len from Nu and C ! Drops by for a beer and ends up helping me for a couple of hours in the dishpit because my dishwasher does not show. I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! I love my job, I am grossly overpaid and I meet interesting people everyday ! The Hamilton Street Grill Chant ! P.S. Len will work for beer !

That is the truth !

This coming down the pike, one way or the other. I had a fire-side chat wiith the staff re: what they declare for tips on their T4's There has been some discussion of this in Western Canada ( just to keep in topic ) As the restaurants are getting more and more integrated with the computer systems and electronic credit card machines, tracking tips and taxes paid on thm is becoming easier and easier. We have been warned that this is coming and to get our houses in order. Waiter "A" declares 10 to 15 % of his wages as tip revenue. This is a good rule of thumb, used throughout Vancouver. Let's just say, for example that their tips are twice as much as their wages ( 200 % ) - you can see the problem and the direction that it is taking. What I am worried about is that if tips become something that I have to track and add to their T4's, am I also paying employee benefits like CPP and the employer part of the income tax for. ( Side note: For every dollar that the employee pays in income tax, I also submit $1.50 for them as well. as well as CPP and EI. So you can see where this would start to worry the employer. In our restaurant, taxes and benefits on tips would make a very, very serious chunk of year end profits disapppear, possibly making the restaurant nearly a non- profit society. Chef Fowke, not only would this be an administrative nightmare, it would probably cost the service industry lots of employees as they have been living on the fringe and would not be able to support themselves in this "taxable" situation.

A quick bit of figurin' says that the average tip left at the HSG is 19 % That is using a years worth of numbers so a pretty accurate number. I leave 15 to 25 % , usually more at the lower priced joints ( I leave great tips to the girls at the White Spot on Kingsway after brunch with the kids, lots of mess and each child has very specific orders ! ) Upon really crappy service , I want to leave a shit tip but I can't bring myself to do it. I do not think the waiter would get the point and just chalk me up to a cheap bastard. I was tempted to tell a server about all the things they did wrong but again, who am I to push me personal standards on someone else's restaurant. Maybe that is the way they do it there. I can always respond by never coming back. Good luck with this topic Jamie, as it always brings the best and worst out in people. It never has a happy ending.

Sean, what is the up front charge with Micros ? If I recall, nothing from them comes at a low price. Open Table now integrates with micros, picking up creque tracking info as well flagging tables that are on dessert or have paid etc.

My wife does a version of these buts uses the microwave. I make them in the oven but I must admit ( akthough I would never tell her ) that the microwave version works out better, cleaner and never burned.

Before I rush out into the snow to get a taste of this, what was it selling for ?

Out of curiosity, do you know of any TVan lurkers? I don't know of any (my wife being a TVaner) and am pressed to think who would be. I ask this because it seems that it seems to be assumed around here that pretty much everyone (industry and not) are lurking, but I think it's important to keep in mind that the local industry does not revolve around eGullet. Whether they should be keeping tabs or not (in my mind, most should), it's extremely relevant to remember that not everyone is watching around here. It appears that the assumption is that if there are issues brought up in eG, if they're not responded to by those in question, that they don't care to respond to issues. The thing to keep in mind, IMO, is that if you want to deal with any issue- to talk to the people involved directly and not assume it's all about us. k. ← At any given time there are twice as many people on the board as registered users. The term we use for them is lurker. We could also use interested individual. They are a fact. Kurt, as you know, I am fully aware that your wife works at Tvan. What you might not know is that I have had several emails ( through conventional non egullet email systems and not the PM system ) over the last couple of years from different people at Tvan in regards to comments made on this board by me, or having a Dine Out Menu up too early, or a clarification on their stance on promoting other events like Taste of Yaletown. They have a interest in their programs and are interested enough to see what is being said about it outside of their own "post Dine Out restaurant Survey". I appluad that. That being said, my comment was about the integration of Open Table and Dine Out in as much as credit card secured reservations could be made from the Tvan site. Rather than calling Tvan up and asking if this was true, I was willing to wait and have them respond. I was in no rush to chase this down as it was not going to happen this year anyways. It was a little "tongue in cheek" , but I was curious to see how long it would take before someone responded. It is fair for me personally to assume that someone from Tvan will read this given the history. That is all. It is not a shot at them nor is it a statement as to the "importance" of egullet. This is an information exchange / electronic comment card, not the be all and end all. Anyways, I have to get back to work now. Cheers Neil

← Is that up or down from last year. Cheers Neil ← I'm assuming "record" means it's up from last year. k ← Sorry, missed that bit. N

← Is that up or down from last year. Cheers Neil

Did you get a picture of this ? I am looking for ideas to freshen up my Xmas decor. I have seen the beer can airplanes. Does anyone have any idea how to make Beer Can Angels ? Or snowmen ?

I recall chatting with a chap from one of the local high end hotels and he seemed to think that they would not do it again as the cost they incurred for the dining room were just too much to feature such a low price point. Fine linens, glassware, silver service cutlery etc. It was costing them about $11.00 per seat just to outfit the table and at $35.00, the numbers did not add up. That being said, I think this event will just become more and more popular, whether the restaurants are happy about it or not. Those who are not involved are not getting the traffic as the dining public is feasting on a great deal.

I am also looking for a good no bake cheesecake recipe. As I am booking lots of Xmas parties, I realize oven space will be at a mega premium. Slow baking cheesecake is going to be a bit tough. Does anybody out there have a fool proof ( idiot proof ! I am working with idiots ! ) cold set cheesecake recipe ?

I don't think so. I understand the logistics could not be worked out in thime this year. Perhaps one of the lurkers from TVan could confirm this.

restaurants can make some or all of their tables available through OT. That explains the ability to book even though OT said it was full. I will save a few tables each seating for people who call, regulars who after nine years, have not learned the phone #, stuff like that. This is not about taking the personal touch out, but allowing people to book what they want, when they want. If you want to book a table at dinner before you head to work at 7:00 a.m. , this would be the way to do it. No waiting for returned calls, missed messages etc. You would know that you are in.

That, my friend, would be the famed Santa Barbara Market ! Home of the Hammy's Portuguese Bun, picked up every day by the devilishly handsome nwyles of egullet fame.

Oh, I am aware of the increased cost to me if they book throught the OT site. I will direct people to my page, where the cost to the restaurant is considerably less. For those of you who might not know, there is a cost per head to the restaurant. For guests that come to you through OT, the cost is more, but what does that matter. There is a small fee for guests that you ( me ) would be directing to them. All in all, a real time saver. Is this the answer to the wailing and gnashing of teeth that the restaurants have during Dine Out ? It certainly is a step in the right direction. Booking everything online without the daily haggling of trying to fit someone in when there is just not a spot or having to do the run down of the entire two weeks with a guest of all the spaces you have open, only to have tham not show up.

I am not sure if everybody knows what this is. I won't go into a long story but it is an online reservation system ( It is much more than that but you get the picture. ) I can see which restaurants in town are using and and I would be interested in hearing about your experiences with it. I am considering using it to book the entire restaurant ( I can always save a few tables for the egulleters ) during Dine Out Vancouver this year. I want to direct most of my reservations to it, removing me ( I am a control freak and during this time, take 90 % of my own reservations, usually cradling the phone while cooking on line. ) from the equation. I will have an email confirmation sent out detailing that the table is booked 1.5 hours after yours so plan accordingly. It can also require a credit card to make the reso, thus cutting out the high instance of no shows. I have not got all of the details on that but I do know that is it an option. I have planned to only do the Dine Out Menu during this time as to streamline the operation and delivering an excellent experience. Although it sounds silly, having a couple of pastas rung in while you are rocking on 80 Dine Out meals at once can really knock the train off of the tracks. Thoughts ? Does it interest you enough to book online, ensuring your time and table when you want it ? Avoid the never ending busy signal, trying to get into your favourite restaurant. Are you interested enough to lay the money on the table to make sure that everybody shows.

Look at these Rock Stars ! Not a smudge on the aprons or a drop of sweat on the forehead. I think the "magic wand" theory might actually be close to the truth. I have worked a shift with Michel and he is sooooo clean. I think his jackets come in with a heavy starch, and some sort of teflon coating. And like the Werewolf of London, his hair is perfect ! Looks like a great time. Makes me wish I bought more tickets for the draw !