nwyles

Thoughtbox : be sure to introduce yourself. I am the one with the "Ernest Borgnine" good looks !

That was the best laugh I had all week. How does that read ? Is the emphasis in heavy or puck bunny ? Do I adjust my marketing plan to lure some of the skinny puck bunny's in from down the street ? Matinée Idol ? Although all of us ( men ) see ourselves as Richard Gere in "American Gigolo", reality sets in as Ernest Borgnine in "Escape from New York".

We have stocked my father-in-laws freezer with stuff from Savoury City a couple of times. I have had a couple of things at home after service ( you can't have a cheese sandwich every night ! ) and I have always enjoyed. I met Donna at Feast of Fields a couple of years ago as I was stuck behind the grill all day. She was kind enough to get me some wine. It did not help the thirst, but it numbed the sunburn.

Don't awnings also require permits? If so, you're dealing with City Hall, and that takes time ... to much time. A. ← Not always. As I learned this year, there are some ways around it. Does it touch City property, or just hang over it etc. A bit tricky though.

When every other meal is at the same restaurant, they better introduce something to keep the streak alive. I recall on my opening night a customer asked if we had a special sheet ! My response was it was his first visit and my first night so everything was special !

I met Chef Tony the other day. He dropped by the restaurant as we had not met in person. We talked about all of the egulleters taking this class ! He thinks he could probably do these classes 5 nights a week they are sooo popular. I might pop into one just to check out what you are doing and see if I like you guys enough before thinking about teaching one. I do not know if I could handle seeing egulleters in my "off" time as well as in the restaurant.

Not a chance. I run my entire restaurant, 5 lunches and seven night with 13 staff members ( including me ). I am very, very careful when I pick events to do. This would shorthand us at the "mothership" and that would not be good. Why do it when I am only a hop, skip and a jump away and you could get the full portion for only 6 bucks !

MIchel Jacob : Favourite. Consumate host. Underrated ? Brian Fowke. Although he was the exec at Joe Fortes for 5 years, I do not think that was the right place for Vancouver to see how very talented he is. I have seen what he can do and I believe when he gets his own restaurant launched, Vancouver is in for a real surprise.

If I'm not mistaken, that's Pino Posteraro/Cioppino's, Enoteca to the left of Sean Riley; I'm not sure of his name, but the fellow to the right has The Quay on his jacket. Is that Dobi Kovacevic? ← The new Chef at the Quay is Grant Frankchuk. And yes, the other side is Pino. This is the first dining event that Pino has done in the city to the best of my knowledge. This is truly all of the restaurants in the neighbourhood particiapating.

Nice piece in the Globe today by one James D. Maw. It would appear tha A. Gill is in Hogtown on the red carpet, leaving Jamie in charge of the Globe by himself. Nice to see the Benoit's move to the center of town where Jean Yves's food can be located with ease. I can't wait to get there. Is this a smooth opening or a reopening ? No missed steps ! Nice.

Nice to see Len get a bit of notice. With all of the kudos and accolades floating around for all of the players involved ( well deserved I might add ) , Len has been a driving force in this project, bringing all of the players together etc. Brian ( Chef Fowke ) asked him how he was managing all of the work and he was quick to show him a new pair of shoes that enabled him to run from one location to the other while still looking stylish. Len is true too his word : A smooth restaurant opening on the quick heels of someone else's not so smooth one. When he told me that one night over beers, I knew he was not being boastful, but honest and sincere about how much he and all of the others had put into preparing for it.

Yeah, and you got to hear the non-stop stream of curses out of my mouth as I smashed my bottle of white truffle oil on the floor. I thought my wife was going to slap me for being a "drama queen" , but she obviously does not understand about the truffle oil. It certainly made the kitchen smell nice and put a lovely shine on my new floor. Cheers Neil

Communication is a challange when dealing with this many restaurants. Some do not have email, some do not check it, some are chain restaurants with a corperate structure to wade through. The response times are varied. Great to see the people out that we did as this photo shoot was very quickly organized.

That was 12 of the 30 restaurants participating. If everyone were there, we would have needed a three tier picture. More on "Taste of Yaletown" ( I will now refer to it as ToY ) later. This event has taken an incredible amountof my time. Time away from eGullet, my family, sleeping and drinking. Neil

Lorna, you always go for AYCE. A remorseless eating machine !

Very positive words from Alex Gill in this a.m.'s Globe and Mail Len is a man of his word. Nu was as smooth an opening as anyone could have hoped for. Good job and good luck. I can't wait to get down there and treat myself !

I knew it started with a "S" and it was not Sarah ! Thanks for setting it straight.

Send a message to Sam Salmon. If I recall, he has the largest set of restaurant links I have seen. I think he had to rebuild them last year and sent out a similar message.

Jamie - I read your review in VanMag and really enjoyed it. Though your displeasure with the food is consistent with many of the comments here - I am glad to see that you gave Chef Larouche some due respect that has been earned in a number of decent restaurants throughout Vancouver. Not sure how they will turn things around - but citing SF tourist dependent restaurants is a good call. Places like Boulevard, No1 Market, and Palimino serve good food and attract a sizable tourist (and local) following. Hope they can pull out of the nosedive they are in. But, as a layman, I am not sure what a restaurant can do, on the fly, to address all these problems. A shut down and relaunch? Or is that suicide? ← Sure , why not. Call it a restaurant Mulligan. Do you recall the scene where Bobby was in the shower in Dallas ? Just pretend summer 2005 was a bad dream and relaunch. Call it an extended dry run or shakedown cruise. Stephen, I also wondered why you went in. I think it must have been our natural human curiosity, or like when someone tells you they farted. You always have to stop and smell it for yourself ! Yup, you farted !

I am in Downtown and I have heard the same thing. They have been renovating a restaurant for ages that had a renovation not too long ago. I hope they have not waited too long and missed the boat. I understand that the summer season is very good out there and the winters are very slow. I would hate to see someone drag their heels on a reno and miss all of the business

Hey. if this is self shilling hour cuz' Arne is away. I have a private dining room that will seat your group and you can have what ever you like as long as we create the menu beforehand. And it has it's own bar Neil

There has been a massive run on yam fries. I wish I had shares in Mayo futures right now. Why can I not be the King of Steak and Lobster for $50.00 a plate rather than Yams @ $5 People arriving at the door with newspaer clipping in hand ! Funny Just not funny when two girls threaten to kick my ass beacuse I do not have any Lemon Meringue pie ! My trigger finger just kept hitting the smiley faces !

Ok, enough on the Lemon Pie. I had a table in today demanding the "famous" Lemon Meringue Pie . They even threatened to kick my ass if they did not get some ! I sent over a message with the server that it was a joke and that we really were famous for the GBP. They were not happy. I might have to bow to the pressure and start making them.

I think it's a bit ridiculous to "pour first, ask questions later." The point of asking at all is to provide service by making a guest know they have options. And, yes, bottled water comes with an added cost, but not to offer for fear of making someone uncomfortable can also have the added affect of being insulting (assuming someone can't/won't pay for water). Perhaps it's the tone of the server who offers bottled water, not the offer itself, that makes people uncomfortable... ← I have to disagree. As you are introducing yourself to the table, you should be pouring some water. If they want to have bottled water when you ask, they will. To clarify, in my place, sparkling water vs. still is 100 to 1. We sell so little still water. I think it is because our tap water is very good. As I stated, it was the way the server posed the question that I did not like. I thought it smacked of the "foot in the door salesman" . I also think people should be given bread right away. I have had servers delay delivering bread as it might sway their ordering a starter or not. I think that that is crap. Get them some bread and water as they are our guests. I guess I am just funny that way. Although in some cases it might be true, I do not see it as a big toss up " Hmmm....Shrimp cocktail or do I just eat this bread ? I can't decide !"

Paul, All hail the true king of fries !! Bow beneath the king of fries Suffer no imposters Worship no fries other than mine............. Cheers ( smiley face !!! ) Neil P.S. Worship no tuber other than the YAM