nwyles

Done. p/m me if your interested. It's an entirely scratch kitchen, so you'll witness bread making, pasta rolling, ravioli creation, butchering, all forms of mise en place (bring a knife), pastry and of course, the glory of clean-up. ← Ok , I can beat that ! You can work in my kitchen for two days for free ! All of the abuse you can handle. N

On Broadway @ about Ontario ← North side of the street? ← Yup

Okay Jamie. This is driving me nuts. For the life of me, I can't remember where Papillotte was located. My Mom and I used to dine there quite regularly. ← On Broadway @ about Ontario

Towel Boy at Brandy's exotic Show Lounge ??

Hey, if money is seriously no object, I could double the price of gingerbread ! Let me know really, if they have more money than God and want to part with it, take them to Cioppino's and let Pino have his way with them. $20,000 should do it !

That's what I understood as well, but if you listen to the interview Chef Feenie did on CKNW (Vancouver) he says there is actually a list about a page long of potential ingredients. The advance notice they're given, according to Feenie, "isn't much help at all." Personally, I think he's embelleshing a bit. Ming Tsai showing up with an air compressor for his Peking Duck is enough proof for me that they know more than Chef Feenie is letting on. A. ← I have heard from an insider that the list was 5 ingredients, so it would appear that somewhere in between lies the truth. That being said, it certainly does not detract from the fantastic cooking and creations that you see on ICA. What spoke volumes about the preparation and advance notice was the lack of banter and discussion amongst the sous chef's and chefs. Having heard the interview, there was some foreknowledge but not lots. It would be interesting to see a show without any preparation, warts and all ! Lots of yelling, swearing, threatening of lives, kicking garbage cans. But I doubt that would happen. Not in TV land!

It sat here for years after expo was done. At the rate McD's change and upgrade their stores, I am sure it is in a HazMat site somewhere.

Ok, I have been looking at this post for a couple of days. It does say horror stories. I have a feeling that this will be the final post of this thread because how do you follow up this. Last summer, we had a Japanese tourist have a heart attack and die. I was a surreal situation. In the summer, we would do multiple series of tour groups, sometimes getting them as they got off of the plane, before they got to the hotel. People would fall asleep at the table all of the time. Long story short, my waiter says to me, " I think we have a problem on table 12 " , I look over and the chap looks like he is sleeping. I finish the 40 meals that I have in front of me and proceed over to the table. At this point, his wife has placed a napkin over his face, and everybody quietly continues to eat. The tour guide is outside, talking on the phone. I zip out to her and ask what is going on . She is calling the office for instructions, I tell her to call an ambulance. I go back inside ( the restuarant is full and I am the cook today ) , I check his pulse ( He has one, strong and steady ) and try and make him more comfortable. I check his airway for any blockages. Nothing. Everybody is quietly eating but becoming more uncomfortable. A minute goes by and the tour guide is still on the phone. I pick up my phone and dial 911. I need an ambulance ! Is this the Hamilton Street Grill ? I feel relief wash over me as help must be on the way ! Yes, I reply, do you have one on the way ? No. Why not !!!!! No one has called us . ( I guess everybody back at the office were freaking out and did not know what to do ) I quickly explain the situation Now the ambulance was on the way. I go back to the table and try and figure out what is going on. I ask for any medication he has, what is his condition etc. You have to realize that this is a three way conversation between me, the tour guide and the wife. They hand me a bag of medication but everything is in Japanese and no on could tell me what it says. No problem. " What is wrong with him ? Why does he have this medication ? " His hands shake but he can drive" was the response. This was going from bad to worse. I was living "lost in translation" Everybody was quietly eating, but a few tears are falling. Ambulance attendants arrive, etc. Five of them in total. They lay him out on the floor and go to work. Everybody in the restaurant carries on eating, watching this whole scene take place. The three way conversation becomes a four way between me and ambulance to tour guide to wife. It was very, very weird. Waiters were asking me what to do with other peoples ( non tour groups bills ), I did not care, don't pay, whatever, couldn't you see I was busy !!! It was crazy. People insisted on paying, everybody had a look as they walked out the door. I kicked the tour group out without them getting to finish their lunch. It was too crowded with emotions running very high. Outwardly I was calm and firm, but I was really screaming inside my head. The tour group had to wait out front for about 30 minutes as their bus driver had taken off, ambulances clogging the street etc. They cart the man off in the ambulance to the hospital where he passed away later that day. The sad thing was the wife had to go in a seperate ambulance, without the benefit of the tour guide. She looked so terrified. The ambulance guys said that the hospital had translators so not to worry. This was the worse day I have ever had, all cooking things aside, this is the real deal. There is more to the story as the family arrives a couple of days later etc, but that is not really important at this point. There you go. Horror story.

The Ole Cantina ? That sort of rings a bell.

Agreed. During Expo, I was playing in a brass quintet all over the Expo site. We were there everyday. I ate everywhere. My first sushi and my first Guinness - I recall I did not care for either - Oh, how times have changed.

Kurtis, we can see you !! Time to start posting ! All reading and no contributions by professionals is frowned upon !!!

The new Glady's location became Bistro Pastis. I remeber when they moved across the street. Loved the corned beef hash for beakfast, just did not love the amount of time it took to cook.

There used to be a place at Kingsway and Broadway, out the back, in what looked like an alley but really was Watson Street. It used to be call the Jazz Cellar ( I think ) and then it became a restaurant called Karudo's. I remember going down a long flight of stairs to get to some great BBQ. I remember big ribs covered in sauce and the whole place smelled of BBQ. They still had a piano from the old Jazz Cellar days.

Does anyone remember Sharkey's Beach House on Kingsway ? ( at about Royal Oak ) We used to go there as yoots. Too young to drink, but not too young to fill up on burgers and desserts. It was built in an old Funeral Home. I recall always being weirded out when sitteing there. I drove down Kingsway the other day and saw it was a Korean Restaurant. I can not even remember how long it was Sharkey's. All I remember was how good the chocolate cheesecake was, being there with my date, me in a skinny leather turquiose tie. I was soooooo coooooool. Thank goodness no pictures exist.

After reading some of the posts today, lots of people sharing their first Vancouver restaurant / food service job - Arne ( Daddy A ) Longliner on Granville Isalnd and Shelora's interesting story for example. Where was your first restaurant / food service job ? My first restaurant job was nothing too interesting. Scooping ice cream cones at a Big Scoop restaurant. My Aunt and Uncle had a couple of Big Scoop's when I was very young and they let me work at one of them for a summer job. I must have been all of 13 or 14 years old. What could be better ! Making money and as much ice cream as you could eat ! ( the novelty of both quickly wore off ! ). Being young and innocent, it was an interesting summer. You see, this Big Scoop was on Davie Street about where the Luxy Bistro is / was . As a small town kid just arrived from London, Ont, you certainly knew you were not in Kansas anymore. Innocent questions like " why does that lady need a shave etc. " It is an experience that I will never forget. And still to this day, the smell of bubble gum ice cream sickens me.

What we need to remember about the panna cotta was that it was not what Rob wanted exactly. It failed because of an equipment problem. He quickly adapted without missing a beat. Fast on his feet ! It has been said by some that know Rob's cuisine from frequent visits to his restaurant that none of these dishes were big surprises, but adaptations of what he does on a regular basis. I see absolutely no problem with that. These are all winner items. Was I surprised that he did a ravioli? No. He does an excellent job of it. I could only imagine the pressure of creating five dishes under those conditions. Stick with what you know and adapt. How many time has Morimoto done a rice dish ? He has competed 76 times. You are bound to see items come back in one form or another. Chefs have a quiver full of arrows that hit the bullseye every time. Why take a chance on national TV ? Go with the winner ! I am really looking forward to my next Rob Feenie meal !

That is closer to the truth than I care to admit.

James , your knowledge is amazing ! It is like you were there ! Aside from your first-hand knowledge, where do you dig this stuff up . I was still in primary school then and not able to get out to all of these Fab 70's places. Great topic !

I had lunch at the West Vanc. Cactus Club today. Interesting room. It looks like they hired the former Human Resources Manager from Earl's. The bathrooms- very nice. Had to take Matthew a couple of times and he did the full tour of every appliance. This kid's "Y" chromosone is spelled "WHY". Very cool bathrooms indeed. I am assuming the ladies is the same sans urinal. I have seen it mentioned here before but now that I have seen it for myself, it is very special. Perhaps a sub - design catagory ? Best Biffy ?

Ok, Len, you are now up to three posts !! A guy with your experience should be out there all over this board. Venture beyond the confines of the "C" topic. You have so much more to offer the Vancouver Forum. Once you get to 30 posts, they give you a secret decoder ring. Cheers Neil

Ok , here it is. The dirtiest secret of all. Kentucky Fried Chicken - I could care less if I eat the chicken, all I really want is the skin. You know those giant blue salt licks that cows get ( for those of you who don't, they look like blue 20 lb hall's coughdrops ) - anyway, KFC is the human version of a salt lick ! I feel so dirty just thinking of it.

You are so weak ! Look what happened to the Kolachy ! How many times do we have to go over this. How about keeping the "best kept secret" secret !

I am not sure which you might think the better of the two but here they are. Two interesting points in B.C. culinary history were brought about by the same man. I am not sure of the exact dates - I will leave that for others to add in. George Tidball introduced two restaurants to B.C. , both somewhat similar but also very different. In about 1967, MacDonalds came to Canada. George Tidball obtained the rights to expand into Canada. He eventually departed from them to start up his own company in about 1970 , The Keg ( and Cleaver ) One Fast Food and the other , possibly what was to become Casual Fine Dining. If you reflect, the core menu of each has not changed. Unfortunatly, the delivery of that core menu has certainly changed over the years. I think one for the worse and one for the better. Discuss.

You handled Mr. Grumpy Talent quite nicely! Realy glad to hear Wazubee has changed. I was last there over 10 years ago. Loved the food, but found the service really surley. Twelve different gins? Sorry Moosh, I have a new watering hole on the Drive! A. ← Arne, please make sure your passport has been updated before you try and return to the Drive. Can you get there from Burnaby ? And Dude, I think that I might be to old for Wazubee and well, you are old enough to be my older Norwegian Kitchen Designer friend. ( that will not get us a free drink anywhere ! ) Seriously, the last time I was in Wazubee, Rodney Strong Cab was $24.00 a bottle, $2.00 over list price. I enjoyed the wine but the "thumpus non-interuptus" started to get to me as well as the not so great service. I am glad to hear things have changed. What about Bukowski's. I have never darkened their doorway. What is it like ? Neil

Let's not forget I am they guy who takes his kids to White Spot. From my glass house, I will cast no stones on your child's restaurant choice. Domino's Pizza has me onit's speed dial