eatbc

OK, it's not Vancouver but I had to share. I was just in Penticton and ate at a new million dollar restaurant on the lake called "The Hooded Merganser" I kid you not. I mean, this is even a bad name for a bird! We spent a few minutes with drinks joking about the name. "..then she tells me she had a piercing in her hooded merganser" "..you can tell by those tight pants he's got a hooded merganzer.." ".. my wife calls it her wahoo but her doctor says its her hooded merganzer.." You get the idea.

I went to Stellas for the first time last night with a couple of buds. Our service experience was great, friendly greeting at the door (her first day on the job, good hire) and the service was quick and efficient, with no bullshit, just the facts m'am. I really like that. Our server even suggested a follow up round of beers before we had finished the first one, so they arrived just as we needed them. The mussels were excellent, we had the Normande type, with bacon and cream. Fries were also excellent. Our server suggested bread when we ordered them, thanks. The marinated pork on vermicelli was very tasty. We had the little stuffed tofu pockets which were interesting but not stellar. As reported here before me, the duck wasn't great. (why do we all order duck?) Not very tasty or juicy, and not at all crispy, but I don't think they sell it like that. I preferred the duck sausage. The beef tacos (soft) were very very good. I almost ordered more. The jerk chicken had no spices at all on it, woops. Serves me right for ordering skewers. In spite of what sounds like a lukewarm food review, it was all in all an enjoyable meal, decent prices, pleasant surroundings. Not a thrilling culinary experience, but that's not we were looking for. I'll be back.

The Cellar door at Sumac Ridge has (had? ..when I was there anyways) a full-on liquor license, as it was a golf course clubhouse before it was a winery. There is no excuse for not serving beer in wine country.

Sadly, as of yesterday, Yoo has closed the doors at Velvet for good. It just wasn't working for her anymore. It was a cool, funky little space (original Vij's location). She was an excellent host, always with a big smile, even as she loaded up the last boxes on her departure.

Canuck is correct on this issue, as the man-made cool environment will suck those corks dry in a matter of months. That's why the old European cellars are all underground; consistent cool air and a moderate amount of moisture naturally treats the maturing bottles well. In a pinch, find a steady temp in the centre of your home (no outside wall), invite me over and we'll just keep drinking.

Keith, if you attempt the "at-home" storage, remember that most people completely forget the Humidity Control issue, which is crucial to good long-term wine storage (at least as long as we continue our unrequited love with cork). Consistent temperature is vital, but temp alone won't cut it, so you may have to consider the expensive vault route. Unfortunately, those commercial products are all dressed up to look good in the living room, when we all know that it's what's inside that counts! Why doesn't some local refridge guy hook up with a carpenter to create an affordable bare-bones wine vault? As well, I highly recommend the Yaletown Wine Vault guys.

The Elite on Main street in Penticton, opened in the fifties, clean, good service, decent coffee (no fru-fru lattes), hot food hot, cold food cold. New owners didn't change a thing. plus a personal, local favourite: The Slocan on Hastings and Slocan, not as old, but all the same attributes as the Elite. Great clubhouse, rueben, or breakfast.

Sure, the art form needs to be taken to that level, and maybe beyond, but it has nothing to do with real dining. Sensual sharing with loved ones is at best a simple pleasure. Vancouver is such a great fresh, vibrant, fun food city, I just don't think we need to witness someone's gastronomical masturbation to enhance it.

Aw, geez, Neil, you're right. You can probably tell by the other thread that I have a "thing" about bringing cakes into restaurants. To be clear, I'm not really concerned about the restaurant losing a sale. It's more "the principal" of bringing your own food to a place where people create, love, and yes, sell food. No-shows and sticking used gum under tables are acceptable practices to many people as well, so let's no try to change or.............aw, geez, Neil, you're right again, I just gotta lighten up and let it go. Bring in your dessert, your paper cup of McCoffee, your favourite beer, hell maybe even your own hangar steak for the boys to cook up. Thanks for coming. It seems I only pipe up on this site when I'm cranky. I am Sorry about that folks, I'll really try to behave myself and keep it Lite from now on.

Sorry, but I can't understand bringing your own cake into any restaurant. This was covered in another thread last year (what topic wasn't?), but... Did you call and find out if Chambar would make (sell) you a cake? Why didn't you have your entire meal at Sutton Place, if you love the food from there?

It sounds like you had a great meal and a fun evening, waylman. I was just wondering why you thought you had to bring your own dessert to a restaurant of this calibre? It just seems odd.

This is just a comment on PR people and their influence on the Van Mag restaurant awards. Last year, a good friend of mine was working at one of the soon-to-be-award-winner restaurants. I bumped into him at the 39th and Cambie liquor store, where he asked me if we were also “doing the food critics thing” this month. I asked him what he meant, and he told me their PR person was entertaining food and wine writers in the restaurant almost every night in January. These dinners were the “absolute number one priority” for this restaurant, and the chef would have to attend, even on his night off. I’m not sure if everyone is aware of this practice. Now, I’m not dissing PR people for doing their jobs properly, nor am I somehow insinuating that any of the critics are being bought. But not every establishment can afford to, or would like to, partake in this specific, very focused marketing strategy. So, does this mean that these places get more critic exposure and therefore, are more likely to be awarded? If a food critic can’t write about a specific restaurant because he hasn’t eaten there, doesn’t that tip the scale towards the establishments employing a PR person? I’m not saying that the VanMag awards are not valid. In fact they are excellent and a valuable, current guide to the scene. I’m just wondering if some valid, or smaller or “less interested in press” places may get overlooked. It also might partly explain why the same few places win the same categories year after year. Is that a problem?

Snappers, died in a swirl of financial/partnership rumours, it's been empty for years now, or has the space been renewed again? I don't walk by there much anymore. I remember they banned cars from driving down there, and forever ruined a great waterfront location.

Not yet, but I'll certainly look for it, the pizza from Marcello's for half the price??? One of the best pizza in the city. It would be easy enough to double the level of service from Marcello's as well, making it a double bargain! Where is it in relation to the Slocan (Best Diner on the East side)? I'll try it out this week and report back.

Wow.... I guess the $25 price tag depends on the restaurant you visit. I the mains are usually priced around 25 or more, then YES, It's Such a Bargain. As for all of the performance issues, here's my view: In the first year of DOV restaurants that weren't involved in the promotion were totally dead, with FOH staff complaining and owners worried. In 2003, the second year, many more of us were on board, and those who missed the Tourism Van deadlines did a DOV menu anyways. (I recall some posts here last year to that effect) This year, a record number. So, it's a bold move Not to be involved, especially if you're a newer establishment. Why do you think all these places are expanding it by a week or more? So, are we on top of our game? Well, we're trying. But the phone started ringing non-stop December 30, ( remember the flurry of "where are you going for dine-out" posts on egullet ) We're just trying to maximize the space because for this period we're working with much higher food and labour costs. It is a business, after all. Add to this the front staff's frustration with new diners and bad tips, the kitchen glaring at you with exhaustion and contempt at the end of their 12 hour shift, and we start to wonder if it's all worth it. Should I limit reservations and take a hit on profit, or opt out and take my chances? (or close and take a winter beach holiday?) Who benefits most from this event? Well, the business does ok because we're busy and expose the place to some new customers. You get an $8 appetizer, $25 main course and a $7 dessert for 25 bucks. ............Bon apetit! ps. Know any restaurant staff? Take them out to dinner after Feb 3. Excuse the hangover. I need a place to properly vent, waiterblog?

I know a lot of restaurant people read and post here, me being one of them. I'm curious to hear the industry side of this event. How are the bookings, amount of no-shows, staff attitudes, wacky customer stories, and how are you coping? As for me, I think it's one of the best promotional events I've ever been involved with. It's a great opportunity to expose your restaurant to a wider audience, plus keep your staff busy and add some cash flow to a historically slow time of year. Most managers I’ve talked to were almost sold-out within the first week of January! My only complaint is that Visa hijacked the event, as customers now have to pay by Visa in order to enter the contest. DOV started as a joint event with members and Tourism Vancouver, funded by our membership dues and donated gift certificates for the contest. It almost sells out by word of mouth and self promotion. We really didn’t need the box of Visa posters and flyers that arrived last week when we were mostly sold-out, thanks. They will tell you that Visa provides sponsorship for this event, but it’s really the restaurants sponsoring it by way of discounted menus. Perhaps Visa will waive their merchant charges for this two-week period? I really love the busy room, and look forward to busy weeknights coming up. On the phone, I sometimes feel like an airline reservations host ( “I don't know how about the 23rd, what about later on the 25th, what if we are only two people? Honey! they only have 9:30!”) The calls can test your best customer service patience, but it’s worth it. We did get the occasional table with four $25 menus and four waters, (BTW when can we start charging for hot water and lemon?) but most customers had wine, were wonderful and appreciative and it was great to see so many new faces. Egullet is full of foodies and great diners but there are a lot of people whose version of fine dining is the local cactus club. With all due respect to cactus club, if this event brings them over to “our side” it’s great for the whole restaurant industry. My favourite customer quote happened 90 minutes into Dine-out Vancouver 2005. “ I can’t eat this. I’m allergic to almonds.” “ I’m sorry, but did you not see the dessert listed on your $25 menu “Burnt Butter Almond Cake?” “Yes, but I didn’t think it would have almonds on it.”

Shellback, could you be more specific?

This wine on Cru's winelist is a great Cotes du Luberon rosé from Chateau Val Joanis, Southern Rhone.

I just watched my taped version of that show. I laughed hard and loud! That was the most "real" restaurant TV I've seen so far. That kid deserved all the abuse he was getting. I would have fired him by the end of the first day, certainly after the tainted scallop incident. Ramsay was only giving normal, professional feedback to this fiasco of a restaurant. The swearing and badgering... I think he was holding back. He caught this faker ("takin' the piss"). And how about that unfortunate sap of an owner, more money than brains, but it looked like that was coming into balance! How many restaurant people here have met cooks like Tim? or owners like this one?

Enroute Magazine's Best New Restaurants in Canada 2004: 1. Ristoronte Bronte, Montreal 2. Restaurant L'Utopie, Quebec 3. Cru Restaurant, Vancouver 4. Perigee, Toronto 5. Arbutus Grille & Wine Bar, Brentwood Bay, BC 6. Feenie's, Vancouver 7. Aix Cuisine du Terroir, Montreal 8. Aurora Bistro, Vancouver 9. Bu, Montreal 10. Jane's on The Common, Halifax

I second (third?) Sante Magazine Wine Access Saveur New Yorker Food Issue (I missed this years, does anyone know where I can find one?) I must disagree about BC Restaurant News and the other Canadian trade magazines. They're full of ads and useless info related to the ads. I know the headline is Food Periodicals, but I wanted to mention a must-have book for foodies, the grand-daddy of them all: The Physiology of Taste, or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy, by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. I have a version translated by M.F.K. Fisher. It's not light reading, but it is entertaining food porn and very quotable. The back cover says "This elegant, witty and encyclopedic meditation on the art of eating, a classic in the grandest sense, has been in print continuously since 1825." By the way, coop I got it.

Just got back from breakfast/lunch at the Slocan, (Hastings and Slocan). This great diner is everything a good restaurant should be (at any level): clean, cheerful, efficient, good quality ingredients, good value. You can always tell a good diner by the quality of it's bacon, and the turkey in the clubhouse is real and fresh. Last Tuesday after a Fringe show, visited Vij's. I really like the place and Vikram is an incredible host, but I'm never "wow'd" by the food. It's very good, but I guess with all the constant hype, Van Mag awards, and buzz here on egullet I expect more excitement on the plate. Service was indifferent. Plus, all the meats were drastically overcooked. A bit pricey too considering the small plates mostly consisting of vegetables and rice. A couple of evenings earlier, we ate at Typhoon (Not Monsoon!) on Main and 10th -ish. and the food was fabulous! The server was experienced, knowledgable and warm, pretty much running the room by herself. The wine selection was limited but interesting and appropriate to the menu. Food was vibrant with flavour and the bill came to $73.00 with two glasses plus a half litre of Riesling, and five dishes, which provided leftovers for lunch the following day. I've been spreading the word ever since.

I will second Villa del Lupo or Cioppino's for a special dinner of very good Italian, including great pasta. For a more authentic down-home noodle experience, I've heard Nick's Spaghetti House on lower (North) Commercial Drive is an institution worth a visit, but I've not been there. By the way, did you try the pizza at Marcello's or Lombardo's? The two best in town.

I've tried the wines from Lotusland. OK wines, neat packaging. Where can you buy them? The Pinot Noir was close to crap. Why do people keep trying to produce this grape? It's notoriously difficult and expensive to grow properly, and evolves through some terrible stages in the bottle, even from the best regions. I just don't get why up and coming wineries even attempt it. They make two Gewurztraminers and both of them are good. The sweeter one, "River Rock Terrace", has a more typical aromatic Gewurz. nose but has a bit too much residual sugar for the acid and body. The other one is much better balanced, but lacks some varietal character. I think they also make a Pinot Blanc, or was it Gris? Apparently not a memorable wine.

Oh! Come ON! a million bucks in a kitchen? Get serious. What the hell are they building? (besides a media buzz, as usual)... It's not a 500 seat 5 star hotel production space, after all. Just the usual PR BS. Anyways, Jamie was writing about recent moves in the business of real, working chefs. Too bad to see Scott Baechler leaving our fair city (why is it that all good Diva chefs get the call to move away? Who’s next on that merry-go-round?) Another observation; as much as I’ve enjoyed Scott Kidd’s food, he seems to move around a hell of a lot, still finding his way, I suppose. Many “hot” chefs in the industry have a great talent for food, but lack the essential skills to make a good chef, like cost control, time management, employee relations and a reasonable handle on the excesses of life. (Not that I’m any expert on that, having written this at the very late end of a busy Friday night and a few glasses of big Italian red.)