Chi Restaurant

[SBonner]

I'm hearing interesting rumours form the wine rep's about this soon to open restaurant. Any stories to share and inside information available?

Stephen

[nwyles]

I'm hearing interesting rumours form the wine rep's about this soon to open restaurant. Any stories to share and inside information available?

Stephen

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what is Chi ?

A bit more info !

Edited January 19, 2005 by nwyles (log)

[SBonner]

Hi Neil,

All I have heard is that it is an Asian Fusin restuarant with a big budget for ice wine and Sake. It should be opening within a couple of weeks. That's all I know so far. All the wine rep's are talking about it.

Cheers,

Stephen

[Andrew Morrison]

location location location?

i'll send out my imperial probe droids to glean some info....

Andrew

[SBonner]

Thanks Andrew...

Looking forward to some Imperial Intelligence.

Stephen

[Andrew Morrison]

Stepthen,

have you heard anything beyond that they're going to serve lots of sake and ice wine? nothing on the capital folks? nothing on location?

Andrew

[Mooshmouse]

Interestingly enough, located on the east side of Nanaimo, 1/2 a block south of 1st Avenue in Vancouver.

I've been wondering about this place as I drive past it almost every day.

[Coop]

Where Little Billy's used to be? Now that's a bad location, location, location.

[Mooshmouse]

You've got it. Almost spells deathknell right from the get-go.

[Alex.Chirestaurant]

I'm hearing interesting rumours form the wine rep's about this soon to open restaurant. Any stories to share and inside information available?

Stephen

←

Hey Stephen,

First off let me share our concept with you.

What we're doing at Ch'i is creating a modern fusion of Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian foods with organic BC produce. We're mixing the mouth watering spices of the orients with the incredible flavors of BC organic produces.

I feel a little funny sounding like an ad but you really should drop by and see what we're doing. It’s going to be great for the city and bring a little of the downtown strut to the east side of Vancouver. The "hidden gem in the east side" is how I see it. If you’re a food fanatic as I am, I wouldn’t doubt you’d drive almost anywhere to dine on the best of. It’s just going to be great; I'm very excited to introduce what I've experienced to such a hard core food city like Vancouver.

I’ve added an amazing sommelier to help compliment the menu. She was able to completely perfect the paring and our finished product is fabulous.

Feel free and drop by, I’ll be more than happy to show you around and let you know what we’re doing.

Thanks,

Alex.

[nwyles]

What is the address and what are the hours , Alex ?

[Andrew Morrison]

Careful Alex...it's posts like this on eGullet that made Chambar overbooked from the get go.

Well, then there's Nico's cooking...and the tasty flemish ales...

Have you opened already? Can you give us more details? Website?

Edited January 21, 2005 by editor@waiterblog (log)

[Coop]

Sounds great Alex. Can you post a menu and wine list for us?

Edited January 21, 2005 by Coop (log)

[Chocoholic]

Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian...my favorites. I was born in Holland and grew up eating lots of Indonesian food and cook it at home regularly. I am very interested to see what they will do with the menu.

Opening date, sample menu and web site needed!

[Coop]

Hey Andrew are you in line for the next Star Wars movie yet?

[Jeffy Boy]

Does this place have any relationship with Chi restaurant in West Hollywood, owned by Justin Timberlake? It's an east-meets-west fusion restaurant, and I hear they've really got their flavours in sync.

[Coop]

Timberlake and Star Wars in the same thread? This is too street for me.

Mrs Coop and I drove by this place yesterday, it seems aways from opening.

[Mooshmouse]

Roland Tanglao's foodblog, VanEats, has a blurb on the menu for Ch'i Restaurant which is slated to open tomorrow. Click here to check it out.

[Andrew Morrison]

Just to clarify....Chi is already open. They did a "soft opening" yesterday for family and friends, and tonight they're rocking their first Friday.

Their Grand Opening (i think for press, etc.) is later this week. Should be interesting.

I must say that restaurants are now opening in a different marketing climate than ever before with the advent of blogs, eGullet, etc.

Don't under-estimate the power of what you say about a restaurant here. I think the folks at Chi are on to us....

[Daddy-A]

I must say that restaurants are now opening in a different marketing climate than ever before with the advent of blogs, eGullet, etc.

Don't under-estimate the power of what you say about a restaurant here. I think the folks at Chi are on to us....

Boy, I sure wish restaurants would offer free martinis to bald Norwegian kitchen designers! That would be really great. I think I'd spend a lot of money at a place that treated bald Norwegian kitchen designers like that!

A.

[peppyre]

I must say that restaurants are now opening in a different marketing climate than ever before with the advent of blogs, eGullet, etc.

Don't under-estimate the power of what you say about a restaurant here. I think the folks at Chi are on to us....

Boy, I sure wish restaurants would offer free martinis to bald Norwegian kitchen designers! That would be really great. I think I'd spend a lot of money at a place that treated bald Norwegian kitchen designers like that!

A.

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Subtle Arne, real subtle

[Andrew Morrison]

Boy, I sure wish restaurants would offer free martinis to bald Norwegian kitchen designers! That would be really great. I think I'd spend a lot of money at a place that treated bald Norwegian kitchen designers like that!

It's the Norwegian part that remains the big draw.

But seriously Arne, I mean it (not the Norwegian thing).

I'm bordering on certain that word of mouth and more costly means of marketing such as target advertising in glossies and newspapers are limited in their intended effects. Advertising and other marketing methods are not in danger of losing their punch, but rather they're being challenged by new mediums, namely this here internet.

For example, the realm of professional politics has seen (at least in the United States) an absolute media overhaul in the last election cycle. It went from "what did the Washington Post and the New York Times have to say today to "Let's get our inside skinny from DailyKos and Talking Points Memo."

The blogosphere, in less than four years, has changed the face of modern electoral politics. And it's a realm ruled by opinions that are just as easily swayed this way and that as they are in the restaurant world. I think we'd all agree that we're now eye-high in an age of skeptisicm and near-professional cynicism. As a consequence the traditional media are no longer our go-to guys when it comes time to seek the truth or it's closest, breathing relatives.

The restaurant industry together with eGullet combine to make something similar. It's also driven by whimsy and fairweather opinion, where a stump speech by a candidate comes in the form of a roasted Wentzel duck breast with organic rosemary sauced with a port and thyme reduction or an excellent waitron who can tell me all the varietals in a bottle of Conundrum. We judge by what we taste and we judge by atmosphere. Our opinions are as relevant and immediate as those who dine on the floor-scraps in the political blogosphere, allowing their political paradigms to be shaped by amateurs, rather than the pros.

Nobody is going to stop reading The New York Times for their political news or Vancouver Magazine for its spin on our restaurant scene, but the web is where people are starting to turn when it comes to getting the whole story about restaurants.

So, to make a long story short, your comments are likely to be taken seriously by restauranteurs and industroids in Vancouver (as we have recently seen to our communal disconcertitude). I know several owners, managers, and chefs who lurk like kids on these boards habitually (you know who you are, damn lurkers, Out with you...join us and together we shall rule the...).

But to stay on topic, if you were Swedish and a designer of tight-fitting, lycra slacks...you'd be drowning in crantinis by Valentines Day.

And now...another kiss for Macallan.

Edited February 5, 2005 by editor@waiterblog (log)

[Daddy-A]

Boy, I sure wish restaurants would offer free martinis to bald Norwegian kitchen designers! That would be really great. I think I'd spend a lot of money at a place that treated bald Norwegian kitchen designers like that!

It's the Norwegian part that remains the big draw.

But seriously Arne, I mean it (not the Norwegian thing).

Believe me Andrew, I'm very serious about being Norwegian

And I'm aware of the marketing opportunities sites like eG present. Remember, we were all here during the whole Chambar & Go Fish! frenzies. Hell, I'll even take credit for some of the Go Fish frenzie. If you've never read The OPENING SOON thread, it's a great example of what you're talking about.

Speaking of which ... we haven't heard from Alex at CHI lately. I hope their opening weekend went well. Anybody have a chance to drop by? May have to try them out next weekend. Valentine's Day should be a good night to judge a new restaurants performance right??

A.

[montrachet]

Good afternoon all,

After a Friday night house warming party in Kits, we headed to Chi around 9:00 and about a 20 minute drive for us from the West Side. Being unfamiliar with the area, we noticed the nicely lit sign of the restaurant and ample parking along Nanaimo and side streets. It was quite dark but the building itself looked pretty big. Once inside, the reception area/lounge was quite spacious and chic. Nice bass laden music throbbed unobtrusively in the background.

The hostess seated us quickly at a lovely window side table and I could see that most of the room was full save one or two tables. A nice communal type table was just to the left of the bar. This Westernized “ozashiki” was a nice touch for larger groups and parties.

A very sleek menu and a separate drinks list were handed to us by our friendly waitress. I had a hard time making out the menus as I only had one candlelight to rely on. I quickly scanned the wine/sake/shoju list but decided I wanted a Mojito instead. Nicely muddled mint/rum infusion that I inhaled promptly. My dining companion had the Jumpin’ Jackfruit martini which was light, refreshing and very tropical.

The Mojito seemed to be the perfect antidote for my “presbyopia” as I was able to read the menu with little difficulty thereafter.

Based on the spiciness of the dip of our starter, “Roti & Dip” I selected the Ironstone Obsession as our wine for the evening. It is a UofC invented hybrid varietal known as “Symphony” and is a cross between Muscat of Alexandria and Grenache Gris. The perfect accompaniment to the bold tastes of the Thai/Malaysian/Indonesian/Japanese/Chinese influenced cuisine. We next tried the Chicken Satay which was slightly undercooked but the kitchen took care of our dilemma without a hitch and even took it off the final bill.

We also tried the Spicy Squid with Mango sauce (crisp on the outside, succulent within, paired with a piquant sauce) and the Duck Breast (a nice portion of extremely juicy and tender slices). These two dishes were our favorites and I can’t wait to try the duck with the Carneros “Etude” that they had on the “Sommelier’s List”.

I was told that it was the second day of operation for Chi. I hope the service and food standards will be kept at this high level as I don’t mind the cross-town drive at all for such a nice “destination” meal.

Looking forward to hearing what others have to say.

Mike

[Ling]

Mike, I think jackfruit is another name for durian, is that correct? If so, I must try Chi's durian martini!