Dine Out Vancouver

[fud]

Just a quick note on this.

Most restaurants do about a 20 to 30 % mix on desserts, meaning, 2 to three people in ten order dessert.

DOV is 100 % dessert mix !

We needed to get the order right out of the gate so desserts would be ready !

Restaurant do not normally do that many desserts - it is dessert madness !

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I agree with Neil here. This is a game of logistics. It's a busier period I think for most places so tradeoffs need to be made and I'd rather order all three "choices" at the start and have them come on time. If I want the true relaxed experience I won't come during dineout. In a way its a neat experience to see a restaurant totally hopping like a well oiled machine during this period. It's madness! It's exciting to watch.

[fud]

Wow, only 20-30%? I find that very surprising, as dessert tends to be usually the highlight for many people at meals!

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That number sounds right to me.

Remember that the population is not made up of egulleters

[Claudiak]

Just a quick note on this.

Most restaurants do about a 20 to 30 % mix on desserts, meaning, 2 to three people in ten order dessert.

DOV is 100 % dessert mix !

We needed to get the order right out of the gate so desserts would be ready !

Restaurant do not normally do that many desserts - it is dessert madness !

←

I agree with Neil here. This is a game of logistics. It's a busier period I think for most places so tradeoffs need to be made and I'd rather order all three "choices" at the start and have them come on time. If I want the true relaxed experience I won't come during dineout. In a way its a neat experience to see a restaurant totally hopping like a well oiled machine during this period. It's madness! It's exciting to watch.

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Thanks for your perspective on this, gentlemen. I wasn't thinking about that factor. I was also probably getting nitpicky after having a lot of other small things go wrong first.

(And even though I did end up ordering all three at one go, they unfortunately didn't come on time.)

Going back to the cost factor, I was quite frankly surprised by the great menus that some places were able to offer for $15. I almost thought you couldn't even buy the raw ingredients for that price.

If I could play devil's advocate for a minute, what do you all think of offering a $15 menu? Is it worth running at a (potential) loss for 2 weeks worth attracting business for the rest of the year? Does this attract the class of customer that some people on here seem not to enjoy?

Just asking.

[Pez]

Having been away from my hometown for a few years, this was my first DOV. I've been to NYC's restaurant week and Toronto's summerlicious/winterlicious several times, so it was exciting to have the opportunity to participate in this event. I think my biggest observation was that similar problems plague these types of events (from a diner's perspective since I"m not a restauranteur) in all cities. There are restaurants who seem to participate with the long-term view of attracting new customers - food and service is of the high standard that they normally offer. That may mean using a less expensive cut of meat, like beef short rib, but doing amazing things with that short rib. Other restaurants participate, but almost grudgingly with everyone from the hostess to the wait staff treating you like you are riff-raff - surly service, food that is substandard, etc. I can honestly say that DOV wasn't any different. I had both types of experiences, e.g. so-called new york steak that was all gristly and dry, all the way to the most amazing lamb shank that I've had in a while; a waiter that treated us like we were garbage (even though we ordered an $80 bottle of wine) to one that treated us like long-standing guests. We have already made plans to return to some of the good restaurants and others, that I had been excited to visit, will never see my dollars again. I've heard the same thing from friends regarding their good and bad experiences and word does get around. Will I do this again? Definitely! The chance of finding that new fabulous restaurant makes it all worth while.

As a complete aside about naming restaurants where we have had bad experiences, I understand that lots of people read these posts so there is a responsibility to think it through before posting and being clear (vs. the generic "it sucked"), but having heard some of the rants from friends who are the normal joes off the street and have experienced terrible food/service from restaurants because they aren't "someone" (and having shared the same experiences at the same places), I think, because we do have access to this type of forum, we should name names. When I visit other cities, I visit their forums and they are very honest about the good, the bad and the ugly. I think it helps the average person differentiate from the hype and the reality of some places. I can think of at least a handful of places where I have heard nothing but good things from reviewers (and some of the more high profile egulleters), but my experience as an anonymous diner and the experience of the average diners that I know have been completely different (I think we probably all know of these types of situations). Just my two cents.

Cheers!

[nwyles]

If I could play devil's advocate for a minute, what do you all think of offering a $15 menu? Is it worth running at a (potential) loss for 2 weeks worth attracting business for the rest of the year? Does this attract the class of customer that some people on here seem not to enjoy?

I know of one participant that it costs $11.00 just to set the table. Linen, bread, butter, etc. No one has even had the meal yet.

[Denise R]

Newbie alert: this is my first post on the eGullet forums and since I recently took part in Dine out 2006 I figured why not start in this thread. And a little about me: I love to cook, I love to eat, I'm learning about wine, I never skip a reservation, and to receive a less-than-15% tip from me a server would have to pretty much be one of the worst in the city

I've seen a few posts discussing whether or not DOV is successful in attracting new (and hopefully repeat) customers. I can only speak from the customer's point of view, but I believe it can. I personally view DOV as an opportunity to try new restaurants at a decent price (so yes, I'm looking for a bit of a deal too - not bargain basement food at bargain basement prices, but just a bit of a savings over the usual menu). I won't bother going to a restaurant during DOV if the price is basically the same as the regular year-round menu (as others have mentioned, why go through the chaos when the same thing is available during non-DOV times?).

I went to one restaurant during DOV 2005 and had a less-than-stellar experience. Surly waiter, lousy seating, and down-sized portions as compared with the restaurant's regular menu, meaning that my $35 meal was probably worth that, if not less. To give you an idea of how much this establishment "shrunk" their main dish, the scallop (and I stress the singular) in the cioppino was sliced in half horizontally to give the appearance of two scallops in the dish. Or the scallops this restaurant was serving were the skinniest known to man. I was so put off by this experience I wrote the general manager of the establishment that very night and told him what a disappointing experience DOV had been. To his credit, the manager contacted me immediately, was very apologetic, and forwarded a generous gift certificate my way. That gift certificate is nearly one year old and I haven't gone back to use it. That's how much of an impact DOV can have on potential customers.

My DOV 2006 experience was much better, although the start was rocky. We arrived early for our 5:30 reservation. The server was somewhat unfriendly and commented that our sitting ended at 7:00 pm. It was then that I realized she thought we were 20 mins late for a 5 pm sitting when in fact we were 10 mins early for our 5:30 sitting. I mentioned to her that we were a 5:30 reservation and *voila* change of attitude and all was good. We had great appetizers, pretty good mains, and fabulous desserts. We ordered the VQA wine flights and really enjoyed how they complemented the food. It was a $25 menu and I feel I received good value for my money. Immediately after dinner, we went to the associated bakery next door and purchased $50 worth of cakes, cookies etc. and just last week we had a birthday cake from the same establishment. So that one $25 DOV experience led me to make two return visits.

I guess you could title this post: Dine out Vancouver: The Good and the Bad!

And I apologize in advance for my tendency to be long-winded......

[TimK]

I have been 50/50 on DOV. I may be converting. I was at Circolo last night and had a fantastic meal, great friendly service, a greeting from the manager (he thought I was the brother of one of the staff, maybe a slight resemblance) never felt rushed and was happy with it all. We added oysters and a prawn cocktail and walked out raving about it. The room was full and people were having fun, what more could you want on a Tuesday. Wish I would have tried it earlier so I could have ventured to more locales.