Get Out Your Handkerchiefs

[jamiemaw]

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Because an adjacent thread was veering slightly off topic, and because it seems we all have so many restaurant memories to share, here's a modest list to begin with. I hope that it helps prompt you to share yours . . . . and please feel free to add to the list . . . but let's hear your stories.

Adega, Air Affair, Armando’s, Angelica’s, The Attic

Barabara-jo’s, The Bayside Room, The Beachcomber, Berardo’s

Big Frank’s Steakhouse, The Breadline, Boswell’s, Brother Jon’s

Cafe Splash, Carmen’s, Casa d’Italia, The Cavalier Grill, The Cave, Chanterelles, Chardonnay’s, Charlie Brown’s, Cheyna, Cheerystone Cove, Chez Daniel, Chez Joel, Chez Luba, Chez Victor

Das Rheingold, Dean’s, The Devonshire Seafood House, Dufour & Co., Dine In The Sky (Sylvia Hotel)

El Parador, Emilio’s, Empress de Chine, English Bay Cafe, Eye Scream

Fado, Fatzo's, Francesco Alonghi, Frank Baker’s, Frisby’s Railcar Restaurant

The Frog and Peach

The Gillnetter, Gizella’s, The Greenhaus, Guppy’s

Harry C’s, The Hungry Pilgrim, Hy’s at the Sands, Hy’s mansion

Iaci’s Casa Capri, Il Barino, Il Palazzo, Isadora's, Isy’s

Jackie’s, Jacques Spratt’s, Jean-Claude, Joe Kapp’s, Johann Strauss, JuJu

Kafana Bosna, Ken Wong Village, Kon Tiki, Kozmas, Kuzmas

La Brasserie d’Horloge, La Brochette, La Cachette, La Cantina, La Columbe, La Cote d’Azur, Lady Alexandra Floating Restaurant, la creperie, Le Cous Cous, La Raclette, La Tour Eiffel, Leo’s Steakhouse, Le menu, Le Petit Montmartre, Le Napoleon, Le Pavilion, L’Escargot, Little Budapest, L’Orangerie, The Longhouse

The Medieval Inn, The Marco polo, The Meatmarket, Momiji, Monty’s seafood House, Mother Tucker’s, McQ’s, Muck a Muck, Mulvaney’s

The Noodle Makers, Oil Can Harry’s, The Old Roller Rink, Onassis, The On On, Orestes, The Organ Grinder, 999 Station Street, Ondine’s, Oscar’s Steakhouse

Papillotte, Peter’s

The Quarry House

Raku

Saltimbocca, Santa Fe Cafe, The Sea Garden, Sir Edgar’s Dining Lounge, Sir Walter Raleigh, Someplace Else

Taka, Teany’s, Tiffany’s, The Timber Club, Top of the M.A.R.C., Top of the Towers, The Trestle, Toulouse Lautrec, Tokay, Three Greenhorns, Tommy Africa's, Tommy O's, Trader Vic’s, Truffles, The Tug

12 Caesars, Victoria Station, Vie’s Steakhouse, Viva!

Zinfandel’s

Edited February 23, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[Vancouver]

Taka.

[barolo]

Cherrystone Cove

[Andrew Morrison]

Kuzmas!

First place I even vaguely remember (twas the bellydancers, no doubt).

[sasskitty]

Fatzos (now Slimz...NOT the same)

[SushiCat]

Momiji - yum sashimi and sushi and other Japanese delicacies

[Mooshmouse]

Frank Baker’s

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Ah yes. Family meals out on the deck at Frank Baker's. That bastion of culinary wonderment from the days when buffet dining and Copper Kettle restaurants were all the rage, the stuff of childhood memories.

The James Bond mobile in the glass showcase out front. And who can forget the fig leaf on the statue of David in the women's washroom. It was attached to a buzzer that rang throughout the entire restaurant, thus identifying all curious onlookers.

They just don't make restaurants like that anymore.

[jamiemaw]

OK folks, I'm adding your entries into the master list of the deceased, but any stories to tell?

[Mooshmouse]

Raku Kushiyaki, once in the space now occupied by Sushi Wabi Sabi. The forerunner of today's izakaya dining craze.

[barolo]

The Timber Club in the Hotel Vancouver. We can all laugh now at what a stuffy place it was, but that was my first real "fancy" dinner date.

Pheasant under glass, actually brought by the waiter under a silver dome and unveiled (undomed?) with a flourish. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how impressed I was, but going out for dinner was a much bigger deal then than it is now.

[Foodie in Vancouver]

Can't remember the name of the restaurant that used to be in False Creek on Leg in Boot Sqaure but I think it was something like Fish? It opened in the run-up to Expo and then died out about a year afterwards. Manny was the GM. Can't remember the name of the restaurant - driving me nuts.

[shelora]

"More wine, wench"! This was the drunken cry that hounded me every weekend for two years at the Mediaeval Inn. It was the 1970’s and this was my first official job in the service industry. I contributed to many a horrid hangover, pouring all-you-can-drink B.C. red to adults wearing bibs, which we, the wenches, courteously tied around their necks.

Set in Gastown in an old creepy brick building, authenticity was tantamount and we took our jobs seriously. Dark, dank and overrun with mice, two floors of the building were reserved for private functions where we worked our wenching magic.

We would festoon the rooms with candles and incense, issuing each guest with a bowl, a glass and a steak knife. After setting the stage we would tart ourselves up for the evening.

Our costumes consisted of a long red skirt topped with a white low-cut puffy-sleeved blouse. The finishing touch was a large leather lace-up belt that heaved our assets up to our necks for maximum effect.

Being young and naïve certainly helped our enthusiasm but it was the promise of getting high each evening either with the minstrels, the lord of the evening or the drunken revellers. We felt that being stoned helped us get into our roles and made us more efficient. Or so we thought. (Our boss didn’t quite agree when he caught 10 wenches sharing a fatty one evening).

If none of you can remember the Mediaeval experience, the dinners went something like this. You and your friends could rent out one of the party rooms and drink as much as you wanted for a nominal fee. Dinner was included and consisted of four courses; cream of leek soup (or cock-a-leekie), one trout (with head and bones), half a Cornish game hen and roast beef. Each course or rather "remove" was presented with much pomp and circumstance. Entertainment was also provided by a wandering minstrel (in tights no less) and a "lord" who officiated at the head of the table, conducting the "show."

The lord, an out-of-work Shakespearean actor, also took his role seriously. He entertained the party with ribald jokes and songs, getting drunk right alongside everyone else. If he could no longer speak or capture the attention of the drunken and unruly crowd – which was more often than not - he would resort, like any other trained actor would, to improvisation. This usually took the form of standing on the table, lifting his lordly gown and flashing the guests. Now, that’s entertainment!

As I mentioned earlier, the tables were laden with nuts - which you had to crack with your bowl - a basket of oranges and a steak knife. These oranges were rarely eaten and more often became weapons for that jolly mediaeval game of bean-your-neighbour-in-the-head. We, the wenches became inadvertent targets along with the merry wandering minstrel. The food fights could become particularly nasty by the second remove of the evening, Cornish game hen.

Standing in the middle of the room, with a platter of steaming roasted hens we would announce,"Lords and Ladies, the first remove of the evening is Cornish game hen".

We would then impale each half with a dangerous and mediaeval-looking fork and fling them onto plates, assembly line style. We wenches could do this with lots of hearty enthusiasm or resentment, depending on the guests. Besides, the flying juices only added to the theatre and those bibs helped a lot!

If there were any bones left on the plates we would wander the room with a large metal bucket, calling, "alms for the poor, alms for the poor". The guest would scrape their scraps into the bucket and away we would go for more jugs of wine.

This continued on for at least four to five hours, food flying, with many guests removing clothing or throwing up their removes. The damage had been done, we had done our duty and this was our cue to scurry off and smoke a fat one in the change room.

At the end of the evening, in an altered state, the wenches’ duties continued as we scrubbed the thick wooden tables with a bucket of soapy water and stiff brush. A forgotten guest would inevitably be found passed out somewhere in the room and had to be carried down the stairs and shoved into a taxi.

Cleaning up one particular evening, we discovered a camera with film still left in it. Inspired, we decided to do a little "flashing" of our own before depositing the camera to the lost and found. It was our way of saying, "Thanks, for the memories."

[Coop]

Santos! What happened?

Jamie, La Cantina, now Stormin Norman's the Wreck Beach Chef! Oh the memories, of La Cantina. open and gone in.........one year?

Air Affair, is that where you learned the sweater over the shoulder thing?

I was one of the few to eat at Cherrystone Cove. Smalllest kitchen ever.

Can I add La Brochette, La Pallette and Benningtons ( I worked there fresh out of VCC).

Guppy's, Fandango, and Ondine's and a place called the Clam and something at False Creek marina.

Edited February 23, 2005 by Coop (log)

[jamiemaw]

"More wine, wench"! This was the drunken cry that hounded me every weekend for two years at the Mediaeval Inn. It was the 1970’s and this was my first official job in the service industry. I contributed to many a horrid hangover, pouring all-you-can-drink B.C. red to adults wearing bibs, which we, the wenches, courteously tied around their necks.

Cleaning up one particular evening, we discovered a camera with film still left in it. Inspired, we decided to do a little "flashing" of our own before depositing the camera to the lost and found. It was our way of saying, "Thanks, for the memories."

←

And thanks for your memories, Shelora--an outstanding post.

[jamiemaw]

Santos! What happened?

Jamie, La Cantina, now Stormin Norman's the Wreck Beach Chef! Oh the memories, of La Cantina. open and gone in.........one year?

Air Affair, is that where you learned the sweater over the shoulder thing?

I was one of the few to eat at Cherrystone Cove. Smalllest kitchen ever.

Can I add La Brochette, La Pallette and Benningtons ( I worked there fresh out of VCC).

Guppy's, Fandango, and Ondine's and a place called the Clam and something at False Creek marina.

←

Santos--too many stairs for the waiters groaning under those big trays.

La Brochette--the most beautiful dining room (with the possible exception of Il Palazzo) in Vancouver, ever. Both designed by Umberto in part. And if you couldn't get lucky after forking out the big bucks for table one in front of the rottisserie at La Brochette--well, it was probably time to examine the priesthood as a career option. Unfortunately, the lease ran out and so did the operators--although I've seen Pierre here and there, but no sign of Dag.

Air Affair--where affairs did indeed take flight. Then Bud Kanke converted it to Viva! with a smaller dining room for desserts and liquers, so as to turn the main room faster. Viva! though, was also a brand of toilet roll and a small, highly undependable car. The restaurant's patrons were just as undependable. It did, however, pioneer a lot of neat food, and if I could lay my hands on the menu I thought was here I'd tell you more about it.

Ondine's--pretty nifty seafood for its time.

But the La Cantina I was referring to was Umberto's little seafood restaurant beside the 'Yellow House' on Hornby; Ken Bogas was there for a while.

Edited February 23, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[vin]

Tommyo's off Broadway,

My first job in the restaurant industry as a busboy.

vin

[chocklateer]

Having spent most of my youth living on the other side of the bridge(the Oak street bridge), I never really had any idea what the fine dining experience was alll about. It was the 70's and Vancouver was so young and innocent back then...or maybe it was just me. I remember two experiences that broke me out of my suburbial shell and looking back, ignited in me a spark that would, ofcourse, years later explode into a full fledged passion for exquisite food and beverages of the alcoholic type. One was at a restaurant that had "Charlie" in the name(Upstair Charlie's?)near/where the Bombay Cycle Club used to be. I remember we (my date and I) rode up in an elevator to a dining room filled with white gloved waiters who anticipated and filled every dining need that a green sixteen year old and her boyfriend could dream of having filled.

and

the other was at Someplace Else on Beatty street. I was in my twenties and still rather naive. I think it was a first date...even so, I remember having oysters rockefeller for the first time...and I remember the 'port hole' windows...it was like being someplace else...another time another place. I often drive/walk along Beatty trying to remember exactly where it was and reminescing.

Oh and then there was... Ping Pong's on Robson. Not exactly a restaurant but indeed a classy. They had lovely Italian Gelato Desserts....the Sunny side Up...vanilla icecream with apricot halves drenced in zabiglione!!! Oh Yum!!! So sad it's not there anymore....

Ah, there's my walk done memory lane...enough for now.

D.

[Mooshmouse]

Tommyo's off Broadway

←

Tommy O's. It's where Ian took my Mom out for lunch to ask for her blessing before proposing to me! The venue for many more "special occasion" family dinners. I was sad to see it go... how I miss their beef tenderloin.

[Mooshmouse]

One was at a restaurant that had "Charlie" in the name(Upstair Charlie's?)near/where the Bombay Cycle Club used to be. I  remember we (my date and I)  rode up in an elevator to a  dining room filled with white gloved waiters who anticipated and filled every dining need  that a green sixteen year old and her boyfriend could dream of having filled.

←

Was that Uptown Charlie's?

[agog]

Frank Baker’s

←

Ah yes. Family meals out on the deck at Frank Baker's. That bastion of culinary wonderment from the days when buffet dining and Copper Kettle restaurants were all the rage, the stuff of childhood memories.

The James Bond mobile in the glass showcase out front. And who can forget the fig leaf on the statue of David in the women's washroom. It was attached to a buzzer that rang throughout the entire restaurant, thus identifying all curious onlookers.

They just don't make restaurants like that anymore.

←

The Copper Kettle was a chain of all you can eat smorgasbord. One time we decided to have a contest to see who could eat the most so we brought a postal scale and plunked it in the middle of the table. I think there must have been 8 of us at the table. We sure got our share of food that night.

I don't remember how long we were there or how many trips we made to the smorgasbord but the winner (not me) ate 7 pounds worth of food. I only managed a measly 5 pounds.

[appreciator]

I miss Isadora's on Granville Island..... the space now occupied by the Cat's Meow. When I first moved back to Vancouver from Salt Spring (about 20 years ago, now), my girlfriends and I would go down there for "Go Nut's burgers" amongst other things because it reminded us of "home".

Also.... can anyone remember the name of the little place on 4th Avenue and Yew that used to serve breakfast? They made the most amazing brioche. It may have even been called Cafe Brioche though that doesn't sound quite right to me. Used to love going there for breakfast on Sunday mornings.

I also miss Tommy Africa's though we really used to go more for the dancing but I'm pretty sure I remember eating there as well at some point. The place was huge!

Edited February 23, 2005 by appreciator (log)

[agog]

the other  was at Someplace Else  on Beatty street. I was in my twenties and still rather naive. I think it was a first date...even so, I remember having oysters rockefeller for the first time...and I remember the 'port hole' windows...it was like being someplace else...another time another place. I often drive/walk along Beatty trying to remember exactly where it was and reminescing.

←

I remember eating quite a few times at Someplace Else also. It was located just to the right of where the Georgian Court Hotel is now. There was always a hotel there but I don't recall if it was called the Georgian Court back then, way before it was renovated. It might even have been attached to the hotel.

The interior was what really caught my eye. It was the first time in Vancouver that I'd eaten sitting at these big plush wrap around leather booths. The same ones that you see in Las Vegas showrooms. It also had all these art deco lamps and sconces on the wall. As chocklateer said, "another time another place". The food was pretty decent too.

[jamiemaw]

I'm sure that you all realize by now that the real reason I posted this topic was to figure out how old you are.

Edited February 23, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[shelora]

"Can't remember the name of the restaurant that used to be in False Creek on Leg in Boot Sqaure but I think it was something like Fish?"

You don't mean the restaurant that was behind Emily Carr arts school do you? Wasn't that something Fish? I vaguely remember another restaurant in Leg in Boot around the time of Expo though. I think I applied for a job there with scads of other hopefuls. The interview was conducted by you the hopeful and five management weiners. Very comfortable experience.

What our the names of those two restaurants? Now it's driving me nuts.

s

[shelora]

"I'm sure that you all realize now that the real reason I posted this topic was to figure out how old you are."

Jamie, you look so good for someone born in 1912! What's your secret? Oil of Olé?