Plunged Into Blackness

[jamiemaw]

It seems to be happening with increasing regularity, even though we live in a province with remarkable hydro-electric surpluses. And it seems especially endemic in Yaletown, and, less frequently, across the downtown grid.

With the season well underway, many downtown restaurants were affected last night, including the wine event at the Hammy, which - except for quick thinking by Neil and his staff - could have degenerated into Marley's Ghost.

There were two swish receptions going on at the Fairmont - for Gucci and Louis Vuitton, no less - and the bars (the 900 West dining room has been converted into a lounge under new F & B Director Matthew Opferkuch) were going full blast when the lights went out.

And many, many other restaurants suffered the same fate last night.

The chokepoint seems to be the Yaletown substation - last summer, when the condo back-up generators noisily cut in, we had to evacuate a restaurant patio prematurely.

Have you had similar experiences? That perhaps led to premature evacuation?

Let's document them here . . .

[Andrew Morrison]

Premature evacuation...nice.

I was having dinner at Cassis last night before they lost power, too. Just moments after I paid my check, out went the lights. They were getting packed (twas the start of the dinner rush), but they handled it with aplomb. Candles were distributed and the show went on. The west side of Beatty was all out, but the east side was lit up just fine. I popped into Chambar for a quick Stella and things were purring as per usual. A walk up through Yaletown, dodging cars unused to the absence of traffic lights, found the restaurants up and running again. I think it couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes, which is a lifetime when you've got a grill full of steaks and a deep fryer filled with squid.

Up at Araxi a couple Saturdays ago, I was having dinner with Eric Pateman and Jack Evrensel when Jack was pulled away from the table by a phone call. The fire alarm at Cin Cin was tripped. Bwa Bwa Bwa Bwa!!! Right at the start of their evening rush. They had to shut down the restaurant for the night - on a Saturday no less. All this when Cin Cin's GM, Sebastien, had made the trip up for Cornucopia and was busy pouring us wine as his dear patrons on Robson were subjected to mega decibel screetching. I would have loathed to be the "manager on duty" left in charge of the restaurant when that went down.

Yikes.

Similar things have happened to me before while working the floor. I've had fire alarms go off, sprinkler systems soak diners mid-meal, and even a naked man wander into one restaurant I worked at. The GM, a delicate gal, completely lost it, and the unclothed, picturesquely endowed man was ushered out by two beefy customers who had their dinners accordingly comped.

The worst, though, was on September 11th, 2001. We were just starting an early lunch for Paramount Pictures (or Miramax or 20th Century Fox) at Prego during the Toronto Film Fest. As the news trickled in of the days horrific events and it became clear that it was a terrorist attack, the eating came to an understandable standstill. Busboys would return from the kitchen (where the radio was) to deliver morbid updates like "It's confirmed, they did get the Pentagon, but no news yet on the Capitol". Everyone was freaked out. Many guests just rose and left to get to the nearest television (most of the guests were Americans from New York). Needless to say, the rest of the Film Fest was cancelled. Rumours flung around the room about Toronto skyscrapers being evacuated (they were). I couldn't get ahold of my wife on the phone (she was pregnant with Jack) and I became very afraid. A feeling of dread pervaded the restaurant. It was the most awful, fear-ridden, and unforgettable shift I've ever worked, and though my experience of that day were a mere molecule to those who were front and center, it was still so terrifying that I continue to have workmares about it.

Edited November 23, 2005 by Andrew Morrison (log)

[nwyles]

Power outages in Yaletown are commonplace. We have three power grids in Yaletown so when it goes out, someone is left with power and they get totally slammed. You do what you can, serve who you can and bill what you can.

I have worked in place where service went on throughout the day without power.

All we were serving was salads and beverages. I felt at the time that it was management's attempt to make some money even thought they were not offering their usual affair. As there were no controls in place, the only people who made any money were a couple of unscrupulous waiters.

[fud]

I think it was a show on the food network where the catering company lost power in the middle of the dinner service for 250 guests. The chef actually managed to pull in BBQs from all the local hardware stores and finish the meals on the grill. I'm guessing the ovens were electric (?).

Pretty fast thinking!

[hopkin]

if the restaurant is prepared with plenty of candlelight, it can be quite an entertaining interuption. staff need to be briefed on exactly what to do in that situation so as everyone doesn't walk out.

see it as an opportunity... i know there's been nights at the bar where I truly hoped the lights would go out.

[Jmahl]

Ha, the pleasure of working in Western Canada were you can depend in the power supply.

I had the honor to operate a white tablecloth restaurant in Saltillo Coah. Mexico in 1980 - 1983. Power outages were normal. In fact we had rolling outages during the crisis. (economic crisis 1982-83). It was great fun when the extractors cut out and the kitchen and then dinning room filled with smoke and you neither breath nor see a thing.

Solution, kept serving drinks - pouring wine - kept going.

It was great fun. I am a criminal defense attorney now in Texas and I think I was having more fun back then.

[merlin]

You do what you can, serve who you can and bill what you can.

←

Quite a few years ago I was one of a number of lunch time "regulars" who sat up daily at the "wood" in an Earls in Edmonton Centre. The restaurant was absolutely slammed. An electrical fire in the complex shut off a generator resulting in a lot of smoke and a loss of power except for the blaring alarm.

We "retired" to another local "haunt" and finished off the afternoon.

The owner/operator would have lost a lot of revenue for all of those who had to leave EXCEPT for us regulars who returned the following day to find our bills awaiting in front of our customary perches at the bar.

[Badiane]

In my final position as an Exec Chef, I worked without electricity - save for a two hour period each morning when the generator was on and I could run my Kitchen Aid. Did this for 17 months. As long as the stove works, it's all good. Of course I never had to worry about food spoilage...unless you count the fact that I had to keep the vegetables under my bed so they wouldn't freeze. Nothing like a case of frozen romaine to screw up a menu when you are 160 miles upriver from the nearest town

[Foodie in Vancouver]

I was once at a cooking class at Barbara Jo's in Yaletown. Romy Prasad (then of Cin Cin) and Caren McSherry had just been introduced by Adrienne (Barbara Jo was in NYC for the James Beard awards - poor soul) when the power went down. Without so much as batting an eye, Adrienne set about lighting candles, many, many candles and someone else started pouring wine. I think Caren barely noticed - she kept talking and entertaining us and Romy started to cook. Quite literally 2.5 hours later when we had all eaten and drunk ourselves to satiety the lights came back on. It is a cooking class I remember, that's for sure and the food was wonderful. Romy gained much admiration from all of us - talk about the show must go on.

As for 9/11, my husband and I were in Manhattan at the time and were walking down to the Village and Murray's Fine Cheese. We saw the second tower come down at which point I agreed that a visit to Murray's was simply not in the cards for us that day. We turned around and started walking uptown with the crowd. But first I insisted that we go to the nearest ATM and withdraw as much cash as possible. The next stop was a wine store for as much wine as we could carry back to mid-town. And the third stop was to call our family in Vancouver and let them know we were OK.

Dinner that night was a challenge - so many restos were closed because either they hadn't been able to get supplies during the day or more frequently, the staff couldn't make it to work as no one was allowed into Manhattan. We eventually found an open restaurant and had a real communal dinner. Everyone talked with everyone and exchanged their stories of the day. Many people spoke of the little differences that resulted in them being alive - late for work, diverted to an errand on the way to work, a child refusing to let the Mom leave her at preschool making the Mom late for work. That is a day and a meal I won't soon forget.

[gerald]

Power Outtage was brutal for the quick service, no lights, no dice, by the time we were turned back on ( literally) the rush was gone like a 2 cent whore at the end of a shift.

[jamiemaw]

I was interviewing a Yaletown restaurant proprietor this afternoon and asked him about this issue. He thought there have been three or four blackouts this year alone, sometimes with serious consequences, especially surge related: POS reset malfunctions, HVAC/extraction issues, computer glitches etc. They've now hardwired in an industrial-strength surge protector, which might also assist for Gerald's last post.

Edited November 24, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[ColinD]

We operate a wood fired rotisserie oven and broiler, when the power goes out so do our ventilation hoods. Dinning room fills with smoke very quickly, we manually bill the guests and clear the room as fast as possible. In the kitchen we have to remove as much of the burning wood as posible and quickly get it outside, its choreographed mayhem. In February the power went out at 3:00pm and did not come back on til 10:00am the next day, last power failure happened at 7pm on a Friday night with a full dinning room.

Colin

[jamiemaw]

We operate a wood fired rotisserie oven and broiler, when the power goes out so do our ventilation hoods. Dinning room fills with smoke very quickly, we manually bill the guests and clear the room as fast as possible. In the kitchen we have to remove as much of the burning wood as posible and quickly get it outside, its choreographed mayhem. In February the power went out at 3:00pm and did not come back on til 10:00am the next day, last power failure happened at 7pm on a Friday night with a full dinning room.

Colin

←

Welcome Colin - to the house of burning logs.

[Matt R.]

The restuarant where I work sits on stilts over the ocean, and I think this may have something to do with spotty electrical coverage. I hear on average power goes out once or twice a year. Most of the Hydro lines in Oak Bay are underground, making this less of an issue than the rest of greater Victoria.

Last time, about four months ago, power went down on a Saturday night. The crew got the expensive stuff down to the freezer, but most everything else was a write off. People pulled up their socks, came in early, real early, and served 250 for brunch the next day. Quite an achievement, given that prep for lunch would have been 90% completed by Saturday afternoon.

Word is that Chef had to do two inventories that month.

-- Matt.

[jamiemaw]

The restuarant where I work sits on stilts over the ocean, and I think this may have something to do with spotty electrical coverage.  I hear on average power goes out once or twice a year.  Most of the Hydro lines in Oak Bay are underground, making this less of an issue than the rest of  greater Victoria.

Last time, about four months ago, power went down on a Saturday night.  The crew got the expensive stuff down to the freezer, but most everything else was a write off.  People pulled up their socks, came in early, real early, and served 250 for brunch the next day.  Quite an achievement, given that prep for lunch would have been 90% completed by Saturday afternoon.

Word is that Chef had to do two inventories that month.  

-- Matt.

←

Hey Matt,

Speaking of lights out, any truth to the story that the famous "Snug" at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel is going to disappear? Or has it already?

Tally Ho,

Jamie

Edited November 24, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[ozver]

Moved from T.O. in January of this year, which meant that i was their for the infamous blackout of 04. For those who may not be aware (ive been here for 10 months and already feel as though i am disconnected from the city.) the city was a part of that massive blackout on the northeastern seaboard of north america. I was working for OB, the company behind Jump, Biffs, Auberge du Pommier and Canoe, at their downtown french bistro biffs. I had just finished 2 and a half years at Jump and knew how "jump"ing a thursday night could be (yes the blackout was on a thursday). The bar was known for doing huge thursday night crowds, and as biffs was shut down immediately i decided to head over to my former place of work (still the same company) and see if they needed any help. They had 4 managers plus a Director of Operations looking after everything and i was told to have a great night off. The next day the bar inventory was tabulated and the estimate (no computerized P.O.S.) was about 5 thousand dollars in bar sales (no food, kitchen was down) in under 2 hours. The servers on eGullet can attest that those are huge numbers. I myself enjoyed an impromptu barbecue of canadian prime rib-eye with a 97 brunello by candel light.

[James Kendal]

We have a generator that transfers power in seconds. Wind storms on the Island get pretty intense.

[tofino]

As my esteemed colleague from the Aerie mentions, out here in Tofino we have 2 generators to provide basic lights for the guests, and candles galore. When we hosted the gala dinner for the North American Relais & Chateaux Congress in April of this year at the Wick, our power went out for about 2-3 hours during the dinner. It was hilarious to watch as the power went out between the 2-3 courses (7 course meal that night for 75 people), and all the Wick managers calmly got up from their tables to grab the necessary candles/lanterns etc to place in the appropriate spots then sat back down again to enjoy the rest of the dinner. When you live out here, you learn to welcome the storm and adjust to it - because there is nothing you or I can do to hasten its departure - and let the guests know this is the way of life here - embrace the craziness, and rather than having to listen to all the extra artificial noises and fancy lighting of most restaurants - enjoy the environment for what it is - we love power outages (ok that may be a stretch - haha - but that is what alot of our winter guests come here for). Just came back from St. Lucia (new home for us in February) and also had a power outage during one of the big dinner evenings - funny to watch people react who are not used to it!!

[ColinD]

what I wouldn't give for a generator, we have very limited refridgeration in the rest. Our walk in is 3 floors down, when the power is down for more than a couple hours the fridges upstairs have to be emptied and put downstairs, 30 trips up and down 6 flights of stairs in the dark is not fun.

Colin

[LordBalthazar]

I was at the Louis Vuitton soiree and had just finished chatting with the always affable Patrick Corsi, Quattro on Fourth's Managing Partner, when the lights went out, eliciting a collective gasp from the invitees and putting a crimp in the planned fashion show ( ). Rather than clear out, most of those in attendance persevered, snacking on hors d'eouvres and sipping champagne, illuminated only by the lights of the passing traffic, until power was restored sometime after 8:30.