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City Food


barolo

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We have a thread for EAT, so I thought I'd start one for City Food. I just picked up the latest edition, Winter 2005/06.

This one is the wine edition, containing recommendations from local sommeliers, an article on restaurants with reasonably priced wine lists, another one on Merlot, another on blends, one on wine gifts and yet another on wine books and more.

There's also reviews of Le Crocodile, Senova, Nu and La Cucina del Diavolo as well as reports on various opening and closings (including the answer to my question about the new restaurant to be opened by the people behind Glowbal on Granville - Sansafir to open in the spring) , and a Victoria report.

Cheers,

Anne

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  • 3 months later...

I've meant to post this for a while but got distracted.

The spring City Food is out, featuring a new column for coffee geeks by Mark Prince, newly opened restaurant listings, a feature on the Whitewater Cooks cookbook, as well as Okanagan, Vancouver Island and Whistler reports, among the contents.

Cheers,

Anne

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I think there's some good writing in City Food and I think the design is better. I agree the material is often not timely by the time it is distributed, but there is also the website which is updated fairly regularly now and I see references to it here fairly oftern. I read both and I'm glad both exist.

Cheers,

Anne

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  • 3 months later...

I read both but prefer "Eat". Why is it that we cannot have a quality food magazine like New Zealand's "Cuisine"? NZ has a population 1/5 of Canada's but their food magazine is on par with "Gourmet" or Australia's "Wine and Food".

Cheers,

Stephen Bonner

"who needs a wine list when you can get pissed on dessert" Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares 2005

MY BLOG

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I read both but prefer "Eat". Why is it that we cannot have a quality food magazine like New Zealand's "Cuisine"? NZ has a population 1/5 of Canada's but their food magazine is on par with "Gourmet" or Australia's "Wine and Food".

Cheers,

Stephen Bonner

NZ may have 1/5 of our population but all of those people live in a country that would fit inside the state of Colorado. I think our cities are too far apart (and our country just too wide) for there to be a comparable food/dining magazine. The US has the population to support a $6 magazine. I think it would be very unlikely to ever see a free, advertiser-paid, model here on the coast.

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Cuisine magazine is actually almost $10 Cdn to buy per issue. I would never expect a free magazine of that calibre in any country. I think our size is not of importance (postage is a standard rate nationally) and our population is primarily city based acoss the nation as is the advertsing market audience. I think New Zealander's travel alot more than the average Canadian and have a much larger appreciation of wine, food, and travel which generates interest in a world class magazine.

Stephen

"who needs a wine list when you can get pissed on dessert" Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares 2005

MY BLOG

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Cuisine magazine is actually almost $10 Cdn to buy per issue. I would never expect a free magazine of that calibre in any country. I think our size is not of importance (postage is a standard rate nationally) and our population is primarily  city based acoss the nation as is the advertsing market audience. I think New Zealander's travel alot more than the average Canadian and have a much larger appreciation of wine, food, and travel which generates interest in a world class magazine.

Stephen

It seems to me that the one thing that would produce a superior magazine like you describe would be the creative/visionary force behind it; the editor and or publisher (along with whichever contributing writers they choose to hire).

It is their vision that makes it work. We obviously have the palate of food and wine to choose from so if we don't have a superior "food tabloid" it is the fault of the people running them.

Perhaps there is a brain drain and the better minds are being pulled into other (and higher paying) things like the numerous food mags we have in N. America.

But to stay on topic: Where is the new CityFood, we are 2/3 of the way through July!!!?

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Cuisine magazine is actually almost $10 Cdn to buy per issue. I would never expect a free magazine of that calibre in any country. I think our size is not of importance (postage is a standard rate nationally) and our population is primarily  city based acoss the nation as is the advertsing market audience. I think New Zealander's travel alot more than the average Canadian and have a much larger appreciation of wine, food, and travel which generates interest in a world class magazine.

Stephen

I think geography has something to do with it. The competition for our magazine dollars from the US has a big influence. For example, Australia has produced an extremely high quality, expensive magazine related to fine craft, all southern hemisphere focused, where no one in Canada has been able to make a go of it due to competition. primarily but not exclusively from the US.

I would also be curious about the differences in tax laws and government policies as they relate to such ventures. For example, how many of those $10 magazines are actually purchased by individuals versus used as free, tourism promotion materials.

NZ, which has about the same population as BC, has a tourism industry that is twice the size of BC's. I'm not sure if there is a cause-effect there or not, but I have to believe there is a relationship. Clearly, looking at how we are really doing relative to the rest of the world, especially those countries which are comparable, we are not leading the pack. Which is really your point, I guess.

Cheers,

Anne

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  • 4 months later...

The fall/winter 2006 City Food has hit the streets. It is devoted to all things pig - Pigs We Love: A snout to tale issue.

I like this issue - as usual it is well designed with lots of good photography, and the focussed content makes for a good read.

Cheers,

Anne

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  • 2 weeks later...
The fall/winter 2006 City Food has hit the streets.  It is devoted to all things pig - Pigs We Love: A snout to tale issue.

What a lovely issue -- I especially love the two heart-warming and witty excerpts from Anny Scoones' books.

I was in hog-heaven reading and re-reading the publication, until my thoughts started drifting off to the upcoming Christmas Party Dinner -- HOLD ON A SEC! It's not quite snout to tail coverage really...

... it has left out the venerable Caul Fat!!!

So, could anyone be so kind as to let me know where in the Lower Mainland I might be able to get caul fat? It's urgently needed for my Christmas dinner...!

Edited by nondual1 (log)
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The fall/winter 2006 City Food has hit the streets.  It is devoted to all things pig - Pigs We Love: A snout to tale issue.

What a lovely issue -- I especially love the two heart-warming and witty excerpts from Anny Scoones' books.

I was in hog-heaven reading and re-reading the publication, until my thoughts started drifting off to the upcoming Christmas Party Dinner -- HOLD ON A SEC! It's not quite snout to tail coverage really...

... it has left out the venerable Caul Fat!!!

So, could anyone be so kind as to let me know where in the Lower Mainland I might be able to get caul fat? It's urgently needed for my Christmas dinner...!

You'll have to contact a good butcher obviously. I check with Windsor Meats in West Van or Main Street first, then maybe Peter Black and Son's. Good luck.

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The fall/winter 2006 City Food has hit the streets.  It is devoted to all things pig - Pigs We Love: A snout to tale issue.

I like this issue - as usual it is well designed with lots of good photography, and the focussed content makes for a good read.

Looks like Sara at Slate on MSN also loves the pig:

http://www.slate.com/id/2155422

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Yes, this is easily the best issue City Food has done in eons, EAT has been carving them up for so long now that I had almost given up hope. Smart idea to stay away from the more time sensitive articles and focus on a great theme like this one.

I'm not quite sure where the redesigned web site is going though, it seems more like she is trying for a North American appeal vs. a local one (based out of New York?).

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  • 8 months later...
Summer 2007 edition of City Food is out with capsule descriptions of 99 restaurants opened recently in Vancouver.  Available in print and on-line.

I posted this Sept 2 on the Openings and Closings thread, not realizing there was a thread devoted to City Food already (my bad). I haven't been able to get a hard copy yet despite a couple of calls to the CF office to track it down and would like to as the electronic version of the issue is still a bit limited as of today:

This sounds pretty useful if you like lists (and I do), posted today on the CityFood site:

New release! The CityFood Magazine Directory of New Vancouver Restaurants for 2007.

We started this directory as a resource for ourselves - to help us keep track of all the new restaurants that have recently opened in Vancouver, and to monitor which ones we needed to pay a visit to. Then we decided to share all this information with you.

It may not look like it, but the project quickly turned into a daunting task, perhaps the most logistically difficult content we've ever attempted in the 15 years of our publication. At one point during the production process, it seemed like new restaurants were opening daily, and the statistical data about all of them was in a constant state of flux. (The city strike which forced many restaurants to delay their opening until fall, or else speed up their projected timelines, didn't help much either.) However, for what it's worth, this is the most complete picture we could assemble when the editorial was sealed a few weeks ago.

It already needs a few updates, natch, and there are more changes in store that are approaching quickly. So instead of posting the free and downloadable digital version via our website right away, we are going to hold this back for a week or so and let the printed version circulate while we make any necessary adjustments. After that, there will be another way to keep your print copy timely, and we will let you know how that will work after the long weekend.

In the meantime, we hope you find this print edition useful, and if you spot any inaccuracies you will let us know so that we can correct it on the website version.

Wishing you a fantastic, and sunny!, Labour Day Weekend!

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  • 9 months later...

There's a new City Food out - I picked mine up at Granville Island this morning. It's an art and food issue with lots of original material including an interview with Timopthy Taylor on the art of Cameraman and Andrew 01. It still contains some of the more traditional material like openings and the calendar. A feature on chef's tattoos is not exactly original but there's good photography and some interesting stories there.

City Food has always had a wonderful sense of design and I thank Rhonda May for injecting more art (as opposed to the standard food porn) into the mix.

Cheers,

Anne

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