Dine Out Vancouver - The Topic (2002-2007)

[Cap'n Crunch]

blue water?

cin cin?

west?

[kontemporary]

blue water?

cin cin?

west?

←

I was also surprised the toptables opted out this year (from the looks of it).

But I've noticed that the TV site is only displaying 136/144 restaurants, so there are some missing.

[makanmakan]

blue water?

cin cin?

west?

←

I was also surprised the toptables opted out this year (from the looks of it).

But I've noticed that the TV site is only displaying 136/144 restaurants, so there are some missing.

←

so does anyone know which restaurants are missing on the list?

[Vancouver]

That menu was perhaps from last year. I edited my menu some time ago but it would appear that the gremlins got to it. I had not gone back to the TVan website to double check until today. I had to re-post it today, after trying many times to get into the slooooooow system. I was finally to later on this afternoon. What is up is what we are serving. You can go to www.diningoutguide.com for the full picture.

←

Ahhhh....Thanks for the clarification! Both menus look really good! Looking forward to it!

Cheers!

[Ling]

blue water?

cin cin?

west?

←

I was also surprised the toptables opted out this year (from the looks of it).

←

I know West is participating...I just got a 9:30pm reservation for the 27th.

[Daddy-A]

BUMP

After talking to a number of restaurateurs (and I realize I'm preaching to the choir here), below is a summary of common sense items they'd really like consumers to bear in mind. So here, in deference to them and the hardworking servers who dish this event up each year, and to maximize your dining pleasure, some points of . . .

Dine Out Etiquette:

1. Don’t even think about being a No-Show.

2. Don’t be late, and be exact on numbers.

3. Order some of that delicious BC VQA wine.

4. Tip your server at least 15% of the bargain you’re consuming—they’re working just as hard—or harder—as on a regular night.

5. You can help the restaurateur by booking for early in the week.

6. If you book for the first (early) seating, especially on a weekend night, be respectful. Be prepared to finish up your three course bonanza in about two hours so the late seating can claim their table without any tears.

7. Make it a night out. Dress appropriately for the restaurant.

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I thought this would be a good time to bring this thread back to the surface. I may regret it later but the points Jamie brought up last year are still important.

A.

[fud]

^ I know I'm going to get flamed for this but...

What is the best way to handle reservations when you have 6 people with varying schedules trying to go to a list of places but of course as you call the places book up and you end up wildy shuffling things around. The only way I manage this is to book for say 4-5 people at every restaurant and then deal with trying to fill those seats. In some cases I may call back and try to increase or reduce the reso. This has got to be a pain in the butt for the restaurants but I can't find a better way to do it. If I got every reso I wanted at the time I wanted this would not be an issue but this is also reality and stuff like that doesn't happen!

Also does OpenTable handle this for you? So if i log in and change a reso, it just deals with it? That's pretty slick.

[Cap'n Crunch]

Some restaurants are dealing with absolute maximum capacity. It isn't as easy as 'dragging another chair over' to accomodate change in group size.

There are usually only so many spots able to handle a larger group. A small change from 4 to 5 people means a different table altogether. Also booking for 5, then showing up with 4 is an inconvenience for that other group that needed a big table, but could not get it because the large table was already booked.

Trying to change a reservation to become bigger is almost impossible during dineout, but it can be equally frustrating for the restaurant trying to maximize bums in seats, when the group shows up with less than promised.

[prasantrin]

3. Order some of that delicious BC VQA wine.

I admit, I'm one of those tap water drinkers. But it's not because I don't enjoy wine (actually, I don't really care for the stuff, but I can appreciate it), it's because alcohol does terrible things to my stomach. So for those of us who cannot enjoy delicious BC VQA wine, how can we avoid the "oh my god what cheapskates, they're only drinking tap water" glances from the waitstaff? Short of ordering bottled water, that is. Do most of the restaurants have amazing non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus?

[inanimate]

3. Order some of that delicious BC VQA wine.

I admit, I'm one of those tap water drinkers. But it's not because I don't enjoy wine (actually, I don't really care for the stuff, but I can appreciate it), it's because alcohol does terrible things to my stomach. So for those of us who cannot enjoy delicious BC VQA wine, how can we avoid the "oh my god what cheapskates, they're only drinking tap water" glances from the waitstaff? Short of ordering bottled water, that is. Do most of the restaurants have amazing non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus?

←

Good question. I'm not huge into wine and sometimes not into drinking alcohol with dinner. I ran into an article in the new york times about how some restaurants were doing non-alcoholic drink pairings with their meals for pregnant women or people who just didn't want to drink alcohol. Seemed very interesting to have those pairings of cery unique mixed juice drinks, teas etc for people preferring not to drink.

Surprised we haven't seen more of it here.

[annanstee]

So far I've got Chambar for the 31st for 5pm ( I know, I know, but my honey gets up at 4am, and the only other options were all at 9:30).

Waiting to hear back from Aurora- anyone know if they have sold out?

May try for one more for a hat trick. I can't believe how fast seats are going this year!

[annanstee]

(BTW--Parkside's Dine Out menu is in effect from Jan. 16th-Feb. 5th).

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Very important info- I think this will complete my trilogy.

Edited January 5, 2006 by annanstee (log)

[ElizR]

Have made bookings for Cru, Aurora (who did have plenty of space yesterday afternoon, and did return my call, so maybe call again annanstee), C, Bistro Pastis and Don Francesco. Am still seriously tempted to make a booking at Nu now that they are taking reservations, but my stomach may not hold out!

[makanmakan]

jeff called back from aurora today and we're in! our first dinner at aurora....i'm at the same time ashamed and excited!

[kontemporary]

3. Order some of that delicious BC VQA wine.

I admit, I'm one of those tap water drinkers. But it's not because I don't enjoy wine (actually, I don't really care for the stuff, but I can appreciate it), it's because alcohol does terrible things to my stomach. So for those of us who cannot enjoy delicious BC VQA wine, how can we avoid the "oh my god what cheapskates, they're only drinking tap water" glances from the waitstaff? Short of ordering bottled water, that is. Do most of the restaurants have amazing non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus?

←

Specifically wine? There's always beer, ciders, scotch, etc.

And short of that, there's usually always tea, freshly pressed juices.

[CanadianBakin']

blue water?

cin cin?

west?

←

I was also surprised the toptables opted out this year (from the looks of it).

←

I know West is participating...I just got a 9:30pm reservation for the 27th.

←

I feel like an idiot but I can't find West's menu anywhere. Are they just using their Early Price Fixe menu?

Edited January 5, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[kontemporary]

blue water?

cin cin?

west?

←

I was also surprised the toptables opted out this year (from the looks of it).

←

I know West is participating...I just got a 9:30pm reservation for the 27th.

←

Must have been their plan all along, to not give TV their menu and to only get the truly dedicated diners

I sent an email to the restaurants asking what their DOV menu is.. i'll post it up when (or if) i get a response

[teamboom]

3. Order some of that delicious BC VQA wine.

I admit, I'm one of those tap water drinkers. But it's not because I don't enjoy wine (actually, I don't really care for the stuff, but I can appreciate it), it's because alcohol does terrible things to my stomach. So for those of us who cannot enjoy delicious BC VQA wine, how can we avoid the "oh my god what cheapskates, they're only drinking tap water" glances from the waitstaff? Short of ordering bottled water, that is. Do most of the restaurants have amazing non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus?

←

Thanks for asking this question! I cannot drink alcohol (I get super sick after 1 sip of beer!!) so I usually ask for a pop or water-I feel because of the whole DineOut experience (which will be my first), I sure don't want to come off as a cheapie!

Cranberry and club soda, please.

[prasantrin]

Specifically wine? There's always beer, ciders, scotch, etc.

And short of that, there's usually always tea, freshly pressed juices.

←

Any kind of alcohol. I can drink, but it does bad things to my stomach. For something like a Dine Out experience (trying to keep this on-topic), or any kind of prix fixe menu, I love the idea of ordering wine pairings because I do know that wine can enhance a food to an entirely new level. But things like teas or juices are usually not paired specifically with menu items, and often mute or interfere with flavours rather than enhance them. Soft drinks are even worse (and they have a similar effect as alcohol on me, anyway).

Perhaps this could be something for how Dine Out can be improved--for restaurants to offer non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus. I'll just wander over to that topic now...

[barolo]

Perhaps this could be something for how Dine Out can be improved--for restaurants to offer non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus.  I'll just wander over to that topic now...

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I think this is a good idea, even for non-Dine Out times.

However, I also think it is ridiculous for anyone to suggest that ordering wine or any alchohol is a 'must' or that a person is cheap if they choose to drink tap water. There's lots of reasons why someone might choose to do so and I don't see any reason to judge them without knowing the reasons.

Maybe restaurants should start asking if customers are only going to be ordering tap water or tipping lightly when they take reservations during DOV so that they can turn away all those undesirable customers .

[fud]

^ I am really liking this idea of non-alcoholic pairings. Imagine if the dish was like a lemon tart paried with lime cordial or something. Heh. I'm sure it would make for a challenge for many resteraunt staff. Do I pair the kiwi juice with the pear-pork belly?

I have the problem of becoming very very drunk after 1-2 glasses and then I break out in rashes. I like wine but I prefer to drink it in the privacy of someone's or my own home so they can privately laugh at me.

[edit]

Or the safe haven of a cooking class with fellow egulleters

[/edit]

Edited January 5, 2006 by fud (log)

[sanrensho]

Any kind of alcohol.  I can drink, but it does bad things to my stomach.  For something like a Dine Out experience (trying to keep this on-topic), or any kind of prix fixe menu, I love the idea of ordering wine pairings because I do know that wine can enhance a food to an entirely new level.  But things like teas or juices are usually not paired specifically with menu items, and often mute or interfere with flavours rather than enhance them.  Soft drinks are even worse (and they have a similar effect as alcohol on me, anyway). 

I'm in exactly the same boat. After a severe case of food poisoning in Africa many years ago, I can't drink alcohol without first reserving a hospital bed.

There is no way I would sip iced tea or fruit juices with my meal, for the reasons you stated. Bottled water is acceptable but carbonated mineral water is simply jarring.

Edited January 5, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[annanstee]

Woo hoo, I got the call from Jeff at Aurora, and we are in! I am so excited! Jeff said he had received about 100 calls yesterday, so move fast if you want to get in.

[fud]

After some dicussion and VETOing from both sides we settled on:

- Parkside

- Joe Fortes

- Beach House

- Il Giardano

- C

3/5 of these will be for the first time. SO excited! I faxed Lumiere "just in case" but no response.

Edited January 5, 2006 by fud (log)

[kurtisk]

One thing worth pointing out is the amount of people who leave something integral out of their phone reservation message. I've had a fair amount who have not left a phone number, number in their party, time they'd like, etc. The more info we have upfront, the less phone-tag and guessing we have to do, which in turn helps you get your reservation. Particularly the phone number thing, hard to do any follow-up on those ones...

k.

PS- It amazes me how many people don't have voice mail.