Vancouver cuisine?

[Bux]

I was in Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle a few years back. I managed to eat well in all three places, but I was impressed by Vancouver as a culinary city. I don't mean to suggest I'd easily give up the restaurants of New York, Paris or even London in exchange for what Vancouver had to offer. It doesn't match those cities in terms of scope or sustained highs, but it did seem world class in some aspects. I didn't see, and this is a plus for Vancouver, the trendy interest in creating a Pacific rim fusion cuisine that I found in Seattle or even San Francisco. Is this yet to come, or is Vancouver too sophisticated and cosmopolitan to fall prey to this sort of thing? I doubt the latter, just by seeing what goes on in NY and now Paris in terms of "fusion." Judging from your online menu, I feel safe taking this tack here as your food doesn't seem to be the kind any one would talk about unless it's very very good. I'm actually a fan of creative cooking, but not of fusion which rarely seems to come from one's own strengths in the kitchen.

We had an introduction to Lumiere and although Feenie was out of town we ate exceptionally well and had an excellent pairing of BC wines. The wines alone, which are unseen and virtually unheard of in New York are reason enough to make a trip interesting for someone who thinks every worthwhile wine in the world can be found in Manahattan shops. Overall the dinner was what I would describe as world class and together with some more casual spots, some home cooking and the Granville market it was easy to believe one could eat very well on a daily basis in Vancouver. Oddly enough, one of the highlights of our trip was the black cod (sable) served at a Hunan restaurant in Victoria. The manager told us he got it straight from his fisherman friend who caught it off the Alaska coast. Thus I was both surprised and disappointed at your response regarding fresh fish to Jayask's question about ingredients. Of course I was delighted to see you've taken steps to solve your problem, but I was pretty impressed by the fish I saw available at the Granville market. Can you tell us anything about your sources in relation to say, a New York chefs? Could your work with suppliers in terms of seafood bring about a benefit to the consumer in a manner related to the way New York chefs have worked with local farmers whose produce may also be purchased by consumers in the Greenmarket?

Thanks for coming to eGullet. Thanks for reading my post. Please feel free to respond to the questions I've asked along the way, or instead to respond to anything I've said if you find a more interesting opening.