Aurora Bistro, BC Hospitality Foundation, Boneta, Billy Connolly on Cookbooks, Food Paintings, Unsung Heroes Menu at Blue Water, Nu Anti-Valentines Party, Kathy Barnett, Chow, Glowbal Valentines Menu, Cafe Medina, Splitz Grill, Motomachi Shokudo

ANNOUNCEMENTS - (February 1, 2008)


Katherine Manson will be leaving Zin Restaurant & Lounge to join the team at Aurora Bistro Her last day as General Manager at Zin will be this Sunday February 3rd and the Zin team will be hosting a farewell open house for Katherine between 5:00pm and 8:00pm in the Zin lounge Sunday February 3rd. If you are unable to stop by, you will find Katherine at Aurora starting Tuesday February 5th.


The B.C. Hospitality Foundation raised more than $110,000 at their first annual Founders Dinner last Monday. The sold-out dinner, which officially launched the newly formed foundation, drew 270 to the Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel for a gastronomic experience led by Pan Pacific Vancouver executive chef, Daryle Nagata and his team which included Ben Genaille of Northern B.C.; Dennis Green of Green Table and go2; Rob Feenie, independent; Lisa Aheir of Sobo; and Greg Hook of Chocolate Arts.


This Monday February 4th, Boneta Restaurant and Brooklyn Brewery will host an industry party for the "brave soldiers of Dine Out Vancouver". "We may not be able to save you now but we can bring you closure."DJ’s Rico Rico, Brand, Rhek and surprise guest will spin whatever the hell they like while bar managers Steve (Nice Guy) da Cruz and Justin Tisdale will pour the medicinal tonics you need. Bring your friends, bring your thirst and bring your best horror stories. Doors at 8PM. At Boneta Restaurant. 1 West Cordova 604-684-1844



Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements



WATCHABLES - (February 1, 2008)

Scottish comedian Billy Connolly gives us a little perspective on pretentious cookbooks.




Incredibly, everything you see in the image below can be found in the kitchen. Photographer Carl Warner has painstakingly captured all kinds of food in a series of still lifes.
To See moreclick here. (Link found by Tim Pawsey)






















Filed in MEDIA/Video ... and MEDIA/art





BLUE WATER CAFE'S UNSUNG HEROES MENU INTRODUCES ECO-FRIENDLY OPTIONS
(Edited from the press release) -(January 31, 2008)

Executive Chef Frank Pabst, an advocate of sustainable seafood practices, is launching Blue Water Cafe's signature ‘Unsung Heroes’ Festival on Wednesday, February 6th.

Pabst introduced the month-long celebration in 2005, in recognition of the dwindling stocks of better-known seafood varieties, caused by overfishing, bycatch and habitat damage. His approach is positive: "chefs have the power to diversify the demand placed on certain species by introducing alternative options," says Pabst.

During the festival, diners are invited to sample from a selection of small plates, including: ...CONTINUE READING...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/The Greater Details.






Our Sincere Condolences to the PIque Magazine of Whistler for the loss of their publisher and founder Kathy Barnett, who died yesterday after a road accident while on a cycling holiday of New Zealand.

Whistler Publisher, Business Woman Dies
- The Vancouver Sun (January 31, 2008)

Ms. Barnett and her husband founded their tabloid style magazine in 1994, just two years after the launch of CityFood, and were for several years, one of our fellow media pioneers using that type of publication format.

We would like to offer our sympathies to the Pique Magazine staff and to Ms. Barnett's family and friends.

THE NEWS HOUND - the Local Ink
(january 21, 2008)

Mia Stainsby appreciates Chow's new acoustic levels as well as their early bird 3 course budget menu for $35. (Chow is not participating in the current city wide Dine Out program.)

"Beside us, a table of two women looked astonished as they viewed the prix fixé menu. "This fixed menu looks great!" one of them said, as if expecting humble pie for earlybird cheapskates."

Early-Bird Dinner Makes it Chow Time - Vancouver Sun (January 31, 2008)

Find the links to other weekly local restaurant reviews on our newsstand now.

Also in the news:

Where Visiting Celebrities Go to Dine - Vancouver Sun (01/31/08)
Where the Elite Meet - Vancouver Sun (01/31/08)
Discreet Hangouts for the Stars - Vancouver Sun (01/31/08)
Mixology as a Team Sport (at Boneta) - Vancouver Sun (01/31/08)
Follow Your Nose to Saffron - Vancouver Sun (01/31/08)
(Medina - Coffee For Thought) - Vancouver Sun (01/31/08)
Why LIcorice is in Vogue - The Telegraph (01/25/08)
Authenticity Screen for Japanese Restaurants- Times Online (01/30/08)


Filed in MEDIA/The Local Ink

VALENTINES ALERT - (January 30, 2008)

Fork you Valentine, V-day is only 2 weeks away, and while maybe you won't mind having someone steal your heart, it's unlikely you'll want your wallet emptied along with it. Which is what may happen if you don't make reservations now. To help with the decision process we've opened up a page to hold the special Valentine's menus and events offered by some of our favourite restaurants and retail shops. See the link in the index at left. We will alert you to new listings on this daily news page and you will be able to find the full details within that section, or in the special menus bar of the RESTAURANTS section (see tab above).

Mmmm ... some of these menus sound so appealing we are considering getting an inflatable boyfriend to occupy the opposite chair while we chow down. Why should the loveless be left out?

Today we start off with global grill and satay bar, where the special Valentine's menu features a "Dessert Lover's Platter for Two" of chocolate-dipped strawberries, Grand Marnier-soaked tiramisu and Valrhona Manjari fondue with pistachio biscotti.















To see full Valentines Menu click here.

Filed in DAILY NEWS/Valentine's Menus ... and ... RESTAURANTS/Chef's Special Menus.

TODAY'S PRESS RELEASES - (January 29, 2008)


Edible BC will celebrate Chinese New Years at the Granville Island Market with a firecracker of a story book.


Don't be stuck in the kitchen when the touchdown happens. Watch the Super Bowl with a Super Bowl pack from Memphis Blues Barbeque House.


Fuel Restaurant's sommelier, Tom Doughty, is into Riesling, so in February the restaurant will feature a menu designed around this aristocrat of grapes.


Travel + Leisure magazine calls the Terrace restaurant in Westbank "The centerpiece of the Canadian wine tourism industry".


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Press Releases.

STRANGE BUT TRUE - (January 29, 2008)

A few interesting numbers ....

The "A Day in the Life of Rob Feenie" lot went for $12, 000 at last night's BC Hospitality Foundation dinner at the Pan Pacific Hotel. The bidder was Mr. Pedersen of Pedersen's Rentals. We guess he will be bringing the cutlery. When introducing the bid, Feenie introduced himself as an "unemployed cripple" (his right hand is in a cast from a sports accident).


Coming up - 200 people will simultaneously sabre caged bottles of Champagne at the Vancouver Club to set a Guinness Book World Record. Hopefully no one will aim at the Queen's portrait and they will remember to protect the rugs.

Happening today - 200 of his friends will meet in a Chinese restaurant to pay tribute to James Barber by playing "When the Saints Come Marching In" - on kazoos. It was a request in the late Mr. Barber's will.


Yes folks, all strange but true.

THE "UGH IT'S MONDAY" WORK PROCASTINATION DEVICE
(January 28, 2008)


The "Insinkerator" puts you against a never-ending stack of dirty dishes. Try your skills. If you are good you could be making big bucks working for Tojo. If not, you have more incentive to keep your desk job.

Scrub here.


Filed in MEDIA/Online






YOUR MORNING CHUCKLE
(January 28, 2008)

For a good laugh read this. Nice try, "Sandy". Beyond the obvious (every second word), proof positive that you are not a restaurant reviewer is in calling squid linguine "innovative". Either that or you were a zygote in the '80s.

That being said, the ever gullible Martini Boys bought it. (scroll down)

(Our thanks to Tim Pawsey for both links.)

----
Update: lots of fun speculation coming in on who might have written this "review". (We'll leave the actual name guesses out.)

" ... I think it reads like a man pretending to be a woman. No woman would say "watch my waistline" or "if I didn't spend money on shoes and purses". If a woman did say something like that she would name the brand, like... "Fox and Fluevog platform slings and Prada messenger bags. ..."

" ...also no woman I know has time to write a restaurant review on December 23. (East Indian or not.) ..."