In the Photo: Patrick Murphy of Vista D'oro stands beneath the giant black walnut tree that will contribute to the fall release of his Black Walnut Fortified Wine.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM AROUND THE PROVENCE - (June 27, 2008)
Fraser Valley
Patrick and Lee Murphy of Vista d’Oro in Langley are well known for the heirloom tomato plants they cultivate and the gourmet condiments they make from ingredients grown on the farm and sold in their farmgate store. This fall, yet another highly anticipated product from the farm is due to be added to their repertoire -- a fortified wine made from the fruit of a large and stately black walnut tree that presides over the farm’s front lawn. For the past several years, Patrick Murphy has been making the rich, dark, Port-like wine with its spicy/nutty taste and aroma from a unique historical recipe dating back to the French revolution of 1796. Some of the delicious results have made their way into Lee’s fig and walnut preserves, but as the farm did not have a winery license, the couple were unable to sell their walnut wine as a stand alone product. That will change this fall when the farm obtains official status as a boutique winery (September) and the wine fermented from previous walnut harvests and currently resting in barrels, will be bottled (October) and released (November) as First Release – Walnut Wine 2008.
It’s been five years since Chef Jeff van Geest saw the potential in a Main Street restaurant formerly inhabited by the Gobouli Chinese Restaurant, and after a considerable amount of renovation handiwork, turned it around into the hip champion of westcoast cuisine that we know and love today as Aurora Bistro. In honour of the five year anniversary, Aurora will feature a special “Throw Back to The Beginning” Your Food Your Wine Menu featuring old favourites and some of Aurora’s original dishes. They will also be featuring a special cocktail menu with Aurora’s most popular cocktails for $5 each. Available from Monday through Thursday July 7 – July 31, 2008, the three course menu is $49 including wine pairings. Aurora is open for dinner nightly, lunch Monday – Friday, and brunch on weekends. 2420 Main St., Vancouver. 604-873-9944.
Lela Selmo and Colin Madonald have turned over their Cucina del Diavolo (Devil's Kitchen) café in the ARC building on Powell Street to Scott Stephenson, and will be moving at the end of July to a town just outside Milan where Lela spent her childhood. More good news for the family, in Lela’s personal “luggage” is the new baby that the couple are expecting on December 9th. A tip from Annabel Hawksworth about a new restaurant called Michi Sushi (translates as “Street Sushi”) located at 1513 West Broadway (at Granville). Says Annabel " ... At Michi Sushi, the hand rolls are designed to grab and go, they're convenient and portable - no chopsticks required. ... More environmentally friendly, individually wrapped in paper, and not in plastic boxes to reduce excess packaging. .... Healthier than traditional sushi, white starches are limited as they're using 50% brown rice in their sushi rice .. All hand rolls are under $3.50... Hand rolls are portioned for a healthy snack, or one could have 2 or 3 for lunch. The owner is Kenneth Cho, who used to work at West, a fine dining trained server turned entrepreneur who truly appreciates standards of excellence and wanted to show how fast food could be done better. You can see pics of the restaurant on the Butter on the Endive blog. Opening hours are from 11am -6pm Monday to Friday, 11am – 530pm Saturday, Closed Sunday
Food cues: UBC Farm is introducing two new salad greens they introduced to the gardens this year, Ruby Streaks Mustard (a beautiful red variety) and Hong Vit, which has a mild radish taste and is great in soups, salads or stir fries.
Worth a read: Vancouver based book author Hadani Ditmars placed an article on “The Architecture of Vancouverism“ (currently on exhibit in London, England) in the Globe and Mail. Here's more on the show featuring Vancouver architects in an article in the Guardian.
Artful question number 5:What is the the Kinetic Re-Photo-Cubic Revolution? And what provocative thing is it doing on garbage dumpsters behind popular Gastown restaurants?
FARMERS MARKET - (JUNE 20, 208) HONEYMOON WITH THE FARMERS THIS WEEKEND
The first UBC Farm Saturday Market of the season takes place this weekend and they will be celebrating the solstice with their annual Honey Moon Festival.
The term "Honeymoon" comes from the mead made from fermented honey and traditionally drunk in pagan times during the weddings which were traditionally held around the time of the solstice. For the market, it's a chance to celebrate the bees that live and work at the Farm. Local bee expert Allen Garr will lead a bee hive tour at 10:30 a.m. (if the weather cooperates). And, the bee program will have an outreach table where you can learn what all the 'buzz' is about. Bee also on the lookout for Madame Beespeaker who will invite you to help out the honeybees in Vancouver by creating seedballs for urban bee gardens. You can be a guerrilla gardener by launching your seedballs into vacant lots, to fill the city with nectar- and pollen-rich flowers for the bees. Prepare to get a bit mucky and bring along an old egg carton to take home your seed balls.
Other highlights at the farm this weekend include homegrown potatoes from the on-campus demonstration garden at the MacMillan building, the first strawberries of the season, lettuce heads, and the popular salad mix. The Friends of the UBC Farm will be selling tomato transplants and fresh cut lavendar. Additional produce in season should include: green garlic, fresh herbs, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, garlic scapes, kale, mushrooms and Swiss chard.
IMPORTANT NOTE: As you may know, the UBC farmlands, with their high $$$ real estate value are under threat of being converted into luxury condo developments, and only public support can prevent this from happening. If you agree that Vancouver’s last working farm with its over 40 years of farming enriched soil is worth preserving for its unique ability to produce locally grown food, and to teach the public how to grow food for themselves, then you should watch this interesting video interview with Gavin Wright, the Academic Coordinator at UBC Farm, which was filmed by IAM Vancouver.
For more details on the situation, or just to keep up to date with weekly changes at the Saturday market, you can also now access all information via the Farm's new blog.
TheEdible B.C. retail store is celebrating its second year of operation at Granville Island with a weekend long sale. . Beginning at 9am today, everything in the store will be marked down 15% until Sunday night at 7pm! In the past they have offered discounts, but never before have they offered a discount on everything!
The new late night menu starts today at Hamilton Street Grill. You can enjoy two courses for just $22.00 after 9:30 PM.
Artful question #4: If an artist makes a cast from her own tongue to make a sculpture from sugar, corn syrup, flavouring, colour and her own saliva. Then invites viewers to help themselves to a taste as part of the art experience. Is that insightful, insanity, or just unsanitary?
HOW OTHERS SEE US - (June 19, 2008) THE ITALIAN SCHOOL
Yesterday we joined 15 young Italians for a Ciao Chow – a pick-your-own-lettuce lunch at UBC Farms.
The group composed of future winery owners, restaurant chefs, farmers and food journalists were all students from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmonte, and are currently on a week long tour of BC’s gastronomic highlights.
After arriving from Italy on Tuesday, the students were spending their first day at the self-supporting farm, to learn about its operations and the ingredients been grown or raised there, and capping the experience with an alfresco meal of freshly picked greens, cheese and bread at a long wooden table set on the edge of the fields.
As you may imagine, it was interesting to hear comments from people who are observing our local agro scene for the first time. ... CONTINUE READING ...
NINJAS AT THE BAR (There are two of them in this picture. Can you see them?)
A criticism often aimed at women is that they don't accept a man at his word. If he says something, it's generally the case that that's exactly what the guy means, and we need to stop reading all kinds of other meanings or complicated motivations into it. Men are more straight forward creatures than we give them credit for.
That lesson being learned, we think we will apply it to Jack Evrensel. When he says that he took foie gras off his West menu to avoid attracting unwanted disturbance to his customers, and that he reinstated the foie gras to the menu because his customers asked him to, that's probably all it was.
For anyone to make more out of it is presumptuous.
Were the two decisions all part of some master plan to take advantage of small restaurants and big media? Well, that would just be silly.
Now that their art shipments have finally arrived, Tequila Kitchen is getting ready to hold an art showing on June 25 to display the work of Mexican contemporary artist Carolina de la Cajiga (see illo above). Other news from Tequila Kitchen: the patio is open and, thanks to the BC Liquor Board who has opened the gate a little wider, more premium brand Tequila is on the way. To get $5 off the tasting menu or a free botana the secret code phrase for the month is "Quiero mi botana por favor" .
Guests at Bistro Pastis on 4th Avenue can now enjoy a traditional three-course menu of French classics for $35.00. Dishes will be prepared by Chef Frederic Labourdette. The new pre-set menu is available Sunday to Thursday from 5 :30 pm until 10 :30 pm. (Bistro Pastis is closed on Mondays.) 604-731-5020. ... MORE RESTAURANT, WINE AND NEW EVENTS NEWS AFTER THE JUMP ...
WHAT'S YOUR BEEF?: An English chef makes a special effort to buy local, while a BC chef looks to the US.
Backyard barbecue season is here (maybe), yet despite that fact, many city dwellers prefer ordering their beef off a restaurant menu.
To accommodate the urban carnivores, two Vancouver chefs are offering something a little different in the beef department.
After moving to Vancouver from London, Chef Warren Geraghty of West restaurant, says there were two things he really missed. One was sunshine (Welcome to BC), and the other was long aged prime beef.
The weather wasn’t something he could do much about, but the meat he thought he could. So after a bit a searching he found a farmer (a former employee of Hills Foods) who is raising grass-fed cattle in the Fraser Valley, and who was willing to arrange for custom aging of his beef products according to Geraghty’s specific order. ... CONTINUE READING ...
From the country whose citizens collectively throw away 25 billion pairs of disposable wooden chopsticks every year, comes this suggestion on how to be ever ready for your next bowl of rice while saving the environment at the same time.
Japan's Triumph International presents "My Chopsticks Bra".
Alessandra Quaglia of Provence Mediterranean Grill wants Vancouverites to enjoy the kind of dining alfresco experience that is taken for granted in the south of France. To do this, she has joined forces with UBC Farms to take patrons on outdoor picnic excursions. Attendees will participate in gathering fresh picked vegetables from the farm's produce beds and later them at an alfresco dinner set in the middle of the fields. Get the greater details here.
Meanwhile, UBC Farm has a brand new blog – “a place for us to share stories and images from the Farm, as well as information and links about other food and urban agriculture-related tidbits. As of this writing time, they were featuring sexy shots of lettuce heads. By the way, UBC Farms' first Farmers Market of the season takes place next week on June 21st.
The secret that everyone knew about, but couldn't discuss is finally out. Chef Wayne Martin plans to take his concept for Crave (which has worked so well at the restaurant's Main St location) and recreate it for what may be the opposite demographic in West Vancouver. In an even braver move, he is also daring the haunted location of 1362 Marine Drive -- where the rantings of a former Italian chef still rattle through the kitchen pots on windy nights. We wish Chef Martin and partners well, with all of it. Opening in early July, Crave Beachside will have a 70 seat dining room and an outdoor patio with 35 seats looking towards Ambleside Beach. 604-926-3332.
While up the hill … Chef Martin’s other place, Fraiche, is now open for lunch. And if you are dying to know just what they are doing with THEIR mandatory spot prawn appetizer, the answer is: Tempura Spot Prawns with ShavedFennel and Ponzu Dressing. Tuesday to Friday 11:30 to 2:30 p.m. 604-925-7595. ... MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP ...
EVENTS - (June 13, 2008) MANY HARD DINNERS TO TAKE PLACE THIS SUMMER
On February 16th, Scott Harding, aka Scotty Hard, a Vancouver-born, NY-based musician and sound engineer was involved in a hit and run accident in Brooklyn and is now paralyzed below the chest. Like many Canadians living and working in America, Scott is uninsured, hence beyond his medical difficulties, he is facing daunting expenditures in legal and medical bills as well as the necessary renovations that must be made to adjust his physical world to his reduced circumstances.
To aid Scott, a group of friends in New York, Paris and his home town of Vancouver have begun an international series of music concerts and private dinners as fundraisers, with all proceeds going to the Scotty Hard Fund One concert takes place today at Christ Church Cathedral (see details below).
Fiona Morrow told the background story of this fundraiser effort in last Thursday’s Globe and Mail. And you can learn more on the groups website blog.
A couple of weeks ago, Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme, executive chefs and co-owners of La Quercia (a Vancouver trattoria due to open on 4th Avenue on July 1st, 2008) held a dinner in cooperation with That’s LifeGourmet, which raised many needed dollars for the fund. But with many notable members of the Vancouver food and restaurant industry (Top Table Restaurants, Boneta, Salt Tasting Room, etc.) also offering to help, more special fundraising dinners and auctions should be on way. Keep an eye on our calendar of events in CityFood Online and we will keep you informed as to any further details. But so far, upcoming events may include the following: ... CONTINUE READING ....
DINE AND DASH - (June 12, 2008) NEW PIGGING COMING TO MARKET/LITTLE MONSTERS DESCEND ON MEDINA
How Oinkful! Coming this fall/winter from Robert Belcham and Tom Doughty of Fuel Restaurant: The Cure Charcuterie (see logo above).
With a new space in the works, Robert will expand his current production of handcrafted charcuterie items, which he will continue to supply to Salt Tasting Room and other restaurant and wholesale accounts in the city. There are no plans for a retail space yet, ..but... maybe if we twist one of his well-decorated forearms ....
Here is a list of some of the most popular items that Rob has already been making for the past year:
Dry Cured Ham Confit Duck and Foie Terrine Foie Gras Torchon Dry Cured Fennel Pollen Sausage Dry Cured Garlic and Pork Sausage Pork Rillette Bourbon Maple Bacon Confit Pork Shoulder Fresh Sausages Coppa Lonza Smoked Duck Proscuitto Giuancale Lardo Cottecchino Pig’s head Pancetta Lamb Bacon Pork Boudin
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More news .... Chambar Restaurant has launched a new idea that will either have you looking on their sidekick,Cafe Medina, as mana from Heaven on Thursday nights, or else something to run from in horror.
In a new program named "Freedom Nights for Parents", people starved for a little adult time, may now bring their children aged 3 to 7 to Medina every Thursday for the ultimate kid's party supervised by professional nannies from Nannies on Call, and then slip next door for dinner at Chambar.
Sounds like a better idea that what we might do, which would be to drop them off at that fun-fabulous playground nearby (T&T Supermarket) with a "Be good and go play with those cute, live Dungeness Crab now sweetie, while Mommy has a nice glass of wine at the restaurant next door."
Yes, everyone can be glad, we were not procreators.
Freedom nights will run every Thursday for the rest of the summer from 6 to 8 p.m. at a cost of $30 per child. (Despite the temptation, no leaving little Armstrong or Gewynith overnight.) Reservations are mandatory and can be made by phone at 604-879-7119, or via email at info@chambar.com. No one may leave more than 18 children. But if you have 18 children, God help you. You need more than Chambar could possibly, or legally, provide.
Artful question No. 2: Why is commercial grafifitti, the art plastered over billboards, sides of buses and other public spaces, okay? While free art left on back alley walls (that is not selling anything), is illegal? -- question posed by street artist in Craig Noble's documentary "City Spaces."
THE OUTSIDE WORLD - (JUNE 9, 2008) YOUR MONDAY MORNING PROCASTINATOR
List of winners for the James Beard Awards 2008. James Beard Award winners - the longer version. Wine glass designs based on the seven deadly sins. Best morning pick-me-up with your heuvos rancheros - MateVeza. Refrigerator content as art. Love it or leave it - India's emerging wine industry. Muscle up to the chocolate bar. Nothing like dining in an abandoned hydrolic power station - London's Wapping Project. Things we wish we had here #36 - Things we wish we had here #37.
The FarmFolk/CityFolk Society is getting ready to offer the 3rd annual Sea-to-Sky “Feast of Fields” - an interactive harvest festival. This year the event will take place on Saturday, August 30, 2008 at Rebagliatti Park in Whistler - a natural green space in the heart of Whistler village. Attendees will be able to explore and sample some of the finest local, organic offerings from top chefs, vintners, farmers and brewers of the Squamish to Pemberton region. Sponsoring partner, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler will also be offering a special stayover package rate that includes tickets to the event, one-night accommodation, a private tour through Whistler’s Farmer’s Market with the Chateau’s Executive Chef, and a brunch buffet for a total price of $199. Call 1-800-606-8244 for reservations or click www.fairmont.com/whistler.
***See the photos from the 2007 Sea-to-Sky Feast of Fields (hosted by North Arm Farms) by clicking here.***
The first annual West End Car-Free Festival takes place on Sunday, June 15th from noon to 6 p.m.. (Which also happens to be Father’s Day.) In collaboration, Raincity Grill will extend their patio onto the street. The restaurant will offer brunch service (reduced menu) right into the afternoon. Or if Dad is more of a “picnic blanke at English Bay’ kind of guy, the Raincity Grill takeout window will be serving a sustainable version of fish and chips for $10, complet with biodegradable containers and cutlery. 1193 Denman Street. 604-685-7337. For more information on Car-Free Vancouver Day (which will also be presented in three other communities of Kitsilano, Main Street and Commercial Drive), see their website at www.carfreevancouver.org.
SEE MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND THE LATEST EVENTS LISTINGS AFTER THE JUMP.
ON THE NEWSTAND - (June 4, 2008) FROM THE 'NO ONE ASKED US, BUT...' DEPARTMENT
It would appear that Chef Warren Geraghy has failed to impress Alexandra Gill, restaurant reviewer for the Globe and Mail.
“[Poor] Mr. Geraghty is flubbing his way through the local produce seasons.” She says. “ It's going to take him at least a year to figure out the fish.”
This charming, two and a half bedroom cottage is self-contained and perfect for Fairburn's week-long culinary boot camps, summer family vacations, wine enthusiasts, weekend cyclists or a girls' getaway. The bathroom and kitchen have been renovated and a new front porch added for guests to watch the world (and water buffalo!) go by. Fairburn Farm is home to North America's only herd of genuine European River Water Buffalo. The farm's field to table cooking classes features fresh garden ingredients, buffalo mozzarella, locally raised meats and seafood.
Other news ….
Fans of Provence and Provence Marinaside restaurants can now keep up to date with what’s new at the restaurant, as well as Vancouver's restaurant scene via Alessandra Quaglia’s new blog on the Provence restaurant website. You'll even find some Quaglia family anecdotes. .
In their efforts to more fully utilize food animals, chefs have been bravely experimenting, if not frightening their customers, with the introduction of such novelties as tongues, ears, feet and other "less popular" cuts of meat onto their fine dining menus.
The seafood department is getting no exemption from these trendy ideas about waste reform either. The greater dining public may not be ready for fins and eyeballs, nevertheless, fish carcasses are being reexamined for overlooked tasty bits that hitherto may have been flung from the backs of fishboats as seagull buffet.
From this search has come the sableene (pronounced like Mabeline), and it's an item that's not turning out to be a hard sell at all. ... CONTINUE READING ...
"Claude Violet, the former owner of Domaine de Chaberton Estates winery has died. He was truly a pioneer, as well as being utterly charming -- a bright light in the Fraser Valley."
From the Domaine de Chaberton website:
In 1975, Claude and Inge Violet, having sold their winery and vineyard in France decided to start afresh in the New World. The pioneer spirit was not new to the Violet blood line as Claude’s family had been in the wine business since 1644. After visiting California, Ontario and the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Claude and Inge purchased the land where the present site of the Domaine de Chaberton and the Bacchus Bistro are located.
Claude quickly became known as the “Mad Frenchman” when word spread that he planned on planting wine grapes in the Fraser Valley. People within the burgeoning wine industry in British Columbia scoffed at the idea of growing wine grapes in the rain drenched Fraser Valley but the shrewd Frenchman had done his homework. After doing much research, Claude had found that the property was located in a microclimate with weather conditions much like those that exists in northern France. ... CONTINUE READING...
(The most requested information on the site as measured by Google keyword counter.)
PEOPLE:
1) Anthony Nicalo - Wine Importer, Farmstead Wines, Vancouver 2) Claude Violet - Winemaker (deceased), Domaine du Chaberton, Langley 3) George Siu - Co-Owner, Memphis Blues House of BBQ 4) Dennis Brock - Founder, Steamrollers, Vancouver 5) Diana Kennedy - Authority on Mexican Cooking, USA
PLACES:
1) Amante Bistro - Restaurant, Penticton, BC 2) Revel - Restaurant and Lounge, Gastown, Vancouver 3) Stages - Restaurant, Fernwood, Victoria 4) Tequila Kitchen - Restaurant, Yaletown, Vancouver 5) Browns Social Club - Restaurant, various locations., Vancouver 6) Cactus Club at the Bentall Centre - Restaurant, Downtown, Vancouver 7) Nevermind - Restaurant and bar, Kitsilano, Vancouver 8) Terminal Fruit and Produce - Food Distributor, East Vancouver 9) The Cove Resort - Hotel and Resort, Westbank, BC 10) Hamilton St. Grill - Restaurant, Yaletown, Vancouver
THINGS:
1) garlic scapes 2) Vancouver restaurant news 3) 100 mile menus 4) chef competitions in BC 5) Chefs for Life
BEST QUESTION OF THE DAY:
food names that end with the letter 'e'
WHO'S INTERESTED IN OUR FOOD AND WINE SCENE ...
Number of countries logging in (in one year): UPDATE: 155 Number of cities worldwide (visiting yesterday): 129
Top ten cities for number of viewers (visiting yesterday):
1) Greater Vancouver, BC 2) Victoria and Vancouver Island, BC 3) Toronto, Ontario 4) Okanagan Valley, BC 5) Calgary, Alberta 6) Regina, Saskatchewan
7) London, England 8) Manila, The Philippines 9) Edmonton, Alberta 10) Seattle, Washington
Cities with most page counts per visitor (visiting yesterday):
1) Medina, Washington 2) Tempe, Arizona 3) Penticton, BC 4) Surrey, BC 5) Ucluelet, BC 6) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 7) San Francisco, California 8) London, England 9) Moscow, Russia 10) Hoboken, New Jersey
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM AROUND THE PROVENCE - (June 27, 2008)
ANNOUNCEMENTS - (June 27, 2008)
FARMERS MARKET - (JUNE 20, 208)
ANNOUNCEMENTS - (June 20, 2008)
HOW OTHERS SEE US - (June 19, 2008) 
ANNOUNCEMENTS - (June 18, 2008)
WHAT'S YOUR BEEF?: 
THE OUTSIDE WORLD - (June 16, 2008)
ANNOUNCEMENTS - (June 16, 2008)
EVENTS - (June 13, 2008)
DINE AND DASH - (June 12, 2008)
THE OUTSIDE WORLD - (JUNE 9, 2008)
ANNOUNCEMENTS - (June 6, 2008)
ON THE NEWSTAND - (June 4, 2008)
ANNOUNCEMENTS - (June 3, 2008)
CHEF'S NEW INGREDIENT - (MAY 31, 2008)
MILESTONES - (May 31, 2008)