Postings for August 2008

ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 28, 2008)

RESTAURANTS

Since 2000, the seasonal Tomato Tasting Menu has been a summer staple at Raincity Grill – and this year is no different. For the eighth year running, local tomatoes in all shapes, sizes and colours will play the lead role in a 5-course tasting menu dedicated to their diverse flavours ($70 or $98 with wine pairings). Created by Chef de Cuisine Peter Robertson, this year’s version features the local gems prepared in more ways than you can count: from tea to cous cous, terrine, fondue and even jam. (See complete menu here).


CHEFS

A supporter since its Sea to Sky debut in 2006, Executive Chef James Walt will join over forty local producers, food artisans and chefs at Whistler's Feast of Fields event this Saturday, August 30th from 1:00pm - 5:00pm at the picturesque Rebagliati Park. A central figure in the Whistler/Pemberton locavore movement, Chef Walt will apply his skillful touch to prepare a composition of fresh North Arm berries with profiteroles and crème fraîche ice cream for participants. Chef Walt is also preparing a special dish for the Whistler Farmers Market, not to mention his upcoming 100 mile menu at Araxi featuring the best ingredients sourced from the Whistler/Pemberton region. Get all the details here ... CONTINUE READING ...

MORE WINE, FILM, BOOK AND EVENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP....


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.



OKANAGAN - (August 27, 2008).
DOING THE OKIE-POKEY

If my life was a Hollywood movie right now, it would probably star Diane Lane or Renee Zellweger.

It would be about a hapless city woman who escapes from a stressful job and toxic relationships to a borrowed cottage in a sleepy, wine growing town, only to survive a series of encounters with the local eccentrics: her apple growing Sikh neighbours, members of the church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, improbably hunky RCMP officers, half-naked bogey men at the door, uninvited squatters camping in the winery building, lightning storms, flooded basements, burst irrigation pipes and death-risking deer on the I 97. ... CONTINUE READING...

Filed in REGIONAL/Okanagan.




WHAT WE'RE READING NOW - (August 26, 2008)
GENERATION NEXT IS ALREADY NOW.


This month Vancouver Magazine features a “Chefs to Watch” article, but outside an opening paragraph that raises some interesting points about the chefs’ common history, the article’s basic premise is already well covered territory.

The magazine could have proposed some controversial candidates, or forced us to notice those we have been guilty of overlooking. But like Vancouver Magazine so often does, once again, it was one-half dance step too far behind. ... CONTINUE READING...


Filed in MEDIA/Print.




ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 26, 2008)


FOOD SHOPS

Mount Pleasant Cheese, the new all-Canadian cheese store next to the Park Theatre in (you guessed it) Mount Pleasant (3234 Cambie St., Vancouver), has been going strong, since its grand opening only a few weeks ago. More stock is coming in and the proprietors are looking forward to a shipment in the next day or so of some new product from Hilary’s Cheese, including the popular "You Boo Blue" and "Cowichan Blue" cheeses, plus a lovely wine washed pomme called "Belle Anne". ...CONTINUE READING.

MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS ON CHEESE EDUCATION, CHEFS, CULINARY TEAM BC, AND NEW FOOD AND WINE EVENTS AFTER THE JUMP....

Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.




RESTAURANT PREVIEWS
NARROW LOUNGE - (August 25, 2008)
(Edited from the Press Release.)


Narrow Lounge - Main Street's new artfully designed dining spot - is an intimate 45-seat establishment welcoming guests from 5 p.m. onwards, seven days a week. The restaurant and lounge offer food and drink selections to those looking to relax and engage in an eclectic space.

Located at the corner of Main and 3rd, Narrow Lounge is situated under the grace-gallery - a space devoted to developing and presenting new visual, performing, literary and media art. In addition to the gallery and lounge, the 6,000-square-foot building houses nine suites designated for artists. The revenue generated from Narrow Lounge subsidizes the artists' quarters as well as the gallery. ... CONTINUE READING.


Filed in RESTAURANTS/Previews.




ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 25, 2008)


BOOKS


Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks has introduced a new interactive blog site to their website where staff will share seasonal recipes, recommend favourite cookbooks, and chat with customers. ... and .. announces plans (in co-operation with top chefs and Farmstead Wines), for an important dinner in support of UBC Farm... CONTINUE READING ...

MORE RESTAURANT, FARM AND PHOTOBLOG ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP.

Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.

DINE AND DASH -(August 22, 2008)
THE GIRLS ARE GETTING AROUND.

Latest rumours ...

Carol Chow has left the Quattro family of restaurants and is now at the Sequoia Grill (Teahouse) in Stanley Park.

Lynda LaRouche, who was once the Executive Chef of the Teahouse, has left Watermark Restaurant on Kits Beach, destination unknown.

Karen Gin (formerly with Diva at the Metropolitan) is the new Executive Chef of Zin restaurant , at the Pacific Palisades Hotel. (This last one is confirmed.)


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Dine and Dash.

WHAT WE'RE READING NOW
(August 22, 2008)

Scandal at the Wine Spectator causes furor in the wine industry.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 22, 2008)


WINE WORLD


Canada’s first custom wine cellar showroom design centre and wine storage facility has opened in Vancouver. Vin de Garde’s 3,000 sq ft wine cellar facility will give architects, restaurateurs, winemakers and wine collectors access to a showroom and design space, a wine tasting room, and soon a storage cellar for more than 60,000 bottles of wine.

Billy Carpenter, the owner of Vin de Garde (a company that has built wine cellars for such restaurants as Lumiere, Brix and Provence Marinaside), explained the need for such a facility. ...CONTINUE READING ...

MORE WINE, FARMERS MARKET, REGIONAL AND CALENDAR EVENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.

MEDIA - (August 21, 2008)
ANGELA MURRILLS FRENCH BLOG

Now that Angela Murrills has left Vancouver for the rustic country pleasures of the south of France, do we miss her? Most certainly we do ... both Angela and her writing.

We were a fan of Murrill's virtuoso way with a pen long before we got into the business of food writing ourselves, and in all the years we followed her features and columns in the Georgia Straight and other publications (including CityFood), it always struck us that Ange's light and lyrical humour was far too good to be confined to just our little corner of the world and was deserving of wider audience. ... CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in MEDIA/on line.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 21, 2008)


RESTAURANTS

It’s Ciao for Caffe de Medici Ristorante Italiano. The Vancouver restaurant is preparing to close its doors when the lease expires on September 27, 2008. Blame escalating rents. The family-run restaurant founded by Gino Punzo 29 years ago, has been a long time fixture on the Robson Street scene, as well one of the few remaining holdouts since the days when the street was nicknamed "Robsonstrasse" due to the predominance of German-owned delis and other businesses. ...CONTINUE READING ...

MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR WINE, COCKTAILS, ART AND CALENDAR EVENTS AFTER THE JUMP.

Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.

COCKTAILS - (August 18, 2008)
George Ultra Lounge Head Bartender Shaun Layton Wins Cocktail Contest
(Modified from the press release.)


Shaun Layton of George Ultra Lounge in Vancouver, BC has been named the Canadian winner of the second annual mixology challenge, "Cocktails by Design". Hundreds of Mixologist's from across Canada submitted custom-crafted cocktail recipes showcasing the unique flavour profile of Bombay Sapphire Gin and the inspiration behind it. ...CONTINUE READING.


Filed in DRINK/Cocktails.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 15, 2008)

A COUNTRY EDUCATION - OKANAGAN

Learn to Taste like an Expert and Pair Food & Wine like a Pro ...

Many industry people from wineries, restaurants and sales agencies are choosing to expand their education to help advance their careers via the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Foundation Certificate course. The program is currently offered in 42 countries around the world and in B.C.'s Okanagan region, it is now available via Wine Plus+, a new local company created by wine educator Rhys Pender. Wine Plus+ has scheduled its courses in such a way as to allow a progression through all three levels of WSET¨ courses between September 2008 and May 2009. There have also been new features added to the standard program with expanded sessions on tasting techniques, pairing wine with food, and understanding the BC wine industry ... CONTINUE READING ..plus ... LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE EVENTS CALENDAR.

Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 12, 2008)
TIE YOUR KANGAROO DOWN...

Jane Ferrari is back in town ... Or at least she will be this September 8, 2008. The popular ambassadress from Australia's Yalumba Winery, with the wit as racy as her surname, will pull the corks from a number of the winery's newest releases at a trade tasting to be held at Diva at the Met.

...CONTINUE READING AND MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER THE JUMP ...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.

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REGIONAL
SUMMER'S LAST ROAD TRIP - (August 11, 2008)

We're off and driving, and we'll tell you the destination later today.
Provided we can find that wifi ...


Filed in REGIONAL

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OFF THE RECORD - (August 8, 2008)
THE EDITORS RAP

Editors of magazines and newspapers (of the old-school ilk) may have their public platforms, but many of them also belong to password access only private forums where they tell their peers in the industry what they are actually thinking. Here's excerpts from three of them.

Rhonda May (editor of CityFood Magazine on CityKibble)
Topic: Globe and Mail restaurant reviewer Alexandra Gill refused service at Vancouver's Fuel restaurant due to previous review where she described a sous-vide pork dish as resembling a flaccid penis.

"My ex boss at Vancouver Magazine, Mac Parry, used to be fond of saying 'In the journalism business, if you're not pissing someone off, you're not doing your job'. I think that applies to this situation. ...CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Comments and Letters.

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BOOKS - (August 7, 2008)
VEGAN A GO-GO
By Sarah Kramer, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2008, $17.95


Sarah Kramer is someone we tried to include in our Tattoo feature in the recent "Food and Art" issue of CityFood Magazine.

After all, she had all the right qualifications. Kramer’s not only a chef with three best-selling cookbooks under her apron ties, her vintage-clad bod displays more ink than a highway interchange map. She's also the wife of a tattoo shop owner in Victoria (Gerry Kramer, www.gerrykramer.com). Unfortunately, timing and conflicting schedules didn't match up.

Never mind, with Kramer’s latest book, Vegan a Go-Go, we’ve connected with the punk princess of meatless once again. ... CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in MEDIA/Books.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 6, 2008)


WINE NEWS

Our tax dollars at work. Mark Wendenburg, senior winemaker at Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, is proud to announce that the winery’s 2004 Steller's Jay Brut was selected to receive the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in British Columbia Wines. The Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Steven Point, accompanied by his Vice-Regal Party and 35 members of the Vancouver Consular Corps, visited Sumac Ridge Estate Winery to present the award. With the idyllic setting of vineyard and Okanagan Lake as a backdrop, the award was presented to Wendenburg. The winning wine was then sampled by the guests immediately following the presentation, and then the delegation stayed on to have dinner in the winery restaurant, the Cellar Door Bistro. ....

...MORE RESTAURANT NEWS AND NEW CALENDAR EVENTS AFTER THE JUMP ...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.

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THEY HIT THE TARGET! - THE MONTHLY BUZZ METER STATS ARE IN
For - July, 2008

(The most requested information on the site as measured by 7,986 unique keywords on Google keyword counter.)





PEOPLE:

1) Sebastien Le Goff - Sommelier/Restaurant Consultant, Moda Hotel
2) Jay Jones - Mixologist, Loden Hotel, Vancouver
3) Mark Perrier - Chef, Vancouver
4) Frank Pabst - Chef, Blue Water Cafe, Vancouver
5) Anthony Nicola - Wine Importer, Farmstead Wines, Vancouver
6) Colter Jones - Barista, Vancouver
7) Quang Dang - Chef, C Restaurant, Vancouver
8) Daniel Boulud - Chef, Restaurant Daniel, New York
9) Barb Phillips - Master of Wine/ Wine Consultant, Vancouver
10) Colleen McClean - Chef, irish Heather, Vancouver

MORE STATS FOR PLACES, THINGS, READERS, AND MOST POPULAR PAGES AFTER THE JUMP...

Filed in EVENTS/Monthly Buzz Meter

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ANNOUNCEMENTS - (August 1, 2008)

RESTAURANTS

Beginning August 14th and running for two weeks until August 28th, Chow (3121 Granville Street) will present an heirloom tomato menu. Chef JC Porier’s four-course prix fixe menu will utilize several varieties of local heirloom tomatoes in dishes that include: Cold tomato soup with compressed watermelon, Dungeness crab and horseradish-yogurt granite; a warm tomato tart with marinated chanterelle mushrooms; slow cooked halibut with tomato carpaccio and roasted tomato puree; and even a dessert of spiced green zebra tomato jam with house made honey ice cream. $48. Chow is open from 5:00 pm Monday to Saturday

... MORE RESTAURANT NEWS AND CALENDAR EVENTS AFTER THE JUMP...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Announcements.

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BOOKS - (August 1, 2008)
WAITER RANT

The author of the newly published Waiter Rant asserts that approximately “ 20 percent of restaurant customers are socially maladjusted psychopaths”, and his book presents many an anecdote to back this theory up. ... CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in MEDIA/Books.

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WHO'S GOT IT - THE BUZZ METER For - August 8, 2008

(The most requested information on the site as measured
by Google keyword counter.)


PEOPLE:

1) Colter Jones - Barista, Vancouver
2) Alexandra Gill - Media, Globe and Mail, Vancouver
3) Frank Pabst - Chef, Blue Water Cafe, Vancouver
4) Sammy Piccolo - Barista, Vancouver
5) Patrick Mercer - Restaurateur, Brix, Vancouver

PLACES:

1) Cactus Club at the Bentall Centre - Restaurant, Downtown, Vancouver
2) Loden Hotel - Hotel, Coal Harbour, Vancouver
3) Pinky's Steakshouse on Fourth Ave. - Restaurant, Kitsilano, Vancouver
4) Raincity Grill - Restaurant, West End, Vancouver
5) Cibo - Restaurant, Downtown, Vancouver
6) Mt. Pleasant Cheese - Retailer, Main Street, Vancouver
7) Legendary Noodle - Restaurant, Downtown, Vancouver
8) Mona's Beirut Express - Restaurant, Vancouver
9) Blue Water Cafe - Restaurant, Yaletown, Vancouver
10) Gourmet Warehouse - Cookware Retail, East Vancouver

THINGS:

1) Vancouver restaurant news
2) Talamonti Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
3) Jackson-Triggs wines
4) female chefs
5) kangaroo meat

BEST QUESTION OF THE DAY:

How do you get nuts to stick to a martini glass?


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): 127

Top ten cities for number of viewers (visiting yesterday):

1) Greater Vancouver, BC
2) Victoria and Vancouver Island, BC
3) Toronto, Ontario
4) London, England
5) Calgary, Alberta
6) Singapore

7) New York, New York
8) North Battleford, Saskatchewan
9) Montreal, Quebec
10) Seattle, Washington

Cities with most page counts per visitor (visiting yesterday):

1) Duncan, BC
2) College Place, Washington
3) Abbotsford, BC
4) Bucharest, Romania
5) Kelowna, BC
6) Williams Lake, BC
7) Auckland, New Zealand
8) Sighisoara, Romania
9) Irmo, South Carolina
10) West Hollywood, California

TO CONTINUE CLICK HERE.