Cdn Wine & Cheeese Book, Veuve Clicquot Bag, Kangaroo Meat, Stella Artois Film, Barb Phillip, Dale MacKay, Michael Ruhlman

THE OUTSIDE WORLD


"This issue is just the tip of the iceberg," says Tim Pawsey. "The topic is dynamite with huge implications."

Wine Carbon Study Says West Coasters Should Drink French.

"A new study analyzing transportation methods including container ships, trucks, and planes suggests East Coasters should take home the bottle from Bordeaux--not the Napa Valley tipple."

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"You gotta love this idea", says Judith Lane. "And you get your money back if you don't."

Asda launches range of mini taster bottles.

"UK supermarket Asda has launched a range of 25cl mini taster bottles, nominally allowing customers to sample wines for free before buying a full bottle."

Also posted by Judith: From salad dressing to vino - Paul Newman adds two premium wines to his food products line.

Newman’s Own launches premium wines. (Readers must first register with site.)

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Nancy Lanthier's recommended read comes from the New York Times Style Magazine:

The New Staples - Antelope with kiwifruit berries and wattleseed, anyone?

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White truffle shortage in New York pushes price of Waverley Inn's gimmicky Truffled Mac and Cheese from $55 to $85.

’Shroom Shortage Hits NYC.


The 88 fast food items most likely to kill you.


UFOs attack Ireland.





Filed in MEDIA/The Outside World





THROW ANOTHER ROO ON THE BARBIE?

Kangaroos are greener than you’d think.

At least, that is the message that Greenpeace has been promoting in a recent release touting the Australian icon as the perfect protein for the environmentally conscious meat eater!

Back in Australia, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation have funded a strategic plan to improve the image of kangaroo meat worldwide by publicizing its health benefits: low fat (under 2%), most of which is polyunsaturated, and only 98 calories per 100 gram (3.5 ounce) serving.

Even the Australian culinary trade magazine, Food Companion International, has chimed in to suggest that the meat be labeled “australus� so as not to offend the sensibilities of customers who see the beasts as too cute for the plate. (Perhaps following the example of the The New Zealanders who now market “venison� as “cervino�.) ... CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in FOOD/New Products.





WORK AVOIDANCE AIDS

If you needed any proof that companies are spending big dollars these days in order to attract eyeballs to their websites (and to hold on to them longer once they get them there), look no further than the high-production job done at

www.stellaartois.com (International site)

(Warning: the file is large so you may need to shut down all other windows open to the web to run it smoothly).

The beer company's mini movie "La Bouteille" was created as a trailor for the Toronto Film Festival, but since then it has found a permanent home on their web presence. It's almost as good a sneaking away from your desk on a rainy Tuesday afternoon to catch a foreign language film at the Cinematique. (The screen savers aren't bad either, and there is an equally arresting Tolkienesque-video game style epic called "Le Courage: the World in 1366" on another part of the site.)

But perhaps all that sepia tint isn't exactly your cup of tea. In that case, you might prefer to watch punk rock goddess Bif Naked getting hitched.

Bif Naked Bride

Except for the bride's frequent use of expletives, her nuptials with a minister's son is surprisingly traditional. Peter Fong of Ganache Patiserrie provided the cake, and the link to the film clip.


Filed in MEDIA/Online




TODAY'S PRESS RELEASES
(November 6, 2007)

Arkady Draliuk, the owner of the Blue Parrot Cafe at Granville Island has saved Kerrisdale institution, the Bean Brothers Cafe, and wants to use it offer coffee lovers " the same kind of experience that wine-lovers can get at a great wine bar".


Sign no more, now that the summer Farmers Markets have closed for the season. The Winter Market will operate throughout the wet and cold months to bring you local produce and other artisan food products. Follow the cameramen from the Food Network as they film restaurant owner Vikram Vij shopping at the Winter Market this Saturday.


Speaking of Vikram, he and wife Meeru's cookbook has just won a gold medal at a national cookbook awards ceremony in Ontario.


The Restaurant Hall of Fame Gala is coming up in April and tickets to this alway go FAST! Here's some details.


The Arts Institute of Vancouver gets a new, if not any easier to say, name.



Filed in DAILY NEWS/Press Releases




VANCOUVER'S BARBARA PHILIP NAMED AS
CANADA'S FIRST FEMALE MASTER OF WINE
(Directly from the press release - November 6, 2007)


(London, England) The Institute of Masters of Wine announced recently that Barbara Philip is Canada’s first female Master of Wine (MW). Philip is the second Master of Wine in Canada and the sole MW in Western Canada, and one of four women who hold the designation in North America. Philip is a senior instructor and department head for the International Sommelier Guild.

The Master of Wine is the world’s most respected designation in wine appreciation and the most difficult to attain. It is administered through the Institute of Masters of Wine in London, England and began as a qualification for the British wine trade in 1953. The MW is considered the most demanding of any of the professional wine qualifications and there are only 265 Masters of Wine in the world. In order to become a MW, candidates must pass intensive written and practical examinations and write a dissertation on a subject of their expertise. Philip’s thesis was to examine Pinot Blanc as a potential signature wine in the Okanagan Valley, Canada. ... CONTINUE READING ...


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Greater Details ... PEOPLE/Sommeliers .... and DRINK/Wine News.





DINE AND DASH
(November 5, 2007)

Yep, it's a Roman media circus out there right now.

Following Mia Stainsby's opening archery show in today's Vancouver Sun, the Sidoo's PR team strikes back with an interview with Chef Dale Mackay of Lumiere today on CityTV.

if you want to get a good gawk at Exhibit B, tune in. He'll be on the CityCooks Show with Simi Sara at 6 p.m.


Update: CityTv has confirmed that the MacKay show was taped on October 26, 2007 and that there was a gag order not to talk about Rob Feenie's impending departure from the restaurant.

Oy! This situation is turning into more and more of a farcical puppet show by the hour. Apparently Hill and Knowlton has been on the blower with every radio and TV station in town, whipping them into a frenzy about covering the "Feenie Story". The result being, that the stations are scrambling to put someone, anyone, on the air who is willing to discuss it.

Christy Clarke, for example, has booked Province restaurant critic Mark Laba on her 2:30 p.m. show on CKNW tomorrow, even though Laba admits that he hasn't crossed Lumiere's threshold in over three years. That sort of place is just not his beat. Even so, they want him to come on the show and talk about Rob Feenie anyway.

This should be good. Mark tends to say exactly what he thinks, and that could likely be something that Hill and Knowlton hadn't planned on.


Filed in DAILY NEWS/Dine and Dash.





CALENDAR OF EVENTS
TWO NEW LISTINGS
(November 5, 2007)


We've just picked up two new listings for our culinary Calendar of Events, and if they interest you, we suggest you reserve a spot immediately, even if you haven't yet gulped down that first Monday morning cup of coffee. Both are certain to fill up quickly.

The first is Michael Ruhlman's appearance at Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks (Net Loft location) on December 5th.

Ruhlman will be in town to promote his latest book The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen (See the quote below from the cook book store"s website*), but he's also known for the two books he co-wrote with Thomas Keller, the one he co-wrote with Le Bernadin's Eric Ripert and most of all, the series of three books on the training of chefs that began with "The Making of a Chef."

The intro to this latest book was written by Anthony Bourdain and that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. As readers of the New York forum of egullet.com are aware, the two friends enjoy frequent verbal rough housing with each other on a number of Internet food forums, and Bourdain has been known to use Ruhlman's own blog to vent some of his most colourful e-blasts against such institutions as the Food Network and the James Beard House.

You will be able to catch Ruhlman at the Net Loft from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The event is free, but you will need to register. Call 604-684-6788.

* What is that "definitively separates home cooking from the cooking of a professional?" queries Michael Ruhlman in his comprehensive and concise new reference volume, The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Art for Every Kitchen. Stock, that foundation of the French kitchen, is the subject of the first of eight essays that Ruhlman pens in respone to this question. Others include sauce, salt, the egg, heat, tools, good books, and finesse. 200 pages of indispensible A-Z references follow, providing the defnition and uses of everything from acid to zester.


if you are a Scotch Whiskey fan, then the other item you need to take note of is the fact that the Victoria Whiskey Festival quietly started selling tickets to its January 2008 event this past Saturday (November 3), and this fest usually sells out faster than you can say "hit me a wee drap." Victorians being the way they are, they probably don't even intend to make this public knowledge outside of Victoria until the locals have had a good long first kick at the barrel.

We are not even sure if they are selling tickets via the Internet yet, but if that be the case, then the best way to get around this is to sign up via one of the packages that the Hotel Grand Pacific is offering as host venue for the event.

The festival will run for three days, January 25 to 27, 2007.


Lastly, Cornucopia is coming up this week at Whistler, but this year without the notorious rave zoo that the Bearfoot Bistro has always provided at the same time. The after-Crush party was always licensced independently from the Cornucopia event itself but this time the Bearfoot was denied a license. This seems to have provoked two reactions -- relief from the "thank God for that, I never went to it anyway" faction, and the opposite from a group that is so disappointed they threaten to boycott the entire Cornucopia weekend. It will be interesting to see if attendence at the annual food and wine festival takes a dip as a result or not. Although if it does, organizers will no doubt blame it on the muscular loonie.

Bearfoot Bistro proprietor Andre St. Jacques won't even be sticking around to comment. He is closing the restaurant for 10 days beginning this Thursday and won't open it again until two weeks later on November 22nd.

No doubt he is saving his customary showmanship for Christmas and New Years events at the Bearfoot.


Filed in EVENTS/Complete Calendar 2007

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PEOPLE:


1) David and Manjy Sidoo - Partners, Lumiere and Feenie's
2) Rob Feenie - Chef, (Affiliation uncertain)
3) Dale Mackay - Chef, Lumiere
4) Mark Laba - Media, The Province
5) Kate Colley Lo - Public Relations

PLACES:

1) Suvai - Restaurant, Kerrisdale, Vancouver
2) Boneta - Restaurant, Gastown, Cultus Lake
3) Dadeo - Restaurant, Cambie, Vancouver
4) Prima Taste - Restaurant, Library/Stadium, Vancouver
5) 49th Parallel Roasters - Cafe, Kitsilano, Vancouver
6) Italian Kitchen - Restaurant, Downtown, Vancouver
7) Oyaji Zushi - Sushi bar, Kitsilano, Vancouver
8) Pala Lago - Restaurant, Cultus Lake
9) Phoscao Cafe- Cafe, North Vancouver
10) Stage - Restaurant, Fernwood, Victoria

THINGS and Questions:

1) 100 Mile Menus
2) Gold Medal Plates at the Bayshore
3) New World Provence Book
4) Has Rob Feenie left Lumiere
5) Cornucopia must dos

MOST INEXPLICABLE CONNECTION:

none today

NUMBER OF COUNTRIES LOGGING IN (visiting during this year): 133
NUMBER OF CITIES WORLDWIDE (visiting yesterday): 90
Number 90 was Kitchener, Ontario