Cactus Club exec chef Rob Feenie and sommelier-service director Sebastien Le Goff Scratch the surface of a Cactus Club wine list and you’ll often find what constitutes an unlikely line-up of wines—for what we now refer to as “Casual Fine Dining” restaurants. Much of the reason for more interesting than usual selections (especially [...]
Raincity Grill owner Harry Kambolis, at Nu, 2005 Raincity closes Whatever the circumstances, I was saddened by last week’s shuttering of long-running Raincity Grill and, not that long before, of C Restaurant, owned by Harry Kambolis. In the fickle world of dining there are any number of reasons as to why restaurants come [...]
Updated, Oct 3, 2018. Breaking news! I still like Kale. No, actually, make that "I now love Kale!" I know. It's a somewhat strange affliction. But Kale and I have become pretty close over the last few years. To be precise,ever since I reviewed Sharon Hanna's books (below). It's not a cure-all, by any [...]
Harvesting Malbec in Argentina's Uco Valley (Supplied) No doubt you’ve already marked your calendar for Malbec World Day, which you surely must know is April 17th. And, in case you haven’t guessed, this celebratory salute to Argentina’s favourite grape was dreamed up by, well , Argentina. Wracking my brains, I can’t recall any [...]
Fairmont Pacific Rim Rawbar dragon and motoyaki rolls I’m always annoyed intrigued by people who scoff at the idea of Vancouver becoming a truly “green city.” Maybe it’s just so much an entrenched part of the Canadian psyche: a feeling that progress and innovation always have to come from outside. Much in the [...]
The well foraged Caesar, TP photo If you're a regular visitor here (and if you're not, why not subscribe?!) You'll know that I have a lot of time for what goes down at forage. (1300 Robson St., Vancouver, 604-661-1400) Right now they're in the midst of Dine Out madness—serving upwards of 200 customers [...]
Unsung Heroes creator, and Blue Water executive chef, Frank Pabst It was a decade ago that Frank Pabst rolled out his first Unsung Heroes seafood festival. Interestingly, at the time, it was considered to be not only cutting edge but a risky proposition. Pabst served ingredients such as sea urchin, jellyfish and poached [...]
The Fish Counter: warm and welcoming, and already popular The Fish Counter (3825 Main St., Vancouver, 604-876-FISH [3474]) is the latest endeavour from celebrated Canadian Chef Robert Clark, with business partner Mike McDermid, long time fisheries expert, marine biologist and former program manager at the Vancouver Aquarium. The Fish Counter's Mike McDermid [...]
Chowder Chowdown - Ocean Wise spoons await Ocean Wise spoons await the crowd UPDATED: Nov 16, 2014 Chowder Chowdown goes this Wednesday... Full details here Read about last year's event: When the dust settled at this year’s Vancouver Aquarium Chowder Chowdown, the undeniable big news of the night was that Forage chef [...]
Fable Kitchen - plenty to crow about! Kits hotspot Fable Kitchen (1944 West 4th. Ave., Vancouver, 604-732-1322) is now open for weekday lunch. We had a sneak preview the other day—and a chance to test drive several of chef Trevor Bird’s plates, some new, some borrowed from the evening list. The array of tasty [...]
