France Ooh La La
1 Comment
Degan Beley
May 17, 2010
If you can’t wake up in France, the next best thing may be to start the day with a round of French champagne. Just the thing happened with France Ooh La La, a Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (VPIWF) event at the Rowing Club. France has long been synonymous with wine culture so this was a popular event and it didn’t disappoint.
While there were many notable reds in attendance, it was the rosés and summery whites that seemed to most capture my attention. Favorites included both the Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Rosé and the Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Reserve Particulière that I had tried at the grand tasting and made a note of. The rosé in particular is perfect for summer with it’s delicate fizz and pale pink tinge and I’ll be picking up a couple of bottle for those languid brunches. At $59.99 and $69.99 respectively, however, they’ll not be brought out for just anyone, whereas the Château des Demoiselles Rosé does an excellent job of conjuring grassy summer meadows at a price point perhaps more suited to drop-in guests ($25.99).
The Cordon Blue Brut Select and Vin du Paradis Cuvée Dry both stood up well and rounded out my champagne picks. A couple of more interesting whites are the Dopff & Irion Riesling – redolent of green apple and one that could make for an interesting picnic; the Cremant de Bourgogne from Blason de Bourgogne, a lovely white blend and the Grand Ardèche Chardonnay that would be perfect in a park with some buttery foie gras.
Categories: Events, Food, Wine
Tango for your tastebuds
2 Comments Degan BeleyMay 13, 2010
“Wine is not a beverage, wine is pleasure,” Jose Alberto Zuccardi announced at some point in the evening. This encapsulated the feeling of the Tango for Your Tastebuds event that happened on the last day of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (VPIWF).
Tango is known as the dance of passion, distilling the fullness of life into a controlled environment – much like wine – and the combination of Argentine Familia Zuccardi wine with the latin fusion food of Cobre was passion for the soul and the palate.
Starting with a 2008 Santa Julia Organica Sparkling Chardonnay, guests mingled and got seated while Harry Hertscheg, Executive Director of the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, and Jose Alberto Zuccardi, representing Familia Zuccardi, introduced the event and the wine. The whole family is involved in the business peripherally, with some members handling the olive oil and sparkling wine lines, and Jose at the head of the operation like a South American partido (godfather).
There are three varieties of olive oil currently in production: the Frantoio, made with olives from Tuscany; the Manzanilla, from Spanish olives; and the Arauco, a 100% Argentinian olive varietal. Each has different flavour characteristics evident against the apple-y crispness of the sparkling wine.
The Zuccardi Serie A Chardonnay Viognier and the Santa Julia Organica Torrontes were paired with a pan roasted BC sablefish, melon and serrano ham and a prawn ceviche respectively, but it wasn’t until the Santa Julia Magna and the Zuccardi Q Malbec that the wines really started to hit their stride. The ‘Serie A’ label indicates wine from the best regions of Argentina, whereas ‘Zuccardi Q’ stands for quality and ‘Z’ or ‘Zeta’ is the top of the line.
The Santa Julia Magna is the best blend each year and in 2008 brought out notes of chocolate, black fruit and dirt whereas the Q Malbec was sweeter and redolent of cherry and plum. Both brought out the richness of the Yarrow Meadows duck breast and chicaron – the skin removed and re-fried. This turned out to be my favourite dish of the evening.
The next wines were even better – a 2006 Zuccardi Q Tempranillo and a 2006 Zuccardi Zeta – positioning black fruit and spice in the first against more cherry in the latter but the pork tenderloin didn’t stand up the the flavour as well as it could have. Fortunately, there was goat milk panna cotta and a Malamado Viognier. Literally translated as “bad lover”, it’s a play on words meant to invoke the tango and its sad, romantic stories and finishing the evening with bittersweetness.
Categories: Events, Food, Wine
Getting the most value out of Dine Out Vancouver 2010
6 Comments Karen HamiltonApril 20, 2010
Dine Out Vancouver comes to us much further into the year this time around, most likely to avoid overlap with the craziness of the Olympics. Good to see that many participating restaurants are taking advantage of this late start with menus that trumpet springtime is here!. Also pleased that more cross-promotion is in place this year, with hotel packages catering to Dine Out enthusiasts and food tours, cooking classes, and wine seminars wanting to tag team with your dinner plans.
I’ve created my 2010 Dine Out Vancouver shortlist with quite specific criteria: restaurants I’ve never been to that are cooking trout on nights that we have a babysitter. Since I don’t expect you to share these conditions with me, below are my 2009 Dine Out Vancouver tips rejigged along with new advice to account for some of the changes to the program this year.
Try something new
The incredible Dine Out dinners I’ve had in the past always tempt me to revisit those restaurants responsible for such fond memories, but to date, I’ve committed to picking places I’ve never been to for each new round.
If you have downtown Vancouver tunnel vision like I often do, consider going to a restaurant in Burnaby or Richmond instead. You could even go further afield for the parallel (but not co-produced) Dine In Whistler event. I’d make a beeline for Araxi and Bearfoot Bistro if I had the means to drive out there for it!
If you see this event as an easier way to explore the restaurant scene, not as a sale for your tried-and-true places, you may wind up with a new favourite eatery as a result.
Do lunch
Dine Out Vancouver used to be a right steal when it started, with meals as low as $15 and menus capped at $25. Since its inception, we’ve seen the addition of a $35 tier — now $38 — and the use of the Special Notes field to denote add-ons like wine pairings and even fine print like automatic gratuities. These do add up…and now a couple out for a Dine Out evening could easily spend over $100, wondering where the so-called deal has gone.
If your wallet or your spending sensibilities can’t handle the burgeoning price of Dine Out Vancouver dinners, try a Dine Out Vancouver lunch instead! Nearly a third of participating restaurants are offering it.
There isn’t a way to search for this option on the Tourism Vancouver website so I’ve decided to do the grunt work for you. You’re welcome.
- Amarcord
- Ashiana Tandoori Restaurant
- Bistro 101 at the Pacific Institute for Culinary Arts (PICA)
- Blarney Stone
- C Restaurant
- Cardero’s
- cassis bistro
- Ciao Bella
- Cru
- Darby’s Pub
- db bistro moderne
- Diva at the Met
- Don Francesco
- Elixir
- Fogg n’ Sudds Robson
- Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
- Gramercy Grill
- Hamilton Street Grill
- Harold’s Bistro & Bar
- Hell’s Kitchen
- Hermitage
- Herons
- hidden
- Kerkis Greek Taverna
- Kirin
- Las Margaritas
- Le Gavroche
- Maurya
- Medley’s Restaurant
- Moustache Cafe
- nu
- O’Doul’s
- Plato Estiatorio
- Raincity Grill
- Reflect social dining + lounge
- Rocky Mountain Flatbread
- Salt Tasting Room
- Sanafir
- Seasons in the Park
- Seawall bar & grill
- Society Dining Lounge
- STONEGRILL Restaurant
- Chongqing
- Thai Spice
- The Fish House in Stanley Park
- The Point Restaurant & Tapas
- The Sandbar
- The Teahouse
- Westward Ho! at the University Golf Club
- Wild Rice
- Yokohama Teppanyaki
You do still have to call these restaurants if you’d like to know how much their Dine Out lunches cost as well as what’s on the menu for it, but I’m betting that it’ll be more affordable than its dinner counterpart.
Put your ear to the ground
Not sure where to go? Hold off on making a reservation and wait for initial feedback. I typically seek out the opinion of food writers with similar palates, search for reviews of Dine Outs past, and listen to the rants or raves of loved ones returning from their experience.
Now that Twitter is the haunt of many a food lover, you could also lurk the feeds of your favourite restaurant addicts or check in on whatever event hashtag wins out (#dov2010 is probably your best bet).
One downside to this strategy is that the hottest restaurants will be fully booked by the time you decide to go there. If you were already thinking of dining at the likes of Chambar, West, Boneta, db bistro, and Market, don’t think: just book now. West is already sold out and tables at Boneta are going fast.
Compare against the regular menu
Don’t assume that all Dine Out participants are offering you a deal. Some are cheaper than their set menus imply, especially those that offer $18 menus for normally communal fare. Unless you are really smitten by their Dine Out lineup, you would do better to sample these restaurants on a regular day rather than competing with the crowds during Dine Out. [I am also puzzled by the continued presence of certain restaurant chains that have been with Dine Out since the outset, but that's all I will say about that.]
Upon closer inspection, you might also discover that restaurants with top tier Dine Out Vancouver offerings have more affordable prix fixe specials during regular service. Some may also have lunch service: a good way to try a restaurant out of your budget free of the crowds that Dine Out brings. And if you had had your heart set on the now sold-out West, West’s lunch may very well be your only option during Dine Out this year!
Select by menu, not by reputation
If you’re like me, you’ve eagerly looked up the menu of a restaurant of high repute at the Tourism Vancouver site only to discover how truly ho-hum its Dine Out edition is. The uninspired (re: cheap) offerings or plans that read like a workday set lunch turn me off from attempting an otherwise promising restaurant.
Make sure your palate is already salivating on what you’re going to eat or be prepared to have a less than stellar meal at a place that normally has a good reason to draw praise.
Share your Dine Out Vancouver experiences with others
Help your circle narrow down their dining choices by relating what you’ve enjoyed (or detested) in the past. On my part, I’ll list places of note from our Dine Out Vancouver history.
Pleased by:
- Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant
- Hart House
- Fleuri
- West
- Brix
- Raincity Grill
- Aqua Riva
- Provence Marinaside
- Rex Rotisserie & Grill
- Chambar (I’d prefer to go on a regular day and pig out on mussels)
Disappointed by:
Feel free to leave me a comment about your past, present, and future with Dine Out Vancouver.
Categories: Events, Food, Restaurants
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