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.

“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.

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:

• Griffin’s
• Wild Rice
• Coast
• Horizons
• cassis bistro
• Parkside

Feel free to leave me a comment about your past, present, and future with Dine Out Vancouver.

A primer on Argentinean wine

Let’s start with some basic Spanish-to-English terminology:

• vino = wine
• bodega = winery
• viñedo = vineyard
• salud = cheers
• uno mas, por favor = one more, please

The above, plus charades, got me through three weeks in Argentina!

In terms of vino, Argentina is mainly known for its Malbec. This grape has its roots as one of the handful of kosher varietals allowed in a Bordeaux wine blend. The most popular Bordeaux blends these days, however, do not contain this grape at all, mixing Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot instead. It’s said that the Malbec grape was so maligned and unsuited to the wet and cold French climate that it earned the lesser name of côt. I’m told that it’s not an endearing name, but all wine varietals sound Greek to me when I first hear them.

It wasn’t until the late 19th century, when Malbec was planted in Argentina – where the scorching sun shines over 300 days a year – that the grape finally came into its own. And now, if you believe the marketing hype of my tour guide, Malbec is one of the hottest crazes in wine. In other words, the story of Malbec is the story of a poor French immigrant achieving the great (South) American Dream!

A lesser known wine varietal equally coupled with Argentina is Torrontés (Torontel). You may have had a more intimate experience with it in the form of Chilean Pisco. Crisp, floral, and fruity, this was our white wine of choice in our travels. Perhaps “choice” is the wrong word, as it was rather insisted upon us whenever we asked for a white wine recommendation.

Argentina’s Mendoza region is known for its Malbec, while the best Torrontés are said to come from Salta. While we didn’t get a chance to visit the latter, we did make it to Mendoza, visiting a couple wineries between taking mid-day siestas, feasting at parrillas (grill houses), and discovering surprisingly good Italian food (a tale for another day).

The two wineries we visited were Vistandes and Don Artuo, both located in the Maipú sub-region. Here, glacial waters from the Andes, high altitudes, and large day/night temperature swings lead to successful vineyards. The temperature swings, called thermal amplitude, makes the grapes constantly expand and contract, drawing in and concentrating the flavours and nuances of the terroir.

Personally, whenever “terroir” is brought up during a wine tasting, I have a tendency to disguise the rolling of my eyes with a swivel of the wrist, a sniff of the glass, and a murmur that “mmm, yes, the yeast is quite expressive”. While I would never claim to have nearly as nuanced wine-buds as the rest of Team Tiny Bites, I’ve learned long ago to never pick a fight with a sommelier.

Bodega Vistandes

Vistandes is a boutique winery located in the Cruz de Piedra sub-region of Maipú in Mendoza, Argentina. While the owners have been selling grapes to other wineries for years, they only recently set up their own in 2006, giving them a modern winery with access to older vines. The winery’s entry hall doubles as a music hall. Unfortunately nobody was playing when we were there mid-day, which in retrospect was a bit of a tease since we do appreciate the Tango.

Known mostly for their Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, this winery likes to combine grapes from both their two vineyards, one in Mendoza and one in the Famatina Valley of La Rioja. The claim is to a more sophisticated flavour profile.

We tried their Malbec, Cab Sauv, and Torrontés, with part of the group giving top marks to the Cab Sauv and the other half of the group liking the Torrontés best.

Bodega Vistandes
Ruta 60 y Carril Urquiza, Cruz de Piedra | Maipú, Mendoza
+54 261 5246213 / 5246214

Bodega Don Arturo

Another boutique winery in Mendoza, Don Arturo has been family run for the past eighty years. Our guide proudly pointed out the weeds in between the vines as proof that no chemicals or pesticides are ever used on the dirt. Heaven forbid that chemicals penetrate the terroir! Mmm, yes, the yeast is quite expressive… sorry, force of habit.

To further stress their focus on using and accepting the character of the land, the irrigation for the vineyards and the coolant system that keeps the vats at the right temperature uses glacial waters siphoned from the nearby Mendoza River. These systems were engineered to be driven by the force of gravity, with powered pumps turned on only when necessary.

Again, being based in Mendoza, Don Arturo specializes in reds, but with more blends rather than pure varietals.

Bodega Cavas de Don Arturo
Franklin Villanueva 2233, Lunlunta | Maipú, Mendoza
+54 261 154538854 / 154540843

Afterword

Unfortunately, neither of these two wineries will have a presence at this year’s Vancouver Wine Festival. Although glancing through the participating wineries list, I do see a few wineries that I have had good experiences with:

• Doña Paula – Malbec
• Familia Zuccardi – Torrontés (Santa Julia brand)
• Finca Flichman – especially their Malbec 2007
• Norton – Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (Perdriel brand)
• Masi Agricola – Granderella

That last one isn’t Argentinean, but I am so enamoured with their Granderella it that I can’t help but include it on the list!

The Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival runs Monday April 19th through Sunday April 25th. Tickets and more information are available at their website. We’ll be around, and remember to say salud if you see us!

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival
April 19 – 25, 2010
Multiple venues | Vancouver

Copyright John Biehler. Photo used with permission.

I had heard about it over a year ago from the museum’s Executive Director, Chris Mathieson, who had been hosting a number of intriguing fundraisers there that always seemed to be at odds with my schedule. An invite to visit arrived from Sumac Ridge during the bustle of the Olympics, so I took along my visiting father-in-law while my mother-in-law babysat my daughter (and stayed away from potential morbidity).

That bubble is on an autopsy table, folks.

The concept of the evening was unusual. We were to learn about the history of the city’s police enforcement by touring the grounds, once upon a time Vancouver’s Coroner’s Court, and then end off in the autopsy room, where Sumac Ridge’s Harry McWatters was to share the history of BC’s sparkling wine industry and teach us a thing or two about sabering a bottle.

My daughter decided to be hungry just as I was to leave for the event, so we arrived too late to catch the actual tour of the Police Museum . What I can tell you is that in our 15-second dash from entrance to morgue, we raced by a crime scene, a menagerie of brass knuckles and other cool weaponry, a showcase of The Chameleon’s various fake identities, and all manner of fascinating displays that would have otherwise arrested my attention [pun intended]. We were also running through these empty galleries at 8pm on a dark, wintry night. It was a good thing my mother-in-law wasn’t there, because the creep factor was certainly present, even before we entertained the idea that this heritage building might be haunted.

We passed through the freezer room, complete with mannekin in body bag sticking out of out of the slabs in welcome. Beyond that was where we spotted the gathered crowd, who were standing around or seated casually upon autopsy tables, sipping on flutes of Sumac Ridge’s Silver Tribute as McWatters fielded questions about the sparkling wine industry and the art of sabering. We had missed McWatters’ sabering demo with the Police Museum’s Stewart to Stewart commemorative sword, but were just in time to pop our names in a hat for the chance to try our hand at it. My father-in-law was one of four who got to have a go.

McWatters had this to say about sabering a bottle of bubble:

• Hold the sword with your dominant hand with the edge at a ~20 degree angle to the curve of the bottle neck.
• Hold the bottle with your other hand, arm straight out and as far away from your body as possible, with the cork end pointed towards the part of the room that can handle the landing of such a projectile.
• Slide the blade along the bottle starting from the middle until you reach the cork, applying the same smooth pressure and velocity throughout the motion. Practice the movement a few times until you get the feel of it, if that helps.
• Once the bottle is opened, do not touch the top of the bottle, where the glass is razor sharp from the act of sabering.
• If you do not have a sword available, most heavy objects with a similar edge will do. He mentioned a machete…I don’t know about you, but I have neither machete nor sword lying around at home. Someone mentioned that you could do it with a butter knife but McWatters was vigorously shaking his head at us upon hearing that suggestion.

The Sumac Ridge Silver Tribute itself was a pleasure to sip. Having first tried it in Summerland during a Sumac Ridge Founder’s Room tasting in October, paired with a bowl of truffle popcorn, we enjoyed it this time with generous helpings of potato chips. The salt in both cuts through the brightness of the bubble, adding glam to otherwise ordinary snack foods. I had the bottle of Tribute from that Okanagan trip chilling in our fridge during the Olympics, so it was decided that we would pop it open after getting home from the Men’s Hockey semi-final and have bowls of both popcorn and Ms. Vickie’s chips to accompany it.

We wound down our evening at the Police Museum chatting about the Okanagan with McWaters as our bowl of chips and glasses of bubbly sat incongruously atop one of the autopsy tables. It’ll be a tasting experience that we and he would be unlikely to forget. Will have to return to the Police Museum to have a proper tour…perhaps in the light of day!

Congratulations, Dilara – you’ve won a Large Signature Egg from Chocolate Arts just in time for Easter. Karen will contact you today to arrange for a meet, as it’s a little difficult for her to get outside of downtown Vancouver with the new baby!

I took a break from the newfound joys of maternity to attend an Easter Extravaganza course on the invite of Chocolate Arts, a chocolate shop in Kitsilano that my friends and I have patronized over the years.

No cooking required

The last time I had attempted to work with chocolate at home resulted in a messed pot and burnt ganache, despite my confidence when making it for the first time at the Dirty Apron Cooking School. It was therefore with elevated levels of anxiety that I arrived at the production kitchen of Chocolate Arts for three hours with head chocolatier Greg Hook and his assistants Joseph and Gen.

As it turned out, I was in for a relatively stress-free experience. No slaving over a hot stove, no ratios to learn, no finicky cooking techniques to practice. It was more of an exercise in the final stages of confection assembly. Chocolate shells sat at each station asking to be filled; ganache, caramel, and house-made preserves were prepared by the pros for our use; molds and stencils for Easter creations awaited our personal touch.

I saw it as an interactive walkthrough of Chocolate Arts’ production line, giving us consumers an idea of their materials, processes, and tools of the trade. Through capping my own caramel eggs, folding cornettes, filling molds, and pairing up with the other students for more elaborate finishes, I gained an appreciation of the skill and resourcefulness needed to make chocolate pieces for a living (taste-testing all the while, of course).

High tech assembly

The technology we used in the kitchen left the biggest impression on me. Tempering machines along one wall rained dark and milk chocolate while the chocolate enrober on the opposite end drew our ganaches along a conveyor belt for final flourishes.

Using the enrobing machine was a highlight – I got to place myself in the shoes of Lucy Ricardo in that memorable chocolate factory episode, even though it wasn’t food safe for me to be allowed gulp my treats straight off the assembly line.

The verdict

Having now experienced this Easter Extravaganza course first hand, I can see why the workshop had a hefty $190 price tag. Our class of 12 churned out over 110 individual chocolates for each person to take home, plus a chocolate bunny showpiece for us to display to friends and family at Easter.

The abundance of product plus the hours of patient instruction would have seemed a good deal had I paid to attend this course. Heartily recommended as a special occasion buy for that chocolate lover in your family, or as a personal splurge if you love to entertain and have loved ones that you can gift your handmade chocolates to for the holidays.

This was the inaugural Easter course that Chocolate Arts has put on, but they have been offering similar Christmas Extravaganza courses for the past 5 years. If this sort of weekend activity sounds right up your alley, you may want to lurk their website to register for the various workshops and classes that they put on throughout the year.

Other Easter treats at Chocolate Arts

While I would love to distribute what I had made at this workshop to each of you, these candies are earmarked for my family’s Easter celebrations. However, Chocolate Arts did give me a Large Signature Egg to give away to one reader…and that reader is Dilara!

You can visit Chocolate Arts and pick up your own Large Signature Egg for $42.95 or browse their assortment of sweets for something to match your Easter plans this year.

Chocolate Arts
2037 West 4th Avenue | Kitsilano
(604) 739-0475
chocolatearts.com

If my iPhone cooperates with me, this post will be running commentary as we take in the event and dine our way through the competitors’ submissions. Come see us on Twitter using the hashtag #hcc2010 if you crave more immediacy!

7:15pm. …And we’re here! A little bit of mingling with our cohort followed by a few snaps of the showcase of competitor dishes at the back of the ballroom, all of which having undergone the scrutiny of the judges’ panel.

7:30pm. Our table is seated and being directed to open the envelopes on our place settings. They tell us which of the competitors we’ll each experience tonight. Me? I’ve get to try the entree from the Hyatt Regency and the dessert by the Sheraton Wall Centre. I’m a little envious of Victoria, who will be trying VCC’s lobster main. But I’m sure all will be delectable.

7:45pm. Ooh, sneaky! Our emcee told us to pass the envelopes in front of us 2 to our left, 3 to our right! We jumped the gun…now I’ve got Kettle of Fish for my main and Carvers Steakhouse for dessert.

8:20pm. Many of the mains were given two thumbs up, so when the emcee announced that seconds were available at most stations, a stampede ensued. Paralyzed by indecision, I wound up getting a dish that didn’t have much of a line – pork loin and quail eggs as a fine dining equivalent of bacon and eggs.

8:40pm. Dessert round commences with guests simply deciding to go up to their designated chef stations. Some, knowing there will likely be seconds, stole their seconds early…our table certainly containing more than a handful of those culprits.

9pm. Best desserts according to our table: strawberry shortcake by the Hyatt, chocolate mousse from Four Willows, and a duo of cakes (one was mango) whose origin currently eludes me.

10:30pm. Home early after a go-go-go evening of eating, mind whirling with ideas on how we’ll use the box of produce that we got to take home.

Because we had to rush home to our daughter, we missed hearing the winners announced for best entree, best dessert, and so forth, so once I receive the intel, I’ll update this post and share with you.

In the meantime, I’ve managed to complete a speedy upload of the pictures I took with my trusty SLR, which for brevity’s sake was not my lens of choice when I was blogging live. I’ve since replaced some of the shaky iPhone snaps with ones that I hope are more drool-worthy, but some of these will have to stay put until the rest of my table (namely Ed) lets me share more high-resolution images with you.

I’ll do one more update of this piece tomorrow within the week to air my overall thoughts of this event. If you have questions or comments – especially those of you that were at my table tonight – please leave a comment here and I’ll try to fill in the gaps for you. Good night for now.

My brother haunts the non-touristy end of Robson Street for its array of Japanese and Korean dining options. A week and a half ago, he happened across the soft open of Ramen Santouka, the newest of the chain of ramen shops originally based out of Hokkaido and starting to make its conquest of North America.

The restaurant decor is peppered with bears – the symbol of Hokkaido, according to my brother

Soft open / grand opening signage and tasty, tasty visual menu

Even if he hadn’t already eaten at Ramen Santouka during his last trip to Hokkaido, the place still would have captured his attention. The storefront, while modest in signage and obscured by a bus stop, has an arresting display in the front window of what one could eat inside its doors. It would have been enough for this curious diner to try it without further recommendation; I imagine the descriptions and visuals would interest a ramen neophyte as well.

My brother stepped inside for his first Vancouver taste of Santouka’s shio ramen. One slurp was enough to sell him on a second visit in the same week – another positive experience which led him to suggest Santouka for lunch the next time he and I hung out. He tried the shoyu ramen and the cha-su don while I wasted no time in ordering the most unusual items on the menu: the kara miso ramen and ikura don. Our picks were conveniently available as ramen/don combos for $11 and $13. Gotta love a place that makes sampling this easy.

Kara miso ramen: spicy tonkotsu broth flavoured with chili oil and miso

Ikura don: rice bowl topped with salmon roe and thin shreds of scrambled egg

Shoyu ramen: tonkotsu base flavoured with soy

Cha-shu don: rice bowl topped with slowly simmered pork

Yum, yum, yum! Easily the best tonkotsu I’ve had in Vancouver. The regular pork in our ramen was already so superb in tenderness, marble, and rich flavour that it’s gotten me drooling in anticipation for the premium pork jowl of the toroniku ramen that I will no doubt order upon my return.

A few observations: 1 slice of pork in my bowl and the default portion size were not enough to appease my normally peckish appetite, and certain items on the menu were not yet available for order. I recommend immediately upgrading your bowl to the large portion and requesting extra pork when you visit. Don’t let the limitations in the current menu stop you from coming down to eat there, as food lovers in the know and Santouka fans happy to see its presence in Vancouver are already causing a formidable line-up during service peak times. Oh, and don’t forget your cash – no debit or credit cards accepted yet.

This is a promising ramen find for me. As for my brother – who isn’t wild about Kintaro and who prefers the likes of Motomachi – he has found a new favourite in Santouka. He’s even posted photos and rave one-line reviews of his Santouka meals on his Facebook profile without telling his friends where to find the place. Tease.

Chow Times and La Petite Vancouver can give you more detailed accounts of this newcomer to Vancouver’s ramen scene, so read about their dining experiences if you aren’t already en route to Ramen Santouka.

Joe Fortes and its Pacific Kiss Platter

Paula from the BC Shellfish Growers Association (BCSGA) emailed me last week about a BC oyster sampler that Monk McQueens and Joe Fortes were offering for the duration of the Olympics. As I hadn’t applied for accreditation for the Games, I missed the official media tasting. But that was fine with me – at an affordable $25, I was able to make a lunch reservation at Joe Fortes and experience this Pacific Kiss platter as a normal diner.

Armed with a handy trifold showing the map and tasting notes above, I slurped my way across 12 regions of BC oysters, with almost all of them on or neighbouring Vancouver Island. Amongst my favourites were the smaller varieties: the Kusshi, the Pacific Rim Petites, and the Effingham. Clear winner for me was the larger Fanny Bay oyster, pictured below. Guess there is a reason this baby is popular at my other oyster haunt, Rodney’s Oyster House.

Service at Joe Fortes was terrific. The hostesses reserved us a table by the Oyster Bar that allowed room for a stroller and our server gave tasting glasses of the wines we were trying to decide between.

We also witnessed her cater to a table of tourists with a Pacific Kiss platter. She returned to said table with 12 cleansed shells – now souvenirs for their niece’s shell collection. It was funny to note at the time, as I had mentioned to my friend at how tempted I was to take home the aesthetically pleasing exterior of my Chef’s Creek oyster (above).

Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House
777 Thurlow St | Downtown Vancouver
(604) 669-1940

Alpha’s Olympic lunch combos

My five-year love affair with Alpha is well documented, but one long-standing complaint is that they’re not open for lunch. I literally squealed with delight when they told me at one evening that they were offering lunch service during the Winter Games: 1-4pm Wednesday through Sunday until Feb 28th. We made reservations for lunch the next day, where I just had to order the $20.10 Olympic Combo, featuring three kinds of sushi and sashimi, mackerel, meatball stew, fish cakes, and other goodies. Next time I’ll try the $18 Vancouver Combo: chicken kara-age, breaded ebi mayo, pumpkin croquettes, three kinds of sushi, tuna garlic pepper and more.

Again, the stroller containing the little one was welcome during this less frenzied meal time, and our servers gushed over her newness as we ate.

If you are a fan of Alpha’s dinner menu, you won’t be disappointed at how many of the regular items are still available at lunch time. The only glaring omissions (to the chagrin of my lunch date) are the Grilled Toro Pork and the Miso Teriyaki Beef.

Alpha Global Sushi & Bar
1099 Richards St | Yaletown
(604) 633-0355

Hapa Izakaya’s Olympic lunch menu

Yaletown’s newest izakaya entrant normally has post-5pm service, but they similarly decided to be open for lunch during the Olympics. 11am-2pm Sunday through Thursday, for them.

Unlike the wide selection they have during regular service, Hapa’s lunch menu tallies at six mains. It wasn’t a problem for my dining companion, who had ordered the $12 tekka donburi combo like I had, but if you have a discerning palate you may be disappointed by the limited choice during the day.

If, however, you come equipped with a baby in a carrier or stroller – like I have on several occasions, both lunch and dinner – be assured that your family will not be turned away. Even if a Canada hockey game is on and you have to navigate said stroller to the back booth through a sea of people belting out our national anthem.

One word of warning: don’t come here if you are avoiding restaurants that have added auto gratuities for the Olympics. Hapa Yaletown has an 18% rate. I for one have had consistently attentive service at this location worth at least 18%, so I don’t mind. But you might.

Hapa Izakaya
1193 Hamilton Street | Yaletown
(604) 681-4272

]]> http://tinybites.ca/2010/02/22/a-trio-of-baby-friendly-lunch-spots-during-the-vancouver-2010-olympic-winter-games/feed/ 1 http://tinybites.ca/2010/02/09/twelfth-annual-gung-haggis-fat-choy-dinner-at-floata/ http://tinybites.ca/2010/02/09/twelfth-annual-gung-haggis-fat-choy-dinner-at-floata/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:00:53 +0000 Bruce Nguyen http://tinybites.ca/?p=4372 Mosaic.

Growing up a young immigrant in Canada, ‘mosaic’ was the catch phrase my school teachers would use to define the country’s cultural landscape. Mosaic; by proudly juxtaposing different cultures, my adopted country would create an altogether new composite Canadian identity.

I’m still skeptical on the extent of it all in reality, but what’s clear is with today’s popularity of the california roll, Japadog, and ninja turtles, cultural borrowing and fusion has become rather commonplace. However, I can’t remember when it’s ever been as explicit and downright fun as Gung Haggis Fat Choy.

We even covered the event live on twitter. Missed our live tweets? You can catch up on the conversation here

The event

A portmanteau of the traditional Cantonese new year greeting and that prototypical Scottish sausage, Gung Haggis Fat Choy combines Chinese New Year with Robbie Burns Day to create a new composite celebration of song, poetry readings, and food in order to celebrate the two heritages and raise funds for various charities.

This year marked the event’s twelfth year running and, with over four hundred attendees to this year’s dinner, the costumes, bagpipes, and sing-a-longs were in full swing.

Hosted by “Toddish McWong” and Tricia Collins, the night started with a full bagpipe band, transitioned to poetry readings, both original works and those from Burns, and just kept going from there.

Audience participation was encouraged, with sing-a-longs of “When Asian/Scottish/Chirish Eyes are Smiling” – yes, “Chirish ” – and echoing along with a rap version of Burns’ “Address to the Haggis”.

The menu

The drink list consisted of a variety of Scotch whiskies and Chinese beers. Wines were available too, but understandably none from Scotland or China.

Hosted by Floata Seafood Restaurant, the menu would sound familiar to anybody who has been to a Chinese wedding banquet, with a few key differences of course:

• Appetizer plate of haggis siu mai, BBQ pork, jellyfish, and turnip cakes
• Deep-fried haggis wontons
• Mixed vegetables and winter melon soup
• Haggis lettuce wrap with diced vegetables
• Pan-fried prawns with spicy salt (shell in)
• Peking style gold coined beef
• Buddha’s Feast vegetables with deep fried tofu
• Deep fried crispy chicken
• Vegetarian fried rice
• Coconut or mango rice pudding

The Deep fried haggis wontons being a clear stand-out. In fact, I personally loved all the haggis infused dishes served this night. Yes, I know what haggis is. But I grew up eating chicken feet, tripe, and Hot vit lon / Balut (readers with tender stomachs, do not click that link).

Haggis? No problem, and really very pleasantly savoury.

‘Good food and good fun’ sums up our experiences at this year’s Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner; I’m sure we’ll be back next year.

To learn more about Gung Haggis Fat Choy: The Robbie Burns / Chinese New Year event, visit their website here.