Food & Drink Archive
Female chefs break up the boys’ club
In the era of the celebrity chef where Anthony Bourdain is a more recognizable household name than Mark Anthony, the under-representation of women in cooking is as obvious in popular culture as it is in Vancouver’s kitchens. Women make up the majority of home cooks and are the lion’s share of cooking-show viewers, but they still run a small percentage of top kitchens in T.V. land, and they’re usually represented as Rachael Rays or Nigella Lawsons: women who are shown heading up families, not restaurant kitchens.
Foie gras is hardly a dining faux pas
Eating has become a minefield of dos and don’ts. The barrage of mixed messages on everything from farmed salmon versus wild to local versus organic is often too much for us to make sense of. Now, to befuddle us even further, we have a small group of protesters picketing Vancouver restaurants that serve foie gras, the fatty liver of ducks that have been force-fed prior to slaughter. Liberation BC, as the group is called, wants to force all Vancouver restaurants to remove it from their menus and have City Hall ban it outright.
BY THE GLASS SECRETS FROM BEHIND THE BAR
THE MIXOLOGIST
Bellucci and beouf bourguignon
You are… Frederic Haut-Labourdette, executive chef at Bistro Pastis (2153 W. 4th).
RECENTLY REcommended IN URBAN DINER
REVEL
SUMMER PATIO PICKS
1095 Hamilton, 604 688-8078
Of blonde bombshells and broccoli
You are… Damian Connolly, head chef at
Dependable Italian at Trattoria
West 4th’s brand-new Trattoria Italian Kitchen is pure salesmanship. The infant in restaurateur Emad Yacoub’s ever-burgeoning brood sports all the qualities that make his other establishments so popular: the 21st-century sex appeal of the original Italian Kitchen on Alberni (not yet a year old); the clean-lined modernity of Glowbal in Yaletown; and the cool vibes of Granville’s grandiose Sanafir. It’s a magnet.
BY THE GLASS SECRETS FROM BEHIND THE BAR
THE MIXOLOGIST
SUMMER PATIO PICKS
1095 Hamilton, 604 688-8078
Italy takes the lead in this season’s restaurant openings
Finding a seat at last week’s grand-opening party was like trying to play pool with a strand of fettucine.
Gallery Café proves artless
My wife fancies the work of a local jeweller whose wares are for sale in the gift shop at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Good boy that I am, I often drop by to see if she’s showing anything new, only to be reminded how much I love the old Francis Rattenbury-designed building more than I love jewellery. Few other properties say “home” to me more than this one: From the bike couriers hydrating their efforts with cold beer next to the fountain, to the pot-heads blowing fatties unmolested on the north stairs at the back, the VAG is a comforting, open-air den of lawlessness in the heart of old, corporate Vancouver. (That it used to be a courthouse sustains the soul with a healthy dose of irony.)
RECENTLY REcommended IN URBAN DINER
REVEL
BY THE GLASS SECRETS FROM BEHIND THE BAR
THE RESTAURATEUR
In volatile Yaletown, Hamilton Street Grill stands its ground
While Blue Water Cafe, Cioppino’s, and Coast are the most refined of the many restaurants lining Hamilton Street, the always approachable Hamilton Street Grill might be the most revered among local foodie circles. It has evolved into a Yaletown icon, a place people can count on for good, honest food in an environment that is about as intimidating as a golden retriever. So, when I heard that all this week (until last call on Father’s Day) it will be celebrating its eleventh birthday with an $11 steak dinner special, I raced down with my eldest son in tow to take full advantage. We ate like princes.
SUMMER PATIO PICKS
2-1600 Howe, 604 681-1164
Eating well is all in the family
You are… Brenda Bradshaw, co-author of the baby-food cookbook The Baby’s Table and the newly released The Good Food Book for Families; and Cheryl Mutch, pediatrician and co-author of The Good Food Book for Families.
RECENTLY REcommended IN URBAN DINER
REVEL
BY THE GLASS SECRETS FROM BEHIND THE BAR
THE RESTAURANT
Summertime patios for hiding away from the city
Taking a walk through Yaletown in summertime would cause most visitors to assume Vancouver diners are the most sordid type of exhibitionist people watchers. Glowbal, Pinkys, Cioppino’s, Blue Water Cafe — you name the restaurant, chances are it has a street-side patio that was tailor-made for seeing and being seen.
RECENTLY REcommended IN URBAN DINER
REVEL
A field education — literally
You are… Margaret Webb, author of the book Apples to Oysters: A Food Lover’s Tour of Canadian Farms (MargaretWebb.com).
BY THE GLASS
SECRETS FROM BEHIND THE BAR
RECENTLY REcommended IN URBAN DINER
HY’S ENCORE
BY THE GLASS SECRETS FROM BEHIND THE BAR
THE RESTAURATEUR
