CityFood Trends Issue 2010

LATE SPRING MIX

Not Your Predictable Food Magazine

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contents

Devour your city

start ---> 1 cover 4 editorbabble 5 calendar of summer events 8 thirty top food trends, lexicon 12 chefs, meat and machismo 14 interview with butcher Josh Applestone 16 restaurant trends 18 new restaurants in the DES 20 cocktail trends, aviation, bar speak 22 six vancouver bartenders 23 wine trends 24 the Julia factor, food apps 25 food marketing trends 26 twitter scale of social benefits, food paparazzi, mobile food trucks 28 waste and upcycling 32 stop.

A PUBLICATION OF MAYFARE PRESS LTD. EDITOR/PUBLISHER Rhonda May

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CityFood Magazine 857 Beatty St., Suite 503 Vancouver, B.C. V6B 2M6 Office Hours vary: appointments appreciated

www.cityfood.com Copyright 2010

by Mayfare Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use without permission is strictly prohibited.

For information regarding permissions, write to the above address. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, Mayfare Press Ltd. cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions that may occur. All opinions expressed in the articles are those of the writers and not necessarily that of the publisher.

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Must we say goodbye to the well mannered ad?

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www.vandusengarden.org

www.quintaferreira.com

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t’s a pushy world and with the arrival of the ipad, it could be getting pushier. I’ll explain later. But first, a good word.

There is no question that the ipad has ushered in a new era in publishing. Now that we are able to get our hands on one, to physically test how it looks and works, we too will be adapting CityFood for the ipad format. But this will only be just another vehicle option.

We won’t abandon print as long as our readers still prefer the hard copy format.

All the new technological advances are exciting to be sure, and they certainly do open up new creative possibilities for those who publish, not to mention anyone who just enjoys greater connectivity to the larger world. But as this is a trends issue, it’s appropriate to point out that there’s another side to the barrage of positive hype and mention a few of the valuable things that we may be giving up in exchange. For any trend there is always the backlash, what we call the anti-trend.

First, we are going to see companies selling you the ability to “unplug” from the grid. Second, there is likely to be talk of our human “craving for the physicality” of the tactile versus the digital experience. Third, when it comes specifically to digital publishing, there’s something that I have yet to see mentioned anywhere, yet I believe we will come to miss the well mannered advertisement.

Print ads are among the few forms of marketing promotion left that fit into the category of polite. Let me list the reasons why.

1) Print ads don’t block the scenery or create traffic accident-causing distractions like billboards. 2) They don’t insult your intelligence by pretending to be something other than what they are, as opposed to all forms of advertorial and slyly embedded product endorsements. 3) Whenever they appear, they generally only say what they have to say once. Not like TV. (Recently, after being forced to view eight repetitions of the same mindless shampoo commercial during a one hour program, I chucked my remote across the room and cancelled my cable.)

Most of all, unlike radio and television commercials, print ads don’t rudely interrupt you at the climax of your interest in something else. They wait until you are ready to pay attention to them, and because the control

is on your terms, you do receive them in a more relaxed and receptive frame of mind.

As advertising shifts to the web we are only going to see more of the “me first” demands of the sponsors. Even now, just try to log onto a website to watch a video clip or grab some quick information without having to sit through a pitch for some irrelevant item such as antacid medication. The concept seems to be that if they can make you the viewer, hostile and irritated enough, you will need to start using the product.

Most obnoxious of all are the digital ads that spread-eagle themselves over the content or blast out unexpected sound while hiding the volume button. Even if they don’t resort to these extremes, as more advertisers compete for the same dimension, it’s only a matter of time before commercial messages increase in number and length and take more liberties with the reader’s time and brain wave patterns.

The other beauty about print advertising is that the ads often are beautiful. They know you are not a captive audience so they are put in the position of having to make you want to look at them. Hence, a lot of creativity and design goes into making attractive, entertaining and informative images.

Of course, as the publisher of a print vehicle financially supported by print advertising, I have a vested interest in the survival of print advertising. I’ll admit that, but so what, I’m a consumer too and I don’t like to be bullied.

While researching new digital publishing platforms I’ve been reading a lot about how advertising will be enhanced (from the advertisers’ point of view) thanks to new electronic options made available by the ereaders. The gist was is how magazines will now become more like television or radio by giving readers an opportunity to enjoy a more interactive relationship with the advertisers.

In other words, an ad would be able to leap up, fill the monitor, and audibly blast out its message via video, jingle music, moving type, etc., EVERY TIME the reader turned the digital page... effectively blocking his ability to read through an article without stopping several times to “connect” with the advertisements first.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like the magazine from Hell to me. --RM

www.provencevancouver.com

www.eatlocal.org

www.tourismpenticton.com

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Calendar JUNE 2, 2010: Main Street Farmers Market Opening.

The Main Street Farmers Market 2010 Summer Season begins today. Find them at 1100 Block Street at Thornton Park. (In front of the Canadian Pacific Rail Station.) This year's market will feature a new focus on food to eat on-site. Open every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. until September 29, 2010.

JUNE 4, 2010: A Dram Come True.

The Vancouver International Writers Festival presents its eighth annual Single Malt Scotch Whisky Sampling. Enjoy a variety of rare and distinguished single malts.

Select items will be available at auction. 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. in a Shaughnessy heritage home (location will be provided upon ticket purchase). Tickets: $100.

Partial tax receipts issued. Buy tickets at 604-681-6330, ex 102 or http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events /dramcometrue.

JUNE 5, 2010: Nelson Park Farmers Market Opening.

The Nelson Park Farmers Market 2010 Summer Season begins today. 1100 Comox Street between Bute and Thurlow. Every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until October 23rd.

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SCENES FOR SUMMER 2010

JUNE 8, 2010: IVSA New Product Salon.

More than 60 agents will pour the newest, wines, beers and spirits. Anyone who works in the hospitality trade industry may attend: restaurants, liquor stores, hotels, bars, nightclubs, casino’s or pubs. No Minors! 2 - 5 p.m. Four Seasons Hotel. 791 West Georgia Street., Vancouver. 604-581-0374.

JUNE 11, 2010: Night at the Aquarium.

The evening launches with a Champagne entrance, then features food from celebrity chefs representing 13 of Vancouver's Ocean Wise restaurants. Complimentary B.C. wines. Great music. Live and silent auctions. Tickets are $250 (with a partial tax receipt). One hundred percent of event revenues go to support the Vancouver Aquarium's conservation, research and education programs. 845 Avison Way, Stanley Park, Vancouver. 604-659-3474 JUNE 15, 2010: 15th Anniversary of Irish Heather’s Long Table Dinner Series.

June 15th will be the 1st Anniversary of the Long Table Series at Gastown's Irish Heather.

To celebrate they will be launching the LTS lunch & breakfast, as well as a couple of late night, weekend events and a couple of super cheap nights...keep watching

for details. LTS reservations can be made by emailing sean@irishheather.com and are strongly recommended. Visit the blog link at http://www.ltsmenu.blogspot.com/ for photos, menus, dates and prices. 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver. 604-688-9779.

JUNE 18, 2010: Mallet Masters Croquet Tournament.

A day of mallets, martinis and music. Join the Championship Cocktail Party. Saltaire Martini Bar and hors d'oeuvres from Glowbal Catering. Hamptons White Theme. Live and Silent Auction. 4 - 6 p.m. Ambleside Greens Golf Course. 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. 778-5521301. All proceeds benefit the West Vancouver Memorial Library Foundation.

JUNE 19-20, 2010: Comox Valley Shellfish Festival.

At the gala dinner on June 19th, 200 guests will be served a ninecourse gourmet seafood supper prepared by chefs from Vancouver Island and Vancouver. The Oyster Shucking contest on June 20th starts with ten shuckers but only one will claim the crown, plus $500 in prize money. For tickets and more information contact Matthew Wright at matt@bcsga.ca or call: 250-890-7561.

JULY 5-9, 12-16: Children's Summer Camps at VanDusen Gardens.

The camps promote environmental stewardship and a love of the natural world through a fun blend of activities, lessons, gardening, games, crafts and garden exploration.

Pond dipping and vegetable gardening will be incorporated into all camps. Sessions begin July 5th and run through the summer.

9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. VanDusen Botanical Gardens, 5251 Oak Street, Vancouver.

JULY 15-18, 2010: Taste: Victoria’s Festival of Food and Wine.

This festival focused on Vancouver Island cuisine and British Columbia wines will be led

by Vancouver Island food and wine personalities. Thursday, July 15th is “The Main Event”, an evening of BC wine tasting along with seasonal Vancouver Island cuisine at the Crystal Garden in downtown Victoria. Wine and food seminars take place July 16, 17 and 18 include: “Sips and Seafood”,“The Swine and The Wine”, an inside look at BC’s seafood industry, and “Chocoholics Anonymous”.

A special trade tasting of BC wines will take place prior to The Main Event. For more information call 250-385-1527.

JULY 18, 2010 Outstanding in the Fields Dinner in Pemberton.

Scenic North Arm Farm, “the most beautiful farm in North America” is again the venue for this year’s event. Farmer Jordan Sturdy, who is also mayor of the nearby town of Pemberton, will be your host.

Chef James Walt of Araxi Restaurant in Whistler will create and execute an impressive menu using the diverse ingredients found at the farm. $180 (US). 4 p.m.

JULY 19, 2010: Outstanding in the Fields Dinner at UBC. Set between the soil and the sky, Outstanding in the Field's long, linen-draped table beckons diners to celebrate food at the source.

Join UBC Farm as they bring together local farmers and food artisans, chefs and winemakers to explore the connection between the earth and the food on our plates. Hosts are Mark Bomford and Amy Frye. Guest Chef is Robert Belcham of Refuel Restaurant. 4 p.m. $180 (US).

Tickets available for purchase through http://outstandinginthefield.com/.

New events are added and updated daily at www.cityfood.com/events

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food-obsessive trends starring on your plate now...

lexicon: Neologisms for our times

eating the parsley: choosing that which is light and colourful over something more substantial. such as a crantini over a glass of Scotch.

grating the baguette: fully exploiting any resource. for example the relationship between banks and credit card users.

gnawing the wings: belabouring all the little points and details.

couch burrito: watching television in your snuggie.

hands over the bbq coals: waiting till you feel pain before deciding to act.

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... just recently, and probably soon. In no particular order.

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Say Kimchi!

Thank Momofuku’s David Chang, the self-titled “ambassador of Korean Food”, or maybe the Twitterfueled excitement over L.A.’s Kogi truck and its Korean tacos, but suddenly every hot chef was even hotter once he started fooling with Kimchi.

The spicy, pickled, usually cabbage-based, condiment with its stoplight colour has been showing up on hot dogs, burgers, meatball sandwiches, pizza, pasta and even a quesadilla called a “Quexadiya”. Whether thrown into pork bone soup with reckless abandon, or civilized by the balance of sweet fruit sauces, cooks discovered that it added just the right note of heat, unami and exotica to pinch awake the flavour of any dish that snoozed.

Even La Casa Gelato experimented with kimchi as one of their 508 flavours. Was that going too far?

To worship at the Temple of Kimchi, check out the wall length cooler at the Robson Street H Mart.

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Bánh mì (Vietnamese Hoagie)

Vancouverites have long enjoyed access to good báhn mi`, available for a couple of toonies from makeshift kitchens in the backs of Chinatown grocery stores and Korean markets around town. However, it was not until the American media went gaga over the Vietnamese/French hybrid (and all its various Asian Dagwood cousins), that they started showing up on the city’s cosmopolitan bar and lunch menus. The Keefer Bar has a good version, and so does Bao Bei restaurant. (But at much higher prices, of course.)

In general, ethnic-style sandwiches have been more interesting than what has been offered as “upscale” burgers, but with our lack of mobile food trucks, what this city needs are more hip, window-in-the-wall spots like New York’s Num Pang Sandwich Shop. (www.numpangnyc.com). Until then, it’s the One Saigon at 979 Hornby, or the Viet Sub at 542 Robson.

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Japanese Extremes

Vancouver excels in the middle playing fields of Japanese cuisine: sushi restaurants, izakaya bars, robatayaki pubs and everyday noodle shops. Yet up until now, we’ve seldom ventured into the far end zones of either high traditional or modern-casual Japanese cuisine. Tojo may be a world class sushi master, but his restaurant style is not the semireligious art of the formal kaiseki discipline. Yoshi’s on Denman was the only restaurant that even tried.

But now Toronto can claim the high ground in Chef Masaki Hashimoto’s restaurant, Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto. Ten seats only, 9 courses, $300, one week advance reservations minimum - and you can expect to go home still hungry.

Meanwhile at the other pole, except for ramen (which is a category all on its own), we haven’t had a lot of exposure to Japanese fast food chain outlets.

That seems ready to change with new boxlettes sprouting up in the mega-malls of Richmond and in a saturated row lined up along 500 Robson Street: Gyudon Gyu, Kushi Box, Beard Papa (and JapaDog).

As for the western take, keep an eye on refuel. At writing time, Chef Rob Belcham was in Tokyo researching for his “refuel ramen”, as well as a source for the ultimate beef--dry-aged Wagu. Next ingredient up: The Japanese kimchi: natto (or fermented soy).

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Latin Influences

Latin cuisine is getting real. Salt Tasting Room and Au Petit Chavignol have brought in 36month-aged legs of acorn-fed, Spanish Ibérico de Bellota ham, and they’re shaving them within an inch of their tiny black hooves. Local bars are stocking serious Sherry, and the kind of places that have given tapas a bad name are making room for operators offering either something more authentic (Cafe Barcelona) or at least more interesting (Mis Trucos, Latitude, Judas Goat.)

New Mexican additions such as Las Tortas and La Taqueria give us faith that camped up Mexi-Cali won’t be our lot any more. (Although some say the best Mexican food to be found in B.C is not in Vancouver but when Penticton’s Amante Bistro serves it on Mexican dinner nights. We believe them.)

Argentine words such as chinchulines, altajores, and chimichurri are appearing more frequently on local menus. And certainly the Wine Festival added fuel to this asado with their recent focus on Argentine wine varietals. Hooray for Malbec - the new Shiraz. Only more can come from the winefest’s focus on Spain in 2011. At the grocers, look for epazote (Mexican herbs), Seville Oranges and Peruvian aji amarillo chiles.

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Authentic Italian Pizza

“Authentic Italian Pizza” has been our culinary holy grail. Many claimed to have nailed it, but overall, there’s been little agreement on what we’re supposed to be aiming for, other than a vague notion that it should be Neapolitan. Lately we’ve been trying harder and perhaps with restaurants like Nook, Lupo and Campagnolo (that do not have the benefit of a wood-burning oven) and CinCin (that does), we’ve come as close as we can for a market raised on box-steamed delivery. Chef Rob Belcham sums it up: “It’s kinda like cooking eggs, everyone knows what they like and thinks everything else is wrong. We had a tough go of it in the beginning at Campagnolo. We tried to do as close to a true Naples-style pizza as we could,

and in general, the public didn’t like it. They couldn’t wrap their heads around not having their pizza pre-sliced.

Then it was “not enough toppings”, the crust was “too thick” or “too thin”. So we came up with something that we’re proud of and gets a pretty good response from our customers -- a little thicker crust, a few more toppings, but still stays as true to real Italian pizza as we can manage.”

Next up: Coming to town soon - a restaurant that claims their Naples-style pizza is certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Can’t get more authentic than that.

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Babushka Cuisine

Given Canada’s historical connection to Ukrainian immigration - and the current preference for comfort foods, it’s a mystery why so more chefs haven’t explored East Block cuisine. Garlic, potatoes, cabbage and onions -- what could be more unpretentious as well as recession friendly? Whenever they have done so, the results have been pretty delicious. Case in point: the caramelized onion and walnut-stuffed pierogi that Chef Robert Cordinier serves with his spice-rubbed lamb at the Hillside Winery Bistro in the Okanagan, or the aged cheddar pierogi pan-fried with pancetta at the Pivo Public House. Not to mention some of the borscht-like beet soups served at Whistler’s Araxi.

But if Slavic flavours have been overlooked, that could easily change as the media preps for the next winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Expect a spotlight on trout roe, pickled wild mushrooms, black bread, eel, kasha (Michael Ignatieff’s favourite grain), or the banosh breakfast dish that Julie Powell raves about in her latest book “Cleaving.”

It’s even possible that bartenders might get over their snub of vodka long enough try it Russian style chilled to viscousness and then slowly sipped - not slammed - from shot glasses alongside small plates of food. Zakuski, is what the Russians call this tapasstyle eating and drinking.

To get a head start, check out the Ukrainian-hip dishes in The Veselka Cookbook, named after the popular East Block ex-pat cafe in New York’s East Village. Na Zdorovye!

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Comfortably Canadian

that the foods most people think of as Russian are actually Ukrainian, our “national” cuisine is actually Quebeçois. (And that even includes butter tarts if the pastry is made from pork lard a la Madame Benoît.)

More than ingredients however, we predict the real cultural marker will be curling. Not just curling as a sport, but curling arenas as the sort of rock-on party venue that is currently served by bowling alleys. If we see Canada’s answer to the notorious “Norway pants” given street cred from young fashion designers, we’ll figure we were right. When we see a photo of Fred Lee wearing a pair in the newspaper social columns, we’ll know for sure.

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In Eastern Canada, smoked seal pepperoni and seal tartare (yes, seal) has shown up on the plates of adventurous restaurants. As you can imagine, not without generating a lot of controversial barking.

Native cooking that close to historical has yet to happen here, and no doubt that’s a good thing. Would it be Ocean Wise approved?

In the past, Dolly Watts, a member of the Git’ksan nation, owned and operated the Arthur Ericksondesigned Liliget Feast House in Vancouver. It was considered to be an excellent restaurant, but something of a novelty. Meanwhile, on Vancouver Island, Sinclair Philip was adding indigenous plants common to native cuisine -- such as the wild nodding onion -to the menu of Sooke Harbour House. Even so, First Nations cuisine seldom penetrated the mainstream restaurant scene much further than cedar-planked salmon. Thus the current interest in reviving traditional tribal cuisine has been encouraging.

Ben Genaille and Chef Andrew George teach students at the VCC how to use such local ingredients as eulachon, hearts of cat tail, bannock, wild herbs and sea kelp. The school’s catering company, Kanata Cuisine, served dishes made from these items and more at the Vancouver Olympics. This fall, Arsenal Pulp Press will publish a cookbook on this very subject. See cover below.

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Like a stray dog that followed us home, poutine became Canada’s food mascot without our planning for it to happen that way. Even people from Quebec seem surprised. And this despite determined competition from the Tim Horton Donut. The only thing we can say is that at least poutine is a uniquely Canadian food quirk, unlike the inexplicable connection that Americans have made for us with any version of round-cut bacon.

This year, poutine has been showing up everywhere and the chefs can’t seem to resist adding that extra heap of protein. Raudz restaurant in Kelowna went with chicken confit. Coast Restaurant added a lobster.

The only way to ruin it was to try and make it healthy.

But it wasn’t only poutine.

Since the flag-waving days of the Olympics, other foods such as artisan maple syrup, smoked meat and beavertail pastries are getting attention as quintessentially Canadian, even though, just in the same way

Westcoast First Nations

Neo-Deli (see page 14) Branzino

It’s an “it fish” among the chef set, yet no one seems sure what to call it. Branzino is otherwise known as European sea bass, (which may also be called loup de mer, bar or spigola). In Turkey it's known as levrek, and in Greece it is called lavraki.

But the name “branzino” appears to be sticking because it’s easy to pronounce and implies continental caché.

Because overfishing has made the fish nearly nonexistent in the Mediterranean, the branzino that reach our markets have been farm raised. It’s mild, fairly firm, white flesh makes it versatile. Plus it is exceptionally tasty when cooked on the bone, as it is at Coast and at Provence Marinaside, where it is served whole and seasoned with herbes de Provence, lemon and sometimes, fennel. Chef Ryan Gauthier makes a crispy branzino with tomato and espelette poached quail eggs at Italian Kitchen.

Another feature in its favor: cooked branzino is

one of the simplest fishes to bone out on the plate, helping diners to feel like culinary sophisticates.

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Small but Mighty

No digging the anchovies out of your Caesar salad anymore. The former little salt bombs may now be the best part of the dish, especially if they are home cured as they are at San Francisco’s Zuni Cafe (and served as an appetizer alongside shavings of Parmesan).

Here at home, Provence whips them into a tapenade and serves them with the bread and butter at every table.

Whole “little fishies” (whitebait) are sold at Bao Bai, dried and spiced as a cocktail snack, or look for them in Chinatown groceries, coated with sesame seeds, sugar, salt and soy, and sold for peanuts in big cello bags.

Luckily for us, sardines are a local sustainable industry, and Chef Frank Pabst features them on his “Unsung Heroes” menu at Blue Water Cafe each February.

However, mackerel may turn out to be the most under rated fish of all. Its rich, oily, sometimes smoked flavour (especially if it is Spanish and not the Norwegian variety), is a component of many Iberian recipes and will be an interesting match against Spanish wines at the 2011 Wine Festival. Try Pabst’s Grilled Mackerel in Romesco Sauce in the Blue Water Cafe Cookbook.

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Hamburger Helper

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Tongue

One of the reasons New Yorkers hotly contest the virtues of one hamburger over another is because the meat grind is never exactly the same. Even if top restaurants are supplied by the same butcher or meat supplier, they are sold a custom blend of different cuts of beef, exclusive to them alone, and highly secret. Hence Minetta Tavern’s justification for their $26 “Black Label” burger.

Local chefs have been following that example, although they tend to be more open about their formula.

For them, it’s more important to know where the meat came from - preferably from one steer. Chef Rob Belcham at refuel has one popular burger served with caramelized onions fried with yellow mustard, as well as a burger with seared foie gras that he calls “Protester Style”. They sell 30 a day.

Says Chef Rob: “we have a supplier in Burnaby who has been dry aging our Ribeye's for the last three years. He brings it in on our spec -- prime beef neck and prime beef chuck -- which he dry ages for 30 days on the bone. We break them down into a 50/50 blend of neck and chuck with about 28 percent fat by weight. Because we seam bone the meat and grind it every morning, we are able to serve a coarsely ground burger that is very rich, seasoned throughout and that can even be served rare if the customer desires.

Tongue (whether beef, lamb or pork) is the new beef cheeks and it’s showing up in some very interesting dishes. (Montreal’s Au Pied de Cochon’s bison tongue croquettes, comes to mind.)

For something more traditional, try refuel’s corned beef tongue sandwich on housemade brioche, with horseradish mayonnaise and pickled cucumber. ... continued on page 10

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It’s All In The Head

(see page 14)

Bacon Jam

Call it the trend that will not die. Bacon has been well documented as an internet obsession, and although everyone is sick of hearing about it, the lust for the stuff cannot be sated. Beyond the 2008/9 craze for combining bacon with chocolate, caramel and other sweet flavours, bacon sizzled when infused in bourbon, rendered into edible bacon fat candles, or made into a smoking“jam” that can be used nine ways to Sunday.

Corner Bistro Suite serve their housemade bacon jam alongside the hard boiled eggs they offer up as bar snacks, and tweet when a new batch is ready.

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The New Ungulates

Lamb is the new pork. Lamb neck is the new bacon; lamb cheeks the new pork belly. What else can we say? As a grass-fed and less medicated protein, everywhere pork has been in the kitchens of the last few years, the lambs are sure to follow.

Goat meat could have been just as trendy if Vancouver had acquired as many nouveau Greek restaurants as they did small, authentic Italian and French places in 2009. (Much of the “lamb” chops served in Greece’s small island tavernas are actually goat.)

Although chefs such as Bishop’s Andrea Carlson did occasionally feature Fraser Valley goat chops in their fine dining restaurants, we actually expected to see more Mexican goat tacos this year. But then we also expected to see more authentic tacos in general.

Which leaves it up to the Caribbean cooks who are more upfront about their taste for the meat. Try the Reef, Jamaican Pizza Jerk, and on the daily fresh sheet at the new Calabash Bistro in Gastown.

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Sexy Fats + Better Butter

If you are working the “whole hog” dinner idea then you are going to end up with a lot of lard, and refuel frequently does. They use it in pastry and biscuits, and to pan fry meat. They also use beef tallow in their deep fryer and on occasion, even horse fat for their fries. As the French know - like duck fat, horse fat renders a tasty, very crispy texture, although the fat is problematic to source and tends to degrade quickly.

Look in the dairy cases at les amis du fromage for local lardo, or as Mario Batali calls it “prosciutto bianco”, that has been seasoned with rosemary or smoked over hickory. It makes pan-fried fish a sensation.

Goat butter shows up in restaurants now and then too, and refuel also makes their own in-house butter, using Avalon cream and Maldon salt.

Whose idea to churn over next? A couple of hip bakeries in Brooklyn have been making their own fresh butter from organic milk and sea salt and selling it in little pots alongside their loaves of freshly baked bread.

What a treat. But if you want less calories and saturated fat and more omega-3s you’re better off with the lard. Truly.

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Haute Dogs

The last word for hot dogs in this town used to be JapaDog. (Seriously, during the Olympics we waited in a long line at 2 a.m. for one.) Then comedian Dougie Luv raised the bar again at his new Granville Street DougieDog, offering creatively decked out dogs with better meat and that all important “snap.”

In the restaurants, Chef Josh Wolf does a Lobster Dog during lunch service at Coast restaurant. And who could beat the chili dog at Raudz with its lamb merguez sausage, veggie chili and smoked local cheese? But otherwise, unless you were buying meat from Oyama Sausage at Granville Island and making your own deluxe versions, hot dogs still seem like a forced note in Vancouver. Hopefully choices will expand without skimping on quality when the city opens up street food vendor restrictions this summer. One great early contender for “Good Dawg!”: the beerinfused, artisan bratwurst that Beerbrats has been serving from their “Bratmobile” at the Farmer’s Market.

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Tickled Pickle

It’s not just the economy that has everyone in a pickle these days. Thanks to their connection to Korean, Japanese and even modern deli food, pickles have become the new olives. A Gibson anyone?

Any kind of pickled food was in this year, as long as it wasn’t the traditional pickle pickle. One of the stranger fads going around has been the “pickle back” -a shotglass of McClure’s briny pickle juice as a chaser for whiskey. (The Ace Hotel Bar in NYC gives away pickles to anyone who will take them just so they can keep stocked up with enough juice.)

Meanwhile, in the restaurants, chefs have been experimenting with how to introduce the acidity of the pickles into their dishes in new ways. Provence Marinaside makes pickled lemons to create a vinaigrette for their sablefish dish. Wild Rice pickles organic sun chokes from Glen Valley, as well as pickled onions for their Beef Shanghai.

In Kelowna, Chef Rod Butters of Raudz restaurant is releasing his own RjB line of preserves, pickles, and dressings. They are only sold in restaurants at present but look for them in retail stores soon.

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Fried Chicken

Just when nutritionists had the public weaned off KFC, David Chang came along with his Korean style country fry and got everyone thinking about fried chicken again. That’s what our Aunt Rosie used to call “a high quality problem”.

In Vancouver, you can’t beat refuel’s fried chicken with its biscuit, gravy and coleslaw partners. What’s the secret? They marinate the Polderside chicken for three days, cook it sous vide first so that it is evenly cooked and juicy, then they fry it to order.

If the fates answer our wishbone, we’ll also be trying the “Fried Chicken Nights” at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc restaurant. His family recipe is in the book of the same name.

21

No Penalty for Icing

While whoopie pies (cake outside, icing inside) were the bomb everywhere else, even inspiring a number of cookbooks, Vancouver stayed in a cupcake rut.

That being said however, there was a craving for desserts with cream or icing filled centers, whether they be Beard Papa’s pastel-filled cream puffs, bombolinis (custard filled Italian donuts), Japanese mochi creams (cream filled rice balls), or dainty, neon-coloured macarons. The loveliest place to eat the macarons was in Urban Tea’s Merchant’s new tearoom on Georgia Street, and we are all looking forward to the Parisian authentics that will come from Pastry Chef Thierry Busset’s new shop on Alberni this fall.

Then again, you could always just dispense with the sandwiching component altogether and go for the part you really want. Believe it or not, we’ve seen little paper cup of frosting shots sold as “reduced calorie cupcakes”.

Only women and SATC fans get this logic.

22

Younger than Springtime

23

Parsnips + Brussels Sprouts

24

Quince

Some say immature, others say fun. You decide. The trend in desserts has been all childhood nostalgia. Picture Society’s clouds of pink cotton candy wrapped around cocktails, or their spiked Oreo cookie milkshake; refuel’s take on the classic Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait; Raudz’ fudgesicle made with Valhrona chocolate or their Pop Rock Lollipops; or Market’s healthy interpretation of fruity sodas.

Momofuku’s Milk Bar pushed the envelope with panacotta flavoured to taste like cereal milk. Unlike the unfairness of childhood, these treats were the rewards you gave yourself for being naughty.

One we wish we’d tried: Corner Suite Bistro’s play on those iconic “little donuts” from the P.N.E., served at the table in brown paper bags. Maybe not as crazy as Chef David Burke’s miniature donut “ferris wheels”, but a romp in the playpark nevertheless.

Caramelized parsnips ruled over carrots all winter, both as a side to roasted meat or as component in a sauce or puree. Erik Heck, executive chef at Glowbal Grill created a main dish when he added them to a Parsnip & Boursin Soup. At the end of winter, brussels sprouts took the lead and dug in well into spring.

The LA Times summed up quince as “the poster child of slowness”. No matter what do you with it, it requires patience. Even so, the high pectin content fruit has been showing up a lot lately -- most often in vanilla-poached condiments, and jus served with meat and seafood dishes. Raudz used quince puree in cocktails.

A non commercial produce, it’s difficult to even find a good local source. (Most of the quince in our market comes from Chile). However, sleuths report that best ones grow on a small tree by the main house at Duncan’s Fairburn Farm (the buffalo mozzarella producers).

25

Bourbon-Flavoured

Everything tasted better with a shot of bourbon flavouring. Not the least, the Braised Kobe Shortribs with Bourbon BBQ sauce that Chef Frank Pabst will feature on his Blue Water Cafe menu this summer. Try whipping a

www.cincin.net

spoonful into butter and add a pat to barbecued steaks.

26

Thank you for Smoking

27

Black is the New Black

28

Green Rice

29

Local Wheat/Flour

30

New Spices

While wineries in Australia laboured to remove smoke taint from their wines, food companies were trying to get the charred flavours into any number of unlikely products. (Organic Smokehouse, a British company, gives the treatment to everything from raw eggs to chocolate.)

Smoking let chefs imbue layers of flavor into their dishes without adding fat, sugar or sodium. Mission accomplished: the smoked organic tofu at Wild Rice restaurant; or the smoked bresaola from Seattle’s The Swinery.

Black smoked salt, Korean black bean paste, Japanese black soy sauce crystals, Chinese black vinegar, such as that used in Wild Rice restaurant’s Hot and Sour Soup -- the fashionably dark condiments added depth, umami, and even a little intrigue to otherwise, unsurprising dishes.

Bamboo wasn’t just for eco furniture. Extract of bamboo turned up in luxury imported rice - giving it a luscious spring green tint and the name “Jade Pearl”. When stir fried with ginger, scallion and sesame oil it made it a perfect partner with fish dishes. Try it in Provence’s Crab and Lobster Bamboo risotto.

Bishop's gets their milled wheat from Urban Grains CSA and uses it to make all their breads and pastas.

Occasionally they also get wheat berries to make an side dish salad for mains. Refuel buys their wheat from Dirk Keller, (their pig producer). Either way, local flour grown and milled in the Fraser Valley or Vancouver Island is a highly desirable item. If a restaurant is using it in the kitchen they’ll be sure to let you know on the menu.

New flavour spikers in a chef’s kit these days: Spanish piment espelette (The Cure uses it in their chorizo.)

Sazon Con Achiote for Latin America, Japanese Furikake salt. Indian vadouvan and raw turmeric.

CityFood Magazine -

11

macho gastro -

they’re in for the kill

In the late ‘80s I found myself in the doghouse when as the food editor at Western Living magazine, I offered up a feature on wild geese hunting in Alberta.

“The proofreader was in tears reading this ” my editor stormed. And she didn’t mean out of frustration.

Fearing a backlash from the readers, the content was ordered to be softened. There would be more romantic autumnal game recipes; less background details.

Later, in the early 90’s, CityFood profiled a small farm in Surrey that would sell you a live chicken, dispatch it for you, and give you a quick lesson on how to pluck and eviscerate it on your own. Beyond the general reaction of “Ewww”, that one had us checking under our cars when an animal rights organization decided we could use a little tar with our feathers.

Times have changed, even if PETA has not. Both of those articles were written in an era when no one wanted to think about where their chicken legs had been before they walked into Safeway - let alone wanted to have a hand on the ax. Now it’s not enough the bush to drag home the fresh sheet entree in the to be fully cognizant of your daily protein’s quality of same way they might source from the local fishing life, nor to know how to use every part of it down to boat docks or produce market. the eyeballs. These days, the trend thing is to have Still, they weren’t far off. If chefs have not exactly been there as witness to the kill. been loading their blunderbusses with buckshot, they Call it the new spiritual gastro responsibility, but certainly have been going out to the farms to get a all the food celebrities are doing it -- Jamie Oliver, first hand look at meat animals on the hoof. And if the Martin Picard, most likely even the chef at your creatures didn’t exactly sport impressive racks of favourite neighbourhood bistro. On his world-roaming antlers, they often do have names like “buttercup” or television show, Anthony Bourdain even pressured a “Little Grunty”, and in many ways, that kind of confused Greek village go out and find a sheep to knowledge requires more emotional steel than anything. “authentically” slaughter for the cameras, even though For the chefs it’s been time to buck up and get it wasn’t the season for it. their hands in the entrails. It’s no longer rockstar just It’s a validation that one respects the “taking to be the guy ordering baby vegetables via of life” part of the meat eating process, that a blackberry in the belt holster. You have makes everyone feel good - except of to be able to dismember an entire meat course, the unfortunate chicken or pig that’s 2010 is not carcass on the kitchen counter with the giving it up. the year to finesse of a hairy-chested Italian butcher And it’s not just the men who keen to be 2010 is not the year to be both a chef initiated; the women are up for it too. My be both a too. and a metrosexual - even if you are a 81-year-old food writer friend Betty Fussell, chef and a woman. a city girl through and through, went deer stalking in Montana last fall and wrote metrosexual The public loves butchery too. Glossy about it in a piece called “Granny Gets a - even if food magazines have beefed up their Gun” for the New York Times. Author Julie pages with instructional sections on how Powell, whose book we refer to opposite, you are a to portion up whole chickens, or butterfly devoted an entire chapter to the description legs of lambs. It’s a nod to the fact that woman. of a pig slaughter - even going so far as to consumers now need more economical explain the origins of the phrase “bleeding ways to purchase food, but also an acknowledgement like a stuck pig”. She wrote: that their readers never really knew how to cook in “We are about to witness, many of us for the first the first place and are now just trying to find their time, a violent death - a murder, if you define murder way past the olive forks in their designer kitchens. as the deliberate killing of an innocent being. And we But here we’re just talking about amateurs. are all nervous and excited and a little bit thrilled At the more style conscious end of the foodie about it”. scale, negotiating one’s way through an entire pig, Perhaps it was an impression that Montreal chef lamb, or goat carcass was the base for the chic-est Martin Picard made in his recently published cooksort of cocktail party. San Francisco's Ryan Farr of book when he discussed his love of hunting, or the 4505 Meats regularly alerts his Twitter followers to persistent cliche that if a Canadian isn’t boring its cocktail parties, called “meat mashups” for patrons to because he’s a lumberjack, but when a US magazine sip on Maker’s Mark while they watch him dismember hired me last year to assist on a Canadian feature, steer carcasses or 200-pound hogs. they seemed deflated to learn that Vancouver wasn’t Here at home, the Oyama Sausage Company can teeming with chefs picturesquely charging out into ...continued on page 30

Cochon (New Orleans), Black Hoof (Toronto), Meat Hook (New York), The Slaughtered Lamb (New York), Judas Goat (Vancouver), L’Abattoir (Vancouvouver) Restaurants that sound like butcher shops:

12

- CityFood Magazine

emember Amy Adams’ perky portrayal of blogger Julie Powell in the film Julie & Julia?

Powell said the character was nothing like her actual self, and that the real Julie was revealed in her second book Cleaving (Little Brown, 2009). All we can say is that the real girl has cojones.

Territory covered in Cleaving includes: butchery; adultery; crackberry; steamy anonymous encounters with Craigslist pickups; big knives; beer drinking; cuts, and bruises; meat locker lingo, raunchy jokes, weightlifting, blood drinking, obsession and stalking ... not to mention a thwarted rape in a pup tent on the edge of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater.

There are two books in one here. One imagines that the publishers didn’t think the meat of a journal documenting a butcher’s apprenticeship yielded enough juice and advised Powell to marinate it first in a little self-absorbed mix of spice, vinegar and salty tears.

R

The

word

F

Now that your grandmother has a tattoo it seems that chefs and their media enablers have to pick another device to signal their street cred cool.

Gordon Ramsay employed The F word to shock the older female demographic watching the Food Network, and enjoyed moderate success. Although as an attention getting affectation, the locker room speak would have worked better for Rachel Ray. New York chef David Chang, who admits the name for his Momofuku restaurant was chosen because it sounded like the term for disrespect to a matriarch, is probably the King of Cuss due his obvious dependence on the word. And sometimes, the effect is even endearing, such as when he refers to brussels sprouts as “stinky little fuckers”.

The fact that he uses profanity in nearly every sentence of an interview, and sprinkles it liberally across the pages of his cookbook like so much fermented fish salt, isn’t that interesting. After all, his intro writer Peter Meehan does too, and many chefs do speak that way. The surprising part is how the formerly conservative press instead of censoring profanity, now sniffs and rolls in it.

Local example: The drink Bao Bei’s lists on their menu as “The Best F%$#ing Pina Colada You’ve Ever Had”. We suspect the pull back to keyboard symbols indicates that their respective matriarchs tend to visit the restaurant.

Photo by Jennifer May

Joshua Applestone is New York’s hottest butcher, as well as a purveyor of grass-fed sustainable meat to Manhattan’s top restaurants, and a teacher.

He trained rock star chef Tom Mylan of Meat Hook.

He guided Julie Powell through the butcher’s apprenticeship that she chronicled in her new book,Cleaving. Guess who he says taught him what he knows? --------------> CityFood Magazine -

13

interview with master butcher

oshua Applestone

For Cleaving, author Julie Powell, being ahead of the trend curve, or perhaps part of the catalyst for it, chronicled her apprenticeship as a butcher taken under the tutelage of master butcher Joshua Applestone of Fleisher’s Meats.

At one point in the narrative, after Powell has com pleted the professional program at Fleishers, Jessica Applestone, Josh’s wife, and business partner urges Powell to complete her “meat education” by visiting Vancouver. The city Applestone refers to as: "One of the great meat capitals of the world".

Well, we thought we knew this town, but that was news to us. Buenos Aires, Houston, Calgary, yes, okay. But Vancouver? A great meat capital? Really?

Intrigued, we tracked down the Applestones (who jokingly refer to themselves as “meat hippies”) at their shop in Kingston, in upper New York State.

Their store, Fleisher’s, has a devoted following in New York's food community for its artisan quality meat sourced from organic, hormone- and antibioticfree, grass-fed cattle. They supply some of the top restaurants in Manhattan and since the book has been published, they've also enjoyed a certain amount of international recognition, with major profiles featured in such publications as Gourmet, Food & Wine, The New York Times, etc.

Now, in addition to their meat business, they also run a popular butcher trading courses graduating such meat “celebrities” as Meat Hook’s Tom Mylar.

(Check out the website at www.fleishersmeats.com with its video of Powell breaking down a leg of p ork.)

The Applestones confirmed that they had meant what they had said about Vancouver. They have visited a number of times while Josh trained in the charcu terie arts with John van der Lieck of the Oyama Sausage Company (located in Granville Island). They both loved the city, and at one point had even seriously considered moving here to live. But unfortunately for us, that didn't work out. Here's the transcript from that conversation with Joshua.

CF: When were you in Vancouver?

JA: We fell in love with the city the first time we visite d.

Since then we have been to Vancouver a total of three times, staying from 10-14 days each trip.

CF: So how did you happen to hear of Oyama?

JA: We literally stumbled onto their shop on our second visit and thought we had found heaven. The owners, John and his wife Christine, invited us to come back and stay with them while I trained with John.

There is a camaraderie amongst butchers, but even so, they went above and beyond. Their generosity was so heartfelt and they were such a joy to be with.

We really didn't know them at all, nor did they know us, yet they invited us into their home and their lives and taught me so much. Jessica was 6-weeks pregn ant at the time too. So I remember that visit well.

CF: And what did you learn during that time?

JA: The art of sausage making. (I was only there for 10 days), but John is a master and I watched, learned and participated as much as I could. He really changed the way I saw and ran my own business.

His cookbook collection inspired me for the next 10 years. Also, John has a really beautiful touch with spicing and he taught me how dif ferent flavors could work together.

CF: What about the actual meat? Was it similar to the grass-fed product you source in NY state?

JA: At the time I worked with John he used more commercial meat than we do (he also produces a MUCH) greater volume than we do, so the meat was different, but I know he has expanded his lines to include more local and sustainably-raised meats, which I think is wonderful.

CF: You mentioned you had even considered moving to Vancouver. Why was that?

JA: Because we love your city: the food, the beauty , your national healthcare system! Vancouver embodies a great deal of what Jessica and I would want in a city—small, manageable, great food, good diversity, fantastic natural beauty and coffee that will take your head off.

CF: Has Powell's book made Fleisher's "famous"?

Did your organized training program start before or after her book came out?

JA: Julie has certainly help us gain national recogni tion, but amongst foodies we were already making a name for ourselves before her book came out. We will see what happens over the next year or so. As for the apprenticeship program, that was already in place, before she arrived. We had designed it based on a real need that we saw in the industry .

Photo by Jennifer May

CF: Has the book brought you any unwanted attention from militant vegans?

JA: Nope. Anyway we encourage healthy debate!

14

Read the Applestone’s “Butcher Blog” in Saveur Magazine. Note: After further research we were amazed to learn that both Josh and Jessica had come into the business as vegetarians. (Josh was even vegan!) According to Jessica “Josh remained a vegetarian six months into business. What put him over the edge was bacon: It was his gateway meat.”

Julie Powell denies ever being a vegetarian.

- CityFood Magazine

14

Food Trend:

Getting a Head of the Game.

As mentioned on page 30, chefs are exploring classic country ways of cooking pig’s head in various forms, as well as inventing new and modern ways of using meat from the head area. Refuel restaurant in Vancouver has earned a reputation for going “whole hog”, serving all parts of the pig, all of the time. So we asked them what dishes they currently of fer made with meat or fat from this specific area.

Head: Available off the menu, all the time, are whole confit pig’s head. One order serves two peop le.

These are carved tableside and served with various side dishes and sauces. They also serve pig’s head stuffed with foie gras, or in the charcuterie items as crown bacon, pancetta and porcetta.

Cheek: Crispy pork cheek terrine is served with a fried egg (sunny side up) and salsa verde. It’ s the restaurant version of the classic east coast scrapple.

Tongue: Refuel gets tongues every week with their whole pigs and serves them with fried pork ribs tossed with a North Carolina style BBQ sauce.

Neck: Smoked pork neck turns up in the capicolla on the restaurant’s charcuterie plate.

9

Food Trend:

Neo-Deli

Vancouver doesn’t boast a significant deli culture. At least nothing close to what cities like Montreal, New York or Chicago enjoy. We only just barely have a source for decent bagels. So even though a young Canadian-born law student got the New York food scene buzzing when he brought Montreal-style smoked meat to Mile End, a hipster deli in Brooklyn, the whole neo-deli movement taking place across the USA could be but a small blip on our radar . (We’re talking upscale, modernized versions of deli classics such as brined and smoked meats, homemade pickl es, sauerkraut and mustards, superb quality rye bread, etc.) Will the new Sweeney’s in Yaletown close the gap?

Two staples did tutn up outside of the BBQ places. One of them being brisket. Look for it on the menu at Pourhouse in Gastown, (including their sala ds).

The other is the tendency for everything to smell like a campfire. Smokiness is wafting though salt, spices, seafood and bean dishes, and under domedtopped restaurant entrees.

You can even encounter it at the bar where hickor y smoke infuses whiskey- and bourbon-based cocktails until they deliciously smell like something cooked in a cast iron frying pan.

Restaurants adapt and continue to open in the Downtown East Side and Gastown ----->

Culture overlap: Gastown locals pass beneath posters marketing nostalgia and upscale urban lifestyles at the Woodwards Centre and the new â&#x20AC;&#x153;Woodwards Food Floorâ&#x20AC;?.

restaurants

- 12 predictions for a post Olympic age If the past couple of years have been an education in Darwinian survival, what adaptations will serve us well into the next decade?

Ladies and gentleman, please fasten your seat belts and return your tray tables to their upright and locked position.

It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

9 e 200 survival guid

T

he cover design shown above was created as a first draft for an early 2009 issue of CityFood, but then never used. It may have seemed overly pessimistic, but at the time, the parallel between the prevailing anxiety of the restaurant industry and passengers on an airplane that may or may not be about to nosedive seemed apt. Collectively, we were bracing for turbulence ahead, and the view of other people’ s economic death spirals visible out the window was enough to make anyone feel dizzy, if not a little airsick.

To switch analogies here for a minute - If you are a dancer or an acrobat you know that the best way to cope with loss of equilibrium, not to mention the queasies, is to lock your gaze on a fixed point in the distance while you spin. For many in the restaurant business in Vancouver, that fixed point was the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Concentrate on making the most that opportunity, we all thought, and do the longer term planning later .

So private dining rooms were built and reservations books were opened and everyone did a lot of catering while they waited. However the closer we got to the big event, the more unpredictable seemed the outcome. In the end, everyone just winged it as best they could, adapting to the demands of each day’ s situation as they arose.

As it has been well covered in the press we don’ t need to list here the many ideas that restaurateurs came up with to park bums in seats, but the mantra was consistent. Think creatively or die.

Thanks to the Olympics, year 2009 essentially extende d well into Spring 2010, and April became, in a business sense, the restaurant industry’s New Year. Three months have now come and gone, however in many ways, even as we move into summer, many bigger players in the restaurant and food services industry have been slow to unlock themselves from that state of apprehension even as energetic young entrepreneurs with simplified busi ness plans, less fear of risk and the spark of a new idea in their heads forge ahead into low overhead neighbourhoods. (See page 19.)

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- CityFood Magazine

One thing seems obvious to everyone, the dining public’s habits and expectations shifted perceptively in 2009, and the standard solutions won’ t apply as they did before. After months of being coaxed into restaurants with low-priced comfort food that was the culinary equivalent of the snuggie, diners have become accustomed to that pervasive casual vibe as well as its suppressed price point. If few seemed as excited about Vancouver Tourism’s Dine Out Week as they had in the past it was because they had come to expect $25 fixed price menus at top restaurants, and no longer saw then as a once a year opportunity .

The question now: Will it be possible to bring Vancouver’s diners back to finer dining, and should we even try?

There will always be a market willing to patronize the fine dining experience, especially for those restaurants that provide for that segment exceptionall y well and have the resources to support it. Despite gossip to the contrary, you can bet that restaurants such as West and Cioppino’s aren’t going to lower their standards or go away any time soon.

And if happy days are ever here again you can bet the business account types will be back in swarms joyfully popping corks at Glowbal Group restaurants and ransacking BearFoot Bistro’s wine cellar.

But if the hoi polloi start craving more sophistic ated dining to the point where we are willing to pay up for it, it will be because of comfort fatigue, otherw ise known as boredom. After all, if you are a seriously interested in food there is only so much mac and cheese you can stand.

Haute cuisine may even sneak its way back on to the menu because the chefs themselves will tire of playing grill cook. Just as it would seem a waste to have a talent like David Hawkworth’s making us a

There’s no reason why Twitter hash tags could not be used by restaurants as a way for customers to find other tables willing to split whole bottles of wine.

(Or even racks of lamb for that matter.) grilled cheese sandwich, the up and coming young Davids are going to want to stretch and show why t hey went to cooking school in the first place. If they d on’t they will be better off operating a mobile food truck.

Will that day come? It probably will. The pendulum always swings back the other way. It just swings a little less dramatically with each rotation.

To tell the truth, in over 25 years of observing the restaurant scene, we can’t say Vancouver has ever really been a formal dining sort of town. For certain there were the nights of gourmet excess in a few rooms favoured by the high rollers, but in general, the lineups were always longer at places like the

Yaletown Brew Pub than they were for the little Italian restaurant down the street with its menu of exquisite risottos.

Vancouver’s dining public may have since grown up and developed higher standards for ingredients, food preparation and service but they still haven’ t lost the preference for casual over formal, simple over showy, noisy over reverent, and most of all cheap over expensive.

Essentially we diners want to eat our 100 mile, organic cake and save our dollars too, and this puts the squeeze on restaurants who are expected to make both possible. In response, both ends are bending towards the middle. West offers $30 lunches, the Cactus Club hires Rob Feenie.

What is most likely to happen as we move through the rest of 2010 and on into the decade of the “teens” is still anyone’s guess. Hopefully we will take the best of what has come out of the belttightening era of the year behind us and apply that to how we do business as we move forward.

In this age of digitally democratic opinions, our guesses have the right to be as wrong as anyone e lse’s, so here’s 12 predictions for the post Olympic age.

1) Diners will have a new basis for being more critic al.

Not because they have a blog or thousands of Twitter followers, or even because they’ve travelled, but because shrinking budgets forced them to cook at home more often. Once people realize how easy it is to roast a chicken and how delicious comfort food can be when fined tuned to personal taste, a chef is going to have to make a truly exceptional version for customers to want to drop the dollars. Acquiring the skills of cooking for oneself hones the scale of expectations. There is a reason that a generation of food personalities (Joan Cross, Kasey Wilson, Leslie Stowe) are the sharp appraisers of chef talent that they are today. They cut their teeth during the intense, competitive dinner parties of the‘80s and‘90s.

2) Thanks to social media, diners will be better informed but restaurants will also have a direct line to their customers. Restaurants will learn how to use the unique opportunities that social media provides, not as the platform that replaces all other forms of communication, but as yet another useful item in the tool box. Even so, there will be some backlash against citizen criticism when it becomes clear that big cameras and a plug into the grid don’ t substitute for a lack of palate or a limited frame of reference.

3) Restaurants off to a bad start or spiralling down will continue to reinvent themselves and make that decision to change direction much sooner, because they have discovered that it works. Only in Vancouver do restaurants hang on to the bitter end, or think it necessary to make a PR blast out of a reupholstery job. In larger centres it’s the common cycle to open a restaurant, ride the popularity peak for a year or two, milk the tourist wave for a couple more years, then close and repackage as an entirely new concept. The McNally’s in New York are famous for this. In 2009 we saw successful conversions in Vancouver with Gastropod to Maenam, fuel to refuel, Glowbal grill + satay to Glowbal Steak.

Count on it, we are going to see more before the year is over.

Continued on page 29 ...

www.cactusclubcafe.com

www.refuelrestaurant.com

www.wildricevancouver.com

www.basiloliveoil.com CityFood Magazine -

17

new restaurants -

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- CityFood Magazine

Downtown Eastside Arrivals

LEXICON: urban foodization (1) The advance colonization of undesirable neighbourhoods by trendy restaurants, leading to upscale demographic migration.

Wate r

Cordova Main

Carall

Columbia

Powell

Abbo tt

Cam bie

Bloo d All ey

Maple Tree Square

East Hastings

East Pender

Unlike Main Street, where gentrification displayed the usual pattern of following artists into a new neighbourhood (the Soho syndrome), in Vancouver’s Gastown, the Downtown East Side and now Chinatown, it’s been a combination of big real estate and small, interesting restaurants that have been the forerunners of urban renewal. Outside of dining rooms in new hotels, or renovations of established eating places, most of the new restaurants opening in 2010 are pioneering the economically depressed blocks between Cambie and Main (fringing the trendier streets of Gastown).

Eight of them have been charted below, plus we’ve noted one significant player due to open this summer.

AB Keefer

L’Abbattoir: An 80-seat restaurant with French-inspired menu partnered by well-known restaurant industry veterans Paul Grunberg and Chef Lee Cooper. Opening Summer 2010. 217 Carrall Street.

ACME CAFE: Save the fork, Duke. There’s lemon custard pie -- and then some at Acme Cafe. Ex-Bishop’s server Peggy Hoffman and her husband Alan’s new cafe, is one of the clean and comforting new places popping up like hot toast along the less gentrified stretches of Hastings, Water and Powell Streets (as opposed to those packed into the restodense hub radiating out from Gassy Jack’s craggy statue at Maple Tree Square). The lines ups that formed outside Acme’s door during the first week of its operation made three facts clear. 1) That the sate point for comfort food classics has yet to be reached. 2) That people are perfectly willing to leave their flannel-lined cocoons on drizzly weekend mornings to traverse the grittier streets of Vancouver’s East Side if a good meal is involved. And 3), that a classic diner doesn’t necessarily have to resemble one from the set of Happy Days.

This one looks more like the sort of retro/modern diner you might find along Napa’s Hwy 97. Back to point 1. Chef Walter Messina, a 25-year-veteran of the restaurant industry has loaded his menu with the sort of Mumsy dishes that everyone has loved since before they could sit at the kitchen table and feel their toes touch the floor. Chicken pot pies (‘40s), meat loaf (‘50s) Chicken Crepes (‘60s), Chicken Crepes with Gruyere (‘70s), Spinach Salad in Raspberry Vinaigrette (‘80s). Not to mention, the hearty and generous breakfast specials. Ah, if only Wiley Coyote had been able to order stuff like this from the miraculous Acme catalogue, he might have left poor old “Beep-Beep” alone. Here is a place you can feel good just sitting in. The room has a light-filled, pre-war/post-millennial mix of cheerfulness that is likely to siphon off some of Cafe Medina”s brunch crowd. 51 West Hastings Street. 604-569-1022. www.acmecafe.ca

CORK AND FIN: Launched during the first week of the Olympics by Chef Elliot Hasimoto (formerly of Tapastree) and sommelier, Francis Regio. Cork and Fin retains the Gastown heritage red brick and timber vibe, while adding visual lift via polished floors and white painted balustrades. It’s like a seafaring pub minus the kitsch on either the walls or the plates. Some might say conservative, others say understatedly elegant. It’s not obvious what market they are aiming for here, but in any direction it’s a calm alternative to the boisterous, bar-dominated, and hipster-grunge cafe element surrounding it. Plates are small and tapas-like (most everything is under the $15 price point), and most of them have a connection to the sea. On our visit the bisque included crab, as did the papardelle with peas, and so did the mashed potatoes. Other BC iconic aquatics include sablefish, salmon and naturally ... oysters. It all goes down well with Regio’s carefully selected wine list, hence the “cork” in the name shingle. Land-based proteins are on the menu too. Look for panroasted game hen and lamp chops. Seafood towers add a Parisian accent, but what really makes it French are the fries and aioli. 221 Carrall Street. 604-569-2215.

JUDAS GOAT TABERNA: With it’s tiny space, simple concept, pleasing tapas menu and clever name, Judas Goat, located next to sister restaurant Salt Tasting Room, is but another flag planted on the trail being blazed across the Gastown by Sean Heather and his business partner Scott Hawthorn. Salt Tasting Room and its Salt Cellar, The Salty Tongue Deli and the Irish Heather Gastropub with its “Long Table” Dinner Series are well established in the neighbourhood. Judas Goat and Fetch Hot Dogs are new this year, and the Everything Cafe on East Pender is but the chic new baby of the family. Next up, both a bakery/retail store and a butcher shop. It all seems to fit like interlocking links within Sean Heather’s unerring vision of what people want to eat now, how they want to eat, and at what price point. Judas Goat with its grey-green walls, yellow stools and high,white table tops is like a small jewel on that chain. This seems especially true at night when the light from its ground to ceiling front windows washes over the wet cobblestones of Blood Alley.

Chef Lee Humphries’ tapas are Mediterranean inspired but not rigidly so. Piquillo Peppers with Goats Cheese, Beef Brisket Meatballs, Spanish Coffee truffles...Regard the mural on the back wall by Robert Chaplin. It’s an artistic sobriety test. If you can decipher the message it’s probably safe to order another sangria. 27 Blood Alley. 604-681-5090.

LA TAQUERIA: With street eats not yet sanctioned by the city, and inexpensive rents occurring as rarely as visions of the Virgin Mary on a tortilla, La Taqueria is one of the few places in town where one can satisfy a craving for inexpensive latin food that is as simple and true as a peasant proverb. The Four Mexican-born co-owners (Ernesto Gomez, Victor Bouzide, Rafael Cueller and Marcelo Ramirez) run a counter-service taqueria with no pretensions towards upscale interpretation -- an attitude apparent in their nickname for the business,“Pinche Taco Shop”, which roughly translates as “That fucking taco place”. Marketing, what’s that? The guys don’t even bother with a website. All they want to bring to the table are the authentic tacos they grew up with - the kind sold from street stands and tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurants all over Mexico. With the help of restaurant consultant Tina Fineza and some stellar local ingredients they have accomplished this very well with a dozen or so variations on the street taco including: pulled pork, beef tongue, marinated skirt steak, roast chicken mole, and of course the “pescado” (fish taco). Each taco is priced at $2.50 and comes with a choice of condiments, hot sauces and pickles. The only drawback is the lack of liquor license, meaning no cold beer, however the eye-catching collection of Mexican kitsch festooned about the place is refreshing just in itself. 322 West Hastings St. 604-568-4406.

EVERYTHING CAFE: This latest project from the Sean Heather/Scott Hawthorne tag team opened in May as a Euro-sleek cafe selling Intelligentsia brand coffee and a variety of soups, salads, sandwiches, charcuterie plates and pastries (most of them provided by the same kitchens providing the Salty Tongue Deli just a few streets away in Gastown). Everything’s location on Pender at the entrance to The Chinatown Gates and near the Rennie Development-built Asian Arts Centre, provides a cool respite from the colourful clash of Chinese wares spilling out of the neighbouring shops. Local hipsters sit at seated along the red leather-backed banquette wall or at the counter, taking advantage of the free wifi to tap away on their Macbook pros while sampling the meatball sub sandwiches (the same meatballs served at Judas Goat), smokey Jarlsberg stuffed grilled paninis or mini-black forest cakes. Open 11:30 to 3 p.m. 75 East Pender Street.

CALABASH. A restaurant that’s likely to become the centre for Caribbean culture in Vancouver, not to mention homesick Toronto ex-pats.

Owners Roger Collins (Foundation Radio), Sam Willcocks (formerly of Cassis Bistro) and Chef Cullin David (ex-Exec Sous Chef of Provence Marinaside) have created a two-level restaurant incorporating a lively bar and lounge in its cellar. Expect the best collection of rum in the city, live entertainment and a showcase for visual artists from the Gastown and Caribbean communities. Chef David’s menu will have all the region’s traditional favourites (curries, roti, ackee and saltfish, roast goat, etc.), plus some surprises of his own. 428 Carrall Street. 604-568-5882.

A B

KEEFER BAR. New life in Chinatown, the Keefer Bar housed on the ground floor of the new Keefer Hotel emits the dark and exotic vibe of a backsteet Shanghai bar. Star mixologist Dani Tatarin’s way with cocktails is the reason to go. 135 Keefer Street. 604-688-1983.

BAO BEI. Bao Bei’s neon sign glows like a welcoming beacon on an otherwise uninspiring block leading into the heart of old Chinatown. Inside the faded pastel colours seem right out of the 1920s Shanghai Boudoir Girls posters. Dishes are aromatic with cilantro, garlic and fish sauce. Don’t miss the skillfully crafted cocktails. Currently a place to watch the beautiful, stylish and self-aware. 135 Keefer Street. 604-688-0876.

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called to the bar

What s Shaking?

V

ancouver bartender Shaun Layton calls the Aviation “the new Cosmopolitan” which may be high praise or damnation depending on whether or not you identify with Carrie Bradshaw.

At any rate, it’s a cocktail whose refreshing personality, floral nose and lilac colour makes it appropriate for the season. It’s nice break from the ambers and rusty browns of the serious winter drinks, and a suitably moody choice if you lust after Robert Pattinson and are still throwing Twilight parties.

The drink has been around since 1917 but was most popular in the 1940s when passenger flights on commercial airlines first became available and were considered to be the cat’s meow of elegance and sophistication. (Not like the prison drill that flying has become now.)

Besides gin, lemon juice and maraschino liqueur, the principal ingredient is crème de violette, and there’s your challenge -- getting your hands on the good stuff. The only version that is available at the BCLDB stores is from Giffard, and quite frankly, (apologies to our publi$her), smells like cheap, dime-store bubble bath.

What you want instead is the Rothman & Winter product from Austria which is made from Queen Charlotte and March wild violets, and picked by young maidens on moonlight nights in the alps. Or if you really score, the resurrected version of the legendary Crème Yvette (produced by Robert Cooper).

Even if they have a bottle of this stuff stashed under the counter, your bar is not legally permitted to sell it to you, but if the bartender is winking as he pulls out the Giffard, then chill and go along with it. It wouldn’t surprise us to learn that the contents of the legal bottle had been dumped in the sink and refilled with the better goods.

The 40s version of the recipe shown right, calls for the garnish of a maraschino cherry, and by that we don’t mean something virtuous and homemade, we mean the bad neon kind. That’s a terribly gauche thing to do these days. But screw it. Graphically, the bright red colour looks good against the lavender and you don’t have to eat it. Just let it sit on the bottom of the glass and look pretty. -- Ineida Dreenc, Queen of Cups.

The Aviation 2 oz. gin 1/2 oz. lemon juice 2 tsp. maraschino liqueur 1 1/2 tsp. crème de violette maraschino cherry, as garnish Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full with ice and add all the liquid ingredients. Shake for 15 seconds and strain (or double strain for a smoother drink) into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Alternative: add the crème de violette and gin to 1 oz of Prosecco or other sparkling wine, plus a dash each of orange bitters and simple syrup and you have a “Twilight”.

There are only two kinds of cocktails - those that are dead and those that are alive - and the only way to tell them apart is to taste them. A dead drink is at best two-dimensional, merely a mixture of liquids; a living cocktail is full of motion as its flavours unfold on the palate. It’s like the difference between a paint-by-numbers canvas and a true work of art. And in this city, the dead outnumber the living by about a thousand to one.

But not for long ... James Chatto Chatto wrote these words in the May 2010 issue of Toronto Life, and although he was commenting on the scene in Ontario, his words would ring true in any number of cities around the world, including Vancouver, which arguably now boasts the most exciting bar scene in the country.

Cocktail culture is expanding at the heart of our restaurant industry in a way that has not been seen since the ‘60s. At the most desirable restaurants, a prelude at the bar, which used to serve as a holding tank for diners waiting for tables is now an essential part of the dining experience because the cocktails can be as interesting and sophisticated as what is coming out of the kitchen, sometimes more so. In fact, these days, your barman is likely to be the restaurant owner.

Chatto was referring to a new breed of avante garde cocktail pioneer such as Frankie Solarik at Barchef, Jen Agg at the Black Hoof and Christine Sismondo, the author of the book Mondo Cocktail, who is opening her own private cocktail club on College Street this July called the Toronto Temperance Society.

But here in Vancouver, we have our own counter stars able to stand jigger for jigger against any of the new bar stars coming out of New York, Tokyo and Berlin.

If you doubt our word, then you only have to look at the awards Team Vancouver is racking up at international competitions around the world. The most recent being Dani Tatarin’s (the Keefer Bar) and Justin Tisdale’s (Market) win at the Giffard Competition in France.

But claiming that they are just as good is not saying that they adhere to some ideal standard. There is a regional personality that underlies and reinforces the bar scene here. In the words of David Wolowidnyk (West restaurant), who recently checked out 75 bars in New York in six days and encountered a high percentage of “fake it till you make it” types, Vancouver’s bartenders belong to a tight, close community who share ideas, encourage each other’s growth, and strive for the continued improvement of their craft. “We are more likely to lend a hand than to step over our peers.

[Unlike places closer to the radar screens of the national media], here we are humble yet confident in our skills...”

The fact that they are enthusiastic and supportive drinking buddies, no doubt helps, but it may be the bartender’s shared frustration over the limited availability of ingredients here in B.C. that also fuels their creativity. As Matt Martin of Yaletown’s r.tl points out, “It sometimes feels as if we are forced to work with one arm tied behind our backs. It’s an easier job when you are working with the world’s best products, but denial at the hands of the provincial liquor monopoly forces us to come up with alternative products (some that we make ourselves), or to find unique ways to work with the same old ones.”

(See six of the bartenders who are leading and inspiring our local cocktail culture on page 22. )

How to talk to a bartender: Don't order a specific cocktail by name. That's no fun for the bartender and you will deprive yourself of his (or her) talent. Instead, indicate which liquor you’d like in your drink, with some qualifiers (for example, more cucumber than herbal). Give something about your taste preferences, sour over sweet, bitter, salty... Then chill and enjoy what is created just for you.

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Lexicon

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Hold the Monkeys

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cocktail

10Trends 1: Neo-This, Neo-That Neo-classifications are looking very familiar in cocktail blogs these days. There are the “neo-classics”, the “neo-agrarians”, “neo-tropicals (see #2), and now the “neo-naturals”. The later includes mixologists (along with the next generation of chefs) who are looking beyond molecular gastronomy to express their hypercreativity. Officially, neonaturalism is the art of “ingredients presented with a deceptive simplicity that belies the scientific research underneath.” In other words, natural, simple presentations of food incorporating an element of surprise.

Think of a brunch cocktail that looks like it has a poached quail’s egg floating on top when served, but is actually a skillful blend of foams and citrus syrup that dissolves into the drink with the first swirl of the swizzle stick.

2: Return of the Tiki Neither a Disney ride nor your dad’s rec room bar - the Tiki (or neotropical) drinks won’t be a return to the retro Trader Vic version, but a drink that incorporates a similar penchant for fantasy and theatricalness - with a twist. For example, New York’s new bar Painkiller, combines the themes of 1940s tiki-style (caribbean liquor, vivid colour, tacky glass accessories, communal drinking vessels) with 1970s street culture (graffiti, gang names). Could the Mai Tai replace the Old-Fashioned as the drink du jour? Probably not, but look for interesting ideas featuring daiquiris, flights of mini zombie drinks and flaming rum-based cocktails.

3: House Made “We make it in-house” is a point of pride statement at the bars these days, whether they are talking about bitters, tonics, syrups or garnishes.

And they are usually the items that transform one bar’s version of a standard cocktail into something spectacular. Or even just distinguishes it from a similar one mixed by the bar down the street who are making their own concoctions. Lauren Mote at Vancouver’s Refinery Restaurant and Bar has an extensive repertoire of drinks that incorporate bitters and other components she makes from local, seasonal ingredients, while David Wolowydnyk has some 20 homemade ingredients, from pickled onions to almond syrup, at his disposal at West restaurant.

4: Local Spirits Made it in the neighbourhood. We now have vodka from Pemberton, Gin and Bitters from Victoria, and Absinthe from the Okanagan ... with more local businesses (often wineries), firing up copper stills and getting into the craft-distillery business. As provincial liquor laws loosen

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9 1

up, we may even see local rye and bourbon. All good for the drinking localvores, and a resource for the bartenders engaging with visitors who are looking beyond beer for something “Canadian”.

5: ORIGINAL FORMULA It’s made somewhere else and we want it. With the popularity of neoclassical cocktails has come the revival of classic, artisan quality liquors (using pure, old-fashioned ingredients) that ceased production in the mid-1900s. Old Tom Gin, Herbsaint, and Creme Yvette are just three of many examples. The challenge for the local bars is stocking these labels thanks to our provincial liquor monopoly and its self-serving interpretation of supply and demand. They can be difficult to convince that high turnover, mass production labels should be delisted to make room for something of better quality but higher price

6: Charcuterie Drinks The drink of 2009 was the Old Fashioned closely followed by the Manhattan, thanks to the public’s new found love for good quality Bourbon and the influence of the Mad Men television series. With chain smoking prohibited, the only way to get the smokey atmosphere was to infuse it right into the drink with bacon-infused rye or the actual use of smoke. Prime AAA example: Toronto’s Barchef’s smoked vanilla manhattan, a $45 cocktail set in a bell jar filled with hickory smoke.

7+ 8: Vintage Glassware + Books The balloons on pencils-style of martini glasses are out. Small, elegant, mid-century style glass with beveled or etched details are in. Hit the flea markets and second hand stores and you’ll see barmen on the hunt for them. Sometimes it’s the same place they are sourcing their old man fedoras, bicycle caps, vests and vintage ties. If they are lucky they’ll also score a first edition vintage cocktail book although a number of these are now being reissued.

9: Specialty Ice The Kold Draft machine was on every bartender’s wish list. More on this coming soon.

10: Mixologist Contests.

It’s been every liquor company’s marketing plan for the last five years.

Fun for the bartenders, especially if they win a trip out of it and get to meet peers from other cities. But from the media point of view, becoming old and indistinguishable. Someone needs a fresh idea soon.

A bunch of words go into a bar, or what we learned from reading Esquire Magazine

A) A request to the bartender to provide drink ungarnished with umbrellas or ornamental items - such as mermaids or plastic monkeys.

B) any request to keep an item simple and unadorned.

Splashing the Vessel A) A cocktail-making prep technique whereby a small amount of liquor is swirled around the inside of a cocktail glass and then poured out.

B) an euphemism for the first step of any stage setting.

Paradigm Sip The classically correct way to serve a liquor. As in: Scotch with a drop of water.

Wetting the Sugar A) a cocktail preparation step whereby a sugar cube is dissolved in an exotic drink.

B) laying the groundwork for any exotic project.

Hot and buttered A) A (usually) rum-based drink to which sugar, spices and heat have been added.

B) The state of people after the application of liquor and heat.

Critical Cocktail The exact pivot point between facilitating social interaction and sabotaging it.

Pour management The duty of the bartender or host to keep the drinker happy, but not too happy.

Food Drink A molecular mixology category in which the essence of vegetable, or sometimes animal based foods, is captured in an alcoholic beverage.

Buvette (From the French: a little place to grab a drink)

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A Quickie with the Bartender

Lauren Mote - The Refinery

Shaun Layton - George Lounge

Signature Style I’m a food scientist. But when I say I make "molecular cocktails" I don't mean I have petri dishes of random white powders....

Definitely a traditionalist.

I love classic cocktails, glassware, etc. I think one should let the booze speak for itself.

I’m a bartender, just bartender.

The word has lost it’s meaning.

Rocking my glass now

I Wish I Never Had to Make Another ...

Charred Bourbon Sour

Vodka Red Bull or Jager Bomb but we bartenders pick our battles.

We are known for our bitters program. Eightyfive percent of the products we use in our cocktails are homemade

... a larger collection of whiskeys and tequilas.

The meat & cheese board. Between the various, cured meats, pate, confitures and eclectic selection of cheeses, the cocktails change too.

Vodka soda.

Grey Goose and Red Bull.

What’s the point?

I recently made a home made Curacao that turned out amazing.

Amer Picon!!!

American rye!!!, We have no good rye to use here in Canada

The beef shortrib potato skins are pretty ridiculous..

I can't say that.

Whatever is right for the guest is what I make.

We hand-make certain special ingredients, but we'll let you know about them if, and when, we put them in your drink...

...proper American Rye Whiskies that, and some better dry absinthe options. We can lose about 80% of the Vodkas listed in B.C.

Have the Crispy Cheese Sandwich - not a Bar snack, but irresistible and perfect with lots and lots of beer and whiskey

Crantini

We make our own bitters, tinctures and syrups using herbs commonly used in Chinese medicine.

More vermouths, potable bitters, straight rye, Plymouth gin, quality liqueurs, cherry heering, sloe gin... the list is too long...

Duc-Duck Goose: It’s lapsang-chili infused pulled duck in a steamed bun

Blue Hawaii, Pink Lady, Grasshopper, Paralyzer, Alabama Slammer, etc.

You see the pattern?

I have 18 housemade ingredients and the list is growing Campari dust to Falerum syrup to Pickled Onions

... Plymouth Slo Gin,

By the time this is posted, the options will have changed

One that gets ordered a lot in Vancouver is the “Pick-Me-Up”

We have a house-made spiced syrup that is amazing.

It’s featured in a couple of our house cocktails

American Rye

The Venison Burger Trio.

Awesome.

Brandy Crusta with Duck Confit Infused Cognac.

The Aristocrat

Jay Jones - Pourhouse

Dani Tatarin - The Keefer Bar

I'm somewhere in between classic and contemporary, drawing on elements from both depending on who is sitting at the bar.

I can be all of the ‘..ists’.

What I’m NOT is "Buddy", "Bud", "Garcon", or "Pal".

The Fleur du Roussillon Fizz

There isn't just one!

David Wolowidnyk - West Restaurant

I like to think that I’m a "Utility Man".

It is a term used in baseball for a guy who can play all positions.

When I Rule the BCLBD There’s Going to be ...

The

Hunnisett Fizz

I Make my own ...

Creme de Yvette, American Rye, MORE Gin!, LESS Vodka!, Benadictine Maraschino liqueur, Orange Curacao, Saint Germain Elderflower liqueur, Ron Zacapa Rum, Amer Picon, Yellow Chartreuse...

Eat this!

Matt Martin - r.tl in Gastown

Vancouver boasts some of the most exciting new bartenders on the world’ s cocktail scene. But none of them are cookie cut from the same mold. You need to visit their bars to fully appreciate the individual flair and unique cre ativity they bring to their art. That being said, they have certain ideas and traits in common. They are passionate about their craft. They don’t care much for the term “mixologist”. They want more choices and better quality brands of whiskey, rye and tequila for B.C. They don’t like being pigeon-holed into categories. They respect each other. They wish we would get over trends. -- The mini-profiles above are excerpt lines from six interviews we will posting each week on www.cityfood.com 22

- CityFood Magazine

Wine Trends

Lauren Mote’s Deconstructed Charred Bourbon Sour

Photos: Drink: Mark Prince / Lauren: Cory Permack

Spanish Wines

She’s So Bitters. - Lauren Mote.

Lauren Mote is one of the leading trendsetters in Canada’s bar scene today.

The chief mixologist and General Manager of Vancouver’s The Refinery restaurant, Lauren is known for her repertoire of housemade bitters which she incorporates into original cocktails that have earned her numerous awards. Here she shares with us a peak into her wizardry and her specialty - the deconstructed cocktail.

When I design a cocktail, I begin as a “food scientist”. By that I that I make "molecular cocktails" through changing the way I use ingredients - like using butternut squash in a vegan cocktail to mimic the same texture as an egg white. Although I dabble, I seldom lock myself in a lab manipulating powders and potions with safety glasses and a fire extinguisher.

Like a scientific method, each cocktail I create is developed according to a precise set of steps. First, I make the bitters. I choose local ingredients that are in season at the time, and then macerate them in spirits for two to four weeks inside large mason jars.

Then I experiment with other ingredients to find the ideal taste matches to the central flavour of the bitters. Second, I think about what "concept” or theme I'd like to deconstruct. This can be anything -- a liqueur or spirit, a geographic region, a food, or even an object. The third step is the reconstruction of that abstract idea which becomes the physical cocktail. This step itself has three parts. First I create a cocktail based on a classic technique in cocktail making. Then, I create a benefit template (every drink I create makes use of super foods, and other health properties - such as antioxidants, protein, amino acids, potassium, electrolytes, etc.) The finish involves the presentation.

Here is where I’m thinking like a chef or an artist, because the end product should be pleasing to the eye, erotic to the nose, velvet and complex on the palate, and super unique. At the Refinery, my team of mixologists and I aim to make our cocktails some of the most creative and interesting you've ever tried.

The cocktails that excite me most are the ones that have complete deconstructed tasting notes, and came with molecular twin cocktails on the side. They are the complete manipulation of different properties of their ingredients and spirits. An perfect example is my “Charred Bourbon Sour”. It is the deconstructed tasting note for a Maker's Mark American Oak Cask, and many of the components used in the cocktail are created separately, and balanced together in the end; the Charred American Oak & Caramelized Coconut Syrup, and the House Bitters are examples of this. Another favourite is the “Side Loire” which is a deconstructed "regional" tasting note for the Loire Valley and includes a reduction of Sancerre wine, Cointreau manipulated in five ways, and pure wheat grass extract for its health benefits. There are many more cocktails that fall into this category.

This how I work with cocktails now, but the next big thing will be creating a niche where the demand doesn't necessarily exist. Bartenders need to keep learning, keep teaching, and keep themselves at the highest standards, to make sure they never lose their passion. That idea in your brain that seems to make no sense, and you don't know if it's "cool" or not? Ya, that's the risk you should take. The average consumers of cocktails seldom know what they want but they’ll put their trust in you. The sign of an incredible cocktail is one you haven’t figured out by the time you sip the last ounce.

Why: With Spain chosen as the featured country at the 2011 Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, and fortified wine its focus varietal, we are going to be reading and hearing a lot more about Spanish wines as the media and festival marketing people work on whipping up public interest for these two categories. We are banking on Sherry and Cava (sparkling wine) to be a particular focus. Sherry has already upgraded from its “granny” association thanks to it’s natural affinity with the other good things from Spain that we have been enjoying from the charcuterie scene: Jamon Iberico, marcona almonds, and olive oil. (Kurtis Kolt did an exceptional of job matching Sherry to Salt Tasting Room’s charcuterie selection ). June is going to be Spanish Wine month at LCDB stores. Look for good value Spanish Cava to be touted as the new Prosecco for the patio party set.

White Blends Why: White blends are not exactly new but they have become more popular, especially among consumers who care about food and wine matching.

Blending the various characteristics that dominate each varietal offers a creative winemaker the fun and challenge of creating a distinctive, signature label for his winery, as well as a wine with a wider taste spectrum to accommodate the combination of flavours that are often found on one plate.

Joie Farm’s win of “Best White Wine in Show” for their Noble Blend at the Riverside International Wine Show proves that the Okanagan can produce sophisticated blends, and be noticed for them.

Continental Cabernets Why: Chile has flagged the term “Continental Cabernet” to call attention to the fact that some of their most interesting and uniquely Chilean cabs are coming from the cooler climates, higher elevation and well-drained rocky soil found in the eastern slopes of the Andes. This as opposed to the more Mediterranean conditions of the central Valley where the bulk of Chile’s Cabernet Sauvignon is currently grown. The greater temperature variation between day and night, and the poorer soils develop a sleeker wines with greater balance, higher acidity and more complex aroma and flavour. Look for wines from the areas of Aconagua, Colchagua, and a sub region of the Maipo Valley known as the Alto Maipo. Meanwhile, the hotter plains being vacated by the Cabernet vines are looking good for Carmenere, Mourvèdre and Chilean Malbec.

Old Vine Carmenere Now that Malbec has become the new Shiraz, the wine snobs will be looking for something new to nominate as their latest favourite. Carmenere from Chile could be it. The varietal has an interesting history. Up until the ‘80s, it was mistakenly considered to be a Merlot variety, until a visiting French grape expert identified it as Carmenère. Not only is the grape no longer planted in Bordeaux (from where it was imported in the 19th century), it is also the only pre-phylloxera stock remaining in the world.

Carmenere does well in Chile. It needs an extra long ripening season in order to bring out its full bodied, rich fruit flavours. This is something that the central valleys of Chile can provide but Bordeaux could not, which is why the grape fell out of favour in France.

On a recent trip to Chile we tried many Carmeneres, some of them from 60-year-old vines and all of them were delicious, quickly becoming our favourite over Chile’s other dominant red varietals, Cabernet and Merlot. If Carmenere has not been popular in Canada before it may be because most of what we have imported has been of lower quality. If the country produces a higher quality export, Carmanère could become Chile’s flagship wine. Be also on the lookout for another red Chilean varietal - the Carignan, another late-ripening grape that grows well in warmer, climates.

Just a Cork Shot Away: -

Tannat from Uruguay Wines from India Wine with breakfast Bottle Sharing in restaurants via social media platforms More Okanagan wineries farming out their public relations.

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J

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Julia factor

If Julia was around today, would she be an app?

Learning to Cook Again

Beyond last year’s corporate decision to gut Gourmet Magazine, there were other signs that Big Food Media was focusing on a new target demographic -- the reader for whom a cell phone had been the alternative cooking tool to a can opener.

With the tanking economy sending everyone back to the kitchen, food porn was out.

How-to cooking books were in. Suddenly chefs were all publishing a certain kind of cookbook. Not the sort revealing the secret techniques of signature dishes at their restaurants, but ones that lovingly described the meals they supposedly cooked for the wife and kids at home. Chef Thomas Keller, of all people, published fried chicken recipes in his tome, Ad Hoc. Here at home, Vikram Vij of Vij’s restaurant will be publish his own family album of recipes in fall 2010.

The glossy food magazines appear to be pursuing this market as well, inserting step-by-step instructional sections that even a couple of years ago would have been deemed condescending to its readership.

While the chef showoff books described in graphic detail how to remove a pig’s brain through its ear, the magazines simplified home butchery via full page illustrations showing how to separate a chicken’s leg from its thigh. The April issue of Bon Appetit even going into a lengthy of explanation over the procedure for making scrambled eggs.

With Cooking 101 on the curriculum, something tells us that if Julia Child were to have arrived on the scene today she would have have no problems flogging her own famous 800+ page how to.

Thanks to Hollywood and the movie Julie & Julia, Ms. Child herself rebounded from quaint ‘60s icon to contemporary pop culture phenomenon. (See book sales details below.) In addition to reprints of her cookbooks, old reruns of her vintage black and white television cooking programs resurfaced on Youtube, cable networks, and as popular lend outs at the local library.

Watching these historic programs can be an education in themselves. It’s fascinating to note how times have changed, and yet how other things have come around full circle.

Despite her matronly get up of short-sleeve blouses, strings of pearls and motherly aprons, it’s hard not to be impressed by Julia’s kick-butt signs of cooking competency - how she could deftly crack and separate two eggs at a time with one hand, or perfectly flip an omelet while looking directly at the camera instead of the pan. If a terrorist came through the kitchen window you just know she’d have him knocked out with a rolling pin and trussed up in poultry twine in no time.

According to author Julie Powell, Julia could also stun a lobster with one decisive whack, but, while on her tv show there was crew of people under the table ready to hand up utensils, during the lobster scene in the movie, it was a humane society officer sitting just off camera to ensure the safety and well being of the crustacean. That’s definitely something that wouldn’t have happened in 1965.

In those pre-Teflon days, Julia seasoned her pans with slices of pork fat. Well, that’s back again.

But she also indulged in cardiac levels of cream, cheese sauces and melted butter. Not that it seemed to have done her did her any harm, considering that she lived to 92.

As for those eggs, there was no one as expert with an omelet pan as Julia, she always made you feel that with a little practice you too could throw one backwards over your head and successfully bullseye the sink behind you. But those frilly little dishes for coddled eggs ... nobody uses those things any more.

These days you can download a Jamie Oliver app with over 50 recipes that can be searched by name or type with step-by-step photos and video of Jamie demonstrating cooking skills. (Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Meals ).

Or you can get a wine consultation from Natalie McLean via her Food & Wine Matcher, an app that pairs wine, beer, cocktails and even coffee with nearly 1,000 different foods That can be used while right in the liquor stores. ($3).

However, the best cooking teacher that can be summed up like a genie via your home computer may be the Vancouver-based Rouxbe.com. Pronounced roo-bee, the online cooking school delivers a professional culinary school curriculum in high-definition, close-up video, along with professional chef support, practice video recipes and assessment tools. Hundreds of recipes cover everything from the basics (how to cook pasta), to the advanced (veal stock) to the adventurous (Indonesian Rendang).

Meanwhile back at the bookstore, collectors are hot again for the out-of-print, 28-volume series Good Cooks/Techniques and Recipes, published by Time Life between 1979 and 1983, and edited by the legendary cooking consultant Richard Olney. “How to bone and stuff a whole oxtail” or “how to prepare crackling for a pork roast” seems like just the stuff these days. Of special value are the amazingly detailed step-by-step photos as well as just about everything in the “Variety Meats” volume.

Fact: According to Food Arts, after Julie & Julia became a hit in movie theatres, her classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking debuted at #1 (hitting the top spot for the first time ever on the New York Times' Hardcover Advice, How-To and Misc. list, while Julia's Kitchen Wisdom debuted at #1 on Paperback Advice, How-To and Misc.

Six of Julia's books were re-issued in 12 different editions, reaching total sales of 1,290,500 copies.

Now a new book draws a fresh portrait of Julia through her 15 years of personal correspondence (1952-1965) with long time friend, the cook and writer Avis DeVoto. Ms. Devoto, who appears in the movie, tested Julia's recipes for “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and helped get her the publishing contract with Alfred A. Knopf. In “As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto”, letters chronicle Julia's travels in France with husband Paul, her trials teaching American women to cook in Paris, as well as the concept, development and publishing of her classic book.

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- CityFood Magazine

Shopping: That $weet Ring of Ka-ching According to studies that marketeers make on people like you and me, there are now three crucial buttons that must be pushed before consumers will part with their loonies.

Manufacturers are highly focused on them, so look for the following subliminal, or not so subtle messages attached to nearly everything you’ll throw in the grocery cart this year.

1

Trust us. It’s healthy.

2

It’s just the same as homemade, only faster.

3

Relax Dave.You’re still in control of this situation.

Trust us. It’s healthy...or at least,natural.

It’s homemade, only faster...and $$$

Relax.You’re in control ...

Joke: If there is a little red barn on the label, the company is going through a mid-life crises. Fact: You can laugh but there’s some truth to this. The more a label is covered with images of unpolluted blue skies, waving wheat fields, handsome young farmers in overalls, and gambling baby lambs, not to mention the prominent use of the word “natural,” the more reason the shopper should have for looking twice.

Recently however, in their rush to convince consumers that their product is safe, wholesome and even good for you, food manufacturers have started switching their play from the front of the box to the ingredients label on the side.

The aim these days is to reduce the amount of ingredients and to translate the names of whatever items are left from lab science-ese to ones the public will recognize and feel okay about. Thus ascorbic acid becomes lemon juice. A flavouring and anti-bacterial inhibiting agent with a scientific name as long as your arm becomes “cultured celery extract”. And other multi-syllabic ingredients are relabelled with the more euphemistic “natural flavouring”.

We don’t have these two products in Western Canada but companies like Haagan Daaz have a best seller in an ice cream product called Five and Coca-Cola Co has a similar line of soft drink where the basic ingredient list is down to less than six items. Even Maple Leaf has taken time off from convincing the world that they are all about food safety to market a new deli meats product under the “Natural Selections” label that has no more than nine, easy to pronounce ingredients.

Fact: the average consumer will spend longer watching a chicken being prepared on the Food Network than they will to cook their own dinner.

According to the pie charts, there’s a disconnect.

While people may romance the idea of cooking from scratch, and emotionally support the ideals of slow food, in their day-to-day reality, they cannot, or do not want to, commit that much of their schedule to it, especially on a week day. Still, they do feel guilty falling back on convenience foods, hence a whole new category for food products and food preparation appliances termed “speed-scratch”.

Essentially a speed-scratch item is when the manufacturer removes the part of the meal-making process that is deemed to be “less fun”, leaving one or two steps to be finished in the home kitchen, while at the same time allowing the home cook to feel that even though they had a little help, they still put a homecooked meal on the table. An example is McCain’s new mashed potato product where the potatoes are packaged pre-peeled and sliced, leaving the mashing part up to the “cook”.

As opposed to the old “Shake ‘n Bake” kind of product there are no premixed sauces or mixes that may contain artificial ingredients, so these new kinds of convenience foods can be healthier than the old version, but they do add an extra cost to the equation.

Plus the irony is, they are not that much faster.

Considering what you gain in the freshness factor, how long does it really take to peel a potato?

Pizzas are another matter. According to the stats, frozen pizza is the biggest selling timesaver food, Which explains why the mandatory feature for counter-top ovens is the pizza bump, and the “reheat pizza” button is a standard item for new ranges and wall ovens. Coming up next are advance “thinking” microwaves with a built-in “True Cook Plus” system. Just plug in your zipcode and the machine adjusts cooking time for your location’s elevation. Then enter the code from the frozen pizza box and the software will program the appropriate cooking time for optimal taste results.

This step even even makes redundant the simple chore of standing, beer in hand, and watching the food heat up through the appliance window.

Can the process for the confused cook be dumbed down any further? How about a blinking message that shouts from the microwave display panel “Now Shut the Door!! Sheesh, already.”

The long, multi-directional Starbucks coffee order is a standard joke. But it’s a fact, people not only want their order filled quickly, but with all the knobs tuned and twiddled to their specific tastebud channels as well.

Soft drink companies have long understood why this idea works and have tried to come up with a way to apply it to vending machines. Coming soon is a machine that allows the buyer to push a selection of buttons to custom design his own soft drink (Orange crush with root beer? You got it, babe.)

However, unlike the convenience consumer, the control freak will put in the time to ensure that everything comes out just they way they like it.

Hence the products with built in “Manual mode.”

When it comes to appliances, one good example is the Magimix Vision, a $300+ high tech toaster available from Williams and Sonoma. Instead of heating the bread slices down a slot where you can’t see what’s going on, the Magimix props the bread up against an insulated clear glass window so that the viewer can regulate the toasting process via various knobs and dials in the front. To quote the New York Times food page: “It’s like reality TV at breakfast.”

On a professional scale, induction ovens are becoming more popular with chefs for much the same reason. They are cheaper than Viking ranges, cooler to work with and therefore more comfortable to use in small kitchens, also more energy efficient and faster, but the real reason chefs like them is the cooking control. Induction cooking offers the precise, consistent, low heat required by many delicate sauces.

One can literally cook an egg on one side only.

As for food, look for more mix and match setups (you chose the cupcake flavour and the icing), or make it your way counter service items.

Toronto’s Sweet Flour Bake shop is a new fast bakery that gives customers the option of selecting their own dough flavour and toss-in ingredients such as nuts or chocolate chips. Then thanks to specially programmed ovens and chilled artificial stone countertops, customers can walk away with custom baked cookies in less than 3 minutes.

According to Toronto Life, Sweet Flour has sold nearly 100,000 cookies since it opened its first outlet this past March. A franchise is expected in

Apparently, we in the middle of a countdown.

Mini - Trend As disturbing as this statistic may be to some people, boomers now account for 30% of the population. However, they are also growing increasingly arthritic, shortsighted and forgetful. Hence the increased space on the shelves for jars with E-Z grip lids, large type fonts, and last minute purchase stands at the check-out registers.

sometimes.

Vancouver by the summer.

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Social Media - Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast Scale of Benefit SM = Social Merit

Family-style Sunday suppers return, on weeknights, sans family.

Discussion covers politics, sexual preferences and eco-religious conversions.

Bread is broken, not heads.

Gossip from the trenches scoops censored PR releases.

Chef Rob Feenie sheds light on restaurant industry imponderables re video posts on the Cactus Club website.

Mohammed brings Mountain of business to his meatball cart. Uses Twitter to alert customers to his latest illegal location.

Restaurant fills empty seats by tweeting impromptu specials and price slashing. Everybody wins.

(Except those with reservations.) .

In cafe,@javafiend engages in online conversations with the Twitter avatars of strangers, unaware the actual people are sitting next to him.

Shaynah, restaurant PR whiz, moniters the twittersphere during service hours via keyword searches for unhappy campers, then sprints to their tables to placate with gift certificates and free desserts. Soon it’s the hot place to whine.

Kyle links earthshaking news tweets to his Facebook account, forcing anyone who gives a damn to have to open a Facebook account. @cutethingsmycatdoes tweets her cat is bored.

Tweet spoilers on Eastern Standard Time discuss Lost finale.

Citizen journalists embrace freedom of the press by liberating themselves from fact checking.

Restaurant “deathwatches” become self-fulfilling prophesies.

Self-titled food “journalists” pepper online reviews with “yummy” “whooohoo”, “juss sayin’”, and “nuff’ said”.--we’re juss sayin. @revenuecanada is now following you.

SM = Social-Masochism 26 - CityFood Magazine

(Jeremy Gutsche)

Food Paparazzi: Long Term Fad or Just a Flash at the Pan?

The other problem, for companion diners, is that the food tends to sit there getting cold We are the Crowd, while the food snapper finds We’re co-coming out, just the right visual frame.

Got my flash on, it’s true, Then there is the privacy Need that picture of you. issue, not to mention distraction It’s so magical to other diners in the room.

We’d be so fantastical Which is why some restaurants Baby you’ll be famous ... have taken to printing “please -- Lady GaGa refrain from photography” on the menus where the anti-cell Is it true that the smaller the phone sentiments used to be.

Social media invited to bring cameras to the feast - photo courtesy of Chowtimes.com blog, the bigger the camera?

Back in the old days, if a What does it matter, the digital eye is everywhere, and these press photographer shot the interior of a restaurant during days, the craze for documenting dinner via every form of business hours, he was obligated to have everyone in the room social media makes it difficult to avoid photography sessions sign a legal release. These days, no one bothers with that tedious taking place in restaurants. We’re guilty of it too, and can give no little courtesy any more. Which is why anyone on a restaurant better excuse than “a picture is worth a thousand words”. date that they shouldn’t really be having (for whatever reason), One could chalk it up as another sincere form of flattery, could end up seeing the guilty evidence of it posted up on although the chefs don’t always see it that way. Woe, if the Mylunchwasawesome.com before the day is over. amateur photographer does not use a good quality camera, Unless cameras are banned from restaurants like cigars, doesn’t understand lighting, or is not in possession of some diners will just have to adjust. Things could get worse. Future basic shooting skills. Chef’s masterpiece can end up broadcast cell phones may be equipped with 180 degree view lenses. So to the world looking at best like something fresh off a Denny’s even though the guy with the big Nikon at the next table, is laminated breakfast menu, or at worst, a forensic table. playing David Hemmings to the pork chop’s Veruschka, you All this has not been lost on camera manufacturers. Nearly could still end up in the margins of the photo -- looking like all of them have added auto settings for food shots taken with you weigh 300 lbs, as fisheye lens have a tendency to do. incandescent or candlelight into their point and shoot models.

Street food will be rolling into town by summer. Let’s hope the city doesn’t bungle it.

Reading about the mobile food culture in other North American cities (Los Angeles, Portland, ...) has been like hearing about the fantastic party to which you were not invited. How could such a simple business model combine so much fun with entrepreneurial opportunity?

And how come we weren't getting any?

Vancouver has no less its share of foodies than other cities, yet our street food scene in comparison has been as dry as dog biscuits. Apparently our rigid city health regulations did not allowed us to participate beyond a few scattered Mr. Tube Steak outlets and a lonely chestnut vendor. However ... that is set to change.

Thanks to pressure from the public, Mayor Gregor Robertson has promised that licensing laws will loosen up enough by summer to allow a limited number of new mobile operations (possibly 60+), on the downtown streets. And there are a number of people at City Hall working hard to make this happen. Yet still, it’s a battle, because there are issues that need to be addressed. Limited space, water, drainage and garbage removal problems only being the most obvious.

In 2009, after several attempts, restaurateur Sean Heather took his Fetch Hot Dog cart of the sidewalk and back into a building because non-competition regulations stipulated that he could only sell hot dogs from the cart and nothing else. He felt he also needed to sell homemade condiments and other items to make the concept work, and to make Fetch different from just any another dog stand.

Granted, the city’s concerns were not

unwarranted. It isn’t fair to a business owner paying rents, taxes and other forms of overhead related to his location, to have a competitor without those concerns free to operate within his geographic customer base.

The only way to get around this concern is to ensure that the mobile operation is selling something so different that there will be no bricks and mortar alternative for blocks around it. Which is what we should be aiming for anyway. No one wants to see another PNE on Granville Street.

What worries us is the fact that from the hundreds of applications for the few spots available, the ones who will get the green light will be selected by a democratic lottery system, not by any superior merit of their product or idea. If they are lucky enough to score a prime location they will be permitted to renew that license perpetually.

Would you let a politician order your lunch for you? We’d like to see some sort of adjudication panel that included knowledgeable food people, at work to hand pick the 60 according to each proposal’s uniqueness, quality, authenticity or creativity. Let the city then put the applicants through the rest of the hoops as to sanitation standards, finances, etc.

As for sanitation, cooking and diesel fumes, plus lack of space. If these are the barriers to having street food operations downtown, then the answer would be to circle the wagons, so to speak, and find a number of semi-permanent or seasonal locations where the public could come to the trucks. If it can work for the Richmond Night Market (where it is

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die

obvious that the food out stages the merchandising component), then why can’t a similar arrangement be found for the indie food vendors?

Lord knows the Vancouver Flea Market could use better food. Flea markets (as proven by the success of the artisan food vendor component at the Brooklyn Flea Market), are an example of the type of organization that would make a good location companion. Because fans of the fleas are attracted to thrifty, one of a kind, quirky chic, it’s a fit for the ethnic /adventure food category. For those that could be labelled as artisan or eco-aware (organic fruit juice popsicles, for example), a place near the farmers markets would be desirable because the market attracts the health conscious food customer.

Having the vendors in small groups in set locations allows community events to be staged around them. Take for example, San Francisco’s Streetfixe.com. It’s an outdoor, sit-down, pop-up restaurant concept with menus built around the streetfood fare.

As for the restaurants, there are some advantages available to them too. At last year’s New York Restaurant Week, they had one truck drive around the city selling sample appetisers off the menus of the participating restaurants. That was one special event, but why couldn’t that idea be applied to a number of situations? *

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CityFood Magazine -

27

viridis vox

- a refutation of waste

Lexicon: Goodetarian: A person who makes purchasing decisions, particularly at the supermarket, the ethics of an item’s method of production. Shrubbery: Green products purchased in order to acquire of one’s environmental superiority, as opposed to a sincere desire to make better environmental choices.

Upcycling: see article below.

Once upon a time there was a planet whose inhabitants had a most peculiar relationship to, well, garbage.

They must have been charmed by the aromas, bright colours and varied shapes, for they dedicated valuable space to displaying these treasures.

-- Envac waste systems video.

Of all the causes, concerns and campaigns that will be covered under the green umbrella in the coming decade, the ones we are likely to hear about most will be those associated with waste disposal, waste reduction and recycling.

From a society accustomed to regarding consumption as an emblem of progress, wasting anything, especially food, will be decried as anti-social behaviour. Whereas, the ability to transform through recycling will be credited as a social virtue. Waste not, want not.

recycling One needn’t even look too far into the future.

Recycling in particular is right for the times we live in now because it encompasses both waste reduction and thriftiness. Thanks to the economy, we may be struggling with shrinking incomes, but according to the statisticians, we still throw away 27 percent, or close to one third of what we buy. A lot of this may be due to unnecessary packaging, but the rest ends up in the landfill merely because something newer is available to replace it. That being said, brand new isn’t as shiny as it used to be.

Once considered inferior, second hand and recycled items -- now referred to as “upcycled” to anoint it with a new decade spin -- now enjoys a status upgrade as both politically correct and a form of artistic expression. Clothing, crafts, interior design, all forms of building and man made objects are considered to have more perceived value, if, ironically, they were refashioned from garbage.

Even the start ups that form around these products get a new tag: "eco-capitalism" -- a term that describes a company that is in it for profit, yet approaches every task from an eco-friendly perspective. A good place to find them is at yearly craft fairs such as The One of a Kind Show and makeitvancouver.com with its motto “feel good about what you buy”.

Beyond second hand stores, consignment shops, antique stores and flea markets, all of which service the recycle market, cottage industries are devoting themselves to making new objects from post consumer waste -- much of it from food manufacturers. And then even retailing these items from recycled spaces.

Terracycle, a New Jersey and Toronto-based company that specializes in making accessories and fashion totes from such things as juice packages and potato chips bags has been experimenting with GreenUp pop-up stores. They find and set up temporary mini-markets in empty retail locations in order to display the latest products, books and films that promote the “Go Green” message.

Of course, anyone who follows the food scene is aware of the emphasis that restaurants are now placing on the full ethical use of food -- particularly from food animals. Refuel’s popular whole hog dinners being a prime example.

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based on emblems

Refuel’s Robert Belcham as well as numerous other chefs have been inspired by Fergus Henderson, proprietor of England’s St. John restaurant. The author of Nose to Tail Cooking built his ethos on the refutation of waste and prides himself on finding an “ingenious and profound use for almost anything in the kitchen”.

Even the food magazines these days stress the art of recycling recipes into additional meals. Charts on how one chicken can be used for five sequential meals harkens back to the annual “How to use up the Christmas turkey article”. Only now, the topic is suitable all year round. -- Written by Alison Markham, 15

waste disposal Although not going so far as to enforce composting by law, as has been done in San Francisco. The City of Vancouver became proactive this Spring in helping home owners dispose of their biodegradable kitchen scraps (said to comprise 30-35 percent of all household garbage, or some 15,700 tonnes worth annually).

And perhaps it’s about time, considering that Metro Vancouver’s Zero Waste Challenge, launched in 2006, has a stated goal of diverting 70 percent of solid waste from the city’s landfills by 2015.

On April 22 (Earth Day), the City introduced phase one of a program which permits a limited list of uncooked items such as raw vegetable and fruit peels, eggshells, coffee grounds and tea bags to be thrown

According to statistics, we still throw away 27%, or close to one third of everything we buy. into pick up containers along with yard trimmings.

This green mulch is taken for processing to Fraser Richmond Soil & Fibre where it is turned into compost and soil blends, and then sold to local nurseries and gardens.

The list of allowable items will be increased in 2011 to include such scraps as meat, fish and foodsoiled paper.

Perhaps this new plan is not as high-tech as the pneumatic tube system currently in use in European cities such as Stockholm (and being considered by Toronto), where waste is sucked away, unseen and unsmelled, via underground pneumatic tubes directly to a transfer station. However, the program is expected to recycle 16,000 kilograms of food waste per year, as well as reduce the city’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Andrea Carlson, Executive Chef of Bishop’s restaurant, has been composting all food waste at the restaurant for over 2 years. She is now a consultant and spokesperson for the city program and you can view her video and obtain more information at vancouver.ca/projects/foodWaste/index.htm.

The civic initiative is a large social project, but in general, home composting is going to be a big topic this summer. At the Farmers Markets, look for the seller of the Bokashi Bucket online at (http://greatday18.ca/indexgdb.htm). It’s an oatmeal like product made from bran and a cocktail of friendly microbes that when mixed with food scraps, allows home owners to collect compost in a small plastic buckets under the sink. Although without the problem of rotting odours as the food decomposes. This is something yardless apartment dwellers can especially appreciate.

More composting advice is available via such blogs as http://glenbrookzerowaste.wordpress.com.

-- written by Sean Wong, 14

waste reduction In the restaurant world, it’s a given that they will be expected to play a significant role in recycling and waste control. That is because many restaurants dispose of more waste in a week than most households do in months. Choosing Ms Carlson as a role model to promote the city’s new compost program is a wise move considering how much influence Vancouver’s top chefs have with the public.

Restaurants tend to throw away a lot more food than they might like to because strict regulations about health safety prevent food from being refrozen or given away if it is not used up by the end of the day. So what to do with it?

The answer is a combination of thinking of ways to recycle the food so it does not need to be stored, finding safe and efficient composting systems, and just not overstocking the larder in the first place. ...continued on page 30

continued from page 16 ...

4) If there is a new bogeyman under the bed it is the approaching HST. Like the no-smoking ban and everything else the industry has objected to in the past, they will assimilate it and survive.

Although that still won’t make the enforcement right, fair or even understandable.

5) Service staff will know more about wine and local ingredients than the previous generations of restaurant workers ever did. With social media platforms highlighting the importance of the front line influence, more budgets will be funneled into employee training and the upgrading of their job related knowledge and experience.

6) If we didn’t have the draconian alcohol/food laws in this provence than we do, Vancouver would have more wine bars, because they are an easier and less cost intense start up. But as the licensing climate for that type of venue is not friendly here, restaurants will search for ways to offer less expensive wines from more obscure and interesting wineries, as well as use more advanced wine storage systems to provide wines by the glass. Referring back to social media, there is no reason why Twitter hash tags could not be used by restaurants as a way for customers to find other tables willing to split whole bottles of wine. (Or even racks of lamb for that matter.)

7) Neighbourhoods restaurants will continue to pitch together to create small, ultra localized events such as street parties to both keep dining dollars within the immediate community and attract new customers from outside it.

Deakin’s Corner, and now Acme Cafe make it worth getting up in the morning.

12) Better quality casual, ethnic food. Thai food was never so spectacular until it was in the hands of Angus An at Maenam. And small food industry entrepreneurs will find they can be successful even doing just one dish exceptionally well. Especially if that one thing has been missing from our culinary repertoire.

Witness Le Tacqueria’s no nonsense way with tacos or the crazy success of Mile’s End’s Canadian owners when they brought Montreal style beef to New Yorkers.

Diners are also tiring of ersatz “tapas” purely designed to accommodate a restaurant’s desire to put out smaller plates of food at a lower price point. They would rather pay more for even smaller plates of truly exceptional ingredients. Example: the Spanish Jamon Iberica ham at Le Petit Chavignol.

All this is something that the new streetfood vendors will need to keep in mind. Be unique, be focused, and make it delicious.

Amelia

From 1) fusion confusion to 2) misguided authenticity to 3) obsessive authenticity back to 4) a more interpretive stage again. As a city we’ve suffered the classic stages of self awareness: 1) Not knowing that you don’t know 2) Knowing that you don’t know 3) Not knowing what you could know 4) Knowing what you know.

5) Knowing that knowledge has no end point.

As food scientist Harold McGee puts it: "A couple decades ago you cooked in a particular tradition that developed over the course of generations. Now any cook in the world can get their hands on any ingredient and read about any technique. People have development kitchens where they can come up with new dishes, explore, and create. With all these options, instead of being pre-defined over the course of generations, what comes out is going to be all about what kind of palate the chef has, what kind of sense of humor they have, what counts as delicious to them."

Extra-virgin olive oil f r e s h from the farm in Umbria, Italy

8) We’ll rediscover the tribal bonding of family style eating, even if we now do that with complete strangers over communal style dinners at restaurants.

This kind of dining will be particularly successful if the dinners attract like-minded individuals because they are themed to support community or environmental causes.

9) Perhaps it was the lower cost factor, but 2009 saw the fancy imports being replaced by the local product. We’re not talking produce; we’re talking people. Never before had so many locally born and trained sous chefs been pulled up from the ranks to replace the departing star toques. It happened at West, DB Bistro Moderne and the Kambolis Group. This says something about the advantage of a pre-fit within a tight knit local network such as Vancouver’s restaurant industry.

To order contact: www.ameliaoil.com ameliaoil@telus.net

604-329-0442

10) Craft beer appreciation will move from a niche group to the mainstream and compete with wine at dinner thanks to its quality for the lower price point. After years of seeing various local beer festivals come and go in Vancouver but fail to stick, Vancouver’s Craft Beer Week seems to have hit the right cord and the right timing. Look for a bigger event next year and for more restaurants to offer beer menus as the mental image of local pub goes from downscale skanky to that of gastropubs with style.

11) We’ll get more stylish and healthier places to go for pancakes. With more business meetings taking place in the a.m, and most of them looking for a better option than Denny’s, restaurants will specialize in interesting breakfast menus - even adding wine recommendations to the mix if its brunch. Cafe Medina, Provence Marinaside,

www.raudz.com CityFood Magazine -

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....

Continued from page 28

We canvassed some Vancouver restaurants to find out what they are currently doing to recycle and reduce waste, and what future plans they are working on to do so in the future.

Food: “In the kitchen, we try not to throw away any meat or vegetable trimmings.” says Chef Alana Peckham of Cru restaurant. “Instead, we use vegetable trim in stocks and we incorporate other trim into staff meals.”

Cooking oils tend to be picked up by professional waste removers, such as West Coast Reduction, who collect the oil, filter and sterilize it, and then sell it to companies to use as animal feed and commercially approved biodiesel for vehicles. For food scraps, most restaurants contract a professional composter such as The Recycling Alternative to do a pickup every one to two weeks.

A restaurant’s location can pose a problem, however.

To quote Andrew Wong, the owner of Wild Rice:“We have challenges here [in Vancouver’s Gastown] as we cannot use our back alley, and we don’t have any outdoor fenced area in which to keep refuse. Smithrite does have a composting program, but they were unwilling to work with Wild Rice due to our neighbourhood, specifically our lane. We are still looking for a company that can work along with us on this.

Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island is lucky enough to have their own organic garden to recycle all their kitchen and garden plant matter.

“Our garden is completely edible, organic, seasonal, and local, enabling us to serve the most natural food possible.” says co-owner Sinclair Philip.

“Sooke Harbour House has an extensive compost system, based on bins, which are turned on a regular basis to produce several wheelbarrow loads of compost per week in the summer.”

Rice and is considering a switch to LED lighting in the dining room.

At the Sooke Harbour House, both the restaurant and 50 percent of the guest rooms have efficient, in-floor heating, where water is heated and pumped under the floors. This combined with continually upgraded insulation, thermal pane windows and draft proofing keeps energy consumption low. In 2004, Sooke Harbour House converted from propane to natural gas because it is a clean-burning fuel that produces the least fine particles and greenhouse gasses of any conventional fuel.

Water: Naturally, water is a huge part of any restaurant’s conservation program, and it usually starts in the kitchen with the dishwashing machines. At Cru, they installed an eco-friendly water sprayer in the dishpit which uses less water due to the higher pressure of the spray mechanism.

Glowbal Group restaurants use machines with a per/cycle system and a regulated soap feed to prevent abuse or over use of chemicals. As well, they train all their “dishwash technicians” to put through only full racks to minimize wash cycle volumes.

Sooke Harbour House may have the most committed recycling program of all with its inhouse Water Reclamation System. The wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets is collected in a trash trap and pumped into a membrane-bioreactor.

The treated potable water is then reused in toilets and urinals as well as to irrigate large gardens and lawns on the property, including their grass-paved parking lot.

Sooke Harbour House may have the most committed recycling program of all with its in-house water reclamation system.

Packaging: Perhaps not surprisingly, food waste can be less of a recycling job for the restaurants than dealing with the large accumulation of glass, metal, paper and cardboard (referred to as the “GMP”) and other packaging materials that arrives with the delivery of supplies. Even the restaurants’ offices churn out paper that eventually must be disposed of.

Again, many restaurants contract professional collection and recycle companies such as The Bottle Guys or Northwest Waste to remove the bulk of it. And then they come up with their own creative solutions for what’s left. The Glowbal Group of restaurants have switched from cloth to compostable paper tablecloths to minimize the impact of laundry detergents. They also recycle the inkjet cartridges and printing paper used in their office and marketing campaigns. In the dining room, they have just started to use recyclable takeout bags in combination with a re-use incentive program.

Guests are offered discounts on their take-out orders when they bring back the bags.

Wild Rice restaurant thinks about the paper even before it enters the premises. They use only products that contain 40-100 recycled content. This includes their business cards and customer comment cards, as well as the hand towels in the washrooms, and dinner napkins in the dining room.

Cleaning products: Although it can add to the overhead costs, the restaurants support the use of certified eco-safe cleaning products. Wild Rice uses the Avmor Green brand which meets CCD standards.

Due to their dependency on their in-house water reclamation system, Sooke Harbour House has to be particularly careful to keep their cleaning products as environmentally safe and natural as possible. The Inn is now leading the way with their use of natural cleaning solutions, such as citric acid, rhubarb stalks, as well as other vegetable based cleaning products.

Then of course, there’s always good old-fashioned elbow grease and vinegar.

-- Researched and written by Carlie Johnson, 16

Energy Savers: In 2012 it will be mandatory for all restaurants to use the new energy saving lightbulbs, however Jean-Francis and Alexandra Quaglia have already installed them at their Provence and Provence Marinaside restaurants.

Andrew Wong is already using CFL bulbs at Wild

This article above was written as a co-operative project by high school students who hope to enter careers that combine both journalism and eco-conservation.

They write collectively, and pool their earnings to donate to ecological charities. This is their first contribution to a food magazine. They plan to donate the proceeds to a charity for Louisiana Gulf wildlife rescue.

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- CityFood Magazine

Using recycled water results in a marked reduction in water consumption and a decrease in the volume of wastewater discharged to the disposal fields, mitigating the need for septic fields and sewers. The Inn claims they recycle over 6 million litres of water per year this way. Since the treatment plant began operating in 1997 they estimate that over 32 million litres of water have been reclaimed.

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sell out every course they offer in butchery techniques and sausage making. Chef Rob Belcham’s nose to tail dinners have been an unqualified hit for theme dinners at refuel restaurant, and private cooking clubs such as the “Butchers of Gastown” chip in to purchase an entire animal and then get together to socialize while they butcher the carcass and prepare recipes.

In a way the meat carcasses as social statement icon is more adoptable for artistic expression that it was when Rembrandt or Francis Bacon rendered life size paintings of them. That fact was obvious when a British food glossy inspired by Heston Ferguson's nose to tail philosophy lavishly displayed a full page illustration of a haunch of roasted piglet with two veg on a dinner plate.

Only this time with its tiny hoof attached and little curly tail wrapped around the organic heritage carrots.

Over in the cookbook section it seemed to be de rigour for chef authors to offer up some sort of nasty and particularly mucky recipe involving the head involving the remove of the face or hacksawing through the skull to get at the brains. Take this example from the Momofuko Cookbook for “Pig's Head Torchon”... “pull out the top of the skull, put it in the discard bowl.

Discard the eye. Look for the nice little nugget of meat around the eye. Pull out the jaw; discard it. Twist off the snout (if it's not coming off easily use a knife to help you …. probe around at the base of the skull with fingers to distinguish the meat from fat … avoid veins, the tough bits are probably glands…

By now, many people reading this article are gnashing their teeth. Convinced that I am focused on the lurid aspect of animal butchery and missing the underlying commitment to the deeper philosophical issues.

But I’m not. I get it.

If the carnage seems gratuitous, for the sake of machoism alone, it actually isn’t. There is an underlying philosophy involved, that if at times veers like the church of local into a new form of eco-religion, it is a well meaning one.

To kill, or to be witness to the kill of one’s dinner is to pay the ultimate tribute to the sacrifice the beast gave to enable the continuation of your own. If it is our responsibility to ensure that our food animals live a decent life according to their natures, honouring them with a respectful death is part of that tribute. As it is our duty to ensure that nothing the animal offers up is ever wasted.

In this we have returned to a philosophy that was ingrained in the First Nations way of thinking when they called the animals they hunted “our brothers” and went through a ritual after the kill and before the feast to ensure the animal was properly thanked for his role in the cycle of life.

Said a women interviewed in the film Fresh. “I used to say ewww.. there is no way I want to eat something if I know it’s name. But now I say, Hell yes, if I am going to eat something. It had better have had a name.”

Summing it up perfectly, was a passage in an article entitled “Well Lived” that was printed in July 2008 for Gourmet magazine.

“We had seen it killed, but there had been a disconnect between the goat that walked around in the pen and the meat piled in Ian’s kitchen. The lingering warmth made that connection clear, and we felt the heavy responsibility of this life. [The Butcher’s] last words in the killing room took on a new poignancy: “I know you guys will treat him well.” So we got to work cooking and learned a lesson they don’t teach you in a culinary institute or a commercial kitchen: It’s easier to make dinner without the weight of a life on your conscience. Who cares if you burn the chicken? Just go get another. You’re only out a few bucks and a little inconvenience. But being responsible for the death of a living thing makes you respect the animal in a way that you didn’t think was possible.”

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