notes – Page 87 – Only Here for the Food

Liane Faulder (Judy Schultz’s replacement for the weekly Journal Bistro column) published her first few articles this week. She chose the theme of senses, focusing on a select few restaurants that tempt the palette with visual glory, sensual aromas, and textural pleasures, as well as an additional piece on a restaurant in France that serves food in the dark. It’ll take a while to really understand her style, so I’ll hold out judgment for a while.
Both Giada and Ina will have new shows on the American Food Network. I hope it isn’t too long before it will air on the Canadian side of FN!
This is probably old news by now, but Gordon Ramsay might be the next superstar chef to break ground in Vancouver. Urban Diner cites numerous sources that Ramsay is in talks with Holt Renfrew to open a restaurant in their store.
Via Chow, a very cool collapsible coffee cup made with the commuter in mind.
Though I missed the television airing of House‘s fourth season finale, I managed to watch it on Thursday. Oh, Wilson.
I’ve watched a few movies over the last month or so, some worth remembering, and some not at all. Iron Man was surprisingly good (Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect choice for the titular character), and P.S. I Love You was a disappointment (I couldn’t wait for it to end). And of course, the countdown to Sex and the City begins!
At the drugstore, I came across bags of Skittles I’d never seen before – Skittles Chocolate. Each package comes with five flavours: S’mores, Chocolate Pudding, Chocolate Caramel, Vanilla and Brownie Batter. Why mess with the rainbow?
I tried an Iced Brewed Coffee ($2.15 for a tall) at Starbucks on Friday. It’s apparently just double-strength coffee, iced, with a few pumps of syrup, but for some reason, it’s a lot better than most of the iced coffees I’ve tried – slightly sweet, but still a strong enough coffee taste that wasn’t diluted too much even with the melting ice cubes.

Enjoying an Iced Brewed Coffee

Vue Weekly released the results for their annual Golden Forks awards last week. I agree with some of the choices (Italian Centre as the best deli, Wildflower Grill as the best new restaurant, Hardware Grill as provider of the ultimate dining experience), but some of the choices, that seem to remain the same year after year, still puzzle me (Creperie as the best for lovers, Barb and Ernie’s for breakfast). I wish the paper did some more analysis, however, and compared this year’s winners with those chosen last year (Calgary’s Fast Forward does a cheeky job of that).
See Magazine reviewed a new Indian restaurant on the city’s southeast side, called Rasoi on 50th (4341 50 Street).
The Globe & Mail had a great piece about BC residents going the distance to affirm their 100-mile diet commitment by finding farmers to grow grain when they couldn’t source it otherwise.
The New York Times has a good primer of an article about the ways in which cities are trying to reduce the amount of food that goes to waste.
Andrew had a “going-away” dinner at Kyoto (10128 109 Street) last week before his three week trek across Europe. I’ve only had positive experiences at the restaurant – until that day. Our server was either new, or didn’t care very much, and the bento boxes that Megan and I ordered arrived a clear twenty minutes after the other half of the table received their platters of sushi. Unacceptable. Here are some pictures: