(Image by: epSos.de)

Once in a while you watch an awards show – and somebody sweeps all the big prizes. This year at the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards saw the return of David Hawksworth to a Vancouver dining scene that was pining away for him like a love sick 16 year old. But let’s be fair, it was not a gimme – competition is too tough from rooms like L’Abattoir, La Quercia, or any one of the stellar Top Table restaurants. There are no freebies in the hyper competitive Vancouver restaurant scene.

So kudos are in order to all the competitors. Looking over the list of nominated restaurants and you get a sense of just how good we have it. So the big winner? That’s us – the diners.

Here are the list of award winners. Congratulations to all.

Restaurant of the Year
Hawksworth

Best Upscale Restaurant
Hawksworth

Best Casual
L’Abattoir

Chef of the Year
David Hawksworth

Best New Restaurant
Hawksworth

Lifetime Achievement Award
Kimble Chan, Nelson Yeung, Kirin Restaurant Group

Mentorship Award
Julian Bond

Green Award
Trafalgars

Best New Design
Hawksworth

Pastry Chef of the Year
Theirry Busset

Bartender of the Year
Danielle Tatarin – Keefer Bar

Supplier of the Year
F.I.S.H.

Premier Cru
Neil Henderson - Araxi
Terry Threlfall – Hawksworth
Brooke Delves - Maenam
Iori Kataoka – Zest
Corey Bauldry – Diva at the Met

Best Food Cart
Re-Up BBQ

Best Seafood
Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar

Best Upscale Italian
Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill & Enoteca

Best Casual Italian
La Quercia

Best Pizzeria
Nicli Antica PIzzeria

Best Upscale French
Le Crocodile

Best Casual French
Pied a Terre

Best Upscale Japanese
Tojo’s

Best Casual Japanese
Kingyo Izakaya

Best Upscale Chinese
Jade Seafood

Best Casual Chinese
Alvin Garden

Best Dim Sum
Kirin

Best Noodle House
Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle

Best Indian
Vij’s

Best Korean
Hanwoori

Best Thai
Maenam

Best Vietnamese
Phnom Penh

Best Other Asian
Spice Islands

Best of the Americas
Dona Cata

Best Steakhouse
Hy’s Encore

Best Casual Chain
Cactus Club Cafe

Best North Shore
Fraiche

Best Whislter
Araxi

Best Victoria
Ulla

Best Vancouver Island
Sooke Harbour House

Best Okanagan
Waterfront Restaurant & Wine Bar

Best Winery/Vineyard Dining
Miradoro at Tinhorn Creek

Best Resort Dining
The Pointe at the Wickaninnish Inn

^ Tales of the Cocktail team at Xi Shi cocktail lounge (L-R) Michelle Dunnick, Melissa Young, Ann Tuennerman, Neely Hannah, Christina Gaspari Sudderth.

On Tuesday, Tales of the Cocktail co-founder, Ann Tuennerman, and her New Orleans team kicked off the countdown to Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver 2012 at the Xi Shi cocktail lounge in the Shangri-La Hotel. In less than 90 days, the first international satellite event of the world’s premier cocktail and spirits festival returns for its second time and will become a permanent annual fixture in our city.

A component of TOTC is the Cocktail Apprentice Program where talented bartenders are given an opportunity to further develop their bartending skills with some of the world’s most influential mixologists. They also gain experience working on large-scale events, which they may not normally encounter in their daily work. The bartenders chosen for the new Vancouver apprentice class are Evelyn Chick (Uva Wine Bar), Taylor Corrigan (Origin Restaurant and Bar, Toronto), Rebecca Davis (CHARcut Roast House, Calgary), Justin Taylor (YEW), Michael Webster (The Drake Hotel, Toronto), and Donnie Wheeler (Cin Cin). Vancouver’s Trevor Kallies (Donnelly Group) and Jonathan Smolensky (Hawksworth Restaurant) return as Senior Cocktail Apprentices.

^ The Beaver, the Dragon and the Bulldog – an original punch made especially for the TOTC reception by the Shangri-La’s Lead Bartender, Jay Jones.

Each TOTC festival features an official cocktail chosen via competition. Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver 2012 will showcase punch, a drink brought to England from India by sailors and British East India Company employees in the early 17th century. Derived from panch, the Hindu word for five, punch was originally made from five ingredients: alcohol, sweetener, citrus juice, water, and tea or spices; wine or brandy was used as a base. However, when Jamaican rum came into use in the mid-1600s, the modern punch was born.

After sampling more than 50 submissions from working Canadian bartenders, the TOTC judges selected Roaming Buffalo Punch from Chambar’s Jacob Sweetapple as the Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Cocktail Competition winner. Runner’s up were Katie McDonald of Victoria’s Veneto Lounge with her Helen’s Punch and Hawksworth Restaurant’s Jonathan Smolensky with his Homesteader’s Punch.

^ Chambar’s Jacob Sweetapple explains the inspiration behind his winning punch.

Roaming Buffalo Punch

• 500ml Roasted Almond infused Buffalo Trace Bourbon
• 200ml Barrel Aged Cointreau
• 200ml Remy Martin VSOP
• 50ml Angostura Orange bitters
• 200ml House made Falernum syrup (using maple)
• 750ml Jamaican ginger beer
• 100ml Fresh lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients into a large punch bowl also using a large block of ice. Garnish with dehydrated slice of orange and lemons, star anise, cloves and cinnamon sticks

In addition to extending the festival by a day, Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver 2012 will introduce cocktail pairing dinners, more tasting rooms and seminars, and 14 American craft distillers whose products are not currently available in Canada. It offers a taste of what’s in store at the 10th Anniversary Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, July 25-29.

Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver 2012
February 12-15, 2012
TalesoftheCocktail.com

Cuisine Canada has just announced the shortlist for their 2011 Culinary Book Awards (Yes – I know, the link says ‘2010′ – but it is the 2011 list.)

Particular congratulations to local contributors.

• Carolyn Herriot, The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food, Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC

• Kootenay Country Store Cooperative and the Nelson Municipal Library, Seasonings: A Year of Local Flavour in Words and Recipes, Kootenay Country Store Cooperative and the Nelson Municiple Library, Nelson, BC

• Meeru Dhalwala and Vikram Vij, Vig’s at Home: Relax, Honey, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, BC

• Jane Mundy, ed., The Ocean Wise Cookbook: Seafood Recipes that Are Good for the Planet, Whitecap Books, North Vancouver, BC

Past BC winners have included John Bishop (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), the Chef’s Table Society of British Columbia, Heidi Noble, Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala (for Vij’s: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine), Bill Jones, and Jurgen Goth among many others.

You guys are in illustrious company – good luck!

Late in the evening a couple of days ago, I swear, a few seconds before I was about to turn off the computer and crawl away into bed before the sun came up, a tweet flashed across my screen that stopped me in my tracks…

‘Word’ is that Chef Dale MacKay and David Sidoo are staying together, w/ plans to move Lumiere’s kitchen to the Corner Suite Bistro space. (click here to view the tweet)

Just when I thought it was safe to draw a few gloomy conclusions about the state of the declining restaurant industry something like this happens. It’s the football equivalent of a fake punt followed by a long bomb hail mary into the end zone. WTF? catch them off guard while they’re still processing your last move kinda deal.

It would have been easy to run roughshod with this rumour, it was 3 am after all, but I realized I needed to talk to Dale directly to find out what was really going on. Having worked for both Gordon Ramsey and Daniel Boulud, two of the world’s top-drawer chefs, one thing is for sure, Dale Mackay can cook (one of my favourite meals of last year). But his arrival and tenure at Lumiere, even after it’s extensive remodeling and re-launch by the Dinex Group, never got free and clear of the dark cloud that formed and lingered after founding chef Rob Feenie’s dramatic departure.

So I asked Dale about the rumour… ‘Are you and the Lumiere kitchen crew moving into the former Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe location?’

“I have visited the space, but I have not signed anything, so right now the answer is no,” he responded.

‘Is David Sidoo backing the new venture?’

“No, David is not my partner on this one. I have enjoyed my time working with David and the Dinex Group, but I feel I am ready for a fresh start. I am currently working with another investor who I have known for many years.”

So, Chef Mackay is wanting to stay right here and work and call Vancouver his home; all things considered, this is a big win for our dining scene. Stay tuned!

~ PK

(Image courtesy of: Tracey Kusiewicz)

DB Bistro Moderne and Lumière will be closing their doors permanently on March 13th of this year. The two historic upscale Kitsilano restaurants, currently owned via partnership by both David & Manjy Sidoo and international superstar chef, Daniel Boulud, was the final evolution of an epic restaurant saga that started with Vancouver’s own ‘Iron Chef’ Rob Feenie back in 1995 with the original opening of Lumière and the expansion and launch of Feenie’s next door in 2003.

After a messy and public falling out over finance and control of the struggling restaurants, the talented Chef Feenie walked away from the untenable position to join the Cactus Club empire leaving the Sidoos with a businesses in a confused free-fall.

Enter Chef Daniel Boulud and the Dinex Group, who picked up the pieces and rebuilt in time to relaunch the revamped concept in mid December of 2008, one year before the start of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

After over 2 years of expensive operations in a floundering economy that saw the life sucked out of the fine-dining sector, it looks like the Sidoos and Mr. Boulud are finally pulling the plug on the two properties. All staff have been given two weeks notice.

Sincere condolences to the all the great folks who kept the dream alive and with hopes they all land safely in new jobs in our fair city.

I predict a busy last run as loyal patrons and the like go in for one last meal and a drink to say goodbye to an important piece of Vancouver’s restaurant history.

~ PK

With the pass of the previous decade and advance of the new one, it’s time to examine what I’ve learned over the past ten years. (Oh, and the pedantic “the decade doesn’t change until next year,” argument holds no truck here math geek. Society has unilaterally declared that a new decade has begun. Go tilt at some other windmill.) This was the decade I went from enthusiastic outsider patron to sometimes columnist with a bent for petulance with the fourth most popular food site in Vancouver (among 25-35 year old left handed colour blind fencing enthusiasts.) So quite the mountain summited there. Enough with the foreplay, lets get it on:

*Nothing determines how “good” a restaurant is more than the skill of it’s P.R. person, inevitably an attractive woman. Not the kitchen, nor the staff, nothing has as much bearing on the first couple years as the media relations officer. Vancouver is full of whores willing to say anything nice in print about a new place to become an insider. It’s always been bad, it’s getting worse. A massive proportion of the reviews in this town are shoddily reworded press releases bylined by social climbing wannabes. I’m not certain if Vancouver is alone in this, but the fraternity between restaurateurs and the media is shocking and unethical.

*Hype is never good. The more hyped somewhere is the more disappointing it will be. It’s better to follow Les Faux Bourgeois model, under-promise and over-deliver.

*CFD’s are choking the innovation out of the city. Yes they are fantastically successful business models, they are also Hoovering up all the cash that would otherwise be going to new concepts and people starting out. Creativity and grassroots incubation are being stifled by all the mid-market cash going to these established concepts.

*There are few things a brunoise of sautéed breadcrumbs can’t improve.

*The higher the markup on the winelist the worse the food will be.

*I began the decade mocking the hippies and their precious overpriced organics. I left the decade a committed (or should I say semi-committed, I do love mangoes. And wine. Coffee. Olive oil. Pasta from Italy. So maybe I’m not even a semi-locavore) locavore spending twenty bucks on an organic chicken. Which proves yet again that real societal change comes from dirty leftist freethinkers who you might not want to share a table with but occasionally have a good idea when they manage to drop the bong for a few minutes. They did manage to come dangerously close to undoing their good works however with the continued asinine assertion that white people could wear dreadlocks.

*This is the decade Asian foods came into the mainstream. In 2010 not knowing what constitutes a good xio long bao is as gauche as ordering your ahi (something we’ve stopped eating in the past decade,) well done.

~KT

As reported last night in the UD Forum, Mon Bella in Kitsilano has abruptly closed it’s doors for good. Done. Finished.

Even after a short-lived rally and possible, albeit slow, uphill revival under the guidance of Chef Brian Fowke, the mountain proved too high to climb. The little Italian/French Bistoria, smacked up by the critics right out of the gate, had a hard time regaining a steady and sure footing to rebuild upon and relied on steap discounts to keep the clientelle coming, inevitably leading to a dire numbers game that eventually caught up with them and the bill paying owners who finally decided to pull the plug. ~ PK

Executive Chef Julio Gonzalez-Perini has just given his notice at CinCin. Sous chef of Araxi, John Ferris is running the kitchen during the interim. Top Table’s search continues…

On a side note, I have a Keith Nicholson rookie card for trade. I am looking for a 2006 All-Star David Hawksworth or Feenie. Must be in mint condition to be considered. ~ PK

It has just been announced that the young and talented chef, Francois Gagnon (formerly Lumière, Blue Water Cafe, CinCin), has taken the helm at The Teahouse in Stanley Park. Congratulations and good luck. We look forward to the new menu! ~ PK

Canada’s first beer cocktail competition will be held at The Refinery on August 17, featuring beer from Whistler Brewing. Come see what our local bartenders have concocted as successors to the Black Velvet, Irish Car Bomb, and Ogre Juice.

Contestants must devise a cocktail using either Whistler Black Tusk Ale, Classic Pale Ale, Honey Lager, Premium Export Lager, or Weissbier. They will then have to create it live, behind the bar at The Refinery, using their own ingredients and the supplied beer.

Judging the competition will be Bruce Dean (President, Whistler Brewing), Chester Cary (Canada’s first Certified Cicerone), Joanne Sasvari (The Vancouver Sun), Andrew Morrison (Scout Magazine), and yours truly.

The winning bartender will receive a TaylorMade golf bag; a case of Whistler beer; and a day of golf, dinner, and drinks for two at Pemberton’s Big Sky Golf & Country Club, voted Best Course in BC by the Vancouver Sun Golf Guide 2009.

After the competition, General Manager, Lauren Mote, and her team will be serving a special Whistler Brewing Company beer cocktail list, along with paired canapés from Chef Michael Carter.

Whistler Brewing Cocktail Challenge
Monday, August 17 @ 3:00pm
The Refinery
1115 Granville Street, Vancouver

~ RG

An announcement will be coming very soon from Top Table announcing the appointment of Julio Gonzalez-Perini (formerly the chef of Federico’s Supper Club, The Beach House, Villa del Lupo) as the new executive chef at Cincin.

There is no word on whether Mr. Francois Gagnon will stay with the Top Table group of restaurants.

View the official press release here.

~ PK

Locked up tight for the last few nights without notice and a disconnected phone are always bad signs for a restaurant. Is Le Marrakech Moroccan Bistro in Gastown the lasted casualty to fall away in the never-ending quest to put bums in seats?

Thanks to Stephen for the tip. ~ PK

Chow restaurant and lounge will be closing their doors.  Tonight (Sunday, May 10th) will be the last night to enjoy a fine meal with the very talented Chef Poirier and crew at the critically-acclaimed South Granville restaurant. With diners tightening their belts in the deflating economy, Chow has become another high-profile victim in a rapidly shrinking fine-dining market.

Our well wishes go out to all the staff and their families.  ~ PK

Talented bartender and award-winning mixologist, Lauren Mote (formerly of Lumiere, Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, and Chow), has been announced as the new GM of The Refinery on Granville Street.

From the press release:

Says owner Peter Raptis, “Lauren brings a level of energy and new passion that pairs perfectly with the Refinery concept”…” On behalf of my business partners Ryan Newman and Raymond Staniscia as well as Executive Chef Michael Carter, “we are delighted to be working with her.” 

As General Manager Lauren will oversee all front of house operations including the wine and cocktail program. 

Congratulations to Lauren and The Refinery. With the sidewalks nearing completion, the downtown Granville strip is about to awaken with a whole new look, and we like it. ~ PK

(Image by: Heather Goldsworthy)

UPDATE: May 2, 2009

One of Vancouver’s most talented and dedicated bartenders, Mr. Jay Jones, has given his notice at Voya  this morning and will be opening a new place of his own design called “Pourhouse” in the old Flux Bistro location (162 Water Street) just southeast of the steamclock in Gastown. The opening is planned for the end of summer.

The Pourhouse will have 135 dining seats with 25 bar seats. The bar program will be “spirit focused” and the overall concept will be “back to basics drinking and eating,” says Jones.   

Jay’s business partner and executive chef  of Pourhouse will be the well-travelled Chris Irving (formerly of The Pointe at the Wickanninish Inn, West, and Gordon Ramsey’s Petrus).

This project is looking to be a great addition to a neighborhood in full transformation.  We are looking forward to the opening, gentlemen.  ~ PK