Air Canada’s Enroute Magazine has just announced their picks for Canada’s Best New Restaurants of 2011. An impressive list which includes three of BC’s top new restaurants: Ulla in Victoria, L’Abattoir in Gastown and Hawksworth in the Rosewood Hotel. A big congratulations to all the winners!

Unofficial party organ of the engaged yuppified left has launched a food section and to commemorate the event has put together a reading list of 40 writers examining what it means when we discuss what goes in our mouths today. Go have a read here. It’s always a welcome addition to the media landscape to have a dialogue about food detailing more than how much butter to add to mashed potatoes or what some freeloading blogger had comped last night.

~KT

Last week, a group of local food media were invited up to Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler to dine at Aura (formerly Jordan’s Crossing), the 3 year old resort property’s newly revamped fine-dining restaurant. The lodge, having recently changed ownership just after the 2010 Winter Olympics last March, has quietly been ushering in a series of promising changes and upgrades that are worthy of note.

The restaurant’s new kitchen talent is big league. Executive Chef Tim Cuff (formerly of West, Wickaninnish Inn, Mission Hill), along with Restaurant Chef, Owen Foster (former Bearfoot Bistro, Market by Jean Georges, Mission Hill), have some serious kitchen chops and it shows all over their ambitious menu.

Sourcing directly from local farmers, foragers, ranchers and fisheries, the team is committed to bringing the freshest and highest quality products into their kitchen. And they have even taken it one step further by planting a massive roof-top herb and vegetable garden, which is lovingly serviced by both gardeners and cooks. More plans to expand  are in the works with a greenhouse being built in the next few weeks.

^ A taste of some of the house made charcuterie and accoutrements

Our first bites are in the lodge’s impressive presidential suite where we are presented with a variety of charcuterie, all made in-house. Drawing on much of Chef Foster’s butchering skills and experience (he did a brief stint at Market by JG as their butcher), the variety of salumi is impressive, and what is more impressive is they started us off with a beer pairing of Kriek Cherry Lambic served in wine glasses, very clever considering the room was filled with mostly wine nerds.

As an aside,  much of the restaurant’s delicious charcuterie will be featured at the Crush Gala at Cornucopia this November.

^ Once a wine fridge, now a charcuterie fridge

Once seated and after a nice start with a cherry tomato amuse bouche to liven our palates, we dove into this multi-course wine-paired marathon of culinary delights. Here is the play by play:

First dish is a mixture of seafood and fruit that has many subtle and soft flavours, along with a citrus note blending in the mouth, fairly complex and interesting.

^ Scallop, Side Stripe Prawn and Cuttlefish with Lime Injected Melon paired with Lucien Albrecht Gewurztraminer 2008

Next up is a bit of surf and turf with some Artic Char and Veal Cheek Pastrami that has some of us perplexed. With the meat, lettuce, bread crisp and horseradish it evoked a deli sandwich but one bite of the Artic Char and we are thrown off completely. Not a big fan of cold surf and turf to begin with. This dish was a big swing and a miss for me.

^ Arctic Char Belly, Veal Cheek Pastrami, Caraway Aioli, with crisp lettuce and fresh horseradish paired with Codoulet du Beaucastel Cote du Rhone Blanc 2008

The next dish brought table service, which is always a nice touch to any dining experience. The warm consomme is a perfect change of pace for the palate.

^ Parsley Root Consomme and Tortellini, with poached quail’s egg and lemon zest paired with Domaine Weisskopf Les Rocher des Violettes 2006

The Porchetta dish, which uses fresh artichokes from the roof-top garden, is tasty but also a bit busy on the plate with the hazelnut oil and capers and pine nuts and could have benefited with a little more focus and a couple less ingredients.

^ Sloping Hills Porchetta Di Testa, Rooftop Artichokes Barigoule, with virgin hazelnut oil, fried capers, and confit pine nuts paired with M. Chapoutier Beaurevoir 2007

The next course of bacon wrapped quail was incredible and perfectly paired with the evening’s only BC wine, the highly quaffable reserve Pinot Noir from Naramata’s La Frenz Winery.

^ Tiroler Bacon Wrapped Thiessen Farms Quail Breasts, served with Heirloom beets, blossoming oregano, and savoury oats La Frenz Reserve Pinot Noir 2007

Perhaps, it’s because I prefer meat to fish, but this course of bison and melt-in-your-mouth Wagyu short-rib was by far my favourite dish of the evening. Just enough meat, balanced with a variety of interesting and colourful textures, and further elevated by a big red cabernet from Washington. Excellent.

^ Bison Flat Iron Steak, Oakleigh Ranch Waygu Shortrib, served with antique carrots and toasted bulgur wheat Isenhower Road Less Travelled Cabernet Franc 2006

By this point my palate is starting to red line and the Foie Gras and freeze dried fruit salad is hard to appreciate. While the techniques are admirable, this dish is lost to me.

^ Vidal Ice Wine and Quebec Foie Gras, and Amarena Cherry, with freeze dried fruit salad paired with Amarena Cherry Cocktail

But dessert is not finished! An incredibly rich Chocolate Ganache flown in from Belgium with smears of squash toffee and pumpkin streusel arrives to pound my belly into submission. I wince and ignore the gingerbread fudge and coconut macaroons that arrive shortly after.

^ Fresh Coriander Seed and Cluizel Chocolate Ganache with squash toffee milk sauce, and pumpkin seed streusel paired with Graham's Lat Bottled Vintage Port 2005

A final glass of port is a welcome digestif and a perfect ending to this epic meal. The wine program is headed by Ryan Dyck (also formerly from the Wickaninnish Inn) and is a nice mix of mostly B.C. and new world wines along with a few excellent old world selections.

All in all, I was very impressed with Aura. The kitchen team is very talented and it is great to see a new fine restaurant stepping up in Whistler, and giving Creekside another dining attraction worth seeking out.

Aura Restaurant at Nita Lake Lodge
2131 Lake Placid Road | Whistler
Tel: 604.966.5700
www.nitalakelodge.com
View Map

~ PK

The Le Magasin  space in Gastown has been through many reincarnations since its inception in 1911 and with the most recent, McLean’s, it appears to be going through several all at once.

The awkwardly named So.Cial at Le Magasin has been renamed and re-outfitted by former Vancouver Canuck hockey star Kirk McLean in a grey-on-white style accented with white roses and serving continental-inspired West Coast fare.

Like So.Cial, this restaurant ambitiously comprises the formal dining room, downstairs bar, sidewalk patio and sandwich shop and squarely occupying the “something for everyone” camp serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. The main dining room is fairly muted and formal, with a special area set aside for “Kirk’s table” where Kirk is able to communicate with the kitchen and his guests from an always reserved wing-back chair. But downstairs, “Kirk’s bar” is a schizophrenic mélange of antique books, flat-panel TVs, retro throw cushions, a back-lit Rampant Lion…and more white roses. In a small space below street level, it feels part attic and part rumpus room.

Mingling in this space over sangria and wine at a recent event it seems that this venue is best served as an after work drinks spot, where standing and nibbling would be on the agenda. We had Tuna tartare with avocado and nori chips, easily sampled with one hand while holding a glass of pinot gris in the other. The nori chips are a nice touch, both visually and flavour-wise and make a nice scoop for the tartare although the tartare could have used some more ponzu as the predominant flavour was bland avocado.

Fior di Latte, an appetizer size salad of fresh cow’s milk mozzarella was served with roasted cherry tomatoes and arugula tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The menu cites this dish’s ingredients as including fresh basil rather than arugula, so I’m not sure if the intention was to be more along the lines of a Caprese salad or if they’re making some last minute menu changes. Regardless, the way it was served positioned the bitter greens at one end of the plate and the bland cheese at the other, with only the dressing to join them. This dish could be greatly improved with a little tweaking.

The seared flat-iron steak tataki is done in a tangy Asian-style with citrus soy and grapes, garnished with flat-leaf and black sesame seeds. The grapes are an interesting contrast to the richness of the meat and I enjoyed both the flavour and crunch from it but the Humboldt squid with chorizo, lime and sansho pepper aioli was my favorite dish, spicy and full of flavour.

They seem to be trying to do some innovative things with the menu and with some more refinement and tasting, they might be able to sort out the inconsistencies in flavour and pull it off. However, they are open seven days a week and are virtually guaranteed to be busy with their fail-safe affiliation with hockey fame and location on Water Street.

~ Degan Beley

CBC Radio One is on the verge of launching their first new national food show in well over a decade called  “The Main Ingredient“. Produced regionally in Victoria, the program is hosted by veteran food columnist Khalil Akhtar.  “The Main Ingredient” is not a cooking show!” he explains over the phone. “On this show we will explore the stories behind our food…the dichotomies of food. We will try to discover new perspectives and understand the cultural contexts that help reveal the undercurrents of what we eat.”

Here is a preview of what the first episode has in store:

Meal worms for dinner with cilantro on the side. We take a look at foods that walk the line between yucky and yummy. We’ll find why “supertasters” can’t stomach some vegetables. And why one woman’s placenta is another man’s meal. With this show we’re pushing the boundaries of culinary acceptability.

“The Main Ingredient” premieres on June 28th CBC Radio One and airs Mondays at 11:30 a.m. (3:30 p.m. NT) and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. (8 p.m. NT). Tune in!

Visit: www.cbc.ca/themainingredient

Follow: twitter.com/CBCIngredient

~ PK

Mark your calendars! The 21st Annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards is set to take place on Tuesday, May 18th at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel at 1088 Burrard Street. Reception and awards ceremony starts at 1 pm.

Note: this is an industry event by invitation only.

The Spring issue of EAT Magazine has just hit the streets! Read the digital edition: click here.

The winter issue of EAT Magazine has just hit the streets! Read the digital edition: click here.

A big congratulations to restaurant director, Sebastien Le Goff, Chef Neil Taylor and the entire Cibo crew on their winning of enRoute Magazine’s “Best New Restaurant in Canada” award for 2009! Awesome news. Read full the article, here. ~ PK

Read the latest issue of EAT Magazine online, here.

Read the latest issue of EAT Magazine online, here.

The latest delicious issue of EAT Magazine has hit the streets. Click here to read it online.  Enjoy!

(Photo by: Jackie Connelly)

Framed through the lens of the struggling economy, the Globe and Mail’s Alexandra Gill goes value hunting on Main Street, visiting Deacon’s Corner and The Wallflower.  One comes up roses, the other does not. Click here to read the review.

To read the lastest issue of EAT Magazine, click here.

Aficionados get curious as a cat when they hear of something novel and rare. The more bizarre, the greater the buzz. Such is the case with Kopi Luwak, the über expensive Indonesian coffee that started its journey in the digestive tract of an Asian Palm Civet. So, is it the shit or is it just shit? I recently had a chance to find out.

An acquaintance of mine acquired a pound of green Kopi Luwak beans as a gift. He was looking for a place to roast it. Through the kind assistance of Mark Prince, local Coffee Geek, I was introduced to JJ Bean’s Coffee Quality Team Leader, Grady Buhler. For a flat rate of $10.00, he would be happy to transform these straw-colored orbs into black gold.

We met Grady one afternoon at the JJ Bean Commercial Drive store where they have a 1940s-era, four-barrel Jabez Burns & Sons sample roaster installed in the middle of the room. A horseshoe-shaped counter encircles it, offering a ring-side seat to those who want to witness the Arabica alchemy. The aroma of freshly-brewed coffee, along with roasting coffee, is intoxicating.

Before we began, Grady made us a cafetière of JJ Bean’s first ‘Gold Reserve coffee,’ an Ethiopian micro-lot called Aricha No. 34. It comes from a 10-sack lot within a farm in the Yirgachefe district of Sidamo province. Such a small amount would normally be mixed in with other beans from that area, but Aricha is making the extra effort to produce the best quality coffee, sorting and separating beans at the sub-farm level. This is the ultimate expression of terroir. As such, JJ Bean is taking special care to provide you with the freshest possible coffee. You can only pre-order it as each bag is custom roasted ($24.00/half pound, $44.00/pound).

Grady hadn’t had Kopi Luwak before, so he opened the Kopi Luwak bag in anticipation. We were met with a distinct grassy smell. He had never experienced such an odor in a coffee before and was definitely intrigued by it. It was decided to roast the Kopi Luwak in two half-pound batches, starting off with a lighter roast to make sure the inherent flavour of the coffee wasn’t overcome by that of the roast.

Checking periodically, we saw the beans transform in colour as the roasting progressed, but the change wasn’t uniform like other coffees. A crackling sound like popcorn popping suddenly emitted from the roaster — the first crack. At that point, Grady increased the temperature and checked the beans more frequently. Then came the second crack and, shortly after, he lifted the drum, dumping the beans into the cooling tray. Eight minutes had elapsed.

According to Massimo Marcone, a Department of Food Science adjunct professor at the University of Guelph who studied the effects of the Luwak’s digestion on coffee, proteins are broken down and leached out of the bean. Bitterness caused by the proteins is, thus, reduced. This is very similar to wet processing, only it takes place in the digestive tract of the civet. This is supposed to result in a superior taste.

After allowing the beans to cool down, it was time for a taste test. Grady made up a cafetière to finally lay our curiosity to rest. And? In a word, disappointment. The grassy characteristic was still there, only the roasting had given it an earthiness that was neither superior, nor even pleasant. To the aficionado, it’s an interesting curiosity if you don’t have to pay the premium for the privilege of trying it. To the average drinker? Costly cat crap. The Aricha No. 34 is far better value.

To be fair, there are different grades of Kopi Luwak. Something that is highly prized (or highly hyped) and of such limited supply (global annual harvest of approximately 1,000 pounds) is bound to be counterfeited, especially if there are no regulations or chain of custody. The genuine article is gathered from wild civet cats who are discriminating in their choice of coffee cherry, choosing only those at their peak of ripeness. There is also the farmed variety produced from captive civets, fed coffee cherries picked by humans who are likely not so meticulous in their selection of cherry. However, given no means of verifying the authenticity of our beans, and not having acquired it from a reliable source, we really don’t know if this is ‘free range’ Kopi Luwak or even the farmed type. Caveat emptor.

~ RG