Dine Out Vancouver

This is the time of year I call the silly season for food journalists in Vancouver. There are two themes running through the silly season. One is Dine Out Vancouver, January 23rd to February 5th. This is a great deal for people who don’t like the idea of forking out (pardon the pun) a lot of money to eat at a fine dining establishment. With Dine Out Vancouver, some of the city’s top restaurants put on 3 course menus for the princely sum of $25. Some of the more mid-range establishments offer a menu at $15. For more info visit the Tourism Vancouver website.

This year Tourism Vancouver saw fit to offer three media opportunities to get Dine Out Vancouver promoted. The promotion was wildly popular last year…so some might consider this year’s media events overkill. However, I chose to attend what is usually the most fun of the three, a mini-dine around. Vancouver and out-of-town journalists were split into groups of 5 or 6, and along with a Tourism Vancouver ‘chaperone’ and one of those humongous SUV/limo clones, complete with DVD player, off we went to various neighbourhoods for visits at two restaurants, with the whole gang meeting up again at Diva at the Met for delicious desserts by Thomas Haas, one of the best pastry chefs and chocolatiers in the whole country.

The Dining

Our group drew Yaletown ‘B’ out of the hat, and off we went, first to Capones, a pizza/pasta/jazz joint…and we loved it! It outdid expectations, as we gobbled down Pan-Seared Sambuca Prawns, Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Porcini Gorgonzola Risotto, and Maple Grilled Quail with a Pistachio Risotto Cake, among others. Unfortunately we had to leave just before the music started. The next stop, just down the street (we took the limousine ‘cause it costs more) was Glowbal. While Glowbal is a beautiful scene, a real New York-trendy-be seen feel to it, the food was a little lacking. The satay platter was dull, except for the mushroom tempura, and the proffered tasting of Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque was too sweet. Grilled salmon was overcooked, as was the pan seared chicken saltimbocca. The Wild Mushroom Risotto (which didn’t really have wild mushrooms in it) was passable, as was the Grilled Beef Tenderloin, although the beef at Capones was far more tender.

Conversations were lively, however, and we kept ourselves going through all the food knowing we would have a great payoff in our dessert course at Diva at the Met. We all shared our plates so we could each have a taste of each Thomas Haas delight. Are you ready for this? Caramelized and Citrus Poached Pear with a Vanilla Riesling Sabayon. A Mango Martini topped with mint and a Lime Meringue. Chocolate Caramel Tart, with a surprising sprinkling of Fleur de Sel on top. (a trend you will see more of in the future, chocolate and salt!) A warm upside down Chocolate Soufflé, with pistachio ice cream, followed by petit fours and Thomas Haas handmade chocolates. We rolled away from the tables…and I vowed to not overindulge myself in the next part of the silly season, the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards.

My Rant

Right about now, a couple of dozen Vancouver food types are furrowing their brows as they run through their ballots for this year’s Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. Somehow this particular popularity contest has made it to the top of the ‘must-win’ list for city restaurants, apparently because a Critic’s Panel gold medal in the affair is worth about $50,000 in sales over the next year and a splash in the Awards issue of the mag. That’s certainly nothing to sneeze at, but the whole thing has turned into a situation I couldn’t really feel ethical in taking part in anymore.

Last year I hung up my hat as one of the ‘chosen few’, determined by the magazine’s editorial staff as having what it takes to choose the best restaurants in the city in a somewhat dizzying array of categories. Don’t worry, judges are reassured, if you don’t get out that much, there’s a convenient list you can choose from in each category to spur your memory, even if you haven’t eaten there in the past year, or ever. Judges are also free to write in a restaurant that doesn’t appear on the list, but write-ins are about as likely to win a medal as a private member’s bill getting passed in the Legislature. Hmmm, unless you band together as a voting group, which has happened in the past. Judges have been known to share their picks with each other and kibitz on their votes. To be fair, you are encouraged to NOT vote in categories in which you don’t feel comfortable.

The reason that this contest makes it part of the Silly Season for Vancouver food journalists (as well as other voters who don’t make a living from being a restaurant critic), is that every restaurant that has a publicist wants you to come to dinner over the next couple of weeks to ‘remind’ you how great they are. If I wanted to, I could spend every night this week going to a different restaurant that has invited me to check it out. Most of them never even mention the Restaurant Awards, but both parties know why you’re there at this time of year. They’re just doing their jobs, and we are lucky enough in this city to have some excellent publicists who I can count on for co-operation and great ideas when I’m searching for stories for my shows.

I quit for two reasons: One, I’m not a restaurant reviewer, and as such, I don’t go to the number of Vancouver restaurants I feel is necessary to give an educated, well-rounded opinion. Two, I didn’t want to have my vote influenced, even subconsciously, by the restaurants that have the budget to invite me to dinner from time to time. We have some amazing restaurants in Vancouver in all price ranges, and I’m concerned the critics portion of the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards may be a case of awarding restaurants that do just as good a job of marketing as they do cooking fine food.

The people who are included on the judges list are in a tough spot. Having your profile in the roster of critics can be an important marketing and connections plug, especially for those who make their living writing about food and drink. I know they do their best to be fair and unbiased, but I know from past experience, that if a restaurant is not as intense about marketing to the judges from year to year, it somehow drops off the radar when the final results are announced.

And to the horrified publicists reading this, some of whom I count as my friends, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the invitations, but when I do accept an invitation, it doesn’t mean I’m going to do a story about the restaurant, or vote for it on some sort of ballot, but it might give me some good ideas for a story someday.

Le Gavroche

For example, one of the invitations I decided to accept last week was Le Gavroche, on Alberni Street in the city’s West End. Manuel Ferreira, the owner, has been working on bringing back some of the old-fashioned, elegant table service that has all but disappeared from fine dining establishments. So, Manny or one of his staff will shave prosciutto from the whole ham at tableside, make you a Caesar salad, carve the rack of lamb or venison, and make a sabayon for dessert. It’s a lot of fun to watch, and you know the food hasn’t been sitting around in the kitchen waiting for the waiter to pick it up! Anyway, the meal was good fodder for a future story on tableside service.

Mad About Food

Mad About Food is for sale! After four years of catering, and opening this neat gourmet food store on West Fourth Avenue in fall of 2002, owner Allyson Nelson has decided to move on to other opportunities in the food business. My thanks to Allyson as one of our first retailers of Duqqa in Vancouver, and also for bringing my attention to some decadently-expensive, but to die for, semi-sun-dried tomatoes…which she has finally been able to bring in again. So if running a gourmet food shop and catering company has always been a dream of yours, give her a call!

For some photos of my Dine Out Vancouver and Le Gavroche experiences, click here. And I’d love to know what you think about restaurant awards in general. What’s better, people’s choice, or critic’s choice? Is there a restaurant guidebook you have grown to trust and rely on? Inquiring minds want to know…scroll to the bottom of the page to make a comment.