Hello Chowhounders,

I'm going to be in New Westminster for the very first time. I'm attending the Naramata on the River, Naramata Bench wineries spring release party there on April 24. I'm intrigued by the River Market Food 360 thing. Not sure if it's a food market or a restaurant. Where to eat while in that area. I've never been to Wild Rice so that seems like a logical choice. Any guidance will be appreciated. Thanks.

I was there as a diner (the dining room was filled with us ex-Hardware Grillers!) and he seemed to be having a great time. I heard about his visit because I do keep in touch with the owners even though I was able to quit my "day job" working in the office there to write full time in 2000. But there were people there who had no idea that GR was dining. I guess the Ramsay people wanted to keep it kind of quiet just to avoid too much of a scene.

Re GR's take on the experience. Hard to tell with a guy like that because he was "working" right?...but he seemed pretty genuine, relaxed and having a great time. I too am curious if he had any specific comments on his food or the wines from the Okanagan. I'll try to find out. GR had his CFR clothes on too, which I thought was kind of "sporting" of him (plaid shirt, belt buckle and jeans!). Anyway I'll ask to see what he thought of his meal. I must say that the food was outstanding that night just ordering off the regular menu, so I'm double sure that the 7-course tasting meal that his table was having was out of control good. The kitchen was running full tilt and everything was so precise and lovely. There was great energy.

Oh, and it's completely relevant to a thread like this (in response to nonlinear) when a big deal chef comes to town, dines on local products and drinks Canadian wines, AND spends a good deal of time with the cooks in the kitchen talking to each and everyone of them, posing for photos. It is a big deal for them, so it's a relevant convo here, IMO).

He was at Hardware Grill that night for the Full House Lottery dinner with the winning people. It was great. Half of the restaurant was full of chefs who had worked at Hardware at one point or another. Ramsay got there and immediately headed into the kitchen to meet the brigade (which was about twice the size that it normally is) and asked everyone their name and their position. Then he kept to his dinner party folks as they dined on their seven course menu. It looked like everyone was having a fantastic time. I got a copy of the menu and I'll put it up on my blog along with some photos shortly. But it was basically Hardware Grill food, bumped up the luxury notch, with a mix of the best Canadian wines ('09 Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris, '06 Quails Gate Old Vine Foch Reserve & '04 Mission Hill Occulus..the other wines were premium French vintages).

After dinner, some of the diners got their photo taken with him as he went around the dining room being very cool about signing books and posing for photos. And then he was off.

There was a lovely vibe in the room that night...and it was great fun just to soak it in.

Just picked up a copy at Paddy's Cheese Shop (for all you Oliver and area residents like me who tend not to venture out of your own neighbourhood for weeks on end.)

Great, great...yes, I'll venture out again tomorrow and take another look at those places for it.

Thanks! I'll see if I can find a copy on the north side of the river. If not, I'll head to the Italian Centre South.

I have heard rumours that it's out and about. Has anyone seen copies of this on the stands? Just curious to see the new magazine.

Hi all, I'm hoping to get a heritage turkey for one of the two occasions...Does anyone know of any specialty / heritage turkey breeders in the Interior of BC / Okanagan? Thanks.

Thanks all. Much appreciated. Everyone's post was really helpful. Cheers!

Jennifer

Does anyone out there who know where I can get a reasonably accurate statistic for current number of existing food blogs? Thanks in advance. I'm giving a presentation on food blogging and a stat would be gravy on the mashed potatoes. Thanks. Jennifer

Hi all,

Sweet ginger paste, I believe, is the key ingredient to those crustless sandwiches for a high tea. But does anyone know who sells the sweet ginger paste? Or how to make it. I think it's different from the Indian ginger paste?? Jennifer

Thanks all for the replies. It's what we feared.

Maybe it'll be one of those trophy displays ("Look at the wonderful spaghetti sauce I canned one year!") instead of a winter's meal. Jennifer

We need expert canning advice. This summer, we made meatless spaghetti sauce. It cooked all day and went into the sterile Mason jars piping hot. They sealed within an hour, maybe under. But we did not put them in a water bath to process them. The jars look good, the vaccuum is still intact and we're thinking that it's OK to eat. What do the experts say? THANKS.

(Just in case it matters: the sauce contained tomatoes, green peppers, already canned tomato sauce and paste, lots of garlic, dry seasonings.)

Hi PhilD,

I agree. I had a great meal at Bell's when I was there in May. In fact, I have written about it for a major Canadian travel magazine and now we can't get a hold of Bell's to do the fact checking. In particular, I need to prove to my editor that Bell's features slow-cooked squirrel in a chocolate sauce with hazelnuts...and I can't reach the restaurant by phone or by email. It seems from your post that they are still open...can anyone out there corroborate my story? Thanks from a foodie from Canada!

I just got a press release from Culina Highlands (formerly Bacon). I know the space has had a very stylish revamp thanks to Cindy's husband Geoff Lilge, and I'm told the menu will retain some some of Bacon's favorites. I haven't been but I thought Edm Chowhounders would want the info right away. I can't seem to find a website for the place yet though....Jennifer

Culina Highlands is now open in Edmonton in historic Highlands, a culinary collaboration between siblings Cindy Lazarenko (co-founder of Bacon) and Brad Lazarenko (founder of Culina Mill Creek).

The menu will feature rustic modern dishes featuring locally sourced ingredients. Seating capacity has been expanded and we will be able to accommodate up to 32 comfortably. The restaurant will feature a collection of prints from Edmonton printmaker Ian Craig. In the upcoming weeks,an ‘Artist Dinner’ will be hosted by the artist, who will choose the cocktails and music and will consult on the 4-course meal and accompanying wine.

DINNER MAINS
goat cheese wrapped in phyllo with lemon-garlic braised white beans and fresh greens

portabello mushroom baked with wild rice, served with spiced root vegetables and fresh greens

kalyna platter pyrohy with sour cream, bacon gremolata, grilled kubassa and lazy cabbage rolls

sautéed wild spring salmon with spicy dill-beet salsa and sour cream

tomato-garlic braised alberta bison short ribs with mushroom cream and culina hash

roasted Alberta pork tenderloin with nachynka, marinated onions and pan jus

roasted free-range chicken breast with garlic mustard sauce, buttermilk biscuits and cranberry chutney

Located at : 6509-112 avenue, Edmonton
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Reservations : 780.477.2422
Facebook group : Culina Café

In the meantime, I spoke to Scott P at River Cafe and he used to serve it. It seems to be an item that chefs will put on their menu when they can find a good supplier, but apparently raising squab is a precarious enterprise:) There are a few places in Ontario that seem to serve it because they have a local supplier. Thanks all!

HI Bob,
Well, I just noticed that it was on the cutting edge and fine dining menus in the UK this summer, and I too remember seeing it on menus around Edmonton and Calgary, but now that I'm looking for it, it seems to have evaporated. I know that a couple of the main suppliers have closed down.

Just testing our foodie culture against "their" foodie culture in the UK I guess.

Hi all,

I'm looking for a restaurant, preferably a fine dining place, that is currently serving pigeon a.k. squab. It seems to be a difficult bird to find these days. Any leads would be appreciated anywhere in Western Canada. Jennifer

Hi Chowhounders,

I'm looking for a fine dining place that serves Squab. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

We love the peameal bacon sandwich at Col. Mustards (on 124th Street). It has lots of sauerkraut, so that's why it jumps to mind. Come to think of it, I think they do a version of a Reuben, called the Rachel, that is excellent too. I couldn't find a website, but your best bet is to get this sandwich at lunch; I don't know if they do sandwiches at dinner.

Here's the address. It's always busy, so go early if you go at lunch.
10802 124 Street NW
Edmonton, AB T5M 0H3, Canada
(780) 448-1590

--Jennifer

Here are a few more Okanagan suggestions if you head south of Kelowna:
The Vanilla Pod restaurant in Summerland...good wine bar / tapas type of place. www.thevanillapod.ca

Bistro Amante in Penticton is also really great. They have a well-chosen local wine list of mostly "boutique" wines that are hard to find, or ones that most have never even heard of. I love the chickpea pate appetizer. Try it. no website, but it's at 483 Main Street Penticton.

Also in the "deep South," there's Passatempo at Spirit Ridge Resort and Spa in Osoyoos, and the same owner / operator, Brad Lazarenko, is going to open his latest restaurant called BiBO in early May. I believe this will be on Main Street in Osoyoos so it won't be hard to find.

Any further south and you're in the US at this point.

Not just any organic market...I've heard that Whole Foods will be "taking over" the CFM with its first Cal location.

Wow, thanks all. Chowhounders are amazing. I wish this had been around when I was first in San Francisco in my early 20s. Can you believe we had 1 great meal out of two weeks of eating...just because we didn't know where to go and had no "insiders" information. Thank goodness those days are GONE thanks to Chowhounders. I look forward to living vicariously through their meals and I'll post a recap when they return. Cheers all.

Jennifer
(But that doesn't mean that you need to stop posting new recs!! They still have a month before they leave:)

Hi Wine Country Chowhounders,

My parents are going to be vacationing in Sonoma and are looking for some good dining recs. They'd like a few bistro-style suggestions and a couple of splurge suggestions, ideally. They'll have a car, so travelling about an hour max from where they are staying -- Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. They'll be there mid-May for 7 days. I'd really appreciate any suggestions that I can pass on to them. Cheers from BC Wine Country! Jennifer

Yes, maplesugar, you have found a treasure trove of great MB recipes. Thanks. Did you see the one about the "pecan" pie that apparently tastes just like pecan pie but has pinto beans and shredded coconut in it instead. Crazy! Re fresh goldeye...yes, Karen Olson of Gimli Fish Market told me that it's inedible when fresh. It needs to be smoked. And it should be eaten 2-3 days max after smoking (keep it in the refrigerator too!), maybe you can get away with 7 days. Tops. And the dye that is in it to turn it red, is just dye. It adds no flavour or other benefits. She has tried to see "natural" that is undyed smoked Goldeye and no one will buy it. The darker the red, she says, the better it sells. That's too bad, because who wants to eat dye, and she says it makes the product more expensive. Thanks for finding these recipes. I'm going to try wasabi-cream-cheese-goldeye recipe soon.

I know, I should post this on the "recipes" but I suspect that few outside of Manitoba have recipes for -- let alone know what is -- Goldeye. I've heard that the Lakeview Hotel in Gimli makes a good Goldeye dip, and this was published in the WFP at some point. But I couldn't dredge anything up in my internet searches. Help?

Thanks.

Ha, I always go for the dishes like the tomato buffalo salad in the middle of winter...specifically because there's NO WAY anyone should have that on a menu in the middle of winter, unless they are buying from a good local greenhouse like Gull Valley or Hotchkiss. Too bad that Whisky Creek Greenhouse is no more!! But yes, sadly, I did the test and the tasteless tomatoes on my plate told me plenty.

That said, the other dishes we had were very well executed, and the flavours were lovely. They also have some interesting BC / Okanagan wines which is nice, in keeping with their "Canadiana theme". I think it's overall a good addition to the city's restaurant scene. The menu is unique to the restaurant (which is becoming more of a rarity!) and if they can tune in a bit more to the seasonally available ingredients we have here, instead of bland imported tomatoes...it'll be all that more notable. The space is nice and contemporary. The kitchen obviously has talent. They just need to follow their tastebuds to what is good and local, in a seasonal context. My two cents, at least.

Hi all,

I was at the new Wildflower Grill recently. It's the new restaurant in the newly re-opened / re-branded Matrix Hotel (formerly Inn on 7th) across from Il Portico in Edmonton. I had a fairly good experience, though I'm not sure about the logic of the incredibly over-sized plates dotted with the radically small portions. I had the "hot vichysoisse" with butternut squash. It was a nice, velvety potato soup. It was about 4 spoonfuls. What can I say?! Then I had the tomato and buffalo mozzerella salad, which unfortunately lacked ripe tomatoes! My friend, however, had the squash ravioli and asparagus, and it was very good. We were both taken with the lovely roasted/grilled squash that was finely sliced lengthwise and twirled into a flower. It sounds hokey as I write it, but it was a lovely garnish and vegetable. The bill for lunch was kind of steep $25 per person before tip for two courses, no booze. Loved the cutlery and the prompt lunch service though.

Has anyone else been here? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Frankly, I was too wrapped up in visiting with my friend to be paying too close attention to the details.

Kayben Farms makes a great black currant juice and they're based in Okotoks. I'm sure you can find some at a retailer near you. www.kayben.com/prairiefruit.html should give you some more info. By the way, what are Hot Balzams....?

Hi all,
I just got the official press release from Caffe Artigiano, stating that it's now open. I won't forward the whole release, just the essentials:

Caffè Artigiano Calgary is located in the Centrium Building at 332-6th Avenue S.W., and is open 6:00am – 6:00pm Monday to Wednesday, 6:00am – 7:00pm Thursday and Friday, 7:00am to 3:00pm on Saturdays and 8:00am - 3pm on Sundays. For more information please call 403-699-9855 or visit:

www.caffeartigiano.com

Let us all know if it's been worth the wait! Jennifer