Chambar is located at 562 Beatty St. in Vancouver's Crosstown neighbourhood | 604-879-7119 | www.chambar.com

The GOODS from Chambar

Vancouver, BC | Vodka, what is it good for? Join Belvedere Vodka Ambassador Claire Smith, Chambar chef Nico Schuermans and Tales of the Cocktail frontrunner Jacob Sweetapple for a look into the past and present of this much-maligned spirit. This “do-or-die” dinner discussion will feature five courses and multiple pairings from an exclusive Belvedere library. Decide whether Poland’s most notable export should be labelled the comeback kid or be denoted as done. Details after the jump…

Event info: Monday, February 13th from 7pm – 10pm. 25 seats are available at $110/person (includes taxes and gratuity). Tickets are available via www.chambar.com or by phoning the restaurant directly at: 604-879-7119.

MENU & PAIRINGS
VODKA IS DEAD…LONG LIVE BELVEDERE!

1ST COURSE ?Polish Caviar Service ?paired with? Belvedere Unfiltered

2ND COURSE? Jalapeno drunken spot prawn?paired with?‘The Cosmo’ – 3 Ways:?The Good (FRESH)/The Clever Cosmo? Belvedere Pink Grapefruit Sous Vide Cosmopolitan with fresh cranberries and Moet nectar syrup;?The Bad Boy (CLASSIC)/The Sex & The City? Belvedere Citrus shaken with cranberry juice and triple sec;?The Ugly (MODERN)/The Sherbet Cosmo ?Belvedere Citrus & Belvedere Orange with Cosmopolitan Sherbet

3RD COURSE? Charred venison carpaccio with white soy?paired with?The Bloody Mary: An Evolution:?The Good (FIRST STEP)?Black pepper distillate – the base to Belvedere Bloody Mary, served chilled;?The Bad Boy (FINAL BLEND)?Introducing Belvedere Bloody Mary, chilled with a side serve of Bloody Mary mix; The Ugly (REINTERPRETATION)?The Bloody Maria? Belvedere Bloody Mary shaken with pineapple juice, hot smoked paprika and orange bitters.

4TH COURSE? Chambar Ale braised short ribs?paired with?‘Beer and Shots’?The Good (OLD SKOOL)?Belvedere Pure and Kvass Rye soda, Dankowskie Cracker; The Bad Boy (NEW SKOOL)?Belvedere Black Raspberry chaser with Raspberry Rye beer;?The Ugly (GRADUATION)?‘Cerveza Perparada’?Belvedere Pink Grapefruit, rye beer and a side serve of Campari, ginger beer and lemon.

5TH COURSE? Café Belge?paired with?The White Russian:?The Good (THE DUDE)?Belvedere Vodka, Momofuku Cereal Milk and homemade coffee syrup;?The Bad Boy (THE DUDETTE)?Classic White Russian Shot;?The Ugly (THE LABOWSKI)?White Russian Milk Bottles Petit Fours.

Details

562 Beatty St, Vancouver, BC | V6B 2L3 | MAP
Tel: 604-879-7119 | Fax: 604-879-7118
Web: www.chambar.com
Email: info@chambar.com
Dinner: 7 nights from 5:30PM
Private events upon request

Gallery

Team

Owners: Nico and Karri Schuermans
Executive Chef: Nico Schuermans
General Manager: Justin Tisdall

About Chambar

Chambar offers a unique pairing of Belgian and North African influences. Wherever possible, organic and local ingredients are combined to create fantastic food that reflects the seasons. The menu is a diverse offering of appetizers, moule frites, and main courses of lamb, duck, and venison. A variety of Belgian beers are also available, and can be paired with any item on the menu. At the bar, an award winning cocktail list boasts an extensive array of infused spirits and fresh local fruit. The long paralam bar, which has been inlaid with walnut and tinted resin, is perfect place to enjoy a pre-dinner dinner drink or to catch up with old friends. In the dining room blood red booths are high enough to allow for privacy, and maybe just a hint of debauchery, while Italian designed chairs and an eclectic and rotating art collection complement Chambar’s heritage surroundings beautifully.

Awards

Vancouver Magazine – 2005 Best New Fine Dining
Vancouver Magazine - 2008-2009 Best Other European
Georgia Straight – 2005 Best New Restaurant
Vancouver Courier – 2005 Best New Restaurant

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Pecha Kucha Vancouver’s next evening is sure to be a doozy. It’s the All-Star show, meaning the presenters have been voted to the stage by you. Among their number will be David Eby of the BC Civil Liberties Associaion, artist Ken Lum, and Scout’s perennial employee of the month, Sean Orr (see the full list here). In typical fashion, tickets sold out in three minutes, but we have a double pass to give away to one lucky (and presumably very quick) reader. Stay tuned for details, and stay sharp!

Cork & Fin is located at 221 Carrall Street in the heart of Vancouver's Gastown | 604-569-2215 | corkandfin.ca

The GOODS from Cork & Fin

Vancouver, BC | Cork & Fin Restaurant, in partnership with WineMonkey.ca, are proud to offer a limited seating, food and wine pairing experience. We will be presenting a series of wine pairing lunches each month commencing with Saturday February 11th and will continue on the 2nd Saturday of each month. Each course will have the main component prepared three different ways. We then serve with a variety of different styles of wine breaking down the concepts of a Fantastic pairing. You will walk away with ideas and the concepts that will help you make the choices that turn your next food and wine pairing opportunity from uninspired to unforgettable. Score details after the jump…

February’s Focus? Sockeye Salmon and Pemberton Meadows Sirloin! White with fish? Red with Meat? Who feels like learning how to break the rules?

Feb 11th, 2012
2:00 pm
Cork and Fin Restaurant, Gastown.
Price: $65 per person

Details

221 Carrall Street, Gastown, Vancouver, BC, V6B 2J2
Tel: 604-569-2215 Fax: 604-569-2214
Email: francis@corkandfin.ca
Web: www.corkandfin.ca | Twitter | Facebook

GALLERY

Hours of Operation

Sunday through Thursday: 5:00 pm till close
Friday & Saturday: 4:00 pm till close

The Team

Francis Regio: Owner/General Manager
Elliott Hashimoto: Owner/Executive Chef
Doug Stephen: Restaurant Manager
Peter Niermann: Sous-Chef

About The Restaurant

Set in the heart of Gastown in the historic Alhambra building, Cork & Fin is one of Vancouvers top seafood restaurants. The restaurant glows with the warmth of soft candle light, exposed brick and the antique banister framing the bar. The Raw Bar at the front provides the launching area for dozens of oysters a night as well as our famed Seafood Towers. The hot kitchen plays host to wonderful grilled whole fish, scallops and an array of carnivorous options.

Owners Elliott Hashimoto and Francis Regio work tirelessly to provide the best seafood experience for an affordable price. Working with local purveyors and farmers as much as possible has become de rigueur for the entire Cork & Fin team.

A small concise wine list is the backbone to the bar program that strives to deliver on all fronts, whether it be the seasonally changing cocktail list or an ever changing selection of local and international beers.

Accolades

Open Table Diner Choice Awards: “Hot Spot, Fit for Foodies & Seafood”

Vancouver Magazine: Eating & Drinking Guide 2011

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by Daniel Colussi | Rarely does a band’s name so rightly capture their aural aesthetic, but Disappears is the perfect name for what these guys do. They craft hazy visions of half forgotten memories. They’re dream house-livers. They’re ghost riders, patrolmen of lost highways. But as people, they’re much more straight forward. Frontman Brian Case is a longtime indie-rocker, and in the following conversation he sheds light on playing tunes, being a bartender, and everything else that maketh a Chicago psych rocker tick.

What I’ve heard so far from Pre Language, the new album, sounds a little more reined in than the last two. The overall sound seems a bit less gauzy, less hazy, and more focused. What was the plan going into this recording? What kind of album did you want to record? And what did having Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth drummer) on board bring to recording proceedings? Well, we definitely didn’t want to make a record like we had before. We move pretty fast in terms of writing, and in the past the recording process mirrored that. This time we had a few more resources available to us (Steve’s studio) and a little more time to work. We really just wanted to do what was best for the songs, which is always the goal, but this time we were a little more considered than we have been in the past. Lux and Guider were each recorded in 2 days and mixed in 2 days by a member of the band in the same studio. This time we had someone to engineer, someone to mix and two separate studios – gives you a little more breathing time and helps keep your head clear.

I was a fan of 90 Day Men, and thinking back to when that band was around, it feels like a different era from today. It feels like there’s just so much more music/labels/bands/etc than ever before. Do you have any thoughts or reflections on how “indie rock” music/culture has evolved in the last 10-15 years? Oh my god, I think about this all the time. Yes, things are so completely different. I mean, when 90 Day Men was around, people were worried about promo’s being sold before release date, not your record being available to anyone who felt like googling your band name. The internet was such a small, tiny part of independent music culture then – it’s so hard to illustrate how it has become a major force in creating, marketing, selling, hyping, and ultimately destroying bands today. Great question that we could talk about for hours.

Something I like about Disappears is how your music balances the spaciness of psych/kraut music with a sort of tight punk rock vibe. Am I way off on this? How does that dynamic come about? How much is that by design? I think it’s just a matter of taste really. Ultimately that’s what makes a band good or bad in my opinion. Yes, skill plays a part, but if you can get a group of people together with a good combination of chemistry and influences, then you’ve got it. That’s how it’s been in all the bands I’ve played in at least. You’re right on with how you describe us; we try and balance the visceral-ness of punk with the experimental side of things. Usually we just slap the two right on top of each other, haha.

What’s the best Hawkwind album? What’s the best Fall album? Honestly I know nothing about Hawkwind, aside from Lemmy being the original bass player and that people think they are an influence on us. I really do need to check them out. The best Fall record is impossible to pick. Right now I’m actually listening to ‘Bend Sinister’ and I can’t imagine anything sounding better, so let’s go with that.

Am I correct in thinking that all of Disappears, minus Steve, are bartenders? That means a lot of time spent in bars. What’s it like to work in a bar and then go on tour and spend all your time in bars? Two of us are bartenders. Ummm…it can be a little like “Groundhog Day” but that’s more about being on tour and being at the same clubs all the time. The bar I work at is in a really nice restaurant so it’s not dark with loud music and people getting wasted so that helps keep it in a different place for me. Jonathan works at a great bar called Rainbo, it’s been around since the 1930′s or something and doesn’t have bands (well, very rarely), so it’s more of a place to hang out vs. being assaulted with a band 7 days a week.

I imagine that Disappears live is a different beast than Disappears in the studio. What makes for a good Disappears live show? What kind of places do you prefer to play? How do you feel your songs translate in larger setting like the Pitchfork or Lollapalooza shows vs. a 300 person capacity bar? I think we prefer to play places where we can control the environment some, a good mid-size club that’s packed with people who want to hear music is the best – everyone can see, there are few distractions and you can really pull off the energy of the audience. With the festivals it’s totally different – you have to fight to make people care, which has it’s own advantages as well. Live is different for us – we really try and link things together, similar to a DJ set. We try our best to keep the momentum going and try and pace things so they build into something versus just playing 12 songs and talking about how rad everyone is between them. Hopefully there’s a little mystery there.

Finally, I imagine that everyone in the band is a total music head. So what gets played in the van when you’re on tour? We all take turns with the music but a lot of times the van is quite tame. We like to talk and use that time to make plans about what’s coming up – what we’d like to happen. Steve and Jonathan end up DJing a lot – lots of old soul stuff, weird new wave, obscure french music…hahaha…just a bunch of music snobs driving around in a van somewhere.

Disappears and The Fresh And Onlys play the Biltmore Saturday Feb 18th. Tickets at Zulu and Red Cat and the Biltmore.

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Zulu Records veteran and tunage aficionado Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine.

As seen in the men’s washroom at Vera’s Burger Shack | 213 Carrall Street in Gastown

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Vancouver Detail is a new (and overdue) offshoot of Scout’s regular Seen In Vancouver column. With it, we aim to share the more macro scenes of our city’s awesomeness, the things that some of our more hurried readers might miss, from hidden works of art to all manner of unlikely but cool things lying in plain sight. 

EVERYTHING SEEN IN VANCOUVER