Recessionista: Stila’s Convertible

Forget brown paper packages tied up in strings — here is one of my favourite things. (On second thought, now that I’m a grown-up, brown paper packages do offer a certain illicit excitement that I’m pretty sure Julie Andrews wasn’t talking about. But I digress.) When you’re on a spending freeze and are simultaneously in need of new eyeshadow and coordinating liner just in time for a holiday shindig, Stila’s Convertible Eye Color is just the thing. This clever wand has an eye pencil on one end and a smudging tool on the other. Twist it in the middle and there you’ll find the perfect hue of eye shadow ready for application. Voila: three products for the price of one. Now your only challenge will be choosing a single hue. Find it at Kiss & Makeup, in the Village at Park Royal in West Vancouver.

Feenie’s Weenie Rising Again?

If you’ve been looking for Cactus Club food concept architect Rob Feenie around the test kitchen at the Ash and Broadway location this week, you likely didn’t find him. He’s been in West Vancouver, at the Village Taphouse, helping to develop a new pub menu.

Formerly a Steamworks, the place was bought late last year by the CC chain, and the plan has always been to turn it into – according to manager Trevor St. James – a pub that’s fun and very different from Cactus Club with great food and a killer beer program. This past Monday it closed for renos, and the ambitious plan is for a soft re-opening tomorrow (Friday).

Right now, it’s a worksite, with plenty of noise and sawdust, but there’s no hiding the excitement on the part of St. James, Feenie and the rest of the team who are in there, pulling all-night shifts to get it ready.

Twenty local beers (seasonal ales, lagers, wheat ales, IPAs, brown and cream ales from all over the province) will flow through a Perlick Century beer system and out of taps mounted on the brick wall behind the bar. The focus for the 20 bottled brews is on unusual imports from global beermakers in places like Singapore, the Czech Republic and Brooklyn.

Beer lovers can opt for a Salt Tasting Room-like sampler, featuring three drafts, served with a big old homemade pretzel.

The rest of the menu is still undecided but at a CC media event on Tuesday the Food Concept Architect himself said it’s possible that some of the dishes from Feenie’s may find their way onto the Taphouse menu: that decadent burger, Feenie’s Weenie, and my favourite, his shepherd’s pie made with duck confit.

That’s good news for me. For years, I pestered Feenie about bringing his food to the North Shore. Even in print I may have whined about his disinclination to open in the community where I make a living as a food and restaurant writer. (The mandate where I work is local, local, local. So while I am able to slip in a Vancouver story once a month or so, it’s a lottery win for me whenever a restaurant opens on the Shore. Especially a good one.)

Well, from my keyboard to God’s ears, my friends. Or maybe it was to Cactus Club owner Richard Jaffray’s ears. Whatever. Semantics.

Of course, the strangest part of the tale is that the Village Taphouse is just steps away from a very busy Cactus Club, and it might seem odd to pit them against each other. Truth is, the pre-reno Taphouse has been doing fine, picking up the overflow from the often sardine-squeezed restaurant across the street.

So maybe it will work in reverse for a while. Which is nothing to cry in your tasty local microbrew over anyway: the new dishes created by Feenie for Cactus Club are exceptional, especially at the price point. Not all of them are at every location, but look for tuna tataki in a yuzu vinaigrette for $13.50; a generous plate of beef carpaccio for the same; airy butternut squash and mascarpone ravioli for $18; and a huge serving of braised Angus beef shortrib — that at the touch of a fork falls apart like Britney Spears off her meds — served with celeriac puree, baby carrots, sweet green beans, nugget potatoes and shaved pecorino, for $30.

The West Cookbook Is Easy!

A pretty present for any would-be chef on your Christmas (Hanukkah/Kwanzaa) list this year? West: The Cookbook. If, by “would-be chef,” you mean someone who already knows their way around terrine moulds, vacuum sealers and smokers. It’s not that daunting, protested chef Warren Geraghty when I quizzed him about it over coffee recently. I really want people to try the recipes, he said. Smoked foie gras? I asked. He smiled, and said he had to include some recipes that were a bit of a challenge. No kidding.

Truthfully, it’s a glossy, gorgeous book, and a faithful representation of the room and the food…which as we all know is a distant yodel from your average Donna Hay menu. (No offense Donna. You know you’re my go-to girl on a Thursday night when my head is foggy and I am sorely tempted to head for the frozen food aisle). Author Jim Tobler ably tells the story of West, John Sherlock shot the mouth-watering photos, and it includes plenty of input from the current staff, including cocktails by David Wolowidnyk, and wine suggestions from Owen Knowlton.

David Hawksworth fans may feel that not enough of the book’s ink was devoted to the opening chef (although he gets credit for creating about 15 per cent of the included recipes), but as Geraghty points out it’s about the present and future of the restaurant. And it was his own research, recipe creation and revision that went into it over the past year and a half — work that began before he even left England and L’Escargot for his South Granville gig.

With the book done at last, maybe he’ll finally get a chance to explore his new city. He admits he hasn’t seen much of it beyond the radius of blocks that include his home, the restaurant, and the shops he frequents. But he intends to stay awhile, and says he isn’t at all apprehensive about the impending opening of Lumiere/DB Bistro (Daniel Boulud) and Market (Jean-Georges Vongerichten). “It can only be good for Vancouver,” he said thoughtfully.

Along with the Olympics, he thinks the New York heavyweights will help to bring a brighter spotlight to the city; and that chefs here will be pushed to do an even better job. And he welcomes that challenge. As for me, I have a pal coming for dinner tonight. Maybe I’m up to the challenge of cooking from West: The Cookbook. Or maybe…I’ll steam some veggies, sear some fish, whip up something that resembles West’s famous “foam” and then leave the cookbook out with sticky fingerprints all over the cover. She’s going to think I went all out. Shh… let’s keep it between us.

Unlikely Allies: Bocuse And Moxie’s

All was well at last week’s media dinner to showcase Canada’s team for Bocuse d’Or: chef David Wong and apprentice Grace Pineda. The room was packed, the glassware sparkly, the team ready to go.

The only discordant note? We were at Moxie’s Classic Grill on Robson.

The Alberta-based CFD chain is the title sponsor for the team, which will compete Jan. 27-28, 2009 in Lyon, France.

But don’t judge, haters. In France, when a team is picked to compete in the Bocuse d’Or, their lives are put on hold: they take a hiatus from their jobs and are sponsored in their pursuit of a win at the high-profile culinary competition.

That has never been the case in this country. Most people don’t know a thing about it, and previous teams have had to work their training and practice sessions around their full-time cooking jobs.

Moxie’s support is allowing Wong (an instructor at The Art Institute of Vancouver) and Pineda (who was most recently working on her apprenticeship at the Fairmont Waterfront) to devote all of their time to practice runs, tweaking their secret recipes for the fish and meat platters, and searching out exactly the right ingredients. The two are being coached by Robert Allen Sulatycky, who flies north every other weekend from his executive cheffing duties at the Beverly Hills Hotel; and chef de mission Vincent Parkinson, exec chef at the Calgary Golf and Country Club.

Pineda says the restaurant chain has also made a commitment to getting the word out, and is doing a great job of publicizing it, including hosting those media dinners. She adds there are parallels between Bocuse rules that limit the age of the chef’s apprentice (22) and Moxie’s support and training for young staff.
I say good on them. But just one thing. Moxie’s president Laurids Skaarup, in a speech after the dinner, was unabashedly delighted to reveal that the first course: a miniature crab and scallop cake on a wonton spoon; and the last course: chocolate espresso mousse, were (gasp!) actually off the Moxie’s menu, and NOT from the planned Bocuse competition menu. They were tasty, it’s true. But Canadian chefs are capable of more inventive cuisine than that when it comes to world-class competition, and they will undoubtedly make us proud.

Go Team Canada!

Xmas Wine: Santa Hates Pussies

Who needs to win friends and influence people when you can have more fun insulting them instead? Head to your next house party, favourite vintage in hand, all wrapped up in a clever bottle label. California card company Cerebral Itch is behind the snarky wine labels, which are easily removed once you’ve landed a few guffaws. All you cork dorks out there will be happy to hand over a bottle that reads “Don’t waste this wine on the uncultured palates of the other guests.” My favourite is a play on a classic Christmas Carol (pictured above). The front of the label says “You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not shout I’m telling you why…” while the back reads “Santa hates pussies. Merry Christmas.”

Check them out at www.cerebralitch.com, and find them locally at Moulé and Paper-Ya.

Out Of The Orbness Of Your Heart

Is your outerwear so very 2007? Pack it up and take it along to Orb’s Share Our Warmth event. The West Fourth retailer is hosting a coat swap throughout the month of November to help raise awareness about issues surrounding homelessness, and to provide warm jackets and coats for needy women in the community (not to mention kitting us out in fierce new Orb wear).

Bring a new or gently worn jacket or coat to donate to the United Way and in exchange, get 15% off your purchase of a new Orb jacket. Do it on Saturday Nov. 15 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., and you can make that 30%, plus an Orb hat and scarf for the first 100 who show. Sign me up for the Priscilla.

Orb | 2028 West Fourth Avenue | Vancouver

Recessionista: Style For The Cash-Strapped

Hollywood starlets who don’t keep their earnings in their king-size, pillow-top mattresses will soon be queuing with the rest of us when designers do their budget lines for the likes of H&M and Target.

OK, so maybe we won’t fight them for the MC Hammer pants that are part of the Comme des Garçon collection hitting H&M stores on Nov. 15, but a few of the pieces designed by the high-end Japanese label are worth throwing a few elbows for. Paws off that asymmetrical skirt, ladies (er. . . or guys . . . we don’t discriminate here).

In store (and online) at Target now: Anya Hindmarch bags, by the UK accessories designer who usually charges £2,000 and up for a handbag. The low-brow versions top out at US$49.99 at Target. American accessories designers Sigerson Morrison also have a collection – of sparkly flats, pumps and booties – at the retailer for a limited time, as does jewelry designer Dean Morris.

Sacred Ride Indeed

There was no sign of the localism that South Vancouver Island surf spots are known for when feeding grey whales dropped in on an Oct. 22nd session. In fact, the surfers look positively welcoming (or possibly struck motionless with fear).

The best footage is closer to the end, when one surfer takes advantage of the distraction to jump the lineup and ride the glassy left. No giant cetaceans are gonna mess with his flow, dude.

Check out Coastal BC for stills by Katie Muller.

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