Granville’s Refinery To Launch New Cocktail Kitchen Series…

News from Scout supporter The Refinery

Vancouver, BC | The Refinery, known for having one of the most innovative cocktail programs in Canada, is now proud to launch a six month interactive and educational competition called “The Cocktail Kitchen Series”. Due to launch on July 8th 2010, “The Cocktail Kitchen Series” aims to promote niche craft cocktail development, through the expertise of Vancouver’s best veteran and up and coming bartenders who have demonstrated creativity and leadership in their craft. Read more

All Scenes & Results From The Van Mag Restaurant Awards…

The 21st Annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards went down yesterday at the Wall Center. There were lots of predictable winners and quite a few surprises as well. And as with every year there were as many disappointed people as there were happy ones. The better highlights I’ll save for the deathbed (except for the part when a high profile executive chef accidentally nailed an old lady in the head with a Nimby burger frisbee – that was just too awesome to keep to myself), plenty second-guessing of us judges, and an intoxicating array of after-parties that left half our finest rooms staffed with fabulous drunks, ecstatic winners and not a few honourable mentions wondering how it all went wrong. Results after the photos… Read more

10 Minutes With New “DB Bistro” Chef, Nathan Guggenheimer…

For our 64th interview on Scout, we chat with Nathan Guggenheimer, who was recently promoted from his sous chef position at Lumiere to the chef de cuisine job next door at DB Bistro. He is also the principal organiser (and namesake) of the restaurant industry’s annual Guggenheimer Dog Gobble, something of a shoe fetishist, and an all around quality guy.

SCOUT Q&A

First memory? Standing and crying outside of school on my very first day of kindergarten, refusing to go inside (my mom took me home).

First album that made you love music? Meatloaf ‘Bat of Hell’. Not the second one! That was crap.

The first three things you do every morning? Open my eyes, hit the snooze button, think about what I have to get done throughout the day.

Three things about your home base of Kitsilano that make you want to live there: It’s close to work, close to [Lumiere chef] Dale Mackay, and jogging on the beach.

The thing that excites you most about your new position at DB Bistro: Getting to work directly with Daniel.

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: The fat drippings that are left over in the pans from the meat section.

Default drink of choice when you walk into a bar or restaurant: one shot of Campari, two ice cubes, one splash of water. Read more

Corner Suite Named “Best New Vancouver Bar” By Food & Wine

The Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe has been named the “Best New Bar In Vancouver” by Food & Wine magazine assistant research editor Kelly Snowden.

“Ten years ago, I knew nothing about the right way to make cocktails—I’d even use my teeth to open a beer,” says mixologist Steve Da Cruz. Today, Da Cruz is a star of Vancouver’s phenomenal cocktail scene.

For the drinks at the new Corner Suite Bistro de Luxe, he resurrects cocktails from 19th-century books, though some of his best drinks have a slightly more modern provenance. One is the Vancouver, a combination of gin, sweet vermouth and Benedictine created at the city’s Sylvia Hotel in the 1950s. “I learned how to make it from a customer with a thick Scottish brogue, who came in dressed like he was one of The Dirty Dozen,” Da Cruz says.

Da Cruz became obsessed with cocktails while hanging out in seminal Manhattan bars like Milk & Honey, but he’s happier in Vancouver. “In New York, you had to twist someone’s arm to lend you an unusual spirit,” he says. “Here, we share what we can.”

The snippet doesn’t say why it’s the “best”, but what’s glossy journalism without those declarative, wholly subjective and hyperbolic headlines? It goes without saying that barman/co-owner Steve Da Cruz can make a drink with the best of them (boy, does he ever), but is CSBDL really the Best New Bar in Vancouver? Maybe, but if we think of all the other places that have opened in the past year (if a year is what Snowden allowed), it’s a pretty tight field. Tannis and her crew at Bao Bei are solid. Jay Jones at Pourhouse is no slouch. And what about the The Diamond, which has amassed enough raw bartending talent to slay all for blocks around?

Your thoughts after the jump… Read more

Because Paying A $20 Cover To Drink Beer In A Tent Is Retarded

The biggest draw of Gastown right now seems to be the temporary German beerhall set up in the parking lot next to Steamworks. It’s not even in Gastown proper, but rather at its gates, sucking a lot of the daytime Olympic traffic from the neighbourhood. I went by yesterday and marveled at all the folks lined up when over a dozen kickass watering holes were within reach down the street. I hear zee Germans actually sold more beer in the first 9 days of the Games than they did at Turin altogether. Word is they actually ran out and had to charter a flight full of Thuringian suds to meet the ridiculous demand.

To help the local establishments out, Richard Gallagher, partner and creative director of Gastown’s Engine Digital, put this cool two-sided flyer together. Feel free to tweet, copy, paste, Facebook and forward it to all your contacts. All of those included - The Alibi Room, Cobre, The Diamond, Shebeen, Irish Heather, Boneta, Chill Winston, Six Acres, Salt, Jules, Revel Room, Black Frog, Pourhouse, Greedy Pig – are just a wedge to a 3-wood off the typical tourist track. Check ‘em out, not least because paying a $20 cover to line the pockets of people who aren’t invested in the city is sort of dumb. “No Tents. No Line-Ups. Actual Bars”. Dig it.

Mark Brand Of The Diamond And Boneta Wins Mixlympic Games

News from Scout supporter George

Vancouver, BC | The George 2010 Mixlympic Games saw ten intensely competitive bartenders – 6 international, 4 Canadian – compete head-to-head in a black box style event. The results are in. Mark Brand, co-owner of Boneta and the Diamond in Gastown, took home the gold medal, winning a $500 cash prize sponsored by Martin Miller’s Gin, an Arc’teryx jacket, and priceless international bragging rights. Silver went home with David Grieg of London’s All Star Lanes and Bronze went to Vancouver’s own Jay Jones of Pourhouse. Read more

World’s Top Barkeeps To Battle Against City’s Best At George…

News from Scout supporter George

Vancouver, BC | Everybody has medal fever this month in Vancouver and the international bartenders visiting George Ultra Lounge are no exception! George bartender Shaun Layton has invited some of the best cocktail creators in the world to mix it up at George Ultra Lounge during the Olympics.  With so much bartending talent in one place, it just made sense to turn it into a competition.

The 2010 George Mixlympic Games will see ten intensely competitive bartenders – 6 international, 4 Canadian – compete head-to-head in a black box style event.  These masters of mixology will be vying for the top prize – $500 cash provided by Martin Miller’s Gin, but there will be medals too.  Gold, silver and bronze, just like the athletes competing in Vancouver and Whistler. Judges will be smartly outfitted with stylish Arc’teryx jackets.

The event is free and open to the public.  Doors open at 12:00 pm but it might be best to get in line a little bit earlier.  The Games begin at 12:30 pm. Click after the jump to see who is competing… Read more

Slick “George Ultra Lounge” To Celebrate 2010 Mixlympic Games

News from Scout supporter George Ultra Lounge

Vancouver, BC | Yaletown’s George Ultra Lounge is getting into the spirit of 2010 by inviting some of the best bartenders in the world to compete head-to-head in a competition to demonstrate their speed, creativity and showmanship.  Six talented bartenders from some of the world’s best bars will be behind the wood at George during the Olympics and they will also be vying for the privilege of taking home the title in the first ever George Mixlympic Games.  Their creations will be judged by a talented – and extremely discerning – group of celebrity judges and possibly a couple of Olympic surprise guests. Read more

Food Media Omnibus #535: The Year’s 10 Best New Restaurants

Once again we present our weekly Food Media Omnibus, a collection of all the local food writer’s most recent works in print. Enjoy…

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They’re loving the Cactus Club in Edmonton.

In the Georgia Straight, Carolyn Ali does takeout turkey and Jurgen Gothe recommends the best local reds of 2009.

Elephant & Castle will open in Whistler’s old Milestone’s location. Run for your lives.

With the Olympics on the immediate horizon, news outlets around the world have been making mention of Zagat’s well-timed launch of their new restaurant guide to Vancouver. Special congrats to local food writer Tim Pawsey, aka the Hired Belly, who (if I’m not mistaken) once again supplied the word meat on the page bone. It’’s just too bad ABC News can’t spell Araxi. Read more

Food Media Omnibus #533: If Main St. Fire Opened Door For Earls…

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In the Westender, I take in the simple comforts scene at Timbre on Commercial Drive.

In the Georgia Straight, Tara Lee talks boozy sauces, Jurgen Gothe goes off on an entertaining wine-making philosophy safari; and Craig Takeuchi writes a para on Robson’s frenetic Donburi-ya.

In the Vancouver Courier, Tim Pawsey writes up Chambar’s new signature beer.

In the Globe and Mail, Alexandra Gill falls for Gastown’s new hotspot, Pourhouse.

In the North Shore News, Deana Lancaster reports on a Cornucopia lunch with Crave/Fraiche chef Wayne Martin.

In the Toronto Star, we learn that seal meat lands on the menu at Parliament Hill (psst…Liberation BC…go fetch).

In the Vancouver Sun, Denise Ryan tries to get the tears a-flowin’ over the fiery death of Slickety Jim’s with a line-up of old school brunch alternatives. It’s kind of hard when another Canwest story thinks the fire happened in a “strip mall”. They should be more careful. With such provocative language, they might attract an Earls. Read more

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