DINER: New “Dine Out” Ad Shows How A Real Professional Deals With Tea For 15

Frustrated with server complaints about parties of 15 booking for Dine Out and only ordering tea or hot water with lemon to drink, Tourism Vancouver commissioned this ad depicting an Iranian server making short work of the same. See? It isn’t such a big deal…

UPDATE: No they didn’t.

“DB Bistro Moderne” Enters Fall With Six Deals On Six Nights…

db bistro moderne is located at 2551 West Broadway in Vancouver, BC | 604-739-7115 | www.dbbistro.ca

News from Scout supporter db bistro moderne

Vancouver, BC | West Broadway’s db bistro moderne is entering Autumn with a unique deal for each night of the week save Monday. These include specials on each of chef Nathan Guggenheimer’s gourmet burgers (paired with a beer), cocktail deals, tableside apple tarte tatins, 45-day dry-aged Kettle Ridge Cote de Boeuf, and more. Take a look at all the details after the jump… Read more

Nathan Guggenheimer Up To Old Tricks With New Oyster Comp…

DB Bistro chef de cuisine Nathan Guggenheimer is a fun-loving shit disturber. His kitchen talents aside, it was he who dreamed up last year’s memorable Guggenheimer Dog Gobble (a truly terrifying hot dog eating contest for debaucherous restaurant industry staff). Now he’s got it in his head to host an oyster shucking showdown. A $10 entrance fee gets you in, a pint of Tree Brewing Co. beer, plus the loan of a chef’s towel and shucking knife. First place wins a wine-soaked dinner for two at sister restaurant Lumière. Second gets lunch for two at DB Bistro. Third scores winner a DB Bistro gift card. I presume fourth place receives only scorn and ridicule. They’re probably going to be sending out a press release with all the skinny, but we already have some of the awesome details – like the rules and what’s in store for spectators – after the leap. Read on, mothershuckers… Read more

Db Bistro Moderne To Continue “DINE OUT” Menus All Summer

db bistro moderne is located at 2551 West Broadway in Vancouver, BC | 604-739-7115 | www.dbbistro.ca

News from Scout supporter db bistro moderne

Vancouver, BC | db Bistro Moderne Vancouver is pleased to announce the continuation of special Dine Out Vancouver prix-fixe pricing, all summer long.  “It was an easy decision for us,” comments General Manager Chris González. “Our loyal clientele asked, and we answered with an enthusiastic commitment to continue the $38 and $28, three-course, prix-fixe menus we originally created during the popular Dine Out promotion.” Read more

2010 Olympic Games Pushes Back “Dine Out Vancouver” To Spring

With the Olympics arriving around the same time as Tourism Vancouver’s annual Dine Out Vancouver promotion, it was plain that some rescheduling was in order. The whole point of Dine Out is to help put bums in seats during what is traditionally the slowest period on the restaurant calendar (end of January and the beginning of February), so with reservations in scarce supply during the Games it would be wise to find another time of the year in need of a steroidal shot in the arm. The following note – just arrived from TV – makes total sense:

The official Dine Out Vancouver promotion dates for next year are April 26 to May 6.

That’s a pre-patio, rainy, shitty, not-yet-nice-out time here in Vancouver, when I assume everyone will be piss poor and spiritually broken from all the revelry of the months previous. It’s sort of refreshing to imagine a life after the Olympics, no?

Killer Dine Out Deals Extending Into February

Three of the best restaurants in the city are going to be carrying over their Dine Out menus well beyond the February 1st expiry date…

Direct from the press release:

Harry Kambolis’ three restaurants know our local producers and suppliers, but they also know our local diners. In homage to Vancouver’s love affair with Dine Out Vancouver, Raincity Grill, C Restaurant, and nu restaurant + lounge have extended their prix fixe menus until Wednesday, February 11th. So if you weren’t fast enough making your reservations, this extension gives you the opportunity to enjoy one more (or perhaps now all three) of Vancouver’s top restaurants serving sustainably sourced local food, wise to the farm and our ocean. All extended Dine Out Vancouver menus are naturally paired with BC VQA wines (see menus below).

RAINCITY GRILL

DINE OUT VANCOUVER MENU

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$38

:: Appetizer ::

BUTTERNUT SQUASH VELOUTE

thyme emulsion, thyme oil

Suggested Wine Pairing: Jackson-Triggs, Sauvignon Blanc

-Or-

STUFFED LEG OF FRASER VALLEY CHICKEN

celery root, pearl onion, roasted mushroom, bacon, red wine puree

Suggested Wine Pairing: Sumac Ridge, Merlot

-Or-

WILD SALMON MOSAIC

fried eggplant, field pepper fondue, sherry emulsion, crispy béchamel

Suggested Wine Pairing: Inniskillin, Pinot Noir

:: Entrees ::

GRILLED CONFIT OF ‘SLOPING HILL’ PORK

sweet onion risotto, onion ring, burnt onion praline, brown butter broth

Suggested Wine Pairing: Cedar Creek, Pinot Gris

-Or-

SEARED FILLET OF WILD BC SALMON

maple glazed thyme gnocchi, roasted butternut squash, stout cured onion,

smoked salmon froth

Suggested Wine Pairing: Inniskillin, Chardonnay

-Or-

‘PEMBERTON MEADOWS’ BRAISED BEEF

‘helmers’ potato pave, grilled shallot, ‘north arm farm’ parsley root, marrow jus

Suggested Wine Pairing: Cedar Creek, Cabernet/Merlot

add

butter braised dungeness crab 10 -

seared bayne sound scallops 12 -

sautéed seasonal mushrooms 6 -

:: Dessert ::

AGASSIZ HAZELNUT & CHOCOLATE DELICE

salted butter caramel, smoked milk ice cream

Suggested Wine Pairing: Quails’ Gate, Late Harvest Optima

-Or-

WINE POACHED ANJOU PEAR

prune & ‘okanagan spirit’ poire william ice cream cornet, anise praline,

fireweed honey anglaise

Suggested Wine Pairing: Quails’ Gate, Late Harvest Optima

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C RESTAURANT

DINE OUT VANCOUVER MENU

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$38

:: Appetizer ::

North Arm Farms Parsnip Veloute

Blackberry honey pearls, crispy brioche

Suggested Wine Pairing: Sumac Ridge Gewurztraminer

-Or-

Hot Smoked Langley Trout

Summerland gala apple & belgian endive salad, Agassiz hazelnut dressing

Suggested Wine Pairing: See Ya Later Riesling

-Or-

Octopus Bacon Wrapped Scallop

pickled multicoloured beet root, truffle foam *add $3.95

Suggested Wine Pairing: Jackson-Triggs Sauvignon Blanc

:: Entrees ::

Pan Seared Johnstone Straight Silverbrite Salmon

White bean and chorizo cassoulet, frothy Spot Prawn bisque

Suggested Wine Pairing: Quails’ Gate Rose

-Or-

Pan Seared AAA Beef Flatiron Steak

Overnight braised brisket, crushed Yukon Gold potatoes, caramelized cauliflower, Agassiz garlic jus

Suggested Wine Pairing: Sumac Ridge Cellar Selection Merlot Cabernet

-Or-

Wild Mushroom Fricasse

linguini noodles, confit of shallots, fresh italian parsley, rosemary emulsion

Suggested Wine Pairing: Inniskillin Pinot Noir

:: Dessert ::

Lemon Tart with Fresh vanilla

Preserved fraser valley blueberry gel

Suggested Wine Pairing: Quails’ Gate Optima

-Or-

Chocolate and Poached Pear Layer Cake

Cinnamon Crumble, Caramel Chantilly

Suggested Wine Pairing: Quails’ Gate Optima

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NU RESTAURANT + LOUNGE

DINE OUT VANCOUVER MENU

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$28

:: Appetizer ::

Salad of Organic Lettuces, Spiced Poached Pear,

Blue cheese, red wine vinaigrette

Suggested Wine Pairing: Nk’Mip Riesling

-Or-

Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup

Maple crème fraiche

Ginger candy

Suggested Wine Pairing: Inniskillin Pinot Blanc

-Or-

Wild Salmon Cake, Smoked Paprika Aioli

Herb salad, tomato “sand”

Suggested Wine Pairing: Sumac Ridge Sauvignon Blanc

:: Entrees ::

Braised Lamb Cheek

Roasted garlic pomme puree, Pemberton root vegetable fricassee

Gremolata, rosemary jus

Suggested Wine Pairing: Jackson-Triggs Cabernet Sauvignon

-Or-

Pan Seared Silverbrite Salmon

Grainy mustard potato cake, braised purple kale and red chard

Roasted pepper emulsion

Suggested Wine Pairing: See Ya Later Chardonnay

:: Dessert ::

Summerland Gala Apple Bread Pudding

Nutmeg chantilly cream

Suggested Wine Pairing: Quails Gate Optima

-Or-

Vanilla Crème Brulee

Candied pecans, espresso biscotti

Suggested Wine Pairing: Quails Gate Optima

For more information or to make your reservations please contact: Raincity Grill at 604-685-7337 (www.raincitygrill.com), C Restaurant at 604-681-1164 (www.crestaurant.com) or nu restaurant + lounge at 604-646-4668 (www.whatisnu.com).

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Scout Magazine is dedicated to supporting and promoting cool, interesting, and independent Vancouver businesses through the publication of their press releases and event information. To get your sales, promotions, news and events up on our front page, send us an email here and we’ll do our best to share it with our readers.

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Dine Out Diary At Salt Tasting Room

Salt Tasting Room GM Kurtis Kolt guest blogs for Scout on Day 1 of Dine Out Vancouver - Hamid Attie photo

Hello Andrew and everyone at Scout Magazine headquarters! As you know, Dine Out Vancouver is upon us yet again and I’ve decided to keep a photo journal of Salt Tasting Room‘s adventures. For better or worse, I’ve documented Day One of DOV, from the start of the morning to the end of the night. What follows is the evidence of that difficult, stressful, fun and exhilarating day.

This is about 9am and my first in a long stream of espressos throughout the day. I gave that machine a good workout.

I’m checking e-mails here, and organizing my day. I love this time of day at Salt, when no one’s around and I can actually get some work done.

My VQA wines for Dine Out being delivered. Blood Alley was closed on the Carrall side due to construction, which caused concern throughout the day that we wouldn’t receive our deliveries on time.

Jake Skakun, assistant manager extraordinaire, arrives at Salt.

Because of our delivery problems, a lot of our product has been delivered to the Irish Heather. Problem One arises when I go to grab our dolly to bring things over (note the uncooperative wheel).

This is the first of many runs down Blood Alley during my day.

This is our good friend and neighbour Mark Brand, owner of Boneta around the corner, kindly lending me their dolly and rescuing our morning.

Eleanor Chow, the fanatastic pastry chef of Chambar does the desserts for Salt. She is dropping off the first batch of over 500 Dine Out desserts to get us through the weekend. Lemon Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis and Chocolate Terrine with Strawberry Compote.

Our liquor order arrives. This was a huge weight off our shoulders, as our cupboards were starting to get a little bare.

Problem Number Two arises. We were expecting a delivery of 200 small bowls from Puddifoot and they seem to have lost our order. A quick couple of phone calls by Jake fixes the problem and they are sending out an emergency shipment.

I write out a rough draft of our Dine Out menu.

Brooke Delves, Assistant Manager extraodinaire, hams it up as she arrives to work.

The management of Salt Tasting Room have a quick meeting and strategy session. The espresso is starting to make me a little wiggy. Our bowls haven’t arrived yet and we still need to design and print our menus. When Jake is stressed, he pulls at his beard. He pulled at his beard a lot that day.

I run up to the Irish Heather to talk to Sean Heather (the owner of Salt), and let him know that aside from the bowl issues, we’re firing on all cylinders. As his general manager, I spend approximately 15% of my time waiting for him to get off the phone. He is a very busy man.

The bartender at the Irish Heather pours me some Guinness so we can make Guinness Mustard for one of our plates. I realize that I will be able to have some delicious beer in about 8 more hours.

The bowls finally arrive, but they’re THE WRONG BOWLS!! Jake gets on the phone and arranges an exchange. We’re told they can get them to us by 5:00, which is also the time Dine Out officially starts.

Fennel salad gets shaved.

For the Dine Out menu, we have various condiments paired with artisan cheeses and charcuterie. This is me ensuring that the cornichons are a good combo with Quebec’s Tomme de Grosse-Ile.

The Dine Out menu being designed on the Salt Laptop, soon to be printed in-house.

Designing one of the three main course plates, with a flight of wine paired with it on the right hand side.

Cutting the menus on our paper cutter. We’re about an hour away.

I’ve just picked up Terra Bread baguettes that were delivered for us to the Irish Heather. Running down Blood Alley, focused like nuthin’ else!

Jake is programming all the new menu items into the Halo system.

As staff arrive, I give a little pre-shift meeting, explaining the Dine Out logistics and getting my servers to try new wines on our list.

Jake runs through how the Dine Out courses should be rung in.

Unwrapping the official billfolds.

Ensuring all the computer buttons are where they should be.

Ensuring the print-outs of the chits are working.

Slicing bread.

The first official Dine Out guests arrive.

Course one: Mixed Field Greens with Crumbled Stilton and Cava Vinaigrette + Oyama Sausage Company’s Pate de Campagne with Piccalilli Reish.

We’re off and running, glitch-free.

Two examples of Course #2. Cheesemonger’s Artisan Plate and Butcher’s Plate.

Brooke pours wine as the room fills up

Going well. We also never understand the complaints that Dine Out patrons don’t drink wine. As you can plainly see, the whole room is dining and wining!

Our two Dine Out desserts!

Toward the end of the evening.

13 hours after starting my day, I’m off to Boneta for a fine, cold ale.

Simon pours me a Brooklyn Pennant.

A cheers with Josh Pape and Charlie from Chambar. A chance to blow off some steam.

Beers, friends, and giant bowls of poutine. A great way to finish the day.

One day down, fifteen to go. There are twelve of us who work at Salt, and over 1200 people coming our way.

Not one complaint.

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Chambar Shines Dine Out In Newspaper Ad

Dine Out Vancouver either teases or twists the nipples of locals. Some love it. Others hate it. This ad for Crosstown’s Chambar restaurant, found in this week’s Georgia Straight, leans rather convincingly toward the latter. Not everyone enjoys being harnessed to the trough, I guess. I hope they get some extra action as a consequence, and trust those at Tourism Vancouver who are charged with organising Dine Out recognise smart marketing when they see it. They might even venture a giggle.

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Andrew Morrison is a west coast boy who studied history and classics at the Universities of Cape Town and Toronto after an adolescence spent riding skateboards and working in restaurants. He is the editor of Scout Magazine, the weekly food and restaurant columnist for the Westender newspaper, and a contributor to Vancouver and Western Living magazines.

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The 2009 Dine Out Vancouver Media Preview

It was the 2009 Dine Out Vancouver Media Preview two nights back. Every year we in the food media are invited on a “dine around” courtesy of Tourism Vancouver in advance of the real deal. We all met and started off at Yew in the Four Seasons where there was plenty of wine and lots of “How were your holidays?”. After a couple speeches from the TVan bigs, we split into teams of five to cruise around the city in our own souped up pimpmobiles. You should have seen these things. Word.

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My team was whisked to The New Bohemian for three courses, and then Cru for another three. It was a lot of suspenseful fun, as it is every year (they don’t tell you where you’re going), and we ended up back at Yew for more icewine and dessert at the end of the night. Good times.

Good luck during Dine Out everyone. I wish you all full rooms and 20%.

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Andrew Morrison is a west coast boy who studied history and classics at the Universities of Cape Town and Toronto after an adolescence spent riding skateboards and working in restaurants. He is the editor of Scout Magazine, the weekly food and restaurant columnist for the Westender newspaper, and a contributor to Vancouver and Western Living magazines.

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