Twenty-Two Minutes With Nigel Springthorpe Of The Alibi Room
May 31, 2009
Nigel Springthorpe is the co-owner and omnipresent life force behind the very kickass Alibi Room on Alexander.
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SCOUT Q&A
The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: Chunky Kitkats.
Default drink of choice: If there’s no quality beer available, I’ll take a scotch with a drop of water.
Drink you’ll never have again: Molson Canadian.
The one place you’d move to: Savary Island.
Beer of choice: Dead heat between North Coast Brewing – Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, and Central City Brewing – Empire IPA.
The best thing about your job: Converts. Some dude who comes to the bar asking for “a bud” or “just gimme any kind of lager” and ends up with one of BC’s biggest juiciest IPA’s and LOVES IT!!
Book you’re reading: Oz and James Drink to Britain – two dudes who take a Bentley with a caravan attached all over the British Isles visiting various wineries (yes, there are wineries in the North East of England), micro breweries and whiskey distilleries.
Last place traveled: The Algarve
Biggest fear: Losing everything.
Under what circumstances would you join the army: If I lost everything.
Best sneaker in the world: Every year me old mum sends me a pair of UK Adidas Sambas in the mail [ed. note: your mum is awesome].
Place in BC that you love escaping to: My father-in-law has a small organic blueberry farm in Powell River. It’s a perfect spot to escape the city for a couple of days.
Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: It’s heavy. I never met him. He stabbed my grandmother then committed suicide one afternoon. Whoa! Told you it was heavy.
What are you proud of: Of course, my daughter Frankie & my son Fynn. And lately I’ve been feeling quite proud of my wife, my sister and I for taking the Alibi Room from the brink of death three years ago and turning it into a place people really seem to enjoy coming once again. Yeah, I’m really proud of that.
The thing that makes you the angriest: Don’t want to be predicictable but the only time I really seem to lose my marbles is when confronted with rude drivers. I don’t mind fast, I don’t even mind crazy drivers. It’s the pushy fuckers usually driving one of those BMW SUV’s nudging their way in this, squeezing their way in that, not waiting their turn the other…actually I’ve noticed the newly crowned asshole king of the road is the Ford Edge driver. Motherfuckers.
Saddest thing about Vancouver: It’s been sad to watch Vancouver turn from a big city with a small town soul into just another big city. I think it started when the bus bumpers had the very friendly “thanks for the brake!” with a Thumbs Up sign, replaced with “YIELD! IT’S THE LAW”, that was the beginning of the end for me…Although, the Gastown Steam Clock is still a major tourist attraction.
Favourite restaurant in Vancouver: I’m a casual diner. Cascade is a personal favourite. I read a lot of mixed things out there on the web about their food, but I think they have it figured out perfectly. I’ve never been disappointed.
Talent you wish you possessed: Well, I do wish I was an ace ballet dancer…and boxer. But not one without the other.
The game you’re best at: Soccer
Three songs on your current playlist:
My Bloody Valentine – Come in Alone
Black Mountain – Angels
T.V. on the Radio – Wolf Like Me
Somewhere within an hour of Vancouver that few may have heard about but is worth checking out: About 10 years ago a friend of my wife bought a book of logging road maps of BC from the ‘70’s. There was a map to a lake called Starvation Lake. The lake doesn’t appear on any other maps. Its just before Squamish. You can only drive so far along a very bumpy old logging road then you have to hike in. You cross the rail tracks on the way. Leave a penny on the tracks. Spend the day basking in a very quiet lake. Then pick up the squashed little souvenir of your perfect day on the way back. Special.
The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: The moment the flood level of the water caused by the Monsoon I was in touched my testicles. I froze. I was scared.
Two things of no monetary value that you will keep until you die: the placenta in my freezer (it’s already been three and a half years, what’s another fifty?). I also have a lock of my son’s hair from his first cut.
BC chef that you admire most: Jeff van Geest
Best concert experience ever: Fugazi – Burnaby 2001
How you waste time at work: Dreaming up ways to get the dosh I need to own a brewery whilst intermittently picking on my business partner.
The thing you wished people cared more about: Giving the friendly wave when another driver does you a good turn.
The thing that makes you the most nervous: How uncertain the future is always being made out to be.
Town you were born in: Gateshead, UK
Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Seinfeld
Album that first made you love music: Faith No More – From Out of Nowhere (I was 13)
The career path you considered but never followed: Motorcycle mechanic – I went to trade school. I had the opposite of Midas thing going. Everything mechanical I touched turned to shit right before my eyes.
Biggest hope: Don’t want to sound like a sap but… I feel that my generation has had a great deal of uncertainty thrown our way. There always seems to be a new crisis or disaster lurking around the corner each more heinous than the last. Whether it be war, a pandemic, a tsunami, financial melt down or terrorist attack. I just hope my children will have less fear to distract them from the simple joys of life.
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This was the 45th interview of what will eventually amount to 500 profiles of people who have made life in BC that much more interesting. At the rate we’re going it’ll take three years, at which time we’ll probably just start shooting for 1,000.
Other Cool People
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Two Chefs And A Table
October 5, 2008
DETAILS
305 Alexander Street, Vancouver BC. V6A 1C4 | MAP
Telephone: 778- 233-1303
Email: info@twochefsandatable.com
Web: www.twochefsandatable.com
Lunch: 11:30am-2:30pm Monday-Friday
Dinner: 5:30-10pm Wed & Thurs | 5:30-11pm Fri & Sat | 5-9pm Sun
Brunch: 10am-2pm, Saturday & Sunday
ABOUT TWO CHEFS AND A TABLE
With one eye on the wonders of its spectacular setting and the other turned to the bustle and cosmopolitan energy of the city, Vancouverites have shaped a unique lifestyle that includes indoor and outdoor pursuits. Then menu concept at Two Chefs and a Table mirrors this balance, combining techniques from classic French cuisine with superb locally ingredients and influences from Vancouver’s broad cultural mosaic.
Two Chefs and a Table creates food to satisfy all sides of this fantastic city: from the casual to the classy, the sporty to the serious, with dishes which span lusty simple tastes and textures to more complex preparations—always delivered with flair, passion and precision.
THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT HAPPEN
Karl Gregg and Allan Bosomworth, the Two Chefs who give the restaurant their name, have 30 years of culinary experience in fine dining and superior high-volume restaurants in Vancouver. Karl studied in the culinary program at VCC and went on to management positions at Spectra Hospitality Group and Milestones. Allan studied at Dubruille School of Culinary Arts before honing his craft in kitchens throughout Vancouver such as Lumiere and Red Door Pan Asian Bistro. Together, they developed and opened the kitchen at Whineos on Granville and they have acted as consulting chefs on other projects in the Lower Mainland and British Columbia most recently, developing the menu and leading the kitchen at The Keefer Bar.
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD AND THE ROOM
Gastown is the new hub of Vancouver’s culinary community and neighbourhood has been energized by the influx of culinary talent drawn to the affordable, heritage spaces. The community of chefs in their neighbourhood has created a dynamic energy with chefs stopping by each other’s kitchens to taste and talk shop. It’s a great place to be a foodie!
Two Chefs and a Table is set on the eastern edge of Gastown in Railtown, a transitional residential and warehouse district not unlike the Meat Packing District in Manhattan or Clerkenwell in London. Their airy high-windowed corner space provides a slice of life viewpoint on the goings on in Railtown from the gritty to the mundane.
In the do-it-yourself spirit of the neighbourhood, the Two Chefs partners visualised and renovated their restaurant with help from friends and associates. The result is nothing short of inspired with a clean bright look which emphasizes the high ceilings and open kitchen. Original works of art add colour to the space while a handmade glass light fixture sits above the Chef’s Table which gives the bistro its name. This solid 8 person table is the centre of gravity in the dining room, whether for parties, communal dining or menu tastings and consultation for catering clients.
MENU HIGHLIGHTS
Two Chefs and a Table builds all their menus on the freshest local ingredients sourced from farmers markets and the best suppliers in the region.
Two Chefs and a Table is open seven days a week to serve their neighbourhood and the savvy Vancouver diners who have put the bistro on their top spot lists. Along with the a la carte menus which are updated periodically to reflect the tastes and produce of the season, Two Chefs always features a fresh sheet and a set menu for dinner which includes inventive dishes made with the best fresh market finds and special deliveries from suppliers.
In general, the Lunch and Brunch menus focus on classic comfort foods, made with fresh ingredients and care to satisfy simple local residents and quick worker appetites. The lunch and brunch offer phenomenal value with almost all dishes below $10. In the evening the menu gets more complex and inventive as the chefs give full rein to their expertise and creative flair. Examples of Two Chefs signature dishes for each meal include:
Lunch
Croque Monsieur: grilled fresh baguette, french dijon, brie, roasted chicken, bacon.
Mac n Cheese: 4-cheese sauce and sharp cheddar crust with salad or fries.
Spinach Salad: spinach, bacon, applewood cheddar, red onions, vine ripened tomato, honey lime dressing.
Dinner
Grilled Polderside Lamb: herb marinated, fire grilled, spiced apple relish, wild rice, roasted carrot/
Local Spot Prawns and Scallops: butter poached, lemon risotto, asparagus, fine herb salad.
Brunch
Polderside Omelet: roasted chicken, spinach, vine ripened tomato, brie, whole grain toast.
Oyama Saucisson Scramble: Oyama French style sausage, heirloom tomato, spinach, goats cheese.
Monsieur Andre’s Brunch: butcher block charcuterie & local cheese in grilled sourdough, over easy egg & parmesan hollandaise.
REVIEWS
All told, there’s not a single thing I dislike about the place, and there are plenty of reasons to return, not least of which is the five-course chef’s table meal…Two Chefs and a Table (is) a smartly run and very sexy little restaurant that oozes a palpable sense of ability and poise.” — Andrew Morrison, The Westender
“…a tall, airy space with wide, French paned windows, a polished wood floor and crystal pendant chandeliers hanging from wooden beams…We love the chalkboard framed in gilt, the narrow cubbyhole of a washroom that soars at least 15 feet high and the haunting mural of old grape vines drawn right onto the wall.” — Alexandra Gill, The Globe & Mail
