For great justice! I was kind of there, but I was also kind of cooking. As mentioned earlier, tonight was the great Vancouver Siftup. I got to show off why I am the moderator of *cooking around these parts. I'll snip the rest of the pics, but... I really want to show everybody this one:
“Scallop Wrapped Bacon”
Nova Scotia Scallops, Artisanal Oyama Dry Cured Bacon, Grilled BC Matsutake Mushroom, Oven Cured Butternut Squash Chip
Yes, it may not look like much, but it was but one of twelve courses that I created for the Vancouver sift up.
Unfortunately, I failed to get pictures for all of them, so here is a placeholder image for the first course, or Amuse Bouche:
Thai Coconut Soup with Tempura Sunflower Sprouts
Smoked Duck Salad Roll -- Spicy Mango-Soy Dip
Pan Roasted Halibut -- Stir Fry of Wild Chanterelles
Seared Quebec Foie Gras -- Tomato “Brioche”, Salad of Green Olive, Almond, Mandarin Orange, Cherry Tomato and Frozen Grape
Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes -- Balsamic Reduction, Fresh Mozzarella “Crouton”, Thai Basil, Black Volcanic Salt
“Scallop Wrapped Bacon” -- Nova Scotia Scallops, Artisanal Oyama Dry Cured Bacon,Grilled BC Matsutake Mushroom, Oven Cured Butternut Squash Chip
Grilled Baby Romaine -- Spicy Eggplant and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano
I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of
Grapefruit Sambuca Sorbet with House Candied Grapefruit Peel
Seared Lamb -- Maple-Tamarind Jus, Fiddlehead Tart
I was filming a video of the plating of the beef tenderloin, so I didn't get a good picture of the final plateup for:
Grilled Beef Tenderloin -- Rosemary-Thyme Potato Rosti, Roasted Baby Beets
Chocolate Sour Cherry Bread Pudding -- Macerated Okanagan Strawberries
Lavender Chocolate Truffles
That was a lot of work, let me tell you. Definitely the most elaborate tasting menu I've ever put together. Not everything turned out exactly according to plan, but lots of things did. I feel like I need to sleep for 3 days now.
It was great to meet Lucky, Charms, Zifnab and Fissionchips. It was dissapointing that Fedquip didn't make it, but maybe next time.
I want to go on at length about what worked, what didn't work, why I made some of the choices that I did for the menu, what I was happy with, what I felt needed improvement, etc etc etc.... but I'm too tired right now.
I will have to post more later.
Thanks for coming out!
“Scallop Wrapped Bacon”
Nova Scotia Scallops, Artisanal Oyama Dry Cured Bacon, Grilled BC Matsutake Mushroom, Oven Cured Butternut Squash Chip
Yes, it may not look like much, but it was but one of twelve courses that I created for the Vancouver sift up.
Unfortunately, I failed to get pictures for all of them, so here is a placeholder image for the first course, or Amuse Bouche:
Thai Coconut Soup with Tempura Sunflower Sprouts
Smoked Duck Salad Roll -- Spicy Mango-Soy Dip
Pan Roasted Halibut -- Stir Fry of Wild Chanterelles
Seared Quebec Foie Gras -- Tomato “Brioche”, Salad of Green Olive, Almond, Mandarin Orange, Cherry Tomato and Frozen Grape
Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes -- Balsamic Reduction, Fresh Mozzarella “Crouton”, Thai Basil, Black Volcanic Salt
“Scallop Wrapped Bacon” -- Nova Scotia Scallops, Artisanal Oyama Dry Cured Bacon,Grilled BC Matsutake Mushroom, Oven Cured Butternut Squash Chip
Grilled Baby Romaine -- Spicy Eggplant and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano
I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of
Grapefruit Sambuca Sorbet with House Candied Grapefruit Peel
Seared Lamb -- Maple-Tamarind Jus, Fiddlehead Tart
I was filming a video of the plating of the beef tenderloin, so I didn't get a good picture of the final plateup for:
Grilled Beef Tenderloin -- Rosemary-Thyme Potato Rosti, Roasted Baby Beets
Chocolate Sour Cherry Bread Pudding -- Macerated Okanagan Strawberries
Lavender Chocolate Truffles
That was a lot of work, let me tell you. Definitely the most elaborate tasting menu I've ever put together. Not everything turned out exactly according to plan, but lots of things did. I feel like I need to sleep for 3 days now.
It was great to meet Lucky, Charms, Zifnab and Fissionchips. It was dissapointing that Fedquip didn't make it, but maybe next time.
I want to go on at length about what worked, what didn't work, why I made some of the choices that I did for the menu, what I was happy with, what I felt needed improvement, etc etc etc.... but I'm too tired right now.
I will have to post more later.
Thanks for coming out!
Just when I thought the roasted halibut was going to steal the show, out came the fois gras. My tastebuds had no idea what they were in for! I can safely say that life has taken on new meaning post Grilled Baby Romaine & Spicy Eggplant.
Great job, and congratulations to the Chef!
Thanks so much. I should hire you to do my advertising copy
^ dag
I'm sure that lucky760 has pictures of people. As I'm sure you can imagine, I was very fixated on the food. (for two whole 12 hour work days, actually)
^think247
I actually really hate liver... EXCEPT foie gras. It is such a dramatically different experience that just calling it goose liver does it a disservice. Harold McGee (famed author of the food science bible "On Food And Cooking") calls foie gras the "ultimate meat, the epitome of animal flesh and its essential appeal".
It was a coup that I was able to serve such a large slice of foie gras to those members of videosift that were able to attend. It is one of the 3 delicacies of the world and priced accordingly.
^ firefly
I don't know about shipping, but if you're ever in Vancouver, make sure to let me know...
^ K0MMIE
Thanks for the compliments. Our gay sex plans got ruined by the presence of girls, but you can still believe it if you want.
*MASTURBATES*
Especially the scallop wrapped bacon!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
Now, I have no idea how you guys worked all this out, but how many children would I need to sell into slavery to afford that kind of meal?
Where were the little cocktail weenies?
In their butts.
My.
God.
Come to NZ and cook for meeeeeeeeeee
Looks awesome though.
I've put up 6 pictures from the Sift Up:
- VideoSift Tasting Menu - the nice printout of djsunkid's tasting menu
- Thai Coconut Soup with Tempura Sunflower Sprouts - djsunkid is missing a photo of it above
- Inside Fiddlehead Joe's - interior shot of the restaurant; we sat in the far left corner
- Kitchen Tour - djsunkid gives us a pointing tour of the kitchen; notice the lovely pile of tomatoes; behind djsunkid is a photo of a fiddlehead (it's a fern I've learned)
- All of us with labels - one of the few times during the meal djsunkid sat with us; the "bacon wrapped scallop" is on the table
- All but djsunkid - Another nice photo of most of us
Again, it was an unbelievably enjoyable night. Thanks for the meal, j, and thanks to you all for the company.(Which reminds me: don't miss this gem from deputydog, which I mentioned at dinner: http://www.dwigger.com/msg/i-love-the-blog-of-unnecessary-quotation-marks-1)
Now whatever happened to fedquip?
oh, how I wish I was there then..damn Ocean;)
Great job!:)
I would come to Vancouver just to eat at your restaurant.
As an aside. My lady friend and I went to New York for my first vacation in 4 years. My goals were:
1) to eat at Carnegie Deli( or Katz's, Russ & Daughters)
2) have an H&H bagel
3) go to Gray's Payaya
4) see a show
5) go to central park
6) to eat at a Mario Batali restaurant (My #1 goal, a tasting menu for two)
So we made reservations at Del Posto (we asked too late to get us something at Babbo, and Lupo). My fiancee and I love great food, in a way fine dining is one of our hobbies. Once month we go out and try a new nice restaurant.
A Batali restaurant is high on my list of places to try. I have to say, I was not impressed. The service was good, though I have had better. Our table was dirty and the server was slow. My biggest problem was the palette we were given was less than spectacular and not cohesive.
My lady had the monk fish and I had the duck. The fish was overcooked and the duck was not pleasant. The biggest problem was the Duck however,
Duck Breast on a bed of polenta, padded with coarse toasted corn meal with black olives.
My friends it was no good. The polenta was overcooked, the olives were too astringent, and the toasted corn meal gave the duck a cereal taste that was not appetizing. I know what you are thinking, who am I to tell Mario Batali what does and doesn't work. Seriously, though this was not a good dish. It was bad take on a french dish I have had before. No good, friends and certainly not for the price tag at $300.
Moral of the story, all is not what it seems on TV.
Fissionchips is one sexy bastard.