Infinity Dining Experience
Address: 819 Pacific Street (map)
Phone: 604-684-2529
homepage

Quick Bite: Terrific Steaks, Familiar Service, ad infinitum

By Jason Chin
Eat Vancouver Editor

Cactus Club, Earls, Joeys, Moxie’s – Vancouver has no shortage of what locals term casual fine dining (CFD). Local food critics and enthusiasts have been known to debate the merit of these chains, discussing matters ranging from the quality of food provided, to the social benefits of these restaurants’ training programs. Don’t worry, although I’m not going to get into this debate here – I doubt it would be fruitful and it is only tangentially related to the topic at hand – I will say that with the exception of Moxie’s, which I have not had much luck with, I find these chains provide a rote predictability I do not approve of, yet a nice buffer between lower and higher end restaurants at a quality level that is often commensurate with price.

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On Thursday the 26th, enRoute magazine released its list of Canada’s best new restaurants for 2006. Vancouver is represented with the top pick, Nu, and the fifth pick, Rare. The list is as follows.

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This just in:

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Urban Diner, as well as other sources are reporting that The Urban Well in Kits is shutting down next week, and shall be replaced by Hapa Izakaya, which has gained fame on Robson. Urban Diner is correct in reporting what anyone who has dined at both Urban Well and Haba Izakaya will tell you: […]

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Just a quick reminder, as if you needed one, that the Cornucopia celebration at Whistler is coming up (Nov 9th - 12th). There are always a lot of great wine tasting and seminars, as well as opportunities to try local cuisine in some beautiful spots. I’ve never been to any of the extravagant […]

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Nu
Address: 1661 Granville St (map)
Phone: 604-646-4668
homepage

Quick Bite: Nu’s Worthy Jazz Brunch

By Jason Chin and Desmond Cheung
Food Writers

I love brunch as an opportunity to try a restaurant that might be slightly out of my price range. It’s also a great meal, situated such that one can wake up late, enjoy a big meal, and still have a good portion of the day afterwards to get some work done.

Unfortunately, it seems the supply of good brunches in Vancouver is dwindling. Aurora Bistro served a good one, but apparently, no more. A lot of the familiar institutions truly do not deliver as their lineups might suggest, in particular the large-scale breakfasts at Sophie’s Cosmic Café and heavy offerings at the Sunshine Diner. With this in mind, I was pleased to find that the versatile Nu happens to serve a brunch, a jazz brunch at that (perpend: Jazz is Sunday’s only), and even more pleased to find out that it does so quite aptly.

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Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company
Address: 1876 W 1st Avenue (map)
604-730-0321
hours available on homepage

** (of four stars)

Incendio
Kitsilano - 2118 Burrard St (map)
604-736-2220
Gastown - 103 Columbia St (map)
604-688-8694
hours available on homepage

* and 1/2 (of four stars)

Scenes from some Italian Restaurants

By Jason Chin
Eat Vancouver Editor
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006

A welcomed trend has recently emerged in Vancouver in the form of the casual Italian restaurant. Two relative newcomers, Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company and Incendio, happily succeed in flying this banner, but in a slightly different way. Rocky Mountain takes the healthy angle, while Incendio tends more towards an epicurean style of eating.

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Wing Nuts
Address: 4444 Main Street (map)
Phone: 604-874-9874
homepage

Quickbite: Wing Nuts

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver columnist

Wing Nuts specializes in—you guessed it—chicken wings, a specialty which seems to be somewhat lacking around Vancouver. Lets face it, most of the wings you get in bars and pubs around here make “substandard” sound pretty good. So when the Oakman suggested Wing Nuts after an afternoon of Pitch & Putt, I was skeptical, but
also curious.

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Interview Series Part 2. Reigning in Connor Butler

By Jason Chin
Eat Vancouver Editor
Monday, October 9th, 2006

Connor Butler has been a popular topic of discussion ever since industry folk caught wind of his tongue-in-cheek website, announcing his self-titled restaurant. The biography on the website was borderline egomaniacal and the menu was borderline ridiculous. Butler swears the website was a mostly a joke, something for his friends and family to laugh about. But in a way, the joke was on him. The buzz is growing, and much to his chagrin, people are asking questions.

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Interview Series Part I. A Chat with Sean Heather

By Jason Chin
Eat Vancouver Editor
Sunday, October 1st, 2006

I recently had the chance to sit down with Vancouver restaurateur, Sean Heather, in Salt, one of his newer ventures. Heather has been highly influential in shaping Vancouver’s dining landscape over the past several years. His several restaurants and bars in Gastown, including The Irish Heather, Shebeen, The Salty Tongue, Limerick Junction and Salt, have enjoyed both critical and public success. Salt, in particular, represents a significant diversion from the traditional restaurant or pub experience in Vancouver and has changed the way many Vancouverites dine.

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