Interview Series Part 4. Greg Lam
Sliced Tomatoes
(604) 254-2545
homepage

Delivering lines with Greg Lam
an interview series feature

By Jason Chin
Eat Vancouver Writer
Monday, July 16th, 2006

I recently had the great pleasure of speaking with Greg Lam, who recently started up Sliced Tomatoes, a service that delivers nearly prepared meals to be finished off and eaten at home. The ingredients are delivered in a blue cooler and consist of items such as sliced vegetables, chicken and sauce to be stir-fried, to a nearly done risotto and red wine-braised lamb shank to be heated up on the stove. There are some similar services around town, but none do it quite like Sliced Tomatoes, with their stress on excellent customer service, healthy (but still flavorful) food and my favorite, home delivery. Needless to say, I was excited to hear how all of this came about. I learned about how running this business is a lot like a restaurant at times, to their recent menu revamp in an interest to stay seasonal and local. The full transcript of our chat is below.

Jason Chin: What is your background, specifically in the hospitality industry? And led you to Sliced Tomatoes?

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Interview Series Part 3. Brent Hayman
Raincity Grill (map)
1193 Denman St
(604) 685-7337
homepage

A Chat with Brent Hayman
a wine blog / interview series joint feature

By Daniel Fishman
Eat Vancouver Writer
Tuesday, July 10th, 2006

I recently sat down with Brent Hayman, long-time general manager, and of interest to me, sommelier for Raincity Grill on Denman Street. Raincity was given an Award of Distinction from Wine Enthusiast Magazine in 2005, as well as Awards of Excellence from Wine Spectator every year from 1997-2005, among other awards. When I arrived Brent was in the middle of a tasting, and I was lucky enough to get to try them. For what it’s worth, I preferred the Bogle Chenin Blanc, although the Cline Viognier was also pretty nice.

Brent also shared with me some of his own background, his opinions on wine at Vancouver restaurants, and a bit about the business considerations that go into his wine list decisions. One of the things that interested me most was the fact that multiple restaurants and retailers often get together to order larger quantities of wines from the U.S. in order to save on shipping costs. Perhaps this explains why it seems like the same wines seem to pop-up everywhere at the same time. We also discussed whether or not BC wines have been increasing in quality as quickly as they have been increasing in price. Finally, Brent echoed the voice of my own wine instructor, urging people to trust their own tastes as opposed to the opinions of experts in the media. What follows is a transcript of our conversation, edited for length and to disguise my awkwardly worded questions.

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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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