I am sorry in advance for being a burger-tease, but I just have to share the news of the new burger place being opened in Arlington VA, by my friend Michael Landrum. Already the owner of a nationally acclaimed steakhouse, this is what he is bringing to the burger world:
“As those of you who were too foolish to heed my warning on Monday already know, Ray’s Hell-Burger (street name), aka Butcher Burgers (government name), is due to open today, Tuesday, July 1st.
We will be serving one thing only–10 ounces of our secret blend of premium and prime aged beef, char-grilled over an open flame. This is the same single-breed, farm-raised beef that we use at Ray’s The Steaks and Ray’s The Classics, aged in house ridiculously long, hand trimmed to the same exacting standards as all of our steaks, and ground fresh daily, several times throughout the day.
Free toppings include: sauteed mushrooms finished with sherry and brandy, grilled red onions, sauteed peppers, charred jalapenos, vine-ripened beefsteak tomatoes, roasted garlic, and dill or bread and butter pickle chips.
Applewood-smoked bacon (the same that we use for the grilled bacon app at Ray’s The Classics) and guacamole are available for an additional charge.
In addition to the regular quality cheeses on offer (’Merkin, aged Vermont white cheddar, imported Swiss, imported Gruyere, aged Danish Bleu/Italian Gorgonzola, smoked mozzarella, Monster, Brie, pepperjack) we wil also be offering a changing selection of specialty and artisinal cheeses–currently, Epoisse, Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue, Queen Anne Stilton, Pa Noble Cave Aged Amish Cheddar, Chimay a la biere, Taleggio, and Bel Paese.
Throughout the summer, Hell-Burgers will be served with fresh, buttered corn on the cob and a slice of cold, juicy watermelon AT NO CHARGE!!!
Dominion root beer ON TAP and other great sodas and 8-10 flavors of MOOrenko’s ice cream for cones and floats (no shakes, maybe later–I don’t want to be the one to push shakes into the trite category, too many others stand eager to do so soon enough).
Ray’s Hell-Burger (imagine the “Hell” part in flamey letters) is located at 1713 Wilson Boulevard in the same strip mall as Ray’s The Steaks. We plan to open Saturday and Sunday from noon on and weekdays from 5 pm, for the time being, with expansion into weekday lunch hours possible, maybe.
The best part about all this, for me at least, is that since Ray’s Hell-Burger is located several doors down from Ray’s The Steaks, now whenever someone becomes tantrumishly nasty at the door due to the wait at The Steaks, I can kindly suggest an appropriate alternative destination to them.”
The price for all of this goodness, including corn on the cob, watermelon and gourmet cheese? $6.95. Are you kidding me?
Can you imagine if this kind of joint opened up in Vancouver? It really makes you think about the downright thievery going on at Vera’s Burger Shack, and the garbage they call “Vancouver’s Best Burger.”
Takeout Raincity Grill for lunch by the beach? Sounds like a plan to me. Press release follows.
Picnic Season At Raincity Grill
Vancouver, BC… Alongside the emergence of sunglasses and flip-flops, the opening of the takeout window at Raincity Grill is marking the start of Vancouver’s beach season. Opening on June 6th for the summer, be sure to pick up a Raincity Grill to-go lunch on your way to English Bay, Second Beach, Stanley Park or wherever your local summer excursions take you.
This year, the takeout window at Raincity Grill will serve up fish and chips for your summertime snacking. $10 gets you beer-battered halibut and chips, accompanied by tartar and slaw all served in eco-friendly containers. With packaging that is 100% biodegradable and compostable, recyclable in the conventional paper stream and produces no toxic release when incinerated – Raincity Grill provides take-out without the guilty conscience.
Since 1992, Raincity Grill has defined Pacific Northwest cuisine, showcasing the unique ingredients of our local waters and small-lot farms – year round. Home of Canada’s premiere restaurant 100 Mile Menu and an award-winning Pacific Northwest wine list, Raincity Grill is dedicated to the bounty of our backyard. Overlooking English Bay in the heart of Vancouver’s West End, take in the ever changing seasons of Vancouver by way of the view and the food at Raincity Grill. Visit the restaurant at 1193 Denman Street in Vancouver, online at www.raincitygrill.com or call 604-685-7337.
Urban Diner recently linked to this article by Globe and Mail writer Alexandra Gill, in which she has a go at West and their relatively new chef Warren Geraghty. Any testaments to the veracity of this article are best left to those perceptive diners who have been to West in the past year (i.e., not me), but I would like to draw attention the most important line of the review:
Seriously, if I have to taste one more bite of truffle-specked black cod marinated in miso consommé, I might be forced to rip out my tongue.
I just want to say for the record that I totally understand what Ms. Gill is going through. In fact, now that you mention it, I’ve noticed that my diamond shoes have been a bit tight lately. And I actually saw a man panhandling a few blocks from my apartment the other day! Can’t we do something about this? At least I think he was panhandling, but even if not, walking around with a lidless Starbucks cup is dangerous enough as it is. To be honest, I don’t know how me and Ms. Gill put up with this shit.
This little clip reminds us of the importance of context. As someone who has been annoyed by Ray for half a decade now, it’s also completely hilarious to my sophomoric sensibilities.
Starting in the mid- to late-1990s, the Mission District faced increasing rents and property values and an influx of higher-income residents and visitors, particularly during the dot-com boom. During this time, some elements of the San Francisco burrito experience became politicized. One activist disdained the practice of charging extra for chips and salsa, for instance, as an anti-Mexican symptom of gentrification. Some taquerias also offer additional types of flour tortillas (for instance, whole wheat or spinach), but this same activist declared, ‘I will shoot my son and daughter if they ever order a green burrito.’
This long standing burrito tradition really makes me wish that the Vancouver Burrito wasn’t a fusion of the San Fran one and Lebanese elements. And the fact that ours is really bad.
I recently received the following press release from Darby’s Pub, advertising their new late night menu. I gotta say, I have often found myself in that area late at night when the only option around was The Naam. So I can see this being a good thing.
In an article for The New York Times’ health section, Benedict Carey (who obviously has an eye for talent) runs down the psychological consequences of pranks. The timely article is largely based research done by Eat Vancouver editor Jason Chin and his colleagues:
“As humans, we develop this notion of fairness as a part of our self-concept, and of course it’s extremely important in exchange relationships,” said Kathleen D. Vohs, a consumer psychologist at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Vohs and her co-authors, Roy F. Baumeister of Florida State University and Jason Chin of the University of British Columbia, propose that the fear of being had is a trait that varies from near-obliviousness in some people to hypervigilance in others.
This is obviously a well researched article and a good read, so I recommend you all check it out.
Eat Vancouver has been receiving a wealth of user comments lately, ones that are both useful and very well thought out. In order to highlight these comments, we will be awarding a comment of the week, each week. Since we have a bit of a backlog, this week will feature two comments.
The first is from reader Vangroover on the differences between Northern and Southern Vietnamese pho:
Vancouver is very unique among Vietnamese diaspora in that it is rather geographically mixed and this influences the pho flavors you get here. In America, most pho joints and Vietnamese enclaves will be dominated by Southern Vietnamese refugees. In France and some other European destinations, Northern Vietnamese dominate. Vancouver is a mixed bag.
The difference between the pho made in the North and the South are as different as chicken noodle soup and Tom Yum Goong. I’ve had friends from Hanoi who eat pho in the U.S. and tell me they can’t recognize it as pho. And when I ate pho in Hanoi, I thought to myself, oh my god how bland!
The pho joints I’ve tasted in Vancouver fall along similar lines. What’s tasty and delicious to one faction is heresy to another. Add in the ethnic Chinese/Vietnamese element and you get an absolute cornucopia of pho. Oftentimes, that’s a bad thing.
As a Southern VNese who grew up in America, what I look for in my pho are: 1) complexity of the broth (i.e., Can you detect the hints of anise and bone marrow?), 2) variety of condiments (Northerners don’t put basil, ngo gai herbs, and bean sprouts into their pho, Southerners have to have it), and 3) variety of meats (How do the flank, raw beef, and tripe mingle with the tendon?)
This is not to say Southern pho is better their Northern brethren. I grew to appreciate the subtle simplicity of a bowl of Hanoi pho. But my bet is that most of the winners of your phodown will be from the South. Co Do’s cook, for example, is from Hue, technically a Southern city. The worst pho in Vancouver are those where you can taste the Cantonese influence. Try any pho join near Chinatown and you know what I mean.
And in the second, Robert Csar of JJ Bean - Yaletown, sets us straight on the history and organization of JJ Bean.
Whoa, hold on a second folks! JJ Bean is an independent coffeehouse locally owned by John Neate (JJ). Fresh roasted coffee every day is brought in from the Powell Street roaster and is served up by very talented and skilled baristi.
Comparison to a ‘fast food’ chain is a little harsh! All of the muffins, cookies, pastries, and sandwiches are made fresh every day in each location!
