Dining Delights and Disasters

I have another blog

2010-09-12T14:58:00.001-07:00

Like how I write? Check out my new blog 'Y-Knots' at http://y-knots.blogspot.com. It's an exploratory blog about journalism.

What the heck is journalism?

2010-08-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

I thought journalism was well positioned words arranged into a sentence -- sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't, always it follows a set of rules invented by some grammarian who nobody knows (why does he/she get to tell us the rules?). And whether or not your words can be received depends on whether or not the sentence makes sense, after all what is a word after a word after a word anyway? Who really knows what words mean.

I thought journalism was supposed to deliver messsages, urgent news that could affect the rest of your life. When does anybody even care? Who even cares? And when?

What the heck is journalism other than a J followed by an O followed by a U an R-N-A-L-I-S-M? What the heck is a J? Aren't i supposed to find out? I'm the journalist.

I thought journalism was supposed to answer questions.

I thought journalism was a job, a career, a mode of employment -- how many words does our language need to describe one thing? Why do we describe, explain, reiterate what we're talking about? Don't we already know what we're talking about?

I thought journalism was a word, a series of letters connected together, a symbol.

I thought journalism was an action, a series of doings to make something happen, the researching, the asking, the writing, the delivering of a message.

I thought journalism was a sound, a series of tongue clicks-clacks-smacks against the teeth and ruby pink gums.

I thought journalism was a way to explore, an excuse to find out lifes secrets, a reason to probe and gossip, the revealing of the ugly hidden truth, a way to bring light to issues that've been shunned, pushed aside, ignored, trampled on, the love and passion of a writer who is only trying to put those little symbols from the alphabet together so you the reader/listener/viewer can get the message.

I thought journalism was an offering of trust amongst readers/listeners/viewers that you, the person in control, know what you're talking about and have prepared yourself well. The only question left is: who is listening?

I thought journalists were supposed to provide facts, so then what is this?

(Photo from getreligion.org)

Boon Burger: The Mature Version of the Ice Cream Shop

2010-07-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were a kid and you would beg your parents to go for ice cream after dinner? I do. In my 5-year-old point of view nothing seemed like a better idea than taking a relaxing drive into town for an ice cream cone at the greasy smelling, worn out local ice cream shop.

Fast forward 15 or so years and I found the mature version of that ice cream shop atmosphere – Boon Burger Café, Canada’s first all vegetarian burger café. Everything at Boon Burger compares to the ice cream shop feel. The interior of the restaurant has giant industrial sized lunch tables which feel like picnic tables; extra condiments are set up on a counter only there isn’t crusty ketchup stuck on the sides of the bottle; you order and pay at the front (or through the bike only takeout window, which is the coolest novelty itself); and then diners are pretty much left to eat their burgers out on the Sherbrook Street crowded three table patio, at the lunch table, or even take your food to a nearby park.

As for the food, everything can be made vegan and everything is vegetarian. Take your pick from mushroom burgers, chickpea burgers, Greek burgers, ‘turkey’ burgers all are roughly $8 and you can order a side salad, soup or sesame French fries for an additional $3. I made the mistake of trying a vegan poutine which was really only disappointing because the sesame fries were so good by themselves – that and vegan poutine really isn’t like regular poutine, the gravy isn't as salty and soy cheese doesn't melt entirely well it seems.

This non-committal restaurant will not take a giant chunk of time out of your day – you can get in and get out quickly. When diners are in they can expect to feel relaxed and when they’re out they will feel satisfied. Boon Burger is the perfect place for a quiet lunch or a late evening dinner on a hot summer day.

Meat, Potatoes and Comfort...Not the Southern Kind

2010-06-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Gasthaus Gutenberger
2583 Portage Ave.
(204) 888-3133
Reservations Recommended

Gasthaus Gutenberger isn’t exactly a summertime hotspot. There is no outdoor patio nor does the menu offer a variety of lighter or barbequed meals, but, my god, they can cook meat.

Eating at Gasthaus Gutenberger is similar to eating at the Keg – you go for the meat, the larger portion sizes and warm atmosphere. All the dishes contain some type of meat – take your pick from an extensive variety of schnitzels and steaks whether it be beef, pork or veal. After an entire loaf of bread, followed by half a plate of meat, three fistful-sized balls of mashed potato and a small side of veg, I had zero room left for dessert – although I would’ve loved to try the chocolate brandy torte or Vienna apple strudel. At an average of $25 per dish, I left satisfied.

As for the atmosphere, it feels like you’re eating in a Swiss Alp chalet. There are very few windows as if to prevent you from seeing the blustery winter storm that is ravaging the outdoors. The only thing missing from the perceived outdoor chill and accordion player are loud beer clinking pub sounds. Gasthaus is not like that; it’s a place for calm filling meals with family and/or close friends after a hard days work.

Fed Up with Your Attitude

2010-06-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was one of those weekends when I couldn’t help but ask myself why I became a server. How much disrespect did I have to put up with until I could shove my words down the yelling-person-opposite-me’s throat? How many snapping fingers did I have to put up with until I could mount myself onto one of the table tops and tell everyone to get out? How many veto cards did I get to play when I wanted to refuse servicing a table? How many times did I have to take back perfectly good food until I could charge the table for it anyway?

It’s nine o’clock, our last rush of the night. I look over my shoulder and standing in the doorway is a line up of hungry people that stretches into the parking lot (okay not really, but I can’t see the end of the line). My feet are throbbing; my stomach is growling. I need a break. Bam! My 12 table section is instantly full.

Fast forward to the middle of the rush and the barista station is overflowing. They can’t keep up. Tables are beginning to wait 10 minutes for a latte. Turn the corner and the cooks are sweating but aren’t nearly as busy as the barista’s. Their orders are coming up before the drinks. This isn’t good. I’m basically begging for forgiveness at every table for the wait. Many don’t sympathise. One table of ladies are debating between ordering one or two pizzas. I point to a table in the back corner also eating pizza and say that’s how big one will be. They look. I say if they ordered two pizzas it would be a filling meal and they would have plenty of leftovers. They get excited and agree to leftovers. I bring out their first pizza. Their lips curl up, their eyebrows scrunch together and their noses wrinkle at me as if I’m insane. Oh god; help me now. I can hear them bitching as I walk away. I bring out the second. The second pizza tray doesn’t even graze the table and all three of them are telling me I’m wrong. The attacks keep coming; I don’t even get a chance to remind them of the fact that they saw how big the pizza would be (only ten inches, I can eat a whole one myself) and agreed they wanted to have leftovers. All I hear is you, you! YOU! I take my chance to butt in with an apology for the miscommunication (server rule #1, always take the blame). They ignore me and continue their rant. I’m fuming. With more authority this time I say, with as much control as possible, “So you don’t want this?” Not the best way to say it, but people are staring now. I’ve had it. They are the fourth complaining table of the rush. I don’t even want to confront my manager with another complaint. I do. She’s pissed, but on my side. Sick of discounting bills she confronts the table. They say I offered to take the pizza back – did I really have a choice? They don’t pay for the second pizza.

Luckily, however, the cranky table behind them notices the pizza ladies’ behaviour and becomes patient and friendly. They tip very nicely and one lady at the end even pulls me aside to thank me for my service. I thank her but wonder if she knew how much I appreciated her extra step to thank me after a hellish night.

It’s 11 now and the final announcement that we’re closed goes off. I couldn’t be happier, but I’m cringing at the mess and the realization that I have to stay an extra hour and a half to set up the Sunday brunch. Pizza ladies are one of the last to leave. Their final words: “Well sorry.”

(Ever wonder if you have reason to complain? Check out a Winnipeg server of 25 years’ tips to you in today’s Winnipeg Free Press http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/Eat-drink-and-be-contrary-95875814.html.)

Where I've Been all Spring

2010-06-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

“Can’t I just put anything this time?”

That’s how I felt every time I came to sit down and write another introductory sentence. My motivations to write sank to an all time low come April, yet my creative mind was racing with potential blogs, ads, montages and articles. I swear, I wanted to, but the thought of opening up another word document and facing another blank page was terrifyingly overwhelming.

Eight months of Creative Communications took my brain and twisted it, bent it, shook it and wrung out every last set of words I could possibly arrange into a grammatically correct sentence like a towel hanging from a clothes line in a violent downpour. Needless to say at the end of the downpour I needed a month or so to dry out.

But it’s summer now and it’s time to end my pity-party. I’ve got spring classes to attend, a book to write and a blog to serve – and only three months until the storm returns.

So this is my, not at all over-dramatized, way of apologizing for my absence and my way of saying I’m back and ready to sprinkle your hungry mind with some summertime dining delights and disasters.

A new love

2010-04-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

I’ve fallen in love…with a menu.

It has everything a partner could ask for. Depending on what I want that day, it’s sweet, savory, spicy on my tongue. While it updates itself with specials, I know it won’t play games with me, every time I go I know some things will be the same. It understands I want to be healthy and provides me with such options. This menu realizes I’m busy and therefore accommodates for the limited amount of time I have to spend with it. And the best part is I haven’t had all it has to offer, so I know when I go back for more I can expect a new experience in the same comfortable environment.

Where can you find it? I probably shouldn’t tell you, but it’s okay, I can share. Located in the Exchange District my new love can be found plastered to the wall at Kay’s Delicatessen. Open Mon-Fri 9-6 and Sat 10-3 – the latter starting April 17th.

I swear it’ll have you saying: Can we do it again tomorrow?

Help! I can't read cartoons!

2010-03-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend and I have been dating for four years now. Before meeting him, I didn’t watch movies, I didn’t know my Seinfeld episodes and I didn’t read graphic novels. Uh, correction, I still don’t read graphic novels. Matt has tried time and time again to sway me into the world of visual art, and I’ll admit, I’ve tried – but I can’t do it. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to tell people you can’t read cartoons?

Don’t get me wrong, I want to read graphic novels – I do think they’re cool and I certainly think they can be beneficial. My fundamentals of literary studies class, last year at the University of Winnipeg, required me to read Frank Miller’s graphic novel, 300, and I still don’t know what that book is about. Uh, correction again, I do know what it’s about. It’s about the Battle of Thermopylae – but I only know this because I looked it up on Wikipedia two minutes before class started, panicking the professor would think I hadn’t read it. Sure enough, when he asked someone to describe the book I immediately shot my hand up, said the Battle of Thermopylae, smiled and shut up for the rest of the class – confident I had made it obvious I read the book, and certain I wouldn’t be called into questioning again.

I do think that people who can and have the patience to read graphic novels have a talent. I want to be like them. So I’ve compiled a list as to why I don’t understand graphic novels; perhaps you can help me out.

Graphic novels require visual literacy. The idea of linking images to words in order to create a meaning is mind-boggling to me. Where do I start?
Graphic novels have a reading pattern I don't understand. Yes, I know, left to right, top to bottom. But what happens when the boxes change shape? Is it up...or down...or zigzagged? Man I'm confused.
You're supposed to read the pictures too, right? How do I know when I'm done?
Books give me in-depth character development, a concrete timeline and a sense of imagination -- how do I get that out of a graphic novel?
Graphic novels paint the picture for you. In which part do I get to imagine?

The Update

2010-03-12T05:45:00.000-08:00

For those of you who read my blog yesterday and are wondering whether or not my lunch reservations at Monticchio's ran smoothly: it did.

Lunch was served quickly and was more than a generous portion of salad that kept me full throughout the remaining IPP presentation's that afternoon.

However, interestingly enough the "discount" listed in our IPP brochure for Monticchio's says we can get a bruschetta sandwich and side salad for $6.99 -- great that's cheap right? Well the bruschetta sandwich and side salad is a dollar cheaper in the actual menu! Some "discount" they offered.

Nevertheless, the entire lunch menu is very inexpensive, between $5-8, the service is friendly and, yes, it ended up being quick despite the kerfuffle the day before.

A Quick Tiff

2010-03-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

The second-year Creative Communications students from Red River College are currently hosting the Independent Professional Project Presentations (IPPP) at the Park Theatre in Osborne Village. The two organizers have arranged discounts at a few restaurants for anyone attending the IPPPs which is great.

However, yesterday on our one hour lunch break a group of about 10 of us headed down to Monticchio's to cash in our coupons.Already the place was starting to fill up with CreComm's who had the same idea. No big deal. But after 20 minutes of waiting at our table with no sign of a waitress we started to get worried we weren't going to be able to eat in time to get back to the presentations at 1 (it was 12:25 already).

After looking around I couldn't help but notice they had one server on and when she finally did come to our table I asked if we were going to be able to eat on time. She explained, very nicely, that there was only one cook on so it was unlikely.

Hold on.

You mean the restaurant you work for voluntarily offered a discount for those at the IPPPs and was well aware that Monticchio's could potentially have 100 people in the restaurant between 12-1 and you have 2 people working? Huge problem.

Needless to say, we could not stay for lunch yesterday, but we did make a reservation for this afternoon. The waitress promised us that this way we'd be first to get our food.

So stay tuned and I'll let you know how smoothly things run today and whether or not they've decided to staff accordingly.

The most impressive Winnipeg restaurant

2010-02-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

EAT! Bistro
274 Garry Street
Closed Sundays and Mondays
www.eatbistro.ca

EAT! bistro is one of the most impressive Winnipeg restaurants.

It’s the place you want to ride your bike to for a light snack in the summer and the place you go to to find summer in the winter.

The brightly coloured flower-power theme and eclectic mix of vintage tables and chairs makes EAT’s décor refreshing, energetic and fun. However, I will warn any potential clients of EAT! to choose their chair wisely as I’m pretty sure I chose a child’s chair.

The coolest thing about EAT! is that they’re a completely nut free restaurant and have wildly popular gluten free nights. Which other Winnipeg restaurant goes out of their way to cater to allergenic people? I think this feature makes EAT’s business model pure genius.

The experience at EAT! is great too. The service is quick, enthusiastic and knowledgeable of the menu. Being a first-time visitor I had no clue what sort of ordering strategy I should take – order my own dish; share several; were they big; were they small? I wanted to know. The server had answers. And he made my guest and I feel like he wanted to answer our questions rather than rush away to his next awaiting table.

(Turns out if you’re there for the first time you may want to share, but most of the dishes (excluding the dips) are big enough for one person.)

In terms of the food, it’s very inexpensive – no more than $12, unless you order a platter. The most unique dish I tried was the black bean cakes with guacamole and salsa ($8). It has a quick pinch-your-tongue spice that lasts about three seconds and then disappears completely, which feels odd but nice. The chicken feta dips with wonton crackers ($8) make a nice starter snack for the table for those who can’t wait for the main course. The wonton crackers are like a soft taco chip that you dip into a creamy puréed (yes, even the chicken) sauce. Other tantalizing dishes range between deep-fried and health conscious and are your typical lunch or light dinner items.

Plan on going for lunch? Expect a rush around noon. But not to worry, despite what might look like a 20 minute wait will take about 5 minutes thanks to the extremely efficient and quick service. They do not take reservations during lunch hours.

As for dinner EAT! prefers you make a reservation, especially if there’s an event in Aqua Books (the store attached to EAT!) or at the MTS Centre.

Overall, EAT! bistro has innovative business ideas, a creative and freshly made menu, invigorating décor and quick service. I would go back in a heart beat.

Vancouver 2010: Best Olympics ever

2010-02-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

'Will Vancouver Games be ‘worst’ ever?’

That’s Stephanie Levitz’ headline in today’s Winnipeg Free Press.

And really? The worst games ever?

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we’re having the worst Olympics ever. The only thing that makes that statement true is the fact that an athlete died. And yes, that’s a pretty big fact that will forever ruin our reputation. But we can assume the luge track that killed Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia is safe as there’s no investigation going into the track's conditions.

Negative, and a pretty big one, aside, I think the Vancouver 2010 Olympics might be the best ever.

Vancouver’s biggest problem so far with the Olympics has been the weather which is causing event delays, poor track conditions and an uncomfortable environment for spectators who’re watching events in the rain or being blinded by the fog, particularly on Cypress Mountain. But I think the unusually warm weather, is what’s making the Olympics so great. It’s testing the athletes’ true technical and mental abilities making us spectators aknowledge their strength so much more and hopefully making the athletes feel more proud of what they can do.

I watched the women’s snowboard cross yesterday and was literally sitting on the edge of my couch with my fingers crossed praying Maëlle Ricker and Dominique Maltais made it down the hill. The event was ugly, at least three quarters of the women wiped out once over the course of the day. The fog was so heavy I could hardly see the snowboarders going down on my TV so I can’t imagine being one of the riders having to locate a 60 foot jump in the midst of it. To top things off for the athletes, it rained yesterday morning making the slope extremely icy.

By the time the finals rolled around the fog rolled away, but still the course was icy. Both the spectators and athletes knew the final run was going to be a matter of who could make it down the slope without falling. As a spectator that challenge alone made the event ten times more exciting and made me respect the winner’s abilities ten times more – thankfully that winner was Maëlle Ricker, a Canadian.

So I find it disappointing that so much of the Olympics, in any city for that matter, is qualified as a success based on the smooth running of the events when really the Olympics is about the competition between athletes. To me what would make the Vancouver 2010 Olympics the worst ever would be if a bunch of the athletes were caught cheating. In no way do the Olympics become poor when a few glitches occur, as there will always be glitches.

I’ve been at home for the past five days on the couch with a raging headache, a stuffed up nasal passage and a cough so bad I could blow the snow from Russia to Cypress Mountain and still I find myself on the edge of my seat cheering on the athletes. So don’t tell me the Vancouver 2010 Olympics are the worst ever – I’m not even a sports fan and I’m sick and I’m watching so it must be good.

(See Ricker's gold medal run at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oRBEtG030o.)

Crepe Expectations

2010-02-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

It has been less than a month since Kawaii Crepe has opened, but people are already packing in to this Osborne Village crêperie like migratory birds relieved to escape from the slushy winter snow. And for good reason too. Kawaii Crepe is affordable, quick, convenient and the food selection is large enough to kick whatever craving one may have.

Kawaii, a Japanese word meaning cute, is exactly what this place is. Every time I think of it the Chordettes’ Lollipop song plays through my head and I picture a 10 year-old boy and girl sitting in a colourful diner gazing into each others eyes sharing a milkshake, only at Kawaii Crepe it would be bubble tea, with two straws – just like the movies.

This diner style restaurant feels like you’re in a candy world. The baby blue walls with red, green, yellow and pink dripping gumball shapes combined with the sweet smell of melting marshmallows, chocolate and honey literally has you panting upon your entrance.

But sweet isn’t the only tooth Kawaii Crepe caters to. If you prefer a savoury dinner, you're in luck. The ‘ninja’ crepe ($ 6.95), one of their most popular crepes, has a sweet peanut flavour that fills your mouth with a soft crunch and a slightly spicy kick. It is a definite favourite. The ‘Osborne branch’ ($6.50), is basically a sweeter version of a chicken, bacon and ranch wrap. It’s rich and creamy but nevertheless tasty.

But then came ‘the hurricane’ ($6.75), literally. Something was off – it was too sharp. The creamy mushroom dill sauce tasted like a too-strong vinaigrette. Like every hurricane, I just wanted it to be over.

Dessert, however, brought back the sunshine following the storm. The ‘it’s-a-smore’
($5.25) is the smore that doesn’t crumble. The pillowy melted marshmallows and chocolate soaked the graham wafers just enough, for optimum chewiness. It’s-a-smore is sure to kick whatever sweet craving you may have – and for a long time as it’s huge.

If you’re seeking a lighter finish to top off your savoury meal the ‘divine brown’
($3.25), melted butter and brown sugar, and the ‘lovely pear’ ($4.25), almonds, pear and honey, and ‘and everything nice’ ($2.95), brown sugar and cinnamon will do just that for you.

The best part (well, nearly as nice as the 'it's a smore' crepe) is that these lovely crepes are quick. It takes no longer than five minutes to receive your crepes and the craving can be kicked six days a week from ten to ten (midnight on Friday's and Saturday's). Choosing one will be your only obstacle as there are just over 30 crepes on the menu.

Overall, the place provides a nice escape into a fantasy world amidst winter's harsh realities.
Note: This article can also be found in The Projector, Red River College's student newspaper.

Why restaurants need a website

2010-02-03T10:47:00.001-08:00

Johnny’s stressed out and nervous. His friend Clara (and secret crush of four years) is coming to town to visit from Vancouver and she’s agreed to meet Johnny for dinner. He knows this is his big shot to impress her so he wants to take her somewhere nice.

But the problem is Johnny doesn’t eat at fancy restaurants because they’re too expensive for his student budget and he’s pretty sure Clara has an extensive list of allergies. The occasion to meet Clara is too important to mess up by thinking his restaurant of choice is a good one only to find out it’s too expensive, not the menu he’s looking for or worse doesn’t accommodate to Clara’s allergies. So what’s a guy to do?

Johnny’s not the only one who faces this dilemma; I think many of us can agree that there’ve been occasions where we just can’t choose a restaurant. Case in point, my sister and I do a dinner club once a month and being the hungry students we are we toss around dozens of potential spots to go – what helps us decide? Checking out each restaurants’ menu. What’s the quickest way to do that? Online. My point? It’s absolutely critical in today’s web-based society for a restaurant to have its own website with their menu posted on it.

We’re a busy society. People don’t have time to jump restaurants because they don’t like the menu.

Also, allergies are a huge deal and still many restaurants don’t accommodate to such parties. For example, 529 Wellington (not that we’re all going there once a week) cooks all of its dishes in peanut oil – now that is something you need to know before going if one of your guests has a nut allergy. Luckily, however, 529 does have its menu posted online.

Furthermore, a restaurants website will indicate the prices of their dishes. I know I sure want to spare myself the embarrassment of making my reservation, opening up my menu and realizing I can’t even afford the soup du jour. Or perhaps worse, what if I open up my menu and realize I hate the soup du hour along with every other foreign-seeming item on the menu? No thanks, I’ll do my research before I go. Websites solve these issues for me.

Needless to say I think I’m beginning to exhaust my point. But allow me to point out one more. That is, depending on the time of day one is going to eat he or she may be time constrained. Perhaps they only have a one hour lunch break and want to grab something to eat. Well by just by looking at the types of dishes on the menu one can guess how long it may take to prepare the dishes and whether or not a reservation may be required. Both are things that a restaurant’s website can tell a potential guest.

Remember those things with phone numbers running down the pages called a phone book? The outdated use of them is like comparing talk radio to its original days of the Morse code. And the Morse code is exactly what filtering through a phone book feels like – Google is my preferred option.

Therefore I think restaurants should be including room in its budget to have a website set up for itself. Websites bring awareness to a restaurants existence, sell the potential guest on going there and avoid any hassles with the managers over misunderstandings with the menu selection, hours of operation, payment options or reservation requirements.

I know I rarely go to a restaurant without checking out its menu before. And if they think I’m going to walk around this big city checking out the menu on the outside of their business, they’re dead wrong. It’s February…in Winnipeg…it’s minus 7 million degrees. Instead I will type that magical website called Google into my laptop in my cozy warm house and see if the restaurant in question interests me. If there’s no website, I can almost guarantee that that restaurant is off my list.

Ron Brown, executive director for the Manitoba Cycling Association, agrees. When he goes for lunch with work, he says he always checks out the restaurant’s website before.

“If there’s no website,” he says, “we almost always don’t go.”

Five reasons why you should have reservations to Cafe Carlo tonight

2010-01-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

They are:
1.Consistent: Each dish is prepared the same way every time.
2.Experienced: The servers are attentive, friendly and professional. Things like proper wine service and impeccable timing between your starters, salads, entrees and desserts can be expected.
3.Reasonable: Dinner entrees range between $20-30, which isn’t exactly inexpensive; however everything is made from scratch with good quality ingredients – there are no pre-made sauces at this place. Plus, the portion sizes are huge.
4.Intimate: The restaurant’s dimly lit lights and sprawled out tables create a very romantic and private atmosphere – the perfect place for an anniversary dinner or first date.
5.Delicious: Eating at Café Carlo is like eating rich homemade food – but the kind you never have because it takes all day to cook.

For more information about Café Carlo visit http://www.cafecarlo.com/.

Not exactly bang on

2010-01-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

I feel bad, but I cannot eagerly promote Bangkok Thai. I’ve been dying to try the place for some time and I finally got to, only to be disappointed.

However, Bangkok Thai, located on the 2nd floor of the Second Cup building in Osborne Village, is great in some ways. For example the atmosphere is relaxing and spacious, thus great for large dinner parties. Also the lighting is nice, dimly lit, and features warm colours such as deep reds and yellows, making it a romantic place to bring a date. And overall, Bangkok is a comfortable restaurant to be in.

The service as well is excellent. They are very attentive –a little on the shy side, but that’s okay because you don’t want aggressive servers trying to up-sell. And all of them knew plenty about the menu and could offer recommendations, which is a bonus considering Bangkok has quite an extensive list of items to choose from (at least 40 I would say).

The problem though is their food, which really is a problem considering that’s ultimately what people are coming for. The curried dishes, for example, aren’t very curry-like. They almost have a soapy taste –too much ginger perhaps? And the potatoes in one dish were quite over done, making it seem like they had been pre-cooked and then reheated. The summer rolls lacked in flavour and were bogged down in lettuce but the peanut sauce was nice and sweet. However, once the sauce ran out, and there wasn’t much sauce for four large summer rolls, you were back to the lettuce. Finally, the pad thai, an item they have listed as a specialty, was disappointing in that the noodles were awkwardly chewy, giving the dish an all around gummy texture.

Nevertheless, the prices are reasonable, around $10 per dish, so if you’re looking for an inexpensive quick bite to eat then I would suggest you try the place. In fact they were quite busy, primarily with large dinner parties, and it seemed as though the people weren’t new to the place, so if they can keep regulars then why not try Bangkok right?

But in general, I probably wouldn’t go there again. If you’re in the Village and looking for some Thai food, I hear Sukhothai is best. (Sorry Bangkok.)

The effort was there, I'm just not the right audience

2010-01-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

Theatre Projects Manitoba’s In the chamber 2010: Last Men came and went this past weekend. And thank goodness it went.

What?

Was a question half the audience could be heard muffling to one another throughout the two hour production, directed by Sarah Constible, Friday night.

The other half of the sold out audience, however, continued to laugh hysterically throughout Gordon Tanner and Steven Ratzlaff’s monologues: Last Man in Krakendorf and Last Man in Puntarenas.

The first half of the audience at Friday’s show was a group of 18-25 year-old Creative Communications students who know little about two heavily political subjects: hog farming and the Health Science Centre’s pediatric coronary surgery inquest of the 1990’s. Heck I was practically born in the 1990’s, so needless to say right off the bat that In the Chamber’s target audience was definitely not my age category.

The subject matter was so intense, I felt dumb being there.

Last Man in Krakendorf, part one of the two part play, was written and performed by Gordon Tanner. It opened with a graphic depiction of a man with an erection dreaming in bed. A female was by his side “taking care of business for him” and then quickly left never to be seen again. My first what question.

The set was simple and clear, however, leaving no questions; it was a hotel room. It had a beige backdrop, a double bed to the left with beige sheets, a small night table with a lamp and a red phone and a small table and red chair to the right.

Tanner, who played a 40 something Richard Gere look-a-like agricultural engineer for Agrotech, was exited. His plan was to film a video of himself explaining his concerns with hog farming to Warren Buffet –the head of a hog farming company in Iowa. His character was zany, anal, anxious and short attention spanned.

The character’s short attention span was my second problem with Tanner’s 50 minute monologue. Because the character drifted in and out of focus (at one point he stopped to eat and spoke about the sauce in his food) of his message to Buffet, it made it hard for listeners to follow the point of the story because we were constantly trying to censor where the breaks in the conversations were.

To top off the censoring, we quite literally had to censor Tanner’s language. The monologue was so bogged down in ‘shits’ and ‘fucks’ that we had to continuously filter them out in our heads just to get to the point. But I will admit the swearing and breaks in the conversation did fit the character’s wacky personality flawlessly.

And flawlessly the character was played. Near the beginning of the monologue Tanner pronounced ‘rival’ rev-elle and, still, I’m not sure if it was his own slip up or if it was the characters. Overall Tanner’s character was well played as he was heard clearly from the audience, his pitch fluctuated dramatically, and his body was continuously pacing and flailing about in his wild rant giving the audience something exciting to watch.

The overall subject matter was the only thing that I felt confused about while watching The Last Man in Krakendorf.

Part two of In the Chamber, Last Man in Puntarenas, was written and performed by Steven Ratzlaff, a character who holds a retirement party for himself at a restaurant where he prepares a long winded speech for his guests who slowly leave throughout.

The main problem with Ratzlaff’s speech is that it was purposely made (by Ratzlaff) to bore his guests, making me wonder why I paid to listen to a ‘boring’ speech. It seemed Ratzlaff’s intention with the boring speech idea, however, was to make it interesting by really dramatizing it. But, although Ratzlaff was a great actor in his 50 minute skit, he lacked action, thus failing his mission. There was nothing to watch, only a dramatic voice to hear which unfortunately caused many heads to nod off.

Last Man in Puntarenas was flat and difficult to follow.

But then again, what do I know about these plays? I’m just one of those 20 something-year-olds who doesn’t get ‘grown-up talk’.

And I’m certain I didn’t get the ‘grown-up talk’ because the rest of the non-CreComm-35+ audience was laughing hysterically.

(All photos courtesy of www.theatreprojectsmanitoba.ca)

Dining Do's and Don'ts when in NYC

2010-01-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

DO stop at as many restaurants and bars for drinks or appetizers before your final dinner destination. The amount of restaurants in NYC is overwhelming and all of them are spectacular – this strategy ensures you get the most out of NYC’s nightlife.

DON’T go to Carnegie Deli and sit next to a woman named Celeste. If you do, you’ll understand why I don’t need to explain.

DO go to Carnegie Deli and order a giant sandwich. The novelty of the sandwich is exciting and it will be so filling that you’ll be set for a day of shopping – another NYC must.

DON’T go to Gospel Uptown in Harlem for brunch. Unless you like fried chicken for breakfast followed by red velvet cake, save your reservations for dinner when it’s likely to be busier and when you can catch the gospel singing performance.

DO visit Caracas in Greenwich Village and try their Argentinean arepas (like a small soft taco). I recommend ‘La Mulata’ which has grilled white cheese, jalapenos, peppers, fried plantains and black beans – it’s spicy enough to keep your lips burning but luckily the sweet plantains are there to cool off your tongue…a little.

DON’T listen to your hotel concierge if he or she advises you to eat at Ray’s Pizza. The meat was questionable and the next morning our friend became quite ill (although we have no proof her sickness was due to the pizza). To sum up our experience Ace Burpee called the pizza “a major fail.”

DO visit the Blue Ribbon restaurant in Soho and try the beef marrow and oxtail marmalade appetizer and the barbequed ribs appetizer. I made the mistake of not trying the beef marrow but it received rave reviews around the table. The barbequed ribs were sweet, tender and literally melted in your mouth – plus it came with its own campfire in the event you need to reheat anything!

DON’T get stuck in a snow storm in Times Square. You’ll never find a cab willing to take you to your restaurant of choice, thus leaving you one option: drinks, drinks, and more drinks – possibly on an empty stomach too!

DO budget for expensive meals. They’re worth it and you’re in NYC baby, so live it up like you’re loaded!

Money well spent?

2010-01-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

Monday was my birthday and my sister's boyfriend Ryan got me a gift certificate to my favourite breakfast restaurant: the Falafel Place. But this isn't just any ordinary gift certificate, you see I'm not entirely sure that it's legit...then again the story behind it doesn't surprise me as Ami (the owner) has a pretty laid back way of running the show over there, so I'm sure the gift certificate will work out just fine when I go to use it. Nevertheless, I've decided to recount Ryan's story that continues to humour me today.

Ryan's experience with Ami:

Ryan enters the Falafel Place which is likely bustling with eager customers awaiting their food, cooks cracking eggs at a rapid pace, and Ami --probably found wearing his chef's hat chatting with customers and making friends or shouting at the top of his lungs: "Okay, who's leaving?".

Ryan walks up to the counter . Ami greets Ryan at the counter. Ryan asks Ami for one gift certificate worth twenty-five dollars. A simple task right? Surely one assumes that most restaurants have an organized little book of gift certificates somewhere near the cash desk. Apparently not at the Falafel Place. To me, Ami's next move seems to capture the mood of the Falafel Place to a tee.

Ami turns his head both ways in search of a gift certificate and spots one stuck to the wall. He pulls it off, writes $25 on it and hands it to Ryan.

Ryan then says: "Uh, will this work? It says 'void' across the gift certificate."
Ami replies: "Oh right."

He then takes back the gift certificate and writes "un" before the void and hands it back to Ryan who shrugs his shoulders and leaves.

Oh how I love the Falafel Place!

Happy Holidays

2009-12-21T18:45:00.002-08:00

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! I'll be back in the new year with more dining delights and disasters.

Cheers,
Yvonne.

'Tis the season to indulge!

2009-12-21T18:45:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again, the time when holiday snacking is always warranted. Here are my top five favourite holiday snacks.

5. Red Rose Tea and a box of Lindt chocolates. The perfect snack for any student on a budget. Have some friends over, crack open the chocolates and let the smooth fudginess melt in your mouth with a much needed gab session.

4. Any pastry from The Frenchway (on Academy). If you can't get away this holiday season, The Frenchway is the place for you --dining in there feels like you're in Paris or Montreal.

3. 529 Wellington's maple creme brulee ($8). The best part is 529's creme brulee has a gingersnap stuck right in the middle of the dish so if you're sharing nobody will touch your half.

2. A caramel macchiato...and don't forget the whipped cream! It's warm, sweet and sinful --the perfect snack to stop for while Christmas shopping.

1. Baked Expectations' Tia Maria Torte ($7). Loads of whipped cream and cookies soaked in liqueur --need I say more?

Is Fazzo flipping fantastic?

2009-12-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

Tired of the same old breakfast menu?

Try Fazzo. The bistro now serves Saturday and Sunday brunch from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

From the simplistic two egg combo ($6), to more authentic Italian style dishes like eggs pomodoro (two poached eggs on top a smooth and moist potato pancake with spicy marinara sauce and Italian sausage, $11), to adventurous ingredients like pork belly, Fazzo’s brunch menu is fresh, new and innovative.

I recommend the filling Fazzo frittata, an open face omelette stuffed with a blend of rich cheeses and topped with a creamy rose sauce ($9).

For any non-breakfast lovers, Fazzo has sandwich items on its brunch menu like grilled cheese with ham and asparagus ($12), a breakfast burrito (two eggs with avocado and tomatoes in a wrap, $10), a grilled chicken sandwich (spicy chicken thighs with lettuce, tomato, onion and garlic aioli on a ciabatta bun, $11), and a denver ($9).

The denver was different from others I’ve had because rather than ham, Fazzo’s denver contained porchetta, a fattier ham stuffed with herbs. It is also uniquely dressed with a sweet roasted garlic aioli. The sandwich was tasty at first but lost its appeal throughout as it became too sweet and creamy.

The menu also features quick breakfasts’ like yogurt parfaits, fresh pastries and fruit smoothies that average $5.

The fruit smoothie is the most expensive quick breakfast item and beverage on the menu ($6 regular, $8 if you add Whey protein), but was not worth the price. The taste of plain yogurt dominated the beverage creating a disappointing un-sweet and un-fruity surprise.

The best part about having brunch at Fazzo is their warm and relaxing yet uncluttered environment. Fazzo has long, deep and sprawling tables making your visit seem private. The contemporary design has warm neutral colours creating a cozy clean feel as opposed to some places that have crisp white colours that make you feel like you’re in an over lit testing lab.

And although Fazzo was virtually at maximum capacity both times I was there, I felt like I was the only person in the room.

Their problem? The service.

If you plan to go, plan to wait. It took at least 10 minutes for our beverages to arrive, 15 minutes for our breakfast order to be taken, and then the server disappeared for over half an hour once we received our meals, even though we had no condiments on our table and we were in dire need of beverage refills.

Lack of attention is definitely a problem and became just as clear when the same thing happened again on my second visit.

Now don’t get me wrong, the servers were nice and were helpful in that they could offer recommendations and clarification on some of the rarer menu ingredients. But they weren’t there to entertain, so bring a good friend because you won’t have their company.

Nevertheless, I would recommend Fazzo’s brunch to others. The menu is exciting. The ingredients are fresh. The environment is relaxing. And the prices are affordable ranging between $10-15.

It’s the service that brings down the overall quality of the upscale restaurant.

I took the plunge

2009-11-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

The neatly stapled hand out was passed around. The pressure was on. I gripped my seat, leaned over my keyboard, peered down at the alphabetical buttons glaring up at me. It was like I was deciding to jump off a cliff. Would I click enter and take the plunge?

I had to. And so I clicked.

It’s official –I am now a Tweeter. Shudder.

I don’t know why I’m so reluctant to join these sites, but for some reason they freak me out. I felt the same way about joining Facebook and (cringe) MySpace, although I no longer use the latter, and in fact I didn’t even sign up for either one of them myself. A friend did it for me, forcing me to submerge myself into our modern world where people are pressured to publicly open themselves up to a world of strangers.

I later felt the same way when I was instructed to start a blog…and now it’s Twitter.

But now that I have all of them, is it really so bad?

Not really. Just time consuming and problematic when you have a journalism assignment due the next day at 8:00 a.m. and all you can think about is a new blog idea or who may have just sent you a Facebook message and now I’ll be thinking what’s going down in the world of Tweets. They’re actually all exciting resources and fun ways to get to know others and shout out your own opinions. Not to mention they’re extremely critical resources for future communicators like myself because you get to show off what you can do.

So ultimately I am excited to have been instructed to join Twitter. Just like I was secretly excited a friend had created a Facebook page for me. And just like I was secretly excited I would have to create a blog.

So if I enjoy blogging and Facebook messaging and tweeting then why am I so reluctant to admit that I enjoy doing these things? Why is it that I sometimes hate our world of instant messaging? Why do I cringe at the very thought? I have nothing to lose, right?

Salt! Salt! Salt!

2009-11-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

Recently I went to Boston Pizza for diner before attending the Manitoba Moose’s Skills Competition. It was tasty –your typical greasy-yet-so-delicious pizza accompanied with a crisp and refreshing glass of chardonnay. However, I noticed how salty the food was.

And yes you’re probably thinking: what’s with this crazy girl always harping on salt in restaurant food in her blogs. But, honestly, the weird obsession started after I read that Globe and Mail article this past summer on how Canadian’s (and American’s) consume far to much sodium.

(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/special-reports/hard-to-shake/)

So I decided to do my own investigation on how much sodium Canadians are consuming and on how much sodium is in Boston Pizza’s menu items. The results are shocking!

Persons aged 9-50 years-old are supposed to get 1,500 mg of sodium/day. However, a Statistics Canada study from 2004 reveals males consume more sodium than females and they get an average of 4,000 mg/day! (The study did not specify how much sodium females take in.)

That’s practically double the amount! (If I got the math wrong, bear with me I’m a CreComm student.)

According to Statistics Canada, too much sodium in a person’s diet leads to hypertension (also known as high blood pressure). Hypertension causes strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, arterial aneurysms, and chronic renal failure.

The problem I figure: eating out, especially if you’re eating at Boston Pizza.

After digging through Boston Pizza’s online nutritional guide (which is nice of them to have), I quickly discovered just how unhealthy its menu is. For example, a starter size Caesar salad has 370 mg of sodium (the regular size if 740 mg). A starter size of breaded chicken wings –1,510 mg, so considering just about everything contains sodium, I guess that’s your meal for the day. One slice of their famous spicy perogie pizza contains 360 mg of sodium. And if you want dessert too –that’ll cost you another 300 mg of sodium.

So let’s say you start with a Caesar salad, have three pieces of pizza and dessert. That amounts to 1,750 mg of sodium –in one meal!

The most shocking menu item in terms of the amount of sodium it has is the jambalaya fettuccini. Its ingredients include a pomodoro sauce, vegetables, chicken, shrimp, and Italian sausage and has 3,460 mg of sodium. Now that’s crazy. On average, however, the pasta’s contained roughly 2,000 mg of sodium/dish.

Now, I should clarify before things get too far, I’m not trying to fear monger, rather I want to raise awareness on the issue. I think many of us worry more about the amount of calories or sugar an item contains than the amount of salt. Why would we, it seems harmless. That’s what I thought too, until I read the Globe and Mail feature.

So I just want people to think about it. I think it’s fair to say that when eating at home salt intake isn’t a large issue because you’re conscious of how much you’re actually putting into your food (unless of course you eat a lot of pre-packaged foods or foods with preservatives). But when eating out we don’t really think about it. And many people dine out a lot. And yes, buying your lunch from the snack kiosk counts.

I’m also not trying to detour you from going to Boston Pizza. I chose the place as a guinea pig for my blog simply because I was there the other day and I noticed the saltiness. I too love going out for some unhealthy grub every once in a while. And I certainly can’t resist a few slices of BP’s perogie pizza. But I’m also very conscious of the fact that I’m eating unhealthy food.

Do you think about it? If you don’t, try being more aware. Reflect on your recent food choices. Were they prepared at home? From scratch? Could you be making some changes to your diet? Should you be worried? How can you begin making those changes?

Now take action.

My advice: buy a cook book that focuses on low sodium intake. Eat fewer pre-packaged foods and foods without preservatives. And/or bring your own lunch to work or school. But at the same time, break the rules. Indulge every once in a while. Just be aware!

Just say hello!

2009-11-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

(Photo found on winninglovehate.com by Bryan Scott)

I was sitting inside the Princess Street Grill observing my environment as I waited on a friend to meet me for lunch. The diner wasn't clean. It smelled like old grease. My table wobbled. The menu's were greasy and crinkled. And yet I was comfortable. I felt safe and welcomed.

Perhaps it was because everyone around me was happy. The restaurant was filled with young families and a few business crews who were out for lunch. Everyone was laughing.

As people walked into the restaurant the busy servers would turn around and cheerfully shout from whichever table they were taking an order from at the time: Hello! Now I know what you're thinking: Hello? Who cares.

It's a big deal.

How many upscale restaurants have you gone to where you are paying large sums of money for quality food and service and upon your entrance, you stand and wait at the door because the sign says 'Please Wait to be Seated' and there's not a host in sight? And in those moments I can always feel the hatred from the busy servers as they glare at me over their shoulder while running yet another tray of dishes to the kitchen. To me the glare always suggested a cold: "I know". Why not just say hello?

One word, that's all it takes and instantly the customer feels welcomed.

So as I sat there thinking and obersving, I realized how often the friendliest service at restaurants comes from the laid back ones, not the upscale. You know the ones who have servers that are being paid large amounts of tip money for their 'friendly service'.

Just breathe in and breathe out

2009-11-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

I would just like to warn everyone that my blog may seem a little spastic over the next little while as I am on a mission to fix one problem: getting my blog to update when I make new posts. RSS feed, why won't you send?

Unfortunately I have been trying to fix this problem for a while and have not been remotely successful. My patience has run out.

If anyone knows a quick fix, I would love to hear it!

Until then, I think the photo below captures my mood well.

Photo: courtesy of Kenton Larsen

What's 10 cents?

2009-11-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

Question: do you think that 10 cents is enough of an incentive to get you to bring a reusable mug when buying your morning coffee?

I know ten cents doesn’t make a difference to me, and after speaking to a few friends they agreed with me as well.

Coffee shops like Starbucks, Second Cup, and Tim Hortons offer their customers 10 cents off if they bring in a reusable mug. This is one of their ways of reducing environmental waste. Now don’t get me wrong, I think that it’s great that companies care about the environment so much that they want to reward customers for also being mindful.

However, think about how many people do go the extra mile to be environmentally conscious. Ok there are many, but it seems there are many more who aren’t acting on their environmental concerns.

Hands down I am one of those people who couldn’t be bothered in the morning to make my own coffee, I would much rather spend the few bucks and have someone do it for me. I would also rather someone hand me a clean cup with my beverage, one that I don’t have to wash later.

I know it’s pathetic, but I think it’s safe to say that I’m not alone. As a woman of convenience, whether I like to admit it or not, a 10 cent rebate is small potatoes. I am already paying for the convenience when brewing a pot of coffee takes just as long as standing in the morning line up at Tim Hortons, so I obviously don’t care about spending a few bucks everyday on a hot cup of java nor do I wish to lug around a coffee mug all day and have to wash it later –although I do.

I don’t carry around a reusable mug because I am getting a discount; I carry it around because I too care about reducing waste, which not everyone does.

So my question to coffee companies like Starbucks, Second Cup, and Tim Hortons is: if the incentive was greater do you think you could get more people on the reusable mug bandwagon? Ten cents seems like a penny when you are paying for a four dollar latte and it also seems like you guys wouldn’t be losing much money with this incentive, so would it be feasible to increase the discount?

Or am I just being a cheap and ungrateful customer?

What I've learnt about blogging so far

2009-10-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

I confess: I want to become a communications expert of some type, however, before entering Creative Communications at Red River College, the thought of creating a blog seemed useless.

How I’ve learnt since then.

Blogging brings your thoughts to life and shows off your writing skills. I know, it sounds intimidating, what writing skills? But the more you write, the better you get. I find that posting blogs pressures me to think more critically about the way I am writing and to make sure everything is grammatically correct. Think of it as a school assignment where teachers will be grading you work, except that that is only one persons opinion, now you have an audience.

Having an audience then makes me think about entertaining people. Why should people be reading my whole article? Why should they even care about what I am writing? And one of the most important questions I ask myself is what my point is?

Towards the beginning of my classes’ blogging career, a group of well known bloggers came and told us to never write if we didn’t actually have something to say. I found this the best blogging advice I have ever received. It is also the most obvious advice, yet is still something I always need to remind myself.

I feel at this point my blog is still struggling slightly with this and it is something I am trying to solve. For example at the beginning I made a post on a potential dance choreography based on a scene in which a group of servers have a temper tantrum on customers. Why would anyone have cared about my vision? That was a post likely better suited for a journal at home.

So another thing I have learnt is to try and inform people in some way. Make them want to care about what you are writing. Don’t just write because it interests you.
By interesting and helping others you establish an audience –one that hopefully gets hooked on your blog. The bigger your audiences, the more people you have to spread the message that your blog is great, then more people become readers and then the circle repeats.

Who knows maybe an avid reader of your blog will become a future employer of yours. I know I am beginning to wish more and more that my blog may open up the possibility for me to become a restaurant reviewer or PR personnel for a restaurant. I am beginning to see the point of having a blog, which is that it serves as a creative display of your work. It gets your name out there. It hones your skills. And hopefully, it will open up job opportunities for you.

So although my blog may not be perfect yet, I am beginning to have big dreams for it. My plan from here on is to establish a clearer focus and to stick to it. To both entertain and inform. To discover my own style of writing, for example, am I a serious writer? Humorous? Academic? Colloquial? And ultimately, I want to reach a point where I know my blog is successful and why it is successful. At this point that focus is blurred but developing.

Fake it 'til you make it

2009-10-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

I was pretty excited Tuesday night because I was finally going to eat at Sabai Thai Eatery, a restaurant I had been interested in checking out since it opened about a year ago. I'm a huge fan of experimenting with new restaurants and although Winnipeg has a lot of restaurants I take the bus, so my dining parameters are on the smaller side. Sabai is on Corydon Ave., a short walk from my house, so I had pretty big expectations for the place as I was hoping for a new favourite restaurant that would be close to home. However, while the food was good, I couldn't help but notice that it shows Sabai is a new restaurant. In this blog my aim is to provide readers with a review of the restaurant and to offer tips on how to inexpensively better your new restaurant.

Overall Sabai's food and service is quite good. The menu is very affordable with items averaging nine to ten dollars apiece. One of the best parts about Sabai’s cheaper menu is that the mark-up on wine is not high at all. A bottle of wine there averages between $20-30, always a bonus.

Also, the food was nicely presented on the plate; for example one of the dishes we ordered was the Chiang Mai noodles which is a yellow curry noodle dish, it looked like a volcano. The noodles were twirled in the bowl so that there was a peak at the top and then it had bean sprouts shooting out of the peak with long crunchy noodles lying horizontally across the bowl as if they were chopsticks. It was fun and classy but my mouth was still watering.

The décor of the restaurant; however, is still noticeably in the works –when you go to the washroom anyway. The washroom is stuffed with cleaning products and yet it still doesn't look clean. For example, the white tiles’ grout appears to be molding or is at least very old. However, out in the main part of the restaurant it looks quite polished. Sabai has a nice deep red, green, and brown colour scheme. The lights are dimly lit creating a relaxed atmosphere. The music is not too loud and sounds quite natural. It has nice large booth seats that are soft and comfortable making you want to stay longer and enjoy. And finally, the tables are nice and far apart so you can have private conversations without having to worry about what your neighbor’s next to you think about your nasty divorce.

Nevertheless, Sabair has some obvious flaws. My suspicions led me to believe that most of the flaws are simply to due to how expensive it is to get a business up and running when you still have a pretty small fan base. Therefore I will take some time to offer my advice (I feel I have some credentials since I grew up creating and running a restaurant with my parents) on how a new establishment can fake their lack of funds in order to seem as though they’ve put millions of dollars into their establishment.

One of the first dead give aways that your restaurant is on a budget is the amount of salt that goes into your food. Salt may be an easy and affordable way to add flavor into your food, but people are able to tell. Salt is almost acidic and spicy on the tip of your tongue if there is too much and often there is so much salt that the food becomes over flavored. Avoid resorting to over salting. The case was especially noticeable at Sabai. My assumption is that they struggle with keeping flavor in their food because they are using specialty ingredients. If you’re using specialty ingredients try and cut your expenses somewhere else. Don’t sacrifice your food, buy the top quality ingredients. After all, people are coming to your restaurant for good food. Period.

(Note: The Globe and Mail featured a series of salt reports this summer on how much salt we actually consume. The amount consumed in one dish at a restaurant is appalling. But instead of just reporting the shocking facts of our over-consumption of salt, they showed examples of what some restaurants do to avoid adding salt to their food. I felt their advice was especially helpful and would recommend you check out the link to the article. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/special-reports/hard-to-shake/dont-pass-the-salt/article1194031/

Second, people eat with their eyes before they eat with their mouths. Put some effort into your presentation. Food presentation is inexpensive so be creative with the arrangement of your food.

Third, relaxing décor is critical. People don’t want to come back to a restaurant if it is crowded, uncomfortable, or dirty. Unfortunately, however, nice décor is one of the most expensive things to establish. So it may not always be possible to finish decorating completely before you open. Therefore I suggest doing the following: invest in comfortable dining chairs, don’t cram too many tables into the room, and invest in paint and plants. Fresh paint feels clean and new. And plants breathe life into the place.

Fourth, your staff’s knowledge,servers especially, is important. The servers are the face of the company to the guests, so they need to be experts on the menu. They need to have tried most of the dishes. Remember, your business is new so word of mouth has not spread around yet as to what is good at your restaurant. The server needs to be able to offer advice. At Sabai the server couldn't tell me which dish, out of the two I had questioned, to recommend. I was debating between a Pad Thai and the Chiang Mai Noodles, two different dishes as one was curry and the other not, the only advice the server gave was that they were two totally different dishes so she wasn’t sure which one to recommend. Well no kidding they are different hunny, why would your chef put two of the same dishes on the menu? The correct way to approach my question would have been to more thoroughly describe how each dish tastes, after all taste is what I was ultimately debating about. Her approach, unfortunately made it seem as though she had never tried either dish even though she insisted she had.

Also, if you are going to have wine on your menu, be sure your servers know how to present it properly! Wine presentation is one of the easiest ways to make your restaurant appear classy. A classy restaurant brings in classy guests which in turn creates a classy reputation. Here is a link to a site that offers great wine serving tips. http://www.thatsthespirit.com/en/wine/howto_serve.asp.

So there you have it, some advice on how to better your restaurant on a budget. I hope this will help anyone who is in such a situation. And in terms of my final impressions of Sabai Thai Eatery: I would go back. I could tell the effort was there, some areas just need some tweaking. And like I said, despite the mild saltiness of the food, it was pretty great Thai food. The service was friendly. And it was a very comfortable environment to sit in. I would not give it three out of five stars.

Buyer Beware: Students helping students

2009-10-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

Dear post-secondary student of Manitoba,

It is my understanding that many of you are concerned about the possible H1N1 pandemic in your institution. I realize many questions have likely crossed your mind such as: What will happen to your tuition money in the event your school shuts down? What happens if you get sick and have to miss a lot of school? What is your school doing to prepare itself? These are all valid questions that deserve answers.

However, while I may not be able to answer your questions specifically, I can tell you this: all five major post-secondary institutions in Manitoba, namely the University of Manitoba (U of M), The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg), Red River College (RRC), Brandon University (BU), and Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface (CUSB), have not only an H1N1 crisis plan, but they also have a crisis plan that aims to prepare for any type of crisis situation.

Recently my fellow team members and I examined the five major institutions’
H1N1 pandemic preparedness plans (H1N1 crisis communication plan) to see just how prepared Manitoba’s colleges and universities are for an H1N1 outbreak and most importantly whether or not they are protecting students from and informing them about H1N1. To accomplish the task we consulted each of the five institutions’ website’s to see what information they released to you regarding H1N1 in your school. We chose websites because they are usually the primary communication tool between students and the educational institution. And then in order to obtain advice on what makes a good crisis plan we spoke with two public relations experts on crisis communications, Melanie Lee Lockhart and Therese Mickelson.

Each institution provided you with information. Although, some had a lot more information posted publicly for you to access.

Before I get into the details regarding what the different institutions’ preparedness plans include, I will first explain what it means to have a crisis communications plan and tell you how the information is usually disseminated. First, the plan is broken into two parts.(Actually there are several; however, two of them are your main concern.) There is a communication plan, which explains how information gets disseminated. And then there is a crisis plan, which explains how to deal with problems. A good plan is prepared for any possible scenario. Each member of the crisis communications team carries the plan on them at all times so they can react immediately.

Now, the reason why you don’t know the entire plan is because, as Melanie Lee Lockhart says, “If people know what could potentially be coming down the pike, it can change their behaviour. They can conduct themselves in a different way than they might if they didn’t have that information. As an institution, you want people to continue behaving as normally as possible until it’s time to not be behaving normally.”

Basically this means that your institution is releasing small bits of their plan at a time. Only the parts that is pertinent at the moment. If they release the whole thing the assumption is that, psychologically whether we mean to do it or not, we could convince ourselves that the worst is going to happen until it does. It is not that your institution does not trust you.

Therefore, new information will be released to you if and when the pandemic escalates.

Now just to illustrate to you how each communication plan can vary I will report to you some of my team’s findings. First, all five institutions provide background information on H1N1. The U of M, UWinnipeg and RRC tell you what you can expect to happen. The U of M is the most thorough in explaining the roles and responsibilities of its employees and students. However, (in order of the most to least amount of coverage) RRC, UWinnipeg and CUSB also discuss roles and responsibilities, just not as extensively. All institutions, except BU, have guidelines available for you on how to cope with missed schoolwork due to possible closures and absences; in other words they predict what might come. And finally, if there is a serious outbreak, U of M and RRC have already publicly announced what they plan on doing to move past a possible crisis. For example, they say how they plan on replacing lost staff members; how they plan on counselling students and staff who need counselling and how they plan on resuming operations. For more detailed information on your institutions preparedness plan please visit its website, all H1N1 plans have a link on the home page.

What you can do for the time being is remain as calm as possible. Continue your daily activities as normal. Stay up-to-date on any changes regarding H1N1 and your institution. Practice the preventative measures given to you on your institutions website. And please, ask your instructors or health official’s questions if you have any. And finally, trust your institution is handling the H1N1 situation – it is.

You can also ask me any questions you may have below. I will do my best to answer them.

Sincerely,
Yvonne Raymond, student reporter.

My 5 Favourite Restaurant Dishes in the City

2009-10-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

I confess I am the ultimate hypocrite when I complain about tables being indecisive when choosing what to eat because I am that person. I’m the terrible customer who asks the server at least 10 questions about each dish before ordering and then to make things more annoying I will not even choose the item she clarified or recommended for me to eat.

This blog is for two groups of people: the indecisive and the experimental. When it comes to my top 5 dishes around the city, I never have to think twice about what to order.

5) Thai Peanut Wrap from Saucers Café, on Academy Rd. The wrap contains chicken, peanut sauce, sprouts, carrots, and vermicelli noodles. That’s right, pasta in your wrap and don’t you doubt it!
4) Crab Cakes from Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery, preferably from the Grant Park mall location. P.S if you get the crab cakes ask for the spicy sambal dipping sauce – there is no better food group to add sweet and spicy to than seafood.
3) Beet and Goat Cheese Salad from Pizzeria Gusto on Academy. The goat cheese tastes like cream cheese on top of your beets, plus the crushed walnuts add a crunchy surprise.
2) Crispy Chicken Burger with Spicy Mango Salsa from Mise Restaurant on Corydon Ave. Best chicken burger in the city, hands down. Why? The chicken breast is breaded with corn flakes. Try it. You will not be disappointed.
1) Waterloo Pizza from Pizzeria Gusto. Who knew pizza could have roasted potatoes, prosciutto, ricotta cheese, and pistachios and still taste good. The classic pepperoni and mushroom is put to shame with this gourmet pizza.

CreComm punched me in the face

2009-10-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

CreComm has punched me straight in the face this week. Bloody tears feel like they are running down my face. My eyes feel bloodshot from the lack of sleep. My head feels like tropical storm Ketsana. I have the chills yet I feel like my sweaty skin is on speed. I am tired yet I am awake. I am in focus; I am out of focus. Coffee is my new best friend.

But there is a light because despite my dramatic symptoms I am happier than ever, proud to be here, and insanely excited for what is to come!

Hang in there fellow CreCommers I know many of you feel the same way as I, we just need to breath, relax, and enjoy the rocky ride.

Please, just sit where you're told!

2009-09-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

How the host wants to handle the following situation:

Customer: Hello, for two please.
Host: Sure right this way.

(Host leads customers to a table in a somewhat empty section where a server will be able to focus their full attention on them.)

Customer (pointing towards a much busier section): Um, excuse can I sit over there next to that fig tree?
Host: Okay, seriously I am just trying to do my job! Why can’t you just sit down!?!?

(The host’s face is beat red now and beginning to bubble at the surface like the interior of a pomegranate because this is the zillionth customer who has now chosen their own seat. Yelling, out of frustration, with flailing arms the host continues…)

If you really want to sit next to your precious fig tree, which by the way has bugs crawling in the dirt, that’s fine by me. Our server will be with you in about 10 minutes, now that you are the fourth customer to request a seat in this area of the restaurant within the past minute and a half. And if you want to wait an extra 10 minutes to have your order taken, again because your server is busy trying to manage four brand new tables all at once, that is fine by me. And if later you want your bill right away, fine, but keep in mind your server won’t have that bill out to you right away because their whole section also wants their bill right now too! And when you leave, I had better not here a peep out of you complaining about how slow your service was and how you should have sat in the other corner…the corner I suggested in the first place!

(The host huffs, pivots, and storms away.)

(In a perfect world the customer would have then said: "Gee, I’m so sorry, you’re absolutely right. Why don’t you lead the way?")

How the host will handle the situation:

Customer: Hello, for two please.
Host: Sure right this way.

(Host leads customers to a table in a somewhat empty section where a server will be able to focus their full attention on them.)

Customer (pointing towards a much busier section): Um, excuse can I sit over there next to that fig tree?
Host: Why of course, it is no problem at all!

(The host walks back to their stand thinking to themselves “Why am I even here? I could be at that party by now.”)

*Note: this is not to say that servers cannot handle a busy pace. My intentions for this blog are to point out how often this happens and what a nuisance it can become. If you sit where you are directed you will likely get much faster and friendlier service.

A blog for the starving student

2009-09-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

You know that feeling of exhaustion after sitting in class all day? Your head hurts; your eyes are droopy; your makeup is a complete disaster; and most of all your stomach feels as though Hurricane Katrina is occurring inside of an area as small as a gofer hole. That feeling of hunger is unbearable. You want food and you want lots of food and you want lots of food fast!

So do you really want to go home and cook it as you are trying to cope with your painful headache and feelings of exhaustion? I didn't think so.

What a life saver the Falafel Place on Corydon Ave. then becomes. It saves me every time. Sure Saturday and Sunday mornings may be complete chaos in there, but on a week night they can have your food out in less than 8 minutes. Quick service isn't their only benefit as their prices for food are ridiculously low (we're talking less than ten dollars for a giant meal and drink). Next to low prices, basically everything on the menu is homemade -- I know, I've watched Ami do it. Ami, one of the owners, is great too. He always greets his customers as though they were coming to his own home for dinner. And on the weekends when the Falafel Place is jam packed with a line up, he yells what many servers wish they could yell: "Okay, now who's leaving?" I mean really what boss, manager, server can do that? And yet you had better believe that the next weekend he will have the very same jam packed line up all over again.

The food should also be noted as a student's best friend. Most of their meals consist of protein and carbs, the combination is like singing birds in the sunshine -- there are no stormy hurricanes creeping in that's for sure. Almost every time that I have ever had to write a major paper for school I will march down to the Falafel Place and order myself a falafel breakfast and a coffee. Now the falafel breakfast includes 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, 8 falafel balls with hummus and tzaziki sauce, AND hashbrowns (with the option of onions, garlic, and hot peppers in it too, which I recommend adding). This meal is priced at $8.75. So there, now your wallet is not broken, nor is your stomach's heart. Now your body has an excessive amount of carbohydrates inside to last you hours sitting at a desk. The protein keeps your mind sharp and your ideas flowing. And the caffeine from the coffee, well let's just say that's your back up energy in case your assignment takes longer than expected.

Tonight, I did not have a paper to write, but after a long and exhausting day quick service for a cheap price and an easy fill was all I wanted. So thank you Falafel Place for saving my life.

(Okay, okay I know that last bit might have been a hyperbolic reaction but did I mention it has been a long and exhausting day?)

For Entertainment Purposes Only

2009-09-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Imagine this: a ballroom dance that depicts servers lashing out (in a non-violent way of course) on their customers who are banging their fists on the table like the kids at camp who get impatient waiting for their food.

Perhaps the song of choice could be "Attitude" by the Misfits. Now I just need to learn how to ballroom dance...

What's on the Menu

2009-09-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

Dining Delights and Disasters is a locally based restaurant review site.

My primary concern, as a server myself and as someone who grew up in the restaurant industry, is that their is a great lack of communication and understanding between the server and the customer, so for these reasons I wish to close that gap and harmonize a solid relationship between the two.

You should read my blog because everybody wants to know which new great restaurants to try and which ones to avoid. You should also read my blog because I will inform you on whether or not you (the customer) has reason to complain or not. You will also learn proper fine dining and table etiquette. And finally employers should check my blog to see which aspects of their restaurant they should either be changing or boasting about.