Last week relaxing in Maui provided some unique culinary delights! Here are some highlights:
-Local Farmer’s Markets:
Our fav one right at the start of South Kihei Road and the intersection of highways to Lahaina and to Airport.
Everywhere fresh sweet ripe pineapple, papaya, mango, Meyer lemons, guava, apple bananas, avocadoes in several shapes and sizes (have Sharwil variety rather than California Haas), tomatoes (also Gourmet Select Kamuela vine ripened greenhouse grown from Kawamata Farms), lettuces (Waipoli Hydroponic Greens grown and packed fresh in Kula). Premium fresh strawberries grown at Kula Country Farms a special surprise.
-Costco:
Outstanding wine values! Selection slightly dumbed down from last year but I guess that is what the consumer wants. Whites: Zesty 2011 Ponzi pinot gris Willamette $13.59, 2010 Sancerre $14.99, 2011 Pouilly Fuisse Louis Latour $16.49, 2011 La Crema Sonoma Coast chardonnay $15.99, dependable Roederer Estate Brut Sparkling from Anderson Valley $19.99. Reds: 2010 Michele Chiarlo Barbera D’Asti Le Orme $10.99, 2010 Chapoutier Belleruche Cotes du Rhone $10.99, 2009 Volpaia Chianti Classico $14.99, 2008 Villa Antinori Toscana IGT $16.99,
2009 Saintsbury Carneros pinot noir with 30% new French oak at $21.47. You could try the local stuff with Maui’s own winery Blanc Pineapple $8.89 or be a big spender with 2002 Dom Perignon $145.99, 2005 Cristal Roederer $190.
Recommend La Brea Bakery Whole Grain Loaf for outstanding bread – 2 lb loaf for $4.99
-Macadamia Nuts:
Prefer dry roasted style with sea salt (Mauna Loa brand) but excellent quality big ones with no salt at markets.
Also delicious Macadamia Blossom Honey or Volcano Winery Macadamia Nut honey wine $13.49 for 375ml.
-Star Noodle.com:
New homemade fresh noodles bistro outside Lahaina at 286 Kupuohi 808 667 5400
-Fresh Fish:
Black Cod, Mahi-Mahi (dorado), Yellowfin Ahi, Opah (moonfish), Ono(wahoo) wild caught in Fiji only $11.99/lb Costco,and my fav the delicate moist Opakapaka. Try in Paia either Mama’s Fish House or Paia Fish Market.
-Chef Alan Wong:
With Chef Roy Yamguchi and others he has really brought focus to Hawaiian food and cooking. Now has Amasia (converging of continents) at Grand Wailea (Waldorf Astoria)for classy small plates 808 891 3954.
-Anahola granola.com:
Handmade in Hawaii since 1986 with crunchy walnuts, sweet coconut, whole grain oats (no wheat), healthy seeds (sunflower, sesame) and Hawaiian honey!
-Long Drugs:
Always check for Champagne here. Bought last 5 bottles of vintage Veuve Clicquot on sale last year and tried to grab a few of Montaudon regularly $40 for $33 but already sold out.
-Abalone:
Seek out the fab Kona Coast Abalone of Japanese “Ezo” from 10 acres aqua-farmed on the Big Island.
Sold at the Saturday Honolulu Farmer’s Market among other outlets.
-Maui Style Potato Chips:
Have to try the addictive Kitch’n Cook’d made right here. Visit the factory for samples.

Many more yummy delights here in Hawaii.
Please post a few of your tips and recommendations for all of us.

If you love food you must love Paris dining! Such a wide range of restaurants to choose from at different price ranges. Tried many of the three star Michelin and other top rated places. Last few years have been checking out several smaller newer spots.
Just completed a 2 week update in May 2013 so here is a current personal Top Ten:
10. AGAPE SUBSTANCE 66 rue Mazarine 2nd
The hot innovative Paris restaurant during 2012. Brand new chef Gaetan Gentil has just started with Menu Affaire for 45 Euros.
9. SEPTIME 80 rue de Charonne 11th
Entered the new May 2013 list of Restaurant Mag Top 50 best restaurants in the world at #49. Chef Bertrand Grebaut trained with Alain Passard and offers a fairly priced 3 course set lunch 28E. Very casual rough dark wood table tops but during last visit served hard raw fresh rhubarb detracting from the delicate fish course.
8. LA VERRE VOLE 67 rue de Lancry 10th
This hot “grubby” blackboard wine bar delivers on their 16E plat de jour cooking – like a tasty Iberique grilled pluma de cochon with vibrant bulgar Taboule & baby onions. Value.
7. FISH LA BOISSONNERIE 69 rue de Seine 6th
Always like this casual fish place where all is fresh including classy crisp white napkins – beautiful 15E plate of grilled mullet with lovely crisp skin yet keeping moist in a minestrone sauce including citron, aneth, fennel, carrots, beluga lentils, Gnocchetti sardi. Menus of value too.
Three worthy sister places nearby at COSI (super focaccia), SEMILLA, & LA DERNIERE GOUTTE.
6. MON VIEIL AMI 69 rue Saint-Louis en I’lle 4th
Old fav of Chef Antoine Westermann who also is involved with DROUANT 2nd and recently opened LE COQ RICO 18th specializing in farmed chicken dishes. Features wonderful vegetables and always reliable lunch plat de jour 15E different for each of the 7 days of the week.
5. SPRING 6 rue Bailleul 1st
Limited no choice 3 course tasty lunch menu 46E of whatever is freshest at the market. Ask to see their old wine cellar dating from the 16th century.
4. LE VILLARET 13 rue Ternaux 11th
Extrordinary 55E dinner menu degustation & real wine values – 07 Raveneau Chablis 1er crus for only 54E.
3. LA DAME DE PIC 20 rue de Louvre 1st
Talented chef Anne-Sophie Pic has been criticized for what some have called a gimmicky start by smelling three scent cards to determine your preference of her 3 menus: Terre Safrance, Agrumes Aromatiques & Sous-Bois Epices.
However the flavours of the dishes run true and are outstanding – the last two at 100E & 120E. Highly recommend.
2. PASSAGE 53 in covered alleyway of Passage de Panoramas at # 53 in the 2nd
Amazing Japanese chef Sato has quickly obtained 2 Michelin stars for a small 20 seat unusual spot with a small kitchen upstairs. Truly brilliant cuisine! Every dish a work of art that tastes delicious. 110E menu. An outstanding culinary adventure. Highly recommend.
1. AKRAME 19 rue Lauriston 16th
This small 20 seat one star was our fav last year. Returned and it is still outstanding. Set menu of 4 courses 70E or 6 courses 90E but you end up getting 10+ dishes. Classic but so appropriately innovative as well.
Busy driven chef Akrame has found time to open across the street Atelier Vivande a more casual 3 course bistro 35E that is also packed. Highly recommend.
Don’t forget special treats like ice cream at Berthillon, gelato at Grom, macaron at Laduree, and chocolate & mille feuille at Jacques Genin.
Please take the opportunity below to let us have your special recommendation for a restaurant in Paris. Merci!

It used to be easy to differentiate between what is a formal or an informal restaurant.  Dress code, tablecloths, service,  and decor were some of the important elements in making that determination.  Price often factored in too.

No more! Especially in Vancouver every place is now strictly informal!

For many years I have been on the panel deciding the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards with our 25th Anniversary coming up  next year. We used to designate restaurants into best formal and best informal categories. It wasn’t totally semantics but last year because every place indicated they were informal we changed the categories to Upscale Dining & Casual Spot.

Best Upscale Restaurant was defined as “consistently offers the city’s very highest quality dining experience based on exemplary preparations, cooking, ingredient sourcing, desserts, service and wine selection in an accommodating environment where the average entree for one person is over $30, there is a strong  wine/sommelier program and reservations are accepted” .

Best Casual was similarly worded but drink selection substituted for wine, all for a reasonable price under $30 and may or may not have a wine/sommelier program and reservations may or may not be accepted.

Hawksworth cleaned up as Best Upscale, Best New, Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year in 2012. L’Abattoir won Best Casual.

Working now on our 2013 Awards we realize that all our Vancouver restaurants are really casual in nature.  What happened to formal and upscale?  Next year we may have to go to a different format completely and judge all restaurants together and separate them only by their geographic neighbourhoods.

It is a new dining era. Some restaurants discourage smart phone use but it’s hard to enforce bans. Tweets and immediately sharing photos of a dining experience on Istagram now is very widely spread.

Where are you in your city’s dining restaurant profiles? Please let everyone know what to expect when dining in your area.

The 14th edition of the Bocuse d’Or cooking competition started by Paul Bocuse in 1987 was held as always in Lyon France at the end of January 2013. Canada placed 9th (best ever finish 4th), USA 7th (best ever 6th) with the gold going to France (their 7th win – one out of every two years!), silver to Denmark and bronze to Japan.

In Canada we have Gold Medal Plates (GMP) www.goldmedalplates.com a culinary competition across Canada to raise funds for the charitable Canadian Olympic Foundation and over the nine years has raised more than 7 million dollars for donation to help Olympic athletes train on their Own the Podium program. All the regional GMP winners then compete in the Canadian Culinary Championships (CCC) to be named best chef in Canada. I am a judge for the Vancouver GMP competiton and I just returned from judging the 2013 CCC with 10 competing chefs this year – all champion regional GMP winners! The CCC is held over several days and has 3 main events on which the results are based:

1. The Wine Matching Challenge

The night before this event each chef is given a bottle of unmarked mystery wine and has 24 hours to shop for and develop a dish that will pair well with that wine all on a limited budget of $500 to serve 400 guests. The wine turned out to be 2010 Norman Hardie pinot noir from Prince Edward County in Ontario. Some chefs found good matches with local duck, cherries and even raspberry-strawberry tuilles in capturing the wine essence but others went to less successful matchings of ling cod and albacore tuna.

2. The Black Box Competition

Every year we have 6 ingredients in the box which each chef opens and then has one hour to prepare 2 dishes. The six catagories with this year’s selection were:

(a) Grain – Red Fife Wheat Flour

(b) Dairy – Goat Gruyere with firm strong flavours

(c) Fruit – Anjou Pear

(d) Vegetable – Black Kale ( or Tuscan Kale) – versatile use raw in a salad, in soups or pastas, sauteed, or my fav deep fried crisp kale chips!

(e) Fish – Northern Divine Sturgeon Caviar

(f) Meat – Bone in shoulder and neck of lamb – shows butchering skills but impossible to braise properly in the one hour time limit!

3. The Grande Finale

A glittering affair of a signature dish of each chef with their choice of Canadian wine for 700 guests.

The winning chef Marc St. Jacques of Toronto’s Auberge du Pommier featured a classy terrine of foie gras with lemon curd on black sesame financier.

Please post for our edification any comments you have on this or even a short note to make us aware of any of your own city or regional culinary competitions.

Longing for the good old days of a simple wine inventory cellar book with hand written entries?

I still cling to that antiquated system somewhat because it was so excitingly hands on and personal but as a computer nut I also like the additional features, valuations and organizational benefits of the many new on line alternatives.

Hard to believe that so many friends of mine now have each individual bottle in their wine cellar barcoded for easy management. Wow are they ever organized! But there are so many different software programs out there it is hard to choose how to even get started.

I really like what Eric LeVine has done with Cellar Tracker (www.cellartracker.com) redesigning to make constant improvements and they also now have posted nearly 4 million tasting notes for references and recommendations. Impressive work indeed!

Please let us know what you recommend as working for you based on your own wine cellar management system. Much appreciated.