Summer food fun and drink - Enjoy an Okanagan Meritage Today · Monday August 25, 2008 by colin newell
Andrea asks… “When does your Summer Food Fun and Drink series end? And what are you going to call the new series?”
Good question.
Was thinking something along the lines of Autumn Leaves Feast of Fields… in celebrating harvest… something that resonates with me… having grown up on a small farm. It is calm. It is subtle.
Or we could call it Listeria Hysteria Pass me the Bacon Mildred…
Not so subtle.
Speaking of which, Sunday morning I was gazing fondly at a portion of Maple Leaf bacon in the fridge on Sunday whilst whipping up some of my not-yet-famous Non-Dairy Waffles... Kids love `em and you will too!
And what goes better with a nice linear stack of waffles than 8 slices of bacon?
Especially when the threat of illness, death and cholesterol posed by contaminated meats – rests over your head like a scimitar hanging by one hair from your grandmothers head…
Anyway – a Olympian tug-of-war ensued between Andrea and I… I won. Bacon in pan.
And apart from the bacon tasting vaguely like Kopi Luwak all was well –
Today in Wine: Enjoyed a 2005 Red Rooster Meritage with dinner. It had pretty bold oak that merged as the wine caught a breath. There were fairly focused blue-berry notes, some pluminess and sufficiently chewy to sustain the pairing…
Uhm.
Ahh.
Vegetarian nachos.
There. I said it.
Summer food fun and drink - Sorry we are on Island time · Friday August 22, 2008 by colin newell
I talk to a lot of employers around Victoria and the Island – food, drink and service employers that is… owners of some of the best cafes, delis and restaurants.
And I ask them: What is the number one challenge when it comes down to staying in business?
Coming through for the customer? Getting out quality product? Getting enough customers?
Nope. None of the above.
Coffee shops closed due to no staff? Brew it at home! Ascaso grinder (shown at left) reviewed over here .
The challenge is the employee. I hear story after story after horror story about the difficulty in acquiring, recruiting and retaining employees… any employees.
Hell, even the bad ones are better than no employees at all.
Examples like: “A friend of mine manages a store in Vancouver in Kitsalano and has shared a number of stories. Most recently there was the girl he had just hired, she went through all the interviews, training etc. then the day before she was to start work calls and tells him that she wants about three weeks off in two weeks, hasn’t even worked a day yet. He said that he couldn’t accomodate this request at this time so she quit before starting work. Then there was the guy he hired who worked two hours, left for a coffee and never returned. Then there are those potential employees who apply, he lines up interviews and they never show, no email no phone call just don’t show up. He called one once and asked if they were coming in for an interview and they said , “no, I am down enjoying the sun at the beach”.
Where is the sense of responsibility?
In the environment that I work in, if you do not allow for “Facebook” or “Internet” time for employees – or allow employees to pack their cell phones and text each other, you are almost setting yourself up for a revolution.
I hate to use the phrase… “Hey, when I was a kid… or a young adult…” But…
Times were not tougher 20 years ago when I started getting into the job market – I think there was an ingrained sense of obligations and responsibilities – not about what’s in it for me!
And now geezers like me in my forties (and the equivalent in women…) are the parents of these slackers. I blame us. I blame us for coddling and spoon feeding, hand-holding and indulging these little over-indulged princesses and princes.
By golly are these kids in for a wake up call one day.
That said…
Who is going to do the dialing!
For the CoffeeCrew Blog, I am Colin Newell… sitting on my duff after a hard days vacation… thinking about stuff…
Summer fun food and drink - CBC TV Steven and Chris Show · Saturday August 16, 2008 by colin newell
The best thing about Food and Drink culture in Canada, I think, is sharing it with the ones you love… and sharing it with complete strangers.
And whether it is a TV thing, a radio spot or a newspaper article – I like the exposure that the food and cafe scene gets…
No. Not the exposure that I get… the exposure that the scene gets.
Because trust me, brothers and sisters, the message is much prettier than I am! If anyone recalls my appearance on WTN (The Womens Network) episode of “The Shopping Bags” – Well, they will recall that I was actually more wooden than Jean Claude Van Damme – my TV delivery a cross between a bad action hero, diction more like Horatio from CSI Miami crossed with the peppy patter of William Shatner tossed in to seal the deal.
This is why I am on the web.
Which is not to say that I will turn down a good offer. Because I rarely do.
But I had to pass on a wonderful opportunity to one of my most talented assistants in the last few days. After getting an offer from the producer of the CBC TV’s fabulously successful Steven & Chris Home show – to appear in Toronto next Tuesday – for a taping of one of their shows… about coffee no less, I had to acquiesce… fairly willingly I might add.
Because I have great people in Toronto – one in particular, Sara Lee Spector, the ever effervescent host and roast-mistress at St. Lawrence Markets Every Day Gourmet caffeine hot spot.
Toronto is a city of 5 million. And half of those people line up for her great lattes and cappuccinos at her lower level shop in the historic market on Front Street – Toronto.
And Sara has been in the business for going on 2 decades. So who could possibly know more about Toronto’s cafe culture than her?
Exactly. So I will stay put and plug the heck out of the event. Times and dates to follow!
Summer food fun and drink - Prima Strada Pizzeria Cook Street Victoria · Saturday August 9, 2008 by colin newell
My mother grew up in Montreal, Quebec Canada in the thirties and forties – in one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods the city had to offer. Heck, she had Oscar Peterson’s family as neighbors no less and actually got to sit in on jam sessions – Her neighborhood also included many first generation Italian families. And they shared their homes, their food and culture with everyone and anyone with an appetite.
When pizza places start to pop up in Victoria in the mid-sixties, she used to scoff at the menu citing: “This is not pizza! I will show you what Pizza is… the way the Montreal Italian families used to make…”
Her recipe: A very special dough. Left over tomato sauce from spaghetti.
And one very, very hot wood oven… 500 degrees (F) or more if she pushed it.
I know what you are thinking: But what did she put on the pizza?
I just told you.
In August 2008, Prima Strada Pizzeria’s arrival in the Cook Street village in Victoria brings some of that original and authentic Napoli style pizza – to a neighborhood, a city no less… eager to try something other than factory style pizza. You know the kind; 35 possible toppings and a crust so soggy that it’s inedible.
Pizzeria Prima Strada has gone back to the basics; 5 or 6 different styles and each one with only a small handful of ingredients. The Napoletana for instance, has tomato, garlic, anchovies and oregano. That’s what I am talking about.
Their Pizze is baked in a wood fired oven rated at about 800 degrees (F) – while we watched, Pizza went in one or two at a time and came out in under 3 minutes. The kitchen area hummed like a hydroelectric station and the floor staff couriered the fresh baked main event to tables within seconds of its ejection from the oven. We found the floor staff to be informed, passionate and motivated towards educating the customers without being overarching. All good.
On our first visit to Prima Strada, we tried the Salsiccia Piccanta; Fennel sausage, tomato, real mozzarella and roasted bell pepper.
Watching the preparation of the pizza from start to finish is oddly appealing, highly appetizing and ultimately satisfying as it arrives at your table (or bar position as in our case…) as fresh and hot as it can possibly be.
And the first bites? Personally, the taste experience of re-living something as simple as pizza from your childhood… Well, it is a powerful thing. On any other night, I may have been crying into my beer – tears of joy of course.
My mama is now 80 years old and I think she would be proud of what Prima Strada has pulled off. For me, her opinion would speak volumes.
But decide for yourself. Pizzeria Prima Strada has salads, some simple antipasti and a small selection of dessert gelato and sorbetto. Wine pairings appear moderately conservative and tasteful for this menu (Andrea and I had beer…)
We will be back soon. real soon.
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