roundhouse radio

January 30th, 2016

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Welcome to The Neighbourhood. 

 

Tasting Room Radio is heard on Vancouver’s newest FM station. Roundhouse Radio 98.3 and is 5 blocks East of Gastown in  jumping East Van.

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I thought I’d walk the neighbourhood and talk to the chefs and somms.. Guests include:

Sean Reeve – The Mackenzie Room.  On Powell

Jason Sussman and Gino Di Domenico of Tacofino in Gastown

Also Pierre Deschamps. Director of the documentary Noma: My Perfect Storm

About the restaurant in Copenhagen that won World’s best restaurant four times.

 

THE SHOW

Sean Reeve – Chef/Partner The MacKenzie Room 415 Powell

Jan30-TRR

Created out of a passion for food, drink and sharing both with good friends and partners Andrew and Katie Jameson.  They  all wanted  to share their  love of honest food and delicious drink with all of us, and also  helped us create a restaurant we are proud of . They believe that fresh ingredients and exceptional service are what you deserve, they also  think a delicious local beverage paired with food from around home should be your routine.  They search for the best quality ingredients the west coast has to offer,  get dirty and happy finding them for you, so you can get happy and full eating them.

TRR Jan30th

Our happiest surprise of the year. Co-owner Sean Reeves is a fiercely talented chef with an intrinsic understanding of what it takes to make local food sing in season without pretentious falsetto. Lovely room, too.”  Scout Magazine

The Mack Menu

 

www.themackenzieroom.com

 

NOMA:  My Perfect Storm           (Documentary)

Pierre DesChamps – Director.   On the phone from Paris

 

Chef Rene Redzepi NOMA

Chef Rene Redzepi NOMA

After winning a Best Restaurant In The World award in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014, chef Rene Redzepi discusses his Copenhagen restaurant Noma and how his culinary philosophy has shaped its success. This isn’t just another foodie film, it’s also a movie about place, immigration (the Danish-born Redzepi talks frankly about his Macedonian descent), and the importance of being true to your locale.

A once-ridiculed experiment by chef René Redzepi, the resto and its free-associative menu of Nordic-based cooking – marked by an eclectic assortment of native vegetables with “meat as the backup singer” – was serving “crowds” of 15 when word of Redzepi’s innovation began to spread.

What followed was an unlikely rocket to the top of Pelegrino’s famed 50 Best Restaurants list, and a four-time stint as “the best restaurant in the world.” And then some things happened.

Pierre Deschamps’ Noma: My Perfect Storm is a remarkable documentary, a 33-month fly-on-the-wall experience of a restaurant and its resident genius on top of the world, losing their balance and attempting to right themselves.

Noma provides a busy plate of events and insights, from the complex psychological profile of its central character – a mercurial, Macedonian-born chef with an outsider’s chip on his shoulder – to the eccentric outside characters (including a Swedish mushroom expert and a Scottish sea urchin harvester) whose provisions inspire some of Redzepi’s wilder culinary visions.

But the central narrative is the rough journey of a small team of epicurean artists dealing with life under the world’s microscope. Michelin stars are won and lost. Top spot at Pellegrino is suddenly not a given.

NOMA

There is an outbreak of food poisoning, and Redzepi and his acolytes suddenly find themselves questioning their priorities and seek to rediscover their joy.

“A foodie’s valentine.” New York Times

Screens at VanCity Theatre

Jan 31 04:15 pm  Guests:  Royal Dinette’s Head Chef Jack Chen, Chef Rasmus Leck Fischer, Sous Chef Erik Køllgaard Pedersen will be in attendance

Feb 02 01:00 pm

Feb 03 08:20 pm

http://www.viff.org/theatre/films/fc8789-noma-my-perfect-storm

 TACOFINO GASTOWN  – Jason Sussman & Gino di Domenico

We finish back in the neighbourhood at Tacofino in Gastown

Tacofino Gastown  is celebrating its one year anniversary by giving back to customers and the local community. Today!!

TacoFino Taco Bar  (15 West Cordova  will be serving its famous Baja-style fish tacos at half-price ($3 per order) on Saturday, January 30 (11 a.m. through midnight).

All proceeds will be donated to Potluck Café Society  an outreach program in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside aimed to create jobs for people with barriers to employment and provide healthy food options.

For every use of the hashtag #tacoversary from now until January 30, an additional $1 will be donated by Tacofino to the local outreach program.

The Boys

The Boys

Tacofino’s Gastown location opened last January, and features an 80-seat dining room, 20-seat lounge, and 16-seat patio in addition to their Burrito Bar take-out counter.

Guests are the founder Jason Sussman and partner Gino di Domenico.

It’s a great story about one single food truck in Tofino that gets so popular they’re convinced to bring their concept into Vancouver with two more trucks which  leads to 2 restaurants in Vancouver and one more in Victoria!! (with another location hinted at in this interview).

They honour Ocean Wise and as you can see – give back to the community.

The Original Truck in Tofino

The Original Truck in Tofino

Grab a fish taco Saturday at half price. You will feel better knowing you’re stuffed and helped people at the same time.

tacofino.com/gastown-home

 

 

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

38th Vancouver International Wine fest

Savio Volpe – what a find

 

 

October 24th, 2015 – ROUNDHOUSE RADIO!

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Tasting Room Radio has found a new home. It’s Roundhouse Radio 98.3  Vancouver’s brand new FM Station.

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Welcome to the first show!!

Guests include Rhys Pender, Kurtis Kolt, Sandra Oldfield (Tinhorn Creek) and Wine Lawyer Mark Hicken.

THE SHOW

Our first two guests  are two of the best known and most respected wine educators in Canada.

Kurtis Kolt and Rhys Pender.  This week they kick off TRR talking about their favourite wines of the summer and what wines to watch for this Fall. Plus a bunch of other cool stuff.

The third member of this group,  they don’t have a name yet, is The Queen of the Vines DJ Kearney.

Here’s some background on Rhys and Kurtis and the list of wines they’re talking about.

Enjoy!!

Rhys Pender –  Master of Wine

 

Rhys

Rhys

A passionate educator, wine lover, judge, writer, and grape grower/farmer, Rhys has worked in the wine industry since he was a teenager, back in Australia. His interest in food and wine really peaked by travelling through Europe and then a summer spent immersed in food, wine and language in the South of France with Alishan.

After following his wife-to-be back to Canada, Rhys pursued his food and wine passion by completing a Professional Culinary Diploma and working in a top Vancouver restaurant. At the same time he took his first wine course, something that gave him an insatiable appetite for learning about wine. Rhys and Alishan moved to the Okanagan in 1999 to pursue the food and wine culture. Rhys spent time working in the vineyard, the cellar, wine shops and catering events before moving back to Vancouver for a two-year stint to manage a specialty retail wine store. Back in the Okanagan in 2003 Rhys and Alishan started a catering company and Okanagan Grocery Artisan Breads, and Rhys started his Wine Plus+ business doing wine education, consulting, writing and judging. Rhys then took on the grueling Master of Wine program of study all while running Okanagan Grocery and Wine Plus+ and with two baby daughters and one sleep deprived mother-baker in the house. Yes, they thought he was crazy.

This culminated in Rhys becoming Canada’s youngest Master of Wine (the wine world’s highest level of achievement) in 2010, one of only 300 in the world. Through his studies, Rhys knew every reason why they shouldn’t jump into the vineyard and winemaking dream but couldn’t help doing it anyway. Instead he used his training to design and plant the 4 acre Mulberry Tree Vineyard at the property Rhys and Alishan purchased in Cawston in 2008.

His wines are called Little Farm and they’re outstanding.

www.wineplus.ca

www.littlefarmwinery.ca

 

Kurtis Kolt – Master of Everything

 

Kurtis Kolt

Kurtis Kolt

KK is a Vancouver-based wine consultant who writes about wine, presents seminars, hosts events, judges wine competitions, works with restaurants on their wine programs and so on.
His  background is in running restaurants around Vancouver, including  managing Gastown’s Salt Tasting Room until 2010 when he received the Sommelier of the Year’ award at the 2010 Vancouver International Wine Festival.

He’s  been profiled by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, run the wine program for an evening at James Beard House in New York and been a tasting panel participant at Wine & Spirits Magazine. I have various certifications and credits through London’s Wine & Spirit Education Trust, the Court of Master Sommeliers & the Winemaking Program at UC Davis.

He’s the  co-founder of  Top Drop Vancouver Year Two  a dynamic, new wine event in Vancouver.   We’ll feature Top Drop Year 2 Next Week

He also writes a weekly wine column in Vancouver’s Georgia Straight called The Bottle

http://www.kurtiskolt.com/

https://twitter.com/KurtisKolt

 

Summer – Rosé 

Rose
L’Ostal Cazes 2014 Rosé Pays d’Oc IGP, France
Angove 2014 Nine Vines Grenache Shiraz Rosé South Australia, Australia
Domaine du Grand Cros 2014 Côtes de Provence Provence, France
Summer – Riesling
Jim Barry 2013 The Lodge Hill Dry Riesling Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia

St. Urbans-Hof 2011 Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett Riesling Mosel, Germany

Summer – Other
Ch. De la Gravelle 2013 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie Muscadet, Loire, France
Hidalgo N/V La Gitana Manzanilla Jerez, Spain

L’Ormarine Picpoul 2013?

Fall Wines

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Muga 2010 Rioja Reserva Rioja, Spain

Chapoutier 2013 Bila-Haut Côtes du Roussillon Villages

Stags’ Leap 2011 Petite Sirah Napa Valley, California, USA
Fall – Interesting Whites & Reds
Okanagan Crush Pad 2013 Narrative White Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada

Okanagan Crush Pad 2013 Narrative Red Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada
Orofino 2014 Pinot Gris Similkameen Valley, BC, Canada
Stag’s Hollow 2013 Grenache Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada
Best of the rest
CedarCreek  2012 Platinum Block 4 Pinot Noir Okanagan Valley

Domaine Weinbach 2012 Cuvée Laurence Gewurztraminer  Alsace, France
Vina Tondonia Rioja Blanco 2001
Château de Nages 2012 Vieilles Vignes Blanc, ~$30, Costières de Nîmes, France – Private Stores

Maverick Estate Winery 2014 Pinot Gris, $19+, Okanagan Valley – Winery Driect, Private Stores

Tantalus Vineyards 2012 Chardonnay, $26+, Okanagan Valley, BC – Winery Direct/Private Stores

Haywire 2014 Wild Ferment, ~25, Okanagan Valley, BC – Winery Direct/Private Stores

Yering Station 2013 Little Yering Pinot Noir, $14.49, Yarra Valley, Australia – BC Liquor Stores

Planeta 2013 Cerasuolo di Vittoria, ~$30, Sicily, Italy – Private Stores

Foradori 2012 Teroldego, $33.99, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy – BC Liquor Stores

 

Mark  Hicken  and Sandra Oldfield (Tinhorn Creek)

 We start out talking about Canada’s odious wine laws and then head in three different directions on living under laws made for prohibition in 1928.

Mark is a lawyer who specializes in wine law and keeping them honest in the Canadian bureaucratic  back rooms .

Sandra Oldfield is a force, pure and simple.

Sandra Oldfield

Sandra Oldfield

In 1995 she experienced her  first “crush” at Tinhorn Creek. That was the year she  moved to Oliver from Santa Rosa, California,  packed her  ‘66 Mustang and drove across the border to a new life, full of excitement and hope – including the hope that her  car wouldn’t break down somewhere in Washington.

The facts: Studied winemaking and Canadian history at the University of California at Davis (affectionately known as UC Davis);  worked at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Sonoma; She is  part owner at Tinhorn Creek; she also has a vintage purse addiction.

http://www.tinhorn.com/

Mark Hicken – Lawyer and Wine Fan

Mark Hicken

Mark Hicken

Mark has a B.A. (Honours) from UBC and a J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. He has also completed the Wine Executive Program at the University of California. Davis  Mark is a member of the Board of Directors of the BC Hospitality Foundation and is the President of the Modernize Wine Association of B.C., a non-profit society that advocates for a modern food and wine culture. In April 2012, Mark appeared before the House of Commons Finance Committee as a witness in favour of Bill C-311 (the inter-provincial shipping law reform bill which became law in June 2012).  Mark believes that effective legal advice must be provided in the context of a client’s business objectives. This is critical in the Canadian wine industry where regulatory structures affect every aspect of the business from conception to consumption..

http://www.winelaw.ca/

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

 

The annual Savour Cowichan  gathering

BC’s Garagiste

Royal Wood makes wine with Therapy

The Judgment of BC