Celebrating the Slow Food Revival: Molto Largo, Muey Largo

Slow Food is always better than Fast Food! But DAMN! Does it have to be that slow?

Anthony Bourdain had a few things right in his book "The Nasty Bits", the slow food revolution is healthier and alot better tasting. Think of one large pot being cooked for hours upon hour, pork bone marrow, beef marrow, chicken bones, miso, soy, various vegetables all rendered down into one goldenly delicious broth. Most definitely, this stuff will always taste better and bring back familiar warm fuzzy feelings that you could never get at your local golden arches. Bourdain also got another thing right, the restaurants that always serve that one dish and only one dish do it right and is the best thing you'll ever taste. Think about it, if the person behind the kitchen has been doing this one dish for 40 years, it must be good and he/she MUST be doing something right. I'll give you an example from my own experience. When in Hong Kong, go to the stalls/noodle stands that make one type of thing and only one type of thing. Right above Central up the hill towards the mid levels there is one noodle stand that you would definitely have to try. For those familiar with Richmond Lansdowne's No. 9, I'll tell you now that the place is but a shadow of the noodle restaurant with the same chinese name in Hong kong. What is the one thing you always had to order at 4am after a long hours in the flashing lights of night clubs? BEEF BRISKET NOODLE SOUP. Well this noodle stand makes ONLY that. You can order all types of noodles with the Beef Brisket and soup and only the Beef Brisket. Let me tell you, theres no way the damned place could've stayed open for that long if it wasn't doing something right, and it that beef brisket noodle soup was the best damned noodle soup (Cantonese style) that I've ever had. Well on to the point of all this.

I recently went to Benkei Ramen on Robson by Denman. No, it's not your dried pack of instant noodles you have at home when you're desperate for something, when you're in your 13th hour studying for that exam tomorrow morning that you haven't learnt anything for all semester. No, none of those nightmares came back to me while I was eating at Benkei on a warm summers day with the patio open. Nope, I was relishing the home made recipes of this master broth maker. We ordered the Gyozas and a Chasu (Roast Pork) Rice Ball. My friend ordered the Shio which is a mix of the miso and pork broth with a special sweet soy. I ordered the Shoyu which is the pork broth. The Gyoza was not amazing, but that's not what you really go to Benkei for. When the bowls of Ramen came, they were piping hot, and our growling stomach began to feel warm and fuzzy before we even took a sip. My broth has a deep meaty flavor, you can taste the many hours of simmering marrow and vegetables combining to create the perfect crock pot concoction. Do you remember the scene from Ratatouille when the evil food critic's heart melted and was reminded of eating home cooked food that always soothed the soul? Well, my damned cold heart was melted. All that bitterness of Vancouver? Still there, but I'm pretty sure a bit of it was chipped away. Benkei Ramen is definitely worth a try when you're down in the westend. Ramen is not your make shift sustenance when you're struggling to stay awake shivering under the cold florescent lamp cramming away. Ramen is food of the soul made in Japan.

I'll admit that Bourdain had the slow food revival thing right. It does taste damn good. But I've got to wonder when slow food is too slow no matter how good the food tastes.

So as I said last post, that Italian Kitchen and the Glowbal management decided to fuck me over with a 5:15pm dinner time slot. WHO EATS DINNER AT 5:15! I don't even think your grandparents would eat dinner at 5:15 at the senior residence. My fuckin imaginary dog doesn't even eat dinner at 5:15pm. Now who in the right mind would say yes to a reservation like that, especially when they decided to take $500 from my credit card as a deposit. Oh yes, please take $500 from my account so I can take a dinner time slot that no one would show up to, please do. No I decided to take my business elsewhere. So what restaurant in Vancouver can accommodate me and show me a good time on my Birthday? Yes, this spoilt, self-righteous and discerning bastard wants a place to pamper him and treat his guests right. Well the first place to answer my pleas were So.cial at Le Magasin. Yes, the French were the first to respond and come to my aid! A damned welcome surprise. And talk about hospitality! They went over the top for me.

So.cial gave me the entire Oyster Bar room for my group of 20. This beautiful room included the Oyster ice bar and the drinks bar. We had a personal bartender that doubled as our server and a small nook with a faux fireplace just finished the space off. So.cial is a unique business in the heart of Gastown. Their business includes a Charcuterie/Butcher Shop, a restaurant and lounge. I got to So.cial early with a few friends and decided to order a dozen Malpeque oysters and a Gin tonic while we waited. Malpeques are my favourite oyster and the ones they served were nicely shucked and served with a brine that almost resembled a Vietnamese "Nuoc Cham". As the group began to drift in the room was abuzz with energy. After an hour of waiting around we finally began to order. I decided to try their specialty there, the Charcuterie ( a trio of cured meat pate). For the main I ordered an entree of 38 day dry aged AAA Alberta prime Ribeye over potato fingerlings and topped with shoestring onions. I finished the meal off with their vanilla lavender creme brulee.

Now, I'm a man who likes pate. I like rich meaty flavors. This was some of the best pate I've ever had. The chicken pate was excellent and had a touch of cumin. The buffalo rillete I wasn't so wild about as it was quite sweet. However when my friend told me to mix the two together, it was like peanut butter and jam or eggs and ketchup. The last was a chicken and liver terrine which was topped with capers to cut the rich fatty flavour. On to the main event, this was what I was waiting for all night! The 38 day dry aged AAA Alberta Prime Ribeye cooked medium rare. The steak was perfectly melt in your mouth buttery tender piece of beauty. I was in carnivore heaven. This was what T-rex must've felt when he tore into the flesh of a Steak-o-saurus. The brulee was a little watery and led me to believe it had been sitting awhile due to the amount of servings they had to fire at the same time. I ordered a bottle of Orofino Cabernet Merlot which my friend graciously paid for. It was a great match with the steak. The waiter Alex was very friendly and had an awesome time serving us suggesting and complimenting our choices. Let me tell you, you would've never noticed that the entire crew of So.cial is authentically French.

So here is my point about Bourdain's slow food revival opinions. 4 hours was our total dinner time. My friend called it a Marathon dinner. I have to admit it was a damn long dinner. The saving grace was the remarkable French hospitality? I know, when pig's fly right? But I guess even the French have learnt to adapt in an overly agressive Vancouver hospitality industry. Whether or not 4 hours is worth a great tasting dinner depends on your intentions. I had intentions of getting intensely drunk after dinner and enough time to dance it off before passing. This was not to be because of our French style dinner. I understand that eating should be an experience but 1/6 of a day for one meal is not my idea of having a good time. I had enough wine and alcohol to get me through the experience though.

The rest of the night included a inebriated showing by two of my co-workers and a test of gag reflex after downing 4 straight shots of Crown Royal at Fabric night club. This wasn't the club I expected to go to, but I was inclined to go anywhere by this time. Plenty of eye-candy helped the ambience and I was enjoying the rest of our short clubbing drop-by. The rest is a blur and for all it's fast pacedness, I could not for the life of me recall too much.

Well Summer is finally starting to kick off. The summer solstice usually means the anniversary of my overlordic fascist father's birthday. He's been awfully mellow lately and our night at Steveston reflected that.
We ended up at Kisamos Greek Taverna. Yet another rule of thumb I agree with Bourdain about is to follow the locals to the packed establishment. We waited for a table for about half an hour and were seated window side on a nice and bright evening. I ordered the Roast Lamb and it met my expectations. It was as good as any good taverna should be. The kicker is the price which at 11.95 is rediculous for a good roast lamb dinner.
Went for a nice stroll after dinner at the pier and decided to grab a iced ceremonial matcha tea. Refreshing end to a refreshing evening.

I guess I really am starting to feel an inclination towards this place I've called home for so long.

My dinner did bring out a side of me I've been holding back though. My disgruntled feelings toward an organization at school I've been a part of. I won't repeat these things due to my utmost respect for the people within the organization and because I'm a loyal person, but I will say that I have been very disgusted with the ways things have turned out this year and the change in dynamics of the group. There was a total split and alienation created from the top down. This to say the least was not what I was expecting from the beginning of the school year. Another of my friend confided me telling me that I didn't need them. In a sense I don't but I also owe alot of things to the group and I feel a sense of loyalty to them, at the same token I believe it's my time to let go because of my situation next year.

Recently the Vancouver School Board has ruled that parents would not be allowed to pull their Children out of gay friendly classes that they have enacted into the curriculum, but they are allowed to pull them out of health and physical sexuality related classes due to religious beliefs. I believe this is the biggest hypocrisy on earth. Our liberalist hippie activist province is at it again. I have nothing against gays, I've worked with a whole group of them for years and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. But if a Child does not even conceive simple sexuality topics what makes them able to comprehend a homosexual relationship? Learning about homosexual does not always mean they will tolerate them. Some of the most educated people in this world have been the biggest bigots and racists. I have no respect for a school board that forces an education upon children that is not prescribed by the opinions of all parents. I believe parents should still have a filter veto to what goes on in their Children's education. Though I believe they should have access to all information I have to question the age at which these Children are being introduced to such things. Lettign Children know something so early does not necessarily solve the situation in our society. Neither does seperating this course into a specific "Gay friendly" course help by patronizing the social classification. Vancouver politics is fucked because it is full of hippies. I will always believe that. Hippies are the ones running our city, beware!

I guess leaving isn't so bad. If it wasn't for all the DAMNED good food!

Till next time my dear readers.


Benkei Ramen - 1471 Robson St. Westend
So.cial at Le Magasin - 332 Water St. Gastown
Kisamos Greek Taverna - 3420 Moncton St. Steveston