By Anne DesBrisay Last spring, I opened an email from John Gilchrist, Calgary’s pre-eminent food writer, asking if I’d be interested in contributing the Ottawa section to a cross-Canada restaurant app he was working on. It was to be a first of its kind, geared to the business traveller, a catalogue of best places to eat as chosen by the leading restaurant critics in eleven cities across Canada. Its working title was Dining in Downtown Canada … good places to eat within a walk or cab from major hotels in our major cities. The idea was simple: you’re in Saskatoon, […]
Restaurant Wine Lists
Restaurant Wine Lists: Vintage Tips Video
In this video chat, Lance Hurtubise, CEO of the Vintage Group, a collection of restaurants based in Alberta and Prince Edward Island, chats about great wine lists and service. Wine plays a central role in both Lance’s restaurants and in his life. He’s also just launched his own line of wines. Before we dive into this topic, tell me about your race-car driving mother. You were very young when you started in restaurants: how old were you and what did you do? You started Moxie’s restaurants in 1986: how did you come up with that concept? Let’s talk […]
Canada’s Best Restaurants – Maclean’s Magazine
Just got my copy of the Maclean’s Magazine first-ever Restaurant Guide for dining establishments across Canada. This is going to be my bible for where to eat when I travel. I was honoured to be part of the team of reviewers … pick up a copy to read the reviews. (An aside, here are my favourite restaurants in other cities.) Just a couple of hints … Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Wine Bar Hours: Monday to Saturday Lunch: 11:45-2 pm, 7 Days a Week: 4:30 pm tacos; 5 pm Dinner Address: 20 York Street, Ottawa, ON Phone: 613-562-9331 Play Food and […]
Canada’s Best Sommeliers: Celebrating our Wine Wizards
A toast to Véronique Rivest who won the Best Canadian Sommelier Competition in Halifax on September 17, as well as to the finalists, Will Predhomme and Élyse Lambert. Semi-finalists included Bruce Wallner, Robert Noel and Bertrand Eichel. They all participated in extensive written exams, blind tasting, wine list correction and an hour-long simulated restaurant service in front of a live audience in their second language. You can watch two video interviews about the sommelier competition with semi-finalist Bruce Wallner. Winner Véronique Rivest Les Fougères Restaurant Chelsea, Quebec Congrats to our hometown gal on her extraordinary win: we are so […]
Bring Your Own Wine to BC Restaurants
By Mari Kane Friday night marked a turning point in our seven-year-long Vancouver dining experience – we brought our own bottle of wine into a restaurant. One day after the new Bring Your Own Wine (BYOW) law went into effect in BC, my husband and I proudly marched into a restaurant bearing a bottle I had purchased in a VQA store not 3 hours before. We set it on the table and the maitre d’ approached our table, saying “I talked to you on the phone. This is our first BYOW.” I told him it was our first BYOW as […]
Restaurant Wine Service: the Good, the Bad and the Gross
In part two of our video chat below, Scott shares his most memorable wine experiences in restaurants, including a hilarious story about the worst one (watch him in the small screen with the bottle when he explains what the waiter did) The International Culinary Center Bastianich Adriactico Friulano A floral white with mouth-watering acidity and a pleasantly dry, bitter and refreshing finish. Drink 2012 – 2014 277467 13% XD 750 ml $18.95 Score: 87/100 You may also enjoy these video chats: Master Sommelier Video: What it Takes to be a Restaurant Wine Expert […]
Ritz-Carlton TOCA Sommelier Lorie O’Sullivan on BBQ wines, restaurant wine lists
In this segment of Tasting Notes, I chat with Lorie O’Sullivan, sommelier at the Ritz-Carlton’s TOCA restaurant in Toronto about wines for barbecued meats and veggies. She also shares tips on choosing great bottles from a restaurant wine list. This interview was originally published in the luxury lifestyle magazine Homefront. Where did you study to become a sommelier? In 2006, I took the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers course at Niagara College. The course was held on Sundays, which was great because at the time I had another full time job in another profession. Two years later, I went to […]
Canoe Restaurant Sommelier Will Predhomme Tips for Tasting Wine
In this interview, I chat with William Predhomme, Senior Sommelier Canoe Restaurant + Bar in Toronto about winter wines and pairings. This interview was originally published in the luxury lifestyle magazine Homefront. What’s the best thing about being a sommelier at Canoe? The variety of wines and spirits that I get to sample on a daily basis. I’m fortunate to taste from the weird to the wonderful and everything in between: this is my job every day. I also love the wine regions I’m invited to visit around the world. What’s the most expensive bottle in your collection at the […]
Royal York Sommelier Jimson Bienenstock Shares His Secrets for Enjoying Wine
In this interview, I chat with Jimson Bienenstock, Head Sommelier, The Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto about pairing wine with cheese and other vinous matters. This interview was originally published in the luxury lifestyle magazine Homefront. What was your first memorable wine? In 1990, I went to Paris to become bilingual in French. My first visit to a winery was to the small, artisanal Château Gobinaud in the Listrac Haut Medoc region of Bordeaux. It actually wasn’t a “château” at all—more like a big old shed. We bought one barrel of wine from Jean “Papi” Gobinaud, who then showed […]
Restaurant Wine Lists: Choosing Wines, Sommeliers, Fair Markups – The Restaurant Guys Radio Show
I chat with radio hosts Mark and Francis about restaurant wine lists, from advice on how to choose wines from a list to whether the markups are fair. We also cover a wide variety of other wine topics, including how do you earn a living from wine writing and the new book Unquenchable to shopping for wine with mobile apps and the power of social media, especially Twitter and Facebook, for finding new wines you love.
