Kass9 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I don't see what's wrong with Vancouver other than price and possibly job distance (outside), even then getting around to Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond isn't bad.. Just the traffic. Only cons I'd say for people moving here would be the price and traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus099 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 i went to pidgin's website and looked at the menu, it isn't even that pricy don't get what these people are whining about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 The DTES HAVE Culinary School is supportive of PiDGiN. Amid the ongoing protests in front of new restaurant in the Downtown Eastside, another organization continues to graduate people living in the neighbourhood from its culinary program. The HAVE cafe’s eight-week program is designed for people who’ve lived on the streets, and need help getting into the workforce. “This is the most amazing place. It changes people’s lives,” enthuses Ian Tostenson, co-founder of the six-year-old program, and the head of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association. “Six hundred students have gone through the program, and at least 70 per cent of them have got jobs.” He says local restaurants, like Pidgin, are key to their success. “The Pidgin Restaurant will have some of our students work in their restaurant. So the entire eastside benefits from this kind of training,” he notes. The people who’ve been demonstrating in front of Pidgin say it and other developments make the neighbourhood less affordable. But Tostenson says by employing locals, the restaurant is helping the area. “What Pidgin is doing is evolving the neighbourhood, not changing it.” http://www.news1130.com/2013/02/21/downtown-eastside-culinary-school-defends-pidgin-restaurant/ BTW here is the website and menu of PiDGiN: http://www.pidginvancouver.com/Menu.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampersand Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Whoever's saying they don't want to live in Vancouver with the implication that it's constantly noisy and just a concrete jungle. You've obviously never lived in the West End. I own a car but don't insure it because I can get everywhere I need to be through walking or transit. Stanley Park is a stones throw and many areas of the West End are actually pretty quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 So, essentially PiDGiN only makes the area unaffordable to people who don't want to get a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 So, essentially PiDGiN only makes the area unaffordable to people who don't want to get a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 To be fair a number of people are unable to work for any number of reasons, not always by choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Whoever's saying they don't want to live in Vancouver with the implication that it's constantly noisy and just a concrete jungle. You've obviously never lived in the West End. I own a car but don't insure it because I can get everywhere I need to be through walking or transit. Stanley Park is a stones throw and many areas of the West End are actually pretty quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kass9 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Still too many people. Hell the burbs I live in has too many people for my liking...lol. And while Stanley Park is certainly very nice, it's not really what I'd consider "nature". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 You like the jungle then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Stanley Park "nature": VS actual nature: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kass9 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 ^That does look nice and if that's what you're going for then it makes sense you wouldn't like to live in an urban city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_Capitan Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Ugh get these people out of Downtown Vancouver. Let them enjoy downtown Surrey, not my Vancouver. :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Stanley Park "nature": VS actual nature: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buggernut Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Stanley Park "nature": VS actual nature: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gally Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I stopped by here the other day to accompany my sister who was doing a project on this. The protest looked pretty peaceful, their weren't too many people and there was no heckling at people who were going in. I understand this is the place most of them feel comfortable being in, but it will take a lot more than 1 restaurant to clean up the area and drive up the cost of rent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I don't think people actually live on Jasper Lake. I mean, we've got more going on compared to other NA cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonLever Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 No protesting the food at Pidgin New ideas and innovative dishes create an alluring restaurant experience By Mia Stainsby, Vancouver SunFebruary 27, 2013 Pidgin's mushrooms, sugar snap peas, egg, soy yuzu with brown butter. Photograph by: ttluigraphy.com , Vancouver Sun So far, all you might know of Pidgin restaurant is a certain group goes there every night of the week, and not for the food. I'm here to talk about my dining experience, not the anti-poverty protesters, their cameras, flashlights and placards. So far, Pidgin shows no sign of crying "uncle." The food is intriguing and alluring enough to keep the restaurant running full tilt in spite of the external fracas. While demonized as a high-end intruder, with the exception of one dish, nothing is over $20 and the final tally doesn't differ from many other restaurants that have opened in the Gastown and Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods. But make no mistake, the food, in most cases, looks haute and tastes divine. General manager Hao-Yang Wang (West) keeps the front of house calm and running smoothly. Ironically, both the chef (Makoto Ono) and his co-owner (Brandon Grossutti) each had planned to open something far less adventurous - "a humble noodle shop" and a sandwich bar. A mutual friend hooked them up and the more they talked, the more ambitious their plans grew. Ono's bio would suggest his talent goes far beyond slinging noodles, although I've nothing against a good noodle shop. He began working in his father's Japanese restaurant in Winnipeg as a young teen, then attended Dubrulle Culinary Institute in Vancouver, now the Art Institute of Vancouver Dubrulle International Culinary Arts. He's worked at West, as well as for Pierre Marco White and Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurants in England. Back in Canada, he won the first Canadian Culinary Championship at the Gold Medal Plates in 2007 and from there, he opened restaurants in Beijing and Hong Kong, one of which made it to the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Ono isn't a follower. He bushwhacks to new ideas without getting lost and offering clean, eye-pleasing plates of food. Beef tataki is more a neatly folded carpaccio; he scatters chips of gruyere, wood ear mushroom and black garlic over it and for some crunch, there's some delicate angel-hair french fries on the side. He cuts potatoes into julienned noodles, lightly sautés them to al dente stage, mounds it on a plate with spicy cod roe and seaweed butter. It's like a new form of pasta. Sea urchin forms a landscape with cauliflower mousse, ponzu jalapeno salsa, dashi and slices of cauliflower. Ceviche-style local humpback shrimp with citrus and paper-thin strips of celery was exquisite. Dare I say, they're even more impressive than spot prawns. "It has a short season and also goes by the name king shrimp," says Ono. He made a sauce using the shrimp shells, set it with agar agar and puréed it, not wasting any of its flavours. He calls his calamari with bacon "yakisoba inspired" and slices the squid into thin noodles (lightly frozen and cut with a meat slicer). He finishes it with squid ink sauce, blacker than night, skirting the perimeter. Not all dishes are refined and haute. The fried chicken wings are a breather from fine and delicate but they're perfectly crispy and golden outside, juicy and flavourful inside. Scallops come with fried polenta fingers, brussels sprout leaves, capers, raisins and house-made XO sauce. The one dish I'd say "meh!" to is the Korean rice cakes (dukbokku, which are short, chewy, cylindrical noodles) with tomato sauce, pork belly and furikake (a dry sprinkling mix, including fish, sesame, seaweed) - the tomato sauce was just that. Really? I first encountered Pidgin pastry chef Amanda Cheng when Fraîche first opened in West Vancouver, under Wayne Martin and admired her deftly delicious work. Since then, she's been backpacking around Europe, gaining 10 pounds, and opened a dessert bar in Hong Kong. She's taking leaps but I'm not sure she hits the mark. Black sesame cream with red beans and snow fungus didn't scream "delicious," so I did, thinking if she works magic with these ingredients, she's a dessert markswoman. Flavours did come together harmoniously enough but - not a winner. Sliced meringue with lemon curd and finely sliced celery was an imaginative leap; I learned celery can work in a dessert but there really wasn't enough of it to make a statement. Cocktails, by the way, should be admired and enjoyed. The Mary Ellen Smith with sake, lime and cucumber not only tastes wonderful, it's a beauty with a long, papery slice of cucumber spiralling around the glass. As for the room, it's by Craig Stanghetta with his signature spanking white walls; it's more minimal and cleaner-lined than previous works (Bao Bei, Meat & Bread, Revolver Cafe, Pizzeria Farina, Stackhouse) but oh, yeah, outcrops of taxidermy on the wall are surely his. As for my last word on the protesters who want to shut you down? Chef! Take some of those fried chicken wings out there. $: Less than $60 for two without wine, tip and tax $$: $60 to $120 $$$: more than $120 Blog: vancouversun.com/miastainsby Twitter: Twitter.com/miastainsby VANCOUVER SUN RESTAURANT GUIDE: vancouversun.com/restaurantguide PIDGIN 350 Carrall St. 604-620-9400. www.pidginvancouver.com. Open daily for dinner. Overall: Rating 4 Food: Rating 4 Ambience: Rating 4 Service: Rating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonLever Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 The article above say other than one dish, there is no dish above $20. So what are the protestors protesting about? The prices seem comparable to White Spot and Earls. Which are not high end restaurants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 The article above say other than one dish, there is no dish above $20. So what are the protestors protesting about? The prices seem comparable to White Spot and Earls. Which are not high end restaurants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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