Secret Supper Soiree
A Pop up Restaurant Event for Dine Out Vancouver 2011


Early Bird Tickets on sale now!

Dine out with adventure! Join us for a tour of secret restaurants popping up where you least expect them. Imagine you are a guest at a private mansion, in a house of curiosities after hours, or perhaps an indoor oasis. Drink stunning B.C. wines and taste delicious canapés made from fresh, wild B.C. fare. We'll whisk you from one exotic location to another aboard a private trolley car. You'll never guess where your next bite will take you!

A night of culinary secrets. Four Libations. Six Courses. Three secret locations.
Additional drinks available for purchase. Vegetarian menu is available.
Pick up Location – VIA rail station
Your Chauffeur – Vancouver Trolley Company
Dress Code – As fancy as you like, the fancier the better
Early Bird Prices are only available until December 25th!
Early Bird without Wine $59.00 + $5.25 s/c
Early Bird with Wine $99.00 + $10.00 s/c

Visit the website for more information! Tickets can also be purchased directly through Swallow Tail to save the service charge. Email us for more information.

Definitely not the Grocery Store - Deer Hunting 101 with Chef Robin - Update 3

My First Deer Hunt...
Hunting is not like picking apples or like guessing when it's going to rain in Vancouver. It's more like fishing, sometimes your lucky. I was almost lucky on my first hunting excursion last week. Ha. Almost doesn't cut it, does it. This gorgeous bull moose wandered lazily in front of our hunting party. He paused about 70 yards away (well within shooting range) and slowly turned his big head to assess us. I looked at him, he looked at me and, I think, we both understood that I couldn't shoot him. My father and boyfiend (no that's not a typo) didn't think I'd see any moose, so I didn't get any moose tags*, sigh. As well, moose are so rare and otherworldly, I don't know if I could have shot him even with the licence. Deer seem more like cattle. There's lots of them, so it might easier emotionally to shoot one, maybe? I'll venture into the hills in the next two weeks again, and we'll see.
*Tag - a purchased license to hunt a particular animal, cheap for BC residents

So, this session was like hunting bootcamp, then. I learned a bucketful from my father, uncle and grandfather (87!) who came out with me and the girls to wander the hills of the Okanagan. Grandpa drilled us in walking a line to scare up any deer hiding in the hollows. Dad coached me how to shoot from standing without shaking, holding your breath and squeezing the trigger slowly. My uncle passed on his 408 rifle to me and provided his blue water cooler for shooting practice. Helen and I shot the shit out of that nasty water cooler. In the end, it was amazing to be up at 6am and see the sun rise, to be quiet all day and to wander the woods with friends. Stay tuned for next week when, hopefully, the Gods will smile upon me and send me a 4 point!


Hunter photo by Shannon Mendes Photography
Link to Update 2 - Deer Hunting with Chef Robin

Definitely not the Grocery Store - Deer Hunting 101 with Chef Robin - Update 2

In a room full of 20 something boys from the sticks, I passed my CORE hunting program on Wednesday with 97%. Yeehaw! Mark one for city girl. I will say that it was a painfully easy exam for a pass that permits you to kill living creatures. My bloody sommelier exam required 100x more study.

One piercing question has been rolling about my mind since getting my hunting license. Is hunting for food morally wrong? I realize the issue is more complex than this simple question. A lot of if, ands or buts come to mind, but it's an important question for me to consider before diving into the forests. I posted the question to my Swallow Tail facebook group and I got some impassioned answers.

The moral key for me is to cull only the populations of 'meat' that are abundant, sustainable and "happy". I realize that it sounds really hypocritical to say you will only kill happy animals. What the hell is a happy animal? I can only guess by putting myself in it's hooves. An animal that lives it's life free in the forest is my bet for a happier being rather than one stuck in a feedlot ankle deep in it's own shit. Deer is an abundant species in BC, mule deer in the interior alone number around 165 000 which is probably where I will go for my first hunt. The main threat to deer populations is habitat loss. Believe it or not, hunters are some of BC's most effective land conservationists, because they are nature lovers and see wildlife as a fundamental part of their lives. Even with these facts taken into account, the question is still rumbling about in my noggin. Is hunting a good moral option for food? What do you think?

A few quotes from the facebook discussion...
"No one in Vancouver hunts for subsistence and to put added pressure on already stressed prey animals in the wild is way offside. The argument that an urban hunter is somehow more noble than a consumer at Safeway or somehow has a more profound respect for nature is bullshit!!!" - CH

"I have to disagree with CH. One of the biggest threats on deers in a lot of places is overpopulation. This brings on several other issues like bringing predators closer to human settlement, danger of disease spread and more animals being hit by cars. As for the noble argument, to me it is more noble because the animal I'm eating led a more natural life than the cow I could be eating from Safeway." -MB

"I feel that shark hunting for shark's fin soup is definitely on a different moral pole than Kenyan marathon hunting. I feel that each act of hunting can be assessed to have it's own moral value depending on intent, usage, wastage, ecological impact and suffering of the prey." - NT

Photograph by Shannon Mendes Photography

Definitely not the Grocery Store - Deer Hunting 101 with Chef Robin - Update 1

Just a quick update on the ultimate city slicker chef learning to hunt, yes, me. I was forced back to the firing range last week by my friend who is pitching the story to the CBC, she wanted to take some photos of us shooting. I really was not excited to go back as last time I left slightly shaky and pale. My neck was tweaking all week from the kick back on the shotgun and I was seriously doubting my ability to actually hunt ever.

Here's a link the story on my first hunting hurdle - first time to shoot a gun ever.

But I sucked it up and went with my partner in crime, Helen Stortini (of Growing Chefs fame). She was far more comfortable with the kick and even looked like she had fun last time, damn her! We entered the cozy confines of the concrete box that is DVC indoor shooting range. I put on my fat headset for ear protection and we were ushered into the main shooting area where there was at least 3 other people firing. Guess what, explosives are LOUD. I jumped every time someone let a round loose and had to grab some extra ear plugs just to be able to stay in the room. YES, I am a wimp around weapons. I picked up the shotgun, loaded it and went through the mental check list my father had taught me. Cheek pressed against the stock, butt of the gun nestled tight in the crook of your shoulder, stance forward leaning... fire. Hey! It didn't hurt this time. This could actually be fun. I think the key was wearing a thick sweater that cushioned my shoulder from the recoil. Maybe I can do this. To be continued next week when I go to test for my hunting license.

Wild Edible BC Mushrooms you've never tasted...

Buying "Money's Mushrooms" at Costco is akin to putting margarine on toast. It's not going to kill you, but it is so boring. Head out into BC's backyard to find the real treasures. A handful of them you may know and see on occation in the high end grocery stores in Fall; yellow chanterelle, matsutake (pine), lobster, king bolete (porcini) or oyster mushrooms. These will run you about $27/lb for chanterelle or pine. Ouch! It's far more fun to find them on your own, plus to gain access to hundreds of other edible and delicious mushooms at the same time (here's my shameless plug for Mushroom Hunting Trips in Vancouver).

Above is a shot of seaweed risotto with wild califlower and porcini mushrooms by Chef Ted of Refuel at our last supper club.

This is a puffball - edible and gorgeous...

Oyster Mushrooms - Angel Wings to be exact, there are several varieties of oyster type mushrooms.
You have never eaten these before I would wager - honey mushrooms...

A gorgeous chanterelle... one of the more than a dozen varieties that grow in BC (blue chanterelles, yellow foot, white chanterelles... the list goes on)

A rare opportunity for 30 lucky diners

One of Vancouver’s best Thai chefs comes out of retirement for our guest chef series.



October 16th at 6:30pm
$49 for five courses by donation
Email us for a seat. Only 4 seats left

As part of Swallow Tail’s guest chef series, acclaimed Thai chef, Chef Montri, comes out of retirement to cook a five-course feast.

Chef Montri retired four years ago after 11 successful years as the owner and chef at Montri’s. His restaurant, located at Broadway and Alma, was consistently awarded ‘Best Thai Restaurant in Vancouver’ for each year it was open.

Montri started cooking as a young man in a Bangkok hotel. He then moved to Copenhagen, Denmark where he trained as a chef. After five years in Denmark, he spent another five years as the Chief Steward on a cruise ship. The cruise ship was how he came to Canada. In the late seventies, he cooked with Umberto Menghi at Il Palazzo. In 1990, he opened his first restaurant at Fourth Ave and Trafalgar, which is now home to Q4 Restaurant.

After four years running his own business, which was also consistently awarded best Thai in the city, he left Vancouver to return home to Thailand where he opened the Four Seasons Hotel restaurant in Chang Mai.

“After working for yourself, you can’t go back to working in a corporate environment,” says Montri laughing. “There are too many meetings! You don’t get any work done!”

In 1995, he moved back to Vancouver to open Montri’s. And after 11 successful years of being the city’s favourite and most beloved Thai Restaurant, he decided to retire.

“I’ve become a snowbird,” he says, laughing, about his plans to go back to Thailand for three-months.

But he also has an interest in the supper club scene. He likes the supper club dining set up and has plans of his own to offer private chef services when he returns to Vancouver.

He looks forward to his dinner at Swallow Tail and is collaborating with Chef Robin to prepare the menu where 24 lucky diners will have the rare opportunity to experience dinner with Montri.

Definitely not the Grocery Store - Deer Hunting 101 with Chef Robin

I am not a girlie-girl, but, honestly, shotguns scare the shit out of me. I got dressed up in my best plaid shirt today to venture out to get comfortable with guns. Shotguns and rifles are the only metal that I'm interested in, handguns are for weirdos and psychopaths (just joking, all you psychopaths out there!).


As a chef, I love venison and I want to be able to kill my own deer. Cause really, when you go to the grocery store and buy a lovely, juicy steak... you are part of an animal's death. Being an urbanite, most of us never get anywhere close to understanding what the cost is of eating the amount of meat that we do. We never think about it (which makes it easy), but there is a huge impact on the world and on our bodies of eating meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sorry to get all preachy, that's not what this is about. I just think about my role and awareness in the whole cycle and am not comfortable with it. So this is just my personal, mental challenge. Luckily, I have a solid farming line of uncles, father and grandfather to help me explore hunting in British Columbia.



Today, I got my first dose of reality when I went to an indoor shooting range in PoCo. I've never been good with loud noises and I'm pretty bony (T-Rex arms), this is not boding well, eh. The recoil on the shotgun almost removed my arm from my shoulder. With practice and my dad's thoughtful instruction, I maybe got a bit better, solid aim, but still killing my shoulder with the kick back.

Sunday, I'm going for my firearms safety course and then my hunting license from there. I'll keep you posted on this strange and mind twisting experience as I get closer to the forest, and then, to the table (hopefully, if I manage to bag a deer, I will host a grand fall feast at the supper club). Now, I gotta get me to the gym and pump some iron into my wee, bitty arms.

ps. Just thinking of hauling a super heavy rifle through kilometers of bush, managing to actually find, and then accurately shoot a deer. Then, gut it and pack all 100+ pounds of it out is making me... tired or hungry, I'm not sure which.

Tuscan bread, dried black olives, heirloom tomatoes, barrata, balsamci!

Seems simple, and it is. It's all about the quality of the ingredients. Venturi-Schulze aged balsamic (Vancouver Island), Portuguese olive oil(Bom Dia), barrata -unripe cows cheese (Bosa Foods), fire roasted bread(homemade), the best in season heirloom tomatoes from the Vancouver Farmers Market, oven dried black olives and the most fragrant basil leaves that you can find.

BC Halibut, heirloom tomato coulis, creamed leeks, deep fried red onion

From the kitchen of Swallow Tail this lovely evening... we present our halibut. After the 3rd course, we made a fire in the backyard for the guests. Prosciutto stuffed figs with Barrata (unriped Italian cow cheese) followed. Dessert - crab apple covered in caramel and ginger, anise ice cream and baked salted caramel figs.

New Restaurant - Cafeteria rocks Vancouver!

Simple menu, fresh ingredients, flawless execution... in my top three restaurants of the year! You must try the stuffed red peppers with aioli, black olive and fish cake... white anchovies on top, STUNNING! I ordered a second and I was already full! Main Street at 11th Ave, it's a must.
Great wine list too, the house white is $5!


This is the red pepper...

Mystery Chef Series @ Swallow Tail secret Supper Club

Experience BC ingredients whipped into spectacular food creations by guest chefs. This August in Vancouver, chefs from around the world will be guest cooking in the swallow tail garden, exclusively. More details to come, reserve your seat now as there is only room for 20 people to taste. Email - theswallowdive@gmail.com

Aug 14 - Chef Eddy Mysliwiec - from Paris, France -SOLD OUT
Aug 22 - Chef Kristine Kittrell - from Austin - SOLD OUT
Sept 26 - Chef Merida - representing legumes (renowned vegan chef - Vegan Secret Supper Club)
Sept 27 - Chef Ted - from Refuel Restaurant in Vancouver
Oct 16 - Chef Montri from Montri's on 4th - Thai Chef

Suggested wine pairings will be provided from around the globe by resident Chef Robin to compliment the affair. As well, she will forage for some of the highlight ingredients; fish, mussels, crab, local wild berries, mushrooms... who knows, it's all a mystery.

$49 - 5 Course by donation
Usual Time - 6:30pm

Baby Oyster Mushrooms are soo cute!

The Urban Forager - Wild herb walk in Vancouver - book it while the sun still shines and the mushrooms are still peaking out.

Confused in the Aisles - How to choose a great Balsamic

A good, aged, traditional balsamic vinegar is like the blood of the Gods. Combine that with ripe, sweet strawberries and you have IT. Yes, IT, the thing you've been waiting for all your life. I ate two portions of angel food cake with balsamic at last nights supper club and skipped dinner.



Okay, here's a bit of a rant about "the blood of the Gods" as you can find it in Vancouver. It is really hard to pick balsamic at the grocery store unless you know what you are looking for. Just because it says Modena on the bottle doesn't mean it's going to taste good. Look for Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena to find traditionally aged balsamic which will naturally be more expensive and WAY better quality. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. It takes 3-50 years of age to make a proper balsamic and it must be aged in several types of wood casks.
Check the ingredient list if there are no artificial flavours/colours or sugar added, then you are getting closer to God.


My favourite balsamic is made by Venturi-Schulze on Vancouver Island of all places. Giordano Venturi is originally from Modena, Italy. He prides himself on making the only real balsamic in BC. It's $50 a bottle and can be ordered online (delivered right to your door). You may be scared off by the price, but the fact is that it's so flavour packed that you use way less of it. Their balsamic is rated as the top 100 things you should taste before you die by Vancouver Magazine. I for one, believe them.

Secret supper - the 1st garden party - Vancouver

The star of the evening was local BC BBQ Duck, parsnips and rhubarb in white wine, smoking cinnamon, deep fried salted fennel, raddichio marmalade. Ha-cha!

Strawberry Season - The Evil Strawberry

You thought they were so sweet and nice, but really they're pure EVIL!
Ingredients:
Ripe Summer Strawberries
400 grams Bitter Chocolate, ONLY Callebaut or another high quality brand
Optional Port

Directions:
Take a little bit of love (the strawberries) and a little bit of pure, evil, dark chocolate from Callebaut. Dip the love in the evil. Serve to friends and fiends alike.

Melting the chocolate:
I usually melt it in the microwave, slowly, 20 sec at a time making sure you don't overheat it (stir lots). Take it out and temper the chocolate with 2 Tbs of chocolate shavings, mix in well. Chocolate is ready for dipping now.

Optional Booze filling:
You can also take an apple peeler and cut a small hole in the strawberry, fill it with goodness like sherry or port! Dry the strawberry off if it's moist. Then, cover the strawberry with melted chocolate, hole side up.

Chocolate tips:
If you aren't going to eat the chocolate right away, put each chocolate strawberry on wax paper so that it doesn't stick to the plate. Don't refrigerate if you can help it, keep in a cool dark place in a sealed Tupperware. If the chocolate does get 'bloom' on it (whitish colour), don't worry, it still will taste fine.

Hunting for Oyster Mushrooms in Vancity...

I've been stumbling about the forest, lately, here are a handful of my tasty finds near Vancouver...

Oyster Mushroom Log - Eureka!



Red Leg Frog - Blue listed species, okayyyy... I won't eat it. Anyone eaten any frogs in the wilds of Vancouver? I've eaten frogs legs before in Cambodia, they were delectable.


Chanterelles! Good eats...







Come on a hunt with me if you have an interest in Urban Foraging and fine food.

Lavender Lemon Mousse with Sherry & BC Huckleberries

Light and fragrant with a zippy kick of booze at the bottom, what more could you want? Great summer dessert, especially, with the lavender flowers blooming right now. Substitute salmonberries, blueberries or raspberries if you don't have huckleberries.

Recipe
Serves 14 small portions
2 Cups whipping Cream - whip to stiff peaks
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbs grated lemon rind
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup - 3 cups berries (I used 1/2 cup for the one in the picture)
1 Tbs lavender flowers, in fine pieces
1/3 cup Amontillado Sherry ( or whatever booze you like, experiment)

Directions
Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, rind, 1/2 of the lavender flowers and sugar. Fold the cream into the yogurt mixture (don't overmix). Pour booze of your choice into the bottom 14 glasses with a tsp of berries.
If you are using a sour berry like huckleberries, dust them with a bit of sugar to taste
Then, spoon the rest of the mixture and berries into glasses in alternating layers. Dust the top with lemon rind and lavender flowers. Eat right away or chill.

Go for a Forage: Wild foods near Vancouver...

Elder flowers
Miner's Lettuce

Cleavers

Sweet Cicely

Watercress

Spring has pounced upon us, even though the warmth seems to have left us, lately. All sorts of tasty snacks are growing out of the ground. Wandering the forests and meadows of the Lower Mainland there are a few rules you should follow if you are interested in some unusual eats.

1. Take note of the water sources surrounding your planty prey. Watercress, for example, is very nutritious and grows near running water. It also absorbs toxins quite readily. So, if a stream has pollutants in it (near a non-organic farm for example) the plants may not be safe to eat. Unless you'd welcome the growth of a third eye.
2. Take plant cuttings, try not to disturb the roots, that way the crop will be replenished.
3. Be sure of what you are eating. Buy a plant book like Plants of Coastal BC (Pojar/MacKinnon) to help with identification.
4. Don't harvest near the road or sidewalks, unless you like dog pee and car gunk in your food.
5. Harvest with the seasons. Generally... spring = new shoots, spring/summer = flowers/fruit, fall/winter = fruits/nuts/roots

Plants to look for around now (May); licorice fern (sweet cicely), watercress, miners lettuce, silver dollars, cattails, sorel, cleavers, stinging nettles (taste like spinach, but harvest with gloves and steam before eating), blackberry leaves

Sauteed Cattails - BC Wild Foods - Experiment #1

I'm always on the hunt for new and unusual food sources that you can pick in British Columbia. Apparently, cattails are yummy; the female (non flowering) head can be cooked and eaten like corn (it doesn't taste like corn) and the young shoots can be cooked like asparagus.
I'm going to forage for some today and will report back!
Anyone tried them before and have a good recipe? I would love to hear from you.
Okay, I'm off to get my boots wet... chat soon.



I'm back from a successful hunt, found some cleavers (good in salads) and lemon verbena too. I pulled some of the inner shoots of cattails out to do some recipe tests with. Sauteed them up with green onion, olive oil and garlic. Very exciting. And..... they were tasteless and kind of slimy. Damn. They maybe a good addition to soup to thicken as a starch. That'll be next on my test plan.

Other foretold uses for these versatile plants include; using pollen as flour (this is supposed to be amazing), grinding the roots up into a flour, steaming the roots. I sense new experiments in my future.
Please, if you are going to try this on your own try not to decimate cattail stocks. They are a very important little ecosystem. I would leave the roots at least.

Sauteed Cattails - BC Wild Foods - Experiment #1

I'm always on the hunt for new and unusual food sources that you can pick in British Columbia. Apparently, cattails can be eaten two ways; the female (non flowering) head can be cooked and eaten like corn (it doesn't taste like corn) and the young shoots can be cooked like asparagus.
I'm going to pick and try this out today, I will report back!
Anyone tried them before and have a good recipe? I would love to hear from you.
Okay, I'm off to get my boots wet... chat soon.

Spirits & Venison - an evening of unique food & cocktail pairing

Event SOLD OUT
An evening of elegant food and cocktail creations by Ludzu and Swallow Tail secret Supper Club

Price - $44

Includes:
3 Course BC wild foods menu by Chef Robin - BC Venison highlight
3 Cocktails - Paired with each course and concocted by Ludzu, a talented BC spirits maker

Date: Saturday, May 8 at 7pm
Place - TBA (a secret location in Vancouver)
RSVP to reserve your spot, maximum guests = 25
email theswallowdive@gmail.com to book

How it works...

The Food
My focus is WILD BC ingredients from crab to mushrooms to wild berries.

Menu will be determined by the wildest, freshest foods that I can catch for the day of the event. All dishes are handmade; fresh egg noodles to chocolates. Allergies or special food requests taken into account of course.

Where: A secret location

Time : Book Sundays, long table series
Book a private party of 8+ for anyday of the week. (5 Course only)

By donation = $29 - 3 course $49 - 5 course

Booze: BYOB, a suggested wine list will be provided that will make the food sing if you like.

Please email me at TheSwallowDive@gmail.com to book

Cancellation Policy - You must give us 72 hour notice of any cancellations

Little Chefs Night - Come learn to make pasta with your kids

Vancouver - Sunday Feb 28th (full) & Mar 14
Come for dinner with your kids - It's okay to play with your food, learn to make ice cream and hand-made pasta. This is a dining experience where your kids can run around and play while you eat a 3 course preparation of wild BC cuisine.
RSVP

Kids under 13 are free
$29 - Adult 3 Course dinner

Grilled Bison Tenderloin Porn Shots - Vancouver Underground supper club

Canadian Bison - Course 4 - Swallow Tail secret Supper Club - Enjoy...
www.swallowtail.ca





Photos by Shannon Mendes

Swallow Tail Secret Supper Club - Vancouver location Revealed

Seats 20