JOY'S JOURNAL
/by Joy Metcalfe
(click images to enlarge)
Welcome to 2023, a new, brighter, more positive and happier new year!!
Award-winning chef rob feenie.
CHEFS IN THE NEWS …
Starting the new year off on the right foot, it’s a coup for two. The multi-award winning top chef of the kitchen brigade, Rob Feenie, has been appointed by the Wedgewood Hotel’s co-owner and managing director, Elpie Marinakis, to be Chef in Residence at the hotel’s premier restaurant, Bacchus.
Rob has won numerous culinary competitions over the years, including being the first Canadian winner of the Iron Chef America Award and becoming the Chef on Iron Chef Canada on the Food Network, as well as authoring several top-selling cookbooks.
But he really came to prominence when he opened his deluxe Lumiere Restaurant on Fourth Avenue in Vancouver along with his casual namesake café, Feenie’s.
For quite some time, Lumière was the place to dine and to see and be seen. But all good things do come to an end and a dispute between Rob and Lumière’s financial sources resulted in his departure. Since then, he’s been the creative brain behind the culinary success of the popular Cactus Club Cafes.
Rob has always credited his mother, Margaret Feenie, as his inspiration and for her belief and encouragement. Margaret passed away last fall but she’s with him in spirit in every kitchen he’s in.
Rob’s ultimate goal, though, is to again own his own restaurant. Until then, enjoy his creative offerings at Bacchus in the Wedgewood, the prettiest hotel in town…
Someone who helped Rob to become the best of the best was a quiet French chef and teacher from Lille, France named Pierre Dubrulle.
Upon his arrival in Vancouver Pierre had opened a seafood deli, a 50-seat restaurant called Le Couscous and a new cooking school called the Dubrulle French Culinary Institute.
Pierre used to live and breathe food 24 hours a day, and more than 2,500 graduates learned the intricacies of the culinary art through him. As he stated to his students, “Food and cooking it properly is a passion – it’s the embodiment of what it means to be a Chef”.
And where is he now?
For the past several years, Pierre has been a cherished instructor at St. Clair College in Ontario and he’s about to retire. He’ll be 77 in May. We wish him well.
Send him a thank you card, Rob. You both have birthdays in May…
GETTING BACK TO NORMAL …
Speaking of hotels, the popular Westin Bayshore has been doing outstanding business!
After suffering the shut downs, closures, layoffs and travel restrictions during the years of the COVID curse, everything is coming back to life in Vancouver.
Every room and suite in the Bayshore has been booked solid for tourists and visitors for weeks. Dinner seatings for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have been totally sold out for months and the complete take-home turkey dinners have been flying out the door! They can barely keep up, but they are all smiling!
Management, especially general manager Paul Cannings, are ecstatic! Kudos to you!...
Angus Wilkinson.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS …
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGUS!
It would have been fun to have been a fly on the wall at a recent get together of some of the city’s top hoteliers last week.
The occasion was a Christmas luncheon the day before Angus Wilkinson’s 80th birthday. Angus was a hotel broker with Tyne Hospitality.
Joining in the traditional birthday song were: Murray Atherton, formerly with Hotel Georgia and the Rocky Mountaineer; Michael Kaile of Fairmont Hotels and the Terminal City Club; hotel operations consultant Gordon Zaveduck; Phil Story who was a tour escort with Rocky Mountaineer for a number of years; Stephen Peters of Pan Pacific; Harvey Lee of Gray Line Tours; hotel asset manager for various properties Daphne Hampton; and Steve Halliday of the Pan Pacific and the Hotel Georgia. Steve recently lost his beloved wife Pauline to ALS, so this was a great break for him to lunch with his old pals.
There was a time when hotel general managers strolled about their property, welcoming guests, saying goodbye, chatting about the city with families and visitors. Industry icons like Victor Burt, Ruy Paes Braga, John Williams, Michael Lambert, Susan Gomez, Ian Powell, Eleni Skalbania and so many others. Over the past COVID years, everyone seems to be buried in their offices, huddling over their adding machines.
Hey people, the sun will come out and we’d like you to come out, too. We need to know who helps keep this city growing …
Bianca Zanatta (left) and Silvia Abello Messineo at Umberto’s.
ON THE GALA-GALA-DO BEAT …
Speaking of dedication and hard work, it was an afternoon of triumph and success as dozens of generous women gathered for the 22nd annual Ladies Christmas Luncheon fundraiser with that whirling dynamo, Bianca Zanatta, at the helm.
This year the gala-gala-do was held at Giardino’s, Umberto Menghi’s beautiful restaurant on Hornby, rich with splendid Italian décor and fine Italian taste treats.
Very special guest that afternoon was Kathy Hay, the president and CEO of the Kids Help Phone, who flew in from her headquarters in Toronto for this special occasion which was dedicated to one of Bianca’s closest friends and team mate, the late Carmelina Cusano.
Our hostess, in a soft pink Moschino suit paired with her Miu Miu shoes, hardly ever sat down, she was so busy making sure that everyone was happy and comfortable.
The menu was ideal, with a choice of antipasti like Angus Beef Carpaccio, a trio of Salmon or Seasonal Artisan Greens with the choice of main course including Free Range Chicken Breast, Baked Cannelloni ala Florentine with ground veal and spinach, or Spaghettini di Mare with prawns, mussels and scallops. Dessert was a choice of chocolate cake or tiramisu.
And naturally, Umberto, the popular “Italian stallion” wandered about the room charming the blushing females with his special “je ne sais quoi” that made all the ladies feel very special. He’s such a wizard! I must go back soon …
Spotted among the large afternoon crowd were: Silvia Abello Messineo, wife of the Italian Consul General Fabio Messineo who will be spending their final year in Vancouver before returning to Rome for further assignments; Lori Teti, wife of John Teti, late of the famed Puccini’s on Main and now with West Coast Liquor Stores; Shelley Harmatny and her two daughters, Jayde and Cristy; Katerina Tokmak, wife of the Turkish Consul; Lisa Newby, one of the most sought after family lawyers in town; Gloria Guccione, executive director of the Guccione Foundation, and Vanessa Latek, owner of Terra Foods. Also enjoying the event were Brenda McAllister, Patricia Pringle, and Laura Goodfellow who has just been elected V.P. for the Variety Club. …
Someone who couldn’t be there was Devina Zalesky of the insurance world, who was hosting her own luncheon at the same time in the very same restaurant and looking very cute in her Santa toque …
It was during that same week that Bianca and her team from the Reach for Outer Space Giving Program, delivered Christmas stocking gifts and presents for 35 children at the YWCA Crabtree Child Care. That was followed by her and her diligent team delivering more empty stocking presents and more than 50 family food hampers to the Spirit of the Children Society where, because of sad circumstances, grandparents are bringing up their grandchildren.
Ms. Zanatta finally wound up her fairy godmother role on Christmas Eve with a family seafood dinner and a trip to Midnight Mass …
Santa and Mrs. Claus welcoming holiday guests at the Fairmont hotel vancouver.
A BUSY SEASON FOR MR. & MRS. CLAUS …
And to round up all the Christmas doings, I checked with that famous duo of Santa and Mrs. Claus, aka Gillian Campbell and husband Edward, and learned that this had to be one of their busiest Christmas seasons ever!
They had bookings galore with real bearded Santa and the Mrs. on call, elves, singers, and dancers – all sorts of performers.
Santa and Mrs. Claus were also a big hit performing at the annual sold out BC Tourism lunch at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver last week, and again greeted all the hotel’s dinner guests that evening as they arrived and then had photos taken with them as they departed.
All together they booked six different malls, more than 150 gigs, and a lot of book work. And Gillian and Edward look fantastic, obviously because they are doing what they love.
We’re lucky that they are there to keep the Santa Claus dream alive for all the little kids (and big kids too) to treasure.
‘TIL NEXT MONTH …
Happy New Year, everyone! May the good Lord bless and keep you! ...
Love from Joy
