les amis du FROMAGE

Jura Jura Jura

2009-11-27T01:11:00.000-08:00

The Vacherin Mont d'or should be here soon. They were ordered months ago. It's funny, I can be standing at the front of the store and i can smell them when they get delivered. It's that woodsy, spruce bark. It always reminds me of green peanuts.

This year we are going to serve them baked whole at our restaurant Au Petit Chavignol. The end result will be reminiscent of a fondue. It's something special you can't have all year round.

We'll have some Vin Jaune, Cremant du Jura and Macvin to wash it down with. Macvin du Jura is great. We wanted in on the wine list when we first opened, but couldn't source any until now. Macvin has been in production since the fourteenth century. It is made from five permitted grape varieties, and can be red or rosé when produced from the Poulsard, Trousseau and Pinot noir, or white when produced from Chardonnay or Savagnin. The grapes are harvested late in season when their sugar content is at its highest. The grape must is aged in oak barrels for twelve months without prior fermentation in tanks. Marc du Jura, pomace-based eau-de-vie, is then added in a ratio of one liter marc for every two of must. Fermentation stops, leaving behind residual sugar and a sweet dessert wine. I like it a la "porch climber" in a short glass over ice before dinner.

Allison Spurrell on Local Artisan Cheese

2009-11-17T00:53:00.000-08:00

Watch Allison on the Food Network Canada discussing local artisan cheeses.

Vancouver is Awesome

2009-11-14T01:52:00.000-08:00

It certainly is. This community-based non-profit organization is dedicated to the study, promotion, and preservation of Vancouver arts and culture, with a positive spin.

Au Petit Chavignol opening for lunch

2009-11-06T02:00:00.000-08:00

Au Petit Chavignol will be open for lunch as of Monday November 9th, 2009. You can expect the restaurant to be open 7 days a week, from noon until late.

Downtown Eastside Community Garden

2009-10-31T23:17:00.000-07:00

A new community garden is being built at Hastings and Hawkes, just at the end of the block from Au Petit Chavignol. I went by to have a look today, and man they work fast. The parking lot is being transformed into a sea of raised garden beds. I spoke with the organizer, and we determined that this could be a great fit for Au Petit Chavignol. We discussed the possibility of growing specific vegetables and herbs for us. How great is that!

This summer our Strathcona Fruit Project was a great success. We received hundreds of pounds of local fruit from our neighbouring community, and we've turned it all into preserves which we in turn use in the restaurant. I learned alot about making preserves this year. It was basically a crash course. Next year should be even better now that I know recipe limitations, yields, etc. I can't wait until next summer.

Au Petit Chavignol Press

2009-10-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

Some great press on Au Petit Chavignol this week. First there is a full page article in the November issue of Vancouver Magazine.

Next up, Andrew Morrison gives us a thumbs up review in this weeks' Westender.

Cheese or Font

2009-09-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

How's this for a cheese game? I present to you Cheese or Font

Au Petit Chavignol opening 7 days a week

2009-09-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Starting Monday September 21st, APC will be opening for dinner 7 days a week! We're ironing out the wrinkles to be open for lunch, hopefully by mid October.

les amis shopping bags

2009-09-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

This was spotted at sunny 3rd beach today. It's a gaggle of insulated les amis shopping bags. They are great for short outings, where you want to take great care of the cheese, and keep it cool. We are the friends of cheese afterall. Only five bucks each.

Worst cheese label. ever?

2009-08-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

I dunno about this one...kind of a highlander with a Billy Ray Cyrus mullet, meets lord of the rings, meets badly photoshopped blue dyed sheep. Perhaps it might make a better T-shirt. For what it's worth, the cheese is fantastic.

Cheese Judging

2009-08-11T00:01:00.001-07:00

Today Allison hosted a cheese judging for the 2009 PNE at Au Petit Chavignol. Allison and I were joined by Jeff from Bishop's and Jeff Van Geest from Diva, along with Claire from les amis. We only had 9 entries over four categories this year. Considering the many different cheeses made in BC, I was bit disappointed by the lack of entries. Perhaps next year we will get a larger level of participation from our BC cheese makers.

I won't say who, but similar to last year, there are clearly some good cheese makers in BC. I felt that one fresh cheese in particular could easily pass for a product from France. Another popular cheese was clearly an under performer today. When tasted in it's raw and naked state, it simply didn't cut it. Too bad, yet an eye opener at the same time. Unlike the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix (where Allison is also a judge) which only judges cheeses made from cows milk, this competition is open to cheeses made from milk other than cows milk. As previously said, I hope to see more entries next year. We all take cheese very seriously. It is a part of how we make our living.

Summer of Jam

2009-08-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

I may have almost bitten off more than I can chew the other day with apricots. I had know idea how much it would yield. I decided to make a big pot of apricot butter. By big, I mean about 100 liters. It took longer than expected to cook. It wasn't finished until 10 pm, so I had to call in Allison for bottling support. We finished up by about 2:30am. I'm glad I ordered so many bottles because we used everything. All that aside, it tasted great.

I've been sourcing great fruit at the farmers markets. I picked up more blueberries today. I'm going to make another batch of citrus-blueberry preserves. I'm also going to give making pickles a shot. I've been getting lots of local fruit from our neighbors in Stratchcona. I received alot of fresh figs and some transparent apples. I ordered in some beautiful candied ginger from Australia. I forgot that candied ginger can actually taste that good. Combine it all together and I made our first batch of Strathcona Fig Chutney. It's a great barter system we've created. We're trading cheese for fresh picked fruit from our community. Both sides benefit. I'm told that coming soon is a bumper crop of Italian prune plums. Maybe some plums in marsala are in order? Should be good with cheese. The best part is that after all these preserves age a bit in bottle, we'll have wonderful accompaniments to serve during the upcoming seasons, until summer rolls along again.

The vinegars are doing fine. They are so intense now, I can only imagine what they will be like after another month of soaking in the flavours.

2009-07-21T00:55:00.001-07:00

Now that we're all settled in with the new store and APC, it's been time to focus on the production kitchen. This is the reason we built a big commercial kitchen at the new hastings store. Summer is a great time, as there is so much fresh local fruits available to us. I made about 80 liters of raspberry vinegar today using raspberries that allison picked up at a local "U-pick", and I'm in the midst of a small batch of red currant jelly that she also managed to procure. It really takes a long time for the current juice to drip through the jelly bag, but it's such a beautiful colour. I'll start tarragon vinegar later this week. We also have some salad dressings coming down the pipeline.

Au Petit Chavignol always has a feature terrine in the restaurant each night, so we get to try lots of different recipes. It's good practice, as we're working towards making terrines to sell in all of our stores. This is going to take some time to get organized, as we want to do it right. More on that later.

les amis du FROMAGE and Au Petit Chavignol in the news

2009-07-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

Read what Anya Levykh has to say about APC's Fondue. Sue Riedl talks to Allison Spurrell in the Globe and Mail.

Black Hills Nota Bene Tasting

2009-07-15T23:42:00.000-07:00

les amis du FROMAGE is hosting a vertical tasting of Black Hills Nota Bene on Tuesday July 21st at Au Petit Chavignol. We have just secured another back vintage to add to the tasting at no additional charge. We will be serving the 2002-2007 vintages of Nota Bene. The event will start with Black Hills Alibi, and will finish with Black Hills Sequentia. Cheese and charcuterie will be served. Our guest speaker for the evening will be David Lancelot, local wine guru and BC wine buyer for Marquis Wine Cellars. There are still a few tickets left @ $110 per person.

Tastings on Hastings

2009-07-08T00:19:00.001-07:00

Tonights tasting at Au Petit Chavignol (APC) with house wine was a great success. Next week on July 14 (Bastille Day) we are hosting a Vive la France tasting, and on July 21 David Lancelot of Marquis Wine Cellars will join us for a Black Hills 'Nota Bene' tasting at APC. There are still a few tickets left for both of these events.

Charcuterie from "The Cure"

2009-06-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Robert Belcham of Fuel Restaurant and Campagnolo has been producing some excellent charcuterie items recently. We've started carrying a selection of them at all of the les amis stores.

Here is a picture of the Saucisson Sec

Dry Cured Chorizo
Dry cured pork sausage flavoured with garlic, pimenton (paprika) and espellete pepper

Fennel Pollen Salami
A variation on traditional tuscan salami flavoured with fennel pollen and organic garlic

Saucisson Sec
Our version of the french staple made with pork belly, tellicherry black pepper, and organic garlic

Sopressata
Rustic, southern italian specialty made with red chilis, garlic and nutmeg

Unite With Art

2009-06-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

Come and visit les amis du FROMAGE & Au Petit Chavignol at Storeum on Monday June 3rd. We are going to be there with the big red slicer to show our support for UNICEF'S Unite With Art.

Unite with Art is a series of art auctions to benefit UNICEF's Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign. The inaugural Unite with Art Auction and Gala was held on June 21, 2008 in Vancouver and raised over $276,000 for the campaign. It's a great event.

Guilde des Fromagers

2009-03-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I've last posted. Time has quickly flown by with the opening of Hastings les amis du FROMAGE and Au Petit Chavignol. The restaurant has been busy from the moment it opened. Thank you to everybody for all of your support. The dust is slowly settling, so hopefully we can all start to get back on track.

We had a private ceremony and wonderful dinner on Saturday to celebrate the Guilde des Fromagers Confrerie de Saint-Uguzon. Members of the guild came from Paris to induct Alice, Allison and myself, along with several food professionals into the guild. Jackie Connelly took some great photos of the event.

Alice received a special medal, different from the others. She was designated a Maitre Fromager of the Guild des Fromagers Confrerie de Saint-Uguzon. I understood it to be one of only a few appointed so outside of France.

Brad and Owen made a delicious meal including canapes of salmon tartar, choux pastry with duck rillettes, charcuterie, a melt in your mouth beef bourgignon, cheese, and apple galette. Also, a big thank you is in order for Annette, Ingela, Naomi, and Angela for their wonderful service. It was fun to be on the other side of the bar after a month of helping customers.

Hastings Update

2009-02-25T22:54:00.000-08:00

...did I say two more weeks, two weeks ago? Well, it might still be a week or two...actually, I'm hoping it will be less than that. Hydro finally switched the power over yesterday. So many things have been waiting on standby for power. Now everybody is running to finish.We now have light and heat. Tomorrow, we should have the refrigeration up and running. The new store has 3 times as much display cooler space as the 2nd avenue store. We can't wait to fill it up!

You can see one of the new slicers in the picture. They are really heavy. It takes two of us to move one of them. The one for the store has a matching stand, and together they weigh more than 150 kilograms. It won't move around much! Today we picked up a 36 month old Jamon Iberico Bellotta ham. It won't go on the slicer, as it is carved by hand. But we did get some La Quercia Rossa heirloom prosciutto from Iowa. We've picked all of the cheeses for the restaurant menu. I think the selection is going to be great.

Colin the welder has been busy making new security bars for the front entrance along with a matching hand rail. He did such a great job. They have a nice feel that accents the age of the building.

Allison is back from judging the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix. She tasted almost 170 cheeses over two days. She was impressed by the quality of washed rind entries this year, along with several of the firm aged cheeses.

Dining out for life is on Thursday March 12th. Au Petit Chavignol will be participating in the event this year. We will donate 25 percent of food revenue from meals sold during this important event.

France's Guild de Fromagers is starting a chapter in Western Canada this March. We will be hosting several cheese dignitaries including Rolland Barthélémy of one of the best known fromageries in Paris, Fromagerie Barthélémy, along with Luc Senecal, the President of Isigny.

Those being inducted include:

Alice Spurrell - les amis du FROMAGE
Allison Spurrell - les amis du FROMAGE
Joe Chaput - les amis du FROMAGE
Janice Beaton - Janice Beaton Fine Cheeses
Debra Amrein-Boyes - Farmhouse Cheese Co.
Jurgen Gothe - Wine and Food writer
Kurtis Kolt - Salt Tasting Room
Jason Lloyd - Terminal City Club
Tim Pawsey - Wine and Food writer
Vincent Stufano - Chateau Fairmont Whistler
David Wood - Salt Spring Cheese Co.

2009-02-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

Everyone is putting in long hours now. It's the final dash to the finish line, which is about two weeks away. All of the big equipment is in place. The kitchen and bar are about 95% complete. We still have one more large window to install. The first one is simply fantastic. The new front windows have glass from floor to almost ceiling, and they let in so much natural light. The refrigerated showcases arrived from Vega late last week and they are even nicer than I expected. Today was cabinetry installation day, and it should be done by tomorrow.

All of the staff are in place and ready to go. Alice, the big cheese herself is going to run the retail store along with Stephanie and Larissa. We've assembled a crack team for the restaurant which includes Annette, Naomi, and Ingela in the front along with myself, Brad Miller (ex West/Pastis) and Owen Lightly (ex Voya/West) in the Kitchen.

In a few more weeks, all this opening business will be a distant memory.

2009-01-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

There is lots going on to keep us all busy lately. Hastings should be completed in less than a month. We finally received our liquor license for APC this week. Now comes the part where we tweak the wine list.

Allison leaves for Montreal in February to be a judge at the 2009 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix. She expects to taste between 100-200 cheeses over a two day period.

In March, we will be host to a very special event: The inaugural meeting of the Western Canadian chapter of the Guilde des Fromagers. Special guests will include Rolland Barthelemy who is owner of the landmark Paris fromagerie "Barthelemy", and head of the Guilde des Fromagers. More on this later...

Hastings preview at Scout Magazine

2009-01-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a video preview of hastings over at Scout Magazine

New Slicers

2009-01-01T12:58:00.001-08:00

The new slicers arrived just before Christmas. I hadn't had a chance to go look at them until today. All is can say is that they are pretty awesome. One will go in the store (on it's own matching stand), and one will go on the back bar in the restaurant for slicing Prosciutto San Daniele.

Our slicers are brand new reproductions of the antique Berkel slicers that ceased production in the 1950's. Many believe this slicer is the only tool that should be used to slice fine cured meats. They don't use any electricity as they are powered by turning the flywheel. Although electric slicers may be faster, many culinary aficionados claim the heat caused by the high speed blades “cooks” the meticulously produced meats.

Tomme affine au Marc de Raisin

2008-12-27T12:58:00.000-08:00

This fermier cheese is a real attention getter when we put it out at the shop. It has a big aroma that can't be missed if you happen to get near it. It is an unpasteurized cow's milk cheese from the Savoie that has been soaked in Marc for one month in an airtight container, and then aged under a thick blanket of grape must. The heat caused by the fermentation heats the inside of the container, making the pate tighten and become viscous. The taste of the marc permeates through to the heart of the cheese.

If you can get your hands on some Marc, enjoy it with a glass of Marc de Savoie, or if that can't happen try it with a nice robust red wine.