Henry Ramos and his shaker boys really knew their stuff. Originally known as the New Orleans Fizz, the Ramos Gin Fizz is one of New Orleans’ most famous cocktails. The cocktail has definitely come a long way from the days prior to “The Noble Experiment” or what was commonly known as “The Prohibition”. With its distinctive orange blossom water ingredient, the Ramos Gin Fizz will definitely make its mark on the Vancouver bistro scene.

You can download the this week’s edition in PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 2 – Ultimate Summer Cocktail: Shaken, of course!

Image Cutline: Steve shakes up the Summery Ramos Gin Fizz with tremendous passion.

Raj: What’s Shakin’, lil’ lady?

Fury: I’ll tell you what. A dozen of shaker boys are lined up behind the bar to prepare one of my favourite Summer drinks, the Ramos Gin Fizz.  Just like in the pre-prohibition days in sweet New Orleans.

Raj: The year is 1888, those shaker boys are slaves and they’re not as scantily clad as you’d imagine oh Furious one! I see where you’re coming from, though. If you don’t shake this drink for at least five minutes, it’s going to taste like something nasty.

Fury: Steve Da Cruz at the Corner Suite Bistro rescued me from that disaster once.  As a gin enthusiast, I once ordered this complex drink with great anticipation, only to be disappointed by a watery, curdled, undrinkable mess.  Steve swooped in…

Raj: You swooned…

Fury: and shook the living heck out of the concoction of seltzer, orange blossom water, orange bitters, and a touch of cream.

Raj: SWOON!  It’s like drinking a flower, the ultimate Summer cocktail.

Fury: The Ramos Gin Fizz at the Corner Suite is my sultry, adult version of the creamsicle.

Raj: I was in a famous restaurant in Whistler recently, one of those places that purports to have an extensive cocktail program.  The first two drinks didn’t cut it so as punishment, I assigned the bartender a Ramos Gin Fizz. Needless to say, they totally struck out.

Fury: That just shows how you have to be very selective on who shakes up your drinks. The bartender’s heart really has to be into it.

Raj: Since you’re running the Vancouver Craft Cocktail Tour with Jay Jones, you’re the lady to go to.

Fury:I only put my drinks in the hands of those I trust.  Since Corner Suite is the ultimate bibliotheque of spirits, they have no choice but to work it like no tomorrow.

Editor: No shaker boys were harmed on this cocktail quest.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.

I’ve been a Nokia E-Series fan for some time now. The ability to access and interact with my company’s Microsoft Exchange server has been the most important factor in freeing me from my office and carrying on with a generally balanced life. The fact that the Nokia E-Series phones can interact and receive push mail from two Exchange servers made my life that much easier. This way I don’t have to carry two or three devices with me (depending on which companies I’m consulting for, etc).

I’ve accessing more than one Exchange account via push for several years. In an interesting twist of fate, the iPhone now has this functionality as of iOS4 making iPhone 4 and the upgraded iPhone 3Gs excessively attractive. The newly-released E73, on the other hand, isn’t worthy.

Up until the E71 was released a couple years ago, I was pretty happy with the E-Series product. Then, something changed. Nokia released the E75 and started to ram buggy and slow software down the consumer’s throat. No longer was the top-of-the-line Nokia phone usable. Instead, users were forced to wait several minutes for their phone to respond or worse, they were forced to constantly reboot their phones in order to get access to contacts, calendars and their inbox.

The E75 looked to generally be an upgrade to the E71. It had the latest OS, geotagging of photos from the camera, N-Gage gaming, podcasting, Internet destinations and more. Sadly, it lacked adequate memory to install third party software and was really slow. Another neat feature that surfaced with the E75 was the ability to charge the phone from either the standard Nokia circular charger or from the micro-USB port.

In a baffling move and shortly after the release of the E75, Nokia quietly killed N-Gage, alienated hundreds of thousands, if not millions of users, and started to prepare to sell stuff in their OVI store.

Around that time, I acquired the E72 and was confounded by some of the important features that were missing. Where was the podcasting software? How about the geotagging feature for my photos? The 5 megapixel camera was definitely great to use but it seems like Nokia decided to make the phone less functional than it’s predecessor. The phone, similar to the E75 also charged from the standard Nokia charger or micro-USB and also used the same battery as the E71. Great news, I could use my old accessories, spare batteries and car charger. Another bonus was that the upgraded processor and storage made the phone more usable than the E75.

Then something happened. Nokia pushed out a firmware update to the E72 and made the phone completely unstable and unusable, even when one reverted to factory settings. I tried unsuccessfully to load in an older firmware using Navifirm and some flashing tools. This turned my phone in to a brick and I was forced to go back to my E71 while my E72 made it’s way back to Malaysia for service.

Enter Wind and the E73. My contract with Fido’s been up for some time. The unlimited talk for $45 and unlimited Internet for $50 plus all the taxes (real and imagined by Fido) seemed less attractive than what the new provider Wind was offering, so I bit and bought a few months of service from the company to see if I was missing anything. I then embarked on a journey to Bellingham to purchase a Nokia E73 from T-Mobile which is compatible with Wind’s AWS network.

Unlocking the T-Mobile was a breeze. I’ve been a TMo customer for some time and they graciously provided me with an unlock code within 24 hours of my purchase. Getting it set up on Wind was a bit of a task – it has been years since I’ve entered Internet and MMS settings into my phone and changed the SMS delivery but after that, the phone was good to go. In the E73 I noticed they brought back podcasting but the geotagging feature was still absent.

The E73 is geared towards the T-Mobile network so some of the usability items like Wifi hotspot connectivity is confounding but to be expected.

Then I noticed something really amiss.

Nokia, in their ultimate wisdom, removed the standard Nokia charger port from the phone! The only way to charge the phone is to lift the micro-USB port and use the provided micro-USB charger. Yikes! No backwards compatibility with chargers I’ve acquired along the way. Additionally, the same dreaded software update (new firmware) that Nokia pushed to my E72 appears to have also hit the E73 so the phone now has fits of instability and the threaded SMS program (Nokia Conversations) doesn’t run anymore.

To top it all off, Wind seems to only be delivering EDGE type Internet speeds to the phone making the change feel like a step backwards compared even to my E71 which gets a good dose of HSDPA 3.5G speed.

The Wind network hasn’t hit primetime yet and the E73 is definitely not worth upgrading to. Better off in the bin, it’s no wonder why Nokia is in trouble and looking for a new CEO to give them direction. Not for me, I’m off to get an iPhone 4 and I’ll stick with Fido.

Jailhouse on the rocks, anyone? Elvis will probably find this variation of one of his more popular songs a bit on the culinary side. A couple of former inmates working as the kitchen staff of a swanky resto will definitely raise the eyebrow of some people but reality bites . . . reality shows that is.

You can download the this week’s  format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 1 – Edgy Summer Cocktails at Conviction Kitchen

Image cutline: Simon concocts cool cocktails under the hot film lights.

Summer is upon us.  Vancouver, very much like our mayor, is two-faced.  One week, we feel like we’re in bone-chilling November when nobody’s on the bike-lanes, the next, it’s frickin’ Summer!  It’s time to enjoy a refreshing cocktail and relax in the sun.

Raj:  So what about a bunch of sweaty ex-convicts in a kitchen?

Fury:  Yes folks, they’re filming the second season of “Conviction Kitchen” at a Westend icon, Delilah’s.  Reality shows usually irk me but I’ve really warmed up to these boys.

Raj:  Well, that’s because you fed them a bunch of vodka shots and bonded with them in the kitchen!  But Simon and Stephen, the management, are here to handle any drama.  Imagine a group that’s mired in tardiness, lacking in attention to detail, and are overall nonchalant about work.

Fury:  You mean they perfected their hustle in jail. So back to Simon, the head-bartender.  He started off in Australia, found a job at the faux Earls on Alberni… what do they call that place?

Raj: Oh ya, Town Hall.  I vowed once to never ever go back, but then I discoveredSimon, who’s graduated to a legendary establishment that actually suits his talents.

Fury: After six cocktails, we agreed that the Cherry Caiprinha is the money shot.  For one, he utilized the best of B.C. to concoct the signature drink, including sunny Ranier Cherries and organic Okanagan honey.

Raj: As a well-travelled bloke, he’s experienced both goodness and grit. Take, for example, his contribution of African teas to the beverage, add the complexity of his work environment and the possibility that the wrong cocktail might leave him with a shank in the back. Working at Conviction Kitchen can be perilous, I’m sure!

Fury: No mis-steps on Simon’s part yet. The team’s unique characters, the restaurant’s historic charm, combined with that Caiprinha made for an entertaining start in our search for THE ultimate Summer cocktail.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.

“Life is a paradox” – Nancy Cartwright

A paradox is something that reveals a seemingly opposing nature and Sweeney’s has an item in their menu that is a paradox of sorts – a vegetarian “meatball.” This fitting finale on the meatball quest will definitely give vegans and health-conscious food junkies alike something to look forward to when they grab a bite to eat at this “slow-fast food” place along Hamilton Street in Yaletown.

You can download the this week’s edition in PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 6 – Surprise Taste on the Finale of Meatball Quest

Image cutline: When it comes to good karma, Raj and Fury believe the balls at Sweeney’s of Yaletown have it nailed.

Can’t really put our finger on it…

There’s something amiss about a humble sandwich shop that opens in the city’s swankiest culinary district. Right next door, Blue Water Cafe features champagnes such as Salon’s Blanc des Blancs at $1000 a pop.

Raj: If you check under the hood, Sweeney’s of Yaletown is by no means average.

Fury: What confounds me is that their menu is Ocean Wise, local, and organic.  Even their containers are bio-degradable but there are no signs boasting of it.  No stickers, no symbols, no hint of it on the menu.

Raj: I’d have to say that they’re believers in good karma.  They make good, honest food, use quality ingredients, and hope the universe is benevolent enough to send some customers their way.

Fury: Perhaps it’s the universe that has guided us here for the final chapter in our quest.  The thought of conquering their meatball sub has held me captive ever since I found out about it on twitter.

Raj: It’s a good start that they serve these meatballs on a torpedo bun.  To enhance the flavour, they add a bit of homemade tomato sauce and Provelone cheese, just like what they use in Philadelphia.

Fury: The meatballs were soft, kinda gummy, and I definitely tasted mushroom and thyme.  Even under the tangy sauce, I still sensed a little je ne sais quoi.

Raj: I couldn’t put my finger on it either –

Editor: You guys know that those were vegetarian meatballs, right?

Raj: There you have it, good karma!  No animals were harmed in the creation of these meatballs and they were pretty darn good.

Fury:  Considering all the meat we’ve consumed on our six-part meatball quest, I’m just thankful that we found a meat-free alternative that doesn’t suck.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.

Trout Lake will never know what hit it!

Trout Lake Beach

This Thursday about a hundred geeks, civilians, and their families are expected to descend upon the beach in search of treasures and adventures of the digital variety. SMCYVR and Nokia Canada have combined forces to produce a 21st Century-style treasure hunt which will guide teams around the lake and park via smartphone as they learn to integrate the digital and actual worlds.

Smartphones are not necessary; nor is money! Nokia is supplying loaners for each team, so if you’re unsure how to use the darn things there will be social media superstars/gurus/ninjas/jedi on hand to decode them for you. And the event is free and open to all ages!

Rain or shine, people! It’s not like you don’t own Gore-Tex!

From the SMCYVR site:

The event will run from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Thursday, August 5th. Trout Lake Park is easily accessible via Skytrain, and Nokia Canada will be on site demonstrating their latest phones. Some of them are so user-friendly that even a five-year old could operate them!

And the last one to check in on Foursquare is out! (Just kidding…)