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There’s something about a great bowl of soup. Consuming it is comforting and fulfilling. Yes Indeed. BUT – making a great pot of soup can be the highlight of an entire day. The gathering, the sorting, the decisions and then the making of a pot of soup brings out the goodness in people. Time slows. Conversations starts. Memories are made.
Soups on!!!
The Wine Diva has a great new list for all of us who spent waaay too much over the Holidays.  The Diva has reviewed all these wines under $17.00.
The Pride of Saskatoon, Kim Coates  is a floor wax AND a Shampoo..A Canadian AND an Actor. He currently stars as Tig Trager in the FX series Sons of Anarchy. Tig knows his Tannins.
Then it’s a Soup Special. I’m crazy about well made soup and  I’m not the only one.
We welcome soup chefs from Brodo in  Penticton, Vancouver Culinary Institute and North Vancouver’s The Soup Meister.

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THE SHOW

The Wine Diva , Daenna van Mulligen tastes a LOT of wines..Over 2,000 bottles this year alone.
Besides reviewing the best ones, she also keeps a list of exactly which wines are cheaper keepers .
This list this week features  41  great wines UNDER $17.00.
If you’re looking to budget this month, then this list is for you. And you can thank the Wine Diva for the bargains!!
Details at  www.winediva.ca
1. San Felipe ‘Classic Label’ Malbec~Merlot, Mendoza Argentina $12.00
2. Masi Serego Alighieri Possessioni Rosso, Veneto Italy $16.99
3. Veuve du Vernay Blanc de Blancs Brut, France $14.99
4. Alamos Malbec, Mendoza Argentina $14.99
5. Gray Monk Riesling, Okanagan Valley BC $14.99
6. Cellar Hand ‘Free Run White’ Okanagan Valley BC $16.00
7. Quinta do Ameal Branco Seco Vinho Verde, Portugal $16.99
8. Santa Rita Reserva Pinot Noir, Cassablanca Chile $15.99
9. De Martino ‘Nuevo Mundo’ Cabernet Sauvignon~Malbec Reserva, Maipo Valley Chile $15.99
10. Cono Sur Organic Pinot Noir, Colchagua Valley Chile $15.49
11. Navarro Lopez Rojo Granrojo Tempranillo, Castilla Spain $17.00
12. La Posta ‘Cocina’ Tinto, Mendoza Argentina $17.99
13. Kaiken Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, Mendoza $16.00
14. Loma Larca ‘Lomas del Valle’ Pinot Noir, Casablanca Chile $14.99
15. Pascual Toso Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza Argentina $13.99
16. Quarisa ’30 Mile’ Shiraz, Australia $14.99
17. La Poderosa Reserva Syrah, Chile $15.00
18. Castillo de Monseran Garnacha, Carinena Spain $9.99
19. Castillo de Malunda ‘Punto Y Coma’ Garnacha Vinas Viejas, Calatayud Spain $14.99
20. Bodegas San Alejandro ‘Pablo’ Old Vine Garnacha, Calatayud Spain $13.99
21. Domaine Bousquet Malbec, Tupungato, Mendoza Argentina $15.99,$8.99
22. Louis Latour ‘Ardeche’ Chardonnay, Coteaux de l’Ardeche France $14.99
23. Santa Carolina Sauvignon Blanc Reserva, Leyda Chile $12.99
24. Vina Las Perdices Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza Argentina $16.99
25. Tormaresca ‘Paiara’, Puglia Italy $9.99
26. Purato Nero d’Avola, Sicily Italy $15.99
27. Nathalie Bonhomme ‘el petit bonhomme blanco’, Rueda Spain $14.99
28. Sperling Vineyards ‘The Market White’, Okanagan Valley BC $16.00
29. Dominio del Plata ‘Crios’ Torrontes, Argentina $15.99
30. J.G. Carrion Cristallino “Jaume Serra” Brut Nature Reserva Cava Spain $15.00
31. Bodegas Ateca ‘Garnacha de Fuego’ Calatayud Spain $15.95
32. Spier ‘Signature’ Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch South Africa $14.99
33. La Vieille Ferme Blanc Cotes du Luberon, Rhone Valley France $13.99
34. Trivento ‘Amado Sur’ White, Mendoza, Argentina $13.95
35. Delas Cotes-Du-Ventoux, Rhone Valley, France $16.99
36. Perseus Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley N/A
37. Casolari Lambrusco Di Sorbara DOC Frizzante, Emiglia~Romagna Italy $14.99
38. Domaine Gayda Grenache, Pays d’Oc France $14.99
39. Bodegas Escorihuela 1884 Syrah Reservado, Mendoza Argentina, 2012 $16.99
40. Undurraga ‘Sibaris’ Reserva Especial Carmenere, Colchagua Valley, Chile $15.99
41. Louis Bernard Cotes du Rhone Blanc, Rhone Valley France $14.99
 
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Kim Coates

 
Kim Coates is a heck of an actor.
He’s currently preparing for Year Seven of Sons of Anarchy, the FX Series that’s wildly popular. Kim was born in Saskatoon but he quickly moved into acting and spent considerable time at Stratford. Playing Macbeth during one season at the Stratford Theatre. His next challenge was New York City, where he played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Then it was on to Hollywood.
 
 
 
His is a face you don’t forget because of the roles he plays. Some of Kim’s appearance include

•  Pearl Harbor
• Blackhawk Down
• Assault on Precinct 13
• The Island
• Resident Evil
• Goon

And on tv

• Miami Vice
• CSI
• Entourage

Kim Coates is what you call A Working Actor. However, we’re about to find out what he knows about wine..it’s going to be fun.
Send him a note on twitter… @KimFCoates‎
www.fxnetworks.com/soa
 
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Soups on

 
I have this thing about  great soup. Makes me happy and I believe I’m in the Majority. This is our first soup special and it kicks off with a  Kick Off.
Please. Let me explain. Dine Out Vancouver kicked off this week with a 50 chef soup.
50 Chefs each brought one ingredient (of their own choosing and with no advance coordination) to contribute to a communal cauldron. Under the watchful eye of Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (PICA) Executive Chef Julian Bond, students struggled to keep up as endless ingredients streamed in, spanning the gamut between customary (celery) and downright wacky (raw cacao). Over the next few hours, the team seasoned, simmered and stirred the concoction into some semblance of appealing soup.
Produced by Tourism Vancouver, Dine Out Vancouver Festival is a city-wide celebration of eating out, attracting tens of thousands of local and visiting foodies to Vancouver’s exceptionally diverse collection of restaurants for 17 days. Now in its 12th year, Canada’s largest restaurant festival allows diners to sample menus from hundreds of restaurants around the city, all for a prix fixe cost (price points are $18, $28 and $38 per person) and many with suggested BC VQA pairings.
 
We talk to Lucas Pavan, Team Leader of Dine Out Vancouver and PICA Executive Chef Julian Bond.
Then it’s off to Brodo in Penticton.  The chef/owner is Paul Cecconi who has a track record in competition, as one of the best soup masters in the West. He was the chef at Local Lounge and Grille in Summerland but decided to open his own room when Amante went sideways. Paul is one of the best  natural chefs I’ve run across. He has a ease in the kitchen that lets you know great food is being created. He won the Stone Soup Competition in Kelowna and then went into Vancouver to compete in the Chowder Championship. He won that too. Paul gives up a couple of do’s and don’ts  about making the great pot of soup.
Opened in May 2013, BRODO features locally-sourced ingredients in a variety of soups, sandwiches and salads, and the menu changes seasonally to reflect what’s fresh from the harvest. Unique to Penticton, the “flight of soups” has been a hit since opening — three soups to tempt taste buds, paired with a salad or sandwich. BRODO’s service is fresh and fast, true to Chef Paul Cecconi’s motto: simply fresh food.
http://www.tastebrodo.com/
 
 
…and we finish this Soup Love-in at The Soup Meister in the Lonsdale Quay North Vancouver. Ralf Daun has the slickest kitchen on the North Shore. Teams of assistants greet the daily customers.  Each one of them slicing, dicing and sorting the  elements for the four daily soups.
Overseeing it all is Chef Ralf Dauns.
The Soup Meister was born in the Reil, Germany, which is a small European village that sits in the heart of the winemaking region of the Mosel.  He was raised on a vineyard and guesthouse where he learned the winemaking processes at a very young age. His experiences working in the guesthouse are what sparked his passion for cooking. His family is still very much involved in the business.
He spent many years leading culinary teams in hotels all over the World. While at the Intercontinental in Nairobi Kenya he cooked for Nelson Mandela, President De Klerk, and His Highness the Aga Khan . Any chef who creates and serves four amazing soups every day is the perfect guest to finish our Soup Special.
 
 
Have a bowl.  Make yourself happy.
Tdm
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The Food Trucks of Vancouver.