Quickie

On Saturday my mom and I went to Misato for supper because it was just the two of us and she was too lazy to cook. We decided to (finally) give the Cosmos Roll ($32.50) a try and I was glad that my mom didn't talk me into getting anything else besides a green salad, which we shared before the main course. The roll, which is deep fried lobster tail with strips of cucumber and lettuce wrapped in rice, deep fried asparagus, and a generous smattering of masago, was huge, to say the least. My mom and I could barely finish it. And despite the fact that I'm usually more of an Asian food purist, I must admit the Cosmos Roll was very delicious. I loved how all the deep fried parts were still warm in the sushi, and it came in a shallow pool of a sweet and spicy sauce (plus more on the side for dipping, but I didn't think it needed it.) Highly recommended.

Also, the Stampede is fast approaching, and for foodies, it either means finding the weirdest food you can on a stick, indulging in classic favourites like mini donuts or curly fries, or 10 days of free pancake breakfasts. Luckily for the latter group, Karo has set up a Flapjack Finder for all our flapjack finding needs. You can search for pancake breakfasts ahead of time by date or by location, or if you find yourself free on a random Stampede morning just click on "Today's Flapjacks" and see where that takes you. The Flapjack Finder also has recipes for you to host your own Stampede breakfast, and if you want to invite the city over, just add it as a public event.

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Pebble Street

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome

Apologies for being completely MIA last week - a girl has to keep her figure (and wallet, more importantly) in check sometimes... that's what the "almost" in the description is for!

Continuing on with our Asian/Chinese food theme from two weeks ago, did you know that Calgary is home to a mini-Asian food empire? The restaurants Calgary Court, Pebble Street, Forbidden City, Misai, (and if I'm not mistaken) T.Pot, and Café HK all belong to the same owner.

Yesterday my mom wanted to go pick up a few groceries from T&T at Pacific Place in Marlborough, so we stopped by Pebble Street for a late lunch. Though the cuisine is HK-style café (which is basically a little bit of everything, really, with a bit of an Asian twist), the dark decor and wooden accents make it a far cry from the cramped, noisy, fluorescent-lighted cha chaan tengs of Hong Kong.

The selection on the menu is extensive and there were dishes inspired by cuisines from all around the world - Cantonese, Szechuan, Beijing, Malaysian, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, you name it! If you're stuck, the menu does have some tantalizing photos to hopefully make the choice a bit easier. My mom and I hemmed and hawed for quite a long time before deciding to share beef brisket noodles (lo mein) ($7.25), Indonesian fried rice ($11.95), and some stir-fried Chinese broccoli (gai lan - one of my favourite veggies!) ($5.25) Usually I drink water when I'm out, but just for you guys I decided to try out their coconut pearl drink ($4.25).


I'm always a little weary of ordering tapioca pearl drinks at these restaurants because most of them are limited to milky, flavoured powders as opposed to the fresh juices and teas you can find at bubble tea shops around town. The choices at Pebble Street included strawberry, mango, taro and coffee with ice cream, but I thought coconut tended to pair well with a more creamy texture, so I went with that. Unfortunately, while the drink had a distinct coconut flavour, they were a bit heavy handed with the syrup, so it was too sweet and had a strange aftertaste. I took a few sips of it and wasn't able to finish... perhaps I'll have better luck with the "red tea with lemon" next time.

Fortunately, our food made up for the bad drink.


The noodles in the beef brisket lo mein had a springy bite to them, and the brisket was very tender, though there were some fatty pieces. Though they provided us with a big bowl of broth, my mom and I barely dipped into it as the noodles were coated with the juices from the brisket. The Indonesian fried rice came in a cute little wok with a fried egg on top, and when it was pierced, the yolk blended well with the rice which was dotted with little bits of beef, bell peppers, green onions and egg to add some interest in the flavour and texture. I think I've had a version of it with pineapple once somewhere else, and I sorta wished that they had that bit of sweetness in there though.

The portions at Pebble Street (and at their sister restaurant, Calgary Court in Chinatown) are huge and although we forced our way through the noodles and most of the Chinese broccoli (my mom complained that some of the leaves looked a bit "old"), we ended up taking most of the fried rice home, which made for good leftovers for lunch with a bit of leftover vegetables from home.

My experience yesterday barely scratches the surface of all the different types of food at Pebble Street - my brother is partial to the hot & sour soup and baked mussels, and there's something for almost anything you're craving. Top that off with the fact that sometimes ladies walk around the restaurant with trays of dim sum from Forbidden City next door, and I'm sure you can have a different dining experience every time you drop by Pebble Street - who needs to wander off to the other restaurants in the "empire"?

Pebble Street
220-999 36 St NE (Pacific Place)
Calgary AB T2A 7X6
(403) 204-1616

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On "private" healthcare

Imagine my surprise when I opened the City & Region section of the Calgary Herald to see the face of my new boss/colleague staring back at me. Publicity for our new clinic? Nope, "Private clinic eroding health care, say critics"

Before I begin answering to these critics, let me just say that yes, I am coming from a biased position. I work in a semi-private clinic, but even before that, I've always been pro-two-tiered health care. It's hard not to be when you came into the world in a private hospital in Hong Kong.

Some of you might be wondering, in the land of universal health care, how do "private" clinics get approved in the first place? Well technically, the physicians are still being paid by Alberta health, while the annual fee covers the services of the allied health professionals - at my clinic we are going to have a full-time psychologist, kinesiologist, massage therapist and myself, plus different specialists coming in on rotation. These services are not covered by public health care, so by having us in one clinic under a one-time fee, the patient is definitely saving time by not having to be referred to another clinic and getting put on their waiting list or whatever, plus they might be saving money because a lot of these specialists charge per session or per hour, and if you're seeing lots of different ones, the costs will add up.

So now onto the arguments. Alberta Liberal leader David Swann argues that the government is "allowing the erosion of our primary care system" by "allowing little bits of privatization here and there." Uh... no, I think poor leadership/management, underfunding and understaffing are eroding our primary care system; if we had good health care to begin with, I don't think anyone would even dream up the need to open their own clinic. Plus, by providing an alternative and alleviating some of the burden on the primary care system, I think privatized healthcare can act to benefit public health care.

OK, next argument. "Private clinics take physicians and other badly needed health professionals out of the public health system." Uh... no, for me personally, the fact that there's a hiring freeze within the region despite the fact that it's understaffed motivated me to look for other options. Plus, the fact that Alberta hospitals are understaffed creates a less-than-optimal work environment, which can motivate others to look elsewhere as well. It really just goes back to the fact that if the government had done a better job of managing health care, there wouldn't be a demand for alternatives by patients and staff alike. As for pay, public health care does generally have the advantage because of unions and funding from the government to offer higher wages. Last time I checked, dietitians working for Alberta Health Services earn one of the highest wages when compared with dietitians across North America.

The critics' biggest argument seems to be that by allowing private clinics to operate, we are heading towards a "slippery slope" whereby all health care will become privatized. I don't believe that's the case because there will always be demand for public health care. I'm not sure if this is the best example, but look at education! We have private schools and public schools, and I personally went to public school for my entire K-12 education. Sure the private schools tend to do better on the Fraser Reports, but so what? Public schools definitely aren't falling by the wayside anytime soon. I got what I wanted out of my schooling and I think I turned out ok.

I think private and public health care can coexist the same way, especially since most of the "privatized" clinics we have now generally have a focus on preventative health and access to other health care professionals that aren't covered by the Canada Health Act as their selling points. Some people are going to be more concerned about their health and will pay the premium for "better", preventative care, while others aren't really going to have health care on their radar unless they really need it. Critics should not be pointing fingers at the people who are opening the private clinics, because we just want to see the public healthy; it's up to the government to provide a public health care system that is competitive and is as good as it can and should be.

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Damage Control

Photo by Richard Ellis

My friend Dr. Yoni Freedhoff caused a bit of a firestorm in the media over the past couple days after he posted a survey sent to Dietitians of Canada's Ontario members in response to a provincial bill that, if passed, would see foodservice establishments with annual revenues of over $5 million be required to post calorie information on menus, menu boards, or as tags on the individual food items. The bill also proposes limits on (what else?) trans fats.

A helpful RD provided some of the survey results:

In response to the question, "Is the posting of caloric content of food at point of purchase (e.g. menu boards or menus) an effective means of public education and modifying food choices?" 47% of the respondents said "Yes", 23% said "No", and 30% said "Not sure"

In response to the question, "Is a mandatory trans fat ban/restriction required to encourage foodservice operators and manufacturers to change product offerings?" 71% said "Yes", 11% said "No" and 18% said "Not sure"

Ignoring trans fat bans for a second, I'm sure Lynda Corby, DC's Director of Public Affairs, was caught off guard when she was called up to give a statement about this issue. Why else would she say that people thinking higher calories = tastier would be an "unintended consequence" of having calorie labelling on menus?

She finally took the time to compose herself and sent the following letter to all DC members:

Dear members,

In regard to the recent media reports on calorie posting on menus, Dietitians of Canada has not made a public statement about our position on this issue as we are currently completing an evidence review to answer the question “Does posting of calories on restaurant menu boards impact on consumers’ behaviour?”

Our evidence review will be completed shortly and we will provide the results of that review to members in Current Issues. We also plan to disseminate our position in a news release at that time. This is the same process we use for all policy statements, an approach that has garnered trust in our advice by the public.

The following issues will be addressed in this review.

If posting of energy values has an impact, we want to consider

• How do consumers use calorie information out of context with the nutrient composition? DC fully supports mandatory nutrition labelling where consumers can not only compare energy value of food but see it in the context of other nutrients.
  
• Which consumers are most likely to use this information – is it those people who are already motivated to make healthy choices, or is it helpful to those who are just contemplating a change?
  
• We know that taste and price and the two factors that most influence food choices. Will having the energy value make a difference?
  
• What format would be best to catch consumers’ attention? On a cluttered menu board in a fast food restaurant, for example, will consumers take the time to use the information?
  
• What is the cost associated with this policy change and is it justified given the impact of providing the information?
  
• Are there unintended consequences to posting calories on restaurant menus?
  

All these factors will be considered in making a policy recommendation.
Posted by Lynda Corby MSc, MEd, RD, FDC
Director Public Affairs

First of all, I know Dr. Freedhoff does not mean this as a slight to dietitians. In fact, he has two on his staff, and he's made it known that the door to his clinic would always be open to me (a dietitian) if I'm ever in Ottawa so I can "see how it's done". Dr. Freedhoff has dissed DC before, and as one can probably tell from the comments on his post, not all dietitians agree with all of DC's messages. What made me cringe was reading these comments:

"I don't think it's possible for many dieticians to be mortified. I have heard more crackpot theories from dieticians than from any other health professional -- except perhaps chiropractors.
They have an inflated sense of their own expertise that is sadly lacking in reality."

"Ha...I think this just adds further proof to my theory that Dieticians are the absolute last people you want to consult about food or health."

And of course, when people read the newspaper and see the headline "Dietitians think such and such!" It's easy for the public to point their fingers at all of us, and it doesn't help that only 47% of dietitians who responded to the survey answered "Yes" to the calorie labelling on menu boards question.

Regarding the nasty comments - I would really be interested to see if the commenters past experience with "dietitians" were actually with dietitians or nutritionists. Yes, I know there are "good" and "bad" dietitians, but we are all bound by our professional colleges and strive toward evidence-based practice, as opposed to "crackpot theories". On the other hand, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, whether they've done four years of university and just didn't do an internship, 1-2 years at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition or 10 months at a community college! Today, my company had its launch party and one of the guests I spoke with said her nutritionist recommended that she cut out wheat and dairy even though (from what I gathered) she didn't seem to have any problems with them!

So what about the fact that only 47% of dietitians agreed that "posting of calories on restaurant menu boards impact on consumers’ behaviour"? I will concede that the letter that DC sent out with the survey was biased... "Dietitians of Canada is concerned that there is limited evidence to support a move to posting energy content of foods on restaurant menu boards as a means of influencing consumers to make positive changes in their food selection at this point of purchase." But it's telling that 30% of the respondents simply said they're not sure. First of all, saying that you're "not sure" whether it's going to impact customer behaviour doesn't say anything in terms of whether you support Bill 156. And to be honest, most dietitians work in acute care and unfortunately issues like this simply aren't on their radar - these dietitians can probably tell you about the latest nutrition research in dysphagia, cancer, pediatrics, whatever, but calories on menus? They just don't know.

I definitely think Lynda Corby was caught off-guard during her interview, which is why she gave the unfortunate example that calories on menus might lead some to think that higher calorie foods are tastier. Of course not. But I do think that it's fair that DC is doing its own review of the research before making a statement, even if all these other organizations have thrown their support behind the cause. I mean, yes it could be perceived as a no-brainer, but I think DC wants to know what they are talking about before they talk about it, which is why I don't think Lynda should've gone into so much detail, but instead should have said something along the lines of, "While DC recognizes that our colleagues from different health professions and many of our own members have thrown their support behind Bill 156 and publishing calorie counts on menus, we would like to conduct our own literature review, which will be completed shortly, before making an official statement."

So it's ok, guys, DC is just taking its sweet time to read its papers, and then it's just going to agree with everyone else, right? Dr. Freedhoff helpfully provides us with some evidence from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, which basically says that opinion polls show that consumers want it and that in the current state of things, people are eating out more while portion sizes are getting bigger, which may be contributing to the obesity crisis and most people, including nutrition professionals, tend to underestimate the number of calories in a fast food meal. On the "affecting consumer behaviour" side of things, they cite this study (subscription required), which found that on average, people who went to a Subway with calories published at point-of-purchase purchased 52 calories than those who went to a Subway without the calories posted. They also cited this study, which found that most people underestimate the calories of the foods that they eat, particularly for less healthful items, where actual calories were sometimes more than double the mean estimate! The researchers then gave participants the calorie, total fat and saturated fat counts for the menu items and found that they were 24-37% less likely to choose the unhealthy (less consistent with nutrition expectations) versus the healthier (more consistent with nutrition expectations) items.

Other studies are not as promising. In this literature review, the authors could only find six studies that met their selection criteria, and found that while five of them did provide evidence that calorie information may influence food choices, the effect may be weak or inconsistent. The authors were also the lead researchers in a later study which found that calorie labelling had an insignificant effect on subjects who often ate at fast food restaurants.

Based on my very brief literature search, I would agree with DC in saying there is currently limited evidence that calorie labelling on menus actually causes people to make different choices when it comes to their eating. But does that mean I don't support having them? No. This is obviously something consumers want, have the potential to benefit from, and are unlikely to be harmed by. Most of the restaurants that this bill will affect already have nutrition information available elsewhere, and if they don't, well, I'm sure they have the money to do it anyway (I'm looking at you, Moxies.) And maybe, just maybe, when calorie labelling is in place, it'll be a lot easier to do studies and find more evidence!

In conclusion, I don't think DC is unsupportive of calorie labelling on menus, I just think they're being very cautious before they do give their support. Yes, the evidence for it may be weak, but I don't think anyone's expecting it to be the answer to the obesity epidemic here. More importantly, I think DC's literature search is going to find that this is not going to be harmful to anyone, and that in the end, they're going to give it their support, stressing that this is only a very small piece of the puzzle.

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Real Chinese Food @ Han's Restaurant (韓記川味小館)

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

FFWD just came out with its annual "Best of Calgary" list, as chosen by its readers. As a self-proclaimed Chinese/Asian Food Purist, I always have to brace myself a little as my eyes get closer and closer to the "Best Chinese" category, and sure enough, this year's winner was Silver Dragon. Yes, I know Silver Dragon's been around for decades and I can't really say anything about them since I haven't been there for a long time, but I think just the simple fact my family hasn't been there for a long time is very telling... (FULL respect to Buddha's Veggie, btw, I've never been there either, but we don't have enough vegetarian restaurants in Calgary)

Some nerdy background about Chinese food before I start talking about this week's eats - Chinese food isn't as simple as "westernized/fake" Chinese food vs. "real" Chinese food. China's a huge country, and has a lot of regional cuisines within it. The most well-known cuisine outside of China is Cantonese (southern) cuisine, as most Chinese immigrants are from Hong Kong and Guangdong (Canton) province. The Cantonese are responsible for such awesome foods as dim sum and BBQ pork. The second most common cuisine is Szechuan (western), which is well-known for being spicy. Around Beijing (northern), the food tends to be more sweet and sour, and noodles and dumplings are the main staple instead of rice. Finally, Shanghai (eastern) is known for including lots of seafood, its saltier dishes, and xiaolongbao (小籠包, commonly referred to as "steamed pork buns" or "soup dumplings" on our side of the world).

Graphic from Chinese Food Recipes

So why am I telling you all this? Since my family's from Hong Kong, there are a lot of Chinese restaurants for us to pick and choose from, whether it's a big family gathering, or a casual lunch. However, for people like my friend Ray, who is from northern China, "good Chinese food" in his terms is still hard to come by. He's always complaining about how the food at Cantonese restaurants tend to be "too sweet". So when he started raving about the food at Han's Restaurant, a tiny hole-in-the-wall in Chinatown, I really wanted to give it a try (with him in tow, of course, so he could order in Mandarin for us while I squeaked out "thank you" (謝謝/xie xie) every once in a while.)

>
The main reason we went was because I wanted to try their Dan Dan Mian (擔擔麵, $7). I'd always thought that it was a Shanghai specialty, as that was where I'd first had it as a noodle soup with spicy peanut sauce, so imagine my surprise when it came out looking almost like pasta with meat sauce!


Ray set the record straight by telling me that Dan Dan Mian is actually from Chengdu, and the version at Han's is what it's actually supposed to look like, but with the spiciness toned down a couple notches. As a person who can handle some spice, but certainly not the type to seek out the hottest sauces or the hottest dishes, the noodles were definitely pushing the boundaries of my spice tolerance, but I still managed to finish them because they were delicious! The noodles were perfectly cooked (I hate mushy noodles) and the cucumbers provided a bit of a cooling effect to counteract the spicy sauce. (Which Ray believes is made in-house)

We also ordered two non-spicy dishes - sweet and sour spareribs (糖醋排骨, $13.50) and dry-fried green beans (乾扁四季豆, $12.50).


The sweet and sour spareribs had a nice balance of flavour and I liked how the sauce wasn't overly sticky. I was a little surprised that Mr. "Southern Chinese food is too sweet" ended up eating more than me, but I guess it's also cuz he is a dude. At the same time, I wouldn't recommend this dish if you haven't known the person you're dining with for a long time because you're going to be spitting out bones and cartilage and the like. (It's the Chinese way!)

I was pleasantly surprised by the dry-fried green beans because I recently had them at another Chinese restaurant and they were spicy. The ones at Han's aren't, but instead are delightfully garlicky and pushing the boundaries a little in terms of saltiness.

Most hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants are known for giving you lots of food for not a lot of money, but not Han's. As you noticed, the prices are a little more expensive, and the portions a little smaller (read: more manageable), but I think it's worth it because everything was freshly made. What I was most impressed by though, was the speediness and attentiveness of the service. Though the little old waitress was just chilling and reading a Chinese newspaper or chatting with the chef for most of the evening, (we were the only ones there until another group showed up 15 minutes before the restaurant closed at 8:30) she was on the ball in getting us our (free!) tea and came to take our order the moment we closed our menus. All our food was at our table within 10-15 minutes of ordering, and when we thought we we couldn't finish everything, she was just like "There's only a couple bites left! If you take a little bit and he takes a little bit, it'll be all gone." And she was right.

I think I know why Silver Dragon is chosen by FFWD readers every year as the best Chinese. It's existed for decades for a reason, it's got great atmosphere, and for the most part, real Chinese food. But most importantly, it's probably the only Chinese restaurant that these people have been to! So go check out Han's, check out the other restaurants in Chinatown, check out the other restaurants not in Chinatown, and come next year, I hope you and I will be pleasantly surprised.

Han's Restaurant
116-303 Centre St S
Calgary AB T2G 2B9
(403) 263-5667
Cash only.

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Sunday Tea Party @ Nectar

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome

Nestled in the heart of Inglewood, Nectar Desserts is probably my favourite dessert place in Calgary. Sure it can get a little pricey, but where else can you get a killer Smoky Chocolate with Sea Salt Caramel tart, Single Malt Scotch ice cream to take home by the quart, or take a class on pairing scotch with chocolate?

So when my friend Tiffany, who was the one who introduced me to Nectar, called me up to catch up, we decided to check out their Sunday Tea Party, which is a relatively new "event" that they've been doing for the past couple of months.

We made a reservation for the 11 a.m. seating, and it ended up being just us and another pair of ladies on the list, so it was a nice, quiet setting for some pleasant conversation. All the tables were set with colourful, mismatched china, so it felt fun and casual, but with a touch of class. Our server promptly brought out a picture frame with the list of teas that we could choose from, and it ranged from classics like Creamy Earl Grey and English Breakfast to more exotic teas like Flowering Jasmine (that you can watch "bloom" in the pot) and Passion Fruit. Tiffany chose the Passion Fruit tea, while I grabbed a Café au Lait. Unfortunately, the server whisked away the menus almost as quickly as she brought them, so I didn't get a good look at the extra items you can order, which include champagne, fresh fruit, as well as savoury items like a spring green salad or quiche.

It wasn't too long before our server brought out our tower of sweets, which included items on Nectar's regular rotation, like its Flourless Chocolate Cake and Sesame Macarons with Salted Caramel, as well as new treats like currant scones, cookies with caramel filling, mini lemon tarts, grapefruit jellies, handmade marshmallows, pavlovas and salted caramels.


I think my favourite pastry on the tower were the scones, which were surprisingly warm and fluffy. They came with handmade crème fraîche, apricot preserve and berry preserve, and as our tea went on, I liked how the tangy crème fraîche gave us a bit of a break from all that sweetness.

Overall, our server was very pleasant and made sure we didn't feel rushed while keeping Tiff's teapot full of tea and my cup full of Café au Lait, and of course, all the different treats on the tower were top-notch. I only wish that our tower came with savoury treats - as much as I like desserts like any stereotypical girl, I can usually satisfy a craving with just one piece of chocolate or one slice of cake, so having all those sweets at once kind of made my stomach a little upset. Although there are separate savoury items that you can order, we were already paying $30 per person and weren't prepared to fork out more money or take up more valuable stomach space.

If you think $30 is a little too much for Sunday tea, there are ways to make it cheaper. On the menu it says that your whole party (of up to 30) will get 10% off if everybody shows up wearing a hat, and an additional 5% off if together the hats weigh 30 lb or more.

Though I'd still pop by to Nectar for a slice of cake or a tart, I don't think I'll head over for the Sunday Tea Party again just because it really is too much sugar for me to have at once, but I would definitely recommend it if you have an insatiable sweet tooth and an iron stomach. That being said, I would still love suggestions on how to make a 15 lb hat ;)

Nectar Desserts
1216 9 Ave SE (upstairs)
Calgary AB T2G 0T1
(403) 263-8486
Take out and custom orders available. Nectar usually doesn't take reservations, but they DO for the Sunday Tea Party, where there are seatings at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.

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