Bailli of Vancouver Annual Report 2007/8

 I am happy to report that we have had another busy but excellent year of Chaine activities in the Vancouver Bailliage.

After last years successful AGM and Auction at the Terminal City Club we celebrated again in May with a delightful dinner hosted by Chef Rob Feenie at Lumiere. (History in the making and we didn’t know it!)

Then it was off to Bruno Marti’s lovely house and garden in Ladner to enjoy a spectacular barbeque and dinner put on by members of Culinary Team Canada led by Manager John Carlo Felicella. The memories of sitting under the canopies in the garden watching that glorious sunset, eating some of the best food, drinking great wines surrounded by all of the Chaine members dressed in Bruno’s chefs jackets to keep off the evening chill, will remain with me for a long time!

Our planned train trip to Whistler in September did not come about for a variety of reasons – too many people away, costs, distance, whatever – the interest was not there. I do hope that sometime in next year’s calendar we will again have the opportunity to support our Chaine members from out of town.

In September, I attended the Grand Chapitre du Canada in Calgary. I was a judge for the National Commis Competition and was very proud that our candidate from this bailliage – Mr. Brody White of the Pear Tree Restaurant – came in second place and narrowly missed the opportunity to represent Canada this September at the International Competition in Paris. (However, that being said, Brody is now himself working in Paris and I am sure is having a wonderful time!)

The National meeting gave me the opportunity of working with the new Bailli Délégué du Canada, Mr. David Tetrault and his new Council. Mr. Hayo Maier – the previous Bailli Délégué – retired from the position at the international meeting in Frankfurt last September and was awarded the Gold Star of Excellence by Mr. Yam Atallah the International President of La Chaine. He and his wife Diana are now happily traveling the world and enjoying their grandchildren. A letter from all of the members of this Bailliage was sent to him congratulating him on his retirement and thanking him for all his years of service to the Chaine. We wish him well and I am sure that he will be gracing us with his presence at many of our future events.

David Tetrault has a very different management style from Hayo – which takes a bit of getting used to! Change is never easy but like all of us, we should remember that David is a volunteer and must be commended for his dedication to his position as National Bailli and for putting a lot of energy into updating and upgrading many of the systems. You will have noted that this is definitely the age of technology and most communications are now taking place electronically including the National newsletter. The webpage has been upgraded and all members are encouraged to view it to see what is happening across the country. Another improvement that has taken place is the introduction of the new Chaine plaque – a beautiful bronze version that looks far more professional than the old red and blue plaque. The Marriott Pinnacle Hotel was the first establishment in Vancouver to apply for the new plaque and I believe it now has pride of place outside the hotel on Hastings Street.

David and his wife Joan joined us for our great Intronization ceremony at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in October. This was a fabulous event thanks to the work of Bob and Claire Marie who through their friendship with G.H. Mumm and Cie., managed to procure for us some beautiful champagnes to drink throughout the dinner

Christmas dinner was celebrated Alsatian style at Le Crocodile – the best French Restaurant in the city according to the awards presented yesterday – congratulations Michel Jacob!

This year we enjoyed dinners at the Five Sails Restaurant in February and the Bluewater Café in March.

Next month we will be holding a Brunch at the Fish House in Stanley Park on Sunday May 25^th. I would like everyone to please make a note of this event as we are going to dedicate the day to Bert and Janet Phillips. Bert and Janet have done so much for La Chaine over the years and it is high time that we honored them! Please plan to join us!

Our Summer event is still up in the air at the moment so please keep an eye on the events section of the webpage for updates.

In September we will have the opportunity of supporting both the students of VCC and our National Culinary Team as they prepare for us, their Hot Menu which they will present at the World Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany in October.

A note on our Intronization dinner – we have had to change the date and location as the only time that David Tetrault is able to attend is November 15. We will therefore be holding this event at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel where GM Ken Cretney and Exec Chef Stuart Klassen are planning a very exciting event for us. Once again, we are looking forward to welcoming several new members but please keep in mind that we are always able to welcome more people to this prestigious organization. If you have friends who would enjoy good food, excellent wines and incredible company, please invite them to attend a dinner to see what we are all about. – and we would love to have new people join us.

This year, I would like to welcome a new face to my Council. Dr. Stephen Tredwell has very kindly offered to step up to the volunteer plate and has agreed to take on the position of Argentier taking over from Christophe Penalva who together with Tanya and the family will be moving to Vernon in June. Christophe is unable to attend this evening due to business commitments but we will be making a presentation to him in May. The onerous task of bean counting is not an easy one and Stephen with be working with Christophe and myself over the next few months to make the transition as easy as possible. One thing I must ask of you is to give us your permission to transfer the details of your credit cards to the new Argentier. I will be putting out this information to all of the members and if anyone has any objection to transferring this information please let me know as soon as possible. Please welcome Stephen to my Council – I am thrilled to have him on board.

Roland Milaire continues to do a fabulous job with the web page, photos, auctioneer and also with the National newsletter.

Please make sure that your e mail info is always up to date with Roland.

We are trying to cut down on snail mail as much as possible and we don’t want you to miss out!

Scott Jaeger – who is more than a little busy running the Pear Tree Restaurant and being a member of the National Culinary Team, helps me tremendously by communicating and working with the chefs for every event as well as organizing the annual Commis Rôtisseurs competition. This year’s event will take place at VCC at the end of May.

Adolf works wonders with the membership records and dues notices despite surgery and a wife with appendicitis! Please be sure to update any address or contact information should it change.

 Susan has done a great job putting together our program and is helping me make the adjustments for this year and planning new ideas for next year.

Bob Charlton with his tremendous knowledge of wines and vintages, and their organization, is a great asset to all of us. It is not always easy to match the wines to the foods or to find the desirable vintage in sufficient quantities. Then there is the removal from the cellar, delivery to the events, the instructions on quantities and pour size to the sommeliers plus his sharing of knowledge to us. For all this I am very grateful.

And last but by no means least my thanks to Christophe for looking after the money and for communicating with the National Argentier. Christophe and all of my Council -I could not do this without you!

As we move ahead to the rest of this year’s program I would like to welcome you all to as many events as you can attend. Please get your reservations in as early as possible – it makes planning – and there is a lot of it – so much easier.

In closing, I thank you the members for your ongoing support. Your Council and I really are working hard on your behalf – we appreciate any feedback that you can give us so that we can always do the best for all of us.

Respectfully submitted: 

Jane Ruddick PhD

Bailli