An Evening of Fine Dining at Lumière
Posted by Stephen on
December 3, 2006
One of the things I like to do once (or twice) a year is to hit a very exclusive or expensive restaurant with a few friends, though I do tend to feel better about it when there is an occasion attached to the visit (Happy Birthday Kelly 
). My first visit to a truly fine eatery was earlier this year when I went down to WEST, Vancouver’s finest restaurant for two years running. That was a celebration of my independence from the daily grind of working for “The Man” and marked my start of becoming “The Man”.
Since WEST, my passion for food just exploded. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be able to sample all the wonderful cuisine that I drooled over while watching Food TV at work. The bar was raised, and I found myself critiquing every restaurant that I went to based on this golden standard. I had developed the taste for fine dining. The most annoying part of this taste is that a lot of people I know aren’t crazy enough to come with me. I can already hear my parents lecturing me for even THINKING about spending that much on a meal. The standard I set previously was $400 for two people at WEST.
Rob Feenie is one of Canada’s top chefs and has written several cook books, has his own TV show, and is famous worldwide for his culinary skills. Rob is known for using fresh and exotic ingredients in his dishes which has also led to the main criticism’s of his cook books: no one can buy the ingredients that he uses to make his dishes. The stuff just isn’t available at the local grocery store (excuse me but where do you keep the Foie Gras and Truffles?). Rob received his Iron Chef designation when he beat Iron Chef Morimoto in “The Crab Battle” on Iron Chef America. It was ironic that a French trained chef could beat a Japanese Cuisine master at making a “California Roll”. I guess that’s drama for you!
Last evening, I had the opportunity to try one of Vancouver’s most famous high end restaurant owned by the Iron Chef Slayer himself, Rob Feenie. His concept Lumière, is nestled in the trendy Kitsilano area of Vancouver. The Kitsilano area is riddled with trendy fusion inspired places like “The Eatery” which serves up a West Coast interpretation of Japanese cuisine. One has to wonder if Rob got some inspiration for his “Crab Battle” from there. There are also many pubs, coffee shops, and stores that seem like a total clash to what Lumière represented. Even though Kitsilano was not known as a destination for this sort of cuisine, Rob Feenie had the vision and the star power to draw people to the area. Rob also has a more casual eatery known as Feenies that seems to draw the regular Kitsilano crowd. It’s located right beside Lumière and serves brunch, lunch, and dinner. After visiting Feenies recently, I have to say that there is definitely nothing regular about the food there.
Lumière was Vancouver’s best restaurant for seven years running as voted by Vancouver Magazine. However, in 2005, Lumière lost the title to WEST. WEST also won the top chef award the same year. In order to claim the title back, Lumière shut down to do a major renovation of their kitchen costing over 1.2 million dollars in March of 2005. However, Lumière still lost (OUCH) as WEST was once again on top for 2006. Having experienced WEST, it was time to figure out what went wrong at Lumière and to see if Vancouver Magazine’s findings matched my own.
My first impression of Lumière was: Wow. The dining room of Lumière was very intimate with low ceilings and a seating area that housed only 50 guests. The chairs were obviously made for a lengthy dining experience; they were extremely comfortable. The chocolate veneer of the wood trim mixed with the large filaments of the dimly lit bulbs presented a very cozy atmosphere. The windows facing the street were frosted providing a bit of privacy. A large chainmail curtain was featured in the middle of the dining area, separating the two halves of the dining room.
Our waiter, Simon, was very apologetic when he informed me that the valet was unable to start my car to drive it to the secured parking area, shortly after seating us. Apparently, the valet couldn’t get the steering lock to disengage. I guess after driving all sorts of high end European vehicles, the Subaru was slumming it. After that was taken care of, we were joined by John Chow and his family; the only other person I know crazy enough to do this with me. John has a picture recap of the evenings meal. I brought my camera along, but I had forgotten to put the memory card back in. However I didn’t mind not being able to take pictures. It made it easier for me to relax and enjoy the evening. Plus, I got the feeling that people were looking at us when John was happily snapping away.
When it was time to order, the men (John, his father in-law, and myself) ordered from the Kitchen Menu, which contained the most meat as well as the foie gras. The ladies (Kelly, Sarah, and Sarah’s mother) ordered the Seafood Menu. John and I ordered the wine flights perfectly paired to go with our meals. Each menu was about 6 - 7 courses long. Before each course, the item was broken down for us so that we knew what it was called and what was in it. This went the same for the wine and it was pointed out why each wine went well with the dish we were about to enjoy. In between meals, “The Bread Guy” would come around with a selection of very tasty breads that we would take advantage of whenever we could find him. John and I joked that he was probably the best paid bread man in town.
The presentation of the dishes was done to perfection. In fact, while placing the dishes in front of us, a couple times the plates were bumped and the platings were undone. The servers immediately took the course back to be re-plated for us so we could eat with our eyes as well as our mouths. One other thing we noticed was the number of plates used per dish. Our first dish which was a broth that prepared our taste buds for the meal, was served on a stack of no less than 5 dishes of varying sizes. Not only does Lumière have the highest paid “Bread Man”, but I have reason to believe that they also have one of the highest paid dishwashers in town as well. We also received fresh cutlery before each course, and if we needed to leave to do our business, we would find our napkin perfectly folded again when we returned, and my glass was refilled with sparkling water called “Antipodes”. If they refill your glass with it every time you run out, $9.50 per bottle is worth it in my opinion, and they only charged us for one.
Overall the meal was very good, but unfortunately, it wasn’t as memorable as I would have hoped. The wine parings were perfect, and the service was par excellence, but even the foie gras dish, and I love foie gras, didn’t leave a lasting impression with me. The only thing I found memorable was the tower of home made cookies and jellies at the end. WEST gave us each a single jellie and sent us packing. It wasn’t that the food was bad. Far from it. But as John and I were discussing, it may be that because at WEST the Executive Chef’s main focus is on the food, the food really shines. At Lumière we could literally taste the distance that was forming between Rob and his restaurant. In fact, we were hoping to get a picture with Rob that evening, but he was out of town for a prior engagement. We’re pretty sure that the Exectutive Chef at WEST was in there slugging it out with his sous chefs on a busy Friday evening.
This is not to say that Rob Feenie is not an exceptional culinary master. He is! He’s an Iron Chef Slayer after all! But I think that with such publicity from being a celebrity chef, if you are not going to be able to work with your team, you need to step down and let another chef run the show. You can’t manage a kitchen from a television set, or from a test kitchen in Italy. If he’s going to be an owner promoting his business, he can’t be the executive chef. Not unless he can settle for number two year after year. I also think that his partner may be pushing him too hard. When I was at Feenies, I sat at the table beside Rob’s partner, David Sidoo. From what I overheard, David had huge plans for Rob, doing commercials, special engagements. Just really big things. Meanwhile, I saw Rob run between the Lumière kitchen and the Feenies kitchen with huge bags under his eyes, looking like he was about to collapse.
Despite excellent service, very good food and atmosphere, the food was the weakest link and I do have to recognize Vancouver Magazines second place rating of Lumière is accurate and agree that WEST is BEST when it come to food. Rob says that his food is his way of speaking to us, and what I’m hearing is that the focus has shifted away from the food, and to being a celebrity chef/owner that isn’t in his kitchen very much anymore. The only thing I’m trying to figure out is whether or not he is telling us this because he is begging for help and is overwhelmed, or just broadcasting that his focus has shifted.
When it came time to pay the bill, our table’s total came out to over $1300. $500 of it was for Kelly and myself: a new record. What I found a bit offensive was the tipping. It was included as a service charge of 18% on our bill. I would have tipped 20% this evening because of the excellent service Simon gave us. Though they specify that tables of 6 or more receive an automatic service charge, I firmly believe that tipping is not an entitlement. It was a bit cheesy to do that and in a restaurant like this, it is expected that the service is going to be great. Are you saying that service may not be great by including it?
In the rest of the world, tipping is for service over and above the call of duty. In some places, it is actually offensive because if you tip, it means you look down on your server’s station in life. No where else on the planet is it so blatantly treated as an entitlement as it is here. Do you tip if you get poor service? Most of us just tip anyway out of habit, and by doing so, you are making it OK to give poor service. It also hurts people that give excellent service like Simon did this evening. Had they not specified the service charge, Simon and his team would have been tipped more.
As we enjoyed the last bit of our dessert and coffee, the Valet was once again unable to start my car. I found this amusing. I wasn’t mad at all because I found it funny that Kelly can drive my car; she steals it when she wants to have a bit of fun. The owners mom at the tire store could not only start my car, she even backed it into the garage. Yet the Valet at Lumière couldn’t. I had to run down to the garage with him to grab my car. He just couldn’t get the key to turn and was totally embarrassed when I did it right in front of him for the second time. Poor guy.
I hope Rob finds his true food voice again or lets go so that he can promote himself and the restaurant while a new chef takes the restaurant to new heights. The next stop sometime in the New Year will be “C” restaurant, Vancouver’s number three fine dining establishment, and home of Robert Clark, Vancouver Magazine’s Top Chef of 2006.
I agree with you that West is a slightly better restaurant than Lumiere although I had a more favorable experience with the service at Lumiere.
It is not uncommon for the tip to be included as part of the price in parts of Europe but I agree completely that tipping should be optional. However, you also have to realize that tips are a good portion of a server’s income AND that folks like you and me who aren’t cheap bastards are probably in the minority, probably especially in this city. Getting stiffed is a problem and in a high-end restaurant, it is probably the best way to ensure that their staff is well taken care of, which makes sense when you have a table with five or more guests.
I wouldn’t be so insulted, really. Just think of it from their point of view and be happy in known that this rule wasn’t made due to generous people like us.
I’ll give an example. In Italy, a place that has inspired many of the greatest chefs in the world, is where tipping is taboo. It is absolutely offensive to tip anyone for food there. From the tiniest bistro to the largest restaurant, because the owners are often the cooks and the servers, when you tip them, it is like saying that you think they are not able to support their family or their station in life is beneath you. In some circumstances, it can also mean that you disrespect their cuisine and that it is not good enough so you need to donate to help keep their business running.
Restaurants here are too full of the entitlement mentality. If we put up with this, we only feed the beast. Getting stiffed is one thing, but it may also be a clue that perhaps the service wasn’t as good as you thought and needs to be fixed?
I noticed how they tacked on 18% for their tips. I can see it as being a bad thing. If you’re a waiter/ess and you already know you are getting a tip without having to go ‘Above and Beyond’ then would you still do it?
When I took a cruise on the Serenade of the Seas with Royal Caribbean there was an option for either adding a percentage at the end of the cruise for your tips etc or take figure out an amount yourself.
I found that if we did not have them automatically add a percentage to our bill at the end of the cruise that the employee’s on the cruise were much more helpful and definately made the trip that much more fun.
Though if your establishment is a place where people skip out the tips are not as generous as you think they should be then sure, why not add on a percentage to the bill to ensure your staff gets a small bonus. Geesh with a bill of $1500 18% is nice
If the restaurant is to make the tip an entitlement, then the restaurant should pay the tip…not me. Else, they make it part of the food cost, and pay their employees. Tips are earned.
A friend of mine forwarded this page to me based on a conversation we had the other day. I was a server in university and I know how hard restaurant people work, so tipping is a sore subject with me. I do my best not dine out with people who do not respect service staff. I find them embarrassing and it colours my opinion of them, simply as a human being. What some people can justify never ceases to amaze me!
I was out for dinner with my family a month ago. I sat next to my father-in-law. He paid the bill. During the meal, everyone commented on the great food and the excellent service. There were 6 of us at the table but this particular restaurant only puts an automatic gratuity on parties of 7 or more. The bill was $1400 and change. My father-in-law tipped $100. He justified this to us by saying that if the server had 2 tables that night (us, and one other) that they would make $200 and this was enough.
Are some of you nodding?
First of all, who is he to say what is enough? He has been a GP in Vancouver for almost 45 years. Who tells him when he has made enough? After they bought their second vacation home? When he was able to buy his 4th collector car? After he paid to put all four of his children through university? When has he earned enough? Why should it harm our sensibilities for a server to live well? Why can’t they make a great living? Are we worried that they won’t know their place?
In this case, what my father-in-law didn’t know was that in this restaurant, the service staff tip back to the house 6% of their sales (including tax). (I did a little research) That means our server had to give back over $84 of that tip. So, she served us for 3 hours and made about $15. She had our table, plus 2 other tables of 2 that night. I was watching. We dined from 6:30 to 9:30 so I am guessing that our table wasn’t sat again. She probably made $50 that night - if she was lucky. Is that enough?
In my research, I discovered that most restaurant have a “tip out” policy for 2 - 6.5% in Vancouver. The staff pay that tipout regardless of how well they are tipped. The restaurant takes that money and divides it up between kitchen staff, bussers, bartenders, hostesses etc. In some of the shadier places in town, the owner even keeps some of it.
The next day, I went back to that restaurant and left $250 for our server. She was great after all!
I am surprised at the number of people who scoff at tips. I wonder what their income would look like if it was determined but people outside their field. How much would we pay for phone service or dry cleaning or a dentist appointment if we determined that for ourselves. Who really had an attitude of entitlement - the server or the customer?
If you truly felt that the service was worth 20%, I believe you would not have been put off by the 18% AND you would have tipped extra to show your appreciation. Do you think you should get a metal for generosity? Do you think you should be revered simply for giving what is fair or GASP, earned? Give me a break people, restaurant work is hard work! Why shouldn’t they make a decent living! Just tip and be glad your salary isn’t based on your personality!!!
I hope you know that you just insulted your Father in Law in the public domain, though I agree with you that his tipping methodology is severely flawed and wreaks of cheap ass. However, your anger with his conduct has obviously blinded you to the big point that is being made.
A mandatory tip only serves two purposes: Sets an artificial ceiling on the tips that a server can earn and makes it OK for subpar service to be acceptible. Now that a ceiling has been put in place, the servers that want to give great service and earn their higher tips are being prevented from doing so because why would they want to work harder than their counterparts that don’t give a crap? What’s in it for them to bust ass?
Also, with the tip specified, why would anyone pay more? It’s like paying more for something at the store when the price is clearly marked. It’s stupid! I realize that some people have no clue what to tip, but wouldn’t it be more useful to make tipping suggestions than to insult people about their tipping methods by specifying what to tip? Perhaps just putting a scale in place on the back of the bill that serves as a rating of service would be helpful. 5 - 10%, OK, 10 - 15% Good, 15 - 20% Very good, 20%+ Outstanding. Then that way, servers and the restaurant know how their staff are performing. Specifying a tip nullifies any feedback that could be gained and also makes it impossible for truly exceptional servers that enjoy serving to get the tips they deserve, over and above the norm.
One thing that I really disagree with on your comment is the fact that you seem to treat wait staff as charity cases. Why would generosity factor into a business transaction? IF they are providing great service then they should be paid accordingly to the quality of service. Genorosity only factors in when you are talking about donations to charity. What they are offering is a service in exchange for money. Treating them as such is truly degrading. There are people that LOVE what they do and want to make it a career, not just a Summer job to get them through school. You obviously feel sorry for them and when you feel sorry for them you pity them. People that like their jobs don’t need to be pitied and some people have pride in what they do, no matter what it is.
The tip out is nothing new, but this also gives gives the support staff the incentive to work harder to help the wait staff out and also gives the server the ability to take charge and ensure that the support staff are doing their jobs. When the support staff are busting ass it makes the servers job easier. But this also means that the server can push them harder when they really need them and they will respond because the more tips the server gets, the more tips they get.
So no one is scoffing at tips. I just scoff at people that THINK they deserve to be tipped regardless of their effort and it’s pretty bad here in North America. More servers here THINK they deserve a tip regardless of the service more than anywhere else in the world that I’ve been. But what do I know about the restaurant business? Afterall, I only spent 6 years working front and back of house in the family restaurant. What could I possibly know about how hard the work is in a restaurant or how much service staff deserve to be tipped?
If I was your server, yes, I’d think that your Father in Law was a cheap ass. However, if you really thought that I deserved a bigger tip, you would give me an opportunity to earn it from you rather than feeling sorry for me and paying me off to make you feel better about your In-Law’s tipping faux pas.