by Claudia Kwan
FoodConnect Vancouver
claudia@foodconnect.com

On Monday I ran into Paul Grunberg at Medina, general manager extraordinaire of neighbouring and sister restaurant Chambar, and he asked me to sit on the news of his departure until the official press release went out. It is, and now I can spill the beans.

As I waited for my spicy Moroccan meatballs--served so hot from a tagine they're still steaming in the picture above--he told me that he's been tapped to be the general manager of Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Market. The celebrity chef's venture into the Vancouver market will open January 25th, 2009, the day after the hotel formally begins operation. Grunberg is set to live in New York City for a month, to get a feel for how JGV and his Culinary Concepts global restaurant development company works.

On top of the creative Belgian-Moroccan food and inventive cocktail list, I've raved about the attentive, friendly, and memorable service at Chambar before. That's in no small part Paul's doing. He runs a tight crew, and has been recognized for that before on the local scene. It's a fantastic opportunity for him, and I hope, an acknowledgment that in addition to tremendous culinary talent, that Vancouver also has its fair share of service stars.

With JGV and Daniel Boulud but the vanguard of worldwide celebrity chefs supposedly set to swoop down on Vancouver, there's always concern out of towners will import foreign talent wholesale to serve up my Kurobuta pork sandwiches on fruit and nut bread (once again devoured this same day at Medina.) I'm going to take this as a reassuring sign that someone, somewhere, realizes the value of retaining Vancouver staff in high level positions with connections to the locals.

We're funny ducks out here on the wet coast, somewhat insular (others would argue insecure), and certain that we do things a certain way that can't be replicated by others. It's something that will be put to the test through the 2010 Winter Olympics and beyond, and I can only hope we ultimately end up a better global culinary destination on all levels no matter what the outcome may be.