According to t.v. lore, Joanie Loves Chachi scored the highest ratings ever for an American show when it first premiered in Korea. The reason? It turns out, “chachi” is a Korean euphemism for the male appendage. Now I don’t know about you, but if I heard ABC was about to premiere a show called Joanie Loves Cock, I’d probably check it out. Sadly, there’s some doubt to the veracity of this legend, but there’s no doubting some of the “lost in translation” mishaps that have dinged companies trying to do business in foreign countries. GM marketed its Nova automobiles in South and Central America, realizing too late that “no va” is Spanish for “doesn’t go”. Colgate launched its Cue toothpaste in France, where the word “cue”(“queue”) is slang for “ass”. And Coca Cola’s first foray into the Chinese market was marred by the news that their rendering of the company name – kekoukela – translated to “bite the wax tadpole”. Occasionally, even restaurants names fall victim to hilarious misinterpretation. There’s London’s “Phat Phuc Noodle Bar”, Vaxjo Sweden’s “Poon Palace”, and, of course, Montreal’s “Ecco Li” (Italian for “here they are“) a.k.a. “The E. Coli restaurant”. Which brings us to Vancouver’s own CinCin Ristorante – cincin, of course, being the Italian celebratory toast, the equivalent to “cheers”…in addition to Japanese slang for penis.
Now at the risk of prompting readers to tag this blog entry “Mallozzi Loves CinCin”, I have to say that I’ve enjoyed some terrific meals at CinCin. However, this wasn’t always the case. When I first moved to Vancouver, I had some truly unremarkable dinners there, prompting me to declare it the city‘s most overrated restaurant. My opinion changed with the arrival of Executive Chef Andreas Wechselberger and Chef Patissier Thierry Busset. Wechselberger’s dishes are hearty yet accomplished, Busset’s dessert creations almost joyously inventive.
On the night of our recent visit, Fondy and I both started with the sunchoke soup (as part of our ongoing effort to sample every version the city has to offer). CinCin’s take, while good, suffered from the inclusion of eggplant which overpowered the delicate flavors of the sunchoke and even battled the more pronounced essence of the white truffle oil. For my main course, I had the venison loin. Served medium-rare and accompanied by chestnut-sweet garlic tortellini, wild mushrooms, and brussel sprout leaves, it was earthy and satisfying – although my wife found it a little too gamey for her taste. It was, admittedly, upstaged by that evening’s feature, Fondy‘s main course, the spit-roasted pork tenderloin – the tender carvings redolent with the sweet smokiness of its roasting and honey finish. We also split an order of a nicely al-dente angel hair pasta with mullet caviar, garlic, and chili. Between courses, we were treated to a couple of amuse-bouche: the first a subtle goat cheese-stuffed rigatoni with a tomato and lemon sauce, the second a crispy-skinned pheasant confit served on a bed of savoy cabbage.
We shared three desserts. Well, three and a bit, really. Fondy’s warm caramelized apple tart was a labor of love – layers upon layers of thin buttery apple-infused pastry. The house tiramisu was another artful construction, the tiramisu enclosed in a perimeter of chocolate tiles and accompanied by a spicy hot chocolate. While unarguably the best-looking dish we were served, I prefer the more marscapone-rich version I had the last time I dined here. The top dessert of the night was the chestnut crème brulee – rich and creamy but not overly sweet, complimented by chocolate chip gelato and soft candied apple slices. To close out the meal we had the dark and decadent handmade Weiss chocolates: gold leaf, cognac, and some other flavor I never got around to for fear it would put me over the edge.
Excellent service all around, from the hostess who welcomed us at the door and had our coats waiting for us on our way out, to our waiter who happily endured our myriad of ingredient-related questions. The dining room is warm yet elegant, making CinCin an ideal choice for a romantic night out. Or a fun ice-breaker if you happen to be entertaining Japanese business associates.
Hi Joe !
That’s funny, you spoke about misinterpretation, you just made one : “queue” isn’t slang for “ass” but… let’s politely say “male reproductive organ”. However, you were so close ;D
Little SG1 question here :
Upon episodes you have written : which one you like the most ? The less ? Why ?
Have a nice day !
hi, joe,
can you tell me when sam will be coming to atlantis? she’s my favorite character and amanda’s my favorite actress, so i’m excited about seeing her on atlantis.
sally 🙂
I have a (male) Korean friend whose middle name is Dong. He never spells it out. On one airport shuttle ride, my colleagues and I managed to keep our laughter on the inside when we saw the sign above the driver’s head. First was the permanent: YOUR FRIENDLY DRIVER IS: Just below that was his nameplate: “Hung”.
As one who’s never focused on anything regarding romantic pairings where SGA is concerned, I, now find myself, due to episodes like The Ark and Sunday fancying the idea of John and Teyla.
I found the interaction between the two from the abovementioned eps. delightfully refreshing, and far from anything (as dubbed before) sibling in nature.
Infact, I find them as a potential pairing considerably sexy.
Anyhow sir, my interest with the two has been piqued and as a result I certainly wouldn’t mind…correction…I absolutely would love to see more of John and Teyla engaging with each other in season 4 the way they have been in the latter half of season 3.
Thankyou.
I have a question about ratings. The amount of people angry at the cast changes (Weir and Carson)and who won’t watch the show are pretty much equal to the amount of people who are happy with the changes (Sam coming to Atlantis) and who will watch the show. So won’t the amount of people viewing the show stay the same? I can’t see how this would result in an increase in viewers. What factor am I missing other than how much SciFi promotes the show?
My sweet tooth is living vicariously through yours, and though somewhat envious, wishes me to pass on it’s gratitude.
A few questions:
1. Was Robert Patrick never offered the part of Joe Flanigan instead of being killed off in Rising? I love Joe’s acting, but I’m just wondering. I loved him as Agent Doggett on The X-Files.
2. With Dr Weir stepping down (that’s what she’s gonna do judging from First Strike, right?), who will be taking command of Atlantis? And if you can’t reveal that, can you at least tell me whether it’s a new character or one we already know?
3. Do you agree that Seasons 9 and 10 and Atlantis as a whole have taken away much of what made the Ancients so cool? You know…they used to be mysterious, intriguing and almost mythical.
4. You mentioned cast additions as a reason why the show got lower ratings. I think SG-1 could’ve handled Landry and Mitchell, but Vala was just too much and her joining the team was completely unrealistic–ridiculous even. With that said, in Seasons 9 and 10, why did you feel the need to ignore characters that were previously a part of the universe? The Asgard for example. Where did they go? They could’ve really helped in getting that old school SG-1 vibe again (something that Bounty actually did while the episode description sounded ridiculous). What about Maybourne? Jonas? (I read somewhere that you guys just couldn’t get along well enough with Corin Nemec.) You could’ve brought back the Tollan, that would’ve helped as well. I understand that you wanted to give the show a new feel, but still…
Hi joe,
can you tell me if weir will be ok in s4 ?
have a nice day !
Hey Joe,
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read comments / answer questions!
Just wanted to congratulate you and everyone else on ‘Talion’ – wonderful writing and a great Teal’c episode! (though i have to ask, what prompted the ‘bad guy = English accent’ move? Possibly slightly cliched, no?! It was certainly distracting to a Brit!)
On the ‘ship front… I thought it was heading towards Teyla/Ronon, at least from Echoes? *looks confused* What with Sheppard and his ‘none too good at marriage’ thing, I’ve always had problems seeing him in any long-term or serious ‘ship.
Going back to the ‘younger demographic’ point, I’ve been watching SG1 since it started, and I’m now 21. (Not that the show has helped define half my life, or that it finally feels like I’ve grown up now that it’s ending as a series, or anything like that…!) I can’t discern any notable difference in the show (either of them, actually!) – in fact, I’d say that the fact it feels like it’s remained constant to me indicates more a growing maturity than a ‘dumbing down’. I do have to admit that my favourite is Atlantis now though. (I love the Sheppard/Mckay banter. And the Lorne/Zelenka banter which appeared in The Game was inspired!)
Thanks for two wonderful shows!
I always read your blog at the wrong time of the day. Right when the diet food that I call lunch wears off. I have two questions for you.
1. I know there is a sound track CD for SGA but I don’t ever remember seeing one for SG1. So I my question is, is there one for SG1?
2. Do you think that we will ever get to see blooper reels on the SG1 or SGA dvds? There have got to be a bunch of mess-ups hiding somewhere of Amanda and David, from all there technical ramblings.
Joe, just wondering, will Carter be in the Atlantis or SG-1 uniform?