Louise Aird
BRIGHT LIGHTS

HERE’S A new restau-

rant you may want to

try out next time
you're dowmown.

In what was The Landing Res-
taurant, there is now Cheyna, an
elegant hot spot featuring “fusion
cooking” — a blend of Pacific Rim
and Western cuisine.

The Cheyna menu was chosen
by former Raintree chef, Van-
couver Sun food columnist and
wine critic Steven Wong, but the
two pivotal people in day-to-day
Operation are chef Eric Rogers
and Deep Cove’s Dan Rodriguez.

Thé Landing restaurant used to

be operated by the building’s staff, ©

but that didn’t work well, so The
Landing offered it for sale and a

_ team of investors stepped in,
among them Wong, Rodriguez,
venture capitalist Darryl Yea, Bill
Rand and a bevy of lawyers and
brokers.

Rodriguez is a Californian who,
in 1980, cpened Europe's first
Mexican restaurant — Cafe
Pacifico. Before long, there were
seven Caife Pacificos and the Lon-
don Cafe rivalled the Hard Rock
Cafe for hipness — Mick Jagger
and Brian Ferry were regulars.

Then Rodriguez met his wife
Jan, a Vancouverite who'd
become a successful model in
Europe and, when their second
child came along, they decided
that North Van was a much better

Magic carpets

PROFESSOR Parviz
Tanavoli (photo above,
teft) of West Vancouver,
and Minaret Oriental
Carpets, loaned a
beautiJul collection of
lion mgs of fran to the
Vancouver Museum. Jean
Fahrni (middie) and Nazi
Khosrawshahi (right)
were spotted at the open-
ing of the museum
display. Also at the open-
ing was museum presi-
dent Michael Campbell
(photo right, right} and
Eagie Harbour's Patti
Kluckner, the museum’s
comptroller.

Wednesday, August 5, 1992 - North Shore News - 24

Fusion feasting
and Iran lions

place to raise children. They sold
out and, last year, moved to Deep
Cove.

The Cheyna opening was jam-
med with a few hundred chic
people munching on sushi, oysters
and tempura. And then there was

the-Strand Group’s Jamie Maw,
who was washing down deep-fried
jalapenos with Coke (he claims the
Coke takes the burn away — J
took his word for it).

Jamie’s wife Andrea was also
there with her brother Ken Losch.

. %
phates Louise Aird

They were raised in West Van and
Ken still has his first car — a ‘67
Firebird Convertible Formula 400
four-speed, which he purchased
through 2 North Shore News ad
in 1976 for a measly $1,350 and
which is now valued at $15,000.

Other Deep Covers there were
producer Allan Jones, portfolio
manager Shafig Nazerali, Apex
Alpine co-owners Bill Trimbfe
and Michael O'Brian, and Cheryl
Milton and her husband Keith, a
dentist and Cap College teacher.
Fun group.

Actually, it was an extraordinari-
ly fun party. Fortunately, jan
Rodriguez was having so much fun
she was merely amused by a
stunner of a request from Van-
couver Sun columnist Mac Parry.

As i mentioned, Jan was a model
and she remains a beauty. Well,
Parry walks up to her and says
“Excuse me, I’ve found the most
beautiful woman at the party and
I'd like to take a picture of her ...
Would you mind standing beside

her?”

Turns out the woman in ques-
tion was rock singer Phaedra,
sister of Jan’s high school sweet-
heart, Vancouver playboy Frank
Anderson, so Jan didn’t mind. But
really.

kkk

Thanks to Professor Parviz
Tanavoli of West Vancouver, and
Minaret Oriental Carpets, the
Vancouver Museum is currently
exhibiting “‘The Lion Rugs of
iran,” a beautiful display of 200-

ear-old tribal eugs which Tanavoli
as generously loaned to the
museum.

Lions, the symbol of majesty and
power, are important in branian
culture and Tanavoli — who was
at the opening with his daughter,
film student Tandis — spent years
travelling Iran, collecting rugs and
documenting the evolution of tex-
tiles.

Also at the opening was the
museum's president, Michael
Can.sbell, who says he loves liv-
ing in West Van — he just moved
to the Properties from
claustrophobic Kits Point. Also
there was Eagle Harbour's Patti

A TOAST to fusion cook-
ing at the new Cheyna
restuarant. Allan Jones
leit), Oan Rodriguez
middie) of Deep - Cove,
and Shafig Nazerali soak
up the surroundings.
Over 100 people jammed
the Cheyna opening,
feasting on sushi, oysters
and tempura. Strand
Group's Jamie Maw (wife
Andrea pictured above)
was knocking back
jalapenos with Coke
chasers.

Kluckner — the museum’s comp-
troller — and ex-West Vanner
Pam Williams of the Waterfront
Theatre.

Sadly, this was the last appear-
ance of executive director Fritz
Pannekok, the museum’s best-
ever ED, who resigned because of
incessant board interference and
incredibly petty politics.

No one can say exactly what the
last straw was for Pannekok, but |
do know that former president
Rodney Ward is no longer on the
board. ! also suspect that Pan-
nekok’s resignation had something
to do with the board appointment
of a certain notoriously difficult
social climber, and with the fact
that certain board members saw
his role as one of stroking their
egos instead of running Canada’s
largest civic museum.

Michael! Campbell couldn't be
expected to force board members
to remember that Pannekok is a
highly and widely respected
museum administrator with a PhD
and several published works under
his belt. Apparently the fact that
he was the museum’s successful
fundraiser (in just eight months)
meant nothing to some of them.

There has been much confusing
publicity about the museum — to
the point where the publicity-
unshy Ward has called to com-
plain. So i'll set a few things
Straight. Pannekok did not quit
because he was unused to dealing
with boards — his former job in
Calgary, to which he has returned,
involved running 13 museums
with 13 boards. Ward, a lawyer,
has not donated $200,000 to the
museum except in billable hours.
Former Endeavour ED Sue Lewis
did not leave the museum in
frustration — she has never been
employed there — and she will
not be the museum’s new ED.

The call has gone out to the
museum world for a replacement
for Pannekok — a replacement
which all hope won't be too hard
to find. | hope that certain parties
have learned something from this.
There have been some highly
publicized instances of skuldug-
gery at not-for-profit organizations
lately and, although 99% of board
members are hard-working,
civic-minded and responsible, it
takes just a few bad apples to sour
the concept of supporting not-
for-profit organizations.

Perhaps these few people should
try full-time fundraising for a
while,