Food for the young and restless EARL’S TIN PALACE, 303 Marine Drive North Vancouver, is more a place to be seen and a place to see yourself than it is a restaurant. table hopping by Timothy Renshaw SOREL The young and restless Earl’s_corporaticn, which now includes five links in the Earl’s. restaurant chain, swaggered into the low-ball entree and reasonable cocktail vacuum left by the Keg and Cleaver when that local legend decided to stroll into uptown prices and at- mospheres. Earl’s has taken the origi- nal appeal of the Keg’s basic food, basic prices, and zany cocktails and moved the whole edible works into the 80s. Gone is the prevailing candlelight gloom of most Kegs, gone is the clanging reverberation of the Keg chow wagon bell; gone is the salad bar. In their place, ‘Earl’s features glass, mir- rors, sunlight, pink and grey pastel shades, and the per- vading feel of California windswept informality, youth, and health. The chromium heart of the Tin Palace beats for the young and fashionable. The restaurant abounds with blond hair, golden tans, both Hawaiian and store- bought, $30 haircuts, and physiques sculpted in health spas and nurtured on tennis courts, Earl’s waiters are part of the show. They saunter to and fro sporting the latest informal street wear: loose shirts, multi-colored Ber- muda styled skateboard shorts, Vuarnet sunglasses slung around necks; and the latest informal attitudes. The restaurant’s at- mosphere crackles with the vivacity of affluent youth. Decor features mirrored walls and ceilings that op- trically expand the 180-seat restaurant in every direction, providing, in the process, unlimited opportunity to keep one eye on appearances of fellow diner and one eye on appearances of self. Earl’s menu, pzinted on informal brown paper-bag paper and torn from an in- formal roll at the door, is a mixture of snacks moderne, and basic meat and potatoes. Earl himself, the fictitious corporate fun-lover, prom- ises no frills, nothing fancy, just freshness and low prices. Earl delivers. Eleven upbeat snack selec- tions range from basic garlic bread ($3.50) to Chicken Wings laced with wicked hot sauce ($2.95) to Nachos, Cheese and Guacamole (both claiming to serve two, $4.75). Earl also provides two basic soups and three basic salads, all under $3. In keeping with the res- taurant’s philosophies, Earl’s entrees are upscale fast foods for upscale fast lane dwellers, nothing unusual, nothing exotic. Chicken Teriyaki ($6.50); Barbecued Baby Back Ribs ($8.95); Fettucini in three flavors from Aifredo ($3.95) to Fettucini with Baby Shrimps (34.95). Steaks, with all meat aged 28 days, again, do not wander far from established North American favorites: six- ounce Sirloin, $6.95, cight- ounce New York with Pep- percorn sauce, $10.95, Teriyaki Beef Kebob, $6.95. Earl’s also features that timeless American stand by, hamburger, of which there . are four selections all under $5, and all listed as “‘Oldtimers’’. The term, Earl assures, is merely a tip of the hat to past hamburger glories not a sarcastic nudge at the more aged non- skateboarding types among us. Compensating for our ob- viously overall passe attire and elderly looks, my wife and I managed to redeem ourselves with our waiter by tossing off a few well-placed uptempo and with-it bon mots such as ‘awesome place stout yeoman”’ and ‘‘a mega good evening to you’’. Because wine selection is minimal (four reds and two whites, all under $14) and nouveau cocktails are plen- tiful, Earl’s is the place to lash out and test what might . be unknown alcoholic waters. A glass and chrome bar pumps out a full rain- bow range of fruit flavored adult slurpees for the thirsty Earl’s mobs: Margaritas and Daquiris ($2.50, Earl’s size, $1.95 extra) and speciality cocktails in sizes all the way up to mammoth litre loads for those unquenchable modern thirsts. In an attempt to recapture rapidly expiring youth, we submerged ourselves in a round of raspberry and strawberry margaritas that slid down all too easily but quickly lopped 10 years off our outlooks. A subsequent Caesar Salad ($2.35) was simple but See Earl's Page 54 YOU'VE QUIT. ever before. YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY. Congratulations. You've kicked a habit that’s not stylish — is foolish. Studies have shown that smoking is a major risk factor of heart disease. Yet. unfortunately, more women are smoking now than And as Health and Welfare Canada pointed out, cigarette smoki::g is the most preventable tisk factor in heart-related diseases. So by quitting, you're helping to decrease your tisk. 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