Qualicum Beach

Vacationing in Qualicum Beach I’m fortunate to visit Qualicum Beach at least a few times a year as my in-laws live there and graciously open their home to us. This summer we visited in July when the weather was warm and glorious, farmers markets in full swing, and beaches sunny and sandy, and we recently…

Harvest Celebrations In Abbotsford

Abbotsford Handmade and Homegrown Abbotsford, we’ve known for many years how delicious you were, as we’d often hit the farm markets, and dine at the well ahead of its time farm to table restaurant,  Restaurant 62, plush also with locally sourced, BC Wines. When back in Vancouver we’d source our vegetables and meat from the…

Roman Countryside Culinary Adventure and Olive Oil Recipes

Join Chef Dana Reinhardt in Tuscania for a Roman Countryside Culinary Adventure Is their anything better than traveling, enjoying good food and learning to cook better. Well, I think not. We are lucky enough to have Chef Dana Reinhardt in our midst, she’s a friend and a fellow Les Dames d’Escoffier member, and an amazing…

Osoyoos Oyster Festival – Even Oysters Need a Day in the Sun

Osoyoos Oyster Festival Events for 2016 April 20-24 For the fifth year in a row I am heading up to Osoyoos for their annual oyster festival and it’s Michael’s third year! We’re huge fans of bivalves and when they are paired with oyster friendly wines, beers and libations, we love them even more. The oyster festival was…

Holiday Season Getaway at Victoria’s Magnolia Hotel

While there’s much to do in Vancouver during the holiday season, there’s a certain special vibe across the straight, in Victoria. I nipped over for a few night’s in November for a sneak peak of the Magnolia Hotel & Spa’s Christmas in Victoria package, available until January 2. Why not leave the car at home and…

Salt Spring Island Apple Festival

Get to know your Millionaires from your Lord Derby’s at the Annual Salt Spring Island Apple Festival Before apple trees were planted in the Okanagan Valley, Salt Spring Island was growing an assortment of the fruit as early as 1860. To celebrate, the Island holds a festival  celebrating the apple with apple displays, pie sales and…

Kamloops Wine Country – Vitamin Daily

We visited Kamloops Wine Country and reported our adventures on Vitamin Daily and the story got picked up by the Huffington Post. Once home to fur traders, gold miners and infamous train robber Billy Miner, Kamloops, B.C., now boasts lush farms, a stunning riverfront and the recently created Kamloops Wine Trail. Not one to miss out…

Discover Comox at the BC Shellfish Festival

Where’s your happy place? I always feel like I’m in a pretty damn happy place when I’m on Vancouver Island. While I love the Mainland, road trips to the Island feel like a true escape and I can actually sense the pace of my thoughts slowing down. Whether I’m roaming the streets of Victoria, the hills of…

Costa Mesa – Avenue of the Arts Hotel #TravelCostaMesa

Whether you are heading to Costa Mesa to shop at South Coast Plaza, play at Disneyland, hit the nearby beaches, or attend an event at one of the city’s many art centers, you are going to want to spend a few days to explore the vibrant area. I suggest you book into the Wyndham Avenue of the…

Tea Tour with Silk Road Tea

BC’s Daniela Cubelic of Silk Road Tea takes guests on a journey that celebrates India’s ancient culture and vibrant tea and culinary scene Silk Road’s India Tea & Spice Journey – March 17 – 31, 2013 A remarkable tea and culinary expedition through India is being launched next spring, March 17 – 31, 2013, with…

A Taste of the Okanagan Wine, Food, Fun

The Vancouver Sun invites you to join its acclaimed wine critic Anthony Gismondi in a weekend celebration of award-winning BC VQA wines. Enjoy superb creations from world-class chefs, rare Canadian and International cheeses, meet wine VIPs, mingle with culinary experts -all nearby your five-star accommodations in B.C.’s premier wine region. This is the intimate wine and…

Wine Tour of Argentina and Chile

 Argentina & Chile Wine Tour    Tango on the Wine Tour : 5 days    Itinerary:    Day 01: Transfer to the hotel. Tour around the city Day 02: Wine Tour in Uco Valley. Wine Tasting. Lunch in a winery. Visit a winery to enjoy one of the concerts of the “Tango on the Wine Roads”…

CURE MARCH MELANCHOLY WITH CULINARY CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE

March is such a dreary month. By then, we’ve had more than our fill of grey days and too much rain. It can dampen the spirits of the best of us. Provence Restaurants’ Alessandra and Jean-Francis Quaglia think they have come up with the perfect antidote for March melancholy – join them on a seven-day…

The Oregon Bounty Ultimate Escape

“Forage, Liquid & Adventure” ~ All Inclusive ~ EverGreen Escapes is Cascadia’s premier sustainable adventure travel company based in Portland, Oregon. Providing private and small group naturalist led adventures in bio-fueled Mercedes Vans. Specializing in crafting upscale and authentic nature, epicurean and education based experiences for the responsible, curious and discerning traveler. ESCAPE PLAN: The Oregon Bounty Ultimate Escape…

Spanish Wine Tour with Master of Wine James Cluer

 September 19-23, 2011 Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Toro Vega Sicilia                       Marques de Murrieta         Marques de Riscal Pesquera                           Remelluri                           Lopez de Heredia Numanthia                        Jose Pariente                     Alcazar in Segovia 1* Michelin restaurant     5* hotel in Valladolid        San Mateo wine harvest fiesta In collaboration with my friend Jeremy, we have put together the ALL STAR trip…

HELI-WINE TOURING LANDS IN THE BC INTERIOR

More than two dozen wineries in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys are included on the growing itinerary of stops available on a unique new Heli-Wine Tour service offered by West Kelowna-based Valhalla Helicopters. Up to four people at a time can charter a Bell-206 chopper from Valhalla, leaving Kelowna International Airport for a total of…

PERSONALIZED CULINARY VACATIONS in SOUTHERN SPAIN

Vancouverites Mike and Hilary Powell, co-hosts of A Flavour of Spain Culinary Vacations, www.flavourofspain.net, are pleased to announce  the expansion of their personalized private Spanish cooking vacations in  2011.  “Due to the worldwide attention on the healthy Mediterranean diet, the ongoing numerous requests from our guests, and Spain becoming a rising star in the foodie…

Wine Tours Info Session with House Wine

Looking to escape the dreary Vancouver winter in a far-off destination? Why not join house wine on the road in South America? Our first wine tour kicks off in January 2011 taking us to Argentina and Chile. We look forward to introducing you to some of our favourite wineries, the personalities behind them and the…