What To Do In Vancouver This Week It’s the end of August and we’re so ready for fall and a reprise from the heat and smoke. As Labour Day weekend approaches we’re going to try to get in a few more sunny walks, some patio dining and maybe a bike ride or two. Here’s a few suggestions of where to head this weekend. Taiwanfest 2018 September 1-3 The annual event includes concerts and other live entertainment as well as lectures, films, culinary shows, visual arts exhibits, family-oriented activities and a giant street party with food and market stalls. Don’t miss…
Author: Cassandra Anderton
On August 25, 2018, the Chefs’ Table Society of British Columbia and the BC Salmon Marketing Council brought the second Wild Salmon Celebration to False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf in Vancouver. Grand Hale supplied the wild BC salmon for the evening. Below are the dishes the chefs served and our photos from the wharf. Wild sockeye at False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf Last night was a lot cooler than last year’s Wild Salmon Celebration, but that didn’t stop chefs plating up some very creative and wildly different dishes, all made with Sockeye Salmon. The wines were all salmon-safe and Shelter Point Distillery…
Dinner In The Sky by Chef Ned Bell The first question almost everyone asked when I told them I was participating in Dinner In The Sky, a dinner where your table is 150 feet in the air, is what if you have to pee? And honestly, it was my biggest worry too, but after I was told it is only an hour up in the sky I thought I could probably handle it. The dinner is in North Vancouver until July 28 and starts in West Vancouver on August 4th. There are a few different options ranging from $149 -…
A Neighbourhood Dining Showcase In Burnaby A quick trip out to Burnaby this week will take you to Crave the Heights to celebrate delicious food and lively entertainment. Fun fact? Yours truly worked at Cristos Greek Restaurant, one of the participants, and lived in the Heights during my University Days. Boy that restaurant has been around a while! Oh how different the rest of the Heights is now though! Until August 6, 10 participating restaurants have specials ranging from a Iced Brew-berry Coffee with Blueberry Coffee Choux at Chez Christophe for $9.95 to a rotating list of five appies for $50…
Help Fraser Common Farm Raise The Barn It’s Fraser Common Farms annual farm field dinner on August 19th in Aldergrove and we’re heading out to the valley to celebrate! The farm is partnering with DL Chicken Shack, and will be the much loved Merchant’s Workshops last supper. Glorious Organics produce will be present, as well as K&M chicken, Giesbrecht pork and dessert from The Pie Shoppe. As if that’s not enough of a powerhouse lineup, Dickie’s Ginger Beer will be making a custom lemon verbena and mulberry ginger beer to pair with Wild Turkey Bourbon. Also beer from Brassneck and wine…
What To Do Around Vancouver This Week I can’t believe we’re half way through August! Where did the summer go? I walked outside this morning and it looked like the trees were turning colour, but apparently they are just dried out from lack of water. With no rain in site and temperatures up to 25 degrees this week, that’s not good news for the trees or lawns, but it is good news for those who want to enjoy the outdoors. Here’s a couple things you can do to enjoy the sun and get out of it. Disco Dumplings at Burdock…
Cooking Classes From In My Kitchen I attended one of the very delicious Tayybeh Syrian Catering pop-ups last year and luckily met Paula Mohammed, a women with a mission to bring eclectic cooking experiences from home cooks to Vancouver through “In My Kitchen”. I was thrilled to hear about the possibility of learning home cooking techniques from around the world and serendipitously introduced her to my friend Chef Karen Dar Woon, from Your Secret Chef, whom she brought on board to provide additional training to the instructors. Several months the cooking classes were ready to go and I was invited to try…
Wine Festival Celebrates Smaller Garagiste Wines! If there’s only one wine festival you get to this summer, this should be the one! August 19th in Kelowna the Garagiste North returns to wow wine lovers with a unique taste of the future of wine country. Garagiste North “The Small Producers” Wine Festival, celebrates the artisan winemaker creating commercially produced small case lot wines (under 2000 cases). The Garagistes are an eclectic blend of passion and experience, new and old, the cult and the boutique, some with tasting rooms and many without – all gathered in one spot. This is an evolutionary…
Pangea Pod Hotel in Whistler, BC, now taking reservations This week I took a day off for an escape up to Whistler to check out the new Pangea Pod Hotel. Yep folks, pods, not the spacious rooms we’ve been lounging about in lately. However, for those solo travelers and those looking to getaway without the price tag that most Whistler accommodation comes with (an overnight stay is $99-$149) these pods are a pretty cool way to stay and play in Whistler. Unlike traditional hostels, the hotels 88 “rooms” are divided up into eight units so you are really only sharing…
Summerdine 2018 – One Night, Many Dinners and Many Already Sold OUT! As many of you know I am a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an invitational organization of women leaders in food, beverage and hospitality whose mission is education, scholarship and philanthropy. Much of our fundraising goes towards scholarships for women in the culinary, wine and hospitality industry and last year we gave out $40,000 in scholarships. One of the events that we hold every year is Summerdine, a very special evening where guests can dine at different restaurants, wineries, and culinary venues all across BC. This year the date is…
Have One Final French Fête Before August 20th After more than twenty years in business, another neighbourhood gem will disappear from West 4th Avenue. Bistro Pastis has been serving diners some of the best French Onion Soup, Steak Frites, Escargot and Duck Confit Cassoulet in the city; many guests have been dining here for decades. Owner Stefen Langford purchased Bistro Pastis in 2016 and continued the restaurants traditional approach, keeping the menu simply French, but what once was a recipe for success is no longer. Langford felt the economic pinch that many restaurateurs are now feeling and was left with…
Mix Up Some BC Blueberry Cocktails With These Local Libations It’s BC Blueberry season and there’s plenty of berries this year. They’re great in muffins, salads, in pies, sauces jams, and, of course, cocktails! There’s even a locally made Blueberry Vodka made with Bremner’s Blueberries by Marcus Von Albrecht at XFour Vodka(they’re also a client of mine). Here’s a few recipes to help you enjoy BC Blueberries while they last! Blueberry Mule ½ oz lime juice (approximately ¼ lime) 2 oz XFour Bremner’s Blueberry Vodka 4 oz ginger beer Fresh blueberries and rosemary to garnish Squeeze lime into a glass and…
Simply Beautiful Box By Janine Verreault, Editor, BCLiving For a very limited time you can purchase the Simply Beautiful #editorsbox spring edition $190 Value for $79. I’ve received two boxes now and I love the products that Janine Verreault, the Editor at BCLiving, has chosen for each one. They’re items that I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen for myself, things I didn’t know I really needed, but I did! My favourite from the spring box is definitely the rose gold measuring spoons, they went missing and I found them in husband Michael’s knife bag, so I’m not the only one crushing on these.…
An Invitation to ALL Canadians – Help Put CANADA on the Menu! Celebrate Canadian Food with Great Ingredients, Top Chefs, Amazing Farmers and Canada’s Most Iconic Icon, the CN Tower Fifteen years ago in 2003, our borders were closed to Canadian beef. It may have been an economic disaster, but it was not a culinary one. In response, The World’s Longest Barbecue was born: Canadians rallied, went to their grills, and barbecued Canadian beef to show their support. According to one spokesperson for Canada Beef, this event “saved the industry.” Over the years, many renowned Canadian chefs have joined the annual…
What To Do Around Vancouver I can’t believe it’s the last week of July! June and July just flew by as we took some time to head to the Island, had lots of family visits and then there’s the fact that I am working full time in ECommerce now. I’ve got much less time to blog, tweet and Instapost, but I’m loving it here at Satel where I’m around people, learning new skills and then there’s that whole thing called a paycheck! There’s so much to do around Vancouver right now, but here’s a few things that you may want…
PC Garden Centre Sources from 100% Canadian Growers Throughout the summer there’s always some replanting that’s needed on our little balcony and that’s generally husband Michael’s role, part of the jokingly blue vs pink jobs that we have a home (trust me it’s a total joke there are no defined sexist roles around our abode). PC Garden Centres makes this easy and he’s just somehow better at arranging things and keeping them watered, and always knows that I need marigolds, one of those flowers that just make me so damn happy. It’s easy to replenish your garden with a quick…
From July 5 – 15 the Indian Summer Festival Spreads Out Across Vancouver We were lucky enough to stop in for the opening of the Indian Summer Festival this week, and yesterday, the first ever outdoor space PAUSE opened, located at Vanier Park. PAUSE will host 15+ fascinating, family-friendly and unique free events July 6-15. The opening included dishes from Vancouver’s top culinary artists, international musicians and the Roundhouse transformed like I’d never seen it before. This year Vij’s, Blue Water Cafe, Cedar Feast House, Jamjar, Cacao, Tayybeh, ARC at the Fairmont Waterfront dished out culinary treats! July 7 head o Main Street, to The…
Clair’s Bed and Breakfast and Greek Night in Ladner Sometimes I get seriously behind in blogging and this Ladner post is so very long overdue, but luckily for us, it’s almost timeless and everything I experienced in Ladner this winter is still readily available. Perhaps it’s an even better time of year to visit now it’s warmer out and all the flowers are in bloom. Husband Michael often works on weekends and hey, we also need he occasional break from each other; what married couple doesn’t? So luckily one of my besties, Tess, is an awesome +1 and is very…
Last Minute Ideas For Canada Day Happy Canada Day to you all! It’s a fairly gloomy one here in Vancouver, but we’re not going to let that stop us from enjoying some Canadian Food and getting out to raise a good ol’ glass of Canadian beer, wine or a Canadian-spirit based cocktail or two! Here’s a couple suggestions for you if you happen to need some inspiration. Canada Day Crab Fest at Water Street Cafe June 30TH – July 2ND BC DUNGENESS CRAB BISQUE $10 WEST COAST CRAB CAKES $15 pacific rock crab, baby shrimp, preserved citrus, fennel, arugula, saffron aïoli…
The Nomad Cook – Chef Katsuji Tanabe In Vancouver The Nomad Cook, Chef Travis Peterson, hosts entertaining “Nomad Dinner Parties”, bringing world-class chefs into Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, as well as hosting supper clubs and cooking lessons himself. Tess, Chef Erin Vikars and I headed to The Compound to experience dishes from Chef Katsuji Tanabe, an L.A.-based chef, born in Mexico, known for his kosher-Mexican dishes. Bio: Katsuji Tanabe has worked inside LA’s most acclaimed kitchens, from the four-star Bastide Restaurant to Beverly Hills’ Mastro’s Steakhouse. Tanabe owns MexiKosher Restaurant, the first authentic Kosher Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles and arguably…
