Sustainable

Vancouver Listel’s Chris Whittaker Goes Even Greener with Forage

November 9, 2012

Reinventing a legendary room is never easy but when the Listel Hotel decided to close long running O’Doul’s, the move afforded no shortage of opportunities. In 10 days or so they’ll pull the wraps off forage (1300 Robson St, 604-684-8461), a smaller and considerably more casual space than its predecessor, but with a personality and [...]

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Brews News: Poring over Tastes from Pioneering Portland in Vancouver

October 19, 2012

We’ve waxed poetic (and otherwise) over the years about what used to pass for a pub in Vancouver. Having been eclipsed for so long by Victoria (which benefitted maybe just a tad from being the seat of political and bureaucratic power), Vancouver is finally coming into its own. In the last few years there’s been [...]

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The Odd Bits are Back—Especially at Gastown’s Wildebeest

September 7, 2012

As a young teenager, I was lucky enough to visit France a few times, thanks in great part to a determined French teacher, who strongly suggested I should get a pen-pal. After several letters (with not a few Johnny Halliday and Sylvie Vartan records along the way) we made arrangements for a summer exchange. The [...]

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Vancouver’s Fat Dragon Bar-B-Q to Close

September 1, 2012

December 12, 2012. Sad news, but Fat Dragon has announced it will close Dec 23rd. It seems the location may have just been a bit too edgy for some folks. Too bad because this casual BBQ spot had a lot going for it—but obviously not enough. If you’re looking for good holiday shopping sustenance or [...]

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Sea Cider House Rules: An Elixir Redefined on BC’s Saanich Peninsular

July 26, 2012

My first encounter with real cider happened at a relatively youg age. Not long after my 16th birthday, in a misguided attempt to beat the summer heat, I downed an ice cold pint of draught Somerset scrumpy—which was probably around 8 percent ABV, if not more. An aside – local scrumpy was also rumoured to [...]

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Gastown’s Bitter: Sweet Destination for a Perfect Pint

March 23, 2012

If there’s one thing the Hired Belly finds hard to resist it’s a decent pint, particularly when it’s properly poured, and at the right temperature.  I’m sure it’s one of the many very sound traits inherited from my dad—who I still sorely miss. Growing up, beer was very much a church and state kind of thing—literally. [...]

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Why the food at Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre is, well, unconventional

March 6, 2012

We reckon we’ve eaten our fair share of meals on the rubber chicken circuit. But I don’t know why I’m even saying that here, because the food at Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre is just about as far removed from standard convention fare as you can possibly imagine. Last week’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival [...]

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Periwinkles, Seaweed, Sardines and Sea Cucumber: Unsung Heroes Return to Blue Water Café

February 22, 2012

Regular visitors will know we’ve recently developed a bit of a thing for sardines. We’ve found some pretty good canned filets, that do just fine for our pissaladierre recipe. But nothing comes close to the fresh caught fish. A heads up: this is the last week for chef Frank Pabst’s Unsung Heroes Festival, which runs [...]

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When the Good News is All Garbage: Composter is a Game-changer

January 17, 2012

  Calling all restaurateurs! When it comes to how you dispose of your garbage, if you have even the slightest hint of a social conscience (and from my experience most do), this one’s a game-changer. What if you could forget about filling that dumpster with all kinds of garbage every day, reduce your organic waste [...]

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Going Haywire (with a little BS thrown in) at Edible Canada at the Market

December 20, 2011

Yesterday we took time out from our pre-holidays deadline whirl, and Zagat Survey wrap-up (hence the lack of posts here), to catch lunch with the Okanagan Crushpad gang and consulting winemaker  Alberto Antonini. His best quote of the day was: “If I was a yeast, I wouldn’t want to spend my life in stainless steel!”, [...]

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