One of our few regrets, we never seem to have enough time to get the photograph we really want. Images are becoming even more crucial these days, especially in the more visually driven on-line world. We like this shot of winemakers Howard Soon and Stephanie Leinemann for any number of reasons, none the [...]
The wraps are off at Okanagan Crush Pad, whose future has now been officially ‘hatched’. Literally. When Haywire Winery arrived last year, we said: “One thing we know for sure. Christine Coletta never does anything by half measure.” No kidding. Haywire announced then that it would build a winery in time for the 2011 [...]
Amazing how a guy driving through the Rockies with a couple of boxes of wine in his trunk can get people so stirred up: All power to Terry DavidMulligan for single handedly bringing this issue to such prominence. If you're not familiar with the topic, you can read up on it in this excellent Wine Access [...]
Is it possible there’s anyone in Vancouver who still doesn’t know it’s Spot Prawn season? Probably not. Even in the pouring rain, some 1100 or more of the faithful showed up last Saturday to the Fifth Annual Spot Prawn Festival for their first taste of the 2011 catch. The Chefs Table Society prawn [...]
WHERE Vancouver (to whom the Hired Belly supplies considerable calorific content) yesterday unveiled the 15TH Annual Where to Dine Awards. The well attended (and well-run) event was hosted in superb fashion by Blue Water Café, who, as usual, catered to their industry peers with an array of seafood towers, sushi and more, not [...]
We're still sorting through our notes from this year's South Okanagan Banée. But this was the major news... Here's our column as it appears in this weekend's North Shore News: Over the last six months, the South Okanagan Wineries Association (SOWA) has been on the quest for a new identity. While organizations often [...]
Newly minted Miradoro blends nicely with the existing barrel cellar, Tim Pawsey photo We finally made it to recently unveiled Miradoro, the new restaurant at Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, in Oliver, BC. We’ve been watching the progress (admittedly, slow at times) of this latest South Okanagan addition with interest, in part because it’s a [...]
Here at Hired Belly’s lavish corporate headquarters, we’re resting up in preparation for the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (March 28-April 3)—one of the longest running and most successful wine events on the continent. If you live in Vancouver and drink wine but have never been (for shame!), there’s no time like the [...]
One of Vancouver’s flagship restaurants, Diva at the Met celebrated its 15th anniversary last night with a gala dinner (benefitting Big Brothers) that featured an extraordinary array of culinary talent. The hotel business is by nature a mobile affair, where personnel—including those in food and beverage—move around frequently. Hence it was [...]
Vancouver’s been abuzz this past week with speculation concerning the imminent closure of what was supposed to be the long running extension of iconic lumiere and dbBistro, on March 13th. It’s a sad development, considering the role that lumiere has played in Vancouver’s culinary ascendance. We won’t ruminate too much—except to say that the [...]