Toptable Group has announced that award-winning West Restaurant + Bar will close at year end. It will not be renewing its lease. It's by no means official. But I'll hazard a pretty good guess that the cost of the new lease didn't make sense to continue. The building is also possibly slated for development. The closing [...]
The Tasting Menu is back. Although, truth be told, at West Restaurant it never went away. Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to witness the artistry of West Chef Bobby Milheron in two contrasting settings. The first was at the BC Seafood Festival in Comox. The second was at the South Granville restaurant itself. [...]
Curry Cup 2019 is a wrap! I’ve judged at a few competitions over the years. But I’d have to say that the Curry Cup is one of the coolest. Maybe it has something to do with my U.K. upbringing. But I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for a good curry—which is still [...]
Updated: Chef Ned Bell joins Vancouver Aquarium Ocean Wise Here's the full release: PASSIONATE SUPPORTER OF SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD CHEF NED BELL JOINS VANCOUVER AQUARIUM’S OCEAN WISE CULINARY TEAM VANCOUVER, B.C. – Eleven years ago, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre sharpened its focus on protecting the world’s oceans by tackling its biggest issue: overfishing. Now nationwide, [...]
Cactus Club exec chef Rob Feenie and sommelier-service director Sebastien Le Goff Scratch the surface of a Cactus Club wine list and you’ll often find what constitutes an unlikely line-up of wines—for what we now refer to as “Casual Fine Dining” restaurants. Much of the reason for more interesting than usual selections (especially [...]
Raincity Grill owner Harry Kambolis, at Nu, 2005 Raincity closes Whatever the circumstances, I was saddened by last week’s shuttering of long-running Raincity Grill and, not that long before, of C Restaurant, owned by Harry Kambolis. In the fickle world of dining there are any number of reasons as to why restaurants come [...]
Fable Kitchen canned tuna—it's a showstopper, TP photo For some reason I missed posting about Fable Kitchen (1944 West Fourth Ave., 604-732-1722), which I covered in my Vancouver Courier column some weeks ago. What was interesting about this review is that we went on a crazy, busy evening and, as a result, had to [...]
Barbara-Jo McIntosh: a truly welcoming touch, Tim Pawsey photo It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Vancouver’s Books to Cooks (1740 West 2nd. Ave., 604-688-6755). We’ve followed Barbara-Jo McIntosh’s progress since she pulled the wraps off the original Yaletown location on September 7, 15 years ago this past week. In 2005, Barbara-Jo upped [...]
Wildebeest owners James Iranzad (l) and Josh Pape: serious, house butchered meats on the menu—and good wines too, TP photo 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 [...]
Been a bit churlish, we have, of late towards BC’s beloved burger-monger and family resto chain White Spot—due mainly to the presence of its large chicken mascot on BC Ferries the other weekend. (White Spot supplies a portion of BC Ferries food requirements...) Somebody in the Twitterverse took offence when we suggested (in jest) the [...]
