hired belly’s best restaurants and dining
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 [...]
All too often, the role of BC wine has been overlooked... As you can see from elsewhere here, and from the crescendo this week of the on-line buzz surrounding the live launch of this year's 200 plus menus, Dine Out Vancouver has more than earned its place as the country's biggest restaurant promo of its [...]
It should have come as no surprise. But John Bishop's 25th anniversary celebrations were as understated as the man himself. Just before Christmas, on December 14th, 2010—25 years to the day when Bishop’s first opened—it was almost business as usual in the modest, west-side Vancouver room that still holds considerable sway in the [...]
This is the time of year when a lot of people who don’t buy wine very often find themselves standing in front of liquor store shelves scratching their heads. Here’s a grab-bag of good value labels we’ve featured during the past several months as ‘Belly’s Budget Best’ picks in our various columns. You’ll [...]
Our column in Friday's Vancouver Courier offers up some handy, bookish suggestions for fun stocking stuffers, as well as a few more serious offerings that explore the culture of culinary foraging, both here in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. One unexpected perk of research: seasonal treats that Vancouver's Books to Cooks lays on [...]
Over the last few years, we’ve been moved by the compelling story of the gradual revival of West Coast Pinto Abalone, driven by the efforts of the Bamfield Community Huu ay aht Abalone Project. Funded in part by Environment Canada and Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre—this was an outreach pilot project aimed at reintroducing [...]
Back Yard Vineyards: a fun, eye-catching label, plus plenty to please in the glass, Tim Pawsey photo Looking for a special bottle for that hard to please wine geek in your life? Yesterday we sipped a glass of the first vintage sparkling wine to (officially) come out of the Fraser [...]
D-Original Saucisson Sec, Tim Pawsey photo Just like a lot of people, we have a weekly habit of dropping by Vancouver’s Les Amis du Fromage. Not only does ‘Alice ‘n Alison’s’ boast the city’s most extensive (and best maintained) cheese selection but the chances areeven if it’s not cheese related but savoury [...]
Two hours after landing in Oporto, we’re hot on the trail of two essentials: sardines and octopus. Oh—and wine! Well, that’s not too hard to find around these parts. Nor are the first two. Down a narrow side street, not far from our hotel, in the centre of the old town, we discover [...]