hired belly’s best restaurants and dining
With 18 years of Dine Out under my (thankfully elastic) belt, a few hours spent clicking through the current festival’s menu offerings has me convinced that this is one of the best lineups yet. There are plenty of good reasons to relish Dine Out Vancouver. While the festival has grown to include many more special [...]
The owner chef of on-line pie purveyor Gaia Kitchen, Lee’s pies took centre stage—and rightly so. From salmon en croûte, and steak stout mushroom (perfect with Strange Fellows Blackmail Stout) to Duck Cherry Goat Cheese, her butter double crust pies are superb.
Just a few steps from Lonsdale Quay, the remarkable evolution of Lower Lonsdale continues at a rapid pace. It seems this new community has blossomed almost overnight (well, in a few short years). However, it's surprising so many Vancouverites don’t realize just how close to downtown this bustling North Shore mecca is. Yet one more [...]
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 [...]
Row Fourteen is the newest addition to Similkameen's already blossoming scene. And it's a worthy one at that.
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. [...]
Papi’s Seafood & Oyster Bar—the successor to Beach Bay Café—recently arrived in the space once occupied by long-running Raincity Grill. It’s hard to say precisely why Beach Bay didn’t make it. But, evidently, Viaggio Hospitality (Ancora, Uva, Cibo) felt it was time to start over. English Bay has long been Vancouver’s summertime epicentre. Arguably the [...]
Quebec, even though you may leave, never leaves you. Excuse me for being a tad sentimental. But yesterday I indulged in a small slice of my past. Quebec came to town—at least a select few artisan Quebec producers did, along with their wares. The venue was Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts— PICA, which is also hosting [...]
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 [...]
Vintners Brunch is for many still their VanWineFest highlight. It's easy to see why. The setting is dazzling, especially on a day like this past Sunday, when the North Shore Mountains and harbour seem almost on the edge of the room. It's also a great party, one of few events that comes with live music. And while [...]
