hired belly’s best restaurants and dining
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 [...]
Why would over 200 people patiently line up outside the Vancouver Aquarium on a near freezing winter's night? To taste chowder. That's why. And not just any chowder but 14, truly unique, BC recipes. And all OceanWise at that. Thursday night's 2019 Chowder Chowdown, as usual, was an unqualified success. Fourteen leading restaurants, resorts and [...]
Ancora arrives Recently opened (on January 8th), Ancora is already a going concern. That should come as no surprise. ‘Mainland’ Vancouverites have already embraced chef Ricardo Valverde’s Nikkei cuisine. A marriage of Peruvian and Japanese styles, the origins of Nikkei date from the late 19th century. Around this time several thousand Japanese people came to [...]
At Verre the glass is more than half full. Liam Breen is chef-owner of Verre, a refreshing newcomer at the north foot of Denman. Right on the seawall, near the Bayshore, this space had became a bit of a revolving door. But that should change with the latest incarnation. The design team behind Verre has [...]
