Dining

The Rain at Grain Stays Mainly on the Pane

August 9, 2013
Grain brings a breath of fresh air

 Grain’s slide-away wall brings Burrard Street right inside Regional cuisine is not what first used to come to mind at The Hyatt Regency Vancouver. However, all that has now changed. The main floor bar (just off the lobby, overlooking Burrard near Melville) has been convincingly reinvented and remodeled as Grain Tasting Bar (655 Burrard St., […]

Read the full article →

Les Dames Bid Addio to Umberto Menghi at Star Studded Soirée

April 2, 2013
umberto_highres copy

The BC Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier announces An Evening in Tuscany to Celebrate Umberto Menghi  When: Friday, May 31, 2013 – 6pm Reception / 7pm Dinner Where: Hosted by Les Dames d’Escoffier, BC Chapter and Four Seasons Hotel, Vancouver Tickets from Eventbrite Details from Les Dames d’Escoffier… Following the long table format, a beautifully decorated Italian inspired […]

Read the full article →

SYL at TWB – OK? Provence Marinaside Unwraps a Smart New Wine Bar

January 17, 2013
Alessandra and Jean Francis Quaglia: smartly tapped into changing tastes with their sleek new TWB, Tim Pawsey photo

We’ve always felt Provence Marinaside is one of Vancouver’s more under-appreciated rooms—but that might just be about to change with the arrival of TWB, which stands for (drum roll) The Wine Bar—at Provence. (We’re a tad over initial names but TWB is AOK for now.) Owners Jean-Francis and Alessandra Quaglia have turned what used to […]

Read the full article →

Blue Water’s Frank Pabst Celebrates Sustainable Seafood with Unsung Heroes

January 16, 2013

UPDATED, Jan 17, 2013. It’s a long way from British Columbia to Cornwall, in the South West of England. But, beyond the stunning scenery—which is in some ways quite reminiscent of Canada’s west coast—there are some other similarities. That beautiful part of the world is where, growing up, I learned to appreciate some of our […]

Read the full article →

Monk’s Hands Habit to Mahony’s at Stamps Landing

December 1, 2012

Vancouver landmark Monk McQueens has been taken over by Mahony & Sons, who will turn the long running restaurant and oyster bar on False Creek’s south shore into their third location. No doubt, judging by the success of Convention Centre West, it will be an impressive undertaking. Here’s the release: Nov. 30, 2012, Vancouver BC:  […]

Read the full article →

Great First Tastes at La Pentola della Quercia, in Vancouver’s Opus Hotel

October 11, 2012

We’re always intrigued when a leading hotel decides to work with a celebrated restaurant–as opposed to running its own in-house operation. We watched with interest over the last couple of years the machinations surrounding the pop-ups at Opus Hotel, which were often entertaining but never intended to remain as full-time concepts. Hence, we were pretty […]

Read the full article →

Siena: Vancouver’s South Granville Enjoys a New Rising Star

March 19, 2012

Do you ever wonder how restaurateurs pick their locations? Late last year, Mark Taylor (the man behind small plates Cru) received word that the one time, long ago Star Anise space (latterly turned failed Thai resto) at Granville & 12th was up for grabs. As it turns out, Taylor at one time lived just down […]

Read the full article →

Zagat Encore: Believe me. Le Crocodile and Bishop’s are “still a thing”

January 23, 2012

Last week it was fun to see people’s reactions to the latest Zagat Survey. As the Vancouver editor, I’m deeply involved in sorting through the immense amount of data that goes into compiling the reviews and, hence, the final scores. What might not be apparent to the casual observer is that no review gets past […]

Read the full article →

On Vancouver’s Robson Street, (and on West Broadway) Everything Old is Nu Again

October 5, 2011

It’s a tasty irony indeed that Nu Greek Robson (542 Robson St., Vancouver) is right next door to Japadog (530 Robson St.)  Somehow the notion of having a direct descendant of the city’s original souvlaki mainstay side by side with east-meets-west hotdog heaven adds up to perfect bookends: a capsule of Vancouver’s ethnic culinary evolution […]

Read the full article →

Fresh | Local | Wild: Taking it to the Street with Taste, Vancouver Style

June 20, 2011

We can’t get over how easy it is to grab a quick bite on Vancouver streets these days. Heading down to the Wines of Chile trade tasting last week, we realised we’d need some pre-sipping sustenance. The answer? How handy! Almost across the street from the Fairmont Pacific Rim (well, at Hastings & Burrard) you […]

Read the full article →