Food & wine festivals

Vancouver’s Chowder Chowdown: It’s Time to Make Chowder Our Own

November 22, 2013
Forage chef Chris Whittaker wins Chowder Chowdown, vancouver

Chowder Chowdown – Ocean Wise spoons await When the dust settled at this year’s Vancouver Aquarium Chowder Chowdown, the undeniable big news of the night was that Forage chef Chris Whitaker successfully defended his championship title with a repeat of last year’s superb winning creamy spot prawn and chicharon chowder. Yew’s Ned Bell’s ‘The Big […]

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A Frozen BC Blueberries Bonanza—and a Big Win for The Oakwood!

November 1, 2013
Mike Robbins blueberries and ricotta perogies carried the day

I didn’t have to think twice before accepting an invitation to commit the best part of a day to judging the first annual Frozen BC Blueberries Chefs’ Invitational. After all, for a guy who’s been known on occasion to be a tad careless about taking his vitamin C, what could be better than an antioxidant laden […]

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The Medal Counts: 2013 BC Wine Award Results

October 3, 2013
A tough job but ...

Yes, I know, there should be a way more sexy pic here. But that’s all there is: a down and dirty get it done, direct from the action shot that exposes the gritty reality of judging the morning’s first flight. We had planned to have all kinds of intellegent analysis of the awards to offer […]

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The Beautiful South: Wines of South Africa, Chile and Argentina

August 28, 2013
Salta, Aconcagua and Robertson are just a small part of the big, Beautiful South

The Beautiful South Next month in London, they’ll pull the wraps off “The Beautiful South”, a two day tasting extravaganza (September 11, 12) that brings together South Africa, Chile and Argentina in a major collaboration. Even though the countries have co-operated before, this marks the first time that a joint event will be held (at […]

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Hock Rocks! Riesling and Other Perfect German Wine Pairings at BCLS

April 7, 2013
UK Wine Merchants Berry Bros. & Rudd 1896 price list TimPawsey photo

  Germany’s in the spotlight at BC Liquor Stores this month, which found us digging in our archives  for this weekend’s North Shore News column… With spring our thoughts turn once again more to white wines and lighter fare, which means, if you’ll pardon the phrase, Hock rocks. As an English-born Canadian, I’ve always found the […]

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Vinexpo Tracks the World of Wine: China Rising; Bullish on Canada (Added: All the Stats Fit to Print…)

January 27, 2013
Robert Beynat, Vinexpo co-founder and CEO, image supplied

  Looking or someone with their finger on the pulse of the world wine market? Chances are Robert Beynat is your man. Beynat is one of the co-founders of Vinexpo. Held every other year in Bordeaux since 1981, it’s now widely regarded as the world’s leading international wine and spirits exhibition. He’s also the brainchild behind […]

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Will Roaring Twenties Wines Leave Cellared in Canada in the Doldrums?

January 23, 2013
Fresh Tap kegs: pouring into popularity

As you may have noticed by now, Dine Out Vancouver is in full swing. The feeding frenzy that first took flight over a decade ago has grown somewhat, from a cluster of well-priced prix fixe menus to a region-wide food and beverage celebration that boasts foodie events and fancy hotel prices, as well as a […]

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Ten Top Tastes: Hired Belly’s Best $38 Dine Out Vancouver Menus

January 19, 2013
Seafood salad, C Restaurant, Tim Pawsey photo

I’ve been doing a little soul searching on my decision to exclude restos who omit to show BC VQA wine pairings on their DoV website menu listings. But in the end I’ve decided it’s perfectly appropriate not to highlight them, regardless as to how good the plates look. (Our selection criteria are here…) Dine Out […]

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Hired Belly’s Best Dine Out Vancouver $28 Menus with Wine Pairings

January 17, 2013
Dine Out offers a chance to experience Maenam

The $28 menu selections are probably the toughest to sort through, because they represent the most competitive price point. It’s good to see so much action here; and we’ve tried be somewhat eclectic in our choice. Any middle to upper tier place where you can enjoy a three course dinner for two plus glasses of […]

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Some Great $18 Dine Out Vancouver Picks – Plus a Smorgasbord of Events

January 16, 2013
Edible Canada

Dine Out Vancouver Festival (Jan 18-Feb 3) kicks into high gear this weekend.  You could spend a lot of time sifting through DoV’s three tiers of menu offerings, which on the surface appear to have grown yet again this year. For the most part they’re still a good deal, at least, the menu prices haven’t increased over […]

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