GOODS: Wine Defeats Beer At Vancouver Craft Beer Week’s “Cicerone vs Sommelier”

The Irish Heather Gastropub is located at 210 Carrall Street in the heart of Gastown | 604-688-9779 | IrishHeather.com

The GOODS from The Irish Heather

Vancouver, BC | The Heather Hospitality Group partnered up with Vancouver Craft Beer Week for one of its headlining events: Cicerone vs Sommelier. Close to 60 attendees gathered at the Irish Heather’s Long Table last week to watch Adam Henderson take on Mike Mitchell in a four course pairing battle of beer against wine. With the event being a part of VCBW, Mitchell knew he was the underdog going in as the ‘guy who brought wine to a beer fight’, but that didn’t seem to bother the guests (there was a fairly even number of beer and wine lovers at the table). The event saw guests treated to a dish paired with a beer, a wine and a pencil. It was up to them to decide which pairing was better. The menu featured dishes from HHG executive chef Paul Haldane, inspired by his menus at Bitter, Judas Goat, The Irish Heather and Salt. It was a close battle for each course, but Mitchell was victorious, giving wine the win for the second year in a row with a final score of 4-0 (Neil Ingram from Boneta won last year’s event). [ Keep reading ]

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Davie’s Popular “La Brasserie” Looking For A Sous Chef

La Brasserie is located at 1091 Davie Street in Vancouver's West End | 604-568-6499 | LaBrasserieVancouver.com

The GOODS from La Brasserie

Vancouver, BC | La Brasserie on Davie St. is seeking a talented sous chef. We’re looking for a creative, enthusiastic culinary professional, someone who loves food and thrives in a busy environment. The ideal candidate will be able to create daily specials, maintain quality and consistency and have some knowledge of inventory and costing procedures. The ability to demonstrate leadership skills while being a respected member of the team is key. Please apply with resume and cover letter, outlining why you think you would be a good fit for the restaurant, to chef.labrasserie@gmail.com. Learn more about the restaurant after the jump… [ Keep reading ]

TEA & TWO SLICES: On Why We Loathe Developers & Our Trainwreck-Loving Media

by Sean Orr | Society of Spectacle: Trainwreck-spotting media don’t deliver daily reality. “vehicle crashes, shootings, stabbings, fires, rapes, suicides, beatings, floods, drownings, electrocutions, etc.” You forgot SNAKEHEADS!

Pimpin’ is easy: Vancouver organizations line up for ‘homeless’ grants from city hall. Man, this is really adding to the appearance of a poverty industry. Vancouver does not suffer from a dearth of awareness. Our homeless are fully in view. You don’t need to do a walking tour. Just have dinner at Judas Goat.

The Dependent vs The Sun: “Our post today? How Vancouver accidentally gave rise to the country’s first anti-drug legislation. Their post today? A sasquatch sign in Harrison Hot Springs. Our legal team is hard at work as we speak.”

Developer Chris Vollan on why we hate developers.

“To me, the word “developer” had always conjured images of cultureless, moneygrubbing hacks in Armani suits, roaring around town in tacky SUVs, lighting cigars with $20 bills, cackling wildly as they displaced families, stomped on puppies, and generally caused the destruction of affordable neighbourhoods in the name of profit.

Psych ward escapes worry neighbours. Turns out it was all on Yahoo Answers. They got the idea from playing the free online video game called Mental.

AirApathy: Will the end of AirCare mean more junk cars on the road? I personally can’t wait for the return of jalopies, hoopties, bangers, buckets, beaters, dune buggies, go-carts and wreckers. Also, whistle tips.

Meanwhile, Gas prices in Metro Vancouver hit record levels on Friday morning. What’s going to stop people from filling their tanks with marked gas?

Irony of the day: Nature’s Path owner to pay $32k fine. For destroying a natural path! Somehow the name Unnatural Clearcut didn’t pass the development stage.

Space Case: Powell Street overpass proposal will level buildings, raise street. This is relevant to my interests.

GOODS: Cawston’s “Orofino” Hosting 1.6 Mile Farm To Table Similkameen Supper

Orofino is located at 2152 Barcelo Road in beautiful Cawston, BC V0X 1C2 | (250) 499-0068 | www.orofinovineyards.com

The GOODS from Orofino Strawbale Winery

Cawston, BC | This unique event celebrates the beauty of the Similkameen Valley in all her forms. The evening will consist of a five course meal using only the best foods provided by artisan producers from within a 1.6 mile radius of Orofino Winery. Each course will be expertly crafted by chefs Cameron Smith and Dana Ewart, owners of the highly regarded Joy Road Catering Company. Delectable surprises, unique produce and world-class flavours will be paired with Orofino`s best wines. Please join us in our beautiful winery courtyard for an enchanted evening of fine dining, remarkable wine, and good company! [ Keep reading ]

Cool Thing We Want #347: Reclaimed Wood “Mixtape” Table By Designer Jeff Skierka

Mixtape Coffee Table made by hand by Jeff Skierka out of reclaimed maple and walnut wood with a plexiglass top. This shot is of the protoype, which apparently took five years to make. No word on cost, but damn is it ever awesome (via)!

EVERY COOL THING WE WANT

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: “Cascade Room” On Main Street Looking To Hire A Manager

The Cascade Room is located at 2616 Main Street in Vancouver, BC | 604.709.8650 | www.thecascade.ca

The GOODS from The Cascade Room

Vancouver, BC | The Cascade Room on Main Street is currently looking to recruit a dynamic Manager to join their friendly team. We are looking for an enthusiastic individual with a real passion for food and people – you must have a fun and outgoing personality with a zest for life! It’s important that you have good commercial acumen and have an understanding of managing costs – the ideal candidate will be comfortable managing busy shifts front of house – and have solid restaurant experience. Good leadership skills are key – you will have the natural ability to help build, lead and motivate the team – you will of course be wholly involved in the team’s development and training moving forward. Learn more about The Cascade and how to apply after the jump… [ Keep reading ]

YOU SHOULD KNOW: About The History Of Vancouver’s Very Own Don Draper Ad Man

by Stevie Wilson | One of Vancouver’s most important ad men in the 1950s and 60s was Mr. James Lovick, who one winter afternoon, without taking any cues from popular ensemble television shows, stripped his pants off during an agency meeting in Toronto and threw them out the window. This was, of course, to illustrate his point that the Toronto Dominion Bank should accept his agency’s offer to change their “pinstriped” image. By all accounts, his plan worked.

Lovick, like the fictitious Mr. Draper, was a great ad man, and could get away with these sorts of “good old days” escapades. He was even so sly as to not leave any photographs of himself for research purposes (the shot above is of one of his employees). Having experienced increasing success in the Vancouver advertising scene since the 1930’s, Lovick eventually opened up his own shop at 1178 West Pender in a building designed by the great, if forgotten, mid-century Vancouver architect Robert McKee. He also opened additional offices in Edmonton, Halifax, New York, and San Francisco. By 1958, James Lovick Ltd. was the largest Canadian ad agency, and it had some high-profile clients to prove it.

Companies like the B.C. Telephone Company, Super-Valu, and Kelly Douglas & Co.’s new coffee brand Nabob were all in a stable of accounts held tightly by Lovick and his associates. Lovick was additionally instrumental in bringing the 1962 Grey Cup to Canadian audiences, albeit after a lengthy dispute with the CBC about commercial-free viewing. The company was a powerhouse among the great agencies of the East Coast, with a West Coast flair that proved big things were happening over here. That is, until the big one was snatched away. The 1961 Sunday Sun reported that, regrettably, “the advertising agency business is notoriously gossipy” (so are newspapers), and that the federally chartered B.C. Telephone Company account had changed hands into those of the O’Brien Agency, an alleged favourite of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

What would become of Canada’s greatest ad agency? Despite recently securing campaigns for the RCAF, the end of the agency’s ten-year love affair with our province’s phone lines proved to be a sign of worse things to come. Lovick’s company, according to American reports, included 210 employees (including branches), and was slowly feeling the effects of its competitor’s growths and mergers. At this point, Lovick & Co.’s coverage had extended to the American and British markets with specialized areas for promotion, publicity, public relations, and – you guessed it – a special panel for “women’s promotions”.

In 1968, Trans-Canada Airline’s first customer to log a million air miles passed away, leaving behind a company that would ultimately not outlive him by much. Following a series of mergers that continued well into the 1990s, the remnants of Lovick Advertising are found in the New York-based worldwide agency BBDO. So the next time Don Draper makes the ladies swoon and forgets his kids at daycare (or something), remember: Jimmy Lovick once took his pants off in a room full of Toronto businessmen, and that’s real advertising.

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Stevie Wilson is an historian masquerading as a writer. After serving as an editor for the UBC History Journal, she’s decided to branch out with a cryptic agenda: encouraging the people of Vancouver to take notice of their local history and heritage with You Should Know, a Scout column that aims to show you the things that you already see. Just nod your head and pretend you’re paying attention.

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GOODS: Joy Road Set To Plate Winemaker Suppers At “God’s Mountain” All Summer

Joy Road Catering operates May through Oct all over the Okanagan Valley | 250-493-8657 | joyroadcatering.com

The GOODS from Joy Road Catering

Penticton, BC | Sourcing and showcasing the bounty of the Okanagan continues to be a way of life for Cameron Smith and Dana Ewart, chefs and owners of Joy Road Catering. They are the South Okanagan’s leading catering company specializing in food and wine parings for groups ranging from an intimate 10 to the energy of 200. Their diverse culinary achievements boast a cult-worthy baking stand at the Penticton Farmers’ Market, catering many winery and wedding events, all while hosting two wine paired dinners per week for the public.

This summer’s Sunday Al Fresco Vineyard Dinners will be hosted on the grounds of the heavenly God’s Mountain Estate B&B located just South of Penticton. This unparalleled Okanagan dining experience begins June 17th running right through the summer up until Thanksgiving. Overlooking the shimmering Skaha lake, above one of the oldest Riesling vineyards in the Valley, curious diners, local epicureans, and culinary tourists alike unite at a communal , outdoor table for these unique multi-course dinners. The evening includes a sparkling wine reception and a carefully chosen. local wine pairing with each course. The Dinner With a Winemaker series will be offered on select Thursday evenings teaming up with some of the Okanagan’s leading boutique wineries. Get all the details and more after the jump… [ Keep reading ]

Foreign Intelligence Briefing #405: When Barack Obama Smoked A Shit Ton Of Weed

A new book called Barack Obama: The Story has the skinny on the President’s glory days as “that dude” at every party’s weed circle…

“Barry also had a knack for interceptions. When a joint was making the rounds, he often elbowed his way in, out of turn, shouted “Intercepted!,” and took an extra hit. No one seemed to mind.”

Moral: if you love freedom and hate terror, bogart that joint.

VANCOUVER WOULD BE COOLER IF #183: It Had Its Own Free Food Forest Like Seattle

by Andrew Morrison | Seattle will soon become home to the United States’ first “food forest”, a seven acre plot forest garden of apple, pear, persimmon, chestnut and walnut trees supplemented by bushes of blueberries, lingonberries, raspberries, and other tasty things besides. Beacon Food Forest will be located in the city’s Beacon Hill neighbourhood (2.5 miles from downtown), and all of the food within will be free for picking and gathering. Another pie in the sky concept? Nope. It’s already underway.

According to the Beacon Food Forest’s website, the project’s mission is “to design, plant and grow an edible urban forest garden that inspires our community to gather together, grow our own food and rehabilitate our local ecosystem.” The perennial permaculture forest project, believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S., will eventually be self-sustaining, much like the way a forest in nature works. Creating the self-sustaining environment is reliant upon the types of soil, insect life and companion plants placed strategically within the environment (via).

A solution to the Viaduct question? Your move, Vancouver.

UPDATE: a reader reminded us about the Copley Community Orchard near the Nanaimo skytrain station. Check out the video below. Though it’s only a 7th the size of Beacon Food Forest in Seattle, it’s a good start!

OTHER CIVIC IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS