by Talia Kleinplatz | Instead of tips, Vancouver’s Ritual invites guests to make a donation to The Loving Spoonful. Bonus: the new West End restaurant serves up Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes and hand pies.

Can this bubble burst already? Between Vancouver’s unaffordable housing costs and the rising price of food, the city is experiencing a net loss of residents between the age of 20 to 30.

What in God’s name is spotted-dick pudding? The Vancouver Food Bank has created a Wall of Shame to house all of their most outlandish and bizarre donations.

Via Eater: Frito Pie – perhaps the only thing that Anthony Bourdain and I disagree on. Because let’s be honest, that stuff is delicious!

Food Republic pays a visit to Whistler and finds a few favourite spots including  Bar Oso and The Green Moustache.

Pop quiz! Fluffy Kittens is:

a) a toy store
b) a pet shop
c) an ice cream store

If you answered C, you are correct! Fluffy Kittens is set to open in Chinatown in June.

Food and Wine names its best new chefs of 2016. West Coast winners include Seattle’s Edouardo Jordan and San Francisco’s David Barzelay of Lazy Bear.

Four local chefs and restaurant owners weigh in on dining in the age of Instagram. While previously an avid Instagrammer at meal times, I’m now a big proponent of the “put down your damn phone and enjoy your meal” approach.

This week’s favourite podcast episode is brought to you by Criminal as they explore the great Pappy Van Winkle Heist of 2013.

If you’d prefer to consume your bourbon-heist related news in print, Men’s Journal takes a closer look at the nitty gritty details of the criminal operation that saw hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Pappy’s lifted from the infamous Kentucky distillery.

And finally, in case that wasn’t quite enough Pappy-based news for your liking, Esquire explores the underground world of black market booze and forged bottles of Pappy selling for upwards of $1,000.

Vancouver Sun’s Mia Stainsby explores the world of Jiro-style Ramen at Ramen Gojiro and finds the broth plentiful and the noodles to her liking.

Looking for something new to do on Friday nights? The Dirty Apron is hosting its Friday Night Bites. The demo and dine classes are $95 per person for a 4 course meal with wine pairings.

Japan just took the concept of the Cat Cafe to a whole new level. If you’re a hedgehog-loving coffee drinker, Harry’s is most definitely the spot for you!

The USA has recently broken a 142 year old record for the most breweries in America in history. While 4,269 breweries sounds impressive, Food Republic shares why this number warrants a closer look .

New research out of Louisiana shows promising results for addressing some symptoms of PTSD with a diet rich in blueberries.

Drinking via Instagram honours this week go to Shingo Kido and the most lovely of gin and tonics from Juniper.

Looking for work in the industry? Check out who’s hiring.

VANCOUVER’S 25 BEST RESTAURANTS