Gastown’s “Pourhouse” Looking To Open Before The Month Ends

They’re getting real close at Pourhouse on Water Street. Menu tasting for staff went down today and the room is booked for a wine tasting on Tuesday. Read more

Gastown Blues & Chili Festival Shuts Abbott St. To Fill Bellies

Melissa, Tyson, and Ryan from Gastown's Deacon's Corner accept their award for the day's best chili

Yesterday’s inaugural Gastown Blues & Chili Festival made for a filling and fascinating time. My job was to arrive in front of Revel on Abbott St. by 12:45pm to join my fellow judges, and then spend the next two hours tasting and ranking 16 different chilis from neighbourhood restaurants (The Alibi Room, The Irish Heather, Boneta, The Diamond, Wild Rice, Cobre, Chill Winston, Deacon’s Corner and more). Read more

Food Media Omnibus #526: On Mis Trucos Love And Wine Scandals

In the Vancouver Sun, Mia Stainsby goes back to school at the Dirty Apron and positively reviews Mis Trucos while spirits journo Joanne Sasvari tries on some tiki cocktails and Anthony Gismondi tells of a Canadian wine scandal that should cost some bureaucrat jackasses their tongues (Gordon Hamilton elaborates).

In the Vancouver Courier, Tim Pawsey also digs Davie’s new Mis Trucos.

In the Globe and Mail, Alexandra Gill applauds the look of the new Keg in Yaletown but pooh poohs its big box culinary limitations. Also, Beppi Crosariol does a good job having a good job.

I write up La Taqueria in the Westender. Read more

“Habit Lounge” Rises From The Ashes To Be Born Again On Main

Way back on December 7th (as FDR noted, a day that would most certainly live in infamy), good ‘ol Habit Lounge on Main Street rather suddently burst into flames. We broke the sad news: “No one was hurt, thank goodness. According to the fire department, the fire started in a kitchen garbage can in the wee hours. Co-owner Nigel Pike got a call at 6:30am and found the place filled with black smoke. All that lovely orange covered in black soot!”

We are now happy to report that – nine months later – they’ve finally opened and it’s dead sexy, with shades of your grandpa’s basement circa 1976 (if your grandpa was Hugh Hefner without the creepy). Read more

Chambar’s Very Own Ale Starts Rolling Off The Bottling Line…

These sneak peek snaps of the first bottled Chambar Ale come direct from the bottling line. I’ve been told the branding and lettering is done in 14ct gold, with the axiom “In heaven there is no beer, that’s why we drink it here” spelled out in four languages on the back.  The award-winning restaurant celebrates its 5th birthday this Saturday with a block party in the day and a raucous shindig at night (I hope to see you at both). Full press release after the leap… Read more

Random Photo #601: A Long Stem Killer Gin & Oyster Cocktail…

The “Killer Queen” cocktail from Kerren Bottay of Whistler’s Bearfoot Bistro, as presented in the Victoria Gin competition at Boneta last week (yes, that is an oyster).

Food Media Omnibus #525: The Financial Times Pays Van A Visit

In the Georgia Straight, Kate Dubensky investigates Vancouver’s many banh mi (Vietnamese sub) sandwich options and Jurgen Gothe goes sipping off the beaten path.

In Whistler’s Pique, we learn that after a crappy winter, business boomed for the alpine resort town’s restaurants.

The best, most fascinating story I’ve ever read on local octopus, and I’ve read none plenty.

In the Vancouver Sun, Mia Stainsby interviews celebrity chef David Rocco, star of the The Food Network show Dolce Vita. Read more

Saying Goodbye To Summer At The Gorgeous End Of The World

Since I left university I’ve grown accustomed to treating September as the best part of August, a sigh that lasts for 30 days. Over the summer, however, I remembered that when kids reach school age, September reverts back to its original bummer state for the parents. That’s me now, with irrational worries pinned to pencil cases and lunch bags cancelling that second bottle of wine. With one in grade 2 and another still a year out from kindergarten, I’m looking at 13 years, maximum insecurity.  Read more

On Not Falling Down On My Face At East Vancouver’s “Leeside”

Every writer should probably have a hobby, lest he or she whither and suffer the horrors without a release valve. It can be the banjo, sex, speed-walking, tennis – whatever. The point is to take a step back from the mind-numbing pip-blank-pip of the mouse cursor and have some fun… Read more

10 Reasons To Look Forward To “Where The Wild Things Are”…

page details from Maurice Sendak's children's classic, "Where The Wild Things Are"

Saki Knafo wrote a fantastic feature for the New York Times last week on director Spike Jonze’s trials and tribulations making a full length adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s timeless children’s masterpiece, Where The Wild Things. The book has sold more than 10 million copies, which makes it just about as daunting to turn into a film as Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. It’s also a book that conveys pound after pound of pure 9 year old feeling in a mere 10 sentences, which – you’d have to think – would make the task doubly tricky. Read more

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