GOODS: Chefs From Wildebeest & Calgary’s “Model Milk” Prepping For June 4th Supper

Wildebeest is located at 120 West Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC | 604-687-6880 | www.wildebeest.ca

The GOODS from Wildebeest

Vancouver, BC | On Tuesday, June 4th, 2013 at 6:30pm, Gastown’s Wildebeest invites you to join Chef Wesley Young and Model Milk’s Chef Justin Leboe for an evening of cutting edge and seasonally inspired feasting. In collaboration with Vancouver’s top bartenders – including Josh Pape of Wildebeest, Shaun Layton of L’Abattoir, Ben de Champlain of Boneta, Jay Jones of KillJoy, as well as Stephen Phipps of Model Milk – the renowned duo will construct a gorgeous sixcourse menu matched with equally inventive handcrafted cocktails.

Chef Leboe is well-known for using local, quality ingredients and presenting them in simple and imaginative ways, while Chef Young is infamous for daring whole-animal cookery with the utmost integrity. Guests can expect a menu that represents the philosophies and culinary styles of both chefs. Each will focus on showcasing pristine ingredients in a fresh and original way.

Co-owners of Wildebeest, James Iranzad and Josh Pape are thrilled to be hosting Model Milk, named one of Canada’s Best New Restaurants by enRoute Magazine in 2012. “Justin is one of Canada’s most talented chefs, and to have him paired with Wesley and so many esteemed bartenders will definitely make for an exciting and unforgettable night at Wildebeest,” says Iranzad. Details after the jump… Read more

GOODS: Fundraiser For Big Sisters To Be Hosted By Hastings’ Stylegarage On May 30

Stylegarage is a retail store located at 124 West Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC | 604.558.4343 | www.stylegarage.com

The GOODS from Stylegarage

Vancouver, BC | On Thursday May 30th, Stylegarage will be hosting an evening in support of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased on our event web page here. We are thrilled that so many of our neighbouring businesses are supporting the evening. The food is coming from Rainier Provisions; desserts from Acme Cafe; and wine provided by the Mark Anthony Group. Prizes are coming courtesy of Ella and Elliot, Greenstems, Delta Vancouver Suites, Burton, Western Living, and Gus* Modern. Anticipate special guest speakers and more. Read more

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Gastown’s Pidgin On The Lookout For A Lead Host/Hostess

Pidgin is located at 350 Carrall Street in Vancouver’s Gastown | 604.620.9400 | www.PidginVancouver.com

The GOODS from Pidgin

Vancouver, BC | PiDGiN is looking for a Lead Host/Hostess to join our team. The ideal candidate will be self-motivated with a pro-active attitude. He or she will also have previous restaurant experience, knowledge of OpenTable, and a passion for food and beverage. If you are keen to share our commitment to exceptional service, please reply with your resume and availability details to resumes [at] pidginyvr.com.

GOODS: Gastown’s “Nicli Antica Pizzeria” Set To Celebrate Margherita Month In June

Nicli Antica Pizzeria is located at 62 East Cordova in Vancouver, BC | 604-669-6985 | www.nicli-antica-pizzeria.ca

The GOODS from Nicli Antica Pizzeria

Vancouver, BC | June 1889 is a significant month in the history of Italian cuisine. That’s when a humble Neapolitan tavern owner named Raffaele Esposito won the praise of Margherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy, by serving her a local peasant specialty – a flatbread, which he designed in the colours of the Italian flag in honour of her visit to Naples. To create the red, green and white of the flag, he topped the flatbread with simple, local ingredients: tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil leaves. It was the first time cheese had been melted on the traditional flatbread, and he named the new dish after the Queen. Legend has it that she was so delighted by it that she insisted that a wood-fired ‘flat-bread oven’ be installed in the palace. Thus was born the first Pizza Margherita which would set the standard for all future pizzas for generations to come.

In the intervening century and a half, pizza has spread around the globe – with versions and variations as diverse as the people who make it. There is, however, still one universal standard for pizza excellence based on that very first Margherita pizza. That standard was created, and is maintained, by the AVPN (Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana) in Naples, Italy. In 2009, the European Union protected Neapolitan pizza with its designation as a Specialty Guaranteed Dish. Nicli Antica Pizzeria is the first pizzeria in Vancouver, and amongst the first in Canada, to receive the official AVPN designation. To celebrate June’s significant place in food history, Nicli and AVPN North American President, Peppe Miele, are declaring June Official Margherita Month.

From May 28 – June 30, Gastown’s Nicli Antica Pizzeria will be producing and/or hosting a number of fun events and special promotions bound to appeal to pizza lovers – Pizza with Peppe, Margherita Lunch, La Stella Wine Dinner, Dine Like an Italian, Margherita Cocktail and PINQ Presents a Royal Affair. Full details on all these and more can be found on Nicli’s website. Get all the details after the jump… Read more

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Gastown’s “Nicli Antica Pizzeria” Seeks Assistant Manager

Nicli Antica Pizzeria is located at 62 East Cordova in Vancouver, BC | 604-669-6985 | www.nicli-antica-pizzeria.ca

The GOODS from Nicli Antica Pizzeria

Vancouver, BC | Nicli Antica Pizzeria an award winning pizzeria is looking to hire someone with the passion and desire to help build our business. The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 5 years experience in the restaurant industry with the last 2 years in a management position. We are looking for someone who can not only lead on the floor but has experience with marketing and social media, building events with a keen eye for cleanliness and service. If you think you have what it takes, we’d love to hear from you. This position is full-time and will require an open availability both mornings, nights and weekends. All interested parties can contact anthony@niclipizzeria.ca and learn more about the restaurant after the jump… Read more

GOODS: Hastings’ “Wildebeest” All Prepped For Special Sunday Family Supper Of Lamb

Wildebeest is located at 120 West Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC | 604-687-6880 | www.wildebeest.ca

The GOODS from Wildebeest

Vancouver, BC | This weekend’s special Mother’s Day edition of our Sunday dinner series has made Nick Miller cry tears of joy twice already. As always, these meals are curated and butchered from whole animals, lamb in this week’s case, and as such availability is very limited. Each dinner is $180 and is a complete meal for four guests, or an amazing anchor for larger groups. Dig into the menu after the jump. Read more

GOODS: Hastings’ “Wildebeest” All Prepped For Special Sunday Supper Of Suckling Pig

Wildebeest is located at 120 West Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC | 604-687-6880 | www.wildebeest.ca

The GOODS from Wildebeest

Vancouver, BC | Following up on last weekend’s super Bresse success is this Sunday’s suckling sensation! The menu below is perfectly suited for four diners coming in at $45 per guest, also working well at $180 for larger groups incorporating this into the rest of their dinner. The pig – a cross of the breed Gloucester and the breed Tamworth – is fresh from Rosedale, BC; raised with love by Farmer John Klop. Please call us at 604-687-6880 or email eat@wildebeest.ca to book one of these very limited dinners. Take a look at the menu – complete with crispy pork skins, ribs and wild garlic sausage – after the jump… Read more

HEADS UP: Pop-Up Wine Bar Goes Down Tonight At Gastown’s “Nouvelle Nouvelle”

by Robyn Yager | Tonight, from 7pm to 9pm, Gastown boutique Nouvelle Nouvelle (209 Abbott) will host a Spring Pop-up Wine Bar featuring new wines from Road 13 and ice cream sandwiches by Earnest Ice Cream. Sip, chomp, and check out new dresses from Dolce Vita, tees by Mt. Pleasant Athletic Club, Cheap Monday sunnies, and beautiful butter leather bags. Oh, plus 15% off.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: An Experienced Cook Is Required At Gastown’s Pourhouse

Pourhouse is located at 162 Water Street in Vancouver, BC | 604-568-7022 | www.pourhousevancouver.com

The GOODS from Pourhouse

Vancouver, BC | Passionate about great food? Pourhouse in Gastown is looking to hire an experienced cook. Applicants must be eager to learn, have either two or more years of in-kitchen experience or have gone to culinary school and, most importantly, must be passionate about food. Applicants should send resumes to simon@pourhousevancouver.com. Read more

GOODS: “Nicli Antica Pizzeria” Set To Host Craft Beer & Neapolitan Pizza Dinner Series

Nicli Antica Pizzeria is located at 62 East Cordova in Vancouver, BC | 604-669-6985 | www.nicli-antica-pizzeria.ca

The GOODS from Nicli Antica Pizzeria

Vancouver, BC | Beer and pizza – it’s become a classic Canadian combination. Whether it’s an after game celebration, before class quick bite, or dinner out with friends; beer and pizza is everyone’s ‘go to’ casual meal. It’s become so ubiquitous that most of us take it for granted. Not at Nicli Antica Pizzeria where they continue the century old tradition of creating Neapolitan-style pizzas the proper way – with love, by hand, using the only the best seasonal ingredients.

Coming up in May are three Craft Beer and Pizza Pairing Dinners that may just have you appreciating beer and pizza with a whole new respect. “We are very excited to be partnering with three of BC’s top artisan breweries,” says Nicli owner Bill McCaig. “Like a wine-pairing dinner, it’s a great way to showcase the flavour profiles in the beer and how they complement our pizzas. For these initial dinners we are so pleased to be working with Parallel 49 (May 13), Driftwood (May 20) and Howe Sound (May 27). They demonstrate the same care and attention to beer-making that we do with our pizzas. We think this may be a Vancouver first and if they’re well received, we’ll do more.” Details and tickets after the jump… Read more

GOODS: Wildebeest Set To Roast Rosedale “Bresse” Chickens For Supper This Sunday

Wildebeest is located at 120 West Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC | 604-687-6880 | www.wildebeest.ca

The GOODS from Wildebeest

Vancouver, BC | This weekend, Wildebeest presents the first in a new series of Sunday dinners. Join us this Sunday for roast chicken, featuring whole Rosedale ‘Bresse’ chickens, revered for their flavour due to perfect fat distribution and superior texture. These locally raised chickens are directly from the Bresse line, the world’s only AOC bird, national bird of France, chicken of choice of Chef Heston Blumenthal, and the first of their kind to be served in Vancouver. Dinner for four is $140 and in very limited supply. Please email us at eat@wildebeest.ca to book your dinner. Menu after the jump… Read more

READ IT (AGAIN): Pair A Venetian Spritz On Boneta’s Wee Patio With “Death In Venice”

by Marcus Kaulback | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, we’re checking Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella, “Death In Venice”.

Why You Should Read It Again: An elderly German writer vacations in Venice as a guilty reward for a lifetime of ascetic diligence, and falls into obsession over a young and beautiful boy. Despite it being a very philosophical look at wisdom versus beauty, at restraint versus lust, and is correspondingly dry and long-winded at points, it’s an engrossing and beautifully written work. It remains a powerful look at the potency of desire – an emotion all of us encounter every day – and at what it can push us to do.

Pair It With: Von Aschenbach, the abstinent Spartan that he is, doesn’t drink, and so gives us no hints as to what to sip while following his self-loathing journey. But the Venetian Spritz – an aperitif cocktail of white wine, sparkling mineral water, and either Aperol, Campari, or Cynar – is a refreshing choice, and one that will help you transport yourself to the Lido beach in your mind (content and thankful that yours isn’t the mind of that tortured and lascivious German writer). Hunker down on Boneta’s patio and indulge.

OTHER CLASSIC PAIRINGS

HEADS UP: 100+ Service Industry Workers Tryout For July 24th “Restaurant Rumble”

If you weren’t able to attend last year’s amazing Aprons For Gloves boxing extravaganza, watch the above video – Warren Lane Pictures’ awesome documentary “The Road To The Restaurant Rumble” – for a refresher. We were there on July 25th, beer-soaked in the mouthfully-named Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at Simon Fraser University (Woodwards). It went down as one of the most memorable, exciting evenings in the storied annals of Vancouver’s restaurant industry, raising some $130,000 in funds and the spirits of all in attendance. On not too many evenings does one walk home shadow-boxing and slur-humming to Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” and Metallica’s “Seek & Destroy”. So we’re stoked to see the big fight night coming back, and proud once again to be its web sponsor.

So what’s different this year? Well, because it was so damn kickass last year, it’s probably best to start with what’s staying the same. The Restaurant Rumble is still a fundraiser for the non-profit Aprons For Gloves organization, which aims to facilitate positive change through sport and mentorship in the lives of underprivileged youth in Vancouver. Coach Dave Shuck and the AFG team have secured the new East Side Boxing gym above Woodland Smokehouse on Commercial Drive, so new funds raised will go to obtaining safe and reliable boxing equipment (the ring and bags have been purchased), assistance with monthly rent (six months have been pre-paid), acquiring all the necessary city permits, and providing the youth of East Side Boxing with travel opportunities for matches outside of Vancouver so they can compete and grow regardless of their personal financial situation.

As the fundraising efforts grow, AFG will begin looking at further programs and ways it can help in the area. Also returning are the fighters. From what I’ve heard and seen on AFG’s Twitter and Instagram accounts (must follows, by the way), some 100 people from the local service trade have signed up. 90 of them went to try-outs this past weekend, with 10 more trying out this weekend. All of the aluni fighters are invited back for training, which starts next week, and those who won their Title Fights are expected to defend them. It all goes down on July 24th, a Wednesday, in the same venue as last year. There will once again be a bunch of undercard fights leading to 4-5 title bouts, which is to say a lot of punches will be thrown, missed, and landed, and maybe even a knockout or three.

So what’s different this year? There will be more seats in the venue and – wait for it – those assembled can drink in their seats! Beyond that, I’m sure there will be a few surprises, improvements, and course corrections, too, but envisioning anything better than last year is hard to fathom. We’re just excited to see how all the new fighters will fair through the gruelling training process, and to see them come out swinging for this city’s at risk youth.

We recognized many of the faces of those who tried out over the weekend. I’ve collected a few in screenshots below:

There are some real bruisers trying out, and plenty of dream match ups. We’d pay, for example, to see Tyson Reimer and Sean Sherwood dance. Likewise Brandon Grossutti versus Ivan Drury (oh wait…Drury didn’t even try out? What the…).

For certain, it’s a long road from now to July, and it’s paved with a shit ton of pain and good feeling. We’ll be providing updates during the training process, but in the meantime, good luck to all and have a browse through Mike Babiarz’s awesome shots from Restaurant Rumble 2012…

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