Scout Photos: Goodbye January We’re So Bummed To See You Go…

Michael Eckford photobombs competing barman Geoff Robinson (who would ultimately win) at the Inniskillin icewine cocktail competition held at The Diamond on January 18th

It’s been a good and interesting month. It began with my friend Nathan, notorious dog gobbler and sous chef at Lumiere, inviting my wife and I to dine at the Relais Gourmand restaurant. Not since a lunch with the CCC folks at West a couple of months ago had I done a fine dining, multi-course affair with paired wines and petit fours or felt compelled to don a jacket while in a restaurant, so this was something of a special occasion. For certain, I’d been on a tear reviewing inexpensive restaurants for the newspaper, and felt like I’d paid enough dues in poutine, ramen, and burgers to warrant a little foray back into the world of refined excess. I don’t mean to say that I had deserved or earned it, but rather that I supped and drank heartily and naturally in good conscience. Read more

$55.5 Million Facelift On View At UBC Museum of Anthropology

The Museum of Anthropology out at UBC has officially (if only partly) opened its doors to show off its $55.5 million upgrade. “Currently, about two-thirds of the Museum’s galleries are open: the Ramp, Great Hall, Koerner European Ceramics Gallery, Bill Reid Rotunda (home of “The Raven and the First Men”), and Michael M. Ames Theatre…. the ‘new’ MOA – includes a huge new temporary exhibit hall, The Audain Gallery, and the Multiversity Galleries.” That’s plenty. Very well worth the day trip. Just $7 on Tuesday evenings. Read more