A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Expensive Drinks & The Neverending Restaurant Cycle Of Life

TTS

by Talia Kleinplatz | The James Beard Foundation has announced the 2016 finalists for its annual awards ceremony. The short list names a few spots closer to home including Seattle’s Canlis, San Francisco’s Quince and Portland’s Clyde Common.

Everything about this Donald-Trump-Getting-Punched-In-The-Face doughnut makes me happy. Thank you NYC vegan bakery for making my day.

The folks behind Chinatown’s Bao Bei have a new restaurant in the works set to open next month. The 75-seat Kissa Tanto will draw inspiration from Italian and Japanese cuisines.

In another terrifying piece of news on climate change and food accessibility, researchers find that food shortages could lead to half a million additional deaths per year, worldwide.

The perfect marriage of music, cocktails and food. From the folks that brought you Bonaroo, Cocktail Magic debuts this year in Boston and New York. Fingers crossed for a west coast stop in 2017.

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is Gastown’s Notturno will be closing it’s doors at the end of April and Vancouver will be losing one of its best bartenders to Toronto as a consequence. The good news is that the much loved spot will be re-opening with a new, Japanese-inspired concept.

If you’re looking to build a home bar, add to your collection, or learn what to make with ingredients on hand, these six cocktail apps will definitely come in handy.

The second-cheapest wine principle gets put to the test. To be honest, I had never heard of the SCWP so this was a particularly educational and fascinating read!

A sad day for the community of Red Hook as they mourn the loss of a much beloved bartender. Artist, painter, and barkeep, Sunny Balzano was a legend in his Brooklyn community and left his mark on the people that sat at his bar.

Exactly how much pot was in that brownie? NPR looks at the research being conducted on marijuana-edibles and finds more that a few road bumps along the way.

Finding cocktail prices to be expensive these days? You should check out The Connaught Bar in London. Vancouver Magazine explores the process for costing out the average cocktail and how the price may be more reasonable than you think.

There seem to be a lot of strong feelings about Dine Out. Regardless of which side of the argument(s) you land on, with 289 local restaurants participating, you can’t deny the awesome success of the month-long culinary festival.

Get your jiggers and rocks glasses ready. The third annual B.C Distilled takes place this Saturday at the Croatian Centre and will feature 27 BC craft distillers.

For all you beer-drinking, whisky enthusiasts, Strange Fellows has just released Boris, its first barrel-aged beer. And in a fun little addition, the brewery has partnered with Mt. Lehman Cheese Co. to create a Boris-based cheese!

From classic ice cream to soft serve, Vancouver’s sweet tooth is getting its fix. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be feasting a hot fudge sundae with a side of green tea soft serve.

One restaurant-owner’s innovative response to recent discussions on dress codes for female employees in the hospitality industry and his frustrations with Restaurants Canada over their notable silence on the issue.

Gastown’s Blacktail announces that it will close its doors on March 26th.

Change is in the air at Instagram headquarters as a shift in their algorithm will move feeds away from a chronological display to a more interest-based format.

And speaking of Instagram, eating via IG honours this week go to The Artful Desperado and this incredible brunch spread at Acorn.

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

Field Trip: Tagging Along for a “Glorious” Tomato Appreciation Feast

Inspired by their love of tomatoes and everything that farmer Mark Cormier and his farm crew put into growing them, the team from Say Hey Sandwiches head out to Aldergrove on a mission to cook a feast for the Glorious Organics team...

Reverence, Respect, and Realization: What The Acorn Taught Me

At 21 years old, I'm still just a kid and relatively new to working in restaurants, but I grew up umbilically tied to the hospitality industry. My father was a food writer, and my mother is a photographer. Their careers meant that most of my early years were spent in kitchens and dining rooms instead of on playgrounds and soccer fields; consequently, I learned my table manners before I could count past one hundred.

Amanda MacMullin Talks Seeking New Challenges and Becoming a ‘Grizzled Old Bartender’

Rhys Amber recently sat down with The Diamond bartender to catch up, swap 'war stories' and discuss the minutiae of the crazy, hospitality life.

On Expensive Hobbies, Title-Chasing & Getting ‘Rinsed’ in the Kitchen, with Josh Stel

The veteran Vancouver pan jockey and recently appointed Chef de Cuisine at The Mackenzie Room possesses a slew of attributes harder and harder to come by these days, so Rhys saw it fitting to reach out and see what makes him tick.