by Talia Kleinplatz | Food Republic continues its delicious series, New Chef Rising, with chefs Tim Maslow and Brandon Baltzley of Ribelle in Brookline, Massachusetts. Bonus: that avocado!

Looking for something different to do with your Thanksgiving leftovers? This turkey breakfast hash has me pulling my “eating dress” out of storage.

Memory lane: five years ago today, the now long-gone Sea Monstr Sushi opened in Gastown (recently replaced by The Bird & The Beets).

Esquire names its Best New Restaurants in America for 2015. The closest to Vancouver is Portland’s Muscadine. LA’s Broken Spanish also cracks it, but that’s it for the coast.

The Gold Medal Plates cooking competition is all set for Victoria on November 19th. The following chefs will be vying for the chance to represent BC at the Canadian Culinary Championships in early 2016:

Stephan Drolet – Camille’s at 45 Bastion Square, Victoria BC
Chris Whittaker – Forage, Vancouver BC
Sam Chalmers – North 48, Victoria BC
Castro Boateng – Castro Boateng Private Catering, Victoria BC
Brad Holmes – Olo, Victoria BC
Brock Bowes – RauDZ Regional Table, Kelowna BC
Jonathan Chovancek – Bittered Sling, Vancouver BC
Ned Bell – YEW Seafood + Bar, Vancouver BC
Alex Chen – Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, Vancouver BC
Luca Paola – Summerhill Pyramid Winery, Kelowna BC

The perfect Halloween cocktail? The Corpse Reviver is ideal both in flavour and name.

Main Street’s new and very popular Torafuku eatery catches the attention of design wonks.

Drinks International has released its annual list of the World’s 50 Best Bars, giving us cocktail lovers a most excellent bucket list for the coming year. While Canada has yet to crack the top 50, two made the “Bars to Watch” list including Vancouver’s own Keefer Bar.

If you’ve never had a whiskey sour, you should start drinking them now. If you’ve no stranger to them, here’s a good way to change it up.

Between AnnaLena, Mission, and Supermarine, craft cocktails are putting their mark in Kitsilano. Consider starting with Secret Sundays at Mission.

And speaking of Supermarine, they take the Eating via Instagram honours of the week with this delicious-looking eel dish. Wow!

Barman Eben Freeman of New York’s Genuine Liquorette amps a Negroni, calls it a Camparinette.

In case you missed it, the Fraserhood is landing a new Bows & Arrows cafe in early 2016. Bonus: it will be licensed.

A five star dining experience is always welcome, but 90% of the time I just want to eat an amazing burger. As such, I very much appreciate this list of chef-recommended burgers across Vancouver. Here’s the running Scout poll on Vancouver’s best burgers:

Chef David Gunawan is raising awareness around food waste with his upcoming Ugly Duckling Dinner Series at Royal Dinette.

While Anthony Bourdain may have recently taken up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he’s no match for a 71-year-old karate master. Watch as every foodie’s favourite silver fox gets his ass handed to him in this week’s episode of Parts Unknown when Bourdain travels to Okinawa.

I’m currently (hungrily) reading Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone. How fortuitous that the previous editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine has recently released her new cookbook/memoir. Better pre-heat the oven now.

In local print, Mia Stainsby gives Big Trouble some love in the Vancouver Sun, while Alexandra Gill digs into Tofino’s Wolf In The Fog.

Here’s an homage to a dish revered and feared by Jewish grandchildren across the world. Whether you love it or hate it, gefilte fish comes with its own special brand of nostalgia.

You know that thing that’s been making me laugh all week? Here you go: Jeffrey Morgenthaler teaches us how to make a cocktail video.

Looking for work in the local food and beverage trade? Here’s who’s hiring right now.

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 Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Talia Kleinplatz fell in love with food at the apron strings of her mother and grandmother whose kitchens wafted the intoxicating aromas of fresh dill, homemade pies and painstakingly slow-cooked brisket. She completed her degrees at Concordia and McGill, graduating with a Master’s in Social Work in 2009. Her six years in Montreal taught her to eat well but it was her move to Vancouver in 2011 that taught her to drink well. In 2013 she launched her award-winning cocktail blog, Two For The Bar. She lives in South Granville with her husband and her three-legged, curmudgeonly cat.