Category: Vancouver

I sat up at attention when this email message showed up.  Oyosoos Larose produces very high quality red Bordeaux blends in the South Okanagan.  Wine maker, Pascal Madevon‘s top wine being the “Le Grand Vin” and then a second tier, but also very tasty, “Pétales d’ Osoyoos Larose“.  I have met Pascal many times at wine tasting events and he…

Le Parisien opened in April 2012 on Denman Street in the West End of downtown Vancouver.  The younger sister to Bistro Pastis in Kitsilano, voted the Best Bistro at the Vancouver Magazine Awards.  With this media dinner at Le Parisien, I am sure that Le Parisien will be winning many awards soon.  Both restaurants are owned by French Chevalier de…

BC wines are continuing to make strides around the world.  Last year BC wineries won more than 2000 medals in national and international competition according to the BC Wine Institute.  BC has over 208 wineries today.  We grow over 75 different grape varieties!  Merlot is the most planted grape in BC, and Pinot Gris is the most planted white grape…

When you talk with visitors to the Okanagan, most will say they want to visit Summerhill Winery and see their pyramid, where they partially age all their wines. Some may say they also want to visit because it uses biodynamic farming methods.  I sat down with Ezra Cipes, CEO of Summerhill, and son of the founder, Stephen Cipes, at a restaurant…

I was happy to be invited for the second year in a row to the Select Wines & Spirits’ Annual Portfolio Tasting, held at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.  Last year I found several gems that I passed along to you, and you will read about my latest wine recommendations.  You may want to compare to my last year’s…

On Friday night, Dianne Chow and I were invited to sample some of the new menu items at Hurricane Grill (1137 Marinaside Crescent) in Yaletown. Hurricane Grill is situated in a beautiful part of Yaletown facing the inner harbour lined with sailing boats. Sitting on the patio, sipping a glass of wine is probably a past time of many of…

Have you ever attended ChefmeetsBCGrape before?  It is a great event where you get to try BC VQA wines, and wonderful food produced by top BC chefs.  The dishes prepared are from Ocean Wise partner restaurants, which is good IMHO as I want to support ocean-friendly seafood choices. This event is held in Vancouver. When you check the list of…

Yesterday evening was beautiful and sunny. Perfect to try some vodka drinks made with Absolut Vodka and paired with appetizers by the Teahouse in Stanley Park.  Jacob from Absolut Vodka told us a bit about how the vodka is produced using winter wheat and how it differs from spring wheat.  Also he noted that all the natural essences applied to…

Last night was a Media preview of the new food menu at the Establishment Lounge in Kitsilano, 3162 W. Broadway (at Trutch).  The Establishment Lounge food is created by Executive Chef Victor Bongo.  Chef Bongo is the author of a cookbook titled: “The Excellence of Chef Victor Bongo“, which was published in March of 2009 by Xlibris Corporation.  The international…

Last week was the first, Vol 1, of Vancouver Foodster’s Food Talks.  It was held in the W2 Media Cafe downtown.  To warm us up, we were treated to an array of Indian inspired non-alcoholic drinks and appetizers, and red & white wines from Misconduct Wine Company from Penticton. There was a wide range of speakers this evening.  Two chefs,…