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Tasting Plates Gastown & Chinatown – recap

A pleasant Vancouver evening, was filled with pleasant company and great food as Tasting Plates visited Gastown & Chinatown on Wednesday October 23rd.

Tasting Plates patrons found something sweet and savoury as they walked between the evening’s eateries in the two downtown neighbourhoods. Four of the more recently opened eateries were new to many of us, and Trees is a firm favourite for many Vancouverites.

As with all Tasting Plates events, patrons checked in to receive their Tasting Plates map at the first stop – Wara Thai Eatery. Then it was off to try each restaurant’s ‘tasting plate’ or ‘tasting cup’. Check out #TastingPlatesYVR on social media to see some of the other patron’s posts of their experience.

Tasting Plates Gastown & Chinatown visited the following locations;

Wara Thai Eatery :
Spaghetti Bites with Thai Basil Chicken Sauce, Toong Tong – Thai Gold Bags, Thai Salad Cups
Buttermere Patisserie Café :
(clockwise) London Fog Cake Roll, Korean Citrus Cheesecake Tarts, Galette Bretonne Cookies, Earl Grey Chocolate Bar
Moltaqa Restaurant :
Bessara Green Pea Soup w/ Cumin, variety of lentil, bean tomato and egglant stews with bread and Iced Hibiscus Tea
The Praguery Gastown :
Sweet Prague Cone “Marie’s” – Nutella lined Coconut Cone, filled with Whipped Cream, cinnamon and Raspberry.
Trees Cheesecake & Organic Coffee :
Pumpkin Spice and Classic New York Cheesecakes.

If this edition of Tasting Plates visit to Gastown & Chinatown whet your appetite, check out Tasting Plates and Vancouver Foodster’s upcoming events Dumpling Fest November 6th and Curry Fest Vancouver November 13th.

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Tasting Plates visits Gastown and Chinatown

Tasting Plates Gastown and Chinatown invites you to find out what’s new in the oldest neighbourhoods. October 23, at 6pm, join other food fans to explore the restaurants and cafés in the downtown Vancouver food scene.

As with all Tasting Plates, participants will get to explore the neighbourhood with their friends, and family meet fellow foodies, while sampling the fare that Gastown and Chinatown’s chefs have prepared for the evening.  Vancouver Foodster has invited the chefs to create a tasting plate unique to the evening or bites curated from their existing menus. 

Tasting Platers will check in at the check-in location to collect their Tasting Plates maps, get their assigned first stop and then they’re off an running to taste the world of flavours.

Tasting Plates Gastown and Chinatown on October 23rd, includes the following restaurants in the line-up…so far;

Moltaqa Restaurant, 51 W Hastings Street
Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee, 321 Water Street
Wara Thai Eatery, 509 Main Street
Buttermere Patisserie Café, 636 Main Street
The Praguery Gastown, 221 Abbott Street

Watch for more restaurants to be added as the event gets closer.

Tickets are available now via Eventbrite (fees may apply)
Advance Tickets $45 per person after October 11, 2019
Regular Tickets $60 per person after October 20, 2019

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Prepare for a Taste of Yaletown

Yaletown is about to burst with flavour as the 15th Taste of Yaletown gets underway.

Running October 12 to 27, 2019, Taste of Yaletown is an annual celebration of Yaletown’s restaurants. Every year the neighbourhood chefs present unique sets of cuisine, tasting plates and pairings for the distinctive festival. Yaletown restaurants are offering special prix fixe lunch and dinner menus that show their eateries at the very best.

Set menus are priced at $35, $45 & $55 with some restaurants making offerings at multiple levels.  Taste of Yaletown lets patrons explore the world through the diversity of its restaurants, from Japanese cuisine at Bistro Sakana, Vietnamese at Little Saigon, to Mediterranean at The Greek by Anatoli, and French fare at Provence Marinaside, or Italian at Robba di Matti.

For the full list of participating restaurants and menus visit yaletowninfo.com

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Thanksgiving Dinner To-Go Options

With just days to go until Thanksgiving Dinner, it’s hard to juggle a busy work and home week as well as plan to cook a bit meal for friends and family. Why not take some of the pressure off? Leave the cooking to someone else so you have more time to spend giving thanks for those gathered around the table.

Here’s a few places that will do the preparations for you this year;

Fairmont Vancouver Airport :
Fraser Valley Slow-Roasted Turkey
Dinner for 8-10 $399
Order by October 8th by phone: 604-248-3281 or email vancouverairport@fairmont.com
Pick-up on October 13th and 14th.

Sutton Place Hotel :
Thanksgiving Turkey To-Go
Dinner for 10-12 $375 (plus optional add-ons)
Order by noon October 8th by phone 604-682-5511 ext. 34
Pick up October 11th to October 14th

Hendricks Resto-Lounge at Westin Grand :
Thanksgiving Turkey Take Out
Dinner for 4 $240 / Dinner for 8 $450
Order by October 8th by phone 604-647-2521
Pick up October 12th to October 14th

Hawksworth Catering at Bel Cafe Kitsilano :
Herb-Roasted Turkey
Dinner for 8-10 $399
Order 3 days in advance of pick up by phone: 604-605-3325 ext 1 or online

H2 Rotisserie & Bar at Westin Bayshore :
Rossdown Farm Turkey Take-Out
Dinner for 6-8 $250 / Dinner for 10-12 $325
Order by email h2turkeytakeout@gmail.com

Whether you order from one of these, or go out to have dinner out, enjoy your Thanksgiving!

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Spooktober starts with Fright Nights 2019 at PNE!

It’s Spooktober! Time for Vancouver’s most hallowed halloween haunt to scares up some fun as Fright Nights rises from the grave at Playland

On select nights from tomorrow, October 4th through October 31st, visitors will carefully creep through 20 hair-raising rides, astounding live shows, and eight haunted houses, all guaranteed to make this Halloween season the scariest ever. 

Thrilling live shows from fan favourites, the Monsters of Schlock, as well a host of ghouls and monsters roaming throughout the park are sure to chill and thrill visitors. If your stomach can handle it stop for food from Playland vendors, for some liquid courage hit up the Sanitarium Bar. If adrenaline isn’t enough, get a sugar rush stop by the Candy Shoppe for some sweets before hitting the thrill rides.

General admission tickets  are on sale at the gates, or save by purchasing in advance online.  Tickets include all the haunted houses, live shows and 20 night rides; including The Beast, Pirate Ship,Hell’s Gate, Hellavator, Atmosfear, Wooden Roller Coaster and more. 

Guests also have the option to purchase a Rapid Pass, which offers the same access as a regular gate pass PLUS access to one expedited entry to each of the eight houses and some night rides. 

Due to the overwhelming demand and to ensure a quality guest experience, Fright Nights is capping the number of tickets sold per day. Tickets must be purchased for a specific date. Each night of Fright Nights have limited availability and may sell out so book early. 

Playland warns that this event is not recommended for ages 12 and under, seniors 65+, people with sensitivity to strobe lighting or fog machines, people with high blood pressure, heart conditions, pregnant women or scaredy-cats. Absolutely no guest costumes or guest costume face make up allowed.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit frightnights.ca.

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Vancouver Foodster Sandwich Challenge Wraps Up

Since the start of September, readers and fellow foodies have been searching for their favourite entry in the Vancouver Foodster Sandwich Challenge, and the results are in. Finding something to savour between slices of bread has been the privilege of the media judges and public, who tasted the four entries.

Vancouver Foodster challenged Metro Vancouver cafes and restaurants to create a sensational sandwich and they came up with a diverse line-up of dishes. With most of the entry locations only having recently opened, it was an opportunity to see what they could do with such a menu staple.

  • MixxBao: Stewed Pork Bao
  • Sprezzatura: Italian Meatball Panuozzo

 In addition, a group of judges, David of @BCFoodieBlogger, journalist Tara Lee  @VanGlutton and myself tried all the sandwich entries to select the Judges’ Choice Sandwich. The public was also invited to try any or all of the entries, then vote for their selection to claim the title of People’s Choice Iced Summer Drink.

  • Food By Fanta: The Trans-Atlantic Sandwich
  • Do Chay Saigon Vegetarian: Deconstructed Vegan Meatball Banh Mi

With such diverse flavours to sample, the voting was tough but very enjoyable to sample all the entries. The Judges Choice came out in a result for Food By Fanta’s The Trans-Atlantic Sandwich. The People’s Choice result was a win for MixxBao’s Stewed Pork Bao.

For the full details of the drinks and all the results of the Vancouver Foodster Sandwich Challenge online at vancouverfoodster.com

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Fall for Food with Vancouver Foodster

This autumn Vancouver Foodster is offering a tasty line-up of great food-filled events.

From finding hidden gems as you explore the Gastown and Chinatown neighbourhoods, to seeking out your new fave pizza place or discovering dumplings from around the globe. Along the way, learn a little from local suppliers, vendors and experts with Food Talks.

4th Annual Pizza Palooza gets the season gets underway on October 16th. A savoury search for pizzas and flatbreads from around the world, Pizza Palooza. Touching down in Mount Pleasant, Yaletown and The West End, visitors will discover tastes from locations like the Middle-East, South India, and of course, Italy. Each participating eatery will serve guests a tasting plate (or slice) of their featured flatbreads, while meeting some new food loving friends, talking to the chefs, and learn about each of their participating restaurants.
Tickets for Pizza Palooza are on sale now on Eventbrite.

Tasting Plates Gastown & Chinatown, just one week later on October 23rd, invites us to find out what’s new in the neighbourhoods of Gastown & Chinatown. As typical of all Tasting Plates events; guests will pick up their Tasting Plates map & guide from the check-in location, then venture off to their designated starting restaurant / cafe for a culinary cruise around the ‘hoods. Committed, so far, to providing Tasting Plates to tantalize our taste buds are;

Buttermere Patisserie Café – 636 Main Street, Vancouver
Instagram @butter.mere
Wara Thai Eatery – 509 Main Street, Vancouver
Instagram @warathaieatery
The Praguery Gastown – 221 Abbott Street, Vancouver
Instagram @thepraguery
Trees Cheesecake & Organic Coffee – 321 Water St, Vancouver
Instagram: @treescoffee
More restaurants will be added before the evening, tickets for Tasting Plates Gastown & Chinatown are available now on Eventbrite.

Dumpling Fest returns for another year on November 6th. Dumplings are served in cultures all around the world, find out how they do it when by visiting the Dumpling Fest restaurants from Little Saigon, Chinatown and South Granville areas of Vancouver. Each will serve up different kinds of dumplings, from Vietnamese dumplings, to Russian Pelmeni to Wonton and more.
Tickets for Dumpling Fest are available now on Eventbrite.

Food Talks Vol 17 is another edition of Vancouver Foodster’s education series also coming this fall. Always enlightening, Food Talks Vol 17 is sure to bring another superb panel of local venders, suppliers and producers to the table. Watch for details and tickets to be announced by Vancouver Foodster soon.