Mimosas, Jazz, Laughter and Tea on the Menu this Mother's Day

• By
• Jenn Laidlaw

Image by Flickr / 23am
Celebrating Mother's Day

A round-up of the best Mother’s Day brunches, tea services, activities and contests happening around Vancouver this weekend

Every year on the first Sunday of May, Mom’s are given thanks for keeping our world ticking. And while they really should be honoured 365 days a year for enduring our births and being our personal chauffeurs, nurses, cooks, cleaners and life coaches; this is one day that we can go over-the-top and spoil the crap out of the one who deserves it most.

There is no shortage of options for spoiling the woman. From brunches and teas to jazz and social media contests, check out some of our favourite ideas and resources for mom’s weekend around town.

Mother’s Day brunches around Vancouver:

Cheers to mom with a Mother's Day brunch mimosa.

(Image: Flickr / aurora michele)

VCBW’s Mother’s Day brunch – Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mom’s like beer too! If your mom prefers hops over grapes, Vancouver Craft Beer Week is serving up a Mother’s Day Brunch at Abigail’s Party in Kitsilano. Treat her to a three-course beer paired brunch and then go work it off together with a brisk stroll around the seawall. Try Red Truck’s Lager, Belgian Pale Ale and Cask Apple Pie alongside freshly baked buttermilk biscuits with applewood smoked cheddar and bacon jam; Abigail’s classic Benedict with house-cured peameal back bacon, organic free-range eggs and orange zest hollandaise; and cinnamon-bun french toast with bourbon maple glaze and vanilla mascarpone. Website | Tickets

Fraser River paddlewheel brunch cruise – Sunday, May 8, 2011

Take a trip up the Fraser River on MV Native, an authentic paddlewheeler, modelled after the very ships that used to frequent BC’s rivers over a hundred years ago. Launching from the Inn at Westminster Quay in New West, the paddlewheeler brunch includes a buffet-style smorgasbord of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, sausages, pancakes, fruit, croissants, breads and desserts. The brunch cruise is on the water from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets cost $49.95 for adults, $44.95 for seniors, $29.95 for children (5 & under free). Website | Tickets

Vancouver Mother’s Day brunch resource: OpenTable

Rather than list more of the hundreds of Mother’s Day brunches across the Lower Mainland, we present to you – OpenTable, an online database where you can peruse the menus of restaurants serving Mother’s Day brunch and dinner—and see which ones are offering complimentary champagne and mimosas for moms. 

Mother’s Day tea around Vancouver:

Treat Mom to an afternoon tea service this Mother's Day.

(Image: Flickr / alisonlongrigg)

The Cellar’s jazz and tea – Sunday, May 8, 2011

For all those cool cat moms out there, Vancouver’s premier jazz club is throwing an afternoon tea and jazz show with champagne cocktails, scones, crab-stuffed profiteroles, mini croissants and almond petit fours. Entertainment by Lorraine Foster Quartet, with Miles Black on piano, Tim Stacey on bass and Dave Robbins on drums. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.; shows start at 12:15 and 1:15 p.m. Website

Tea on the Port Moody train – Sunday, May 8, 2011

Celebrate Mom’s Day with the whole family at Port Moody’s historic Station Museum and train station. Completed in 1908, this station—built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, with its 1920s CPR sleeping car and railway displays—will probably entertain the kids more than it will mom, but sometimes a nice day out with the family is all she really needs. This free event will be serving up tea and snacks for everyone between 12 and 3 p.m. Cash only. Website

Mother’s Day tea party at Historic Joy Kogawa House – Saturday, May 7, 2011

This bookworm garden party is a great way to spend an afternoon with mom (I would be dragging my mom to this if she wasn’t leaving for Italy that day). If the sun is shining, the event will be held outside in the garden; otherwise, it will be tucked inside the former home of acclaimed Canadian author Joy Kogawa. Local authors Mette Bach, Shana Myara, Maddy Van Beek, Lorrie Miller, Cathleen With and Fiona Tinwei Lam will be reading pieces between 2:30 and 4 p.m. Email to reserve your spot. Suggested donation of $10. Website

Tea at London Heritage Farm – Saturday & Sunday, May 7–8, 2011

Take a stroll with mom around the London Heritage Farm in Richmond, a 4-acre historical site overlooking the Fraser River. With its 1880s farmhouse, park-like setting, heritage and herb gardens, old farming equipment, chickens, bees and large lawns with picnic tables and public washrooms, it sounds like the perfect setting for a May weekend picnic. Enjoy a cup of tea inside the homestead with home-baked scones and London Farm jelly and butter, then snoop around the gift shop where you can stock up on treats, soaps, jellies and teas. Website

The best afternoon tea service in Vancouver

For more places to take your mom for tea and for tips on tea-drinking etiquette, check out this "experts" guide to the best afternoon tea service in Vancouver by Granville Online writer Meera Bennett. Better make reservations pronto though!

Mother's Day events & activities:

Radha's Andrea Potter will teach crepe-making at a special

Mother's Day cooking class. (Image: iStock)

Vancouver TheatreSports Mother’s Day special – Friday, May 6, 2011

Share a giggle with mom as funny people explore the trials and tribulations of motherhood at Vancouver TheatreSport’s special Mother’s Day show on Friday night at 8 and 10 p.m. at the Improv Centre on Granville Island. The 90-minute show includes a complimentary glass of sparkling wine or juice. Tickets $25. Website | Tickets

  

Mother’s Day cooking class

Nothing says love like a full belly. Radha Yoga & Eatery on Main Street is offering a special Mother’s Day brunch cooking class. Test your skills and patients as you create a nutritious meal side-by-side. Chef Andrea Potter will guide you through kombucha mimosa aperitifs, vanilla bean and maple fruit salad, gluten-free crepes with almond "ricotta" and spinach filling, and crepes with vegan "nutella" and poached pears. The four-hour class runs from 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. $50 per person. Call 604-605-0011 to book.

Learn to garden

Perhaps you don’t mind pushing back the date of your Mother’s Day celebration so that you can get your hands dirty with mom. Check out this list of upcoming gardening workshops around Vancouver and bond with mom while growing your own food. 

  

Vancouver Mother's Day contests:

(Image: Flickr / rubygirlcreations)

So you already have plans to take mom out this weekend, but why not try to win her a little something extra? Everyone, it seems, is having a Mother’s Day contest.

Like-a-Mother contest

Vancouver’s Nordica Photography is throwing a Mother’s Day contest. It's simple. Upload a photo of your mom to their Facebook page and encourage your friends to “like” your mom’s pic. The most popular mom wins new hair from Toni & Guy. Contest closes at noon on Mother’s Day.

Yaletown Mother’s Day Social Media Contest

Sponsored by the Yaletown Business Improvement Association, Yaletown is giving away $5,000 in prizes including a night at the OPUS Hotel, a Mini Cooper for the weekend, a salon makeover, brunch and dinner at Yaletown’s top restaurants, and a fashion shopping spree. There are two ways to enter: “like” Yaletown on Facebook and leave a comment explaining why your mom deserves to win, or mention @iyaletown on Mother’s Day via Twitter using the hashtag #yt4moms.

The Peak’s Mother Mother’s Mother contest

Tune in to 100.5 The Peak for a chance to win mom a $150 gift card for Pacific Centre. All week, when you hear the song "Mother," by local band Mother Mother, call the radio station to win.