You’ve Gotta Try This in February

This is your indispensable companion to all that is hot, fresh and freaking delicious in Vancouver right now

You know what? I’m not gonna talk about what’s happening south of the border, which has been making me fear/grief/comfort-eat my way through some alarmingly large bags of chips these past few weeks.

Hell no!

Instead, I’m going to point to the amazing bounty of terrific food and drink celebrations that we’ll be blessed with throughout February. There are still five days and nights of Dine Out to enjoy. The Wine Festival, which celebrates Canada’s 150th, features a stunning lineup of Canadian and international wineries and begins on February 11th and runs till the 19th. Blue Water Cafe’s Unsung Heroes festival is back for the 13th year, and the Hot Chocolate Festival (which now has a full rundown of flavours) goes until the 14th.

Add to that some groovy new openings, boozy cocktails, and some seriously great hangover-avoiding tacos.

We have a lot to be thankful for, so let’s go and show our gratitude in the best way we can: by eating and drinking everything and tipping like a boss.

As always, bring napkins, it’s gonna get so, so messy…

 

1. Eat all the chocolate at the new Cacao 70 café

Praise the skies! A dedicated chocolate café, Cacao 70 from Quebec, has sprung up on Denman Street and is open from 10 a.m. till late. Specializing in chocolate from around the world, you can try chocolate from as far afield as Tanzania, Venezuela, Peru and Costa Rica with cocoa percentages ranging from 31 to 76. The menu is huge, including everything from a comprehensive daily brunch selection to hot chocolate variations from around the world (the Italian version with orange and cinnamon looks cool), waffles, grilled marshmallows and even chocolate-peanut butter pizza. According to the store, the most popular items so far are the American-style hot chocolate and the chocolate fondue. Check ’em out and find your new favourite!

 

2. Honour an Unsung Hero

Support the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise sustainable seafood program (and eat some cray-cray seafood in one of the best spots in town while you’re at it) at Blue Water Cafe’s Unsung Heroes festival which takes place for the whole month of February. Since the first event in 2004, chef Frank Pabst has been exploring some of the lesser-known sustainable seafood out there and whipping it up into a delicious (and educational) feast. Dishes such as stir-fried jellyfish, red sea urchin trifle, sturgeon liver pâté and poached periwinkles have featured in past years. But in 2017, it’s all about British Columbia’s giant red sea cucumber, which has just been listed as sustainable by Ocean Wise. Hand-picked by divers, you can try them in a black Himalayan risotto with pig’s trotter, butternut squash and basil. Best of all, Blue Water Cafe annually donates 10 per cent of the proceeds from Unsung Heroes to Ocean Wise.

 

3. Drink up at BC Distilled

On your marks, get set, waaaaaait for February 15th and then bag a ticket when early bird tickets go on sale to this always sold-out event. It’s the fourth annual BC Distilled Festival on Saturday, April 8th with 32 regional, small-batch and micro-distilleries pouring samples at the Croatian Cultural Centre. B.C.’s liquor industry continues to explode with more distilleries across our province than the rest of the country put together. If you’ve never been, it’s a terrific chance to meet the makers and discover the sheer incredible variety in B.C. booze, and if you’re already a fan, well, you don’t need me to tell you how great it is, right? Also on offer, bites from Juniper, Timber, Two Rivers Specialty Meats, The Cascade Room, and Lucky’s Doughnuts. There will be an on-site liquor store selling more than 100 products from all of the participating distilleries, so if you find something you love, you can take it home to enjoy.

 

4. Thank Shuck, It’s Friday

Got a flight planned for a Friday from YVR, or just fancy oysters and bubbles with a view? Head out to the Fairmont Vancouver Airport in the Jetside Lounge between 4 and 7 p.m. for Shuck It, It’s Friday. It features four oyster varieties that are all farmed in B.C: Chef’s Creek, Royal Miyagi, Effingham and Little Wing (actually my favourite oysters, I first had them at Ancora last summer—they are worth travelling on the Canada Line to eat!) for $2 a shuck. Many of the sparkling wines, including champagnes, are also offered at 15% off during this time.

 

5. Say a very fond farewell to Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks

Devastating news for the culinary bookshop community with this notice from one of the city’s most beloved and cherished figures, Barbara-Jo:

“After almost 20 years of selling books and offering classes, I have decided to close my beloved bookshop. The brick and mortar version of Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks will shut down at the end of February.

“After a sabbatical to restore and refresh, I will be moving forward to explore a number of ideas related to what I have always done best, Cooking and Booking. Although the actual shop will be gone, the spirit behind it will continue to thrive in other ways. I will maintain this
website as a way of keeping you posted on my future endeavours.”

You can read her full goodbye (or shall we say au revoir?) Celebrate truffles

It’s the second annual BC Truffle Festival from February 4th to 6th. Celebrate with five courses at West restaurant from chef and truffle fan Quang Dang whose feast will include prized B.C.-grown products as well as Mediterranean Perigord black truffles, and Oregon black and winter white truffles.
Monday, February 6; 6:30 p.m. reception 
Tickets $175 per person (including of taxes and gratuity), $69 additional for wine pairings

Eat at the Aquarium

There’s still time to check the Dine Out website to see if any of the events are still available. Me, I bagged tickets to Ned Bell’s pop-up at the aquarium, three courses and a chance to hang at the Discover Rays pool sounds too good to miss. Plus, I’m still jazzed about Timber’s nightly $20 deal: three courses and a different roast each night? Yes please!

Visit the Museum of Food and Wine

I love the sound of this ‘edible museum’ pop-up that’s happening on February 9th. “The museum will be broken into sections and immersive vignettes similar to those found at natural history museums, playing host to moments in our culinary and wine-making history. From a traditional Okanagan (Syilx) Nation pit-house of the Osoyoos Indian Band to a Quebec sugar shack and a post-WWI kitchen, these replicas of cultural settings provide a unique look into the backstory behind how our culinary personality came to be and how these stories connect to some of our country’s most celebrated wines.”
Tickets to the Edible Museum are available online. Each ticket includes tastes from select VQA wines as well as edible bites from top chefs throughout the journey of the exhibition. One hundred per cent of all ticket proceeds will be donated to the Great Vancouver Food Bank.

BETA5 Pop-up

From February 1st to 14th, the city’s fave cult chocolatier is hosting a pop-up store at 3345 Cambie Street. Stop in to buy special Valentine’s-themed cream puffs (like this strawberry jasmine one) as well as a limited selection of their pastries and chocolates.

 

7. Eat surf & turf at Wildtale

Last year’s multi-course Maritimes-style lobster suppers at WildTale were one of the best—and most delicious—deals around. Now they’re back with a new deal: Surf & Turf Sundays with a 28-day-aged Alberta “AAA” beef dinner with buttery mash, Yorkshire pudding and veg, plus either a Caribbean lobster tail, grilled jumbo prawn skewer, scallop skewer a la plancha, or a pan-seared prawn and scallop combo. The price? Just $24.95 per person. Quantities are limited, and I’ve been assured the seafood is Ocean Wise, so you need to order in advance when you make your reservation.

 

8. Drink an El Patrimonio at The Diamond

Vancouver’s cup runneth over when it comes to talented bartenders representing our cocktail culture on the world stage. Chris Enns over at The Diamond is battling it out at the Bacardi Legacy contest in Miami later this month with a drink called ‘El Patrimonio.’ Imagine a creamy yet juicy punch, with a caffeinated espresso kick and delicious aged rum and banana notes. Bright—and far too good to just have one—you can get it on the menu now. If Chris makes it through to the next round, he’ll go on to represent Canada in Berlin. Fingers crossed, as this is the second year The Diamond has represented Vancouver. Last year their former bar manager, Gian, went on to win the national title.

 

9. Eat brisket tacos at the all-new Gringo

I’m advocating a lot of going out and having drinky fun this month. And the necessary hangover-avoiding yin to the goin’-hard yang is simple: tacos. Lots and lots of late-night tacos. I’m showering some love on Gringo this month, one of my favourite late-night joints in Gastown, because they’re renovating from top to bottom and will reopen early in February with a whole new Gringo 2.0. Check their website to see exact dates of the reopening, but once they’re up and at ’em again, go and eat all the brisket tacos, because they are just so ridiculously good.

 

10. Drink all the bubbles at L’Abattoir’s brunch

I actually did a double take when I saw what L’Abattoir is up to with its new brunch program, because the prices of their bottles of bubbly seem to be particularly reasonable. And you know the perfect time to pop open bubbles? That’s right. Always! But especially at brunch. On the menu, bubbles from B.C. and around the world, from Bella and the Okanagan Crush Pad to half bottles of Lanson Black Label for $65, unusual wine-geek ‘Grower’ Champagne such as Marie Courtin’ Extra Brut ‘Résonance,‘ which is made by ‘following the rotation of the moon using energetically healing practices of pendulums’ for just $77 and a fab biodynamic sparkling chardonnay Brut Crémant du Jura from Jean Bourdy for $59. All that plus L’Abattoir’s always on-point and delicious brunch.
Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

 

11. Hang out late at Rangoli

Here’s a giant slice of excellent news for Granville folks: Rangoli is moving into the old Vij’s space. Here’s bartender extraordinaire Jay Jones with the intel:
“The concept is to turn what our guests have loved for 15 years about Rangoli, and deepen that experience; with lunch and dinner service every day, in a new (yet familiar) sumptuous, beautiful room. The bones of the old Vij’s remain, but the experience will be distinctly Rangoli—a bevy of bold flavours and exciting dishes, with new cuisine concepts from Meeru Dhalwala that embrace an Indian soul in contemporary style. The really big deal for our neighbourhood is that Rangoli will be open until 2 a.m. on weekends (Saturday and Sunday nights) to embrace late-night bar culture with creative cocktails, craft beer and fine wine. Late night food and snacks will will be available also. Rangoli will close at 1 a.m. the other nights of the week.”

 

12. Avoid eating out on Valentine’s

I’ll keep this brief. If your idea of a good time is spending an evening eating pink-coloured, hearts-and-flowers-themed food in a room which bristles with too-high expectations and the sour companionship of those who seldom dine out, but feel that they have to ’cause it’s Valentine’s Day, then have at it.

But—for those of us who love our food—may I suggest you avoid eating out on February 14th. Go out any other damn day instead. The food will be better, the company and ambience delightful, and your server won’t be taking crying breaks.

Me, I plan to hang with my gentlemen friends singing in the back room of Numbers. Way more fun.