If you love chocolate, the Gourmet Warehouse is the place to be on Thursday, April 27th. They are once again hosting the very delish Chocolate Challenge. This event pits 8 chocolatiers against each other to create something decadent with chocolate. You have the opportunity to taste and vote who wins top prize for the best creation. In addition to chocolate, your ticket includes tastings from Earnest Ice Cream, The Preservatory, Stumptown Coffee, Tacomio, Tartine Tarts, Terra Breads, and Yorshire Tea. Best part of all 100% of ticket sales, silent and live auction proceeds will go to the Strathcona Backpack Program, Project Chef and the Vancouver Firefighters `Snacks for Kids` Program. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased directly from Gourmet Warehouse. Event gets under way at 6:30 pm. Come out and support this fun evening for 3 great local causes.
Chocolate Challenge Returns To The Gourmet Warehouse April 27, 2017
3 Apr
Whiskey Pairing Dinner At Fets Whiskey Kitchen February 21st
15 Feb
If you love whisky, you may wish to check out the Whiskey Pairing Dinner being held at Fets Whiskey Kitchen Tuesday, February 21st. Marcio Ramos, a brand ambassador for Beam Global, will take you on tasting tour of three of Scotland’s whiskey regions. Fets Whiskey Kitchen will be pairing 5 delish delishes with 5 whiskies from 4 distilleries. Cost for the event is $85 and there are only 25 spots. To get your ticket, check out the online registration at Fets Whiskey Kitchen.
Photo Credit: Denise Docherty
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Bodegas Lustau Sherry Tasting Experience At Cabrito Tapas February 28th
27 Jan
Do you love sherry? Granted this libation isn’t for everyone, or maybe it’s just the ones you’ve tried. Either way, if you would like to learn a bit more about sherry, than Cabrito Tapas on The Drive has an event for you. If you don’t know Cabrito Tapas, well you are missing out, it is a delish spot on the Drive serving Spanish tapas. On February 28th, they will be hosting their first ever Sherry Experience. They will be featuring 7 different sherries from Bodegas Lustau in Spain. Not only will you get to experience the sherries, but Chef Alex will be pairing them with tapas to highlight both the food and the sherries. Cost of this event is $75 which includes tax and tip. To register, visit Cabrito Tapas.
Photo Credit: Cabrito Tapas
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The Uncommon Café Offers Sweet Classes This February
23 Jan
With Valentine’s Day approaching, our friends at The Uncommon Café, 477 Powell Street, are hosting a few delicious classes this February and if location is an issue, we see one of their upcoming classes, Eclairs and Cream Puffs, will be held at the Trout Lake Community Centre on a Sunday afternoon. Valentine Kitamura owner of Tartine Maple will be leading the various classes they have lined up which include learning how to make eclairs and cream puffs, the secrets of working with chocolate or making that perfect Valentine’s Dinner. We invite you to check out their upcoming classes.
Eclairs and Cream Puff: Choux Pastry Basics – Sunday, February 5, 2017
Valentine will teach you the basics of the new pastry craze from France, Choux pastry pronounced “shoo.” If unfamiliar with the term, they are a family of dessert, big and small puffs, all made with the same dough base. In this class, you will learn to make:
- Profiteroles filled with vanilla whipped cream and covered with warm chocolate sauce
- Chouquettes with are a simple little puff simply covered with crunchy sugar bits
- Eclairs – the long version of the choux, filled with cream
Bring a container(s) so you can take some of your creations home. If you don’t have baking experience, no worries, it is not required. They assure us no fancy equipment is required either and you can easily make the items yourself at home. This class runs Sunday afternoon at Trout Lake Community Centre from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm.
Chocolate Lovers Class – Wednesday, February 8, 2017
If you love chocolate and want to learn how to make easy decadent desserts, than this class is for you. Whether you wish to impress guests, or that special someone this Valentine’s Day. What you will learn to make in this class is:
- Chocolate Mousse
- Lava Cake
- Chocolate Truffles
- Chocolate Sauce to Drizzle
This is a demonstration cooking class after which you will get to enjoy your Lava Cake along with a glass of sparking wine. The rest of the goodies you get to take home with you.
Valentine’s Couple Cooking Demo & Dinner – February 10, 2017 SOLD OUT
This class is designed for pairs, so whether that be a romantic couple, or maybe you want to bring someone on a first date, or you bring your mom or best friend, the field is wide open. During this demonstration class, Valentine will show you how to make some delish French dishes which we’ve set out below. After the demonstration, you get to sit down and enjoy the prepared meal in their restaurant with a glass of wine with candlelight if you wish. What you will learn to make includes:
Tarte flambée: Thin flatbread made right before your eyes, covered in onions, bacon and cream and cooked really high for extra crispiness. Served with green salad.
Aumoniere de Saumon: Salmon wrapped in purse shape phyllo dough served with a traditional white wine sauce
Lava cake: The ultimate dark chocolate indulgence served with vanilla ice cream.
Now if you like the idea of this class, but your prefer a different date, they are offering another class on February 14th, with a bit different menu. Price for the demonstration cooking classes are $75 per person. Keep an eye out for early registration offers which reduce the price by $10. To register, click on link above which takes you to the Eventbrite page for each class. Bon appetit.
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Let’s Do Brunch On The Drive
20 Jan
We are often asked where is a good place to go for brunch, coffee, dinner, live music or drinks in East Van. We started our brunch series with setting out some of our favourite spots in the Hastings Sunrise area. Next up we’d like to feature some very delish spots along Commercial Drive, some we’ve tried and some we’ve heard great things about through our grape vine.
Bandidas Taqueria, 2781 Commercial Drive
Brunch 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
We confess we have not tried this spot. We have noticed that it is a rare occasion that this spot is not busy, no matter the time of day or night. Bandidas Taqueria serves brunch daily from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm as well as breakfast all day. Most of their items are gluten free and we like that they get their gluten free bread from local fav spot, East Village Bakery. Eggs, beans and guacamole are featured heavily on their brunch menu, but we have our eye on the Cornbread Muffin Tops with honey butter. Bandidas Taqueria will make any breakfast vegan. This spot is certainly on our list to try not only because of the food, but their focus on minimal impact to the environment and their of support local smaller distributors. Bandidas Taqueria is located just North of 12th Avenue on Commercial Drive. Just a 5 minute walk from the Broadway Skytrain Station if you are travelling from elsewhere in the City.
Café Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive
Breakfast 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Weekdays + 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Weekends
You can’t miss this spot for the colourful mural outside. Cafe Deux Soleils is a long standing business on The Drive having been there for over 20 years. Here you will find eggs, but you won’t find meat if that’s what you are looking for. You will though find Veggie Ham or Veggie Sausage and lots of other great items as well as a kids menu. It’s a popular spot day and night as this spot includes a stage where you will find many local performers whether comedy, music, poetry and much more.
Havana is a great spot for many reasons, people watching from their patio is certainly one of them. It’s always a busy hopping spot that offers modern Latin fare and Caribbean cocktails. It is another long standing business that has been on The Drive for 20 years now. Havana serves breakfast 7 days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm with some great offerings including a Pulled Pork Breakfast Taco. Another thing we love about Havana Restaurant, is they are a great supporter of local arts. They have a small gallery in the back next which is situated next to a small theatre which features some great local theatre groups. It’s a great intimate space if you haven’t checked it out already. We recommend it.
Biercraft Tap & Tapas, 1191 Commercial Drive
Brunch Saturday, Sunday & Holidays 10:00 am – 3:30 pm
On the Drive since 2005, Biercraft Tap & Tapas is another long standing business on the Drive. Everyone has their own unique spin on brunch on the Drive, as does Biercraft with Bangers and Mash, and Stovreji Hash browns topped with Belgian beef stew, blue cheese crumble and two poached eggs for those with a hearty appetite, but we like the Eggs on Cornbread and for those coming with kids, they have a kids breakfast menu for $6.00.
La Mezcaleria, 1622 Commercial Drive
Brunch Wednesday to Sunday Until 3:00 pm
This is a fun lively spot at any time serving delish Mexican fare including breakfast as well as a great selection of mescal and tequila should you wish to go there. They have some creative dishes, but what we have a hankering for is the Pan Frances which is Brioche French Toast topped with bananas, dark rum, salted caramel sauce, candied pecans, strawberries and gooseberries. If that doesn’t sound like a bite of heaven, we don’t know what does.
Tangent Café, 2095 Commercial Drive
Breakfast 8:00 – 3:00 Saturday – Tuesday & 8:00 am – 2:00 pm Wednesday to Friday
Although this spot is home to great live jazz music on Thursday and Sunday evenings, they also have a good breakfast menu. If you are a meat lover, you will find several options here, but if looking for vegan options, they have that too including a Malaysian Vegan Scramble.
The Dime, 1565 Commercial Drive
This is not a spot we’ve tried, but local historian Jak King and long time resident of The Drive swears by this spot. He says “it is nothing much more than a bar with background music, TVs on most walls, heavily tattooed staff (giving great service), and good cheap food.” Seems they offer a breakfast menu during week and a brunch menu on the weekends we couldn’t locate the latter, but Jack tells us Chorizo Hash Skillett is a good way to go. “It is a good plateful of potatoes and onions and peppers, a fried egg, with enough chorizo to give it a kick, and served with a form of hollandaise that is to die for.” Kicker is all dishes on the menu are $5.95.
Prado Café, 1938 Commercial Drive
As of Monday, June 19th the purveyors of kick ass coffee, have launched a full brunch menu at their Commercial Drive location. We’ve seen some pics on social media and have to say the dishes look great. If you head one block up the street North, you can also check out their sister restaurant Spade at the corner of 3rd Avenue. They have a small breakfast menu but are open at 8:00 am daily.
While you are in this part of East Van, there is so much else to see, do and taste while on The Drive. Whether it’s coffee, gelato, pasta, art, bookstores, cheese, licorice or chocolate. If it’s cheese you are after, La Grotta Del Fromaggio is our go to spot. We recommend one of their sandwiches to go, or if you’ve built up an appetite wandering, they are delish. If you love licorice, a stop at the Licorice Parlour is a must. If you aren’t a licorice fan, they also have handmade chocolates. If you are looking for beer after a wander, Biercraft offers quite the range of Belgian beers. If it’s whiskey, then a stop at Fets Whiskey Kitchen would be in order and side note they do serve brunch as well.
For coffee, well we can’t just pick one, there are so many places offering great coffee, you can’t go wrong whether it’s Continental Cafe, Joe’s Café, Moja’s, The Drive Coffee Bar (you will find Cartem donuts here though) or any other café. If it’s a muffin and coffee you are after, JJ Bean at 6th Avenue. Their muffins are legendary. Gelato, there are a few offerings which you can’t miss if you are walking The Drive, but if are looking for pastries, our personal favourite is Fratelli Bakery which an amazing selection of sweet treats. And more recently, there are so new delish offerings including The Bench Bakehouse in the Il Mercato and Livia Sweets at Kitchener Street. If you find you’ve done a fair bit of walking on the Drive and want a light bite such as pizza, take your pick, Famoso Pizzeria, Lombardo’s, Marcello’s or a quick wander over to Via Tevere on Victoria Drive. Of course, if you wish to pick up some pasta to cook later at home (fresh or frozen), we recommend Bosa Foods just off Commercial Drive at 562 Victoria Drive. We could keep going as this area has so much to offer from Venables to 12th Avenue and a bit beyond on either side of that. If we missed your favourite brunch spot that you think should be included, drop up us a line ILiveInEastVan@gmail.com and tell us why it should be included.
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Fireweed – Art Show & Fundraiser At Bandidas Taqueria On January 20, 2017
18 Jan
No matter what your politics, we respect those that speak up for what they are passionate about. Speaking up is certainly nothing new to East Vancouver residents who are politically minded and do voice their opinions whether it be in a traditional or not so traditional way. Which brings us to an interesting event we stumbled across happening at Bandidas Taqueria on January 20th. They are hosting an event called Fireweed which is a community art show and fundraiser to raise funds for a “variety of organizations which serve people and environments most vulnerable to policy changes that are likely to result from a Trump presidency.” They have chosen a number of organizations to support including the ACLU, NAACP, Planned Parenthood, League of Conservation Voters and are open to suggestions from the community as they plan to choose 10 in total. If you come for dinner on January 20th, you can vote for which organizations you’d like to see receive funds. Bandidas Taqueria will be donating 100% of their profits from the sale of food and drinks on January 20th. They also have a line up of visual artists that will be displaying art in response to the US election. The art will stay in place for a month after the event in the event you can’t make it out on January 20th.
Outside of the art, there will be lots of great food throughout the day. Being that East Van has some politically minded folks, they are expecting a bit of a wait, so we hear that Hardbite Potato Chips has donated plenty of snacks for those waiting for a table. Plus, lets hope for no rain, as there will be sidewalk chalk so you can turn their front sidewalk into a community art piece. During the evening, there will be musicians and performing artists and 3 DJs spinning tunes. For dessert, you can expect an Earnest Ice Cream scoop counter from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. All proceeds from ice cream sales will also be donated alongside Bandidas’ profits. If you want to be a part of the event, but don’t have time to sit and eat, you are invited to grab a burrito for take-out. The event runs all day from 9:00 am to 1:00 am so lots of time to stop by and support.
We quite like the symbolism of the name of this event. Fireweed we’ve learnt is a vibrant plant and one of the first species to grow after a forest fire or environmental devastation. Its appearance is one of the first signs of regeneration and rebuilding. Bandidas Taqueria states “We want to act with our community to build hope, defend the marginalized, use our privilege to effect social change, and work towards prevention of further crises. Because we want to focus on regrowth rather than despair, we’ve dubbed the event ‘fireweed.'” If you are interested in having your art displayed or wish to support the event generally, you are invited to contact bandidastacos@gmail.com.
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Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2017 Happens January 20 – February 5
9 Jan
Dine Out Vancouver, Canada’s largest restaurant festival gets under way January 20th for its 15th season with over 280 restaurants participating. For the restaurants participating in Dine Out, they will be offering 3 prix-fixe menus, $20, $30 or $40. As in past years, there are also a number of special events as part of Dine Out. The gang at Off the Eaten Track Tours is offering a few delish tours including Sip, Savour & Shop Main Tour, Discover Railtown Culinary Tour and Discover The East Village Culinary Tour. Vancouver Foodster’s Richard Wolak will be doing two brunch crawls in East Vancouver. First up, will be the East Village Brunch Crawl on Saturday, January 28th followed by the Commercial Drive Brunch Crawl on Sunday, February 5th. If you wish to participate in any of the special events during Dine Out, we recommend purchasing tickets promptly, many sell out quickly. If you have a particular restaurant, you wish to try again make your reservation early. Many fill up quickly and reservations open Monday, January 9th (today). For a full rundown of all the participating restaurants and events, visit Dine Out Vancouver.
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Dine Out East Village Brunch Crawl Saturday, January 28th
21 Dec
Dine Out Vancouver, Canada’s largest restaurant festival gets under way January 20th and runs to February 5th. Each year the line up of delicious events gets better and better. One of many that caught our eye was Vancouver Foodster’s East Village Brunch Crawl happening Saturday, January 28th in the Hastings Sunrise area. The event will begin at The Waldorf Hotel, 1489 East Hastings Street, with registration which takes place between 9:30 am and 10:30 am. You will pick up your “passport” which is your guide to a number of restaurants in the Hastings Sunrise/Grandview Woodlands area. Some of the delish foods you will enjoy include fresh juices, smoothies, coffees, eggs benedict, pancakes, waffles, omelettes, brunch pizza, meats, seafood, hash browns, baked goods and a few more goodies. Some of the stops we hear include Nonna’s Table, Gourmet Warehouse, Italia Bakery, Platform 7 Coffee and Di Oliva Tasting Bar with more to be announced soon. Outside of your passport, we do recommend you bring your appetite. We don’t expect you will leave this event hungry. Cost for the Dine Out East Village Brunch Crawl is $52.50 and includes all food and beverage samples at each participating location. To purchase your tickets for this Brunch Crawl, visit Tickets Tonight. The event runs from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. If you’d prefer to do a brunch crawl along Commercial Drive, that one is happening on Sunday, February 5th which kicks off at Federico’s Supper Club. For more information, visit Vancouver Foodster.
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Gourmet Warehouse Cooking Class Line Up For 2017
14 Dec
The Gourmet Warehouse has another great line up of cooking classes for 2017. These classes are a great way to spend an afternoon and meet some like-minded food lovers. We recently did just that with a class led by Caren McSherry featuring holiday appetizers. Not only do you get to taste everything you make, but you leave with amazing recipes and great tips from an expert. Personally, we like the shopping after the cooking class as participants are offered a 10% discount for purchases made the day of your class. We have set out below some of the upcoming classes that caught our eye. For a full line up of all the classes Gourmet Warehouse is offering visit Cooking Classes.
PHO-Fabulous – Thursday, March 23rd 6:00 pm ($65)
You are invited to join Chef Thompson Tran to learn the essential techniques for making authentic Pho (PH-UH) broth. In this cool weather, there is nothing like an aromatic bowl of Pho to warm you up. The menu Chef Tran has lined up for this class includes:
• GOI DU-DU VA THIT HEO THOM, Green papaya and cabbage salad prawn and pork
• PHO BO DAC BIET, Authentic South Vietnamese Pho
• BANH LOT, a Chestnut Jelly in Ginger Syrup
Asian Bistro – Saturday, March 25th 11:00 am ($65) SOLD OUT
Chef Cindy Low teaches you how to make casual Asian food. Best of all, easy and fast dishes including potstickers, bao (filled steamed buns), Asian sticky chicken and a fav among many we know spicy green beans finished off with mango coconut ice cream.
• Potstickers – Class pork and vegetable dumpling, pan-friend with dipping sauce
• Asian turkey ragu bao – Asian Sloppy Joes in steamed buns
• Indodesian sticky chicken
• Szechuan spicy green beans wok fried with garlic and chili
• Steamed rice
• Mango coconut yogurt ice cream
Sunday Supper: France – Saturday April 8th 11:00 am ($69)
If you want to invite the family or friends for Sunday Supper with a French twist, Chef Cindy Low will teach you the ins and outs of putting on a casually elegant French dinner. Chef Low will teach you how to make a classic lamb stew, an easy spinach and strawberry salad, cherry clafouti and more. Menu for this upcoming class includes:
• Tartine with saute mushrooms in a creamy tarragon sauce
• Spinach salad with fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, raspberry vinaigrette
• Lamb navarin printainere – class lamb stew with spring vegetables
• Roast potatoes with rosemary and sea salt
• Cherry clafouti – baked custard with cherries
If you are interested in any of these cooking classes, be sure to register early to avoid disappointment. If you are unable to attend for any reason, refunds are not offered, but you can send someone in your place. Bon Appetit.
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Giving Local Gifts For The Foodie In Your Life
6 Dec
Here at ILiveInEastVan.com, we love food. Whether it’s making it, eating it, or some variation thereof. In the last few months alone we’ve taken a Pie Making Workshop at The Pie Shoppe, an Appetizer Cooking Class with Caren McSherry at Gourmet Warehouse and most recently a Chocolate Making Workshop at The Soap Dispensary. We have found a lot more friends and family favouring edible items as gifts whether food, spirits or accessories that compliment cooking, baking or creating delish refreshments at home. With that in mind, we have set out some gift suggestions for the foodie in your life:
We’ve recently had the pleasure of putting our hands on a copy of The East Van Foodie just released mere weeks ago. This beautiful hard cover book is the work of Brad Hill and Chris Dagenais and is part cookbook, but at the same time features great stories about many of the amazing foodie spots in East Van. You will find smoking tips from the folks at The Acorn, the recipe for Pulled Pork Pancakes from The Red Wagon Café and the recipe for Vegan Tinga Tacos from Sal Y Limon. Did you know that Fets Whiskey Kitchen has the largest whiskey collection in Canada and the world’s largest collection of Scotch Malt Whiskey? This is just one of many interesting tidbits you will find in this book. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the stunning photography that accompanies each foodie spot featured. We think this is a great gift for the foodie in your life. The book retails for $44.95 and is available at Chapters Indigo as well as long list of East Van spots including Havana Restaurant, Earnest Ice Cream, Cabrito’s Tapas, Odd Society Spirts, Bomber Brewing, Biercraft, Red Wagon Café, The Cascade Room, Pizza Farina, The Union, ChiCha Restaurant to name but a few. To see the full list of where it’s available, visit The East Van Foodie online.
Craft Beer
No way we could just skip over craft beer as a gift for the beer lover. So many great breweries to choose from each with their own unique offering, but pretty much all offer growlers, many gift packs with glasses such as our friends at Dogwood Brewing which includes a growler fill in the cost of the gift pack. If you prefer to give the gift of a brewery tour, our friends at Vancouver Brewery Tours have that covered.
Do you have someone with a sweet tooth in your life? We wouldn’t pass up an amazing box of French macarons from French Made Baking. Located in Mount Pleasant, French Made Baking has 13 to 18 flavours on hand every day which now include some holiday flavours such as peppermint dark chocolate, eggnog cream, orange gingerbread and black forest. They offer beautiful gift boxes in two sizes, one with 6 macarons for $11.00 or a box of 12 macarons for $24.00. These make a perfect hostess gift, stocking stuffer or thank you.
Whether you are looking for stocking stuffers for the cook or baker in your life, or for someone that just loves to eat food, you have lots to choose from at Gourmet Warehouse. The choices can in fact be overwhelming if you don’t know what you have in mind. If that’s you, Gourmet Warehouse has great gift baskets that they will make and send for you. Prices range from $50 – $175 and can be ordered online and delivered right to the person’s home. We have personally sent The Crates featured in the wooden boxes to rave reviews.
If you are looking for local spirits to give, we are pretty fond of Odd Society Spirits which has a great selection with their East Van Vodka, Wallflower Gin, Cassis, Bittersweet Vermouth and Oaken Wallflower Gin. During the holidays, we love to serve the cassis with prosecco, an easy cocktail when entertaining.
Do you have someone that is into the art of making cocktails? Then you may wish to pop into Sips Cocktail Emporium in Mount Pleasant. They have everything on hand for making the perfect cocktail save for the alcohol. Whether it’s tumblers, glasses, bitters, syrups, cocktail shakers, books with recipes, they have you covered. You can visit them in person at 339 East Broadway, but you can also visit them online at GoodSips.ca.
Japanese Knives
So we’ve learnt quite by accident that when it comes to quality knives in the kitchen, there is great demand and a culture around this art form. This is evidenced by the arrival of two great stores in East Van offering high quality knives. One being, KnifeWear at 4215 Main Street and Ai & Om Knives at 129 East Pender Street in Chinatown. If you are buying a gift for someone that loves to cook, either of these spots will help you find that perfect knife that will last a lifetime.
Now if you have a chocolate lover in your life, you may wish to check out Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar at 1007 Main Street. We hear they have some amazing hot chocolates with flavours such as Salted Caramel, Peppermint, Chai, Dark & Mayan Elixir. We are these would make the perfect stocking stuffer or hostess gift. We’d be happy with any one of these flavours.
So if you are looking for cool stocking stuffers, what about artisan ice cream. Yes we know ice cream melts, but thankfully Earnest Ice Cream has gift cards in $5 and $25 denominations. Something we’d love to find in our stocking. Just pop into either one of their two locations whether Fraser Street or Quebec Street. 
These are just a few suggestions, there are of course so many more. If you wish to give the gift of experience as it relates to food, we invite you to check out our recent feature ‘Giving The Gift of Experience’ which features foodie tours and much more.
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