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.
Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2017 Happens January 20 – February 5
9 Jan
And Bella Sang With Us January 4-14, 2017 At The Firehall Arts Centre
27 Dec
The Firehall Arts Centre has recently added the works of two female playwrights to their 2016-2017 season. One of which is And Bella Sang With Us opening in the New Year. This show was “Pick Of The Fringe” at the 2016 Vancouver Fringe Festival and is written by written by Vancouver’s Sally Stubbs. The story is set in 1912 in the Downtown Eastside and features Constable Lurancy Harris and Minnie Miller, Vancouver’s first female police officers. In this play, they will show you how they dealt with the ‘female morality issue’. This subject matter, of course, leads them into a host of other issues including societal and family pressures as well as political corruption not to mention trying to deal with ‘The Lord of the Bawdy Houses’. The cast features a great line up of local talent including Leanna Brodie, Sarah Louise Turner, Simon Webb, Beatrice Zeilinger, Agnes Tong, and Patrick Courtin. Opening night is January 4, 2017 and the show runs to January 14th with several matinees featured. Tickets are $24 and available online at Firehall Arts Centre.
Photo Credit: Emily Cooper
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Giving Locally: Vancouver BC SPCA Wish List 2016
19 Dec
We at ILiveInEastVan.com are big supporters of all the great work the staff and volunteers do at the Vancouver SPCA. The SPCA is a non-profit organization that helps nearly 37,000 injured, abused and homeless animals each year and relies on generous donations from supporters. We provide our support wherever we can. If you follow us, you know we regularly feature many of the pets waiting for adoption. Today, we would like to tell you about a different way you can support the Vancouver SPCA. That is by contributing some much needed items from their Wish List. Maybe you have some extra items at home that they could use, or maybe you would like to purchase a few items from their Wish List for them this Christmas. Which ever way you choose to support them, these items go a long way to helping them do the great work they do. If you do purchase new items to be donated, keep your receipt and drop it off with some identification and you are eligible for a tax receipt for income tax purposes. We have set out below a short list of some of the most wanted items that would help them immensely, we invite you to take a peek:
Animal Care
- Gently Used Bedding, Towels & Blankets
- Clumping litter for cats
- Fancy Feast or Tiki cat tuna for adult cats & senior cats
- Treats for cats: They love Temptations
- Smart toys and kongs of any kind
- Leashes/collars
- Bully sticks and hard chew toys for dogs (big need, few donations)
- Training treats for dogs
- Small animal toys for -chinchillas, guinea pigs, rabbits, rats & gerbils
- Craisins, Cheerios, Shreddies
- Romaine lettuce, bok choy, carrots, cilantro & parsley for the rabbits
Cleaning – Office
- Eco friendly cleaning products
- Paper Towels
- Dishwashing soap
- Photocopy paper
Donations can be dropped off at the Vancouver Shelter at 1205 East 7th Avenue (at the corner of East 6th Avenue & Keith Drive). For those taking transit, the Vancouver SPCA Shelter is located across the street from the VCC-Clark Skytrain Station. The shelter is open Monday to Friday 10:30 am – 5:00 pm and Saturday & Sunday from Noon – 4:00 pm and items can be dropped anytime during those times. If you have any questions, you can phone or email the Vancouver shelter directly at T: 604-879-7721 or vancouver@spca.bc.ca. For those that are cat lovers, VOKRA- Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association is another great East Vancouver based non-profit that seeks your assistance. Visit their Wish List available online for more information. We thank you in advance for helping support the great work these folks do speaking for all those that cannot speak for themselves
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Tugboat Landing Artisan Market Saturday December 17th
15 Dec
For those not familiar with Tugboat Landing, this is a great little community along the Fraser River in SE Vancouver located just below SE Marine Drive. Many of you may have heard the news about the new River District development, well under way just to the East. Whereas, Tugboat Landing has been a bit of a secret. Many people don’t know about the area, and as one of its many residents, I haven’t minded it all that much. The community comes, in part, from the geographical layout of the area, as we are a bit cut off from the rest of the City. Add to that, what keeps us below Marine Drive, are the river walkways on which you can catch daily glimpses of eagles soaring over the Fraser River, hummingbirds flitting about the bushes, the ever present herons and beavers on the edge of the river banks. Tugboat Landing is situated next to Gladstone Park, which has walking trails that continue into Burnaby and beyond. The river views, nature and wildlife, along with the central location, are the reason many people move, but once here, most don’t leave.
This weekend, you are invited to come down and experience some of the community that is Tugboat Landing. They are hosting a smaller, intimate, artisan market on Saturday, December 17th from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm at 2010 East Kent Avenue (foot of Victoria Drive). There will be a number of local residents participating including, Jill Bartlett of Cord & Stone, who makes beautiful jewellery crocheted from reclaimed Argentium sterling silver wire, and Deborah Wilkins, with exquisite infused glass pieces. They’ve invited a number of other local makers to join them in offering some opportunities for gift giving this holiday season including, The Uncommon Good with beautiful wooden Christmas ornaments made from salvaged wood, DiG Leather with handmade leather goods, Pep Soap, with beautiful gift sets, North Bay Candle Co. with great scents like Big Sexy, LuLu Island Honey and Non La Designs with stunning shawls and cowls. Organizers will also be hosting a raffle with a gift basket that includes a number of great offerings donated to raise funds for two charities near and dear to this pet loving community 1) Vancouver BC SPCA and 2) SAINTS Rescue, an end of life sanctuary for senior and special needs animals. Some of the gracious donations include the new book ‘East Van Foodie’, driftwood coasters made by artisans in Victoria, coffee by The Drive Coffee Bar, a beautiful cowl by Non La Designs, some jewellery by Cord & Stone, and delish macarons by East Van Sweets. There will be hot coffee brewing, sweet treats and a fireplace roaring to keep those brave enough to face the cooler temperatures, warm and toasty. The coffee and treats are available by donation with all proceeds going to the two sponsored charities.
Hope to see you down by the river this Saturday. It’s a great place to walk and take in the river views. If you get hungry, we invite you check out Romer’s Burger Bar within walking distance or a short drive. Or if you are thirsty, stop in at our local brewery, Dogwood Brewing offering BC’s only organic beer. So many reasons to come down to the river.
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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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Fire & Feast – Beer & BBQ At Dogwood Brewing December 10th
1 Dec
You are invited to a special event by our friends at Dogwood Brewing which in case you don’t know are the City’s only organic brewer. They will be hosting a delish night of beer & BBQ with Fire & Feast on Saturday, December 10th. The event will feature an indoor fire pit where you can get cozy with your friends or make some new friends and nosh on delish BBQ while enjoying some locally made beverages. The BBQ will be catered by Memphis Blues BBQ House with the option of BBQ chicken, ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork or double-smoked farmer sausage. We hear veggie options will be available. For refreshments, they will have a limited release of a S’more Stout befitting the occasion as well as mulled wine and cider. Tickets for this event are a very reasonable $28 which includes your meal and two drink tickets. Advance tickets are available through Eventbrite.
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Shiny Fuzzy Muddy Returns To The Heritage Hall December 10 & 11
29 Nov
Shiny Fuzzy Muddy is back at the beautiful historic Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, December 10th and 11th. This collaborative event is brought to you by 4 core members and local makers, Janna Hurtzig, Kari Woo, Arleigh Wood and Frances Dickinson pictured to the left. They formed a non-profit collective to create events that bring art to people. Shiny Fuzzy Muddy brings together more than 30 local artists to meet and share their craftsmanship in an environment that opposes the large mass produced products. They hand pick the artists that join them each year so you can expect some returning favourites as well as some new guest artists that will be exhibiting their work. This year you will again find jewellery, ceramics, fine art, clothing, textiles from local artists including Toodlebunny, Arleigh Wood, Julie MacKinnon Ceramics, Westerly Shoes, LUprints, Daub & Design, Adhesif Clothing Company and kari woo contemporary art jewellery, Winterluxe and LUprints. Some of the new designers participating this year include Haejin Lee Ceramics, Vanessa Lam with A Drop of Wonder Studio who does photography with mixed media painting and Claudia Schulz who designs hats as pictured below. Shiny Fuzzy Muddy runs Saturday, December 10th from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm and Sunday, December 11th from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. Admission is $3.00 and these funds will go to an Emerging Artists Scholarship. Each year, Shiny Fuzzy Muddy identifies an Emerging Artist and supports their new business endeavors with a grant to participate in the event. In 2016, the Shiny Fuzzy Muddy Emerging Artist Grant was awarded to a personal favourite East Van artist, Stephanie Symns, of ANTIPOD Workshop. Symns is a textile designer who uses the digital realm as well as much more hands-on process-based work like weaving, dyeing or hand-printing. We know Stephanie is now set up in a new studio space off Clark Drive and participated in her first Eastside Culture Crawl the other week. So these grants go a long way to promoting art in our community. To learn more about the other artists participating this year, we invite you to visit Shiny Fuzzy Muddy.
If you are planning to attend Shiny Fuzzy Muddy, you may wish to check out the contest being offered by the Georgia Straight. It is a chance to win $200 to spend at Shiny Fuzzy Muddy. Note no cash value, but $200 in amazing works by the artisans on site during the event. Contest closes December 8th.
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Delish Holiday Classes At The Uncommon Café This December
22 Nov
The Uncommon Café, 477 Powell Street, is hosting some delicious classes which will help you with your holiday entertaining and/or gift giving. Valentine Kitamura owner of Tartine Maple will be leading classes this December perfect for holiday entertaining . You can learn to make Eggnog Cream Puffs and Orange Cranberry Almond Shortbread just to name two of the goodies. These sounds so good, you may not want to gave them away as a gift, but stash away for yourself. We’ve set out below two of the upcoming classes and what they will cover.
Eclairs and Cream Puff Holiday Special – Saturday, December 10th 6-9 pm
Valentine will teach you the basics of Choux pastry and how to decorate them with cheer while, of course, sipping on Champagne. The fillings she will teach you will be sweet and savoury and include Candy Cane Eclairs, Eggnog Cream Puffs, Savory Gougeres (Cheese Puffs). You are asked to bring containers so you can take some of creations home, that is if you don’t eat them all. This class is $65 and runs from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. To register, visit Eventbrite. Register early and save $10.
Ultimate Holiday Baking Class With Champagne Wednesday, December 21st 6-9 pm
In this holiday baking class, Valentine is going to teach you how to make some amazing holiday treats which make great gifts. In this class you will learn to make Peppermint Meringue, Chocolate Truffles, Orange Cranberry Almond Shortbread and Coconut Macaroons dipped in chocolate. They all just happen to be gluten free. During the class, you will be served champagne and canapes. Now this is how one prepares for the holidays. Again, bring those containers so you can take your creations home. This class is $65 and runs from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. To register, visit Eventbrite. Register early and save $10.
No baking experience? No worries, the recipes are easy, Valentine will walk you through it and make it fun.
Bon appetit!
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CREEPS Comes To The Cultch November 30 – December 10, 2016
21 Nov
The play CREEPS premiered in 1971. At that time, it was David E. Freeman’s first play for which he won the Chalmers Award for Outstanding Play Award, the New York Drama Award for Outstanding New Playright in 1973 and one of the six Edinburgh “Fringe” Festival Awards in 1979. This is a unique and sometimes dark comedy that features a mix of abilities and as it is set in the 1970s the language from that time will raise some interesting questions. Three cast members have disabilities and the other 4 cast members are from the professional theatre community. The play features men that work in a workshop doing rather mundane work. They become tired of the way they are treated and end up barricading themselves in a washroom. You are invited to join the cast for an evening of savage wit and uncompromising truth-telling. The play previews November 30th with Opening Night taking place on December 1st. The show runs to December 10th and its run happens to fall on International Day of Disability on December 3rd on which day a 2 for 1 special ticket price is being offered followed by a post-show reception. Tickets start from $18 and are available online from The Cultch.
Photo Credit: Tim Matheson
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New In Town – Lullaby Stork Brings Memorable Gift For Your New Arrival
14 Nov
We love finding the unique, different and creative things people are doing in and around East Vancouver. This brings us to our latest find. We’d like to introduce you to a new business brought to you by the one and only Deanna Knight. Some of you may know her as the gypsy-jazz chanteuse of the Hot Club of Mars for the last 15 years. They have been a regular staple in various live music venues on Commercial Drive. In her newest incarnation, Deanna has created a wonderful new service for new parents called Lullaby Stork. It is a musical messenger service in which Deanna arrives as Lullaby Stork in full costume and delivers a blessing in song and poetry to new parents. Your gift also comes with a Wee Blessing Bundle delivered to the new parents which contains an assortment of Canadian eco crafted gift items. Some of the items include cookies by Cookiella, Chewelery by Stardust Generation, coconut oil soap by Kootenay Soap Co., bamboo wash cloths, bibs and blankets. The base price for the Lullaby Stork to appear is $150, a little more than the Tooth Fairy, but what an amazing memory and experience for those new tired parents just finding their way with their bundle(s) of joy. To order your Lullaby Stork, you can contact Deanna directly at 604.362.1280.
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