Bartending Competition and a Taste of Yaletown

October 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I had a preview of what Taste of Yaletown has to offer this year and it did not disappoint.

Taste of Yaletown
Photo Credit: Yaletown Facebook Page

The night started off with appetizer served at Section (3). When the last piece of Baked Brie was gone we headed to 100 Days, Yaletown’s newest pop-up restaurant. We sampled their Halibut and Smoked Salmon Hash and BBQ Duck Tacos for our entrée. I did not think I had room for more but Hurricane Grill’s Pumpkin Mousse with Ginger Bread Cookie was too good to resist. Hurricane Grill’s menu was a nice surprise and I must say I will definitely be coming back to this restaurant.

After dinner everyone congregated at Mini Yaletown to watch the bartending competition. Glowbal Grill, Brix, Capones, and r.TL’s crafty masters prepared drinks using Bombay Sapphire and tied it in to a movie which featured a Mini Cooper. At the end of the night Nicola Roland from r.TL was declared the winner with her Bombay Sapphire fruit purée mix topped with flambéd beet.

The night also held a big announcement from the Yaletown BIA – they are offering $10,000 worth of taxi vouchers to Taste of Yaletown diners. With the tightening of drinking and driving laws in Vancouver, it will give diners who want to enjoy themselves during Taste of Yaletown one less thing to worry about.

Taste of Yaletown begins today, October 13 and will run until October 31, 2010. For a list of participating restaurants and their menus visit the YBIA website.

Personally, I would love to check out Brix and r.TL because I’ve never eaten there… and Hapa Izakaya just because I love their food. Note: both the $25 and $35 menu sound delicious!

Filed Under: Events, Food, Vancouver, Yaletown Tagged With: ,

Outdoor Movie Night in Yaletown

August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Drive-in movies may be few and far between now, but people looking to relive the experience have been lucky as this has definitely been the summer of outdoor movies! In June and July there have been screenings along Granville Street and Ceperley Park among others.

Last Sunday, the Outdoor Movie Night in Yaletown set up in David Lam Park for the 3rd straight year. The movie was Back to the Future and it was nice being able to watch it again, especially as we are celebrating the movie’s 25th anniversary!

It’s an epic movie that captured people’s hearts at 88 miles per hour and made Michael J. Fox and DeLoreans a household name.

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Popcorn

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Looking forward to next year’s Outdoor Movie Night in Yaletown!

Filed Under: Events, Vancouver, Yaletown Tagged With: , ,

Vancouver Events this Weekend

August 13, 2010 By 1 Comment

This coming weekend in August is shaping up to be very very busy indeed!

Chinatown

Date: August 14-15, 2010
Time: Varies
Place: 500 block Columbia Street, 100 block Keefer Street

This is your chance to meet Muse the Panda, the first ever Chinatown mascot in the world at the Vancouver Chinatown Street Festival. Muse is a cute panda with a calligraphy brush slung over his back touted to represent good luck and good fortune.

Commercial Drive

Date: August 15, 2010
Time: 11:00am – 7:00pm
Place: Trout Lake

Get ready to salsa down Trout Lake Park for the Latin Summer Fest! The morning opens with an import market and food pavilions surrounding an outdoor stage where artists from Flamenco to Cuban Rueda delight on stage.

Gastown

Date: August 15, 2010
Time: 11:00am – 5:00pm
Place: Water Street

Water Street will be turned into a motorcycle-lovers heaven with the 6th annual Gastown Motorcycle Show n’ Shine. There will be superbikes, scooters, mopeds and more with custom and vintage set ups. Particularly excited about the vintage bikes.

What’s also pretty cool is you can (or your 6-12year olds actually) can learn off-road riding when you visit the Yamaha Riding Academy.

Yaletown

Date: August 15, 2010
Time: 9:00pm – end
Place: David Lam Park

The 3rd annual Outdoor Movie Night in Yaletown was re-scheduled to August 15. Originally the event was supposed to be on August 8 but it got cancelled due to the rain. This Sunday, bring your lawn chair, blanket and flashlight and enjoy watching the original Back to the Future movie. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a Delorean on site?

Filed Under: Events, Vancouver Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Food Trip: Section (3)

July 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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Located at the end of Mainland Street, Section (3) is a good place to go if you’re looking for someplace casual in Yaletown.

I don’t care much for their dark interiors and booth seating inside (it feels like a dive bar) so I usually try and get a table on their patio.

You have to appreciate Section (3) for its unique drink list with creative names and food that is surprisingly good. However, it may be a bit of hit and miss with this restaurant. An example: I had their yam fries on two separate occasions; first time it was dry and bland, and on my next it was almost dripping in oil. And yam fries can’t be all that hard to cook.

For drinks, their Sangrias are a good choice for summer. A lot of their drinks taste watered down though, so it would be best to order a double.

Over-all still good value for your money.

Tuesdays has $2.50 pints, lunch time can get you $10 quickies ($10 or less for lunch menu items) and every week they have Fresh Sheets which promises to be as local and affordable as possible.

FUN FACT: The neon-lit NERD sign above the bar was meant to be De Nero, their original name. But according to a provision under Section 3 the restaurant was in violation for using that name and thus had to change it.

Filed Under: Food, Vancouver, Yaletown Tagged With: , , ,

Canada Day 2010

July 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

True North, strong and free: Yes we know Canada’s the 4th best country in the world to live in, but more than statistics and numbers, I think Canada is great because it allows you to keep your identity. It does not ask you to assimilate but rather celebrate.

And with that… I made my way down to Yaletown to experience my first ever Happy Canada Day ?? ?party! I moved to Vancouver last year and summer was well underway when I got here. Too bad the sun decided to hide behind the clouds today.

Managing to snag VIP passes to the Yaletown Grand Prix, it was definitely a good decision to celebrate there. I got a good view of the race seated comfortably under a tent with red wine in hand. It was a good size crowd watching the race, not the mob I was expecting but definitely enough to fill the restaurant’s patios.

After folks of the Yaletown Grand Prix declared Svein Tuft and Rachel McBride winners I crossed over to Hamilton Street and enjoyed some burgers and live music.

Here is a short clip of the Yaletown Grand Prix that happened earlier today:

Filed Under: Events, Vancouver Tagged With: , ,
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