April 2017 - West Coast Food

Festivals & Events April 28, 2017

Celebrate BC Cider Week April 29 – May 7, 2017

Not a beer fan and feel like you miss out on all the festival fun this summer? We get you. Or at least the organizers of the third annual BC Cider Week do. If you love the crisp, fresh tang of an icy cold cider one on a spring day, then this fest is just for you. The best place to view events and updates is the festival’s Facebook page, but one event we’ve bookmarked is Surrey’s Central City Brewers and Distillers tap-takeover at their Beatty Street location. Wednesday, May 3rd, the brewpub will be serving 12 different BC ciders on tap, including their own seasonal Hopping Mad Mosaic Hop Apple Cider. This particular cider is dry-hopped, using the tropical flavoured, mosaic hop that provides notes of mango and citrus. Admission is free. Drink tickets extra. Here’s to cider and spring sipping!

Vietnamese April 24, 2017

Banh Mi Bar: Your Must-Try Vietnamese Sandwich Stop in New Westminster

By Anna Black Tucked just a few blocks from the New Westminster Skytrain station, you’ll find a cozy little Vietnamese eatery on Carnarvon Street called Banh Mi Bar. Now in its second year of operation, the restaurant has become a popular choice with locals because of their affordably priced and freshly made traditional Vietnamese baguette subs and friendly customer service. Owners Lily and Tung have been described on Yelp Canada as an “absolutely lovely pair of people” that are “nice and friendly” and always “deliver with a smile”. The restaurant has received numerous five star reviews and as a result was recently named one of the site’s Top 100 Restaurants for 2017. The menu, although simple, offers a delicious choice for every sub lover complete with delicately flavored grilled meats, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and just a splash of sriracha, all served on crisp freshly toasted baguette. One of Banh Mi Bar’s…

Festivals & Events April 20, 2017

A New Rustic Food and Beer Festival in Langley begins May 2017

By Catherine Dunwoody If you have ever spent time in BC’s charming Fort Langley then you know that hosting an annual food and beer festival just seems like a natural fit. Be sure and mark your calendars for May 20tt, 2017! Fort Langley’s old-timey streets are a mix of pleasant restaurants, quaint shops and there is a cozy neighbourhood feel that’s hard to capture unless it just comes about organically. The Fort Langley Beer & Food Festival is the dreamchild of Fort Langley’s own Trading Post Brewing Company, and the aptly put slogan, “tap into the local” says it all. This first-time festival will feature fabulous local food and craft beer from the Vancouver area and the Fraser Valley, plus live music and more. At the Fort Langley National Historic Site, fest-goers will have an opportunity to learn about the lives of the First Nations communities, international fur traders, gold…

Festivals & Events April 18, 2017

May 2017 marks 11 Years of Vancouver’s BC Spot Prawn Festival

By Joyce Chua of Vancouver Foodie Tours This Year’s BC Spot Prawn Festival is coming up on May 13th, and it’s your chance to try these little local sea creatures that are coveted around the world for their delicate flavour, plump nature, and eye-catching “spotted” markings. 2017 marks the 11th annual Spot Prawn Festival, which will include a spot prawn gala, spot prawn cooking classes and the famous spot prawn boil. Festival founder, seafood entrepreneur and Ocean Wise advocate, Chef Rob Clark, reflects on over a decade that’s gone by. How it began: Starting the Spot Prawn Festival When Chef Robert Clark started the Spot Prawn Festival, he was the chef at C Restaurant – a fine dining establishment that until it’s closure in 2014, was known for its impressive seafood menu. The search for sustainable seafood and spot prawns sprouted out of necessity, as Chef Robert wanted to serve…

Sweets April 13, 2017

Chocolatey Easter Treats on the West Coast

by Catherine Dunwoody No excuses – our west coast palette is refined, so waxy chocolate bunnies, rock-hard jellybeans and Peeps (what are those even made of anyway?) are just plain unacceptable. We can do better. And we do! Here, three of BC’s best chocolate makers show us what’s new for Easter 2017. Wild Sweets By Dominique and Cindy Duby in Richmond have new chocolate art collections with made in-house designs and from origin cocoa bean-to-bar chocolate. Sophisticated flavours include cassis caramels, pistachio praline and cherry caramel ganache, and a liquid strawberry caramel with dulce de leche. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Shop at their online boutique or at Wild Sweets’ own retail store The Atelier Chocolate Lab Gallery in Richmond, BC. Purdys Chocolatier is about as old-school and iconic as you get. Founded in 1907 in Vancouver, they have a long history of providing the West Coast with melt-in-your-mouth…

Recipes April 12, 2017

Recipe: Asiago Lemon Thyme Scones

By Thomas Haas, Thomas Haas Chocolates & Pâtisserie Yields 8 servings INGREDIENTS All-purpose unbleached flour (5 ½ cups) Granulated sugar (¼ cup) Baking powder (¼ cup) Salt (1 tsp) Butter (1 cup) Heavy cream (2 ¼ cups) Fresh thyme (¼ cup) Lemon zest (1 ½ tsp) Asiago cheese 1 cm diced (1 ½ cups) METHOD 1. Cut cold butter into cubes and chill in freezer 15 minutes. 2. In a large bowl, combine flour, parsley, sugar, thyme, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. 3. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 4. Add cream and filling at the same time and continue mixing just until dough forms. 5. Stir in cream and cheese just until moistened. 6. On floured surface, gently knead dough 8-10 times. 7. Place on cookie sheet. Roll or pat dough into a 6″ round. 8. Cut 8 wedges; separate slightly.…

Shops & Markets April 11, 2017

Local, Fresh, and Here May-June: B.C. Asparagus

By Anna Black If you’ve been keen to get your hands on a nice crisp bundle of local-grown savoury asparagus your wait is almost over. Considered one of the delicacies of the vegetable world, asparagus will make its debut back onto the shelves of grocers, and menus of local eateries starting in May. The supply of fresh asparagus won’t last long though so catch it while you can! The normal growing season is very short in the Vancouver area, lasting only until the end of June. A great source of vitamins A and C, potassium, iron and calcium, asparagus is available in over twenty varieties grouped by color: green (the most common), white, and violet. Regardless of color, all varieties taste delicious no matter how they are prepared. When selecting your asparagus, look for bundles where the tips are tightly furled and perky rather than limp. The shoots should also…

Cafés April 7, 2017

Hey Coffee Snobs! Sip a $40 Brew and Stay Late at Faebrew in Richmond

By Winnie Tam Attention coffee and dessert lovers! There’s a unique game in town that promises to change your perceptions of what a coffee shop is like. Faebrew opened in Richmond in August 2016. The first thing you’ll notice about Faebrew that’s different from other coffee shops is that there’s no menu. That’s because owner Vincent Wong says Faebrew exists to make customers happy, so he’s ready to make whatever they are in the mood for drinking, however weird or outlandish it may be. To illustrate, he’s made coffees that are fruity, coffees that are highly acidic, ones that represent depression…even one with a raw egg in it. And if you don’t like what’s presented to you, you don’t get charged for it, even though Vincent says he’s yet to encounter an unhappy customer. The name Faebrew comes from faeries, and the idea that each coffee served is magical and…

Farms April 3, 2017

The Many Shades of West Coast Canadian Honey

By Jennifer Foden Have you ever passed by the honey stand at the farmers’ market and wondered why there are so many different colours of the sweet stuff? “Bees make honey by collecting nectar from flowers,” says Karin Giesbrecht of Lulu Island Honey, a family-owned beekeeping company from Richmond. “Different nectar sources mean different flavours, colours and aromas.” Crystallization also affects the colour (crystals cause honey to appear lighter), as well as the temperature outside (understandably, as there are different flowers in bloom in each climate and season.) The USDA classifies honey into seven colour categories: water white, extra white, white, extra light amber, light amber, amber and dark amber. Typically, honey that’s lighter in colour is milder in smell and taste; darker honey is stronger. Because there are so many different types of flowers all over the world that bees can collect nectar from, there are hundreds of varieties…