Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
1188 Mainland Street,
Vancouver, BC
Ph: 604-689-8318 or Reserve online
Last summer we dropped into Goldfish Pacific Kitchen for an early dinner in their courtyard patio. Our waiter introduced us to their experimental Chef's table dinner concept and we were intrigued enough at the time to try it out.
The idea was that rather than ordering from the regular menu, we would chat with the chef to inform him of any food allergies or violent antipathies to any foods, and then he would prepare a special surprise menu from whatever was freshly available. Chef Ryan Mah was cooking that evening and he prepared a memorable 5 course tasting menu which looked as beautiful as it tasted and garnered Goldfish Pacific Kitchen a rave review from me.
Federico's Supper Club
1728 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver
Ph: 604-251-3473 or Reserve Online
I have been on the hunt for places to "dine and dance" in Vancouver but this seems to be a rare entity these days. Federico's Supper Club is one of those few places that has a dance floor, albeit not large.
The evening when a group of us decided to check out this restaurant turned out to be the second special event night that featured Executive Chef Romy Prasad giving a cooking demonstration of a 5 course, wine-paired "Taste of Italy" menu.
On inquiry, we learned that startinging promptly at 6 pm, Chef Prasad would show us how to cook each course, then the dish would be served together with a 3 oz pouring of a matched wine. Joe Borean, the maitre d' and sommelier would describe the characteristics of the wine. The cooking demonstration and dining was scheduled to be completed by around 9 pm and would be followed by music for dancing, featuring Federico. All very cool!
Fishworks
91 Lonsdale Avenue,
North Vancouver
Ph: (778) 340-3449
Having enjoyed the experience of traveling by Canada Line and Seabus over to Lonsdale Quay to dine at Lolo on 2nd Avenue, I decided to repeat the adventure on the evening we were going to see Plan B at Presentation House on Chesterfield and W. 3rd Street in North Vancouver.
So we made a reservation for an early dinner at Fishworks, a restaurant that opened in November last year in a heritage building on Lonsdale. When we got there around 5:45 it was still almost empty but by the time we left many of the tables were full.
LoLo North Vancouver
100 East 2nd Street,
North Vancouver, BC.
Ph: (778) 340-6655
It has been a long time since I visited the area around Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, and I had heard there were some excellent new restaurants in that area.
I was meeting a friend from West Vancouver for a long over-due, catch-up-on-our-news supper, and we decided to try LoLo Wine bar and Restaurant. LoLo stands for Lower Lonsdale, and when I checked the location on the map I realized it was only a couple of blocks up from the Seabus terminal.
I think the last time I took the Seabus was probably over 30 years ago when I lived on the North Shore. The present catamaran passenger ferries were introduced around 1977 and at that time we took our kids on a ride for an adventure.
This time I thought I would do the whole trip from Yaletown to the restaurant and back using public transit just to compare times with my usual system of driving across to theatre and dances on the North Shore.
Over the remaining five days of our jam-packed visit to the Okanagan we were able to get to almost everything on our list of to-dos except one. And it wasn't wine tasting!
With the Spring Wine Festival in full swing, obviously wine tasting and fine food were top priorities. Although, as my regular readers might point out with some justification, when has "Sipping and Supping" not been a top priority in my life?
But as well I was eager to find out about the cultural and dance scene in and around Kelowna - and then, as we planned to be utterly exhausted from our intense labours, what better excuse could we have for relaxing and being pampered at a Spa?
Alas, although our research indicated a number of local spas that looked enticing, pampering was the one activity for which we just could not find time. So no Spas for us. Oh, the tough life of travelblogue writers!
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson
Directed by Bill Millerd
Choreographer Valerie Easton
Musical Director Sasha Niechoda
Vancouver, BC: When your entire audience is on their feet ready to break loose for a rock and roll party you know you have yet another hit on your hands. Bill Millerd and the Arts Club gang must be rockin' and rollin' themselves because that's what happened last night at the opening night of Buddy at the Stanley Theatre.
This Vancouver production of Buddy - a musical that enjoyed a 13 year run after its original 1989 opening in London's West end and has delighted audiences round the world, rocked the joint to the rafters and is a must see for anyone who loves to rock and roll.
Buddy is set in the US, between January 1956, when Buddy Holly was a young singer trying to find his own musical voice in the dominant country music scene, and February 1959 when he died at 22 in a plane crash. The show charts his meteoric rise to the top of the billboards with the release of 3 original albums in that short span of time.
Dangerous Corner by J.B. Priestley
Directed by Bill Dow
Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company
Vancouver Playhouse
May 1- 22, 2010
Vancouver, BC: Talking with a friend after seeing Dangerous Corner I realized just how quickly time can obscure fame. While we both liked the production, my friend admitted, much to her chagrin, that she did not realize we were going to see a play by the British writer J.B.Priestly. Rather, she thought the play was starring Canadian actor Jason Priestley.
Plan B by Michael Healey
Directed by Bill Devine
Sea Theatre
Presentation House
May 14-29, 2010
Vancouver, BC: I seem to remember that consistently in public opinion polls on prestige or trustworthiness of various occupations, regardless of poll location, politicians score near the bottom. So it was not surprising that a collective chuckle of acknowledgement rippled through the audience at the idea that everyone feels that they are being "f-cked" over by government.
Canadian playwright Healey sets his political farce in a time when Quebec has voted 53% to separate from the rest of Canada. Anglophone federal politicians, Colin (Howard Siegel) and Michael (Adam Henderson), meet with Francophones, Quebec Premier, Mathieu (Jacques Lalonde) and Intergovernmental Affairs minister, Lise Frechette (France Perras) in a hotel in Hull, ostensibly to hammer out the terms on which Quebec's separation will occur.
Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
Federico's Supper Club
Fishworks
So we made a reservation for an early dinner at Fishworks, a restaurant that opened in November last year in a heritage building on Lonsdale. When we got there around 5:45 it was still almost empty but by the time we left many of the tables were full.
LoLo North Vancouver
Over the remaining five days of our jam-packed visit to the Okanagan we were able to get to almost everything on our list of to-dos except one. And it wasn't wine tasting!
With the Spring Wine Festival in full swing, obviously wine tasting and fine food were top priorities. Although, as my regular readers might point out with some justification, when has "Sipping and Supping" not been a top priority in my life?
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson
Guest reviewer Amanda Lockitch
Plan B by Michael Healey
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