Hawksworth Restaurant
801 West Georgia St.,
Vancouver, BC
Ph: (604) 673 - 7000 or Reserve Online
Before going to see La Cage aux Folles at the Vancouver Playhouse, I was invited to dinner at Hawksworth. Although it had been on my "must visit" list for a while, this was my first opportunity to dine here and I was looking forward to it.
We both decided on appetizers and an entree, self-righteously planning on not having dessert. Although that plan did not last much past our first look at the dessert menu.
Sage Bistro at UBC
6331 Crescent Road,Vancouver.
Ph: 604 822-0968
It has been ages, probably several years, since I had lunch at Sage Bistro. Before I chose to redeploy myself from university professor to on-line media professional, Sage Bistro was the place of choice for on-campus lunch meetings.
I was delighted to be invited to join a friend for lunch at Sage prior to attending a talk and curious to see whether the food was as good as I remembered. Luckily it was.
For starters my friend chose the salad of UBC mixed greens with white balsamic vinaigrette from their Fall menu. Our server recounted the specials for the day, among which was a tuna tartare with sweet and sour gelée with coriander and sesame oil.
Happy hour oysters? When a fellow oyster-loving friend invited us to join her for the happy hour oyster special at Cork and Fin in Gastown, how could we resist? Three of us enjoyed a brisk walk across town and arrived at the restaurant at six, still in time for happy hour (5:30 to 6:30).
I met a foodie friend for supper at Cibo before going to see the wonderful Tosca Cafe at the Vancouver Playhouse. The food was really great but the lighting was poor and unfortunately my food photos don't reflect how good the food was.
The first hint of the food quality was that the in-house baked focaccia was so perfect that we ate all four pieces of it within minutes of taking the first bite. And this was despite my resolution not to have bread because we had ordered two of the bruschetta selections and I thought that would be more than enough bread for one meal.
La Buca
4025 MacDonald Street
Vancouver
Ph: (604) 730.6988
La Buca is a little gem of a Italian restaurant in the neighborhood of Arbutus Ridge. Although I have been a fan of Andrey Durbach's food since way back when he had Etoile on Hornby Street, I somehow had not yet got to La Buca for dinner. Tasting some of the delicious hors d'oeuvres that he prepared for a Blackbird Theatre fundraiser earlier in the summer reminded me of this and so prior to seeing a show out at the Frederick Wood theatre at UBC, I made a reservation for an early dinner.
This made-in BC version of an Oyster Po'Boy is a winner. Earlier this year I joined Vancouver Foodie Tour operator, Michelle Ng on a tour of some of the gourmet street carts that have sprung up with the encouragement of the city's program to enhance curbside food offerings. One of the vendors we visited on the Vancouver Foodie Tours Tastes Curbside Kitchen Food tour was Kaboom Box.
Served out of their bright red truck located at Robson and Granville Street, their menu also includes a smoked salmon sandwich, veggie and venison burgers, fish and chips and a BC version of poutine. Poutine is a staple way of serving French fries that originated in Quebec. The fries are topped with cheese curds and usually some form of gravy. Kaboom Box make it with a gravy from local mushrooms.
Edible Canada at the Market
1596 Johnston Street,
Vancouver
Early this year, Edible Canada at the Market opened as a full-service 150 seat bistro located a few steps away from Granville Island Market and the two Granville Island stages of the Arts Club Theatre Company.
My first visit to the bistro was in August. We took my two grandchildren for lunch on the patio. The staff were just settling in and the service was a bit spotty, but the food was great and the kids loved the grilled cheese sandwich and tacos from the children's menu.
Ensemble, which opened in Vancouver a couple of months ago, was on my "must visit" list and finally, before going to see Anything Goes at Theatre under the Stars, I managed to organize a pre-show dinner visit.
Like many of my local foodie friends I had followed the ups and downs of Chef Dale Mackay's television journey to the title of Top Chef Canada, and we were all curious to see what concept he would bring to his own new establishment.
When we arrived shortly before 6 PM the place was not just bustling- it was packed and in the 75 minutes we were there, several of the tables turned over.
So Ensemble has obviously captured the attention of local diners. We soon found out why.
The tables were reasonably spaced so that although the animated conversation of happy diners was at a moderately high decibel level, we could comfortably enjoy a private conversation. We also liked the little touches such as the silver bolts that held cutlery, and the in-house bottled carbonated water.
Knowing I would not have time for my usual pre-show dinner before the opening night of Richard III at Bard on the Beach, I pre-ordered The Merchant's Antipasto picnic box from Emelle's Catering.
Emelle's Catering offers three types of picnics to patrons going to see Bard on the Beach plays. Provided the order is placed at least 48 hours in advance of the date, your boxed picnic will be waiting for you at the concession stand two hours before curtain time.
I was quite hungry by the time I picked up my picnic, a mere hour before the show was to begin, and I was very keen to see what exactly was inside.
There was three spreads, to eat with the bread sticks or the antipasto vegetables. I loved the fruit salsa of mango and pineapple and the humus.
The charcuterie plate had slices of spicy sausage, pate and cheese and well as roasted and marinated vegetables. The chocolate covered dessert was a tiramisu.
We picked Le Bistro for our pre-show meal before heading into Stanley Park to see the Theatre Under the Stars production of Bye Bye Birdie in Malkin Bowl. This was my first visit to this restaurant although it has been around for a long time.
Hawksworth Restaurant
Before going to see La Cage aux Folles at the Vancouver Playhouse, I was invited to dinner at Hawksworth. Although it had been on my "must visit" list for a while, this was my first opportunity to dine here and I was looking forward to it.
Sage Bistro at UBC
I was delighted to be invited to join a friend for lunch at Sage prior to attending a talk and curious to see whether the food was as good as I remembered. Luckily it was. 
Cork and Fin
Happy hour oysters? When a fellow oyster-loving friend invited us to join her for the happy hour oyster special at Cork and Fin in Gastown, how could we resist? Three of us enjoyed a brisk walk across town and arrived at the restaurant at six, still in time for happy hour (5:30 to 6:30).
The first hint of the food quality was that the in-house baked focaccia was so perfect that we ate all four pieces of it within minutes of taking the first bite. And this was despite my resolution not to have bread because we had ordered two of the bruschetta selections and I thought that would be more than enough bread for one meal.
La Buca
La Buca is a little gem of a Italian restaurant in the neighborhood of Arbutus Ridge. Although I have been a fan of Andrey Durbach's food since way back when he had Etoile on Hornby Street, I somehow had not yet got to La Buca for dinner. Tasting some of the delicious hors d'oeuvres that he prepared for a 
This made-in BC version of an Oyster Po'Boy is a winner. Earlier this year I joined Vancouver Foodie Tour operator, Michelle Ng on a tour of some of the gourmet street carts that have sprung up with the encouragement of the city's program to enhance curbside food offerings. One of the vendors we visited on the 
Edible Canada at the Market
My first visit to the bistro was in August. We took my two grandchildren for lunch on the patio. The staff were just settling in and the service was a bit spotty, but the food was great and the kids loved the grilled cheese sandwich and tacos from the children's menu.
Ensemble
When we arrived shortly before 6 PM the place was not just bustling- it was packed and in the 75 minutes we were there, several of the tables turned over.
Knowing I would not have time for my usual pre-show dinner before the opening night of 
I was quite hungry by the time I picked up my picnic, a mere hour before the show was to begin, and I was very keen to see what exactly was inside.
Le Bistro de Paris
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