Do you remember the Food Cart Fest from previous summers? Well, it's back Aug. 6-7 in a new incarnation, with a new name, and a whole lot more goin' on. The YVR Food Fest will include the same large line-up of food trucks, but this year, the trucks will be offering smaller, sample-sized dishes for $2.50 each, so that attendees can try a bit of everything. In addition, there will also be an all-you-can-eat tickets, which lets you eat 'til you burst, starting one hour before general admission ticket holders are allowed in. Local beers and wines will also be available, and your alcoholic beverages can travel with you (no beer garden gates). In addition, there is a speaker series, Food for Thought, featuring various chefs, nutritionists, sommeliers, brewers and writers, which will take place on Sunday, Aug. 7 at Science World.
Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver and Yew Seafood & Bar have a new executive chef. Weimer Gomez, who has been with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts for 16 years, has taken over the ovens for the busy hotel and restaurant. Gomez has run kitchens in Bogota, Miami, Paris and Shanghai, and is a newcomer to Vancouver.
Chef Felix Zhouis getting closer to opening his first solo foray, Heritage Asian Eatery. The counter-service restaurant will offer sit-down and take-out options of Zhou’s casual takes on classic Asian flavours and dishes using local and sustainable ingredients. Opening set for the coming weeks.
In sadder news, two restaurant closings mean less tasty choices for diners as of this week. Secret Location in Gastown has announced that they have closed their tasting room and will be expanding the retail portion of the business instead. Also, Hamilton Street Grill, which has offered up excellent steaks (and some really fantastic fried chicken) for almost 20 years, has been sold by owner/chef EC Neil Wyles. The space will be taken over by a new concept that has yet to be announced.
On Aug. 10, White Spot’s seventh annual Pirate Pak Day is back, offering adults a chance to order a childhood favourite and give back at the same time. For every Pirate Pak sold on Aug. 10, White Spot will donate $2 to Zajac Ranch for Children, an established B.C. charity that provides a once-in-a-lifetime summer camp experience to kids and young adults with life-threatening illnesses and chronic disabilities.
Bauhaus has launched a new chef’s tasting menu for summer. The five- or six-course menu ($85/$95) includes sturgeon, cod, skate wing, squab breast, pork cheek and dessert.
For the full month of August, Provence Marinaside is holding their seventh annual Tomato Festival, celebrating heirloom, local tomatoes at the peak of the season. The three-course menu ($55, optional wine pairings $22) offers several choices for each course, including heirloom tomato gazpacho, tomato and nectarine salad, tomato tarte, seared bavette steak with smoky tomato, tomato risotto with grilled prawns, grilled halibut with tomato puttanesca vinaigrette, and your choice of dessert.
On Aug. 5, Fanny Bay Oyster Bar will celebrate World Oyster Day with oyster specials such as bacon-wrapped oysters for $12 and oyster fritters for $9. The regular happy hour menu, which includes buck-a-shuck oysters and half-priced pan-fried oysters, will also be available as usual between 3pm and 6pm. Ten per cent of all oyster sales on the day will be donated to Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program.
