This entirely edible snowman should be proof enough of why the December issue of Dessert Professionals named Vancouvers Beta5 as one of North Americas top 10 chocolatiers. Hes made of chocolate, filled with chocolate treats, and is painted with edible coloured cocoa butter. Even his hat, arms, scarf, pipe and nose are delicious. Being the only Canadian chocolatier to top the list is the icing on the proverbial (chocolate) cake for Beta5, which was also awarded a silver in the world finals of the International Chocolate Awards for its imperial stout chocolate. You can drop by the workshop at 413 Industrial to browse the selection of holiday treats. (The snowman is $85.)
On the Plate reviewer Andrew Morrison is one of the contributors to Eat Canada, Canadas first restaurant app designed for the business traveller. It has recommendations for more than 200 restaurants in 11 Canadian cities. Go to ForceGrind.com/eatcanada/ for details.
Wholefoods is hosting a Taste of the Holidays on Friday night from 5 to 8pm at its Cambie and 8th location. For $10, you can sample top foods prepared by some of your favourite suppliers, with proceeds going to the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House.
Who thinks about calories at Christmas? Luckys Doughnuts has come up with four inaugural limited-edition holiday doughnuts that are perfect as host/hostess gifts or for nibbling while watching Charlie Browns Christmas. Theres marzipan-filled spiced yeast bismarck (their version of stollen), cranberry rosemary cake doughnut with vanilla buttercream, coconut snowball filled with eggnog pastry cream, chocolate snowball filled with eggnog pastry cream, and chocolate old-fashioned with mint ganache and white chocolate shavings. Theyre available during the holidays at 49th Parallel coffee (2902 Main).
In the winter, when we like to eat heartier fare, Stanley Park Brewery would like to suggest pairing up with its new Belgian style dark ale. They also say its a perfect complement for cheese and chocolate so if you want to skip dinner, whos stopping you? Its described as having dried fruit aromatics and a distinctive malt taste. Go to StanleyParkBrewery.ca to find out when you can buy this seasonal beer, which also hit the shelves of BC Liquor Stores on Dec. 3.
Vancouver Urban Winery has launched its first wine label the Roaring Twenties Wine Co. First out of the barrel is a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand and a Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina, both with a suggested retail price of $14.99. The venture is a culmination of many of Steve Thorp and Mike Macquistens passions for travel, good food and good wine, and their desire to share their discoveries with friends back at home in Vancouver. They visited more than 50 wineries in search of their favourites. Roaring Twenties Wines are available at their 55 Dunlevy location and at several private liquor stores in the province. You can buy it by the bottle or in stainless steel kegs via FreshTap.com. For more information go to RoaringTwentiesWineCo.com.
Ever feel like making your own cheese? If you drop by Got Craft this weekend (Dec. 8 and 9 at the Croation Cultural Centre), you can pick up a kit from Make Cheese. Kits include everything you need to make cheese including the recipe.Kits, which range in price from $19.95 to $29.95, include feta, mozzarella, brie, yogurt, gouda and blue cheese. Not to mention poutine kits which come with gravy. (Fries not included.)
Forage restaurant (1300 Robson) celebrated its arrival on Vancouvers restaurant scene on December 3. On hand to congratulate chef Chris Whittaker, right, on his BC-inspired menu wasIrfan Rehmanji, BC Hydros tech innovation manager. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the menu is as unpretentious as it is delicious squash perogies anyone? Gail Nugent photo
Last year, 4,000 people attended the Pan Pacific Vancouver Christmas Wish Breakfast and donated more than 12 tonnes of toys to the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau, along with $15,000 in cash. Executive Chef Bob Wiles and his culinary team served up 160,000 eggs, 12,500 sausages, 4,200 croissants and 500 kg of hash browns to make sure everyone was well fed. This years event the 25th anniversary of the Christmas Wish Breakfast is Dec. 13 from 6 to 9am. People are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the hotel and, as a thank you, Pan Pacific will provide everyone with a hot buffet breakfast from the hotels Cafe Pacifica Restaurant.
There will be an entire day of music on Dec. 14 when Fairmont Pacific Rim and Shore 104.3 team up for the 12 Bands of Christmas food drive. Scheduled to perform are Greg Drummond, Zaac Pick, Dominique Fricot, Redgy Blackout, Harpoonish and the Axe Murderer, Dan Moxon and Matt & Matt from the Matinee. There will also be a sculpture made of more than 2,000 donated canned goods. The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society will be on hand from 7am to 7pm to accept peoples donation of non-perishable food or cash donations (including credit cards.)
