Homer Street Café & Bar has launched a very comforting and value-priced Sunday brunch with re-imagined classics like the maple chicken cobbler, a fresh take on the traditional chicken pot pie. Pulled chicken (cooked on the in-house rotisserie) is cobbled with the usual suspects of potatoes, carrots and other hearty ingredients, then topped with puff pastry balls and a slow-poached egg. Its rich, creamy and the pastry balls do a good job of soaking up the runny egg and creamy interior. Or try the banana and Nutella Montecristo sandwiches, pan-fried golden and sweet. The rotisserie also delivers the pork belly, served with potatoes that are cooked in the drippings from the meat, toast and two eggs for $12. Most dishes are under $14 and hearty enough to stand on their own. HomerStreetCafeBar.com
Chef David Hawksworth of Hawksworth Restaurant and his team just returned from cooking at the legendary James Beard House in New York. Inspired by the experience, chef Hawksworth is recreating that dinner here in Vancouver for the next two weeks. The James Beard five-course tasting menu is $98 per person and focuses on contemporary Canadian cuisine such as Pacific sablefish with chanterelles, corn, scallions and bacon dashi; roasted Peking duck breast with chestnut, squash, prosciutto and fig; and Dungeness crab, Brooke trout roe, green apple, horseradish and brioche. HawksworthRestaurant.com
Looking for a Thanksgiving dinner you dont have to cook?
West Restaurant is offering an eight-course tasting menu for $68 per person. The turkey-forward dinner includes kale and Brussels sprouts salad with turkey crackling; Glen Valley squash soup with turkey croutons and maple crème fraîche; braised turkey leg cabbage roll with black truffle froth; sage roasted turkey breast with candied sweet potato, potato fondant and cranberry jus; and pumpkin flan with spiced cake, caramelized pear and orange chiffon. WestRestaurant.com
Yew Seafood Restaurant & Bar is offering a three-course dinner from October 10 to 14 for $51 per person. Look for turkey breast and leg confit with crab and chorizo stuffing in black truffle jus; sablefish in maple, soy and lime-butter glaze with shaved carrots and golden puree; pork belly and spot prawns with hazelnut granola; and pumpkin pie with peanut caramel ice cream. YewSeafood.com
Bistro Pastis is offering a three-course dinner on October 13 for $45 per person. Options include spiced butternut squash soup with citrus crème fraîche; crispy duck confit salad with golden beets, slow roasted turkey breast with pear and onion stuffed leg; salmon Wellington with mushroom duxelles, celeriac puree and béarnaise sauce; and vanilla-raspberry baked Alaska. BistroPastis.com
Campagnolo Restaurant is serving up a porchetta roast on Sunday, October 13 for $25 per person. The classic Italian rolled roast pork is served family style with seasonal sides. CampagnoloRestaurant.ca.
Anya Levykh has been writing about food, wine and restaurants for more than a decade. Hear her weekly food segment every Monday at 5:50pm on CBC Radio Ones On the Coast, follow her on Twitter @foodgirlfriday and catch up at FoodGirlFriday.com.
