In the photo at right are Railtown Cafe director of operations Marli Anderson, and chefs Tyler Day and Dan Olsen at the grill of their new Railtown Tailgate BBQ series July 27 $15 gets you a medley of meat and delicious sides every Saturday until late September, from 4-10pm at 397 Railway St. There's also secret-recipe sangrias and house-made ice cream sandwiches for those who can somehow manage to eat more.
Only 2.6 per cent of restaurants approved by AAA have a Four Diamond rating and now, Gastowns LAbattoir is one of them. People are the key, says co-owner Paul Grunberg. Its essential to find and retain people who take pride in what they do and who are willing to work together to realize the LAbattoir vision of fine dining in a casual atmosphere. LAbattoir.ca, 217 Carrall, 604-568-1701.
This past spring, Vancouverites mourned the closing of Il Giardino, one of the citys oldest restaurants. But all is not lost for fans of tried-and-true Italian cuisine. This year, Francescos Ristorante is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is showing no signs of aging. It has recently renovated and expanded its patio on Burrard but also gives inside patrons something to look at original artwork, some of which the restaurant has newly commissioned. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays it features live music. And, of course, on Sundays, you can receive 50 per cent off their delicious selection of pasta dishes from 5pm to 9pm by bringing in the coupon found in this weeks WE Vancouver. Francescos.com, 860 Burrard, 604-685-7770.
Feel guilty about ordering water for dinner? At Forage you dont have to.
The Robson Street restaurant will sell you an unlimited quantity of its in-house filtered still or sparkling water for $3. It then donates $1 of every sale to a charity.
So far this year, Growing Chefs and the Vancouver Aquarium have been the beneficiaries, with the food sustainabilty organization getting $1,500 and the aquarium receiving $1,000.
