Thursday, March 26 marks the annual Dining Out for Life in Vancouver. After 21 years, restaurants in BC continue to donate 25 per cent of their food sales to support locals affected by HIV/AIDS through registered not-for-profits Friends For Life and A Loving Spoonful.
Long time supporters of the event include Hawksworth, Tableau Bar Bistro, and Chambar who are all participating again this year.
I applaud all participating restaurants, new and old, but I want to acknowledge those donating 25 per cent of the day’s business to the cause. Note, many of the restaurants are open for dinner only, but here are a few offering lunch and dinner and generously donating 25 per cent from both services.
Tableau Bar Bistro
The in-house restaurant in The Loden Hotel has been cleaning up local restaurant awards in the casual French bistro category. It serves a mix of classic French fair and modern French cuisine with West Coast flair. My favourites are the French onion soup with gruyère cheese and crouton, and the mushrooms on toast with gravy, cheese and fried brioche. The lobster Lyonnaise salad with a six-minute poached egg, lardons and frisée is also very good, and the Thursday special during Dine Out for Life is their pork chop with herb spaetzle. (Note: Sister restaurant to Tableau, Homer Street Café, is also donating both services.)
La Pentola
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, La Pentola in the Opus Hotel in Yaletown is participating in Dining Out for Life for all services. For brunch, they are serving a kaiserschmarrn (northern Italian pancake) with raisins, pine-nuts, cream, and house-made jam, which I haven't seen offered anywhere else, and for dinner I recommend dining family style ($60 or $75 per person for about seven or 10 courses).
Lucky's Doughnuts & 49th Parallel Roasters
If you’re not able to dine out for breakfast, lunch or dinner, then anytime is a good time for coffee and doughnuts. With two locations (one in Kitsilano and the other on Main Street), Lucky's Doughnuts and 49th Parallel Roasters are not only donating 25 per cent of the day’s business, but they have also created a special edition Dine Out For Life doughnut. From Thursday, March 26 to Sunday, March 29, 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sour cherry and white chocolate doughnut ($3.50) will be donated to the cause. So if you miss the actual day, you will have all weekend.
There are more fantastic restaurants graciously contributing 25 per cent of their day’s business, so for the full list visit: DiningOutForLife.com/vancouver/restaurants
Remember to make reservations, and you can’t go wrong with any participating restaurant when it comes to supporting charity. If you can’t dine out on March 26, you can still donate online DiningOutForLife.com/vancouver/donate/
Find out more about Mijune at FollowMeFoodie.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @followmefoodie
