Dine Out Vancouver 2011 best bets
January 4th, 2011 | Published in Food
West Restaurant during Dine Out Vancouver. Tourism Vancouver photo.
Get ready: the annual Dine Out Vancouver restaurant promotion starts January 24 and runs until February 6. Over 200 restaurants are offering three-course meals for $18, $28, or $38. The reservations rush will start at tourismvancouver.com/dov/ on January 6, but menus will be revealed a day earlier on Twitter.
In a phone interview, Dine Out Vancouver program coordinator Lucas Pavan lists some of the new restaurants participating this year. These include the West End’s Tavola, downtown’s Q4 al Centro, and L’Abattoir, Pourhouse, Cork & Fin, and the Charles Bar in Gastown.
If you’re not set on a particular hot spot, Pavan recommends exploring some of the more under-the-radar restaurants. “You’d be quite surprised at the quality of the menus,” he says. For example, at Bistro 101 in the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, you could choose local mussels to start, veal osso buco with saffron risotto as a main, and chocolate mousse for dessert. “At $18, it’s quite an amazing deal.” The $28 menu at the aboriginal restaurant Salmon ’n’ Bannock includes options such as smoked pork and corn chowder to start, organic venison to follow, and baked organic apples stuffed with vanilla custard to finish.
According to Pavan, West, Cru, and DB Bistro Moderne are perennially popular Dine Out picks. Last year, diners who voted in the event’s Best Bite Awards chose Coast Restaurant for Best Overall Dine Out Menu. Maurya Indian Cuisine won the most votes for Best Service.
While prix fixe deals are the core of Dine Out Vancouver, there’s now a host of culinary events designed to bring diners together. These happen over a longer period, between January 14 and February 11.
The Kronenbourg Brasserie Mystère dinner on February 10 is destined to fill up in a flash. The dinner, with beer pairings, is free and will be prepared by a yet-to-be-announced local chef. Sign up for one of the 70 spots (each person can bring a guest) at www.k1664brasserie.ca when reservations open on an unspecified date in early January.
Other events were accepting bookings throughout December. The Secret Supper Soiree still has some dates available—and more may be added—for its trolley tours. These transport 24 people to three unknown locations, at which they eat a progressive meal. The cost is $119 per person including wine, or $79 without.
On February 5, Culinary Capers Catering is staging a Dinner in the Dark at its commercial kitchen. Blindfolded diners will be served an eight-course meal paired with Laughing Stock wines. “You really get to taste, smell, and savour what you’re eating,” Pavan says. The price is $150 per person, or $120 without wine.
Dinner-and-a-show packages are also available, in which participants dine at a communal table and are then seated together at the theatre. “It’s an opportunity to meet people,” Pavan explains. The Arts Club Theatre Company is pairing its show August: Osage County with a three-course meal at Cru (January 27, $94) or the Red Door Pan Asian Grill (February 4, $84). A three-courser at the Irish Heather is matched with Bonanza, part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (January 28, $45).
Other events include a sustainable seafood and wine pairing evening at the Vancouver Aquarium, and cooking classes at culinary schools including the Dirty Apron.
Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali
