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Hot Dates: BC Contestants on Top Chef Canada

Chef Mark McEwan with his newest crop of Top Chef Canada contestants

Through May

The knives? Sharpened. The pantry? Stocked. The competition? Fierce. Top Chef Canada is back in the kitchen for round two of the hit Food Network Canada show. Head judge Chef Mark McEwan has 16 new hopefuls all vying for the title of Top Chef, not to mention the $100,000 prize. Four contestants from BC are in the running, but—spoiler alert!—they don’t all make the final cut. Tune in Mondays, or watch online at www.foodnetwork.ca.—Jennifer Patterson

Hot Dates: Cooking Classes at The Dirty Apron Cooking School

The Dirty Apron Cooking School

Through May

Kitchen newbies, confident gourmands and ready-to-go pros enjoy picking up new tips and tricks, not to mention stuffing themselves with tasty morsels, at downtown’s cool Dirty Apron Cooking School. Add a few West Coast recipes to your repertoire and try your hand at preparing the best of the Pacific Ocean (May 4, 5, 7, 16, 30, 31). Take a trip around the world and learn to cook Italian at the Mamma Mia classes (May 1, 9, 15, 19, 24, 28), or feel like a Parisian in French class (May 2, 10, 14). And don’t forget your mom! She’ll love the just-for-her courses (May 12, 13).—Jennifer Patterson

Hot Dates: Meet Dessert Cookbook Author Alice Medrich

Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts, a cookbook by Alice Medrich

May 6 and 7

Don’t know your rolling pin from your pastry brush? Don’t worry. Alice Medrich’s Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts (Artisan Press; $29.95) is filled with foolproof recipes grouped under enticing headings such as Pudding Pleasure, Lickety-Split Cakes, and Sweet Bites. Beginners and experts alike will be baking up a storm in no time. Meet the “First Lady of Chocolate” at two events at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks: Alice’s Tea Party on May 6 and Alice in Dessertland on May 7.—Sheri Radford

Vancouver and Whistler Where to Dine Award Winners Revealed

By Tim Pawsey

Readers’ Choice: Whistler

Take the impossibly scenic Sea to Sky Highway to discover Whistler. This year-round resort still sports plenty of post–Winter Games vibes, not to mention a plethora of great tastes, including a wealth of fine and casual dining, funky pubs and cool après-ski hang-outs.

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Vancouver and Whistler 2011 Where to Dine Award Winners Revealed

By Tim Pawsey

Blessed with a happy marriage of abundant year-round fresh ingredients, a diaspora of ethnic influences and limitless culinary talent, Vancouver is hailed as a foodie’s paradise by critics and casual diners alike. A broad offering, from corner cafes to craft brew–fuelled pubs to edgy, contemporary regional rooms, means this city is never short of choice. The only challenge might be deciding where to go and what to order. Where’s well-travelled readers weigh in with their taste-filled finds in the 16th annual Where to Dine awards. (more…)

Hot Dining: Upstairs Escapes on Robson Street

Smoked salmon pizza (front), chicken saltimbocca with roasted beet salad (left) and asparagus risotto (top right), at Zefferelli's Spaghetti Joint. Photo by KK Law

Robson Street offers no shortage of high haunts. For solid pasta, pizza and other country-style Italian fare, head to Zefferelli’s Spaghetti Joint (pictured). Earls serves casual fare and offers a lively bar scene, while polished CinCin yields a busy open kitchen and wood-fired specialties in a warm Tuscan setting. —Tim Pawsey

Hot Dates: Meet a Vancouver Cookbook Author

Local foodie Stephanie Yuen's new cookbook

April 28

Meet local foodie Stephanie Yuen and sample tasty treats from her new cookbook, East Meets West: Traditional and Contemporary Asian Dishes from Acclaimed Vancouver Restaurants (Douglas & McIntyre, $29.95), in a free event at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks.—Sheri Radford

Hot Dining: Perfect Pints at Gastown’s Bitter Tasting Room

Bitter Tasting Room. Photo by KK Law

It’s all about the beer at Bitter Tasting Room. This beautifully restored 1909 Gastown ale emporium offers only the best craft brews on tap and by the bottle, from BC and beyond. Purists hoist freshly poured pints of Driftwood Fat Tug IPA, R&B Milk Stout and Unibroue’s heavy Maudite, while a suitably matched gastropub menu tempts with cassoulet, Scotch eggs and artisan links by master sausage maker Drews Driessen. BC wines are also offered for the less hop-headed.—Tim Pawsey

Hot Dining: Cool Chinese Cuisine at Chinois

Chinois Restaurant photo by KK Law

Yaletown’s newly minted Chinois, a cozy brick room that brims with funky, vibrant art, blends classic Chinese fare with smartly sourced local ingredients. Faves from the glass-walled kitchen range from barbecued pork, roast duck and kung-pao chicken to steamed sablefish and jumbo prawns with candied walnuts.—Tim Pawsey

Hot Dining: Culinary Art at Diva at the Met

Corned Yarrow Meadows duck with pickled North Arm Farm vegetables, foie gras walnut and quince, at Diva at the Met. Photo by KK Law

Executive chef Hamid Salimian of Diva at the Met crafts modern plates to please both palate and palette. Favourites include Northern Divine caviar on fluffy brioche; bone marrow and veal tongue with pickled local vegetables; and wafer-thin Sunshine Coast sturgeon over salmon roe and side-striped prawn, teased with slices of dill ash–cured scallop. Dishes are paired with well-chosen wines.—Tim Pawsey