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Hot Dining: The New Granville Island Market Cookbook

The New Granville Island Market Cookbook by Judie Glick and Carol Jensson

Hot off the press, fresh from the test kitchen and ready to be devoured: The New Granville Island Market Cookbook (Arsenal Pulp Press; $24.95). Recipes are grouped by season and showcase the bounty of the Public Market on Granville Island, from fresh fish to artisan cheese to handmade pasta. A taste of what’s on the page this season: seafood pasta salad, grilled pineapple, summer baked beans and barbecued ribs. At local bookstores.—Jennifer Patterson

Hot Dining: Casual Restaurants for Quick Eats

The tiny Notturno Paninoteca serves big flavours. Photo by KK Law

These no-nonsense, casual and usually busy eateries offer flavour-packed fare to satisfy appetites on the run.

1 Notturno Paninoteca Compact but classy Gastown foodie hangout with a truly European feel. Go for the panini and bruschetta, paired with smartly picked wines.

2 La Taqueria Pinche tacos, quesadillas and more. Tasty, authentic Mexican street food, made with local and sustainable ingredients, served in bright, cozy rooms.

3 Big Lou’s Butcher Shop Wallet-friendly báhn-mi, roast beef sandwiches and giant pastrami on rye at a friendly combo butcher shop and take-out counter.

4 Patisserie Lebeau Irresistible savoury or sweet Belgian waffles (try the poached-pear with caramel sauce), sandwiches, croissants and other delights, a stone’s throw from Granville Island.

5 Sciué Popular downtown and Yaletown panini spots for fresh pasta, flatbread and pastries in a lively atmosphere.

An Interview with Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver Concierge Stéphane Mouttet

Stéphane Mouttet, Chef Concierge of the Shangri-La Hotel and current director of Les Clefs d'Or, BC region

Stéphane Mouttet is the Chef Concierge of the Shangri-La Hotel and also the director of Les Clefs d’Or, BC region. Having spent his childhood and youth in Grenoble, France, and his adult life in Canada, Stéphane is the perfect embodiment of “old world meets the new world.” While he possesses the easy charm and warmth of North American hospitality, he was trained in the true traditional European sensibilities.

What do you recommend for a visitor who has just one day to sightsee in Vancouver?

Take a quick tour of the city to have a great overview, and explore local neighbourhoods such as Gastown (tourist area with a local vibe), Main Street (hipster) and Commercial Drive (Italian/European).

Or one afternoon?

Granville Island and Stanley Park or Grouse Mountain. (more…)

Hot Shopping: Relax at Calixica Holistic Spa Boutique

The welcoming Calixica Holistic Spa Boutique

Leave your troubles behind and get ready to feel transformed, starting the minute you walk in the door of Granville Island’s Calixica Holistic Spa Boutique and experience the Namaste Welcome. It consists of warm towels enveloping and soothing your hands, custom-blended oils to bring your senses to life, and an ever-so-gentle head and shoulder massage to help you forget the stresses of the day. This isn’t your average spa. All treatments combine the healing energies of the earth with organic skincare products, resulting in a peaceful, inspiring experience personalized for you. Namaste.—Sheri Radford

Hot Entertainment: Vancouver International Children’s Festival

ZooZoo at the Vancouver International Children's Festival

You don’t have to be young to enjoy the Vancouver International Children’s Festival (May 29 to Jun. 3), but it sure helps to be young at heart, considering the roster of giggle-inducing activities: creating unique spin art using a bicycle, learning circus skills, making crazy sock puppets, face painting. Various venues on Granville Island overflow with fun shows such as ZooZoo (pictured), Kutz & Dawgs, The Happy Prince and Little Red and the Sea Wolf, guaranteeing six days of revelry for folks aged 1 to 101.—Sheri Radford

Hot Dining: Vancouver Food Tours with Edible Canada

Edible Canada's Granville Island Market Tour

Foodies, unite! Edible Canada takes inquisitive—and hungry—guests on tasty and informative tours around a couple of the city’s most popular areas. Reserve a spot on the Granville Island Market Tour (pictured) or book the longer Sample and Shop Tour. Check out various landmarks and food shops on the guided Chinatown walk, and be sure to stay for the optional dim sum lunch.—Jennifer Patterson

Dishing With a Real Housewife of Vancouver

Reiko Mackenzie, of The Real Housewives of Vancouver

Where The Real Housewives of Vancouver’s Reiko Mackenzie Shops, Eats and Plays

By Caitlin Dawson

If variety is the spice of life, then Reiko Mackenzie is hot as habañero. Not only is The Real Housewives of Vancouver star an über-glamorous housewife and mom of two with a minivan, she’s also a martial artist with a collection of luxury cars.

Following in the Prada-clad footsteps of Orange County, New York, Atlanta, Beverly Hills, New Jersey and Miami, The Real Housewives is a no-holds-barred peek into the lives of five of Vancouver’s most affluent women. In true Housewives style, Mackenzie has a personal chef, but she lists Vancouver stalwart Don Francesco as her top spot for eats. Why? “They treat us like family,” she explains.

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Hot Shopping: Crafting at Make

Kids craft at Make on Granville Island

Budding da Vincis and Michelangelos love designing their own buttons and t-shirts at Make on Granville Island. Staff can personalize lots of other items, too: printing meaningful text onto a pillow, transferring a family photo onto an apron, laser engraving a favourite quotation onto a leather journal. The colourful store definitely gets creative juices flowing, with its assortment of unique wares running the gamut from ninja-shaped cookie cutters to Scrabble-tile jewellery to stylish but sturdy bags made out of old bicycle tires. Make sure to check out the fun section devoted to toques—practical at this chilly time of year.—Sheri Radford

Vinyl Vaudeville at Performance Works

By Caitlin Dawson

Vinyl Vaudeville at Performance Works. Photo by Justin Eckersall

Roll up, roll up, ladies and gentlemen, and prepare to witness the jaw-dropping performances of Vinyl Vaudeville—a dinner cabaret at Performance Works on Granville Island (to Feb. 18).

If you’re new to the concept, vaudeville was a popular art form in the US and Canada at the end of the 19th century, lasting until the early 1930s. Jugglers, dancers and comedians rubbed shoulders with magicians, acrobats and instrumentalists on one diverse bill, offering an exhilarating display of varied showmanship. (more…)

Hot Dining: 4 Tasty Taphouses

Dockside tempts with pan-fried chilli squid (front) and sauteed tiger prawns (back). Photo by KK Law

The burgeoning beer scene here yields no shortage of hop-friendly dining.
1 Dockside (pictured) Discover Granville Island’s “other” brewery and dine in vista-kissed surroundings.
2 Howe Sound Brewing Take a 45-minute trip to Squamish to sample Howe Sound Lager with seafood chowder or ale-braised pork sliders.
3 Steamworks Enjoy freshly brewed quaffs, such as Lions Gate Lager, in a brass-trimmed, wood-panelled Gastown pub overlooking the harbour.
4 Yaletown Brewing Grab a glass of Downtown Brown along with a steaming bowl of sliced beef tenderloin tip stroganoff in this red-bricked Yaletown haunt.—Tim Pawsey

Hot Art: Stirring Spaces

"24 West" by Carolyn Mount

Examine our emotional attachment to structure in the etchings and prints of Relational Spaces at Dundarave Print Workshop and Gallery (Jan. 9 to Feb. 5) Carolyn Mount’s “24 West” (pictured) is a reductive relief print, created by carving a single block, or stamp, in several different stages to build up colour.—Kristina Urquhart

Hot Shopping: Decor Shops in the Armoury District

Get inspired by the decor at Livingspace

Urban Inspiration

The up-and-coming Armoury District, just west of Granville Island, is a go-to spot for hot home shops and even hotter coffee. Livingspace (pictured) thrills decor and design aficionados with its recently opened multi-level location. Mint Interiors stocks cool collectibles and eye-catching light fixtures. And next door’s Café Bica offers an inspired setting to sip frothy lattes and nosh on freshly baked pastries.—Jennifer Patterson

More information:

LIVINGSPACE INTERIORS 1706 W. 1st Ave. 604-683-1116. www.livingspace.com

MINT INTERIORS 1805 Fir Street. 604-568-3430. www.mintinteriors.ca

CAFE BICA $. B/L (M-Sa). 1809 Fir St. 604-733-8818. www.cafebica.com

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