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Vancouver Life: Cambie Street

Spend an afternoon exploring the sights and smells of Cambie Street between 17th and 19th avenues, a hotspot for great eats and the latest trends

By Carli Vierke

Cheese from Benton Brothers

The Local Gourmet
It’s foodies’ choice on Cambie. With both local and global fare, the restaurants, cafes and artisan shops offer a mix of flavours. Whether it’s gooey BC cheeses from the family-owned Benton Brothers or homemade tiramisu from Kreation cake shop, everything you need for the perfect epicurean feast is here. Feel like treating yourself without lifting a finger? Enjoy steak frites at the friendly French bistro Pied-à-Terre, or grab a slow-roasted pulled-pork sub to go at Las Tortas Gourmet Mexican Sandwiches.

Eye for Design
Suit up for a stylish stroll at Shop Cocoon, a boutique that features the latest trends in clothing, jewellery and handmade toiletries (think goodies such as hand-milled pomegranate soap), all crafted by local designers. For fashionable inspiration in the home and beyond, check out Walrus, a minimalist shop known for its fun, stylish lifestyle goods such as Scandinavian-designed lanterns or locally designed hot-pink rubber shoes. The space doubles as an art gallery and transforms one night a month into a packed cultural hub where Vancouver artists have their exceptional work showcased.

Ceramic birds from Shop Cocoon

Drink Up
No matter what type of buzz you’re looking for, you’re in good hands. At Beans coffee shop, grab a soy latte while getting cozy on one of the vintage couches or armchairs. For the beer connoisseur, Biercraft Bistro serves dozens of Belgian, imported and local beers. Develop your taste buds with a pint of the creamy Augustijn Blonde alongside a pound of fresh local mussels in a beer, cilantro and lime-butter broth. If you’re seeking libations to go, the Liquor Barn has a good selection of wine, beers and spirits from all over the world. Cheers.

Hot Dining: Rogue Kitchen & Wet Bar

Check out the latest rogue concept sweeping the Vancouver food scene. The aptly named Rogue Kitchen & Wet Bar is the Lower Mainland’s first pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth restaurant. This eatery offers a host of dishes from mini corn dogs to sushi stacks, salmon to steak, pizzas to pastas. The menu offers a suggested price; if you decide to pay less, leave a note explaining why the food wasn’t up to par. If you had a great meal and leave more than the suggested price, the difference is donated to charity. Liquor is not subject to this policy and servers should still be tipped. Time to go rogue!—Kendra Wong

Hot Dining: Stellar Suds

Local suds are featured during Vancouver Craft Beer Week, on from May 10 to 16

The first annual Vancouver Craft Beer Week (May 10 to 16) taps into truly local tastes with a packed program of beer-inclined events and sudsy celebrations. Organized by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), the hop-fest features food-and-beer-pairing dinners across the city, as well as a blind judging of 188 entries made province-wide. Some of our favourite entrants include Central City Red Racer Lager, Granville Island Rogers Chocolate Stout, Howe Sound Three Beavers Imperial Red Ale (pictured), and Phillips Brewing Blue Buck Ale, available at most local liquor stores, as well as R&B Red Devil Pale Ale and Storm Brewing Hurricane IPA, on tap in many local restaurants.—Tim Pawsey

Hot Dining: BC Uncorked

View of Okanagan Lake and vineyards near Naramata. Photo by Don Weixl courtesy Tourism BC

Fruit-forward, food-friendly BC wines continue to surprise and delight, winning medals in prestigious competitions from San Francisco to London and beyond. Most grapes are grown in the picturesque Okanagan Valley (a five-hour drive east of Vancouver), with varieties ranging from cool-climate Germanics, Burgundians such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and Rhone and Bordeaux styles from the semi-arid, desert south. Names to watch for include majors such as Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin Okanagan, Mission Hill Family Estate, Sumac Ridge Estate Winery and Sandhill, as well as producers such as Blue Mountain Vineyard Cellars, Black Hills Estate Winery and Laughing Stock Vineyards, along with any number of smaller, family wineries. Winners of the 2009 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence in British Columbia Wines, a keenly contested competition, were Bounty Cellars 2007 Pinot Blanc; Cedar Creek Estate 2006 Platinum Reserve Merlot; Church & State 2006 Syrah; Howling Bluff 2006 Pinot Noir; Joie 2007 Reserve Chardonnay and Joie 2008 Riesling; Peller Estates 2007 Private Reserve Pinot Noir; Road 13 2006 Fifth Element Meritage; Sandhill 2007 Small Lots Syrah; See Ya Later Ranch 2008 Gewurztraminer; Stoneboat 2007 Pinotage; Wild Goose 2008 Pinot Gris. At local liquor stores.—Tim Pawsey

You Are Here: Cambie Village

By Véronique Darwin

Check out Vancouver’s newest big-box shopping hot spot, located between two of the new Canada Line SkyTrain stations

The new Canada Line SkyTrain. Photo by KK Law

FASHION FINDS
Brand-name labels for a fraction of the price fill the racks at Winners. Stock is updated weekly, so you never know what’s in store. Sharing the space is HomeSense, selling unique items for the home and fun holiday decorations. Danish lingerie shop Change offers professional bra fittings and carries both comfortable and sexy underthings. Lululemon’s design store Lululab highlights in-store designers and sells a local must-have: yoga pants.

EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS
Need a pharmacy or a photo developer? Head to London Drugs for these and more, such as magazines, toiletries and local coffee chain Caffé Artigiano. Best Buy has

Try the Sumac Ridge sparkler, Tribute

everything electronic, including cameras, DVDs, laptops and iPods. In search of home hardware, outdoor gear or even batteries? Visit Canadian Tire or Home Depot.

TOP TASTES
Whole Foods Market, the massive natural and organic grocery store, curbs hunger cravings with a hot-food buffet, salad bar, brick-oven pizza slices and fresh-made burritos. Still feeling peckish? Head to Falafel Plus for organic, house-made falafels. At the nearby BC Liquor Store, pick up a bottle of Jackson Triggs Esprit or Sumac Ridge Tribute sparkling wine (pictured); proceeds support Canadian Olympic athletes.

Take the new Canada Line SkyTrain to the Olympic Village Station or the Broadway-City Hall Station, or walk south from downtown over the Cambie Street Bridge.

The Games Are Here

Live it up in the host mountain resort for the 2010 Winter Games

By Lucas Aykroyd

In Whistler Olympic Park, ski jumps form the backdrop for an inukshuk rock sculpture. Photo courtesy Tourism British Columbia

Whether you visit Whistler before, during or after the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, you’re in for a gold-medal experience. It’s been a jam-packed calendar since July 2, 2003, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Whistler to co-host the 2010 Winter Games along with Vancouver, beating out Pyeongchang, South Korea and Salzburg, Austria. With Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing and sliding events on the menu, Whistler has solidified its reputation as a must-visit sporting destination. Remarkably, all three Whistler competition venues—Whistler Creekside, Whistler Olympic Park and the Whistler Sliding Centre—were completed years early.

Key dates? The Olympic Torch Relay lights up Whistler on Feb. 5. If you’re arriving in time to catch the world’s top winter athletes, go to the official Vancouver 2010 website (www.vancouver2010
.com) for tickets to Olympic events (Feb. 12 to 28) and Paralympic events (Mar. 12 to 21). The Cultural Olympiad (Jan. 22 to Mar. 21) features several free concerts in Whistler Village Square.

All winter long, participate in downhill skiing and snowboarding at Whistler, enjoying the 88 lifts, 200-plus runs and 3,307 ha (8,100 acres) of diverse terrain—over 90 percent open during the Games. See it all from a bird’s-eye perspective in the recently launched Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which offers a magnificent trip between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

Alternatively, go cross-country skiing amid the snow-dusted spruce, fir, hemlock and cedar trees of Whistler Olympic Park, where about 55 km (34 mi) of trails will remain open, along with 42 km (26 mi) of the adjoining Callaghan Country this winter (Nov. 21 to Jan. 31 and Mar. 1 to May 2). Or check out the Whistler Sliding Centre, where daredevil lugers and bobsledders exceed speeds of 150 kph (93 mph).

The great thing about visiting the host mountain resort any time of year is that you don’t need to be a world-class athlete to have fun. Those who prefer culture or shopping are in for a treat, too.

Fascinated by aboriginal culture? Two of the official Four Host First Nations, the Squamish Nation and the Lil’wat Nation, have their traditional territories overlap in Whistler. The spectacular Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre, which seamlessly blends glass, Douglas fir timbers and Native artwork in its three-storey, 2,824-sq-m (30,400-sq-ft) layout, offers a great introduction and provides special programming during the Cultural Olympiad.

A Canada flag waves above the spectators in Whistler Olympic Park. Photo courtesy Tourism British Columbia

Shoppers can attempt to set a world-record pace. Buy Olympic souvenirs such as jewellery, clothing and mascot toys at The Olympic Store, The Trading Post, The Bay stores, Zellers stores, Vancouver International Airport (www.yvr.ca) and online (www.vancouver2010.com). Head to local liquor stores to pick up 2010-branded Jackson-Triggs wines or Tribute, the commemorative sparkling wine by Sumac Ridge. Games-themed stamps and coins are available from Canada Post (www.canadapost.ca) and the Royal Canadian Mint (www.mint.ca), respectively.

Long after the Olympic flame has been extinguished, retooled competition venues open to the public will foster a lasting legacy. For instance, the Whistler Sliding Centre has already been chosen to host the 2013 FIL World Luge Championships. So beyond golden memories, there will always be Olympic-calibre reasons to keep coming back.

Hot Shopping: Local Libation

If you're looking for a super souvenir, try this limited-edition Absolut vodka

New Orleans, Los Angeles, Boston, Vancouver: our fair city recently joined this exclusive list of North American cities honoured with Absolut vodka’s city-themed bottles. Our design, created by Victoria resident Douglas Fraser, explores what it means to live, work and play in Vancouver. Don’t wait: just 120,000 bottles are available ($25.95 at local liquor stores).—Sheri Radford