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Canada > The West Coast > British Columbia > Vancouver

STAY, DINE, DO: Find a hotel, restaurant or attraction.

Listings to get the most out of the city: where to dine, what to see, where to shop, and more.

Vancouver

Hot Entertainment: The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver

This coffee-table tome by renowned historian Chuck Davis is nearly 600 pages

“Fun, Fat & Full of Facts.” That’s how author Chuck Davis described The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver (Harbour Publishing, $49.95), which the beloved journalist and broadcaster spent more than two decades writing, right up until his death in 2010. Other writers, historians and friends then came together to finish the mammoth, almost-600-page volume, which is bursting with 125 years of history and countless archival photos. Arranged chronologically, the book covers everything from the great fire of 1886—which wiped out almost the entire city—to the Vancouver Canucks’ ill-fated Stanley Cup run of 2011. Find this one-of-a-kind souvenir at local bookstores.—Sheri Radford

Hot Shopping: Hot Heritage at The Bay

Heritage-inspired silk scarves at The Bay

The Bay continues to delight both fashion fiends and collectors with the reimagined Hudson’s Bay Company Collection. An item sure to tempt history buffs is the historic-looking charter scarf (pictured, $125 each). Every one of these silk kerchiefs features an intricate sketch of Canadian history on an archive scroll—textbooks be damned—and comes in warm yellow, blue and red.—Jennifer Patterson

Hot Entertainment: PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

Almighty Voice and His Wife photo by Nadya Kwandibens

By Caitlin Dawson

Cure those winter blues with the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. The 19-day fest mounts more than 100 groundbreaking performances in theatre, dance, music and the visual arts showcasing local and international talent to more than 2,000 theatre-goers.

There is something on the billing to suit most tastes, whether you’re interested in global issues or seeking out the unconventional. The acts are varied, but always genre-busting, stimulating and intent on pushing boundaries. After all, in what other setting could you watch Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece The Idiot one night, and a performance of Craigslist personal ads set to music the next?

Our top picks from the festival include: Looking For A Missing Employee, a provocative performance puzzle by Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué; quirky duo Bill Richardson and Veda Hille’s Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata, featuring ditties such as “Slugs for lease” and “Dead moose, free for the taking;” Almighty Voice and His Wife, exploring a tragic intersection of white and native cultures by First Nations playwright Daniel David Moses; and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot, by Vancouver’s Neworld Theatre.

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival runs Jan. 17-Feb. 4. Venues and show times at pushfestival.ca.

Hot Dining: Elegant Dining at Hart House Restaurant

Hart House photo by KK Law

In a welcome contrast to the bustle of downtown, elegant and romantic Hart House is set in manicured gardens on the tranquil shores of Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park. This Tudor-style home welcomes lovers and others to cozy up inside. Regional specialties range from grilled BC salmon to Yarrow Meadows duck breast with roasted beets, before dessert of chocolate terrine or espresso crème brûlée, all offered with well-chosen wines from an extensive cellar.—Tim Pawsey

Hot Shopping: Work It Out with The Bar Method

Tone and sculpt with The Bar Method

The holidays are over, but your expanded waistline—thanks to the extra slices of pumpkin pie—doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to disappear. Stick to your new year’s resolution and fight the fat with a class at The Bar Method. Each hour-long class uses techniques from yoga and Pilates, along with the ballet barre, for an all-around aerobic treat.—Jennifer Patterson

837 Beatty St., 604-681-6188, http://vancouver.barmethod.com

Hot Dates: Dine Out Vancouver 2012

January 20 to February 5

Seared weathervane scallops at Hawksworth Restaurant. Photo by KK Law

Foodies, this one is for you. The largest restaurant festival in Canada celebrates its 10th year with culinary tours, cooking lessons, dinner-theatre evenings, contests and—the pièce de résistance—prix fixe menus with optional wine or beer pairings at 225 eateries, from humble bistros to casual favourites to Vancouver’s most elegant dining establishments. Choose your price category ($18, $28 or $38) then make a reservation, because tables always fill up quickly. This year’s line-up of tasty choices includes Hawksworth Restaurant, The Boathouse Restaurant, Yew Restaurant + Bar, Banana Leaf Malaysian Cuisine, Diva at the Met and Market by Jean-Georges. Get ready to make your taste buds very happy.—Sheri Radford
Reservations and menus at www.tourismvancouver.com/dine/dine-out-vancouver-2012

Hot Art: Hiroshima History at Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology

#88 by Ishiuchi Miyako "Wristwatch," 2010/2010 C-type print, 335 x 230, Okimoto S.

August 6, 1945. It’s a date not forgotten by many, but a Japanese photographer aims to document it for posterity with her 48 moving images of everyday objects left behind by the victims of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. Photos of these ownerless belongings, including a wristwatch (pictured), give a personal take on the event in hiroshima by Ishiuchi Miyako at the UBC Museum of Anthropology (to Feb. 12).—Kristina Urquhart

Hot Entertainment: The Sporting Life

Soccer ball photo copyright Mikdam/Dreamstime

Tennis Canada takes on France in the Davis Cup, at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre (Feb. 10 to 12).

Soccer Goooaaalll! That’s what the eight teams are shooting for in CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Soccer, at BC Place Stadium (Jan. 19 to 29).

Basketball An evening watching the Harlem Globetrotters perform? It’s a slam dunk, at Rogers Arena (Feb. 24).

Hockey Luongo, Kesler, the Sedins and the rest of the Vancouver Canucks have the home-ice advantage for several games, at Rogers Arena.—Sheri Radford

Hot Dining: Steak’s New Meating Place at Black + Blue

The bar and meat-aging cellar at Black + Blue. Photo by KK Law

Downtown’s newest steak emporium, Black + Blue (pictured) is a positive stunner with no shortage of buzz, wrapping prime beef and killer cocktails in a dazzling three-tiered setting highlighted by a glass-walled elevator. Uber-cuts from the Himalayan-salt-walled dry-aging room range from PEI Blue Ribbon and Canadian Reserve Angus to USDA RR Ranch and Wagyu, grilled precisely to taste and offered with a variety of sauces. Good sustainable seafood options cater to the less carnivorously inclined. Think high-energy protein palace…then multiply by 100. For a less contemporary though still very flavourful take on steak, wander down to clubby Hy’s Encore, established in 1962. For simple but flawless steak frîtes, and wines to go along, rendez-vous chez Bistro Pastis.—Tim Pawsey

Hot Dining: Beyond Sashimi

The food at ShuRaku is as lovely as art. Photo by KK Law

Even though the city boasts countless sushi bars, the raw fish specialty is only part of the Japanese scene. Chef Masahiro Omori takes small plates to new heights at Granville Street’s ShuRaku Sake Bar & Bistro (pictured). Tucked away downstairs at Alberni and Thurlow, long-running Aki is a robata specialist. And nearby hibachi-style Kobe Japanese Steak House puts on a knife-whirling teppanyaki show. Warning: don’t try this at home.—Tim Pawsey

Hot Art: Michael Morris Times Three

Michael Morris, Paris Letter, 1967. Courtesy collection of the University of Lethbridge Art Collection and gift of Lawrence Christmas

Design, poetry and art come together in Letters: Michael Morris and Concrete Poetry, which shows 90 works at three venues: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (Jan. 13 to Apr. 8); Satellite Gallery (Feb. 4 to Mar. 3); and UBC’s Walter C. Koerner Library (Jan. 13 to Apr. 30).—Kristina Urquhart

Hot Entertainment: Mythbusters

Adam Savage (left) and Jamie Hyneman, of Mythbusters

Could duct tape fix a plane that has been mauled by a bear? If a car is dangling precariously over a cliff’s edge, could the force of a pigeon landing on its roof send it plunging down the cliff? These are the types of questions that Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage have tackled in nine years of Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel, busting more than 400 myths in the process. See the duo in two shows at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (Jan. 22).—Sheri Radford

4 and 7:30 pm. $52.50-$98. Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Hamilton St. at Dunsmuir. Tickets 1-855-985-5000.

Hot Dates: The Distance Between You and Me at Vancouver Art Gallery

To January 22

"The Distance Between You and Me 15" by Gonzalo Lebrija courtesy the artist and Gallerie Laurent Godin, Paris

What do Vancouver, Los Angeles and Guadalajara have in common? Just ask Isabelle Pauwels, Kerry Tribe and Gonzalo Lebrija, a trio of photo and video artists who share similar ideas about physical and psychological location and dislocation despite living in different cities. See their work in The Distance Between You and Me at Vancouver Art Gallery.—Kristina Urquhart

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 Art: Off the Beaten Path

"Waterline" by Maegan Harbridge, at Port Moody Arts Centre

Seek and you shall find. Some of our city’s coolest art galleries aren’t in Vancouver proper, but in our neighbouring cities. At Port Moody Arts Centre (to Feb. 19), student Maegan Harbridge’s soft abstracts and drawings in Goodnight Goodluck explore the destruction caused by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan (“Waterline,” pictured). Also worth a drive to the ‘burbs: Burnaby Art Gallery and Richmond Art Gallery.—Kristina Urquhart

Hot Entertainment: Waiting for Godot

The Cultch stages Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot until Jan. 21

Samuel Beckett’s comedic, existential masterpiece has been described as everything from brilliant to confounding to shocking to a bunch of meaningless hooey. No matter where on the spectrum your opinion falls, you’re sure to find something to appreciate in a new production at The Cultch (to Jan. 21). Deep comedic riches lie in this modern classic, first staged in English in 1955 and now performed by some of Vancouver’s finest actors. A show worth waiting for? Definitely.—Sheri Radford

Tu-Sa 8 pm. Matinees Su 2 pm. $16+. The Cultch, 1895 Venables St. at Victoria. Tickets 604-251-1363. www.blackbirdtheatre.ca

When East Meets West: Chinese New Year in Vancouver

Ring in the year of the dragon and experience the best of Chinese culture

By Kristina Urquhart

The grounds at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Photo by KK Law

Think big. That’s our advice for the auspicious year of the dragon, which kicks off Jan. 23 and lasts until Feb. 9, 2013. Dragons are symbols of power, good fortune and lofty ideas—and the world could use some of each after being encouraged to pause and reflect during the peaceful year of the rabbit in 2011.

The Chinese New Year adheres to a lunar and solar calendar and usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice; what follows are days of decorating, exchanging gifts and passing lucky red money packets. The festivities culminate in the spectacular two-hour Chinese New Year Parade on Jan. 29, which starts at the ornate Millennium Gate, an imposing entrance to North America’s third-largest Chinatown. Expect to see colourful lion dances and martial arts demonstrations making their way through the red-lamppost-lined neighbourhood. (more…)

Hot Shopping: Eileen Fisher Opens in Vancouver

Cashmere poncho by Eileen Fisher

Feminine Charm

The latest shop to join the boutique-filled neighbourhood of South Granville is Eileen Fisher. This opening marks the first Canadian store for the New York–based fashion company. The concept has always been the same: simple, high-quality women’s wear. For winter, look for holiday-ready dresses, structured coats and flattering sweaters (including the turtleneck poncho in merino cashmere, pictured).—Jennifer Patterson

More information:

EILEEN FISHER 2721 Granville St. 604-733-5225. www.eileenfisher.com

Hot Entertainment: 92nd Annual Polar Bear Swim Vancouver

Polar Bear Swim photo copyright Vancouver Park Board

Vancouverites know the cure for a New Year’s Eve hangover is an icy dip in English Bay on New Year’s Day. A handful of hardy locals first took the plunge in 1920, and that number keeps growing, now topping 2,200 despite ocean temperatures as low as 3°C (38°F). Most of the swimmers show up in costume, undaunted by the cold. Join the insanity Jan. 1.—Sheri Radford

More information:

POLAR BEAR SWIM Registration 12:30 pm, swim 2:30 pm. In Vancouver 311, outside Vancouver 604-873-7000. www.vancouverparks.ca

Hot Shopping: Outerwear by Icebreaker

Cascade full-zip jacket by Icebreaker

Woolly Warmth

Brave the elements with a piece from Icebreaker, a New Zealand label that makes stylish and sustainable merino wool clothing. The store carries everything from tops and leggings to socks and outerwear in a range of wool weights. Clothes are breathable, fast-drying and machine-washable. New this season is the RealFleece collection of soft mid-layers (including the Cascade Full Zip, pictured).—Jessie Colgan

More information:

ICEBREAKER 2089 W. 4th Ave. 778-329-2710. www.icebreaker.com

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