We have curated a list of our current culinary favourites and notable limited edition menus, into one convenient spot for this month’s Vancouver Foodie Friday feature. Here are November’s finds and updates for all foodies alike:

Vancouver Foodie Friday
Seasonal Offerings and Events

H Tasting Lounge at The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver: Winterlust

• Where: 1601 Bayshore Drive, Vancouver
• When: Open Daily: 11:30am – 12:00am starting November 2, 2023
• Details: A true Vancouver upscale staple, The H Tasting Lounge, at The Westin Bayshore Vancouver, is hosting their annual holiday “Winterlust” dining experience starting November 2nd. Winterlust is elevated outdoor dining with five private translucent domes located on the H Tasting Lounge patio. Each dome, accommodating up to six guests, is decorated with evergreen elements to create a photo-perfect and enjoyable atmosphere. The domes offer breathtaking views of the North Shore mountains and waterfront. They are also fully equipped with heaters and independent sound systems ensuring a cozy and personalized dining experience. This season, the focus of the culinary program within Winterlust will be seasonal, sustainable and local sourcing with the diverse global flavours of The Westin Bayshore.
  
  Reserve your spot now, as they will sell out quickly. Minimum spends on dining and time allotments may apply.

The Ultimate Pad Thai Throwdown: Longtail Kitchen and Sen Pad Thai

• Where: Longtail Kitchen (810 Quayside Drive Unit 116, New Westminster) and Sen Pad Thai (1689 Johnston Street, Vancouver)
• When: November 7 (World Pad Thai Day) – November 21, 2023
• Details: This fall, Full House Hospitality presents a friendly culinary rivalry between sister restaurants, Longtail Kitchen and Sen Pad Thai, to determine the best Pad Thai creation. Over a span of 14 days, noodle lovers can join the fun by voting on two unique, limited-edition Pad Thai dishes at each eatery.
  
  In order to enter, guests can pick-up a Pad Thai stamp card at one of the locations and must enjoy each of the two competition specials. After making a choice, they can submit their completed stamp cards at Longtail Kitchen or Sen Pad Thai. The contest ends on November 21, 2023. A winner will be announced on December 1, 2023. The grand prize for the winning submission? Pad Thai for a year, to be enjoyed at both locations!

Vancouver Croissant Crawl

• Where: Vancouver & North Vancouver; New Westminster and the Tri-Cities participating locations
• When: November 1 – November 14, 2023
• Details: Returning for the second year, the Metro Vancouver Croissant Crawl will feature limited edition croissant flavours and creations at participating vendors around Metro Vancouver. Participants are invited to choose their own adventure and walk, bike or drive with friends from one bakery to the next to sample multiple flavours.
  
  This year the event is extended to two weeks and includes vendors beyond Vancouver in North Vancouver, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities. There are two plant-based offerings this year for vegans to join the fun, including a Miss604 favourite location, To Live For. In response to last year’s demand, all vendors are offering pre-orders while supplies last. New this year, customers can vote on the event website for their favourite croissant of the crawl. Limited quantities will be available for walk-ins, so pre-orders are highly encouraged. Share your photos on Instagram and use the hashtag #vancouvercroissantcrawl for a chance to win yummy prizes.
  

Yes Shef: Celebrating Women in Vancouver’s Food and Beverage Industry

• Where: Fairmont Pacific Rim (1038 Canada Place, Vancouver)
• When: November 6, 2023
• Details: Yes Shef, WORTH Association’s celebration of women in Vancouver’s food and beverage industry, is set to return on Monday, November 6th hosted by Fairmont Pacific Rim. It will be an evening celebrating local women’s culinary excellence and empowerment. Following sold-out success in 2019 and 2022, this year’s event by Women of Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Association has been reimagined to accommodate even more attendees, ensuring the audience can experience the culinary creations and beverages pairings from more than 20 of Vancouver’s top female-identifying chefs, winemakers, sommeliers and bartenders.

Whistler Cornucopia Returns November 9th

• Where: Whistler, BC at participating locations
• When: November 9 – 19, 2023
• Details: Whistler Cornucopia is returning to the mountains with a packed schedule curated for those looking to try new dishes and wines in an exciting setting. Whistler’s fall festival celebrating all things food and drink, Cornucopia pushes culinary boundaries with 70+ events between November 9 to 19, 2023. The schedule includes Signature tasting events such as Cellar Door (November 10), Poured (November 18), and Cornucopia’s flagship event, CRUSH Grand Tasting (November 11). This year’s schedule also has classic Cornucopia events returning including Night Market: Taste of the World (November 17), the Bearfoot Bistro World Oyster Invitational and Bloody Ceasar Battle (November 19).
  
  House Party: Best of BC is Cornucopia’s kick-off event featuring sample tastings from B.C. wineries, distilleries and craft breweries, as well as an exceptional dinner buffet on November 9th. See the full schedule here.

Foodie News

Chef Jasper Cruickshank Winner of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party 2023 Vancouver Regional Qualifier Event

The Canadian Culinary Championship (CCC) Vancouver Regional Qualifier event was hosted at BC Place this past month by Canada’s Great Kitchen Party. Guests gathered to eat, drink and experience an exciting showcase of culinary talent – a lineup of eight participants all competing for the top spot. Chef Jasper Cruickshank of Whistler’s Wild Blue Restaurant + Bar won over the judges with his “Wild B.C. Experience,” a dish of coastal-inspired flavours, featuring a Side Stripe Shrimp Terrine, a Tartlet of Dungeness Crab, Wakame Leek Crisp and Essence of Geoduck Clam paired with Roche Wines’s 2021 Tradition Pinot Gris, from the Naramata Bench in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley. Chef Cruickshank will head to Ottawa in February 2024 to represent Vancouver in the national Canadian Culinary Championship.

New Michelin Star Rankings

Following the 2023 MICHELIN Star Awards, Vancouver has one new MICHELIN-Starred restaurant, five new Bib Gourmand and 12 new recommended restaurants. Okeya Kyujiro is the proud recipient of the star, bringing the cities total to nine restaurants. The five new Bib Gourmand recipients are Farmer’s Apprentice, Karma Indian Bistro, Motonobu Udon, Seaport City Seafood and Sushi Hil. 77 restaurants total constitute the 2023 selection – which up from 60 restaurants in 2022. The 77 restaurants include 21 different types of delicious cuisine. More information regarding the 2023 guide can be found here.

Don’t forget to check out last month’s Vancouver Foodie Friday for local restaurants to add to your “must try” list. And check back in December for Foodie Friday! Be sure to tag @miss604 during your adventures or send us insta-worthy recommendations and fall festivals of your own!

This weekend in Vancouver there are two big playoff games at BC Place, a free light and art installation festival around downtown, Diwali events, theatre, and much more! Find these activities and many more things to do around Vancouver this weekend listed below:

Friday, November 3rd | Saturday, November 4th | Sunday, November 5th

Weekend Events in Vancouver
Things to do November 3-5, 2023

Friday, November 3, 2023

• 20th Annual DTES Heart of the City Festival
• The Wizard of Oz on Granville Island
• Vancouver Art Gallery Free First Friday Nights
• Bear Creek Park Lights
• Gifts of the Cosmos
• Diwali in Coquitlam
• Music on Main’s 2023 Modulus Festival
• Ballet BC: Here
• FactualWEST
• Gulf of Georgia Cannery Haunted Sea
• Lumière Festival Around Downtown Vancouver
• The Birds and the Bees
• Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing: Ways of Being and Seeing

OKAN, featuring violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, will perform at the Surrey Civic Theatre this month.

OKAN at Surrey Civic Theatre

• Date: November 17, 2023 at 8:00pm
• Location: Main Stage at Surrey Art Centre (13750 88 Ave, Surrey)
• Admission: Tickets available for purchase online

Accompanied by musicians Jeremy Ledbetter, Frank Martinez, and Roberto Riveron for the Surrey Arts Centre’s Main Stage show, OKAN will dazzle the audience with a spirited performance jam-packed with high-energy Afro-Cuban jazz, stories, and dance. Like a breath of talented fresh air, this show is sure to be a full experience audience members will remember for years to come.

Fusing Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk, and global rhythms, OKAN takes their name from the word for heart in their Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria.

With vocals in Spanish, English and Spanglish, OKAN is led by Cuban-born violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, both Grammy and Latin-Grammy nominees. Passionate advocates for freedom of expression, queer rights, and gender equality, OKAN has gained a reputation for their powerful live performances, which showcase their incredible harmonies, virtuosic musicianship, potent lyrics as well as an unfailing ability to connect with audiences on a deep emotional level.

Stay up to date with OKAN on Facebook. Visit Surrey Civic Theatre online for more information about performances.

Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (VIFW) is coming up November 20-25, highlighting how fashion can build connections with Indigenous values, wisdom, and history.

Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week 2023

• Date: November 20 to 25, 2023
• Location: Queen Elizabeth Theatre (630 Hamilton St, Vancouver)
• Admission: Tickets for events available for purchase online.

VIFW harnesses fashion as a vehicle for understanding and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The fashion is Wearable Culture, and it unites artists, cultural creatives, leaders, and the curious in celebrating the stories inherent in the creation of each piece. The events bridge the past, present, and future of Indigenous resurgence in the heart of the city.

Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week Events:

Red Dress Event
November 20 at 7:00pm Buy Tickets
Dress in red to remember and celebrate resiliency and strength. Come together in red in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, and LGBTQ members of communities.

All My Relations
November 21 at 7:00pm Buy Tickets
Designers from across Turtle Island show up and show out. Traditional mix with contemporary aesthetics in the magnificent designs of both up and comers and fan favourites.

Indigenous Futures
November 22 at 7:00pm Buy Tickets
Indigenous Futurism advocates for Indigenous sovereignty. At the intersection of Indigenous artistic practice, contemporary storytelling, and pop culture we shape a future of our own that centres Indigenous ways of being and knowing, and Indigenous joy!

Spirit of the West Coast
November 23 at 7:00pm Buy Tickets
Be filled with the spirit of the West Coast as you celebrate some of the uniqueness of this land through these incredible designs. There is something special about this land and its people. If we let it lead us, if we allow our joy to be seen and celebrated here, there’s nothing we can’t do.

Supernatural Kiki Ball (Nov 25) — Tickets on sale soon

VIFW is committed to facilitating reconciliation through collaboration and dialogue about fashion, identity, story, art, and representation.

More info about the designers is coming soon. Follow Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week on Instagram for updates.

Remembrance Day, November 11th, is a day to remember the courage, service, and sacrifice of thousands of Canadians. We honour them by never forgetting them. Find a service or ceremony around Vancouver here:

Remembrance Day Ceremonies Around Vancouver

National Indigenous Veterans Day
Location: 312 Main Street followed by a march to Victory Square
Date: November 8, 2023 from 9:00am to 3:00pm
Details: Opening ceremonies from 9:15am to 10:00am. Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Tsawwassen Nations represented along with other special guests and dignitaries. The Order of Honour March will leave at 10:00am and head to Victory Square.

Remembrance Day at Victory Square
Location: Victory Square (200 W Hastings St, Vancouver)
Date: November 11, 2023 at 10:30am
Details: Beginning in 1924, the Remembrance Day Ceremony at Victory Square is the oldest continuing annual ceremony in Vancouver. Reflecting respect and remembrance of sacrifices in the services of Canada – past and present.

Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Location: Seaforth Armoury, Parade Square (1650 Burrard St, Vancouver)
Date: November 11, 2023 doors at 10:00am, service at 10:45am
Details: This tradition and ceremony is led by the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Regimental Association Chaplain, Reverand Paul Richards, who will officiate. The Association invites the public to join the Seaforth Highlanders at the Armoury as we pay respect for those serving and having served in the armed forces and honouring the memory of those who have fallen. 

Remembrance Day at UBC
Location: War Memorial Gym (6081 University Boulevard, Vancouver)
Date: November 11, 2023 doors at 10:00am, ceremony at 10:45am
Details: This year, 2023 will mark seventy-three years that The University of British Columbia has hosted a Remembrance Day ceremony. This special ceremony is an opportunity for faculty, staff, students and members of the on and off-campus community to honour and remember all those who served in times of war, military conflict and peace.

North Vancouver Remembrance Day Ceremony
Location: Victoria Park Cenotaph
Date: November 11, 2023 at 10:00am
Details: The parade will start at the Armoury at 9:30am led by the JP Fell Pipe Band, and the ceremony will take place at the Victoria Park Cenotaph at 10:30am with the Mayor, Council and other dignitaries in attendance. Following the ceremony, the parade will proceed up Lonsdale Avenue to East 15 Street, where it will turn west and proceed back to the Armoury on Forbes Ave. Those who cannot attend in person may watch the live stream.

West Vancouver Remembrance Day
Location: Memorial Arch in Memorial Park to Marine Drive between 19th St and 20th St
Date: November 11, 2023 parade at 10:45am
Details: The parade begins at 10:45am from 18th St, proceeding along Marine Drive to the cenotaph at Memorial Park. This service is for the public to gather and honour our veterans and those currently serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Richmond Remembrance Day
Location: Cenotaph located on the east side of Richmond City Hall (6911 No. 3 Rd, Richmond)
Date: November 11, 2023 parade at 10:20am
Details: For those wishing to reflect and remember with the community, there is an in-person Remembrance Day ceremony and will be available online for those watching from home. The parade begins at 10:20am followed by a ceremony and reception.

New Westminster Remembrance Day
Location: City Hall Cenotaph (511 Royal Ave, New Westminster)
Date: November 11, 2023 from 10:15am to 11:30am
Details: Honour the service of our veterans past and present. The ceremony will be available through live stream for those who want to tune in from home.

Port Coquitlam Remembers
Location: Veterans Park (2580 Shaughnessy St, Port Coquitlam)
Date: November 11, 2023 10:00am parade & service, 11:00am laying of wreaths
Details: The Port Coquitlam Royal Canadian Legion holds its annual Remembrance Day parade and service to honour veterans.

Coquitlam Remembrance Day Ceremony
Location: Blue Mountain Park (975 King Albert Ave, Coquitlam)
Date: November 11, 2023 at 10:15am
Details: Coquitlam’s traditional Remembrance Day ceremony and parade, hosted by the Coquitlam Royal Canadian Legion Branch 263 is open to the public and those who wish to pay their respects.

Surrey Remembers Ceremony
Location: Veterans’ Square (17671 56 Ave, Surrey)
Date: November 11, 2023 at 10:00am
Details: Procession begins at 10:00am followed by service at 10:25am. The ceremony will be live streamed from the Heritage Surrey Facebook.

North Delta Social Heart Plaza Remembrance Day
Location: Social Heart Plaza (11405-11427 84 Ave, Delta)
Date: November 11, 2023 from 10:40am to 12:00pm
Details: The City of North Delta, in partnership with the Kennedy Seniors Society, invite all to attend North Delta’s Remembrance Day Ceremony. Refreshments to follow at the main hall of North Delta Recreation Centre.

Langley Remembrance Day
Location: Douglas Park Cenotaph (20550 Douglas Crescent, Langley)
Date: November 11, 2023 ceremony starts at 10:50am
Details: Observe a moment of silence to mark the sacrifice of the many who have fallen in the service of their country, and to acknowledge the courage of those who still serve. A live stream will be available online for those not attending in person.

Abbotsford Remembrance Day
Location: Thunderbird Memorial Square (32388 Veterans Way, Abbotsford)
Date: November 11, 2023 ceremony starts at 10:30am
Details: Join the Royal Canadian Legion Abbotsford Branch 15 at Thunderbird Memorial Square on Saturday, November 11 to pay tribute to, honour and remember the sacrifices and contributions of those who have proudly and courageously served our country in war, conflict, and in peacekeeping.

Your city will most likely have a service or ceremony around its local cenotaph, and you can find more ceremonies listed via the Royal Canadian Legion online here. To get your poppy, visit a national Poppy Campaign partner from the last Friday of October until Remembrance Day, or contact your Legion Branch to find poppies near you.

Free Transit for Service Members and Veterans

In honour of the service and sacrifices made by both past and present veterans, TransLink is offering free transit services, including HandyDART, on Remembrance Day.

Veterans, active members of the Canadian Armed Forces, police and fire personnel, Canadian Coast Guard members, officers from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and BC Ambulance Service personnel can present their badge, military ID, Veteran’s Service Card, or by appearing in uniform to receive free transit.

On November 11, veterans and other eligible riders can enjoy free bus rides all day without the need to tap their Compass Cards. Additionally, veterans and eligible customers can access SkyTrain and SeaBus services at no cost from 8:00am to 6:00pm. During these hours, one accessible fare gate will remain open at all stations.