We have some excellent resources in Vancouver for finding where the best style of cuisine you’re craving might be served up. The Golden Plates and Best of the City provide a wide selection but there are also the Chinese Restaurant Awards, the results of which were released earlier this week.
Best Chinese Restaurants in Vancouver
The public was invited to vote in various categories and the “Best Twenty” are:
Winners will be invited to accept their awards at the 6th annual Chinese Restaurant Awards ceremony at Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver on April 23rd, 2014. Learn more about the Chinese Restaurant Awards Dining Guide by following along on Twitter and Facebook.
BC’s first province-wide We Heart Local Partnership Program is here. It’s the best way to find local food, making it easy for consumers who are looking for local options.
The We Heart Local Partnership Program is designed to provide greater consumer recognition for businesses and restaurants across BC offering local products or ingredients. The We ♥ Local symbol next to a food item, menu item, recipe, or establishment provides a clear assurance to consumers that they are buying local.
We Heart Local Partnership Program
Here’s how the We Heart Local Partnership Program works:
- All participating businesses in the program will receive valuable recognition on the Buy Local. Eat Natural. website, and via all Buy Local. Eat Natural. social media channels.
- All participating businesses will be listed and searchable on the newly launched Buy Local. Eat Natural. mobile app, designed to help consumers find local food options. This app, which is being promoted to British Columbians, will become the standard local food-finder for all of BC.
- All participants will have opportunities to be featured in various We Heart Local campaigns and events along with ambassador opportunities such as promoted cooking classes.
- All partners are able to use the We Heart Local brand on menus, storefronts, ads, social media, etc. to make their establishments more findable by locally conscious consumers.
“Much like the Ocean Wise program has driven support for sustainable seafood, our goal with the We Heart Local Partnership Program is to drive the consumer movement towards supporting buying local food in BC,” says Rhonda Driediger, Chair of the BC Agriculture Council, and founding partner of the We Heart Local Partnership Program.
“When businesses enlist in the We Heart Local Program, they’ll be equipped with We Heart Local brand recognition, assuring consumers they supply and support local. Without a doubt, the We Heart Local Program is something all participating businesses will be proud to be a part of.”
Qualifying criteria for the We Heart Local Partnership Program:
- Restaurant partners must have a minimum of 5 menu items made with qualifying products.
- Retail partners must offer at least 10% of their total product mix with qualifying products.
- Merchants, market vendors, food trucks, and boutique retailers must offer at least 20 qualifying products OR ensure that more than 50% of their products qualify.
- Farmers and harvesters must ensure that more than 50% of their products qualify, AND must sell directly to customers.
To apply for this program, visit the Buy Local. Eat Natural website.
We Heart Local App
The launch of the program also coincides with the launch of the new We Heart Local mobile app. This free app connects British Columbians to the local BC food community.
App features include:
- Search, explore and locate tasty local BC food places using the convenient geo-targeted map.
- View mouth-watering recipes based on fresh local BC ingredients.
- Know what’s in season and where to buy it for a fresh and healthy BC farm-to-table experience.
- Learn more about the We Heart Local community. Be proud of supporting local BC farmers for superior quality and flavourful foods.
- Save your favourite local food places and recipes so you can enjoy easy access to the best local BC foods and venues.
- Share all your favourite local food places and recipes with friends and We Heart Local community on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or email.
Buy Local. Eat Natural. is a not-for-profit community forum that aims to promote and bring together BC’s local food products, growers and producers.
An initiative from the BC agriculture sector, Buy Local. Eat Natural. is supported by the BC Agriculture Council and the BC Ministry of Agriculture and sustained by thousands of passionate local food enthusiasts, like yourself!
Follow the program online, on Facebook, Twitter #WeHeartLocal and on Pinterest.
Converted from apartments in 1929, The Ritz Hotel in Vancouver was located at 1040 West Georgia. Radio station CJOR started there in 1926, before moving out in 1930, and the building was demolished in 1982. [Source: Emporis]. The hotel had another prominent tenant whose name keeps coming up in relation to the property: Mabel Ellen Boultbee.
July 1947: View of the Ritz from West Georgia. Photographer: Don Coltman. Archives# CVA 586-4435.
Mabel Ellen Boultbee (née Springer) was born in 1875 along the shores of Moodyville and was actually the first white child ever born on Burrard Inlet. Her father was Benjamin Springer, manager of Moody’s Sawmill, and she was married to a Mr. Arthur Watkin St. John Boultbee of Winnipeg in May of 1912, but records show they were divorced.
In the 1890s she ran a school with her sister Eva and was a journalist for 30 years, writing for the Vancouver Sun’s women’s pages. [Source: Vancouver History].
1888: Grass tennis court at the Springer residence. Mabel is in this photo. Archives# Out P231.
Mabel was a prominent citizen and member of the Georgian Club. Her apartment at the Ritz Hotel, shared with Eva, was a gathering place for the city’s social elite of the 1930s and 1940s. She passed away at the Ritz in 1953, at the age of 77.
Unfortunately my online database searches pull up more information about Mabel’s place of death than about her life and work so I found it was important to recognize her in whatever way I can.
For Women’s History Month read more about women in Vancouver History like Anna Ethel Sprott, Sister Frances, Doreen Reitsma, Pauline Johnson, and others.
Mobile Madness is on now until April 3rd at Best Buy Mobile. Throughout this campaign you can get the hottest smartphones for $0 at Best Buy Mobile plus up to a $100 gift card with select smartphones.
Options include (but are not limited to) a TELUS Samsung Galaxy S4, Koodo LG Nexus 4, Fido Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, and more. Mobile Madness will also feature daily deals so stop by your nearest location for details.
Best Buy Mobile offers the best choice of phones and networks, all under one roof with informed and impartial Mobile Specialists who are there to help you throughout the life of your phone. Not only can you get the best deal on all of the hottest new smartphones, we can help you renew your contract on any carrier and help you compare pricing on all carriers in one place to help you get the best deal possible.
To promote Mobile Madness, Best Buy Mobile has generously offered up two $500 gift cards that I will give away to two very lucky Miss604 readers. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment naming a Best Buy Mobile accessory you would use (or do use) with your smartphone (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw two winners, who will each receive a gift card, from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, March 27, 2014. Follow Best Buy Canada on Facebook and Twitter for more information about Mobile Madness and other special offers and promotions.
Update The winners are @wastedmass and Darren!
The third annual Macaron Day in Vancouver will combine tasty French confections with support for a local cause. Vancouver’s own French Made Baking and Soirette will join worldwide celebration of “Macaron Day” on March 20th as they team up their fundraising efforts to help children-oriented charities BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and Make a Wish Foundation.
Soirette macarons. Photo credit:
どこでもいっしょ on Flickr
Macaron Day was founded in France (le jour du macaron) by Pierre Hermé years ago. It’s a day to celebrate the colours of spring with a bright palette of treats. Macaron Day events will be happening overseas, in New York, and in Toronto. Over the last few years it has become a Vancouver tradition as well.
Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons) are meringue-based confections commonly filled with buttercream or jam with a delicate soft and crunchy outer shell. All you need to do is visit French Made Baking or Soirette to celebrate “Macaron Day” on March 20th where you will be given a macaron and be invited to make a donation to BCCHF and Make A Wish. The suggested donation amount is $2.
French Made Baking is located at 81 Kingsway in Vancouver and they will be open from 10:00am until 6:00pm. They will have macarons for as long as supplies last. Soirette is located at 1433 West Pender in Vancouver and will be open from 10:00am to 7:00pm.
Follow @FrMadeBaking and @SoiretteMacaron on Twitter for updates leading up to Macaron Day/Jour du Macaron.
