Last August, John and I were invited to the Ka’anapali Fresh Festival on Maui, which celebrated locally-grown ingredients prepared by local chefs at a variety of unique beachfront events. On top of the festival, we toured MauiGrown Coffee, had a beer pairing lunch with Maui Brewing, and even managed to fit in a volcano sunrise.
We took plenty of photos and I posted a festival roundup and I finally have got around to writing about our accommodations… Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
The 25th Annual Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival returns to the waters of False Creek in Vancouver this week as over 200 teams competing. From Thursday, June 20th until Sunday, June 23rd everyone can enjoy the free festival and a few new events this year.
25th Anniversary Gala Fundraising Event
The Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival celebrations will begin on Thursday night (6:00pm to 10:00pm) at the 25th Anniversary Gala Fundraising Event. The Shangri-La Hotel will host an evening of fabulous food, wine from Lang Vineyards, beer from Granville Island Brewery and Twisted Tea. Tickets are $125 and are all-inclusive. Proceeds will go to the Milton K Wong Legacy Project, Kids and Youth Programs and a silent auction and balloon-pop raffle prizes will be available.
Schedule of Events
Starting at 5:00pm on Friday, the traditional blessing ceremony will take place near Creekside Community Centre. Taoist priests will “awaken the dragons” from their winter nap and invited guests will “dot the eyes” of the dragons as part of this colourful ritual. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary Celebration with live entertainment, a BBQ, and the opening of the Granville Island Beer Garden from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.
On Saturday the races start promptly at 8:00am and the site opens for other activities at 10:00am. The World Beat Stage entertainment line-up starts at 11:00am and the Granville Island Beer Garden opens up the for the day. Races and festivities will go on until about 7:00pm.
Sunday has the same morning schedule as Saturday then at 12:00pm the Championship Races begin and welcome remarks will be made from the World Beats Stage at 1:30pm. Paddlers and volunteers can enjoy a send-off in the Granville Island Been Garden at 5:00pm.
Things to See, Do, and Taste
Check out the Sponsor’s Village on site all weekend including the Marketplace and Not-Fot-Profit info booths. Slow things down at the Global Tea Lounge, learning tips from Tea Sommeliers and grab some treats from food vendors.
Duck into the Creekside Community Centre for the Dragons Den Kids Area, CircusWest Performance Cirkids, performances from Rokky Mountain, games with the Vancouver Curling Club, and more. Roaming entertainment will include CircusWest, and The DJ Trike.
Dragon Boat Teams
On top of the free fun and festivities at this amazing cultural celebration there are the hard-working dragon boat racers themselves that make this such an exciting sporting event. Hundreds of teams will compete tirelessly in False Creek throughout the weekend including the False Creek Grandragons (with members ranging from their 50s to their 80s); the Conquering Waves (by conquering waves, they hope to conquer the stigma of mental illness); and the Eric Hamber FCRCC Eternal Dragons (the longest-standing junior team in North America).
Follow all of the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival action and events on Facebook and Twitter. There are usually close to 100,000 people who enjoy the festival each year so be sure to leave the car at home and take the SkyTrain in (to Main Street), hop a bus, or bring your bike.
Pinot Noir grapes are mainly associated with Burgundy but Andy Johnston of Averill Creek Winery on Vancouver Island are putting Duncan on the global Pinot map.
Averill Creek is the largest estate grown vineyard and winery on Vancouver Island and they’re producing everything from Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer to a Foch Cab. “I’m a grape grower,” Andy told my media group earlier this spring. “Making wine is a bonus.” He, a former MD from Edmonton, and his wife Wendy founded Averill Creek in 2001 and have been growing grapes on the 40 acre estate ever since.
They began planting in 2002 using “a vertical shoot positioning system (Guyot) is used to allow for optimal photosynthesis, air circulation, and ripening.” With the region’s long, dry summers the southeastern slope of their property on Mt. Prevost is often several degrees warmer than the Cowichan Valley below. They have small-lot plantings even though they could potential yield more fruit from a number of their grape varieties. The winery sticks to a practice, and what would seem to be their mantra, of “quality over quantity”.
Andy is very proud of what they have accomplished at Averill Creek and they’ve done so in a very particular manner. They don’t crush grapes and they don’t pump wine. Everything is gravity-fed and pressed. They also do not use any American Oak and they only use screw-caps on their bottles.
His commitment to the grape and the purity of the process is definitely working. Averill Creek has been named “Victoria’s Best Local Winery” for 2013, according to readers of EAT Magazine and their pride and joy — the Averill Creek 2009 Pinot Noir Reserve — was named one of the top 25 wines from BC at the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards.
Our group got to sit down in at the winery and sample the Somenos Rose (2011), Pinot Grigio (2011), an Alsace-style Pinot Gris (2009), Foch Cab (2010) otherwise known as a fun “bubble gum wine”, and the Cowichan Black — a 100% blackberry wine. Of course we tried the Pinot Noir as well. “There’s 150 cases left in reserve and if I don’t sell it, I don’t care. It’s my drinking wine!” Andy joked and we all knew that of course, the bottles of this award-winning local Pinot Noir would soon be flying off the shelves.
As the President of the Wine Islands Growers Association Andy keeps pretty busy but you’ll probably spot him around the winery if you stop in for a visit (at 6552 North Road in Duncan). They have a tasting room and wine shop with outdoor seating for picnics and events.
Follow Averill Creek on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about the winery and events around BC where their wine is being poured. You can find their wine in several local wine + spirit shops and buy online.
Earlier this spring I discovered the beauty of an oven-fresh pizza paired with Okanagan wines and I’m pretty excited that an event all about that same marriage of flavours and textures will be taking place in Vancouver this month.
Photos courtesy of LaStella/Nicli
Nicli Pizzeria Antica is hosting the Nicli Pizzeria Winemaker’s Dinner on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 featuring wines from LaStella.
For this event, Nicli will create four award-winning Neapolitan pizzas to be paired with five newly-released wines from the South Okanagan winery, and finish with a unique dessert to be paired with LaStella’s Moscato d’Osoyoos. LaStella’s General Manager Rasoul Salehi will be introducing each of the wines.
Tickets were going for $60, inclusive of tax and gratuity. The event is now completely sold out but you can win your way in. Here’s how to win tickets for you and a guest:
Nicli is located at 62 E Cordova St in Vancouver and LaStella can be found in Osoyoos’ rich wine region. Follow them both on Twitter @LaStellaWinery and @NicliPizzeria.
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 2:00pm on Thursday, June 20, 2013. Must be 19+ to attend this event. Please enjoy responsibly and plan a safe trip home.
Update The winner is Deb!
We’re a pair of 30-somethings in the city with no kids but that doesn’t mean that every time we go out that it’s a “date night”. Running to the grocery store or market, grabbing some take-out, and covering events (when John‘s got a camera in his face the whole time) aren’t the most romantic escapades. However, we do make time to focus on each other — how else could I put together a list of Truly Vancouver Date Ideas — and whether it’s a soccer match or a concert, we put make sure to put each other in the spotlight. Last week we had the opportunity to have a fantastic date night in downtown Vancouver, that really came together at the last minute.
St. Regis Hotel
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the St. Regis Hotel, located on the corner of Dunsmuir and Seymour. It’s one of those hotels that I have walked by, read about, and written about, but have never entered — until last week. We booked a night there last Thursday and after reading that it is ranked within the Top 10 hotels in Vancouver on TripAdvisor I knew we were in for a treat.
I arrived early so I waited in the business centre, using complimentary WIFI, while our room was getting made up. Once it was ready I headed up to the third floor of the beautifully restored boutique hotel. Dark woods, bright blue and green artwork, and textured wallpaper gave even the hallways a refreshed yet classic feeling.
Arriving in the room I turned on the universale power switch by the door. I had read up on the energy-saving elements at the St. Regis and it’s a good thing too because when I went into the bathroom, which was already soaked by natural light through the window, the light switch didn’t work. It’s kind of an automatic way to save energy when no one’s around or when you don’t necessarily need to have lights on.
There was a convenient power strip near the desk in the bedroom so I could plug in my laptop (and soak up some of that energy I was saving by leaving the blinds open and turning off the lights), a television in the living room area and the bedroom, and the bathroom was huge with double sinks and optional in-floor heating.
I walked down to the St. Regis Liquor Store in Granville SkyTrain station to meet John after work and pick up a bottle of Okanagan wine to enjoy in the room before we headed out for the night. We polished off some room service, which was reasonably priced for a hotel (about $35 for two large dinners), had some sips of the complimentary Fiji water in our suite, and we were on our way.
Les Misérables
I go to the Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, plays, musicals, and other performances all the time (for work, mostly) but it’s rare that I have John by my side in the audience. Luckily, he’s a fan of Les Misérables so I knew he would be game for this performance when it came to town. We walked out of the St. Regis on Dunsmuir, headed a few blocks east, and we were right at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre no more than 5 minutes later.
Photo credit: Deen van Meer. “One Day More” The Company of the New 25th Anniversary of Les Miserables.
Broadway Across Canada’s Les Misérables (presented by Cameron Mackintosh) was a bit different from previous shows I have seen based on the legendary literary work of Victor Hugo. Artistic elements in this all-new 25th anniversary production of Boublil & Schönberg’s musical revealed imagery and scenery inspired by the paintings of Hugo himself. Deep, dark, and peppered with colour from the 19th century costumes that ranged from rags to uniforms and ball gowns.
Hooked from the start of the first act, chills ran from your spine to your finger tips during The ABC Café / Red and Black, Éponine’s On My Own and the powerful Do You Hear the People Sing?. Standouts for us were Gaten Matarazzo as Gavroche, Erin Cearlock as Little Cosette, and Briana Carlson-Goodman as Éponine.
Jean Valjean was played by Peter Lockyer who evoked even more emotion from the audience with his almost operatic performance. Crowd-favourites in any version of the show, Madame Thénardier and Thénardier played by Shawna Hamic and Timothy Gulan provided comic relief and garnered some great hoots n’ hollers during the standing ovation that followed the finale.
At the end of the night we walked the few quick blocks back to the St. Regis after the show and slept soundly until it was time for our complimentary breakfast (complimentary for every guest). Served from 6:30am until 10:00am on weekdays, this was a full-serve, sit-down breakfast with juice and coffee right in the hotel. John packed up and headed to work, and I packed us up to head for home, just across town. The staff at the front desk was incredibly helpful and pleasant, even when I absentmindedly mixed up my St. Regis Liquor Store charge with a charge from the hotel. Our date night in the city — in our own city — was a great way to slow things down mid-week and enjoy Vancouver’s hospitality and culture.
Les Misérables is only in Vancouver until June 23rd so be sure to book your tickets through Broadway Across Canada for one of the 2:00pm matinées or an 8:00pm performance. For more information about Les Misérables and Broadway Across Canada’s other productions, follow them on Twitter @BACTouring. Find out more about the St. Regis Hotel on Twitter @TheSTRegisHotel and on Facebook.
