Strathcona Business Improvement Association (“SBIA”) has brought back its popular Dine Strathcona culinary event from November 17 to 30, 2021 as nineteen of the neighbourhood’s beloved independent restaurants, cafés and breweries come together to raise money in support of vulnerable community members within Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
I also have $300 in gift cards to give away – details below!
Belgard Kitchen (top left & right), The Garden (bottom left & right)
Dine Strathcona
First launched in 2019, the two-week community festival invites locals and visitors to savour special promotional dishes at food and drink hotspots in the vibrant neighbourhood — including The Mackenzie Room, Superflux, Strathcona Beer Company, Dosanko and The Garden Strathcona to name a few — with $5 from the sale of each Dine Strathcona menu feature donated directly to the festival’s 2021 community partner, HAVE Culinary Training Society.
Guided by a philosophy of Hope, Action, Values and Ethics, HAVE Culinary Training Society is a not-for-profit organization that provides accessible food service training and employment opportunities to members of the community who face barriers to employment such as poverty, homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges. Over the past 14 years they have successfully trained 1,200 students with over 75% of them gaining steady employment in the tourism and hospitality industry. Since March 2020, the kitchen at HAVE’s on-site café has been utilized to prepare over 1,000 meals per day for at-risk individuals who have experienced food insecurity due to the pandemic.
“For the third year in a row, the Dine Strathcona festival gives diners the chance to support a worthy cause while discovering the incredible culinary talents and community spirit that make Strathcona such a unique and special neighbourhood,” says Johanna Lauyanto, Manager, Communications & Sustainability at the SBIA. “The money raised during this year’s event will provide funding to enroll new students in HAVE’s culinary training program and help secure job placements for new graduates in Metro Vancouver restaurants.”
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a $300 gift card prize package from @StrathconaBIA! #DineStrathcona is on now until November 30th in support of @HaveCafe http://ow.ly/RFWN50GRriw” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, November 25, 2021. UPDATE the winner is Amanda!
It’s been an incredibly tough and trying week in BC, first and foremost I hope that folks are safe and sound even while displaced or evacuated by the devastated flooding. If you are looking to support the relief efforts here are some links: Red Cross (donation page), and big lists of beneficiaries via GoFundMe and CanadaHelps.
If you are around the city and are looking for activities and events, you can find a big list of things to do in Metro Vancouver this weekend below including the Portobello West Holiday Market on Saturday and Sunday at the Roundhouse in Yaletown:
H Tasting Lounge at the Westin Bayshore in Downtown Vancouver is serving up festive cocktails inspired by holiday film favourites from November 20 to December 25, 2021.
Holiday Movie Themed Cocktails at H Tasting Lounge. Photo submitted.
Holiday Movie Themed Cocktails at H Tasting Lounge
Can you guess all of the movies that inspired these delicious drinks? Here’s the special menu available this season from H Tasting Lounge:
1. Network President ‘Champagne’ Mionetto Treviso Brut Prosecco, Demerara, Menta Branca, Bitters, Black Olive Brine 2. Total Agony of Love Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka, Frangelico, Love Buzz Sour Reduction, Lemon, Oat Milk, Pinot Noir Soda
Hot Chocolate Housemade Hot Chocolate, Mint, Whipped Cream, Crushed Candy Cane
Evoking the glamour of early 20th-century Hollywood, H Tasting Lounge offers a robust line-up of handcrafted cocktails, curated by premium bartenders and complemented with local tasting plates. Unwind in the sophisticated, plush velvet interior, or dine within translucent ‘Winterlust’ domes in the winter. Open daily for lunch and dinner service, and for afternoon tea service on weekends.
Touchstone Theatre welcomes audiences back to live theatre with Lights by Adam Grant Warren, its first production since the 2020 COVID shutdown, and the thematic flagship for their forthcoming season “Let There Be Lights” which heralds a brave return to the stage after a challenging eighteen months.
Lights – Susinn McFarlen, Adam Grant Warren. Photo credit David Cooper
Touchstone Theatre Presents Lights
When: December 2 (Preview), December 3 (Opening) – December 12, 2021
Where: Firehall Arts Centre (280 E Cordova St, Vancouver)
All patrons must wear masks, including at their seats. Patrons should come prepared with both a valid government issued photo I.D. AND their BC vaccine card ready to show staff for admittance to the theatre.
Directed by Touchstone Theatre’s Artistic Director Roy Surette and set against the backdrop of a pandemic Christmas, Lights follows the story of Evan Chaulk (Adam Grant Warren), a schoolteacher and wheelchair user who returns to his family home in Newfoundland for Christmas to discover his mother Nancy (Susinn McFarlen), a strong-willed retired teacher is adapting to life with Alzheimer’s Disease. Unsettling, daring, and funny – Lights is a portrait of a tight-night family facing profound life changes and discovering what remains when a lifetime of memories begins to fade away.
As Touchstone Theatre’s first of three World Premieres this season, the three-time pandemic postponed production is more than ready to meet its audience:
“We are delighted to finally stage Adam’s gorgeous and powerful new play,” says Roy Surette, Touchstone Artistic Director. “Though set during a Christmas visit home to Newfoundland, it’s not your typical holiday fare. It’s a rich and intimate look at family dynamics, adapting to change, and finding strength in unusual places.”
Lights was developed through Touchstone’s Flying Start Program, an incubator supporting the next generation of theatre artists through the commissioning of new Canadian works by early career playwrights. Along with dramaturgical support, the program culminates in a full-scale production as part of Touchstone’s Mainstage series. Flying Start is supported by RBC Emerging Artists program and is produced In Association with Firehall Arts Centre.
Lights features Jessie award-winning Adam Grant Warren (Kill Me Now, Touchstone Theatre), Susinn McFarlen(The Taming of the Shew, Bard on the Beach), and Leslie Dos Remedios (Thanks for Giving, Arts Club Theatre).
Win Tickets
I have a pair of tickets to give away to see Lights live at the Firehall Arts Centre, here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Copy/paste the following on Twitter (1 entry)
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win tickets to @TouchstoneInVan’s LIGHTS at the @FirehallArtsCte #LightsTT http://ow.ly/Ggmn50GR2t3″ quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, November 25 ,2021. UPDATE the winner is Lori!
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by Steffani CameronDisclosure: Review — Steffani received a discounted media rate for the Blue Horizon. Views and opinions are her own. Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
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In Vancouver, rain is more than just a verb and a noun. It’s a mood and a season. Some days are so wet you think you’ll never see sun again. You can’t fight it, so try to enjoy it – and the best way to do that is from behind a window.
Blue Horizon views by Steffani Cameron
And for over 50 years, Vancouver’s Blue Horizon Hotel has had some of the city’s best windows for watching the world below – and any weather incoming. The 30-floor Blue Horizon Hotel has dominated Vancouver’s West End skyline at 1255 Robson Street since 1967.
