Postcard from Vancouver BC | Springtime Past

Tulips along English Bay in Stanley Park

I'm missing my planned visit to Vancouver, BC this spring -- always my favorite time of year. The flowers are blooming, the summer crowds haven't arrived and the city shines in all its vibrant colors. But not this year. In fact, the border closure between the US and Canada has been extended to June 22 due to the coronavirus -- and also closed between the US and Mexico. So in the meantime, I'll reflect on the good times I always have in Vancouver, and jog my memory via trips from the past. O Canada! Hope to see you soon.

This Inukshuk has been overlooking English Bay since 1987

Horse-drawn tours in Stanley Park are popular.

Tulips overlooking False Creek from Granville Island. 

©SueFrausePhotos

Top Chef Canada Dale MacKay brings the Prairies to Vancouver for Edible Canada's Coast to Coast Dinner Series

Season One Top Chef Canada winner Dale Mackay is bringing his award-winning talents to Vancouver BC. The renowned chef will be cooking the second of Edible Canada's Coast to Coast Dinner Series on March 2, 2015. Produced by Edible Canada and held at its bistro on Granville Island, the dinner is part of a year-long series celebrating the provinces of Canada (February's Yukon Month dinner sold out). The evening celebrates MacKay's home province of Saskatchewan where he was born and raised. He is currently the chef and owner of the award winning restaurant Ayden Kitchen & Bar in Saskatoon. 

Chef MacKay won the inaugural season of Top Chef Canada and has cooked in some of the country's top kitchens. A former protege of Chef Gordon Ramsay, MacKay took over for Rob Feenie at the now dark but illustrious Lumiere in Vancouver. He returned to his hometown of Saskatoon where he opened Ayden Kitchen & Bar, focusing on modern Canadian comfort food. 

"We are incredibly excited to have Chef MacKay join us behind the stoves as part of this series," said Edible Canada President and Executive Chef Eric Patemen. "Dale is that change-making chef leading the charge in celebrating and defining our food culture." 

MacKay's dinner will highlight the food indigenous to the Prairies and the history and heritage of Saskatchewan. The three-course sit-down feast is open to 75 diners, and each course will be paired with handcrafted cocktails created by Ayden Kitchen & Bar's GM and Mixologist Christopher Cho. 

Tickets for the dinner on Monday, March 2 (6-10 PM) are $125 and may be booked online at Edible Canada. 

Granville Island hosts 27th Annual Vancouver Writers Fest, October 21-26, 2014

Entrance to Vancouver's Granville Island. 
©SueFrausePhoto

The 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest, October 21-26 on Granville Island, features 103 national and international authors. During the six-day festival of the word, some of the biggest European names in writing will join Canadian and other international writers to present 86 events -- the largest in the festival's 27-year history. The Festival features panel discussions, one-on-one interviews, poetry jams, spoken word performances and readings accompanied by musicians. The Writers Fest also presents daytime events for K-12 students, in both French and English. More than 5,000 young readers are expected on Granville Island.

Festival headliners include Ireland's Colm Toibin (above), Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard, Herman Koch from the Netherlands, French author Maylis de Kerangel and Iceland's Sjon, famed as the lyricist for Bjork. 

Among the Canadian authors are Ann-Marie MacDonald (above), Thomas King, Michael Crummey, Steven Galloway, Miriam Toews, Emma Donoghue, William Gibsom, Terry Fallis, Caroline Adderson, Charles Foran and Kathleen Winter. From the UK the Festival presents three-time Booker-prize nominated author Sarah Waters, Cory Doctorow, Kate Pullinger and award winning-mystery writer Louise Welsh.

American authors at the Festival include Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley, Man Booker Prize nominee Joshua Ferris and famed crime fiction author James Ellroy. Rounding out the international roster are two-time Book Prize finalist Damon Galgut of South Africa, Australia's Tim Winton and Christos Tsiolkas, Pakistan's Musharraf Ali Farooqi and Lebandon's Rabih Alameddine. 

This year's Festival also features non-fiction writers, including Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, presenting his new memoir in a conversation with CBC's Stephen Quinn on October 24. Other writers are This Is Your Brain on Music's Daniel Levitin, Canadian science journalist Bob McDonald and The New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos -- whose focus is on China. 

Alan Doyle performs with Great Big Sea on a 2008 Caribbean cruise.
©SueFrausePhoto

Vancouver Writers Fest Special Events

November 10 | Singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn presents his memoir, Rumours of Glory | St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church | 7:30 PM

November 13 | Newfoundland singer-songwriter Alan Doyle talks about his new memoir, Where I Belong | Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island | 7:30 PM

November 13 | Conrad Black presents his re-examination of Canadian history | St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church | 

7:30 PM 

Tickets for the Vancouver Writers Fest are available online at vancouvertix.com or at 604.629.8849. A program of events is online at www.writersfest.bc.ca. Tickets are also available at the Writers Fest Box Office, 1398 Cartwright Street in Vancouver.

Plated & Paired at Granville Island Public Market kicks off Dine Out Vancouver Festival

Colorful entertainers at the 2012 Dine Out Vancouver Plated & Paired event. Photo by Sue Frause.

I took a snowy ride on Amtrak Cascades to Vancouver in January 2012 for the opening night event of Tourism Vancouver's annual Dine Out Vancouver Festival. This year they're again kicking off the foodie festival with Plated & Paired at the Granville Island Public Market. The after-hours event is Friday, January 18 from 8-10 PM, and features chefs from four of Granville Island's restaurants (Bridges Restaurant, Sandbar Seafood Restaurant, The Keg on Granville Island, Edible Canada). There will also be a dozen food vendors from the Public Market, along with 34 BC wineries. You won't leave hungry!

Granville Island Public Market. Photo by Sue Frause.

It was a bit crowded for my taste, so be prepared to do some elbowing and cozy schmoozing, and wear comfortable shoes. Live jazz will add to the mix, and no doubt there will be some colorful characters at the event. Plus, it's fun to roam around the Public Market after hours. Tickets are $38 and go on sale Friday, December 14. They may be ordered online at dineoutvancouver.com/events. 

Benton Brothers Fine Cheese will be at Plated & Paired. Sue Frause photo.

Now in its 11th year, Dine Out Vancouver runs January 18-February 3, 2013. The 17-day festival offers three-course, prix fixe menus priced at $18-$28-$38. More than 200 restaurants (to be announced online January 7) are participating, along with "flash in the pan" foodie events. A number of Vancouver area hotels are offering special Dine Out Vancouver room rates and packages. I stayed at the Granville Island Hotel last year, so it was an easy trek for me to the Public Market event, with breakfast the next morning at Edible Canada.  

This sweet lady showed up at Plated & Paired in 2012. Will she be back in? Photo by Sue Frause. 

Returning this year along with Plated & Paired are Street Food City; Secret Supper Soiree; and Act I, Eat 1. New additions include The Grape Debate (a lively wine debate followed by BC wine pairings); Tea Cocktails & tapas (tea-infused cocktail class paired with tasty tapas at The Urban Tea Merchant); and a experiential Speaker Series at Edible Canada on Granville Island where you'll taste cheese, wine, beer, bitters and more with the guidance of a local expert. 

Last year's Secret Supper Soiree during Dine Out Vancouver. Photo by Sue Frause.

Halloween in Vancouver: October a time for family activities, spooky tours and pumpkin donuts

Halloween at Granville Island Public Market. Sue Frause photo.

I recently spent three nights in Vancouver, complete with sun, wind and rain. No matter the weather, autumn is one of my favorite seasons in this coastal city. The summer crowds have disappeared, leaves are changing color and falling to the ground, and the air is fresh after a much needed rainfall. Plus, there's plenty going on in the City of Glass during the Halloween season, scary or not. Here are a few things to do:

Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train: Hop aboard this seasonal train and go deep into the forest for the Scary Fairy Tales ride. Fun for families with young children, with a balance of both fun and fear. There's also face painting, crafts and a haunted maze -- all included with train admission. The train operates through the month of October. Check online for hours and ticket prices.

The Vancouver Police Museum on a dark and rainy night. Sue Frause photo.

The Vancouver Trolley Company's Haunted Halloween: Take this 2.5 ride with your very own spooky guide in a decorated trolley. You'll visit some of the city's eeriest locations such as Vancouver's morgue and Mountain View Cemetery. Operating in conjunction with the Vancouver Police Museum, the tours run Oct. 19-31, every day at 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 PM. There are also 9:30 PM tours on Fridays, Saturdays and Halloween night. All tours depart from Canada Place (arrive 15 minutes prior to departure). For ages 13+ and by reservation only. Call 604.801.5515 to book your spooky tour.

Blood Alley in Gastown has its own gory story. Sue Frause photo.

The Lost Souls of Gastown: This special guided walking tour by Forbidden Vancouver takes people through the city's oldest and most gruesome streets and alleyways. Tours are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at 6:30 PM during the month of October and also on Halloween, Oct. 31. Tours depart from Cathedral Square at Dunsmuir and Richards. 

Murders, Mysteries & Mayhem: This 90-minute evening walking tour reveals stories about Vancouver's unsolved murders, riots, gangsters and "the nefarious side of our city's history the other tours won't talk about." On Friday-Saturday-Sunday (plus Halloween night). Tours start at the Centennial Fountain in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and leave at 6 and 8 PM. You'll end up in Gastown near Blood Alley.

Parade of Lost Souls' Festival: This annual celebration (Oct. 17-27, 2012) features seven specialty workshops and culminates with a Secret Soul's Walk on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 5-9 PM. Honoring the dearly departed and waking the still living, skeleton brides and witches dance under streetlights. Meanwhile, a torch-lit procession wends its way past homes, streets and alleys of Commercial Drive. The public is invited to be a part of the passing parade, with the journey ending in a grand finale featuring torch choreography and fireworks. Following the Secret Soul's Walk is the Parade of Lost Souls Dance Party at The Rickshaw Theatre.

Sampling donuts on the Granville Island Market Tour. Sue Frause photo.

Pumpkin Donuts on Granville Island: Every October, Lee's Donuts brings out its autumn specialty, a pumpkin donut. As many times as I've been to the Granville Island Public Market, I've never stopped at Lee's, which has been a mainstay since 1985. This time, while on a two-hour walking/sampling tour with Edible Canada, I didn't have a chance to bypass it. Our tour guide Viviana took our group to the shop, and we sampled both the traditional yeast honey dip donuts (which I call glazed donuts), and one of the seasonal cake-style pumpkin donuts. Yum on both! The pumpkin donuts are only available during the month of October, made with fresh pumpkin and "secret" spices.