Vancouver's best-kept restaurant secrets

Directly from the PICA Press Release:

Name Our Restaurant Contest!

Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts is excited to announce some changes to our onsite student-operated restaurant.  Coming in July - a new look, a new menu and (with your help) a new name!

We are looking for your help in choosing a name for our restaurant.

Entrants should take into consideration some of things that are important us and make us unique - we are a culinary school, we support our local businesses and suppliers, we are located near Granville Island and Fisherman’s Wharf, our restaurant has a beautfiul marina view.

To be eligible, entries must be submitted no later than Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 12:00 NOON (Pacific Standard Time).

Contest is restricted to B.C. residents, 18 years of age or older.

In the event that multiple entries are received for the same restaurant name and the name is chosen for the restaurant, a draw will be held to determine the winner of the contest prize.

The winning entrant will receive a gift certificate for dinner in our restaurant for four people valued at up to $200.00

Send your entry, along with your name, telephone number and email address to contest@picachef.com or fax to 604.734.4408.

Good Luck!

Directly from The Crime Lab Press Release:

June 18 2009 (Vancouver, BC) – The Crime Lab Restaurant in Coal Harbour is notorious for its innovative Martini list and now every Monday our Martinis will be only $7 including taxes.

Our bartender takes special pride in our unique and deadly Martini list that includes specialties like the “Smoking Gun” (vodka, cacao, Baileys & espresso), the “Third Degree” (tequila, amaretto, sweet & sour), and the “Body Bag” (vodka, melon, sour apple & lime).

Monday Martini is the perfect way to beat both the summertime heat and the economic recession.  Kick back on our patio and enjoy the cool air coming off the water while you indulge in a transcendent cocktail.  We’re open late, giving you the chance to drop by with your friends after a show or to rendezvous with that intriguing brunette for a romantic interlude.  And our kitchen is serving up tasty gems until 12:30 pm, so no late-night craving need go unsatisfied!

Crime Lab Restaurant

100-550 Denman Street, Vancouver

Open Daily 4:00pm – 1:00am

Directly form the Bishop’s Press Release:

(Vancouver, BC) – When you think of dinner at Bishop’s, you don’t usually imagine it coming out of a box but that is literally what will happen this coming July and August. Bishop’s Executive Chef Andrea Carlson is a huge supporter of CSA’s – Community Supported Agriculture. For those who are not yet familiar, CSAs allow small-producer farmers to pre-sell their crops. For a fee, people ‘subscribe’ to share in the harvest. Each week during the season, ‘shareholders’ receive a box brimming with just-picked, organic produce straight from the farm.

The trick with this system is that you never know exactly what you are going to receive from week to week. You might have a fair idea based on what is in season but you never actually know until you lift the lid. “Every week is a special creative challenge,” says Chef Carlson. “It’s a bit like Christmas, every box is a surprise - it’s a lot of fun to work with.”

Currently Bishop’s is supplied by two CSAs – Glorious Organics Cooperative (Fraser Common Farm) and City Farm Boy.

More than 30 years ago, a group of like-minded people banded together to form Fraser Common Farm Cooperative which bought its first ten acres of farmland near Aldergrove. Eight years ago, they were able to purchase a neighbouring property thereby doubling their land base and production. Two co-ops - Fraser Common Farm Co-op, whose shareholders own the land, and Glorious Organics Co-op, who farm it - work together to run this ‘community farm.’ Members of the farming co-op are all shareholders in the land co-op. David Catzel, who heads up the CSA ‘division’ of the Fraser Common Farm, says they grow more than 30 varieties of salad greens along with peas, beans, squash, garlic, herbs, onions, leeks, beets, carrots, potatoes, fennel, Jerusalem artichokes and edible flowers.

City Farm Boy, the brainchild of Ward Teulon, is the ‘new kid’ on the CSA block. Mr. Teulon’s approach is unique, he farms plots of land within Vancouver – usually yard gardens in private homes or unused allotment spaces. This year he is selling only 30 ‘shares’ and has planted a wide range of produce: beans, broad beans, beets, carrots, rhubarb, sugar snap peas, cucumbers along with several varieties of lettuce, peppers and tomatoes to name only a small portion of the 2009 crop.

“From each box I create a menu that accommodates approximately 10 people as our fresh sheet and early bird menus. When it’s gone it’s gone. They send what they harvest - that’s the point - it’s sharing in a portion of the harvest - not customizing,” says Chef Carlson.

The three-course ‘Out of the Box’ early bird menu is available every evening in July and August (while supplies last) from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The price of only $38 is certainly a pleasant surprise.

If you wish to add a wine pairing created by Maitre d’ Abel Jacinto, then that is an additional $20 for 3 oz. pours or $38 if you prefer larger 6 oz. pours.