Vancouver's best-kept restaurant secrets

Directly from the press release:

Whistler celebrates most successful Cornucopia ever

Whistler, B.C. – Sumptuous wine and food tastings, gourmet winemaker dinners and more fabulous parties, seminars and events were the buzz in Whistler last weekend during Cornucopia, Whistler’s Annual Celebration of Wine and Food, held November 8-12.

Selling 83 per cent of the total ticket inventory, the highly successful 2007 Cornucopia outsold last year’s event by more than 23 per cent, recording the highest ticket sales ever.

This year’s Cornucopia drew on the popularity of previous years to expand programming over four days, adding another evening of the Crush! Gala Grand Tasting, and doubling the number of legendary Crush! After Parties to four. Cornucopia 2007 also saw the addition of two daytime tastings, a Regional Walkabout featuring the wines of California and Washington State, all paired with scrumptious hors d’oeuvres.

Offering wines from 75 wineries and an incredible array of food from more than 14 Whistler area restaurants and top chefs, Crush! – Cornucopia’s signature wine and food tasting event – drew a near sell out crowd on Friday night and sold out on Saturday night, even as capacity doubled. Many Cornucopia festivities sold out of tickets entirely, including the Cornucopia opening night House Party, the Chef’s Table Luncheon Series, the Chef’s Trip to the Farm, as well as several winemaker dinners and seminars including the Cornucopia Mini Tasting Series, Asian Persuasion and Rare Wines, among others.

“Ticket sales continue to grow year over year thanks to our original festival programming and expansion of some of Cornucopia’s most popular events,” says Michelle Payette, manager of events, Tourism Whistler.

Payette adds, “The festival’s popularity speaks to Cornucopia’s innovative programming, uniting vintners all over the world with local restaurants, some of the region’s most respected chefs, and British Columbia’s amazing bounty of fresh, local and organic ingredients – all enjoyed against the backdrop of Whistler’s stunning mountain landscape and Whistler’s uniquely casual, fun and friendly vibe.”

Dates for the 2008 Cornucopia festival are November 6-10.