When Mark Taylor, owner and sommelier at Cru (1459 West Broadway), decided to open another restaurant, he knew exactly the type of neighbourhood joint it would be: simple, casual Mediterranean food and wine served in the South Granville area he’s resided in for the past nine years.

Siena (1485 12th Avenue), which opened in February, is just that—a “once-a-week restaurant,” Taylor told the Straight by phone. “The idea is affordability.”

Inspired by his travels to the Mediterranean, Taylor said that he initially wanted to open an Italian restaurant, but then decided to include French and Spanish offerings on the menu and wine list as well.

“It expands our options. I come at most things with a wine perspective,” Taylor said.

The menu, which has a rustic, mostly Italian feel, was a collaborative effort between long-time Cru executive chef Alana Peckham and sous chef Tim Evans, who will be leading the kitchen at Siena. Highlights include housemade pastas ($15 to $18), such as braised lamb ravioli and Qualicum Bay scallop risotto; small plates ($6 to $12), such as grilled squid with chorizo stuffing; and entrée-sized proteins ($21), such as grilled sirloin. The restaurant will also have a list of daily chalkboard specials that includes a fish of the day at market price.

Similar to Cru, Taylor will be in charge of the wine selection at Siena, which he says will be limited to a constantly rotating 20 to 30 bottles from the Mediterranean region.

“It’ll be mostly wines that aren’t available through the regular B.C. liquor stores as I find them,” Taylor said.

The 42-seat restaurant is currently open from 5 p.m. nightly. The dinner menu is available until 10 p.m., and the bar menu is offered until 11 p.m. Taylor is looking to add a brunch menu, which will continue Siena’s Mediterranean theme, for weekends and holidays shortly.

“I imaging a good savoury tarte, a frittata… No eggs over-easy or bacon, but then again, nothing too exotic and weird—just comfort food,” he said. “The neighbourhood has a couple of options, but I think there’s lots of room for brunch here.

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

Here’s another reason to look forward to summer: chef Robert Belcham has a new restaurant in the works that he aims to open “by ice cream season”. For a month or so, he and business partner Tom Doughty have been working on the new space at 566 Powell Street, down the block from Oppenheimer Park in the Downtown Eastside. It will be called Fat Dragon Bar-B-Que and will involve small plates built on Southern barbecued meat with an Asian twist. “It’s East meets South,” Belcham describes it, on the line with the Straight.

The team behind Refuel, Campagnolo, and Campagnolo Roma is bringing in long-time chef Ted Anderson as a partner in this venture. When Fat Dragon opens, Anderson will become executive chef for all the restaurants.

Ted Anderson, one of the three partners in the new Fat Dragon Bar-B-Que.

Belcham is well known for his nose-to-tail cooking and love of smoked meats. At Fat Dragon, he’s bringing in a Southern-style smoker from Missouri, and “everything will have a smoked element to it.” It will also have an Asian twist. He explains that he and his partners have always been fans of Asian cooking—including Chinese barbecued pork and duck—so “this is our homage to all those great Asian flavours.”

Slated for the menu at Fat Dragon is smoked lamb heart larb with mint, bird’s eye chili, and toasted rice.

They’re not aiming for Asian authenticity. Rather, they’ll be doing smoked dishes with Asian marinades or condiments; for example, Polderside duck that’s marinated in red curry, then smoked, then seared. There will be slow-cooked beef ribs glazed with sweet soy, fried rice with pig snout, noodles with drippings from the smoker, and bao buns with smoked tofu. Most dishes will run $10 to $15.

Fat Dragon’s Jalan Alor chicken wings with a Malaysian marinade and iceberg lettuce.

Belcham says the success of Campagnolo--in a Main Street location that many people initially questioned--prompted them to consider the Downtown Eastside for this restaurant. The partners also wanted to “do something positive for the neighbourhood and put our money where our mouth is…There are so many people who have no problem giving money, charity, to the downtown eastside, but not too many people will open a business on the Downtown Eastside. That’s one of the reasons why we’re doing it.”

Diners who save room for dessert will be able to order house-made, natural soft-serve ice cream made with tropical fruits from the nearby Sunrise market. That’s not exactly Asian, nor is it exactly Southern. So why the soft serve? “Everybody loves soft-serve ice cream,” Belcham says with a chuckle. “That’s why we’re doing it.”

Why not?

Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali

Cocktail enthusiasts have been in their element since Sunday, sipping drinks at events that make up the Tales of the Cocktail on Tour Vancouver festival. Last night (February 13), eight local restaurants put on “spirited dinners” in which chefs and bartenders paired food and drink along different themes.

At Hawksworth Restaurant, chef David Hawksworth and bar and lounge manager Brad Stanton teamed up on a southern‐themed dinner matched with the Sazerac portfolio of rye and bourbon whiskeys.

As a guest at the media table, I sampled their creations and talked to Stanton about what he sees as bourbon’s growing popularity over the past four or five years. He attributes this to the resurgence of craft bartending.

“If you ask most serious bartenders what they drink, a lot of them drink bourbon and beer,” Stanton said. He explained that bourbon is a very versatile spirit; unlike, gin, for example, it’s good for sipping straight as well as mixing. It is also an ingredient in many classic cocktails.

A selection of Brad Stanton’s Sazerac creations.

The bar at Hawksworth stocks about 40 American whiskeys, and Stanton said that bourbon has been very popular with customers. “Bourbon can be love at first taste because it’s a mellow style of whiskey,” he explained. “It can get people into whiskey a lot easier than single malt.”

At Monday’s dinner, Stanton created six cocktails. To pair with Hawksworth’s Cajun fluke sashimi, he made a drink of Eagle Rare 10-year-old bourbon mixed with passion fruit, Peychaud’s bitters, and bubbles. To infuse the drink with hibiscus, he steeped the whole flowers in syrup using a sous vide technique “at blood temperature”. Doing so “extends great flavour without any bitterness,” he explained.

Hawksworth’s short ribs, braised for 48 hours in cola and bourbon, were paired with a bacon-infused Ridgemont 1792 bourbon mixed with a big, tannic wine, and kola nut aromatic bitters.

David Hawksworth’s 48-hour cola-and-bourbon braised short ribs with grits, liquorice, and puffed sorghum.

The dinner finished with a deconstructed apple pie dessert paired with a dram of Sazerac’s Antique Series 2011 18-year-old rye, alongside smoked coconut water. Stanton recalled how last November, he and several colleagues rose early to each snag one of the 18 bottles released that day in B.C. The coveted rye, which according to Stanton is “in a league of its own”, is still available at Hawksworth’s bar.

Tales of the Cocktail continues tomorrow (February 15). Tonight (February 14), about two dozen bars around town are featuring original cocktails as part of the event’s B.C. Bar Crawl. For more info, see talesofthecocktail.com/.

Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali

Step 1: Invite a vegan to your kitchen.

Step 2: Get plastered.

You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Since Top Chef Canada premiered last April, it has become the highest-rated series on Food Network Canada (sorry Gordon, Guy, and Jamie). So it’s no surprise that the TV network has renewed the competition-style cooking show, which pits Canadian chefs against one another for a $100,000 prize and the title of “Top Chef”.

Top Chef Canada Season 2 starts March 12, and with a new season comes a new host—Canadian actor Lisa Ray—and 16 new competitors hailing from across the country.

This season, four of the 16 chefs are from B.C.

Trevor Bird, whose hometown is Montreal, is the sole competitor from Vancouver. The 28-year-old chef previously worked at Vancouver’s Shangri-La Hotel, and at Truffert and Restaurant Garcon in Montreal. Bird currently runs his own catering business called Trevor Bird Cooking and is in the process of opening his own restaurant.

Bird’s competitor, Jimmy Stewart, is a 23-year-old chef from Whistler. He grew up in North Vancouver and has cooked alongside Top Chef Canada Season 1 winner Dale MacKay at Lumiere and DB Bistro Moderne, Stewart is currently the soush chef at Whistler’s Bearfoot Bistro.

Kunal Ghose is the third competitor from B.C., hailing from Victoria, where he was raised and currently resides. Ghose, who is 39, is the chef and co-creator of Redfish Bluefish, a gourmet, local and sustainable fish shack in Victoria’s inner harbor. Ghose’s Bengali, Scottish, Greek, and Chilean background plays a large influence on his creative cooking.

Finally, Tofino’s Joel Aubie, who is currently the head chef at Shelter Restaurant, will compete on the second season. Aubie, who was born and raised in Bathurst, New Brunswick, relocated to Tofino to pursue his two loves: surfing and cooking. The 27-year-old chef has worked in kitchens across the country, including Tofino’s Wickaninnish Inn.

Visit the Food Network Canada website for a complete list of competitors.

Who will you be cheering for on Top Chef Canada Season 2?

Watch Vancouver chef Trevor Bird’s audition video.

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to stop eating fast food (or to stop eating as much), the photo above might help keep you motivated.

The pink foamy substance is ammonium hydroxide, a chemical made of ammonia and water that’s used to kill bacteria, and most commonly found in household cleaning products and fertilizers. Up until a few months ago, it was a product also found in hamburger meat at McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S.

Earlier this week, the fast food company released a statement saying that it no longer used “select lean beef trimmings” soaked in ammonium hydroxide. A representative for McDonald’s also stated that the elimination of ammonium hydroxide from its processed meat had nothing to do with a nearly year-long campaign launched by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver against the use of the chemical additive in foods.

On an episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, the British chef demonstrated how inedible beef scraps could be rendered into hamburger meat with the use of a “pink slime”. He also claimed that this “slime” was currently being used in a variety of foods including meat, bread and cake products, and school cafeteria dishes. Ammonia hydroxide is “generally recognized as safe” by the U.S. Agriculture Department.

McDonald’s restaurant’s use of ammonium hydroxide has only reportedly been used in its beef patties in the U.S. According to the list of product ingredients on the McDonald’s Canada website, hamburger patties in Canada contain 100 percent beef only.

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

Fifteen months after starting up, Vancouver’s Sprout vegan bakery is shutting down.

Ashley McLean, the 26-year-old entrepreneur behind Sprout, made the announcement on Monday (January 30).

On the bakery’s Facebook page, McLean wrote:

With great sadness I am announcing the upcoming closing of Sprout; I appreciate the support of our customers and retailers as well as friends and family over the past year. Although only for a small amount of time, I believe that my goal of creating options and awareness for the vegan community as well as animal cruelty has been reached. However, after careful consideration I have decided that operating Sprout is not the best option for me at this time.

McLean added in a Facebook comment that this is the “last week for orders” of her cakes and cupcakes.

Sprout products have been sold at Bonchaz Bakery Café (426 West Hastings Street) and Sejuiced (1958 West 4th Avenue) in Vancouver, Karmavore Vegan Shop (610 Columbia Street) in New Westminster, and Planet Organic Market (2755 Lougheed Highway) in Port Coquitlam.

On January 21, Sprout teamed up with Pretty Up Parties to put on the Sinfully Divine Dessert Experience, a vegan pop-up restaurant that ran for one evening in New Westminster. McLean had also set up shop at Granville Island Public Market as a day vendor, and appeared at a variety of other markets and events with her baked goods.

Sprout’s closing comes as Edible Flours (2280 West Broadway), Vancouver’s first vegan retail bakery, approaches its first anniversary in April.

You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Goldfish Seafood & Chops (1118 Mainland Street) will close its doors after Dine Out Vancouver 2012 ends on Sunday (February 5). Opening in its location this summer is Minami, a Japanese restaurant operated by Miku Restaurant, (1055 West Hastings Street), which is known for Aburi-style sushi.

Aburi is a flame-seared sushi paired with specialty sauces. According to a news release today (January 31), Minami will have a different concept than Miku, but will be offering Aburi-style sushi on the menu.

Goldfish Seafood & Chops, which is best known for its buck-a-shuck happy hour and fresh seafood menu, is part of local restaurateur Bud Kanke’s group of restaurants. According to the news release, Kanke, who is now age 72, is planning for retirement.

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

In this lighthearted video, the people at Moe's Southwest Grill highlight the importance of fresh, made-to-order cuisine. Kidding! They microwave a bunch of stuff that really has no business being microwaved. Just be glad you weren't on the clean-up crew for this one.

Follow Jennie Ramstad on Twitter at twitter.com/jennieramstad.

Imagine sitting down to chow down on tacos or sushi at the Pacific Centre food court, when you feel like you're suddenly sitting in the midst of a music video.

That's what happened when a flash mob took over on January 25 during the lunch-hour crush.

Choreographer Tyrell Witherspoon led dancers and 25 students from grades five and six at Strathcona Elementary School through a dance routine to Erika Jayne's "Party People (Ignite the World)".

But it wasn't just for the fun of it.

The performance was to draw attention to CandyGram, an annual Valentine's Day charity drive by A Loving Spoonful.

A Loving Spoonful is a Vancouver-based volunteer-driven organization that delivers meals for people with HIV or AIDS. Their CandyGrams are cards with chocolates and other items that can be sent anywhere in Canada to loved ones or that special someone you have a crush on.

It's becoming an annual tradition for A Loving Spoonful to release a video shot with zero budget.

"Last year they had done a viral video, using local gay celebrities so this year, they wanted to up the ante and do a flash mob," Witherspoon said by phone.

He said that after A Loving Spoonful saw him perform at an event last summer, they approached him to choreograph a flash mob. He said they rehearsed twice a week for two months (although the professional dancers only had a week to learn the moves).

"The artist of the song [Erika Jayne] is from L.A. and I sent her the video and she was so touched by the kids singing her song full out in this food court in Vancouver," he said.

Here's a video that captures the performance.

CandyGram.ca Flash Mob at Pacific Center Vancouver from Darren Royea on Vimeo.

You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig. You can also follow the Straight 's LGBT coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/StraightLGBT.

Have you ever ordered a pint of beer and then been a bit miffed after being handed a glass smaller than you expected?

You’re not alone. In fact, members of the Vancouver chapter of the Campaign for Real Ale are tired of ambiguity when ordering draft beer in local restaurants and bars. As consumers, they want clearer information about serving sizes prior to ordering so they can make informed decisions and know exactly what they’re paying for. Not only that, it’s a matter of public safety, they say.

In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight, CAMRA Vancouver president Paddy Treavor explains that there are no standardized serving sizes for a glass, sleeve, or pitcher of beer in B.C. However, a legal pint in Canada is 20 imperial ounces (568 millilitres), so if a restaurant is claiming to serve pints, that’s what the consumer should get.

Unfortunately, they often don’t. According to Treavor, many restaurants use a 16-ounce glass, “which is an American pint, but it’s not legal here. A lot of people are advertising pints and serving sleeves or glasses.”

Sleeves are anywhere from 12 to 16 ounces. Pitchers can range from 40 and 50 ounces; they’re often equivalent to about two-and-a-half pints, but “they’re all over the charts”.

Knowing how much beer is in your glass is important not just as a consumer but so you know how much you’re drinking. Despite the variety of sleeve glasses, Treavor says, “they all look exactly alike” and servers frequently can’t tell you the size. “So if you’re driving, it’s really important to know whether that’s a 12- or 16-ounce glass, because some of these beers are seven- or eight-percent [alcohol]. So it becomes a public safety issue.”

He adds that restaurants also have a responsibility to not over-serve, and “a lot of servers don’t know what size the glasses are because their employers don’t tell them.”

B.C. law requires that licensees provide customers, upon request, a complete serving size/price list for every alcoholic beverage they offer. But in practice, “probably 95 percent” of places Treavor has checked out don’t have such a list, and “the servers don’t have any idea about what size of glassware they’re serving.”

“The law’s not being followed and the law’s not being enforced,” he explains. “So we’re going after both sides of it.”

CAMRA’s Fess Up to Serving Sizes (FUSS) campaign was launched in November to address issues related to draft beer serving sizes. According to the website, it’s not about advocating pints over sleeves. It’s about advocating for transparency by ”persuading licensees to comply with this law so serving sizes are properly identified for the consumer, eliminating the misrepresentation of serving sizes, whether this misrepresentation is intentional or not.”

Treavor notes that CAMRA has already had success with some of its corporate members who have added serving sizes to their menus. The group is also asking consumers to sign an online petition to be sent to the BC Liquor Control and Licensing Branch. This calls on them to “strictly enforce their legal requirement that all licensees must provide to consumers, upon demand, a complete list of serving sizes and prices for all draft beers served and that licensees fulfil their obligation to provide the complete measure of draft beer promised by their serving-size list.”

“It’s about education,” he says. “The consumer has the right to know what they’re ordering. And they have the right to have that promise delivered to them.”

Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali

Would you drop a measly $100 on a hot dog?

(No, folks, this has nothing to do with Japadog.)

As we all know, size matters when it comes to wieners. Accordingly, Vancouver's dougieDog Hot Dogs has added a foot-long bratwurst to its menu called the Dragon Dog. But there's more. This decadent frankfurter comes infused with 100-year-old Louis XIII cognac, which costs over $2000 a bottle. Not too shabby. It also includes Kobe beef seared in olive and truffle oil, fresh lobster, and a special picante sauce.

Yesterday's launch of the Dragon Dog was auspiciously timed to coincide with the Chinese Year of the Dragon (the Lunar New Year was on January 23). It was also released just prior to the company's Wednesday (January 25) appearance on CBC's business-pitch reality TV show Dragon's Den .

The hefty price tag of this new offering surpasses the Guinness record-holding "haute dog" at Serendipity restaurant in New York City, which costs $69.

So for those of you hankering to try it out, you've got some time to save up the extra cash you need to buy it; the Dragon Dog isn't a limited-time offering but will be a regular item on the menu.

The Granville Street eatery offers a range of innovative names and takes on the hot dog, such as the Trailer Park Dog with potato chips, the Dave Grohl special (featuring whiskey infusion, coleslaw, and hot peppers), the vegetarian Downward Dog, and the Seoul Dog (with kimchi, barbecue beef, pickled cucumbers, and sesame).

You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig.

It's People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' latest "banned commercial". WTF?

You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Forget healthy smoothies and vegetarian eateries, Vancouver seems to be making a name for itself when it comes to hamburger joints. With places like Romer’s Burger Bar, StackHouse Burger Bar, and Sunset Burgers using luxe ingredients like kobe beef, brioche buns, truffle oil, and blue cheese on their burgers—not to mention the number of high-end restaurants, including Hawksworth and Market by Jean-Georges, whipping up their own versions of the American classic—there’s no shortage of gourmet burgers in the city.

Today (January 23), a new burger-focused restaurant is opening its doors. Max’s Burgers (521 West 8th Avenue) is run by chef Connor Butler (of Connor Butler Restaurant and C restaurant) and Redpath Foods, which owned Max’s Deli and Stuart’s Bakery before it closed last year.

The menu at Max’s is pretty straightforward: diners can either order one of eight chef-designed burgers ($11 to $13) or create one themselves (starting at $9 for a basic five-ounce beef burger, served on a housemade brioche bun and topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, and mustard, alongside handcut Kennebec fries. A bunch of additional toppings, including fried onions, pickles, and barbecue sauce also come free of charge, and diners can swap the beef patty for a chicken burger at no extra cost.

Chef Butler’s list of gourmet burgers includes the British Columbia burger, topped with applewood-smoked cheddar, smoked bacon, and bacon marmalade; the Schloppy Joe, topped with ancho chili, American cheese, and mustard; the Pushing Buttons, topped with sautéed mushrooms, truffle mayo, and Swiss cheese; and the “Anna and the King” Crab Po’boy, which comes with two fried king crab fillets, Thai green curry mayo, and housemade slaw. There’s also the vegetarian Gargomel’s Stuffed Toadstools, which comes with Portobello mushrooms, charred tomatoes, and veggie toppings, as well as the Behemoth ($55), which at 24-ounces feeds at least four diners.

Diners up for something a bit lighter may want to take a look at Max’s “Snack Attack” menu ($4 to $9), which features cheeseburger sliders, pigs in a blanket, chili, and yam fries. To wash everything down, there’s soda, classic milkshakes, alcoholic milkshakes, cocktails, and beer ($2 to $9).

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

Politicians of all stripes must have had other business in this postelection malaise, as the 15th annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner went off without them.

The only person to note this was Scottish-born-and-raised local political veteran Margaret Birrell, who told the Straight that Scotland is likely to vote for independence from the U.K. in 2014.

Other than Birrell, nobody seemed to mind too much, as there was music, poetry, whisky, haggis, banter, and fun a-plenty.

Cohosts Tetsuro Shigematso and Gung Haggis creator Todd “Toddish McWong” Wong made sure the night was seamless at the Floata Restaurant in Chinatown, which culminated in a cross-cultural Mandarin-English version of "Auld Lang Syne" ("Youyi dichang-tianju"), traditionally used to sing in the New Year in Scotland and elsewhere.

“If we could have one Chinese person next to one Scottish person, that would be great,” Wong interjected at one point, driving home the truly multicultural nature of the event.

In the end, that wasn’t far from the reality, with traditional Chinese dress and kilts liberally displayed as a circle formed round the entire restaurant at the end. People linked arms and still managed to sing the words thanks to the songsheets provided in the program.

Earlier in the evening, the Black Bear Rebels kept the music flowing along with the green tea and endless rounds of food, which included haggis wonton, vegetables, and, oh yeah, the real haggis, piped in by more local pipers in kilts.

In the audience were local digniataries such as parliamentary poet laureate Fred Wah, along with his wife Pauline. Author Larry Wong read from his book Dim Sum Stories, and Scottish-Canadian Harry McGrath regaled with tales of Todd Wong’s visit to Scotland, where purportedly Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond and other politicians fell in love with him.

“And my sister fell in love with him,” McGrath, born and raised just outside Glasgow, noted at one stage.

see more images

Starting tomorrow (January 20), over 200 local restaurants will be offering set menus as part of the annual Dine Out Vancouver festival. In a city with thousands of restaurants, that leaves plenty that aren’t participating. Others are jumping on the set-menu bandwagon for roughly the same dates as Dine Out Vancouver—January 20 to February 5--but doing it their way.

For those enthusiastic about set meals in addition to Dine Out Vancouver, or who are looking for options in a particular hood, here are some offerings.

• Adesso Bistro This West End Vancouver restaurant is running a promotion from January 20 to February 3 to support people living with HIV/AIDS. The $33 set menu of modern Italian food features several choices including a warm portabella mushroom salad to start, braised veal cheeks with polenta as a main, and zabaglione semifreddo for dessert. Five dollars from each meal goes to A Loving Spoonful.

• Ensemble Tap If you’ve been hankering to try Top Chef Canada Dale MacKay’s new sports bar, this is a good opportunity. From January 20 to February 4, it’s offering “Taste of eTap”: a $29, three-course set menu available for lunch or dinner. An additional $15 buys you beer pairings with the meal.

• Kalamata Greek Taverna As a celebration of its anniversary, this Greek restaurant one block east of the City Hall Canada Line station is offering an $18 set menu for four dinner courses. Choices include hummus or calamari to start, followed by Greek salad or organic greens, and then a main course of chicken or prawn souvlaki or lahanika (spanakopita with grilled artichokes). Bougatsa—baked lemon custard in filo—ends the meal. The special starts today and runs until February 5 and beyond, with no end date yet pegged. While the restaurant has no website, call 604-872-7050 for reservations, or show up at 388 West Broadway.

• Feast Van With a logo that emphasizes the “East” in “Feast”, this promotion features 12 restaurants on the city’s East side. It runs from January 20 to February 5, and restaurants offer two- to four-course menus at a variety of price points. The most common is $20 or $25 for three courses at lunch, and $30 or $35 for the same at dinner. One dollar from every dinner goes to the Vancouver Inner City Backpack Food Program. Participants include Les Faux Bourgeois, the Waldorf, the Red Wagon, and the new Founders’ Lounge at the Cultch.

• Bite of White Rock Until February 7, over two dozen White Rock restaurants are offering three-course meals for $15, $25, $35 or $45, or thereabouts. Participants include Giraffe, Uli’s Restaurant, Slainte by the Pier, and Onyx Steakhouse and Lounge.

Know of any other set-menu specials? Share them here.

Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali

Whose cuisine reigns supreme? While this is not an Iron Chef competition, that’s essentially the question that will be answered at the Canadian Culinary Championships , which happen next month in Kelowna.

A fundraiser for the Canadian Olympic Foundation that benefits Olympic and Paralympic athletes, the CCC is the culmination of the Gold Medal Plates, which holds regional competitions across Canada. The winning chefs from nine cities go on as finalists to the national CCC.

(Don’t confuse the Gold Medal Plates with the Golden Plates, the Georgia Straight’s restaurant awards for Vancouver in which readers vote for the winners .)

Cactus Club’s food concept architect, Rob Feenie, earned the B.C. rights at Vancouver's November face-off to cook at the national championships, which happen on February 10 and 11 in Kelowna. Feenie will be up against chefs that include Montreal's Jean-Philippe St-Denis from Kitchen Galerie Poisson, Ottawa’s Marc Lepine from Atelier, and Jonathan Gushue from Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa near Toronto.

Tickets for the showdown are open to the public for three events: a mystery wine pairing, in which each chef matches the same vintage with their own dish; a black-box competition, in which chefs make two dishes in one hour; and the grand finale that has chefs matching their creations with wine.

The three-event package costs $450 per person, and various other packages are available. Find more info and buy tickets here and see Tourism Kelowna for travel particulars.

Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali

For some people, nothing says brunch like eggs Benedict. And I love brunch.

But what about the vegan version? I’ve eaten a poor translation in the vegan utopia of Portland, but until recently hadn’t found one here.

It turns out that the Wallflower Modern Diner (2420 Main Street) in Vancouver makes a mean—in a good way—vegan Benny. This Mount Pleasant eat spot’s menu has plenty of options for omnivores and vegans alike.

Its savoury take on the Benny sees crumbled tofu and a portobello mushroom cap sitting on each side of an English muffin. It’s all covered with a “cheesey” sauce, instead of that egg-yolk-based Hollandaise.

The vegan Benny comes with hash browns and a small salad, and will cost you $12 plus, you know, HST and tip.

The Wallflower, which is open Sunday to Tuesday from 9 a.m. to midnight and Wednesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., serves brunch until 4 p.m.

You can follow Stephen Hui on Facebook and Twitter.

Where are the best places to eat in Vancouver? That’s a matter of opinion—and you know that yours is the right one. So tell us the restaurants that are really worth visiting and reward them with some Golden Plate Award love.

For 14 years, Georgia Straight readers have shared their favourite dining spots and watering holes in the annual Golden Plate Awards. This year’s ballot has 156 categories, including the best new restaurants, best street-food vendor, and best locally brewed beer.

In response to reader requests, we’ve added some new categories to reflect the expanding dining scene. You can now vote for Vancouver’s best chef, best farmers market, best diner, and best dine-in pizza restaurant. Don’t miss the category of best restaurant Twitter feed and spread the word with the #GP12 hashtag.

Together, your responses make an invaluable guide to Vancouver’s rapidly changing restaurant scene.

Voting is now underway online until February 7. Have your say and earn the chance to win some great prizes, including cookbooks from Random House, concert passes, movie tickets, and a getaway to Whistler’s Adara Hotel for you and three friends. Vote today.

If you’re looking for some Chinese eating inspiration, here’s a good start. The 2012 Chinese Restaurant Awards have just announced the winners in the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Awards component. A panel of eight critics has singled out 28 dishes they deem noteworthy at restaurants around Metro Vancouver. These include the following:

Flash wok-fried B.C. geoduck from Landmark Hotpot House (4023 Cambie Street)

Dry-fried curry Dungeness crab from James on Hastings Chinese Restaurant (2683 East Hastings Street)

Hot-pot soya sauce chicken from Big Chef Restaurant (#1060-8580 Alexandra Road, Richmond)

Bitter melon omelette from Hoi Tong Chinese Seafood Restaurant (#160-8191 Westminster Highway, Richmond)

Championship beef shank with noodle in spicy soup from Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle (1560 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, and #2800-4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond)

The complete list of CRA signature dish winners can be found here.

Follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter at twitter.com/carolynali