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Food of the Week

Sun one day, snow another...Sure, it’s chilly outside, but some of Vancouver’s cherry trees are already in full bloom. As soon as it's lovely again, don’t miss the opportunity to picnic under the sakura in grand Japanese style. Keep watch till your chosen spot hits its glory (or find one on the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Web site). Then bundle up, bring something waterproof to sit on and a blanket or two, and pick up some takeout sushi from your favourite restaurant or a bento box from any Asian supermarket. By enjoying a meal under the blossoms, you can truly savour spring’s arrival.

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Straight Goods

Party Like The Irish
Any pub with a connection to Ireland or just to beer will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this Wednesday (March 17). Ceili’s Irish Pub and Restaurant (670 Smithe Street) will be pouring green beer from its early opening at 11 a.m.; there will be a live band playing Celtic music from 6 p.m. In addition to general merrymaking on March 17, Doolin’s Irish Pub (654 Nelson Street) will be holding a tasting of Irish stouts and porters downstairs in the Cellar on Sunday (March 14) at 6 p.m. Twenty-dollar tickets at the door buy 20 six-ounce pours. Doolin’s is also staging the free-to-watch finale of its Perfect Pint Pour-Off Competition on Monday (March 15) at 6 p.m.

Get Your Goat
Scott Hawthorn and Sean Heather’s Judas Goat Taberna is scheduled to open this Monday (March 15) at 27 Blood Alley in Gastown. The 28-seat restaurant is inspired by Spain’s tapas bars, but the dishes aren’t Spanish per se. Executive chef Lee Humphries’s small plates are influenced by Spain, Italy, France, and beyond, and include crostini, scallop tartare, and grilled veal sweetbread saltimbocca. Crostini are $2.25 each and larger tapas run $6 to $8. It’s open 5 p.m. to midnight every day.

More Lebanese To Love
A third Nuba restaurant is slated to open Monday (March 15) at 146 East 3rd Avenue, just west of Main Street. In keeping with the eclectic ’hood, the restaurant has been done up with décor that Nuba’s Web site describes as “inspired by Third World roadside cafés of the 1970s”. The menu is the same as the lunch offerings at Nuba’s other locations, and the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Sunday.

New Kid On The Grocery Block
A new organic grocery store has just opened at 1978 West Broadway. Greens Organic and Natural Market is an independent, locally owned and operated store that’s not affiliated with any grocery chain. All products are organic or natural and are sourced as locally as possible. It’s open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Nostalgia Bites
Revisit a slice of Metro Vancouver’s burger history at the latest incarnation of Wally’s Burgers. A new location at 2661 East 49th Avenue joins the Wally’s Burgers at Cates Park in North Vancouver (open May 1 to September 30). Owner Gord Bemister secured the Wally’s secret relish recipe thanks to an old-timer who worked at the original Kingsway Wally’s.

Good Pick For A Flick
Check out the dinner-and-a-movie special at Eh! Restaurant (200–1050 Alberni Street). Dine Tuesdays between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and choose from menu items such as the Great Canadian Eh burger, Korean barbecue chicken, or grilled lamb chops, and you’ll get a Cineplex movie voucher, which you can use at the nearby Scotiabank Theatre (900 Burrard Street) valid any day, all for an easy $14.95 plus tax.

Spark, Sizzle, And Swoon
Grab your favourite person and dine à deux at Date Night Thursdays at Cru (1459 West Broadway). The three-course menu includes a bottle of wine and features Riesling-poached pear with mustard greens and blue cheese; a choice of seared Qualicum Bay scallops, roasted Fraser Valley duck breast, or butternut squash risotto; and chocolate-truffle torte to share, all for $99 for two, tax and tip extra.