The Parade of Lost Souls, the impending arrival of Halloween, and your 29th screening of Sam Raimi’s immortal The Evil Dead aren’t the only reason for living this week. Noodles is the buzzword in East Van, and not just at the Lunch Lady. Meanwhile, a wildly respected Vancouver bar embraces the Day of the Dead with help from a Mexican dream team, and one of the region’s best bakeries hails the spirit of the Great Pumpkin.

Dicky’s pops up on the Drive

Normally found on the shelves of your favourite specialty grocer (Gourmet Warehouse, Meridian Farm Market, Windsor Meats), Dicky’s Dumps will set up at the Drive Canteen October 28 for a one-day Cantonese Noodle Bar Pop-Up. From 5 to 9pm at 1111 Commercial Drive, Vancouver Chinese dumpling fans can choose from two options, coming in both meat and vegetarian.

The HK Classic (Nissin instant noodles with pork, chicken, or veg dumpling, fresh greens, SPAM or euro-weiner, scallions, crispy shallots, and chili oil) pays tribute to the Hong Kong roots of Dicky’s Dumps owners Pearl Lam and Dickson Li.

With a name that nods to Drive Canteen co-owner Doug Stephen, Doug’s Tseng Noodles features dry tseng scallions and Szechuan oil noodles tossed with a choice of Dicky’s Dumps (pork, chicken, or veg), scallions cilantro, crispy shallots, pickled ginger, and onions. Because everything tastes better with an egg on it, both can be upgraded with a fried one.

Guests can also purchase frozen Dicky’s Dumps at the pop-up, as well as a selection of instant noodles, including Momofuku packs. 

Noodle dream commandeers Superflux

Can’t wait until the weekend for your East Van carb fix? Superflux Beer Company (505 Clark Drive) has you covered this Thursday, as The Real Dumpling King’s Matthew Murtagh-Wu and Pastaggio’s Daniel Jafarizadeh will be on the premises and busy in the kitchen. On the menu will be The Green Machine (fresh kale radiatori with pesto) and The King’s Sorrow (hand-pinched culurgione in red sauce, cambozola, and potato).

Both will be available until 5pm, or until they sell out, which is probably another way of saying that it’s more than likely both Murtagh-Wu and Jafarizadeh will be on a Superflux barstool with a Coconuts IPA long before then.

Botanist embraces the dead with some Mexican magic

Vancouver channels Mexico’s fabled Día de los Muertos celebrations on November 2 and 3, when Botanist Bar (1038 Canada Place) at the Fairmont Pacific Rim welcomes the Baltra bar team. Based in Mexico City, Baltra is a Charles Darwin-inspired bar celebrated for both its cocktails and its impressive collection of taxidermy—yes, dead things can be beautiful. Botanist, like Baltra, is a favourite of the folks behind North America’s 50 Best Bars.

Both operations are teaming up for collaborations inspired by the Día de los Muertos, which means while you might expect riffs on the zombie, corpse reviver, or el diablo, you can assuredly expect something more.

Paris embraces the great pumpkin

Sticking with the greatest time of year not named Christmas, French-inspired bakery Mon Paris Pâtisserie (4396 Beresford Street in Burnaby) leans into the spooky season this year with Halloween “bone appétit” speciality items. The jack-o’-lantern lollies come filled with a pumpkin spice caramel concoction, while the jack-o’-lantern statues contain two of Mon Paris signature truffles, with half the fun being you have to do some digging for them. Both are available for a limited period, which is another way of saying you don’t want to wait until the other most wonderful time of the year before popping in.