And today, May 19th, is Food Revolution Day.

• Follow @foodrev
• Twitter hashtag: #foodrevolution
• Instagram your #realfood

Around the world, local volunteers and organizations are hosting events today to educate children and families about “real food”. There are 4 events in British Columbia that are listed as official Food Rev events:

OYW Eat Fresh, Eat Local
at Richmond Country Farms in Richmond

Haney Farmer’s Market Taste and Try
at Haney Farmers’ Market in Maple Ridge

Organic Fair Food Revolution Day
at Organic Fair Farm and Garden in Cobble Hill

Urban Ag Book Launch Garden Tour
at Maurer Art Studio in Naramata

Buying tickets to these events online will send your proceeds to the Food Revolution Day coffers. Your funds will be used to support the programs run by the Jamie Oliver Foundation, namely to kick-start the Food Education Box program in the US and the UK. Canadians and global supporters will also benefit from this program in August once the digital Food Education Boxes are published.

Donations are being collected till May 31, 2012.

 What am I doing for Food Revolution Day?

In honour of Food Revolution Day and the imminent strawberry season, I’ll illustrate a mother-daughter strawberry pie day from last season, when my daughter was 18 months old. Recipe, movie references, and pastry techniques from the amazing Eagranie Yuh. Watch for it at 10am.

Been meaning to check out Richmond Country Farms since we moved nearby, so I’ve got a hot date with my now 2-year-old toddler at the OYW Eat Fresh, Eat Local event this afternoon.

Post-nap, we’ll tend to our 3 vegetable gardens scattered throughout the Greater Vancouver area. The little one loves to help out.

Also downloaded the free Food Revolution “Home” e-book and donated $20 online.

What can you do for Food Revolution Day?

Here are just a few suggestions of the many ways you can have participate in the Food Revolution.

• Take your family to a Food Rev event (above)
• Host a dinner party in your neighbourhood
• Teach your kids a new recipe or make a meal together today
• Attend a cooking or gardening class with your loved ones and little ones
• Blog and/or share stories about real food and the Food Revolution online
• Download free Food Rev e-books and dinner party starter kits for more inspiration
• Make an online donation between now and May 31, 2012

I’d love to hear what you’re doing, so drop me a line to let me know. Thanks for getting involved.

Viva La Revolución!

The trouble with Vancouver’s sprinkling of Filipino restaurants is that none of them deliver. It’s especially inconvenient when organizing a massive potluck, which Filipino families have almost weekly. Party staples such as lumpia, empanada, pancit, and palabok are so tedious to make for a crowd that almost everyone will get a restaurant to do it for them.  With the exception of lumpia, which is made fairly well in all the Pinoy eateries I patronize, your typical restaurant excels in the making of just one of these banquet-style dishes. My family either winds up ordering from the closest location–and in the process tolerates some mediocrity–or gets a volunteer to run all over the city for the good stuff.

Next time, I’m going to suggest that we get Foodsters to do all the running around.

Josephine’s: best palabok

My cousin was one of my bridesmaids in 2006, and she knew that food from Josephine’s Restaurant on Main & 10th was the fare I’d be craving on my wedding day. Her favourite item to order is palabok, a dish of rice noodles smothered in a shrimp-based sauce. Done right, the noodles are thick and have absorbed the essence of the tangerine-coloured sauce, and toppings are varied and generous: tiny shrimp, slices of hard boiled egg, tofu cubes, scallions, roasted garlic, chicharron crumble, and a hint of anchovy. I hardly ever see this served outside of a special occasion, and when that occasion arises, she and I trust Josephine’s to make it best.

Cucina Manila: best empanada

I may be critical about the in-store service of Collingwood’s Cucina Manila, but I cannot fault the quality of their catering division. This is the place my aunts go for empanada when they’d rather not make it themselves. The addition of raisin, egg, carrot, and peas to the traditional pork filling makes their version of these small, deep-fried meat pies rank above the rest.

PinPin: best pancit sotanghon

Fraser Street’s PinPin is my top pick for Filipino eating in the city, so it’s not surprising that they make a mean pancit. The regular menu offers a greater selection of pancit styles than do the rest of the pack. Pancit Sotanghon, whose star ingredient is the delicate, broth-infused strands of glass noodles, is the one sought after for a more auspicious meal.

Where does your family frequent for additions to their Filipino potlucks?

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

Bella Gelateria is going to be a whole lot further way from our doorstep next month, so no more impromptu, gelato-induced strolls over to Coal Harbour for this family. Thankfully, my favourite gelato maker is equipped with take-out options that will work for my cravings from Marpole and your holiday needs.

Take-out choices these days lean towards the seasonal flavours Bella has churned out for the holidays. I dropped by for a quick Q&A with chef/owner James Coleridge and to spend my remaining holiday budget on our top picks.

James, what makes your gelato different from the competition?

To make the best gelato, we believe in using the best ingredients–and we try to source them as locally as possible. We use certified organic whole milk from BC’s Avalon Dairy…the ones that come in glass bottles. There are no artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives. We use real fruit and ingredients that spend 12 hours in infusion.

What flavours are in store for us this season?

Candy Cane is the most popular choice right now (pictured below, with the Eggnog).

The Crème Brulée, Eggnog, Salted Caramel, and Pumpkin Pie are also available every day. We have a number of other holiday selections like Gingerbread, Chocolate Mint, Cassatta (candied fruit), and White Chocolate and Candied Orange, but those will rotate and therefore be subject to availability. We post what is in store on Twitter and Facebook.

Parking is really expensive around here: $6/hr on the street. What can I do if I want to take some gelato to go?

For $15 inclusive, you can get a half-litre of gelato in your choice of two flavours. $30 gets you the 1L box, ready with 3 compartments for different flavours. It’ll last for months in your freezer, but I suggest you eat it when it’s fresh. Re-use the container for a refill and we’ll knock $1 off.

Don’t worry about parking…if you call ahead or submit an order from Foodsters, we’ll have your container ready to go. Just park right in front of the store and we’ll run it out.

[Editor's note: Yes, the container is styrofoam. They've tried more environmentally friendly options and thus far have not found an alternative that keeps the gelato up to snuff. If you happen to know of a product that could work, drop James a line. He'd probably be open to testing it out.]

Holiday serving suggestions?

We’ve had our share of company, local and from abroad, stop by before we fly out to Canmore tomorrow for the holidays. Our guests sip on Christmas tea from The Urban Tea Merchant along with bowlfuls of the Bella gelato we have stocked in our freezer: Bronté pistachio, marron glacé (candied chestnut), and pumpkin pie. Having a 1L container of gelato on hand has allowed us to have an interesting snack available when drop-in visitors give us a 15-minute heads up.

So far, every guest has been wowed, and I’m hoping there’ll be buzz about Vancouver’s Bella Gelateria in London and Amsterdam once our friends fly back home.

How would you serve gelato to your loved ones at home?

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

by michellerlee

Razor-thin crust. Top shelf tomato. Toppings you can count on one hand. Blast from a wood-fired oven. Table accoutrements of infused olive oils – no parmesan or chili flakes in sight. That’s my idea of what pizza from Naples should be like, and that’s what you get when you dine at Nicli Antica Pizzeria: my choice for the best pizza in Vancouver.

It therefore pains me to no end that Nicli has a strict dine-in policy. It’s not easy to find a parking spot near its location in Gastown, nor is it appealing for other diners to have us come in with an incredibly vocal toddler and ruin the cool vibe going on inside–even if Nicli does provide patrons use of the coolest high chairs I’ve ever seen. If you, too, are disappointed that you cannot take a Nicli pie to go when the place is full or when you’re simply not in the mood to be out in public, chime in with a sympathetic comment here. Maybe enough voices asking for options will convince the pizzeria to reconsider.

Luckily, the pizza scene for homebodies is not entirely bereft of quality. Main Street’s Pizzeria Farina makes their fare in a similar, if less traditional, Napoli style, and their to-go service is booming.

After our failed attempted last week to get takeout from Nicli, we asked Foodsters to deliver a couple of Pizzeria Farina pizzas to our door. The $15 Funghi, pictured below, carries a more weight and topping than the minimalist magic of Nicli’s (topmost photo), but it still exceeded our expectations of a quality pizza with mushrooms. Arugula runs along the bitter and peppery, so keep that in mind if you aim to try it. The greens were a welcome addition for my husband, who loves pepper in everything; I had to cull some greens from my slices to keep the balance on the tongue.

The $14 Finocchiona was a major hit. Fennel sausage, provolone, and spicy pepper danced around in my mouth and convinced my normally miniscule appetite to make room for a second serving. It’ll be the first pizza I’ll reorder from Pizzeria Farina–the Calabrese and Pizza Speciale are next on my bucket list.

If you’re going to call Foodsters to get you some Pizzeria Farina pies, I suggest you order close to to the start of service at 5pm or give everyone a heads up for when you’ll need it. They only make so much dough on any given night, and when they run out–generally by 8:30-10pm–they close up shop. Keep tabs on their supply via Twitter or Facebook so you don’t wind up with a pizza craving that’ll have to be settled with Domino’s cardboard crust.

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

According to Foodsters, the deep-fried chicken wings at Phnom Penh is the single most ordered food item by their customers. I can understand why. Its dipping sauce is nothing short of magic, brightening each bite of garlicked and battered poultry with lemony zing.

While they’re in Chinatown picking up these wings for you, consider asking Foodsters to pick up a dozen steamed buns from the nearby New Town Bakery. Pick-ups beyond the first restaurant are requestable at $3.95 a pop. Have 4 Food Bank donations at the ready to negate that multiple location delivery fee, or shower them with 10 more non-perishable food items to zero out the entire delivery charge.

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

There are rare occasions where the convenience of meat and bread in hand trumps my Asian leanings toward noodles and rice. When this happens, these are the places I turn to.

La Brasserie: Brass chicken sandwich

by are you gonna eat that

Rotisserie chicken, brined in beer. Gravy. Buttermilk biscuit. A mountain of slivered, crispy onion. $7. Yes, please.

Find this mouth-watering creation in 3 locations: the La Brasserie restaurant on Davie & Thurlow, their original street cart on Georgia & Granville, and their second street spot on Georgia & Burrard.

Meat & Bread: porchetta and meatball addictions

If you ask me out to lunch on any given day, don’t be surprised when I suggest meeting at Meat & Bread. Despite my frequent patronage, it’s still a gut-wrenching experience at the counter each time I decide between the porchetta and the meatball. I typically wind up choosing the porchetta–no self-respecting Filipino would deny themselves any variant of lechon–and persuading my lunch mates to get the meatball or the daily special. Then I steal nibbles from their sandwiches. Dilemma solved.

Bada Bing: a Philly cheese steak that won’t weigh you down

It may well be that everyone’s talking about Anthony Sedlak’s newest venture (I for one had a good first visit), but the cheese steak that continues to steal my heart is the foot-long from Bada Bing.

by foodtruckapp

Made with halal beef that’s been sliced razor thin, topped with melted Monterey and stuffed inside a soft Italian loaf, you’d think that eating a foot of it would be a challenge to your digestive system. Instead, you’ll find that Bada Bing’s combination tastes elegant and subtle, which makes it easy for even a lightweight eater like myself to polish off the entire thing.

Unfortunately, the lack of a consistent web or social presence makes Bada Bing’s food truck difficult to spot. Make sure to track their lunchtime and evening whereabouts using the Street Food App on your smartphone before calling a delivery service like Foodsters to wrangle a ‘wich for you. The Street Food App also has food cart landing pages on their regular website for those that are not smartphone-enabled.

What sandwiches are you addicted to? Inquiring minds want to know.

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

The Chinese way of making meat-filled pastries are so assorted and delicious that I’ve decided to put my Top Three variations under the same umbrella of craving. Here we go!

New Town Bakery: the king of steamed buns

You can find  steamed buns in nearly every dim sum restaurant in this city. Those tiny, snow-white puffs of sweet, steamed bread hugging a rich core of stewed BBQ pork appeal to many a dim sum enthusiast…but not me. I much prefer what Chinatown’s New Town Bakery has been hawking for years: steamed buns of various meat and vegetable incarnations, as massive as the size of  your fist.

New Town Bakery is a Filipino’s steamed bun mecca, so I’ve been a patron since I was a kid. My latest favourite is the $1.70 chicken steamed bun. Unlike the best-selling $1.50 pork asado, which I loved as a kid and whose centre oozes with meat glaze much like its dim sum counterpart, the chicken bun is filled simply with chicken, fine and minimally spiced, allowing the airy sweetness of its freshly steamed bun to be on equal footing in your mouth.

I popped into New Town this week with my daughter and Tiny Bites contributor, Bruce. They’ve recently moved to a new location–2 doors west of their old digs–and are slashing 10% off their entire menu from now until December 18th. Come in and grab lunch for as little as $3, order a dozen to go, or save even more by choosing bags of frozen buns by the half-dozen for your leisurely enjoyment at home.

Peaceful Restaurant: for pan-fried pork bun lovers

Photo courtesy © Melody of Gourmet Fury

When I’m not in a steamy mood, I stop by Peaceful Restaurant for their Huang Jing pan-fried buns. Pan frying the bun adds a layer of colour and crisp that contrasts wonderfully with the chew of its wrapper and the delicacy of its pork and scallion filling. You can also ask for steamed pork buns–the salted pork interior is similarly mild and I find that it’s a hit with the kids…especially mine.

I once had to commute outside of downtown to satisfy my pan-fried bun cravings at their Broadway and Cambie location, but the opening of their second restaurant on Davie and Seymour has turned the occasional foray into nearly weekly visits. Sadly, there is no Peaceful Restaurant within walking distance when we move to Marpole next month, so I will rely on Foodsters to get their fare to my doorstep.

Lin’s: the best xiao long bao in the world?

If neither of the bun varieties above are floating your boat, then surely xiao long bao will. They can be found at Peaceful Restaurant and most Shanghainese eateries too, but I believe that they’re best experienced in Vancouver at Lin’s Chinese Cuisine and Tea House. There, you’ll find that the sheer flour wrapper, hot bursts of pork stock, and ethereal dumpling meat will intersect in mouthfuls of bliss.

And according to some–*cough* Condé Nast *cough*–Lin’s might just be serving the best xiao long bao on Earth.

What kind of bun are you craving today, and how are you getting it to your door?

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

The Hamilton household loves its meat, particularly in the form of pulled pork or brisket slathered in BBQ sauce. And this is why we love Memphis Blues.

Any of the Feasts offered by Memphis Blues makes for great game day fare. The Memphis Feast–the smallest of the options but by no means meagre–contains enough pulled pork, brisket, beef ribs, riblets, sausage, and BBQ chicken to feed four or a very hungry duo. Comes with all the fixins’, too: fries, cornbread, coleslaw, baked BBQ beans, and a cupful of BBQ sauce for dunking. If you didn’t stock up on booze ahead of time, add on the Bucket O’Beer for $9.95.

Memphis Blues does their own delivery out of the Commercial Drive, South Surrey, Hillcrest Village, and Kelowna locations, between 5-9pm at $2 a pop with a $20-25 order minimum. Outside of those time zones and locations or below that budget, ask Foodsters to help out. They may even grab you the Bucket O’Beer as long as you can produce your ID at the door.

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

Vancouver makes an admirable poutine. Sure, it’s not straight from Montreal like the one above, and the cheese curds don’t tend to squeak like mice in a cage, but the total package is delicious enough to satisfy any Vancouverite’s craving.

Davie Village’s La Belle Patate is widely known for being the city’s poutine benchmark. Some believe that the family-run company makes even tastier poutine than what can be found in Montreal. I’m not completely sold on that statement. It’s close, but I need my cheese curds to be a lot more noisy before I’ll dare to say that someone in Vancouver does it better.

by Calgary Reviews

When you’re hungry for poutine after a night of shenanigans and LBP is already closed, head downhill on Davie to Belgian fry hot spot Fritz.

by Slightlynorth

Want more upscale poutinery? Try La Brasserie’s breakfast poutine during weekend brunch. I haven’t had the chance to go there myself, but palates I trust can do nothing but rave about this dish.

Image © Noshwell.com – used with permission. Read Noshwell’s La Brasserie breakfast review >>

I’ve also had high-class frites at Gastown’s Boneta. I think of it as a poutine, elevated: their rendition of gravy, curds and potato is too delicate to treat as street food or rustic fare. As divine as it may look and taste, the dish is a very reasonable $10.

Our dark horse pick, Frenchies Diner, is a great lunch option for the Dunsmuir working crowd. The choices are more gimmicky than those at La Belle Patate, but I am not one to contest an offering of poutine with steak! They can handle your extra Quebecois hankerings with Steamies, smoked meat sandwiches, and tourtière.

These poutine purveyors don’t deliver, so if you’re stuck at home and poutine pangs strike, consider asking Foodsters to pick your order up for you.

Got any other GVRD recommendations for memorable poutine?

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

Red Star Seafood Restaurant is the first place that comes to mind when I’m craving Peking Duck…and I crave that dish in earnest at least once a month. Sadly, my consumption of it to date has been limited to treats on my birthday and banquets in Hong Kong. It’s a combination of budget and our distance from Hong Kong (obviously!) and Red Star, whose nearest location to Yaletown is still a 20 minute drive away.

It’s a pipe dream of mine to be able to have this dish magically appear on my doorstep every night. One obstacle’s overcome–I could order it in advance and have Foodsters drop it off–but the challenge of getting my accountant husband to agree to dropping nearly $40 on an appetizer still has me scratching my head.

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).