My favourite time to be outdoors in Vancouver is when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Our new neighbourhood is lined with aged blossoming trees, shaped with an artist’s precision by city stewards. The avenue that we frequent the most, from a distance, looks as if a guard of bonsais had been trained to rain pink and white petals on Marpole denizens.

The sakura zensen, or cherry blossom front, is an official weather pattern in Japan, where citizens emerge from their homes in droves during the fleeting Ohanami season. Ways to reflect upon and admire the sakura are numerous, but for many, it begins with a picnic under the blooms, often enjoyed with treats and tea. Celebrations can also linger beyond dusk, getting tipsy as the night goes on.

You can approximate this Japanese tradition in Vancouver if you know where to go. My top picks, in no particular order:

Nitobe Memorial Garden (UBC)

My shutter finger goes wild at this beautiful Japanese garden retreat in UBC. This year, one of the trees is laden with tags that people write on with messages to loved ones. It’s said that the well wishes will spread as the petals scatter in the wind.

Bike the Blossoms – April 28, 2012

Got bike? Follow the flowers with your cyclist brethren on the 28th. Your route will be lined with petalled trees, and vendors that you pass will sometimes have goodies for you to enjoy when you pause.

If you’re bereft of bicycle or not free that day, find your own viewing spot using these resources from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival:

• Map of the most popular Vancouver viewing spots
• List of the viewing spots in bloom right now

The Urban Tea Merchant

The Urban Tea Merchant remains unrivalled as my afternoon tea service of choice, much of it due to its rotating collection of top-tier teas and the seasonality of its tea services. Their courtyard on Alberni is canopied by cherry blossom trees each spring.

The courtyard blossoms have already come and gone this year, but their Ohanami tea service, featuring several items infused with cherry blossoms, is still being served until April 30th. This menu ranks as my favourite high tea food pairing to date–it is not to be missed.

Sakura West Coast Tea Service

$30 per person (minimum 2 persons; 90 minute seating)

to begin
Tea Sommelier’s choice of chilled white tea

sweets
tea-infused macaron, chevron strawberry, chocolate truffle
edible spring flowers, Sakura! Sakura! tea-infused jelly, sous vide vanilla watermelon, green tea-infused melon ** LOVED THIS! **

savouries
open-faced smoked salmon & wasabi aioli with in-house ponzu jelly
miso-maple glazed sable fish wrapped in butter lettuce ** LOVED THIS! **
spring rice roll with honey & balsamic, shiitake mushroom and crisp vegetables
Japanese fish crackers, crisp soba noodles with tangy seaweed salad and sesame crumble ** LOVED THIS! **

My seasonal tea pairing picks for the Sakura service

Both of The Urban Tea Merchant’s Ohanami tea features pair beautifully with the Japanese-fusion menu.

Enchanted Beauty Tea: ”Sophisticated oolong tea leaves are handcrafted into a bouquet with amaranth and orange lily. This TWG Tea composition will bloom in the teacup.”

Sakura! Sakura! Tea: “An ode to spring, this fragrant TWG blend evokes Kyoto’s most celebrated season. A scattering of cherry blossoms and green tea yields a most aromatic and elegant fragrance.”

Where will you go for your cherry blossom celebration?

One of the reasons I accepted Van Houtte’s invite to fly a Foodist to Montreal last month was so that I can see, first-hand, what the bagel fuss is all about. I came home armed with 2 dozen samples from St-Viateur, whose bagels are rumoured to be quintessentially Montrealesque.

Not convinced, I called Foodsters to pick up contenders at a couple of bagel shops for a good ol’ fashioned Bagel Smackdown.

We then served the remainder to our Foodists guests when we invited them chez nous for a Montreal-themed potluck. The results? Our local bagel purveyors stood up quite well to the benchmark from Montreal, to the point where our guests couldn’t identify the supposedly superlative ones from St-Viateur.

Here’s where to start if you’re looking for Montreal-style bagels in town.

Solly’s: eat ‘em au naturel

Look at the photo above and decide which you’d pick up first. We thought that the bagel in the upper-right corner satisfied the hunger in our eyes best, and our readers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagr.am heartily agreed. The cake-like interior was moist and springy; this translated to the most enjoyable chew before bagel met toaster. If you like to eat your bagel fresh from the shop and without dressings, head on over to Solly’s.

Siegel’s: lover of cream cheese

Siegel’s was our top pick for a toasty treat. The bagels were a little too bland and yeasty to eat straight out of the bag, but get them crispy and slathered with cream cheese and they couldn’t be beat. The smoked salmon cream cheese that you can grab at the shop was pretty memorable, too.

PHAT Deli: smoked meat and benny bagel delights

PHAT Deli wasn’t part of Bagel Smackdown but it gets honorary mention here. It’s the first place I wrote about when Tiny Bites began nearly 4 years ago, and it’s the first place that made me fall in love with the bagel. I’m still drawn in every now and then for an Everything bagel with freshly made dill cream cheese.

It’s is also the first place that comes to mind when I’m in the mood for a bagel-style Eggs Benedict. My favourite style of benny at PHAT is chock full of tomato and avocado. The replacement of bagel for biscuit makes this dish a lot more filling than usual, so split it with a friend if you’re a small eater like me.

Where do you go for a bagel fix?

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 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).

Take a look at the other members of Chow.com’s Sandwich Hall of Shame >

My sandwich trauma stems from a childhood overrun with Wonderbread and  lunch meats of questionable provenance: liverwurst, bologna, spam, Vienna sausage. [Spam and Vienna sausage are magic with rice, though.]

by Kevin H.

Scarred by this kind of sandwich history, I find myself amazed at how I have come to frequent Meat & Bread, one of Gastown’s newest breed of minimalist, casual eatery.

The restaurant is exactly what it claims to be: a place with a small but stellar selection of meat and bread. You will find 4 sandwiches to pick from on any given day.

Porchetta, $8. They pronounce it like “pork-etta”. Fattylicious roast pork chopped together with its juicy stuffings and topped with salsa verde. My favourite.

Meatball, $8. 3-5 giant, oozy, spicy rounds of pork drenched in housemade sambal. My husband’s favourite.

Daily Special, $8. Previous offerings have included jerk chicken, duck confit with blue cheese, and braised turkey leg. You can check out what is on feature that day by visiting their website before you arrive. I occasionally cheat on my porchetta with these temptations, and it is a constant battle at the counter between the tried-and-true and the I-can’t-believe-you-can-offer-that-in-a-sandwich.

Grilled Cheese, $7. Shaved onion and aged white cheddar melting goo between generously buttered toast. I ordered it once for my daughter but she kept stealing bites from my porchetta…so no photo, sorry.

They do veer off course to entice you with their single dessert item, which is simply labelled ice cream sandwich on their menu board. Don’t be fooled…this is a to-die-for concoction of maple & bacon ice cream, sandwiched between stroopwafel-like wafers that are similarly infused with piggy grease. If you haven’t tried this out yet, I suggest you split one of their regular sandwiches with a friend so you can have enough room in your belly for dessert.

Photo courtesy © Cathy Burrell of Cathy Eats

If you like their housemade mustard and sambal as much as we do, grab a jar off the shelf near the entrance and keep it in your fridge for sandwich emergencies. Extra handy when you take M&B fare to go and find, like we have, that the usual dollop of mustard present on your cutting board plate is unfortunately not something that can be easily transported.

There’s not much to dislike, but I have found a few minor areas for improvement:

1. Stock Coca-Cola. The mom & pop colas are just not cutting it for me. I feel like a jerk for smuggling in my favourite carbonated bevvie from the pocket of my daughter’s diaper bag. [UPDATE: They now sell locally made Sip sodas--these herb-infused sparkling waters are a great fallback, but I still ask for less guilt and more Coke, pretty please.]
2. Be open for dinner. One diner came by at 5:05pm and was aghast to see that he was too late for a sandwich. He looked at my cousin, who was on her way out, and asked, “Nooo…?”. “Yes,” she replied sadly. “No! No,” he exclaimed. My cousin looked sympathetic. Up and shaking went his fist, and from his mouth came a wail straight out of a Star Trek epic: “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” I hope he got his sandwich fix the next day.
3. Be open on Sundays. I need you guys 7 days a week!

Maybe I’ll see you at the Meat & Bread communal table one day soon.

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).