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2022 Canada’s Great Kitchen Party Vancouver Recap

Posted in Cooking Competition, Culinary Events, Joyce, News, tagged Announcement, Archer Dining, Bacaro, Bobby Milheron, Canada's Great Kitchen Party, Canadian Chefs, Canadian Culinary Championship, Great Kitchen Party, Homer Street Cafe, Maenam, Maxine's Cafe & Bar, Pepino's, Tableau Bistro on November 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

On Nov 24, 2022, five Vancouver chefs competed at Great Kitchen Party‘s Vancouver Regional Qualifier held at Westin Bayshore. Vancouver was the final stop of nine competing cities across the country, spotlighting talented chefs from St. John’s, Newfoundland to the west coast of British Columbia. Each region’s gold medal-winning chef earns the privilege of competing for national honours at the Canadian Culinary Championship in Ottawa on February 3-4, 2023.

The five competing Vancouver chefs were:

Sandy Chen – Archer
Scott Korzack – Bacaro
Vish Mayekar – Caffè La Tana, Pepino’s
Bobby Milheron – Homer St. Cafe & Bar, Tableau Bar Bistro, Maxine’s Cafe & Bar
Thachaya “Mike” Tuangkitkun – Maenam Restaurant

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[Christmas on VanFoodies] 25 Years of Gingerbread Lane at the Hyatt

Posted in Christmas Series, Cooking Competition, Culinary Events, Joyce, Special Occasion, Vancouver, tagged Christmas, Gingerbread, gingerbread houses, Gingerbread Lane, Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Make a Wish Foundation on December 18, 2015| 2 Comments »

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver is once again filled with gingerbread houses built by students, and amateur and professional bakers.

The gingerbread centre piece and the iconic Gastown steam clock returned to the hotel lobby. The giant gingerbread house has used 500 pounds of gingerbread dough, 400 pounds of icing sugar and 1,400 egg whites, plus a few secret ingredients and some magical touch from the hotel’s engineering department.

There seems to be fewer entries but the quality seems to be higher than the last couple of years. Here are some highlights for me:

A display inspired by the TV show Supernatural:

A super cute one that is based on the house from the animation Up: (more…)

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[Christmas on VanFoodies] Visiting the Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

For the 24th year, the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver is currently filled with gingerbread houses built by secondary and post-secondary students, and amateur and professional bakers.

Similar to last year, the centrepiece has the resemblance of the iconic Gastown steam clock (which is temporarily replaced by a modern art piece as it’s undergoing some repairs). The giant gingerbread house measures 11 feet tall and 16 feet wide, using 500 pounds of gingerbread dough, 400 pounds of icing sugar and 1,400 egg whites, plus a few secret ingredients and a little help from Hyatt’s engineering department.

Different from last year, there seems to be more creativity in the theme of each display (of course, there has to be a Frozen-themed display), and many of them are not necessarily in the traditional gingerbread house shape. These are some of my favourites this year:

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Ocean Wise #ChowderChowdown 2014 – A Recap

Posted in Beer, Cooking Competition, Culinary Events, Joyce, News, Seafood, Soup, Vancouver, tagged #ChowderChowdown, chowder, Chowder Chowdown, craft beer, fable, fundraiser, Giovane Cafe, Ocean Wise, Samuel Adams, Seafood Chowder, Vancouver Aquarium, YEW Restaurant on November 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

November is Ocean Wise Month, and to celebrate sustainable seafood in the area, Vancouver Aquarium hosted the Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown last week. Lucky for me, I got to check it out, so let me tell you all about it.

Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown (photo by Three Sixty Photography, courtesy of Samuel Adams)

How does it work? As you enter the Vancouver Aquarium, you receive a wooden spoon and a plastic cup; and you just walk around with them to the 14 participating booths. You also have a ballot to take notes of each chowder and vote for your favourite.

Each of the 14 competing chowders was paired with craft beer. I was quite impressed to see that there were restaurants from Prince Rupert and Pemberton competing in this event.

Among the participating craft breweries, there was Samuel Adams, the only non-local craft brewery at the event. It partnered with Fable and Chef Trevor Bird not only in the beer pairing, but it’s also used in cooking of the halibut chowder. SA’s Boston Lager is darker than most lagers out there (has an amber-ish hue), yet it’s light and quite easy drinking; would be a good entry beer for most people and would make great pairing with rich food like a chowder or deep-fried goodness.

Chef Trevor Bird at Chowder Chowdown (photo by Three Sixty Photography, courtesy of Samuel Adams)

In addition to the People’s Choice Award voted by the general public, there were also 4 industry judges tasting all dishes to select the top 3. (more…)

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2013 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Posted in Christmas Series, Cooking Competition, Culinary Events, Joyce, Special Occasion, Vancouver, tagged Chef Thomas Heinrich, Christmas, Gingerbread Lane, Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Make a Wish Foundation on December 23, 2013| 1 Comment »

Already in its 23rd year, the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver is currently filled with more than 30 gingerbread houses built by amateur and professional bakers, as well as secondary students enrolled in culinary arts programs.

What is noticeably different this year is the centrepiece. This new masterpiece made by Executive Chef Thomas Heinrich measures 11 feet tall and 16 feet wide. Ingredients include 500 pounds of gingerbread dough, 400 pounds of confection sugar and 1,400 egg whites, plus a few secret ingredients and a little help from Hyatt’s engineering department. Standing beside it is a replica of the iconic steam clock from Gastown.

In addition to traditional gingerbread houses, you will find displays themed around popular animations such as Spongebob Squarepants and Despicable Me. (more…)