With the new Whitecaps season kicked off last weekend and one of the biggest concert years ahead, BC Place Stadium and Sodexo Live! have launched their new concession menu for 2023. Throughout the concourse level, different themed concession stands serve up a variety of items inspired by different cuisines and cultures. There are also a few fun items introduced to the menu this year.
I had the pleasure to attend the media tasting and showcase last week, and here are what caught my eyes:
Seoul Food (section 206)
Korean Fried Chicken – 4 flavours to choose from: soy honey garlic, snowing cheese, Gochujang glaze, and original. The chicken pieces were more Taiwanese popcorn chicken size, but the flavours definitely reminded you of K.F.C.!
I like stone fruits: peaches, plums, cherries and mangoes. What are stone fruits, you ask? Also called drupes, they are fruit that have a large stone, often mistaken as seed, inside. Think about what a peach looks like when you cut it open, or a plum, or even a cherry. What we usually call a pit is actually the stone, and the seed is inside the stone. I love the juicy flesh of stone fruits and they are so good, and so sweet, just on their own. However, I’m always curious about finding savoury ways to enjoy them. And now, I have one idea.
Did you know: …plums are a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as several antioxidants? …there are only 46 calories in a 100g serving of plums?
Recently I got my hands on some Chilean pluots. Pluot is a hybrid fruit, part plum and part apricot. It’s nicknamed “Dinosaur Eggs” in Chinese because of its spotted skin. The fruit is in a beautiful red colour. I decided to make a grilled cheese sandwich with them. Now I don’t think plum and cheddar, the typical choice of cheese for grilled cheese, go together, so I’ve substituted it with brie. And to elevate it, I opted for sourdough for a chewy texture and some tang in flavours.
Fun fact: Chilean plum season is from mid-November until April, which is the opposite of local fruit season in BC.
The beauty of a grilled cheese is that you can build it in however way you want, so I’m only providing a guideline here in terms of ingredients.
On March 21, Jugo Juice launched a revamped food menu with 4 new sandwiches and 5 new wraps.
The new sandwiches are served on heritage sourdough from local bakery Terra Breads or a brand new natural and preservative free artisan bun from Ace Bakery called schiacciata.
I was invited to a media tasting of the new items and got to try the 4 sandwiches:
Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable on schiacciata bread
Having done Dine Out Vancouver for so many years now, frankly I’m feeling burnout. To me, a lot of the menus are not very inspiring; or I question the value for the money. So this year, I set out to try to discover gems that don’t require you to pay $40 yet still feel hungry afterwards.
I was invited to bring a guest (guess whom I brought?) to sample the Dine Out menu of a Donnelly Group restaurant of my choice, including wine pairings. They are all $20 menus. After perusing them, I decided on the Granville Room. Why? I will get to that in a moment.
Food
There are two choices for appetizer. Naturally, we ordered one of each. The Coconut Fried Prawns were nice and crunchy. Mr. (ding-ding!) thought the coating was too thick to taste the prawns but I thought it’s okay. The prawns had good texture, a bit bouncy and not mushy. What’s intriguing is the dipping sauce. It’s a coconut hoisin sauce. When it said hoisin I expected the sauce to be darker in colour, but it’s just a tinted creamy white colour. It had a lot of coconut flavour but it’s not too sweet thanks to the subtle use of hoisin sauce. The prawns themselves did not have any coconut; it’s all in the sauce.
Wine pairing: Desert Hills Viognier – The fried prawns actually mellowed out the acidity in the viognier.
Beef Rib Empanada was also a hand-held appy. There were two pieces on the plate, served with a mole sauce. The sauce was rich, thick, and had some smokey flavour that didn’t overpower everything. (more…)
Arnold Bread recently launched four varieties of premium bread in British Columbia and Alberta. We were sent a couple loaves to try, and the possibilities with this product are endless!
With the No Small Potatoes Country Potato Bread, we made Toast with a delicious pistachio spread. We also made some PB& J and Grilled Cheese with it. There’s a hint of sweetness in the potato bread. While it’s good on its own, it also makes a good canvas for rich and bold flavours. I actually thought the bread reminded me of potato chips but Mr. said I was crazy!
As for the When It Grains, It Pours 12 Grain Bread, the texture of the bread is perfect for sandwiches. Not only did we make HLT Sandwiches (ham, lettuce, tomatoes) for picnic…
…we also made our own Oyster Po’ Boy Sandwich at home! The nutty flavours in the grain worked so well with meat and veggies.
Are you tempted to make your own creations with these delicious bread? We have partnered up with Arnold Bread to give away an awesome #Breadie Prize Pack valued at $100.
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