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Posts Tagged ‘Hyatt Regency Vancouver’

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.

2015 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

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.

2015 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

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:

2015 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver2015 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

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

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Partnering once again with the team at VANEATS, we were invited to sample the #SpringFling package at Mosaic Grille & Bar at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. I haven’t been back since the Taiwanese-inspired dinner with former Executive Chef Thomas Heinrich, so I was quite excited to try their new offering.

Food

The $27 package comes with 1 appetizer, 1 entree and 1 dessert. We sampled the entire menu, so we can give you some insight as to what you should pick.

The first appy choice was the Earth Apple Farms Mixed Kale. What a pretty plate! There was fresh and pickled radish and edible flowers, and a good mix of greens including baby kale. It’s refreshing with a good combination of texture, and the salad dressing had a good amount of acidity. It may be a salad but it wasn’t a boring plate.

Earth Apple Farms Mixed Kale

The White Asparagus Bisque reminded us of a cauliflower soup. Mr. liked the fact that it’s not fully strained so it still had some grainy texture. It had a hint of sweetness, it’s creamy and rich. The parmesan lavash was a good idea to add a crunchy element, but I personally prefer just a hearty slice of baguette.

White Asparagus Bisque

We often incorporate quinoa into our grain, but we never make quinoa risotto before. The Green Garlic Quinoa Risotto is the vegetarian entree option, and it was surprisingly good! (more…)

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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.

2014 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

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:

2014 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver2014 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver2014 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver

2014 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver2014 Gingerbread Lane at Hyatt Regency Vancouver (more…)

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For the past 4 years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend the BC Healthy Chef Competition. Co-sponsored by the BC Chefs’ Association and the BC Produce Marketing Association, the purpose of this event is to promote a healthier diet with the use of fruit and vegetables, while raising money for the Mix it Up! campaign, Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Chefs representing 8 units were competing against each other by cooking up some tasty entrees and desserts using fruit and vegetables. Despite I received a media invitation this year, I once again joined a few other colleagues at work at this event. Here is the list of competing units this year:

  • The Art Institute of Vancouver
  • Beach Grove Golf Club
  • Burnaby Central Secondary School
  • Delta Hotels (Burnaby and Vancouver Airport)
  • The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
  • Pretty Estates Resort
  • Rational
  • Vancouver Community College

Healthy Chef Competition 2014

Before we followed the tradition and opened our envelope to retrieve our entree and dessert tickets, we each received a plate of Salmon Carpaccio prepared by the team at Hyatt Regency Vancouver. Because the team was led by Chef Thomas Heinrich, it had the resemblance of the beef carpaccio we previously had at the Mosaic Bar & Grille downstairs from the ballroom. A different protein but this still composed a good flavour and texture combination using fish, crispy garlic chives, the aioli and liquid vinegar gel.

Salmon Carpaccio

I couldn’t resist. In addition to my assigned entree and dessert, I also picked up a couple more dishes after we were allowed for “seconds”; therefore, I have tried a total of 3 entrees and 3 desserts. Ooops hehe!

Entrees

The Hyatt Regency Vancouver’s Braised Beef Short Rib was very tender. (more…)

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With an invitation from my old-time blogger friend Sherman, we tried Mosaic’s latest Taiwanese Tasting Menu. Inspired by his recent visit to Taiwan, executive chef Thomas Heinrich put out this 4-course menu with a wine pairing option. Based on my experience last year, I was quite looking forward to another fantastic dinner.

Food

The dinner started with the Fish Ball with Scallion & Pork Dust. The house-made fish balls were made with ling cod, scallop and ground pork. Because the texture of ling cod and scallop is on the soft side, and I’m used to the bouncy, ping-pong like fish balls from HK, I found these a bit mushy. But the use of a little bit ground pork added some chew to it. The broth was quite aromatic and you could definitely taste the ginger and scallion; it had a homey taste to it. When mixing in the porcini paste on the side of the bowl (although not necessarily the most appetizing looking) there was some additional earthy note to the broth. Unfortunately our server poured a bit too much broth so I couldn’t finish it all.

Fish Ball with Scallion & Pork Dust

Fish Ball with Scallion & Pork Dust (Photo Credit: Sherman Chan)

Our second course was the Hakka Tea Crusted Ling Cod, and it was my favourite plate of the evening. (more…)

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