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Posts Tagged ‘Prestons’

2013 BC Healthy Chef Competition – Recap

Posted in Asian, Chinese, Culinary Events, Dessert, Dinner, Healthy Eating, Indian, Joyce, Lower Mainland, Meat, Seafood, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged Art Institute of Vancouver, BC Chefs Association, BC Healthy Chef Competition, BC Produce Marketing Association, Canadian Cancer Society, Copper Chimney, Dynasty Seafood, Grand Dynasty Seafood, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Mix it Up!, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, Prestons, River Rock Casino Resort, Tivoli's Restaurant on March 20, 2013| 1 Comment »

For the past 3 years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend the BC Healthy Chef Competition. Once again thanks to work, I joined a few other colleagues at this much sought after event. The purpose of the Healthy Chef Competition is to promote healthy eating while raising money for the Mix it Up! campaign, Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Chefs representing 9 units were competing against each other by cooking up some tasty entrees and desserts using fruit and vegetables. Here is the list of competing units this year:

The Art Institute of Vancouver
Copper Chimney
Dynasty Seafood
Grand Dynasty Seafood
The Hyatt Regency Vancouver
Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
Prestons
River Rock Casino Resort
Tivoli’s Restaurant

Guests waiting for the event to start

Besides cooking, the 9 restaurants also had to put together a creative display as they were being judged on that. Here are a few that caught my eyes:

“Display” by River Rock Casino Resort

Display by Art Institute of Vancouver

Display by Hyatt Regency

Before we went on separate ways to line up for our entrees and desserts, each of us was served the Al a Minute Warm Smoked Salmon prepared by the team at Hyatt Regency Vancouver. (more…)

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Prestons [Dine Out Vancouver 2013]

Posted in Dine Out Vancouver, Dinner, Group Dinner, Joyce, Pan Asian, Restaurants, Vancouver, tagged Beef Short Ribs, Coast Coal Harbour, Dine Out Vancouver 2013, Gyoza, Prestons, Tempura Banana on February 4, 2013| 1 Comment »

With the number of foodies at the office, we went out one evening for Dine Out. After much consideration, we decided on Prestons because of its location (pretty close to the office) and its approachable menu (something for everyone). I remember a couple years ago when we blogged about a tasting event there, I said I would return for its regular service because that media event wasn’t their best. Well, here I am.

Dine Out at Prestons

Food

For appetizer I ordered the Prawn Gyoza. If you have been following my posts, you would know I’m not a huge fan of Pan Asian food, so obviously I had reservations about this dish. The verdict? It was Lisa’s favourite at the media event 2 years ago, and it didn’t disappoint me this time around. No, these aren’t the traditional, authentic gyozas, but they were very tasty. (more…)

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Prestons – A Taste of the Fall Menu

Posted in By Invitations, Dinner, Food Bloggers, Joyce, Lisa, Pan Asian, Tapas, Vancouver, tagged Coal Harbour, Creme Brulee, Facebox, Poutine, Prestons, ribs, Sliders on October 25, 2011| 5 Comments »

Joyce and I attended the media launch event at Prestons for its fall menu — my first food blogger-type event. Socializing and Lisa equals: out of comfort zone plus awkward, which also equals to complete social misfit. Nevertheless, still had a good time, met some really cool people, some really flamboyant people, and a couple of drinks.

One of those occasions where cameras are definitely allowed

Menu at the event included a selection of its fall menu items, served appetizer style. Preston states on their menus that they are a West Coast style restaurant with Mediterranean and Asian influence. I’m definitely not an expert in Mediterranean food, but the Asian influence on the dishes was present on many items served that night.

Our first item was the Thai Red Curry. I loved the colour of the dish and the flavour of the curry was pretty spot on, until the heat kicks in at the end. The vegetables were overcooked as well as the rice. The presentation in the tiny glass cup was adorable, until I realized I had to eat it with a giant Chinese porcelain spoon.

Mini Thai Red Curry

My favourite for the night was the Gyoza, described in their menu as seared shrimp and vegetable dumplings with miso vinaigrette. This was definitely not your traditional gyoza, but the presentation couldn’t be better. Each gyoza was served in a bamboo steamer on a leaf, with the vinaigrette drizzled over. (Note: This is a tasting event so items were served/plated in cute, miniature fashion. Chances are you won’t get the same presentation when you dine off the regular menu.) The gyoza itself gave a nice, light finish, but the “vinaigrette” was very heavy and creamy, almost like the consistency of mayonnaise. I’m a sucker for creamy food, so I felt like the pairing was in harmony, light finish from gyoza with the drizzle of heavy cream sauce.

Gyoza

Their Asian-influenced Baby Back Ribs had a decent texture. The meat was tender, fall off the bone, and didn’t leave that nasty fatty feeling in your mouth like some ribs do. The hoisin sauce on it was oddly sweet, but the ginger component was definitely lacking. Would love to come back to try it again, as I think the idea of having an Asian style rib sounds really interesting.