Last year, Vancouver Food Tour attended the most celebrated Cocktail Festival in Vancouver’s history.  For the first time, Tales of the Cocktail traveled from New Orleans to Vancouver.  The informative and fabulous cocktail conference gathered skilled bartenders and cocktail lovers from across the continent.

Guess what? They’re back for 2012.

By day, seminars, competitions, and demonstrations take place at the hotel.  By night, a variety of events take place at the best bars, restaurants, and venues across the city.  We could barely catch up with all the tastings, parties, and dinners last year – phew!

If you’re a cocktail lover, fanatic, enthusiast… call it what you like, purchase your ticket now.  The all-inclusive passes to this four-day festival are currently available on their website for $195 USD.

Be sure to check out other exciting events such as the BC bar crawl, tasting rooms, and the Spirited Dinners series. Cheers!

From the press release:

This February 12-15, Tales of the Cocktail® on Tour returns to Vancouver to celebrate the city’s emerging cocktail culture and give a small taste of what’s in store at this summer’s 10^th Anniversary Tales of the Cocktail® in New Orleans. Access to this second annual event is available exclusively through an all-inclusive festival pass, on sale now at TalesoftheCocktail.com for just $195 plus service fees. This pass gives guests full access to all Tales of the Cocktail® on Tour events including seminars, tasting rooms, parties and more; each featuring some of the biggest names in mixology from Canada and around the world.

“Vancouver is such a rich, vibrant cocktail city. We couldn’t help but come back for a second year,” said Ann Tuennerman, Founder of Tales of the Cocktail®. “With all the friends we’ve made north of the border, it’s really become our home away from home.”

Held once again at the stunning Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, the festival continues to grow with several new events including five tasting rooms, “Meet the Maker”, a specialty coffee bar and the Mott’s Clamato Caesar Bar. Toasted at events throughout the four days will be Jacob Sweetapple’s Roaming Buffalo Punch, the official cocktail of Tales of the Cocktail® on Tour Vancouver 2012. The Vancouver mixologist’s bourbon, Cointreau and cognac concoction was chosen by a panel of cocktail experts from more than 50 submissions by Canada’s most accomplished bartenders.

Members of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association (CPBA), are encouraged to reach out to their chapter president to learn about special promotions and opportunities to be a part of Tales of the Cocktail® on Tour Vancouver 2012. Please email info@canadianbartenders.com for more information, or to become a member of the CPBA please visit www.canadianbartenders.com/membership

We are 18 days away from the most electric cocktail event in North America, and tickets are going fast! Be part of the action, the history and contemporary bartending culture, as it unfolds over this 4-day festival. Bartenders, cocktail and spirit enthusiasts, restaurant and hospitality industry, scientists, chefs, and writers will be in town from all over the world for this legendary festival; and you should be too! Specific event schedule with parties, tasting rooms and seminars (all included in the $195-all-inclusive pass), plus Spirited Dinner™ information, BC Bar Crawl and much more, please visit www.talesofthecocktail.com.

About Tales of the Cocktail® on Tour Vancouver

Tales of the Cocktail® is taking its show on the road once again for Tales of the Cocktail® on Tour Vancouver. This February we will return to our home away from home for four days of seminars, tastings, special events and more; each featuring some of the biggest names in mixology from around the world. Join us February 12-15 as we dive deep into the cocktail culture of Vancouver and sample a taste of what is in store at the 10th Anniversary Tales of the Cocktail® this summer in New Orleans.

 About Tales of the Cocktail®

Tales of the Cocktail® is the world’s premier cocktail festival, bringing together the most respected minds on mixology for five days of cocktails, cuisine and culture. Held annually in New Orleans, this international event has something for cocktail professionals and enthusiasts alike; with a spirited schedule of seminars, dinners, competitions and tasting rooms; where brands showcase their latest products. Tales of the Cocktail® returns in 2012 for a historic milestone—its 10th Anniversary of rocking the cocktail world. Join the celebration July 25-29, 2012 and see how Tales of the Cocktail® only gets better with age.

 About the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society

The New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society (NOCCPS) is a non-profit organization committed to preserving the unique culture of cocktails and cuisine in New Orleans and beyond. Since it’s founding in 2006 the NOCCPS has supported members of the hospitality industry through programs like the new Apprentice Aid Fund, providing financial assistance to former apprentices in times of medical need, the Cocktail Apprentice Scholarship Program and the Flo Woodward Memorial Scholarship as well as the production of events like Tales of the Cocktail®.

 For more information and tickets to the most spirited event of the Spring, visit www.TalesoftheCocktail.com

It’s rainy and chilly out. We get it. But if you’re tired of staying in, the most delicious thing to do in Vancouver from January 20 to February 5 is Dine Out Vancouver.

Dine Out is a city wide food festival that features attractive (and discounted) prix fixe menus at Vancouver’s best restaurants. There’s also a line up of unique culinary events and activities, our Gastown Craft Beer Tour being one of them. Even Vancouver’s top hotels are providing special rates if you desire to spend the night in town.

We at Vancouver Food Tour were so focused on hosting our Gastown Craft Beer Tour that we forgot to make reservations for ourselves. Fortunately, our friends at C Restaurant reminded us to take a break and invited us “Dine Out” with a few colleagues. It was a delightful and delectable meal that focused on local and sustainable seafood – just what Vancouver’s best known for.

For $38 per person, the meal was a true bargain. We especially loved their VQA wine pairings ($26) that showcases some beautiful BC wines. Check out the menu and see what we ate in the mouthwatering photos below, taken by Alvin C Lee.

If you still haven’t made reservations to Dine Out, act on it quickly before the event is over or the seats sell out.

Thanks again to Shannon at Heth PR and C Restaurant for the fantastic evening.  Special thanks to Alvin for allowing us to use his photos.  Isn’t he talented?

Discuss: Are you participating in Dine Out Vancouver this year? Do you have any experiences that you’d like to share with us?

It’s no secret that we are huge fans of social or communal dining.  The most satisfying thing about hosting our tours, apart from the great food, is watching friendships develop between travelers and locals.  Every so often, we also watch romance kindle ;)  That’s why we were so excited to find out what The Social Feed is doing round the city of Vancouver.

The concept is simple.  Buy your ticket, arrive ready to dine, and share a meal with strangers that become new friends as the night goes on.  Tomorrow (I know it’s soon, but that’s pop up dining for you!) they are hosting a special Social Feed at Save on Meats, a recently revamped Vancouver icon.  There are a few seats remaining so be sure to reserve quickly.

If you miss this one, not a worry.  They host long table dining in Vancouver’s best restaurants throughout the year.

Description from the website:

For fifty plus years Save On Meats and that neon portly pig have hosted Vancouverites for some home butchered goodness. Now the iconic Butcher Shop will play host to a forty seat, pop-up Social Feed special for Dine Out ’12. Since Mark Brand (co-owner of nearby Boneta & The Diamond), took over the reigns last year, the landmark (and the pig) have taken off after extensive renovations brought the spot back to the future. For this Feed, their butcher-roots shine with a locally sourced nose-to-tail menu featuring Gelderman Farms. Chase your whole hog fix with a micro-brew provided by Victoria’s own Phillips Brewery. This might be your one shot to join the pop-up communal table, but thankfully the pig out front is here to stay.

Taste Vancouver, BC, and International craft beers during Dine Out Vancouver on our new and exciting Craft Beer ‘n Bites Tour of Gastown.  Last time, we merely announced it.  Now, we have photos to prove what a hoppin’ good time it is.  Here’s a sneak peek of what the beer-centric food tour looks like.

After Dine Out, we will be offering the tour regularly.  Simply check our website for new tour dates or get in touch for large group reservations.  We love hosting birthday parties, corporate parties, stags and stagettes, and everything in between.

We still have a few seats left on our Feb 2nd and 4th tours so be sure to reserve quickly before we’re completely sold out.

Below are just 3 out of the 4 restaurant destinations.  We can’t give it all away.

Line them up! We’re thirsty…

Pork + Beer = best combination on the planet

Beer cocktails? Don’t mind if I do.

Beer pairs superbly with dessert too, especially chocolate.

Whoops, 1 more beer arrived just after I shot this photo.

What are they? Hop on board to find out.

Happy Lunar New Year, Vancouver locals and visitors.  It’s no secret that Vancouver is home to some of the best Chinese food in the world.  But what if you are hankering for a different way to celebrate the year of the dragon?  Urban Tea Merchant’s Year of the Dragon” Signature Afternoon Tea Service might be just what you need.

Their tea sommelier and the kitchen has teamed up to create a tea service with an Asian twist.  The dainty Peking duck wrapsand wagyu beef carpaccio immediately jumped out at me – and were both delightful.  The otherwise traditional open faced smoked salmon sandwich is brightened with wasabi mayo and soy jelly.  Their signature tea-infused egg salad sandwich and tea-infused chicken salad cone continues to grace the tiered selections.

Tea-centric sweets such as chocolates and macrons wrapped up a relaxing afternoon.  Saving the best for last, I cracked open the matcha fortune cookie.  Here’s the fortune that I received:

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the refreshing fresh mango sorbet and the chilled white tea that kicked off the whole experience.  If dim sum feels a bit heavy at this time of year, consider trying this unique tea service at Urban Tea Merchant until January 31, 2012.

“Year of the Dragon” Signature Afternoon Tea Service – $48 per person

Tea Sommelier’s choice of chilled TWG Tea Jasmine Pearls tea & sorbet

Sweets

tea-infused macaron,

chocolate dipped dragon fruit,

chocolate truffle,

petit fours,

fresh exotic fruit,

Matcha tea-infused fortune cookie,

fresh baked scone served with devon creme & jam

Savouries

traditional wrapped Peking duck & plum sauce

cucumber, watercress & cracked black pepper sandwich

open faced smoked salmon, wasabi mayo & soy jelly

Tiger Hill Tea-infused egg salad sandwich

petit tea-infused chicken salad cone & petit savory tart

baby shrimp & chopped apple served in Chinese spoon

Boursin cheese mousse with crisp endive & candied walnut

wagyu beef carpaccio with horseradish foam

Special accompanying tea (optional)

Jade Dragon Tea

Visit their website

THE VILLAGE AT PARK ROYAL
G3 – 825 Main St. West Vancouver
Phone: (604) 926-3392

DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER
1070 West Georgia St. Vancouver
Phone: (604) 692-0071