Expand Your Horizons with the Mouth Watering Cuisine of Vancouver

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On Friday, Vancouver kicked off its 20th annual Dine Out Vancouver. Now if you don’t know what Dine Out is, let me give you a little background.

Dine out first started in 2002 when a group of food and wine enthusiasts decided they wanted to help the restaurant industry during the slow periods they experience after the holidays. They teamed up with Tourism Vancouver where they pitched the idea of a fixed-price menu deal to get Vancouverites out to restaurants. Right away, 57 restaurants joined and 20 years later, it is now Canada’s largest food and drink festival. 

https://twitter.com/DineOutVanFest/status/1353734463109406726

This year, there is a record of over 330 restaurants partaking as well as wineries, breweries, hundreds of chefs and many suppliers for the festival. Royce Chwin, President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver told Eat North, “We are grateful and delighted to have a record number of restaurant partners participating in this year’s Dine Out Vancouver Festival.” It is the perfect event for Vancouver “foodies” to taste some of the best food the city has to offer. Restaurants from Downtown Vancouver to Langley and Maple Ridge are all participating. There are also about 170 restaurants offering meals as take-out so you can eat in the comfort of your own home. The pricing ranges from $15 to $54. Dine Out’s goal is to have community, collaborations and share Vancouver’s talented food with the rest of the world.

Some of Dine Out’s restaurants include: Bartholomew, Black + Blue, Burgoo, Cactus Club, Hawksworth, Joe Fortes, Nuba, Romers, S +L, Tap and Barrel, The Flying Pig and hundreds more.

Hotels are also participating in Dine Out and are offering special deals so people are able to enjoy an overnight experience. Hotel Vancouver, Sutton Place, Rosewood Hotel Georgia and The Westin Bayshore are hotels part of the festival. If you do chose to book a hotel, Dine Out is offering a complimentary $50 Visa gift card.

Dine out started February 5 and it is running until March 7, lasting 31 days, instead of the usual 17. Lucas Pavan, the Festival Director explains the reasoning behind the festival lasting for a longer period of time, “ We extended the festival to 31 days so that people have more time to explore restaurants, which are operating at reduced capacity.”

This year, Dine Out is only available for locals as COVID-19 health guidelines are not allowing for anyone out of province to partake. This is the perfect opportunity to help to the hospitality industry since many have struggled through the past year.

As per the Dine Out Vancouver website:

  • Current provincial orders require patrons to dine only with someone from their own household, and within their local community. So, support your neighbourhood restaurants!
  • Your Dine Out experience will look and feel different than in previous years as restaurants have invested in implementing government-approved health and safety measures to protect both patrons and their employees.
  • The guidance from public health authorities limits capacity for restaurants, so it is even more important to honour your reservation or cancel well in advance.

Pavan told News 1130 that all pandemic precautions will be in place, “Having a 50 per cent capacity, having plexiglass dividers between tables, having staff and guests wear masks while not seated at table, contact tracing, sanitization, all of those different things.”

Pavan is encouraging locals to participate in Dine Out, “Restaurants are in clear need of this support. We would encourage Vancouverites and those from across Metro Vancouver to support their local restaurants within their communities and within their household bubble,”  This pandemic has been especially tough for the hospitality business and this is an awesome way to help out in your community.

This years virtual events include a beer and cheese tasting, wine tastings and coffee tastings all with Canadian Craft Tours. The Belgard Kitchen is doing virtual Valentine’s Day cooking classes over the upcoming long weekend. There will also be dumpling making classes, a cocktail making class and seminar a from Tacofino.

The whole festival is funded through Dine Out’s sponsorships and participation fees. Dine Out Vancouver is partnering with Evo Car Share, Colour Tome, Breaking Bread, SMC Communications, BC Ale Trail, Wines of British Columbia, Daily Hive, Vancouver Sun, The Province, Downtown Vancouver BIA, Westend BIA, VHDA, Kubera and OpenTable. Their charitable partner is British Columbia Hospitality Foundation, which supports people working in the hospitality industry who have faced a financial crisis due to their health condition.

The Tri-Cities are also hosting their own spin off of Dine Out called “Tastes of the Tri-Cities.” This is running for five weeks starting on February 15 running until March 19. There will be 50 of the best restaurants in Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam. The only difference between the two is that there will be no set menu like Dine Out.

Now, go spice it up and venture away from your usual “go to” meals. I know I’ll be venturing away from my “food comfort zone” over the next few weeks.

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