My friend Mary LOVES food, so when I asked her to cover Eat! Vancouver for Define Magazine, she jumped at the chance. Plus she’s really witty. Meet Mary Wu…

WHAT: EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival. “Wait, that just sounds like a bunch of people coming together to eat food and look at food and talk about food.” Exactly.

WHEN: June 10-12, 2011. You know, before the city was globally known for riots.

WHERE: Vancouver Convention Centre. Where that pixelated orca statue is!

EXHIBITS: International culinary demonstration stage, an Iron Chef-style competition, a wine and beer pavillion, even a cheese seminar. There was also a really popular Food Network Celebrity Chef stage, featuring the likes of Dale MacKay (Top Chef Canada) and Rob Feenie. Wait, didn’t he used to be in commercials for White Spot? Oh, we don’t talk about that?

HOW TO NAVIGATE: Prepare to spend the day there and eat your way through breakfast (McDonald’s coffee samples and fresh from the oven Bonchaz buns), lunch (a sample of Moroccan split pea soup from That Guy’s Soup), and dinner (a full plate of pork adobo and rice noodles from Chef Edgar Grajo’s Filipino cuisine demonstration). Did I mention all of these samples are free? Heck yes.

HIGHLIGHTS: The Bite of Vancouver restaurants, where cuisine ranged from raw sprouted grain goodness at Gorilla Foods to hearty roasted salmon and brioche at Ebo. Gramercy Grill served up classic comfort food – steaming, saucy meatballs with a slop of mac and cheese – while Sutton Place’s Fleuri plated a beautiful display of lemon meringue and rich chocolate mousse. Can someone just tell me why Milestones was there though?

MORE HIGHLIGHTS: Absinthe in the beer and wine pavillion. Eggplants carved to look like penguins.

GOOD FOR:

• Hungry friends (Bite/Taste tickets are only $10 for 20).
• Bored couples (gets you out of the house so you don’t have to argue over whose turn it is to do laundry).
• New couples (too much to distract you from any potential awkwardness).
• Families (feed everyone for cheap!).
• Hyperactive children (two words: food coma).

LAST WORDS: No, really, White Spot?

Photos by: Alex Taylor

Erin Gee

Coming from a strong sporting background, Erin Gee is one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. She can turn everything into a competition, giving her all until the she crosses the finish line. With a BA in Criminology, Erin criminological interests lie on the international level. Her other passions are fashion, softball and travel.

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