When it comes to “concept dining”, my favourite way of eating food is definitely tapas style. Located in Blood Alley in Gastown, adjacent to Salt Tasting Room, Judas Goat Taberna is a 28-seat tapas bar which serves small plates influenced by Spain, Italy and France. Despite the foreign food pairings, the environment of Judas Goat reminds of me a family grocery store. A viewable food preparation station and high countertops close enough to make small talk with the patrons sitting beside you. Square yellow stools huddle around small tables.

Similar to its sister restaurant, The Salt Tasting Room, Judas Goat combines a variety of flavours and textures and teases the pallet with its small portions. I love the option of nibbling on a variety of food and sharing dishes. Between the two of us, we ordered 7 items, which included two “hot” dishes, two “pressed, potted, or cured” dishes and a salad. Agreeing with everyone I have spoken with, what you pay for the portions is not really worth the price; but then again, “concept dining” is about the experience of “trying something new”, right??

Dine Out Vancouver is back! Typically in February, this year, Dine Out Vancouver has been postponed to April 26 to May 6. The list of participating restaurants will be released on Monday April 19. Restaurants will begin accepting reservations at that time. Stay tuned!

With 230+ participating restaurants across Vancouver, this event is sure to satisfy the palates of foodies and the needs of these two amazing charities.

It was everything you could imagine it being, with white beans layered with sausage, duck confit and fois gras with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

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On Sunday March 7, 2010, from 5pm to 10pm, OPUS Bar (350 Davie Street) and Elixir Bistro in Yaletown are celebrating the Oscars in style.

Feel like a celebrity as you walk the Red Carpet, wave to adoring paparazzi and step into the ultimate viewing party! Dress to impress and experience all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood while sipping Oscartini’s, nibbling feature Oscar O-bite platters for $25 and mingling with Vancouver’s glamorous while watching the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

3 course Oscar Dinner available in Elixir Bistro for $30 with optional wine pairings for $20. Also, don’t miss your chance to win a Bed & Breakfast package for two at OPUS Hotel Vancouver, for the person with the most correct Oscar ballot predictions. RSVP to Jessica Dunn JDunn@opushotel.com.

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On Sunday March 7, 2010, grab some friends and head downtown to O Lounge (1054 Alberni Street) at COAST Restaurant and watch the Oscars’ festivities in Hollywood Style. Starting at 5pm, their new HD Projector and 2 large plasma screens will broadcast all of the glitz from the Kodak Theatre, live from Hollywood.

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin host, while Chef Josh Wolfe prepares the finest and freshest oysters in town to go with your bubbly!! For the first time ever there are 10 movies in the running for best picture instead of the standard 5. Think you are a movie buff? Glowbal Group prizes and Gift Certificates given to the table with the closest predictions! Break out the Tuxes and Cocktail attire…we will be giving awards and prizes to the evening’s Best Dressed.

For your table reservations call 604.685.5010

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My Friday morning started off with lunch with two of my girlfriends at Jethro’s Fine Grub, a diner in the Dunbar area which opened about two weeks ago. They serve breakfast and lunch seven days a week, with a fairly extensive menu (for such a small diner) that includes specialty omlettes, pancakes, and other typical breakfast dishes. For $9, on their breakfast menu, I had the Denver Omelet which consisted of sauteed onions, peppers, maple smoked ham and cheddar. The dish was served with chunky hashbrowns and toast (your choice of white, brown and rye).
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Their lunch menu was a little bit random – with curry on the menu which seemed to come out of nowhere, but hey, if it works for them, it works for me. In my opinion, Jethro’s is definitely a neighbourhood gem. Ever since Soda’s (a 50’s style diner, complete with a jukebox and milkshakes) closed down and was replaced with the pub-style Dunbar, I was hoping another restaurant with home-style, breakfast food would open.

The Glowbal Collection (restaurant group) will be extending its hours during the Olympics:
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Glowbal Grill Steaks and Satay: Sun to Sat – Open 9:30am to 2:00am
COAST Restaurant: Sun to Sat – Open 10:00am to 2:00am
Sanafir Restaurant and Lounge: Sun to Sat – Open 11:00am to 2:00am
Italian Kitchen: Sun to Sat – Open 10:00am to 2:00am
Trattoria Italian Kitchen: Sun to Sat – Open 11:00am to 2:00pm
SOCIETY Restaurant and Lounge: Sun to Sat – Open 9:30am to 2:00am
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Also, throughout the month of February THE GLOWBAL COLLECTION is launching a Central Reservations Hotline to accommodate bookings in all THE GLOWBAL COLLECTION Restaurants. This will be a great option for those last minute lunch and dinner reservations. Call Central Reservations at 604-629-3424.

It’s great to see so many restaurants in the Vancouver community taking the initiative to put on fundraising events to help Haiti. RTL (1130 Mainland Street) in Yaletown is hosting their “Help Haiti” event on Thursday January 21st. Tickets are $45, with cocktails and canapes, a silent auction and a photo gallery. Call R.TL at 604-638-1550 for tickets. And for more information about R.TL, click here to read the MMV article.

Earlier this month, the Glowbal Group’s newest initiative “Society” (1257 Hamilton Street) opened in Yaletown. With the tagline of “Opposites Attract. The Unexpected Reigns”, Society most definitely has unique, unexpected menu offerings!! Described as a “union of opposites”, the menu offers comfort food – but with a twist.

So for example, classic tomato soup accompanied by mini grilled cheese sandwiches (hmm, following the “tapas” trend?), Mac & Cheese balls (think crabcake style), apple pie with vanilla ice cream and a Nutella milkshake (spiked with Baileys). As for prices, Society’s express lunch menu is a pretty good deal. Less than $10 for sandwich-y types of food. Also, several of their menu items contain cotton candy as an ingredient, including on their drinks menu, the “Candy Collins” which is probably the most creative drink I’ve ever had. It came with a generous fluff of cotton candy on top, and I was advised by the bartender that I could either eat it plain, or melt it into my gin to sweeten as desired.