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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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.

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.

…an event that highlighted the importance of cooking from the ground up with premium local ingredients.

…”updated and upgraded classic diner food prepared with environmentally conscious and organic ingredients”

Recently opened on the corner of Granville and Helmcken, The Edge may have just managed to pick out a coveted, underserved area in the downtown region.

…is a “quantity comes first” trend where restaurants offer sushi such as nigiri with long pieces of fish on top, uncommonly large pieces of sashimi, and sometimes huge rolls.

Looking for something to do? Every Monday morning, we present to you “Modern Mix Monday”, a brief but link-filled one-liner review of our past weekend loaded with suggestions to inspire you for your next!

I went to Salty Tongue Cafe (213 Carrall Street) and was pleased to find yet another affordable but “something different” / “check this place out!” cafe in Gastown. Although the cafe-front is fairly small (but not tiny), with the blue and white Salty Tongue logo on glass, the interior of the cafe was spacious with the typical Gastown decor of wooden beams and brick walls. A loong table spanned the entire length of the cafe; it reminded me of the dining halls at highschool orientation/camping trips.
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Get a piece of paper and check off what you want – from different types of bread (sourdough, etc.) and meat (turkey, roast beef, etc.), to sauces and dressings (ie. cranberry, dijon mustard, etc.) and veggies (onions, peppers, etc.) and cheese and build your own sandwich for only $6.95! Pre-built sandwich options were also available as well as a selection of soups and baked goods. As for the food quality – it wasn’t great. The sandwich was much too dry – it would have been better if they could toast it pannini style and melt the cheese. However, a sandwich is a sandwich and you can’t screw it up too badly. Conclusion? The Salty Tongue is a good place to eat at when it’s your turn to suggest a cool place to eat at but don’t have high expectations for the food.

Tips and hints for future patrons of this event…