October food events in and around Vancouver

Credit: ruralgold

Attention Vancouver foodies: October food events you must attend

There are plenty of fabulous food events going on in and around Vancouver this month. You can enjoy high tea while supporting breast cancer research, dine on seasonal produce like mushrooms, cranberries and apples or celebrate wines from near and far.

Here is a sampling of what’s happening this month. Know of an October food event that we’ve missed? Add it to the comments below!

October 1 to 31 – Pink Ribbon Tea at select Fairmont Hotels
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and Fairmont Pacific Rim will be holding a Pink Ribbon Tea throughout October in support of breast cancer awareness. The Fairmont Waterfront doesn’t serve afternoon tea, but will feature a “tickled pink” dessert throughout October. Two dollars from each afternoon tea and “tickled pink” dessert will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

October 1 to November 13 – Fall Flavour Fete at Bistro Pastis
Bistro Pastis will be celebrating the season in three different stages with their three-course Fall Flavour Fete menus, $45 each. From October 1 through 16, mushrooms are featured— even in the delicious desserts. From October 18 to 30, wild game, including pheasant and venison, is featured, and from November 1 to 13, charcuterie, including house-made sausage, is featured.

October 4 to November 17 – Celebrity Chef Cooking Classes at the Arts Club Theatre Company
Support the Arts Club while you learn how to prepare a four-course dinner, paired with wine, from a local celebrity chef. These events are held in different homes around the city and tickets are $125 (and include a $50 tax receipt). The only remaining October event is on the 19th and will be led by Shane McNeil from Bridges Restaurant, with wine pairings from Rigamarole, so sign up quickly!

October 7 to mid-November – Red Gold Menu at C Restaurant
Chef Lee Humphries has collaborated with Parks Canada and the Fort Langley Cranberry Festival for his new cranberry menu (teaser: cranberry-cured pink salmon with vodka jelly), which is sure to live up to his usual creative and delicious inventions. The Red Gold menu is $72 per person, and sommelier Kim Cyr has selected some tantalizing pairings that are available for an additional $40.

October 8 to 19 – Sustenance: Feasting on Arts & Culture Festival at the Roundhouse Community Centre
Presented by FarmFolk/CityFolk and the Roundhouse Community Centre, Sustenance is a celebration of food and agriculture in the city of Vancouver. Check out the Sunday Workshop Series, $10, on October 16: Dining Etiquette with Dr. Jane Ruddick (La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs) at 11a.m., and Balcony Gardening and Kitchen Herbs with Bonita Jo Magee (FarmFolk/CityFolk) and Chef Andrea Carlson (Bishop’s Restaurant) at 1p.m.

October 15 to 16 – UBC Apple Festival
Fall in BC is synonymous with apple season and apple lovers will delight at the UBC Apple Festival held at the UBC Botanical Garden. The festival gives attendees the chance to try almost 60 varieties of apples at the apple tasting tent ($5 each), and purchase over 70 different kinds of apples, plus a number of apple trees for planting at home.

October 19 – From Burgundy to Oregon, The Ultimate Horizontal: An Evening with Véronique Drouhin-Boss of Maison Joseph Drouhin (Burgundy) and Domaine Drouhin (Oregon) at Blue Water Cafe
Blue Water Cafe hosts Véronique Drouhin-Boss for a multi-course dinner with wine pairings from her family’s two estates in Burgundy and Oregon, where she is head winemaker for both. Executive chef Frank Pabst has designed each of the courses to complement the side-by-side tastings, the “ultimate horizontal”, with commentary by Drouhin-Boss about the “fascinating comparison of Drouhin wines from both their Burgundy and Willamette Valley estates”. Dinner is $148 plus tax and gratuity.

October 19 to 30 – Taste of Yaletown
Over 20 Yaletown restaurants are participating in the 7th annual Taste of Yaletown, where three-course fixed price menus from some of the city’s finest restaurants will be available for $25, $35 or $45, with partial proceeds going to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

October 25 and October 26 – Champagne at Chambar: Bring on the Bubble
Head to Marquis Wine Cellars to get your ticket for one of two Champagne events at Chambar restaurant this month ($150, all inclusive). Chef Nico Schuermans (crowned 2011 Chef of the Year) has created a menu to complement the eight different Champagne pairings chosen by Marquis. Françoise and Paul Couvreur of Champagne et Villages, an export company that represents many of the unique, small-grower Champagnes available at Marquis, will also be present to talk about each of the producers and their Champagnes.