You’ve Gotta Try This in July

Your guide to the latest mouth-watering food and drinks in Vancouver this month

As rainy Juneuary recedes into blessed July, summer is officially upon us and it’s time to celebrate that by eating every single meal you possibly can al fresco. Enjoy the sunny season with these recommendations of what’s brilliant, brand new and super-seasonal for July—from beautiful B.C. blueberries and New Zealand oysters to fundraising wines and delish beer cocktails from one of the city’s most beloved bartenders.

As always, grab a napkin (or two) ’cause it’s definitely gonna get messy…

Drink Les Dames wine to raise money for a great cause

If there’s one thing better than just plain drinking, it’s drinking for a cause! Say cheers then to Les Dames wines, crafted by Mireille Sauvé from beautiful grapes in the Okanagan. Proceeds from each bottle goes to help support Les Dames d’Escoffier, a scholarship program of food and beverage education for women in B.C.

The Dames white has ‘aromas of apricot, apple, pineapple and a hint of lime zest and mineral undertones’ and is a blend of 80% Pinot Blanc from Sperling Vineyard in Kelowna, 10% Riesling from Sperling Vineyard in Kelowna, and 10% Gewurztraminer from Meyer Family Vineyards in Okanagan.

Dames red is a great ‘fireplace wine,’ enjoyed on its own with friends or alongside assorted charcuterie and cheese plates, burgers or stew. It’s a beautiful B.C. blend of 70% Merlot and 30% organic Syrah, both sourced from vine.

Buy online. Get a case of 12 to save almost $5 a bottle or look out for them here.

Eat (and drink) all the B.C. blueberries

Bursting with juicy flavour and packed with antioxidant health benefits, B.C. blueberries are now in season and restaurants and bars across the city are using them in dozens of innovative ways.

Giardino has a blueberry compote dessert on the menu with fresh rhubarb in a Bavarese, while Provence Marinaside is featuring a blueberry shortcake. Try a Westcoast Bramble at L’Abattoir which switches up the traditional blackberries for B.C. blueberries.

Over at YEW at the Four Seasons they’re going blueberry crazy—you can try them in salads, pies, sundaes and at the end of the meal in a dried blueberry and dark chocolate bark. YUM. Boulevard has a fabulous-sounding lavender-blueberry dessert on their menu with blueberry crémeux, lemon curd and lavender ice cream.

Finally, Ancora has this summer’s must-have Sunday brunch cocktail, the Breakfast Sour created by their new bar manager, Philipp Karatsyupa. It’s a wakey-wakey blend of  whisky, maple syrup, muddled blueberries, citrus, egg white and Pinot Noir float with grated nutmeg on top.

Slurp New Zealand oysters

If, like me, you’re addicted to oysters, summer always brings a tiny touch of regret as warmer waters can bring more creamy-tasting spawning oysters and the risk of Red Tide here in B.C., but hope is on the horizon in the shape of New Zealand oysters. 46 South Fish Co. imports some of New Zealand’s best seafood to us here in Vancouver three times a week for maximum freshness, and their peak oyster season just began.

One of the most sustainable fisheries in the world (and free of Red Tide toxins), New Zealand Coromandel oysters have ‘an undeniably exotic taste, with a crisp oceanic brine with vibrant hints of minerality and a clean cucumber finish.’ You can try a dozen or so at plenty of great spots around town, including Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar, Rodney’s Oyster House, Beach Bay Cafe, Provence Marinaside, Nightingale, Kissa Tanto and Bao Bei.

Say cheers to beer cocktails at Main Street Brewing

Bottled beer cocktails? Yeah, this is kind of brilliant, but what else would you expect from the guy credited with kick-starting Vancouver’s cocktail renaissance? Nick Devine has launched Ascot Beer Cocktails over at Main Street Brewing. Says Nick, “I wanted to create a line of beer cocktails using fresh, quality ingredients that were approachable and convenient and delivered on taste.”

You can try the No. 1 Mojito which has mint leaves muddled with cane sugar and fresh lime juice, then blended with premium craft beer or my favourite, the No. 2 Paloma, which blends fresh pink grapefruit and lime juice, organic blue agave syrup and a pinch of salt, with premium craft beer. More creations to come… 

Snap up super fresh seafood at Boulevard’s Sunday Seafood Boils

Hurrah! Boulevard has announced a welcome return to their summer season Seafood Boil series (try saying that three times) which begins at 6:30 p.m. on July 10th and carries on each Sunday until August 28th. Chill on Boulevard’s Spanish-style patio and chow down on chef Alex Chen and team’s take on jumbo prawns, clams, mussels, crawfish and Dungeness crab all served up on butcher’s paper—with all the fixings—including potatoes, corn, bacon cornbread and dessert, served family-style on communal tables. You even get a complimentary glasses of Haywire’s ‘The Bub’ to get the party started. Book now, this will be popular.

Treat yourself to grass-fed and steroid-free steak at Hy’s

Hats off to Hy’s who have, with no fanfare, introduced their first-ever grass-fed, antibiotic- and steroid-free steak to the menu. This has been in development for two years, but now they are working with Black Apron Beef who raise their all-Angus cattle on Canadian ranches where the herd is free to roam, never confined and treated with dignity and respect with full traceability and accountability.

I’ve always believed that if you’re going to eat meat or fish then it needs to be from a sustainable and ethical source—and yes, that usually means it’s more expensive—so make it a treat and score a Premium Black Angus Bone-in Rib and show your support for more meat raised like this.

Gin and sausage together at last!

There is nothing I don’t adore about this limited-time collaboration between two of my favourite local producers. Granville Island charcuterie heroes Oyama Sausage Co. are teaming up with award-winning gin champs, Long Table Distillery to create three gin-based porky products: a gin-glazed ham, gin chorizo sausage and olive-gin saucisson sec (which basically makes one of my long-term dreams real as it’s essentially a sausage-martini with a savoury punch). Order yours now as they are only available this month.

Check out Burger Monday at Buckstop

A closely guarded secret amongst the city’s burger aficionados, Buckstop’s Burger Monday allows the wild imaginings of owner Fiona Grieve to run riot with a different creation each week. The deal is that each Monday, Fiona creates a burger—it could be a burger stuffed with pesto ricotta, mozzarella and topped with melon, prosciutto, balsamic aioli and garnished with a house-smoked olive. Or maybe it’s a burger stuffed with mushroom soup, topped with bacon mushroom ragout, crispy fennel and swiss cheese and garnished with a deep-fried mushroom cap stuffed with bacon and jalapeno cheese sauce. There are only 20 made each week—once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. It’s only $8. And yes, sometimes people queue. Enjoy!

Get bittered

Bag one of the limited edition Chinook Bitters from Bittered Sling and up your F&B game with some seriously Canuck-style bitters. Made from a hop variety grown and harvested in the Pemberton-Lillooet area and bright vibrant botanicals, makers Lauren Mote and Jonathan Chovancek describe the flavour profile as “bright and vibrant, fresh grapefruit peel meets floral, herbaceous and bitter Lillooet hops; with soft South Asian peppercorns and bitter cinchona.” Suggested uses include adding to white spirits, blended scotch and Irish whiskies, zero-proof cocktails and sparkling water or as a new addition to home-made vinaigrettes or fish cures. Prepared and designed specifically for Edible Canada, this limited edition release is available online and exclusively at the Edible Canada retail store on Granville Island.

Take Vancouver Urban Winery home

No, not brick by brick, but bottle by bottle instead. When I first arrived in B.C. four years ago I’ll confess I was baffled by wine on tap.

“What madness is this?” I puzzled. “How can this be anything other than terrible?”

I was, of course, completely wrong.

Wine on tap is the perfect way to capture the true expression of the winemaker’s art in a super-sustainable way. Since those ignorant days, I’ve become a passionate advocate for wine on tap, so imagine my surprise that the folks at the all-tap VUW also do their own wine in bottles! A new VUW series has been created with star somm David Stansfield along with winemaker Kelly Symonds and Lynzee Schatz. The Merlot is dangerously drinkable, and the rosé bursting with summery strawberries (but don’t serve it too cold; its flavours are muted until you let it breathe a little). The Pinot Gris pops with apricot and lemon and could just be your new favourite patio sipper. Try them all on-tap and then take a bottle home.