Owned and operated by sommelier/salesman Michael Dinn and somm/chef/winemaker Heidi Noble, JoieFarm has been garnering attention and acclaim since it opened the fall of 2002. Originating as Joie, the French word for "joy," the married couple's Naramata winery has...
I was surprised to find out the modern, orange-glinting, new Residence Inn at NW Ninth and Marshall was the first hotel in Portland’s bustling Pearl District. And I mean brand new—when I stayed a week at the property this summer, I was amongst the first guests,...
Inspired by the moonshining methods of colonial Americans, Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse created this limited edition winter wonder in a perfect slim stocking stuffer size (gift hint). Black Applejack pays tribute to the method of jacking (distilling) apples into...
With this past weekend’s cold snap across the Pacific Northwest, it’s no denying that winter is nipping at our heels. For many in BC (and beyond) the drop in the temperature signals more than down coats. It’s the time to head up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler....
There are restaurants that are so treasured, so right, so comfortable and so revered that they deserve the daily line-out-the-door status prior to opening. Vancouver’s breakfast/brunch/lunch only Café Medina is one such restaurant. You can well imagine, then,...
From a relatively new producer on the Golden Mile Bench (a region recently approved as BC’s first official Sub-Geographical Indication) comes this stylish and supple Syrah, a key grape for the sun-baked southern Okanagan region. C.C. Jentsch Cellars co-ferments...
I appreciate restaurants that feed numerous receptors; not only taste and smell, the most primary, and atmosphere, a vital secondary factor, but intellectually as well. Restaurants that tie theme/food/drink/scene/design/clients together so seamlessly and...
Every city has them. Those familiar, steadfast places that remind me of buoys—riding the tide through ups and downs, surfing the trends, eyeing the temping but dangerous rocky reefs and keeping above water throughout. Sure, fashion comes and goes, and some years...
There’s iced coffee and there’s cold brew—they are a world of difference, and intent, apart. Cold brew explains the process in the name itself: it is made by steeping coarse ground coffee in cold water for long periods of time then it is brewed, cold. Iced coffee...
After decades of being painted with a British brush, Victoria, British Columbia, is recently enjoying a swath of Spanish color, via a collective of tapas restaurants in the downtown core. Yes, there have been Spanish eateries come and go, and some true gems in the...
