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 BEVERAGE INDUSTRY TRENDSDRINK LOCAL - July 25, 2008Why didn't they think of this in Saskatchewan? ... Continuing along with this year's trend in the beverage industry for marketing regionalism and 100-mile-drinking, a few interesting examples have come across our desk … ... CONTINUE READING... Filed in SHOP/Consumer Trends.
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 DRINK - July 18, 2008
SPINNAKER'S INTRODUCES BLUE BRIDGE DOUBLE IPA
(Edited from the press release.)
Canada’s oldest brewpub, Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub & Guesthouses in Victoria, is celebrating 24 years of bringing people together with the release of Blue Bridge Double IPA.
“Bridges link people – they bring them together and that’s exactly what the Johnson St. or ‘Blue Bridge’ does here in Victoria,” says publican and owner Paul Hadfield. “And that’s what we’ve always wanted to do – bring people together to enjoy beers that weren’t readily available in our marketplace. The bridge was opened in 1924 and we’re celebrating our 24th year – so there’s some nice symmetry built in.” ...CONTINUE READING...
Filed in SHOP/Local Products
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 CHEF'S NEW INGREDIENT - (MAY 31, 2008)
SABLEENESIn their efforts to more fully utilize food animals, chefs have been bravely experimenting, if not frightening their customers, with the introduction of such novelties as tongues, ears, feet and other "less popular" cuts of meat onto their fine dining menus. The seafood department is getting no exemption from these trendy ideas about waste reform either. The greater dining public may not be ready for fins and eyeballs, nevertheless, fish carcasses are being reexamined for overlooked tasty bits that hitherto may have been flung from the backs of fishboats as seagull buffet. From this search has come the sableene (pronounced like Mabeline), and it's an item that's not turning out to be a hard sell at all. ... CONTINUE READING ... Filed in SHOP/Local Product.
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 GREEN PRODUCT - (May 27, 2008)
CAFE FEMENINO - COFFEE THAT COULD CHANGE A WOMAN'S LIFE
Canterbury Coffee has announced that they have just become a western Canadian distributor for Café Femenino -- a very special coffee imported from Peru by a small West Coast company called Organic Products Trading Company, or OPTCO. OPTCO was founded in 1989 by Gay Smith and her husband Garth, with the express goal of developing and importing high quality certified organic and fair trade coffees. Today their company is a recognized industry authority on certified organic coffee, but they do far more than just sell better coffee. They are also one of the pioneers of the Café Femenino project. ... CONTINUE READING .... Filed in SHOP/ Green Products.
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 LOCAL PRODUCT - ( May 23, 2008) AMBER WAVES OF ... FISH?Smoked rockfish is a specialty seafood product, that up till now, we’ve only seen processed and sold commercially out of Alaska, with the principle market being Japan. (We wouldn’t be surprised to hear however, that custom smokers in and around Tofino were making smoked rockfish to order for customers.) Ocean Amber, however, is a new BC company that is attempting to make a go of marketing the product direct to consumers. Sisters Sheryl and Debbie Mann and their family are introducing the item to the public this weekend at the EAT! Vancouver: Everything Food + Cooking Festival, and if you are attending you'll have the opportunity to try a slice. ... CONTINUE READING ...
Filed in SHOP/Local Products.
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 GREEN PRODUCTIN THE WEEDS - ( May 23, 2008)
If you are an eco-conscious cooking professional, you will soon be able to wear that fact on your sleeve. Chef-types attending EAT! Vancouver, the Everything Food + Cooking Festival this weekend will want to check out the booth for Chefwear by Blackwood. The Vancouver-based company that specializes in uniforms and apparel for the food and hospitality industries will be introducing a new fabric at the show -- one that is made from a blend of naturally grown hemp and bamboo fibres.... CONTINUE READING ... Filed in SHOP/Green Products.
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 LOCAL PRODUCT - ( May 23, 2008) TABOO - CANADA'S ONLY ABSINTHE
If we were the bohemian type and Starbucks was licensed, we’d probably want to hang out at the local café, cradling a glass of Taboo in our fingerless gloved hands and staring morosely at a sheet of our upcoming production schedules. Thankfully, in Canada, we wouldn’t be arrested for it either. Canada’s only genuine absinthe, Taboo is an “almost new” product, having been in distribution in BC and Alberta for a mere six months. It is produced by Okanagan Spirits, the Vernon-based company that bears the distinction of being not only Western Canada’s first artesian distillery (they produce excellent eau-de-vies), but also recognized as a Master Class Distillery by the World Spirits Organization in Austria. ... CONTINUE READING... Filed in SHOP/Local Products
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 LOCAL PRODUCT - ( May 21, 2008)
SOUP'S ON AT HAPPY PLANET
Happy Planet is a privately owned, community-minded, eco-aware and health conscious BC company known for selling fresh, organic juices. Now they have extended their line to soups, and having sampled a few of them we think they are worthy of a recommendation. The soups come in six versions: Berkeley Butternut Squash, Moroccan Chick Pea, Armenian Red Lentil, Louisiana Corn Chowder, Tuscan Tomato and Thai Coconut. “Like the juices their labels boast of many trendy virtues: low fat, low salt, vegetarian, gluten, stabilizer and preservative free, and in most cases also dairy free. Four of the six varieties have even earned the right to be labeled “organic.” ... CONTINUE READING... Filed in .SHOP/ Local Products.
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 NEW FOOD STORE - ( May 20, 2008)
SECOND SOUTH CHINA SEAS STORE ANNOUNCES GRAND OPENING
The second location of the South China Seas Trading Co. store has been in soft opening status for over a month now, much to the delight of customers living within its Commercial Drive neighbourhood who never found it especially convenient to traipse down to the original store at the Granville Island Market. So far they have nearly had the place to themselves, however owners Don Dickson and Joyce Chang are getting ready to announce SCS II's grand opening to the rest of the world, so watch for drop by traffic to increase dramatically. ... CONTINUE READING ... Filed in SHOP/Shop Talk.
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 LOCAL PRODUCTS - ( May 20, 2008) VITALA MILK Thanks to a local dairy, it’s now possible to drink your fish. Well, maybe not the “fish” but the ingredient that has had many people increasing the amount of seafood in their diet despite concerns over mercury levels and declining species sustainability levels. That ingredient would be docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) Omega-3, an essential fatty acid believed to promote the healthy development of brain, heart, eyes and nerves. ... CONTINUE READING ... Filed in SHOP/Local Products.
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 KITCHENS - (May 12, 2008)
THE FARM PROJECT
Renowned German designer, Mike Meiré, on assignment for Dornbracht, a manufacturer of bathroom fixtures, put the blitz on sterile, industrial-styled kitchens with a mobile kitchen installation which has touring the major art fair markets of the world for the past two years.
All that recessed lighting and uber sleek surfaces are just “so done and over with”, he declares.
In the “Farm Project”, Meiré turns the urban kitchen into a farmyard-like working studio that comes across as a playpen mix of ethnic deli, farmers market and high school science lab, each version reflective of the culture of its geographic local. At the Milan exhibit, a stuffed Canada goose hangs from the pot rack, trout swim above the sink and a future prosciutto snuffles about in a hay bed next to the icebox. In Miami, a box of cornflakes is stashed next to a case of Premier Cru Bordeaux. ... CONTINUE READING, VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP ...
Filed in SHOP/Kitchens.
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 NEW SHOP/COOKWARE
INVASION OF THE POD PEOPLE
Flowers die, and chocolates make her worry about getting fat, right? So what to do about Mother’s Day?
More than likely she’d prefer that you just called her more frequently, but if a gift is a “must do” on the agenda, then why not consider getting her a new pet for her kitchen counter.
We say “pet” because the more we look at it, the more the Nespresso’s new compact Essenza D90 machine starts to resemble a cute, little penguin. Even when it's filling a white espresso cup, the operation reminds us of those televised National Geographic specials showing Antarctic birds sheltering eggs or feeding chicks on top of their feet.
... CONTINUE READING ...
Filed in SHOP/Cookware.
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 NEW SHOPSFINEST AT SEA OPENS NEW STORE ON GRANVILLE ISLAND - (APRIL 29, 2008)
By Wednesday you should be seeing a new sign going up next door to The Lobster Man on Granville Island.
Granville Island Smokery, Heidi Reynold's shop specializing in house-smoked wild salmon, has been sold to chef turned seafood retailer, Bruno Born and his partners. The Smokery will remain open for the rest of today but as of tomorrow, it will close for major renovations and reopen in a couple of weeks as Vancouver's second Finest at Sea Seafood Boutique. ... CONTINUE READING ... Filed in SHOP/Shop Talk._____________________________________________________
 GREEN PRODUCTS - ( April 21, 2008) JAVA TO THE PEOPLE!Air travellers may have Starbucks at the airport, but rush hour pole grippers will now be able to get their coffee fix directly on the Skytrain platform, and in an PC brew too. This Earth Day, Ethical Bean, one of Vancouver's most eco-conscious coffee roasters, will open Ethical Bean Xpress, a 100% carbon neutral coffee bar. As of tomorrow (April 22nd), morning commuters will have the opportunity to start their day off on the right carbon footprint. The perky green kiosk will be located right on the Commercial Skytrain platform and will operate with as little environmental impact as possible. From to-go cups to cutlery and paper bags to napkins, everything used will either be biodegradable or recyclable, and all coffee and tea will be fair trade certified organic. Good for them. ... CONTINUE READING ... Filed in SHOP/ Green Products ... and ... DRINK/ Coffee. ______________________________________________________
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