Tasting Plates Vancouver
Tasting Plates YVR is a roving food tasting tour through a 
particular area of the city that brings guests to participating restaurants, cafes & food trucks, by foot, bike, transit, car or whatever other mode of transport you choose – unicycle anyone? Tasting Plates YVR was created by Richard Wolak who we originally met as ‘VanFoodster‘ through twitter, his blog and then in person at other foodie events he creates. His blog provides great interviews with local food and wine industry professionals as well as pics and opinions from the huge number of restaurants he has visited.
Tasting Plates Gastown
Each month a different neighborhood is the focus of Tasting Plates. In April it was Gastown’s turn. Richard works with the local restaurants, coffee shops, farms and/or other food establishments to create a tour that you can visit over the course of 3 hours in any order that you like, as long as you start at the meeting point to get your map/passport. The list of locations for April included: Catch 122, Burgundy Restaurant, Hives for Humanity, Milano Coffee, Bitter Tasting Room, The Irish Heather, Salt Tasting Room and Trees Organic.
We ate at Catch 122 first and then chose the farthest away location next which as it turned out was a great idea. Besides the initial line up at Catch 122, we did not have to wait anywhere the whole evening and got to meet some of the owners when they were least busy. We enjoyed the food at all of the restaurants (we did not visit the 2 coffee shops) but two really stood out for us and will get our business again for sure – Catch 122 and Burgundy Restaurant.
Catch 122 
Located at 122 W Hastings Catch 122 Cafe & Bistro is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week which is somewhat unique for the neighborhood. Our tasting plate for the evening included small versions of pressed pork on smoky potato with a pork crackling, Quebec cheese curd and smoked bacon tortellini and creme brûlée with lavender meringue. Each was delicious! A glass of Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling started the evening off right. We plan to go back to Catch 122 very soon to try out the breakfast or lunch menu – stay tuned.
Burgundy Restaurant
This was our 2nd last stop and our favorite vibe of the evening. Co-owner Lisa was there to greet us and was a joy to talk to. She really truly loves her job as restaurant owner/operator and wants everyone to enjoy themsleves as mush as she does. Joshua behind the bar was fun to chat with as well and helped us continue our wine journey for the evening. The team at Burgundy is worth the visit but the better news is that the food was terrific too. While we were quite full we managed to share one serving of each dish offered and want to go back for more. Burgundy Restaurant is located at 47 W Hastings and is open at 11:30am Tuesday to Friday and at 10am for brunch on weekends.
Upcoming Tasting Plates
The next Vancouver Foodster Tasting Plates Event is “Latin America Flavors” which takes place on June 25th. Early bird tickets are on sale until May 31st. We cannot attend this one – but we will be watching for other Tasting Plates events this summer.
We, Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf Solutions write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other a Biz Blog where we comment on business best practices and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf Solutions for 7 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. We DO NOT get paid for ANY of the blogs on our website. These are the places we visit and the things we do because we want to. When we say that we like or dislike something or have a good or bad experience this is our opinion and the truth as we see it. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us anytime.
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