PR: Dine-Out Final Round + Valentine Flurry

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the Glowbal Group; Aqua Riva and Horizons extend their Dine-Out menus; “Our Very Own Dine Out” from Soma; Valentine’s Day at Raincity Grill; Valentine’s Day goes chic at R.TL; Holy mackeral, news from Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar. Details inside…

CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY WITH THE GLOWBAL GROUP

Flowers are nice, chocolate is sweet, but a Glowbal Group restaurant on Valentine’s Day just can’t be beat! Looking for the perfect retreat for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner for you and your sweetheart? Treat your loved one to a feast for the senses at a Glowbal Restaurant Group location this February 14. glowbal grill & satay bar, COAST Restaurant, Sanafir, Italian Kitchen or Trattoria Italian Kitchen, will happily look after all the details while couples linger languidly over a candlelight dinner fit for cupid himself! The Valentine’s Day menus will be featured at each restaurant February 9 – 15, so guests can celebrate the power of love all through the week.

Sexy glowbal grill & satay bar in Vancouver’s vibrant Yaletown district loves to love you baby. Get ready for lift-off with starters ranging from the Rocket and Watercress Salad to tender Beef Carpaccio. Succumb to the Ahi Tuna, Veal Chops or the Rack of Lamb for a main course. And in honour of V-Day indulge in glowbal’s ‘Lover’s Platter for Two’ — a sinfully rich trio of chocolate dipped strawberries, tiramisu and chocolate fondue. Click HERE for full menu details.

COAST Restaurant is wining and dining lovers during the Valentine’s Day week-long promotion with an irresistible tasting menu loaded with creations highlighting the best from land and sea. Spreading the love a little further, COAST presents the ‘Aphrodisiacs’ menu, a broad selection of shellfish delicacies including famous Miami Stone Crab Claws. COAST is also offering each guest that visits the restaurant from February 9-15, the chance to win deluxe accommodations at one of four of Vancouver’s finest hotels – giving the phrase ‘Get a room’ an entirely new meaning…Click HERE for full menu details.

Spoil your sweetheart silly by booking a spot on one of Sanafir’s Moroccan-style leather beds for your Valentine’s Day nosh-fest — the ultimate cozy lover’s nook. Sanafir’s stellar Eastern-inspired Valentine’s Day menu, mood lighting and luxe-décor will leave lovers fully fueled and ready for what comes next — cheque please! Click HERE for full menu details.

Italian Kitchen is speaking the language of love this Valentine’s Day with its delicious three-course menu – guaranteed not be lost in translation! Each course features a platter topped sky-high with Italian Kitchen favorites, such as; fried mozzarella with tomato chutney, grilled lobster, beef tenderloin, pancetta and white asparagus risotto, and limoncello cheesecake. Click HERE for full menu details.

Everyone knows the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach and Trattoria has taken that notion and applied it to a wonderfully filling three-course menu celebrating Valentine’s Day. Choose between a rich trout risotto to start or a warm and inviting bowl of white cannellini bean soup. For an entrée, Trattoria has prepared ‘Romantico Porzione Piatto’ – featuring chicken parmigiana, prawns, gnocchi fungi and salad, the food tastes as lovely as it sounds! A dessert by any other name might not taste as sweet – Trattoria’s dedicated dessert specialists have prepared a delightful panna cotta infused with rose essence for the grand finale. Click HERE for full menu details.

 

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(Vancouver, BC) Tourism Vancouver’s promotion Dine Out Vancouver may be ending on Sunday, but eager diners will still have a chance to try the Dine Out menus for one extra week until February 8th at both Aqua Riva Restaurant & Bar and Horizons Restaurant. Both restaurants provide a phenomenal value with Aqua Riva in the $28.00 category and Horizons in the $38.00 category.

Year after year, Aqua Riva is consistently one of the most booked restaurants participating in Dine Out Vancouver.  Highlights from Chef Mario Fortin’s menu include Candied Wild Sockeye Salmon Salad, Tortilla Crusted Ruby Trout Fillet and Okanagan Apple and Raison Bread Pudding.  Horizons’ Chef John Garrett has been receiving rave reviews for his menu as well, which includes BC Honey Mussels steamed with fennel, saffron and BC white wine, Filet Mignon with caramelized shallot butter and Chocolate Creme Brule.

Full menus are available for viewing at www.aquarvia.com and www.horizonsrestaurant.com respectively.

Located on the Waterfront next The Vancouver Convention Centre, Aqua Riva’s vibrant, expansive, window-wrapped dining room and bar is a downtown favourite with both tourists and locals alike. Reservations can be made their website or by calling 604-683-5599. Horizons Restaurant is located in beautiful Burnaby Mountain Park and has been enchanting guests with the spectacular setting and award-winning West Coast Cuisine for over 20 years. Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant 604-299-1155.  

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OUR VERY OWN DINE OUT

Soma presents Our Very Own Dine Out, accompanied by a free glass of the award winning Lila deinhardt Sparkling Riesling.

Here’s a $28 four-course fixed menu for this occasion:

~ Caramelized Onion White Bean Dip with Naan

~ Cream of carrot & Garlic Soup

~ Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon. Ruby & Red Beet, Gailan hash w/ Quail Eggs & Spicy Raita

~ Dessert

This special offer will continue until February 8th.

– 
dinner 7 DAYS 5pm-12am

SOMA
151 East 8th Avenue (at Main)
telephone: 604 630 7502
www.somavancouver.com

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VALENTINE’S DAY AT RAINCITY GRILL

Vancouver, BC… Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and what better way to show your love than to treat your special someone to dinner at Vancouver’s favourite regional restaurant – Raincity Grill.  Choose between a Seven Course Tasting Menu ($94) and a Four Course Prix Fixe ($84) and spend the evening enjoying farm to table local cuisine.  These two Valentine’s Day menus will be offered on both Friday, February 13th and Saturday, February 14th.  For more information or to make your reservation call 604-685-7337 or visit www.raincitygrill.com.

Raincity Grill has shown the progression of local dining through their evolving menus over the years. In the beginning, menus featured ingredients from the Pacific Northwest region, however through their work building relationships with producers and suppliers Raincity Grill has been sticking closer and closer to home.  First pioneering the concept of a restaurant 100-Mile menu, and now featuring dishes with region – and sometimes even farm – specific ingredients.  This dedication to local suppliers is visible on the Valentine’s Day menus at Raincity Grill (see menus below).  Look for dishes such as Seared Baynes Sound Scallop, shitake mushroom tart, burnt onion puree, chervil, White Bean Cassoulet, ‘north arm farm’ music garlic confit, cured thumbelina carrots, smoked parsnip, or Farm House Camembert, preserved farm house quince, crisp bread.

Since 1992, Raincity Grill has defined Pacific Northwest cuisine, showcasing the unique ingredients of our local waters and small-lot farms – year round.  Home of Canada’s premiere restaurant 100 Mile Menu and an award-winning Pacific Northwest wine list, Raincity Grill is dedicated to the bounty of our backyard.  Overlooking English Bay in the heart of Vancouver’s West End, take in the ever changing seasons of Vancouver by way of the view and the food at Raincity Grill. For more information or reservations, visit the restaurant at 1193 Denman Street in Vancouver, online at www.raincitygrill.com or call 604-685-7337.

RAINCITY GRILL ~ Valentine’s Day 2009

Tasting menu $94 –

3 BAYNES SOUND OYSTERS
champagne granite, natural, mignonette, salted butter, rye bread
($9 supplement)
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SEARED BAYNES SOUND SCALLOP
shitake mushroom tart, burnt onion puree, chervil beurre blanc
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BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
dungeness crab, chive oil, mascarpone
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CRISPY SKIN LINGCOD
‘helmers’ potato, salt spring island mussels, ‘north arm farms’ garlic puree
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WHITE BEAN CASSOULET
‘north arm farm’ music garlic confit, cured thumbelina carrots, smoked parsnip
~~

SEARED FRASER VALLEY DUCK BREAST
pastilla, glazed anjou pear, stuffed zucchini, pear and parsnip puree, anjou pear jus
~~

FARM HOUSE CAMEMBERT
preserved farm house quince, crisp bread
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AGASSIZ HAZELNUT & CHOCOLATE DELICE
salted butter caramel, smoked milk ice cream

Prix Fixe Menu ~ $84 –

To start

BAYNES SOUND OYSTERS (3), champagne granite, natural, mignonette, salted butter, rye bread    
($9 supplement)

First course

‘NORTH ARM FARM’ BEETROOT SALAD, hazelnut vinaigrette, ‘david woods’ goat cheese

Second course

SEARED BAYNES SOUND SCALLOP, shitake mushroom tart, burnt onion puree, chervil

ORGANIC GREENS, agassiz hazelnuts & vegetables, vinaigrette

BRAISED VEAL CHEEK, celeriac fondant, glazed carrot, onion, smoked bacon, mushroom

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP, braised dungeness crab, chive oil, mascarpone

GRILLED ‘CAESAR’ SALAD, romaine spears, caesar dressing, asiago

Third course

CRISPY SKIN LINGCOD, braised couse, ‘helmers’ potato, salt spring island mussels,

‘north arm farms’ garlic puree

SEARED FRASER VALLEY MUSCOVY DUCK CONFIT, pastilla, glazed parsnip, stuffed zucchini, pear and parsnip puree, anjou pear jus

ROASTED BEEF STRIP LOIN, yukon gold potato cake, glazed onions, mushroom ragout, spinach, beef jus  
(beef tenderloin 12 – supplement)

WHITE BEAN CASSOULET, ‘north arm farm’ music garlic confit, cured thumbelina carrots, smoked parsnip

STUFFED BREAST OF FRASER VALLEY CHICKEN, braised cabbage, mustard spatzle, glazed ‘north arm farm’ thumbelina carrot, roast chicken jus

SEARED BC SPOT PRAWN, baynes sound scallop, aromatic herbs, watermelon radish slaw, sloping hills pork broth (10 –  supplement)

‘OCEAN ORGANICS’ SPRING SALMON, maple glazed thyme gnocchi, roasted butternut squash, stout cured onion, smoked salmon froth

Fourth course

OKANAGAN ANJOU PEAR CAKE, caramelized pear, “okanagan spirits” poire william ice cream

CHEESECAKE, “david woods” goat cheese, crème fraiche ice cream, honey caramel, apricot puree

AGASSIZ HAZELNUT & CHOCOLATE DELICE, salted butter caramel, smoked milk ice cream

FARM HOUSE CAMEMBERT, preserved farm house quince, crisp bread

 

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(Vancouver, B.C.) – It includes the private room at r.tl, a rare 1990 bottle of Cristal Rose Champagne valued at $1,500, an elegant Gucci heart necklace with matching bracelet, a chauffeured limousine and one everlasting memory. 

For $2,500, r.tl will provide the Valentine’s Day of a lifetime for one very special couple, complete with a delectable five-course dinner, specifically created for the evening.  Included on the special menu is a Fesenjun Deconstruction, featuring sliced organic chicken breast, toasted walnut and pomegranate puree, and pressed yogurt.  The Valentine’s meal also includes an original his and her dessert from pastry chef and chocolatier Themis Velgis.  The couple can enjoy this exclusive evening in r.tl’s private VIP room, which will be adorned with fresh flowers.

For $75, other guests at r.tl can enjoy the aphrodisiac Valentine’s Day Menu, which also reflects the regional nature of r.tl’s cuisine.  Five courses will be featured, including a chia seed crusted filet of fresh ling cod and a decadent chocolate dessert plate.  To reserve a table for Saturday February 14th, guests can call 604-638-1550 or visit www.r.tl

Specializing in geographically broad flavors, r.tl features food from 3 regions around the world which refresh every three months.  This Valentine’s Day, dishes from Spain, British Columbia and the Middle East are featured.  Located at 1130 Mainland Street, r.tl is Yaletown’s newest restaurant.  r.tl offers an intimate, warm atmosphere with all the benefits of a large upscale restaurant including the executive chef, in-house pastry chef, sous chef and sommelier. 

Banff and–coming soon–at home.

Vancouver, B.C. – Tuesday, February 3rd marks the launch of executive chef Frank Pabst’s 5th annual Unsung Heroes festival at Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar. 

Chef Pabst has long been a champion of sustainably-resourced seafood. The Unsung Heroes menu spotlights delicious coastal species from responsibly managed fisheries. Alongside Blue Water Cafe’s regular raw bar and à la carte selections, chef Pabst will offer Unsung favourites, including: 

Mackerel 10.50
grilled scallions, toasted hazelnuts, chunky romesco sauce

Octopus 13.50
confit in olive oil with garlic, oregano, chickpeas and roasted red peppers

Sardine 10.50
escabeche ’style’ with watercress, grapefruit and pink peppercorns

Mirugai Ubuki Sashimi 16.50
geoduck sashimi with tama miso sauce

Click HERE to view the complete menu

CANADIAN CULINARY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Chef Pabst will take some of the Unsung Heroes repertoire to star in the Canadian Culinary Championships in Banff, Alberta, February 20-22. This event, in support of Canada’s Olympic athletes, is a two-day cooking marathon featuring the country’s top chefs, all finalists in regional Gold Medal Plates competitions. Please join us in wishing chef Pabst the best of luck.

BLUE WATER CAFE SEAFOOD COOKBOOK

And to cap off an active season, the Blue Water Cafe Seafood Cookbook–featuring over 100 of the restaurant’s signature seafood and raw bar dishes–will be published by Douglas & McIntyre this May.

Blue Water Cafe is Vancouver’s definitive seafood restaurant located in the heart of Yaletown at 1095 Hamilton Street. Dinner is served nightly from 5:00pm – 11:00pm with late menu until midnight. For reservations call 604 688 8078 or visit www.bluewatercafe.net.