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Fernando Medrano

Kingsway: Vancouver’s New Spice Route

by Fernando Medrano 04.23.2013

If you have been paying attention to this city’s Chinese food scene you will have noticed the growing presence of authentic spicy Chinese cuisines. I’m not talking about the restaurants that serve “Szechuan” cuisine—that old-school westernized version of Sichuan food that we’ve been enjoying since our youth. I’m talking about the cuisines that have [...]

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Kingsway, Pho and the Vietnam War

by Fernando Medrano 03.18.2013

It now seems like ancient history: I recall watching TV news and seeing the footage of the Vietnamese “boat people”. I was young and the polarized politics that accompanied these events went right over my head.

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Seoul Doogbaegi: Traditional Korean Cuisine on Kingsway

by Fernando Medrano 03.01.2013

(This is one in a series of posts about the changing face of Kingsway). Until such time as Korean celebrity chef David Chang opens a Momofuku in Vancouver (Toronto – you are one lucky city), we will have to be satisfied with the handful of Korean BBQs, fusion restaurants and food carts scattered all over [...]

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The Chinese Restaurant Awards 2013: Going Nationwide.

by Fernando Medrano 02.27.2013

People laugh dismissively when I tell them that being a judge for the Chinese Restaurant Awards is hard work. “Yeah right!” they say in that tone. Well, it is indeed hard work (eating at this pace is hard work!). But it is kind of work – seeking dishes that give substance to this city’s reputation [...]

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The Demographics of Banh Mi

by Fernando Medrano 02.27.2013

(This is one in a series of posts about the changing face of Kingsway). I really can’t think of any dish that packs the bang-for-the-buck of banh mi. They could charge $7 to $10 a piece for these things downtown and no one would bat an eye. But here on Kingsway, the headwaters of authentic [...]

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Kingsway in Transition

by Fernando Medrano 02.27.2013

Kingsway has long been one of my favourite eating destinations. It certainly has the best Vietnamese food in Vancouver, and some of the best regional Chinese food outside the suburbs. But I worry—the area is changing and I am concerned about the future of these food destinations. Gentrification has reached this diagonal slash of a road. [...]

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The Raw Milk Battle Heats Up (Again)

by Fernando Medrano 02.16.2013

It’s after-hours at Woodland Smokehouse on Commercial Drive, the setting of a small gathering of people here to meet Ontario’s Michael Schmidt, Canada’s most visible advocate of the burgeoning raw milk movement. They’ve come to listen to his story and to help raise funds for his ongoing legal battles to legitimize the sale and distribution [...]

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