I’m spending more time over at Willowtree these days.

Willowtree is the result of what my sister and I do everyday: manage food sensitivities, while still trying to eat delicious, nutritious foods. We’ve both had food sensitivities our entire lives, and close to 2 years ago we had a conversation while traveling home together about how we wish we could help other people who also can’t eat gluten, or wheat, or dairy, or sugar. “But why can’t we?” we said to each other. So earlier this year we took that conversation and ran with it, and Willowtree was born. Beginning with a Recipe of the Week and Experience posts from both Tina and myself, we’re now finding our groove with this new endeavor, and have plans for many new features and additions coming soon that we’re very excited about. It’s all a little hush-hush as we work out the final details, but we’re very close!

So if you don’t find me here at JCP, please come on over to Willowtree and have a peek.

Have you been to Pourhouse yet? My other half is scheming to steal a bar stool and imprint his name on it before returning it he loves it there so much. Ok so he’s kidding (kind of) but last week I photographed food, cocktails and the interior for them and I was thrilled because not only are they dear friends, but also because they’ve done such an impressive job at, well, everything.

© 2009 jackie connelly

Gold Fashioned. © 2009 jackie connelly

Dining area. © 2009 jackie connelly

Shortribs. © 2009 jackie connelly

Key Pourhouse players are also catching on to the social media world:

• • check out Jay Jones’ blog for a lot of the backstory to the Pourhouse getting up and running (love the story about the actual piece of wood that makes up the bar) and of course the cocktail side of things which he is known for
• • have a boo at Brian Grant’s blog to become familiar with his recent experiment into making bitters
• • also visit Chef Chris Irving’s blog
• • If you’re a tweeter, follow Jay here, and Pourhouse here

What to eat? I would suggest the Pourhouse Salad (pictured above), the Pork & Beans and the chocolate cake for dessert. Don’t leave without ordering the chocolate cake, I’m serious. My other half enjoys partaking on a variety of tasty items from the cocktail menu, and he’s told me the Grilled Cheese is pretty darn delicious.

Pourhouse Salad. © 2009 jackie connelly.

Prospector. © 2009 jackie connelly

Centennial. © 2009 jackie connelly

Congrats Jay, Brian, Chris, Nick & Jen ~ so proud of you guys. See you for dinner soon!

Jack Bernard and his bar team, along with everyone else that has been working hard to get LUX at Caprice known as one of Granville Street newest and most popular hot spots since it opened this past November, must have the inside scoop. The Georgia Straight’s Golden Plate Awards aren’t being announced until their March 12 issue, but somehow Jack knows they’ve done pretty good.

In this case, pretty good translates to 1st Place - Vancouver’s Best New Restaurant Downtown and 2nd Place - Most Imaginative Cocktails. A huge congratulations everyone at LUX, you deserve it.

To see more of the food, beverage and restaurant interior photography we have shot for Lux, visit here and here.

Lots of restaurants around town, many of which are great friends of ours, are offering specials and/or set menus available for you this New Years Eve, so I thought I’d make this post a one-stop-shop if you’re wanting to eat out this NYE and haven’t made any reservations yet. But you’d better hurry, things are booking up fast!

• Bistrot Bistro ~ 1961 West 4th Ave. Comfortable and delicious french fare from Chef Laurent Devin, fabulous wines, and great atmosphere. 4 course set menu $75, only 1 table left!  Call (604) 732-0004.
  

  Bistrot Bistro

• Lux at Caprice ~ 965 Granville Street. One of Granville streets newest openings, you’ll find carefully selected menu items, tasty cocktails and chic decor. Dinner and Social Tickets: $65, includes a 4 course dinner starting at 7pm with flights of wine, finishing off with chocolate strawberries and champagne at midnight. Social Tickets only: $25, includes chocolate strawberries and champagne at midnight. For tickets or info call James at (604) 685-3189 or email info@luxatcaprice.com.
  

  Lux at Caprice

• Glowbal Grill & Satay Bar ~ 1079 Mainland, Yaletown. First seating at 5.00PM  limited a la carte menu; New Year’s Eve event seating starting at 8.30pm @ $75 ($55 for fully heated winter terrace) including 4 course menu from Chef John Crook and individual Pommery Pop Champagne bottle per person at midnight. Party until 2am. Call (604) 602-0835 for reservations.
• Trattoria Italian Kitchen ~ 1850 West 4th Ave Kitsilano. In addition to offering the full Trattoria menu, Chef Brandon Thordarson has prepared a special New Year’s Eve Platter featuring a delicious blend of ‘Carne and Pesce’ (Sliced 8oz AAA Beef Strip Loin, grilled head-on Jumbo Tiger Prawns, Gnocchi Fungi with truffle cream and sliced winter truffles, roasted brussels sprouts and freshly toasted chestnuts, Spaghetti Squash Ali Olio, chianti and veal jus reduction.  Midnight will be welcomed with a complimentary glass of champagne and canapés till 1 am. For reservations and more information call 604-732-1441.
  

  Glowbal Grill

• The Cannery Seafood Restaurant ~ 2205 Commissioner Street.  Offering two options to suit your special occasion: First Seating - A La Carte - reservations from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, enjoy dinner out before heading off to a party or event. Seating concludes at 8 pm ~ or ~ Second Seating - Gala Dinner - reservations from 8:30pm to 10:00pm, includes dinner & dancing until 2 am courtesy of a live band, party favors & a glass of champagne.  Chef Wayne Sych’s menu that night will include Ahi Tuna Carpaccio, pan seared diver caught Baja Scallop, and steamed East Coast Lobster. Call (604) 254-9606 to book your table.
  

  The Cannery Seafood Restaurant

• Tequila Kitchen ~ 1043 Mainland, Yaletown. As their last hurrah (they are temporarily closing as they hunt for a new location) their NYE menu consists of two options: Botana Sharing Platter, small sharing dishes (7 items) and a House Drink $32 pp (Min 2 ppl) ~ or ~ Full Set Menu 4 course and a House Drink $39. They will only be having two seatings, so call (604) 681-2120 or email emi@tequilakitchen.ca for reservations.
  

  Tequila Kitchen

• Somewhere else you know about? Leave the details in the comment section!

Our travels through the city’s food world for Urban Diner continued over the past 2 weeks capturing Vancouver’s bartenders and their cocktails. Some of the tasty drinks (yes, I had to sample a few) were brand new, only to be found on cocktail programs as of this week, while others are tried and true. My editor, Paul, titled the column “The Rebirth of Cocktail Cool” and these bartenders didn’t disappoint.

above (L to R): Nick Devine (Habit Lounge), Chris Brown (Beyond Restaurant), Lori Poppe (Voya in the Loden Hotel)

above (L to R): Steve da Cruz and Justin Tisdall (Gastropod), Jordan Moore (Yew in the Four Seasons Hotel), Jim Shelton (Sanafir)

Some of the shots are above; you can see more photos and Part 1 of the column on Urban Diner here, and Part 2 here. And if you feel so inclined after trying one of the yummy beverages featured, head down to the according bar (being sure to say hello to the cocktail’s creator) and leave a comment below the column to tell everyone about it!

Happy drinking!

~ j

The Adelphia Group’s Lux at Caprice (965 Granville, beside and attached to Caprice) is now open for business! Some friends and I attended the media opening on thursday night…our recommendation is that Lux is a great place to share some plates and enjoy a few cocktails with your hip, young (and young at heart) friends. We photographed the freshly renovated interior of Lux, their good looking menu created by Chef Brett Turner and several of Bar Manager Jack’s cocktails.

Some photos are included below to entice your tastebuds….enjoy!

Also, in keeping with our promise to include vision and insight into our photoshoots, we’ll start here. As the shoot for Lux spanned more than one day, we had initially shot some of the menu items in a very simple fashion: white plate with white linen. This gave the food center focus with no visual competition, but it also lacked context. Simplicity at it’s utmost can work if you’re shooting for something that will cross medias and need to be more versatile, but after giving the overall feel of the photos more thought and agreeing that incorporating the elegant and funky restaurant interior would make the photos more sucessfully reflect the brand at hand, we were happy to shoot more frames with this in mind. The client had seen other photos that incorporated the restaurant features in with the food and beverage photos as we’ve done for many other of our restaurant clients, and asked us to shoot their food & beverage keeping this in mind. There was no shortage of elegant features to include this way, and with a shallow depth of field that suits food and beverage photography, including background interest items such as menus, cutlery & linen in some, and out of focus interiors such as one of their bold couches or stylish bar stools this was easily accomplished. The Adelphia Group wanted their photographs to reflect a luxurious and modern, sophisticated and trendy feel ~ they told us we did just that.

What do you think?

p.s A shout-out to Vancouver’s newest photographic transplant from Edmonton, Morgan, who lent her skills as Assistant to this shoot…thanks again Morgan!

~ j

A few evenings ago, we got together with some friends we hadn’t seen in while and ate for hours. About 5 hours to be exact. Funny how sitting down around a table, whether it be your table or someone else’s table, slathered in delicious food, eating and drinking for hours just makes such a perfect get together. Oh, and don’t forget about the wine. Wine helps too. Especially when it is served several bottles at a time.

Our dear friends at Bistrot Bistro prepared yet another perfect meal amidst a chatter-filled atmosphere which we were certainly contributing to, if not driving. Warm, hearty food just seemed to keep arriving at our table, and more often than not by Chef Laurent himself. Certainly makes one feel welcome when the chef delivers your main course, doesn’t it? The melt-in-your mouth beef bourguignon is always my favourite there, and it didn’t disappoint. I tried something new to the menu this visit, a warm goat cheese gruyere tomato black olive tart, which, if you could eat goat cheese by the dainty, lady-like bucketfull like I can, would make you come back solely for this dish. And I can’t forget to tell you about the brussel sprouts: I have harsh childhood memories about being forced to eat brussel sprouts, as did a few others at the table that eve; of course they were cold and wilted after I had pushed them around on my plate for half an hour hoping that would make them appear less in quantity than I had originally been served, the taste by then resembling something close to paper towel. However, Laurent’s brussel sprouts made with molasses and tiny chunks of, what tastes like, bacon don’t remind me for even a split second of my childhood horrors; they’re amazing.

And isn’t gorging on desserts really the icing on the cake? If the cake was our dinner? Er…not that we ate cake for dinner…or that I ever eat cake for dinner. Oh, well I’m sure you get where I was going there. Specifically, we had the French sundae, Crepes Suzette for two, and the monkey waffle (too much wine actually made us have to ask what the monkey waffle was exactly…”waffles with chocolate and bananas” the patient server replies…ahhh, of course. And bring more wine with those monkey waffles! Right.

Seriously though, gorging on food with friends is one of my favourite past times. And to our friends that not only served us but also dined with us that night, it was so good to see you all; let’s not let so long pass before we get together again

~ j

A great client of ours, The Cannery Seafood Restaurant, is hosting a Wine Makers dinner on Friday November 21st, showcasing the award winning wines of Red Rooster.

“Wine Maker and Guest Speaker Karen Gillis will delight guests as she introduces her awarded wines each complimenting the five courses prepared by Cannery’s Executive Chef Wayne Sych. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about a fabulous BC winery, meet with the Wine Maker, and enjoy a relaxing evening by the waterfront.”

The set menu sounds delicious including pistachio crusted goat cheese, seared Baja scallop, Ahi tuna carpaccio, duo of beef and chocolate tower for dessert.

For more information and to make your reservation contact Alana Gee at (604) 254-9606 or info@canneryseafood.com.

Also, if you’re craving a glass of wine and a seaside view on a Tuesday of any week you can enjoy both for a fraction of the price; wines are chosen by Beverage Manager Sandy and sommelier Darren and offered at 25% off. You can see what they’ve chosen to include in these ‘Cannery Cellar Tuesdays’ here.

Happy dining!

A great client of ours, The Cannery Seafood Restaurant, is hosting a Wine Makers dinner on Friday November 21st, showcasing the award winning wines of Red Rooster.

“Wine Maker and Guest Speaker Karen Gillis will delight guests as she introduces her awarded wines each complimenting the five courses prepared by Cannery’s Executive Chef Wayne Sych. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about a fabulous BC winery, meet with the Wine Maker, and enjoy a relaxing evening by the waterfront.”

The set menu sounds delicious including pistachio crusted goat cheese, seared Baja scallop, Ahi tuna carpaccio, duo of beef and chocolate tower for dessert.

For more information and to make your reservation contact Alana Gee at (604) 254-9606 or info@canneryseafood.com.

Also, if you’re craving a glass of wine and a seaside view on a Tuesday of any week you can enjoy both for a fraction of the price; wines are chosen by Beverage Manager Sandy and sommelier Darren and offered at 25% off. You can see what they’ve chosen to include in these ‘Cannery Cellar Tuesdays’ here.

Happy dining!

If you keep up with Vancouver’s restaurant scene at all you may have heard of Urban Diner. It is a site that has been bringing the general public updates, events, reviews and general news in the food and beverage scene in our city for a while now. What is new about the site is it’s recent turn to providing a more diverse group of voices from the community on everything that is going on, and we’re proud to be a part of that.

We are now working for Urban Diner to provide a regular and exclusive pictorial column, and the first one has been posted today! Check out “The New Italian” here, and then check out the great restaurants we’ve shot the next time you’re craving Italian.

Enjoy!

La Buca: Angnolotti con sugo d’angnello (Green pea & mint agnolotti with braised lamb sauce)

Campagnolo (soon to open): Chilled Albacore Tuna salad with treviso and salt roasted onion