Monthly Food Segment!

0:00Well, it is Friday afternoon, and we always like to lighten things up a little bit on a Friday, and it is time once again to check in with Bronwyn Lewis, a food and travel writer. She's also a content creator. You can follow her on Instagram and YouTube at Feast, Right, Grow, Bronwyn, thanks for coming back on the show. Oh, thanks for having me, Jill. How have you been doing? Very, very well. How about you? Oh, eating well and drinking well as per usual, and happy to be here to share all the delicious details. I love this because we often talk about new places, and we will get to some that have just opened up. But you've also gone back to a favorite spot, which I think a lot of people can relate to. There is something about some places that just keep us coming back. Yes. So I got to revisit one of my old favorites this last month. I worked in Gas Town for years, so it has a soft spot in my heart. And Labatoire is one of my favorite restaurants in Gas Town. So I got to stop back in, and they're interesting.

1:01They've been open for over 15 years, which I didn't really realize. One of the things that I love is that they have a different set of menus that will help suit any occasion. So you can settle in for like a six-course chef's tasting menu, or you can just try their little three-course tasting menu, which is called the petite menu. They also have alchart options as well. And then on Wednesdays, they do happy hour all night. So it's interesting that you can kind of stop in for a lengthy meal, celebrate a romantic or special occasion, or you could just sit at the bar. I saw a man when I was there on my last visit who pulled out a book and settled in with cocktail. Yes. Yeah. So it's interesting, too, in terms of balancing that menu, and you've been open that long. You have some items that are really like beloved favorites that are long-standing. One of which is their oyster, the famous Labator Oyster. So this is a poached oyster that comes topped with whipped garlic butter and black truffle.

2:05And that's been on their menu since 2013. Wow. But they do have new auditions, too. And one of my favorites in my last visit was they do a hot smoked hamachi, and that comes with a finely chopped fresh slaw on top, and then crispy fried leeks. It's a really nice, like, textural pleasure of the dish. But yeah, that's just the tip of the culinary iceberg at Labator Oyster. There's a lot of good tasty options. Oh, right. And 15 years. So tried and true. They are definitely doing something right. Exactly. Yeah. Absolutely. You also got to go to a new opening. Those are always fun. What was this one for? Yeah. So actually just last night, I was in Chinatown for a brand new project called Tuski. So this is by Neil Hillbrandt, and then Lisa Castello of Say Hey Sanwiches. And it's actually this spot that's right next door to Say Hey Sanwiches on Eastpender in Chinatown.

3:05And Tuski is an interesting concept. It's like a day to night concept. So in the daytime, they're like a daytime cafe. They're going to be doing a really interesting pastry program. They have like a cool sausage roll that I saw on Instagram this morning, as well as coffee. And then in the evenings, they turn into like a wine bar. So that's what I got to check out last night was their dinner menu. And it's kind of a combination of French classics and British. So you can think like the French side would be oysters, like classic raw oysters. They have one served with like a colomato ice and a finely chopped celery. And there's a steak tartar. But they also do a lamb neck ravioli and a parmesan grotto with a mint sauce. So it's like a British Sunday lamb roast except in pasta form. Wow. That really is bringing those two worlds together, right? Yeah.

4:06The one other dish that I really need to shout out is that they do a house made focaccia with a cacio e pepe butter. So that was like super flavor packed, really delicious. And they have a lot of like yummy saucy dishes. So I would recommend if you are going to go definitely get that side of focaccia so you can mop up all that sauce. All right. That one is called Tusky. That sounds very, very interesting. And as many of interesting, I love the name of another spot that you've been able to check out. And this one also fairly new. Yes. So cream pony. Oh, that's, this is what I've been like, I need to go get lunch after I finish talking to you. But I've been craving cream ponies, crispy chicken sandwich since I first tried it. So they have been open already for a few years in North Vancouver. But they have finally opened their location on Main Street and they opened in the old cartel space. So we've got donuts where there were donuts before. We've got some nice donut continuity on Main Street right now.

5:08But I love their crispy chicken sandwich. And I also love the Arnold Palmer. So they make their own iced tea, like black iced tea, sweet tea, as well as lemonade. So those two combined together is such a refreshing combination. And of course, they also serve donuts. But if you're feeling super hungry, you can actually get the chicken sandwich on a donut instead of on their bun. And it's called the Glazer. It's a sticky handful, but it's pretty fantastic. Oh, wow. That, that sounds very, very good. And you know, you don't often hear about the Arnold Palmer in somebody really cornering the market on that beverage. So I'm glad to see that they're doing that. Yeah. And they're going to be serving a slushy lemonade also as we head into summer. That's another classic that they have on their menu in North Bend. So I'm excited about being able to pick that up when it's, you know, the high attempts of July and August. Yes, that will be a very good indeed. Lots coming up as well. I would always like to end with where you are going next and some big events.

6:13So what is getting your attention these days? Well, speaking of drinks, we have some exciting cocktail events happening in Vancouver coming up at the end of April. So they have recently just announced the top 100 to 51 of the best bars in North America. And that actually included some exciting Vancouver bars. So Mount Pleasant Vintage and Provisions as well as Mio and Laue and Beguira. So the last two, Laue and Beguira are both speakeasy style, like hidden bars and Chinatown. They were all listed in the top 100 to 51 of the best bars in North America. And we don't yet know the top 50 to 100. That is going to be announced at a ceremony in the Vancouver Convention Center on April 22nd. So I went to the ceremony last year and it was quite a fun event in terms of being like the best of the best of North America's cocktail people all gathered together in one room.

7:17And I'm very excited to see where the Canadian bars stack out. Because, yeah, Calgary, Victoria, Montreal and Vancouver have been noted. So I'm excited to be celebrating with everybody at the end of April. Wow. And what a difference in the types of places. Like you said, a couple of them are speakeasies. You kind of have to figure out the code word or the password to get in. And Mount Pleasant Vintage and Provisions of people aren't familiar with that. It's a really funky restaurant where they kept the house and built kind of around it. But it's really interesting to see them being acknowledged for the drinks and the different types of cocktails that they're offering. Yeah. Vancouver, I mean, I think people in Vancouver know we have a great food scene. But on the international cocktail scale, Vancouver is pretty well recognized. So yeah, it's worth it to go explore and be a little bit adventurous with your drinking and Vancouver. All right. Well, I'm excited that you'll be checking that out.

8:18And also, I love that they keep the suspense going by not having unveiled the entire list right out front. So I know you have a lot of research to be doing there and we'll get updated on that. So I look forward to chatting with you again. Yeah, I'm looking forward to reporting back. All right. We will talk to you again soon. And when thank you for this and have a great rest of your weekend. Yeah, thanks you too, Jill. Happy long weekend. Hello there. Thursdays on global. I'm Madeline Matlock. She's the lawyer with a legendary name. Don't underestimate this Matlock. This one is a shark. You know it, baby. The one you can trust. Even if she has to bend the rules. Things aren't always as black and white as they seem. Took cracker case. This is how I get things done. Any winning actress, Kathy Bates, is Matlock. All new Thursdays at 90s turn on global. Stream on Stack TV.