June 21, 2009 | Tips from Us >
Sechelt, Dining
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Combine spectacular coastal scenery, first class accommodations and unforgettable cuisine and you get the
Painted Boat Resort & Marina which I was lucky enough to spend a short time at recently. While the villas are comfortable and elegant, the infinity pool relaxing at any hour and the spa (which I did not enjoy on this trip) inviting, I was particularly impressed with the food at the Resort's cove-view restaurant. As it turns out, the Painted Boat Restaurant (open year round) has the ambitious but achievable goal of creating a "culinary trail" for the Sunshine Coast along with a number of other fine eating establishments that string the Coast from Gibsons to Lund. These restaurants focus on creative regional cuisine and they purchase most of their fish, fruits, vegetables, seafood, coffee and honey from local farms either on the Coast or off the nearby Gulf Islands. The Queen Charlotte Islands halibut we enjoyed for dinner was of the melt-in-your mouth variety and, when paired with the organic greens salad and white wine from BC, I was in heaven. If you plan on heading up to Madeira Park and the Painted Boat Resort, make sure you meander off the main highway from time to time to enjoy the communities (and the food) along the way - Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay & Secret Cove, to name a few. I can't wait for my next trip and my next splendid meal.
June 05, 2009 | Tips from Us >
Vancouver, Festivals & Events
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How lucky was I to get to see opening night of the
Bard on the Beach presentation of Othello at Vanier Park. It had been years since I enjoyed one of the company's first class theatrical presentations in the big red and white tents which command such a spectacular presence in behind the Museum of Vancouver and the HR MacMillan Space Centre. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the Othello story line, the fantastic costumes and the unforgettable setting, but I was very taken with the whole tent set up - the boardwalks that lead from the mainstage tent to the snack counter, gift shop and to the wine bar...I loved to that birds flew through the mainstage tent while we were watching the play and that the lighting changed so dramatically as the sun sank into the Georgia Straight. We are so lucky to have Bard on the Beach....and they are celebrating their 20th anniversary. I may just join the many number of regulars that I met last night and come see the company's other summer 2009 performance, A Comedy of Errors. Their season runs until September 26, 2009.