The Melting Teapot

Tonight will find me parked in front of the TV, watching the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  I love the winter games and have been surfing the web for articles about athletes and events. . . but keep getting sidetracked by articles about dining and imbibing.  Those who are lucky enough to be attending in person will have a wonderful time discovering the wide variety of food and drink that exists in Vancouver.  The rest of us just get to read about these places while we make plans for future trips to visit our friendly neighbors up north.

Welcome to this special Winter Olympics Edition of . . .

Dining

Canadian Food Fights: Newsweek editor/author, Mark Starr, writes about two very different food events in the days leading up to the opening ceremony.  One was a breakfast called Savour Canada, and the other a promotional event at McDonald's (evidently the Mac will be using ex-Olympic athletes to promote its new "healthy" items, in particular the smoothies).

Vancouver's Gold Medal for Cuisine:  This next one sounds like great fun! During the Olympics, there will be pavilions in Vancouver which feature the country's regional cuisine, as well as ethnic restaurants offering international fare. These range "from B.C. wild salmon to succulent Alberta beef, Saskatchewan sausage and Ukranian-influenced perogies to award-winning cheeses at Quebec House, East Coast seafood at Atlantic House and cuisine at the Four Host First Nations Pavilion."

Enjoy Tastes of Vancouver at Home: Can't make it to Vancouver, but you'd like to recreate a special dish?  Chef Daniel Boulud of the DB Bistro Moderne in Vancouver is sharing his gourmet recipes for cornmeal-crusted Qualicum Bay scallops and for the traditional dish choucroute.

Space Age Technology to Protect Food for Vancouver Winter Games Athletes: Olympian athletes have had problems in the past with food-borne illness, but this year Vancouver has upped the protection by using a critical points monitoring system developed by NASA.  The article gives an interesting overview of what must be a huge nightmare for those in food prep and safety.

Imbibing

Olympics-inspired cocktails: In this video, Trevor Kallies of the Granville Room in Vancouver shows off a variety of Olympics-inspired cocktails which showcase Canadian liquors and wines.

Vancouver Winter Olympics wine guide pt. 1 and Vancouver Winter Olympics wine guide pt. 2: International Wine Examiner, Kevin Lynch, takes a look at Canadian Wines.

Jackson-Triggs Esprit: in honor of the Olympics, Jackson-Triggs released special bottlings of merlot and chardonnay. "Every time you purchase a bottle of Jackson-Triggs Esprit wines, partial proceeds not only support the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but also our Canadian team. In the true spirit of the Games, we’re proud to have the opportunity to give back."

Sipping Something Warm

World Tea Party: a downtown art gallery will be temporarily transformed "into a teahouse and performance space, engaging a diverse array of communities in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in collective art production. Tea parties will be presented in the Centre A gallery, in local parks and community gathering places, and online. Projects include participatory Japanese tea ceremonies organized by the Urasenke Tea Foundation, and Squamish Nation herbal tea events."

Murchie's: one of the most popular places to purchase tea in Vancouver, it is a bit of a destination spot for tea lovers. If I were in Vancouver for the Olympics, you'd definitely find me there at least once.  By the way, they do provide online ordering for those of us who won't be in Vancouver any time soon.

Afternoon Tea at The Empress: I would also figure out some way to get across the water to Victoria, for one of the wildly popular afternoon teas.  Teamuse (of Adagio Teas) writes a beautiful description and says that "Tea at the Empress. . . is the tea of a lifetime."