Baseball in Hockey Land? The Vancouver Canadians

August 22, 2010 By Remy Leave a Comment

Photo: The Province

Editor’s Note: This post was originally written for InsideVancouver.ca.

Vancouver is rightly known as a hockey town, and from October through April (and well beyond that on good years) the Canucks are the hottest ticket in town. During the summer, however, other sports take the spotlight. There’s football with the B.C. Lions, soccer with the Whitecaps and – believe it or not – professional baseball.

Although the squad doesn’t get a lot of attention from local press, the Vancouver Canadians is the city’s very own minor league baseball team. The Canadians are a farm club for the Oakland Athletics and play in the little known Pacific Northwest League from June to September. In the past, the Canadians were a prime source of Major League talent, with Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi and other big superstars spending time with the club.

In 2000, however, the team moved from the AAA to A division and now features mainly untested rookies still a long way from playing in the big leagues. But that doesn’t mean that a trip to the Canadian’s ballpark isn’t a thrilling experience. The team plays at Nat Bailey Stadium, a 5,100-seat field built in 1951 and located in the suburban neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant.

Surrounded by quaint residential streets and equipped with bleachers and wooden fences, Nat Bailey feels like an old-time ballpark. Plus, with general admission seats in the grandstand starting at $12.50, tickets are among the cheapest in town.

Click here to read the full post on InsideVancouver.ca.

Filed Under Inside Vancouver Posts, Vancouver, blog entry Tagged With baseball, Remy Scalza, Vancouver, Vancouver Canadians

Cheap Brewery Tours in Vancouver

August 19, 2010 By Remy Leave a Comment


Photo: Remy Scalza


Editor’s Note: This post was originally written for InsideVancouver.ca.

From its modest beginnings, Vancouver’s microbrew scene has exploded in recent years, with dozens of craft brewers now operating in and around the city. For fans of Vancouver beers, there’s nothing more exhilarating than a brewery tour – getting an up close look at how our local brews are lovingly crafted and – ideally – trying a few afterward.

The only problem is that brewery tours are few and far between in Vancouver. Information on tours is hard to find and often sketchy. With that in mind, I’m issuing a call to to local beer fanatics out there: Do you know of any microbrewery tours being offered in Vancouver? If so, please share the wealth by leaving a comment below.

I’ll start things off by spreading the word about the one tour that I’ve been on myself, the Granville Island Brewing tour. Now purists will protest that GIB is no longer a microbrewery and is, in fact, owned by industrial beer giant Molson. True enough. However, GIB’s special seasonal beers are still made in small, hand-crafted batches at the Granville Island facility where the tour is offered.

Click here to read the full post on InsideVancouver.ca.

Filed Under Food & Wine, Vancouver, blog entry Tagged With brewery tours, Granville Island Brewery, Vancouver

Popping the Cork on Canada’s Olympic Neighborhood

August 16, 2010 By Remy Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: This post was originally written for HGTV.ca.

It was probably the biggest open house Canada has ever seen.  12,000 people toured Vancouver’s Olympic Village over the weekend, taking a peek inside the maze of gleaming new high-rises that housed 2,800 athletes and officials during the Winter Games.  By the time it was all said and done, 36 condos had been snatched up by eager buyers, ranging from a $445,000 one-bedroom to a pimped-out $4.75 million waterfront condo (If you’re in the market, don’t worry:  There are still about 450 units up for grabs).

I checked things out on Saturday, the big opening day, when a mix of buyers, curious onlookers and a few dozen protesters thronged the new neighborhood to witness VANOC (Vancouver’s Olympic committee) officially hand over the keys to the village to the city.  The excitement was understandable.  From the beginning, Olympic Village – which spans seven city blocks and consists of 16 separate buildings – has been shrouded in mystery and dogged by controversy.

Photo: Remy Scalza

When Olympic Village’s private developers were hit hard by the recession last year, the city of Vancouver ponied up $760 million in low interest loans to keep the project going, raising objections from local taxpayers.  Plans to include social housing units in the village have been successively cut back, raising the ire of housing advocates.  On top of that, Vancouverites weren’t even allowed near the village during the Olympics, when access to the area was restricted to athletes and officials.

So what did Vancouver’s newest and most anticipated neighborhood feel like?

Click here to read the full post on HGTV.ca.

Filed Under Vancouver, blog entry Tagged With HGTV, Olympic Village, Open house, Remy Scalza

Whistler’s Best Kept Secret: Summer fun and bargains on hotels

August 13, 2010 By Remy Leave a Comment

Photo: Remy Scalza

Editor’s Note: This post was originally written for HGTV.ca.

Word is officially out on Whistler.  In 2009, for the 13th year in a row, the BC resort town was voted North America’s premier ski destination – and that was before the Olympic spotlight blazed down for two whole weeks during February.

But amazingly – despite all the publicity – Whistler has managed to keep one of its biggest charms a secret.  I’m talking about summer.  When the snow finally melts, Whistler turns into an alpine wonderland of aquamarine glacial lakes, churning rivers and brilliant green mountains.  Ski bums ship out, crowds thin down and the village is left to grateful locals and in-the-know travelers.

I checked out Whistler over the weekend, when streets were filled with a procession of girls in bikini tops headed for a dip in the village lake, mountain bikers drawn to Whistler’s gnarly slopes and even guys with snowboards and ski goggles taking advantage of late season snow packs on the peaks.

Photo: Remy Scalza

On top of postcard scenery and an abundance of outdoor activities, I should mention another virtue of Whistler’s summer season: bargain hotel prices. During summer hotels slash their rates, and even Whistler’s fabled five-star properties – the domain of celebs and tycoons during ski season – become accessible and, in some cases, affordable.

I started my weekend at the crème de la crème: Whistler’s Four Seasons, the only hotel in all of Canada to earn the AAA’s coveted Five Diamond rating.

Click here to read the full post on HGTV.ca.

Filed Under Vancouver, blog entry Tagged With bargains, Four Seasons, Hotels, Whistler

Beyond the Slopes: Culinary Touring in Whistler

August 10, 2010 By Remy Leave a Comment


Photo: Remy Scalza


Editor’s Note: This post was originally written for FoodNetwork.ca.

Once upon a time – in the late ‘60s when Whistler was just a gleam in developers’ eyes – chili, poutine and other ski bum staples defined the culinary scene.  Fast-forward a few decades and the resort town, firmly ensconced as North America’s premier ski destination and still flush with Olympic afterglow, is a certified foodie mecca, known nearly as well for its fine dining as its world class slopes.

I checked out Whistler’s summer dining scene over the weekend, on a whirlwind, belly-busting tour that embraced everything from burgers to pork cheek ravioli.  A few big trends are evident across the board.  First, the hundred-mile diet is alive and well in Whistler.  Every bistro, snack shack and restaurant I tried emphasized local ingredients, specifically, fresh produce and meats from nearby Pemberton and from the Fraser Valley.  Second, snooty is out; casual and casually elegant is in.  Even fine dining spots have revisioned their looks, aiming for an informal, welcoming atmosphere that appeals to locals and well-heeled out-of-towners alike.

Here’s a quick run-down of my culinary adventure in Whistler:



Photo: Remy Scalza



Araxi: Now a household name thanks to Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen, Araxi is a superlative restaurant hitting on all cylinders and clearly at the top of its game.  Ambiance and service are impeccable – a real model for other restaurants to emulate.  Chef James Walt’s menu – while rooted in West Coast standards like wild BC salmon and Qualicum Bay scallops – also wholeheartedly embraces locally grown produce and locally raised pork and lamb.   The encyclopedic wine list – 42 pages, with its own table of contents – is a bit overwhelming but sure to please the most discriminating of winos.

Click here to read the full post on HGTV.ca.

Filed Under Food & Wine, Vancouver, blog entry Tagged With Araxi, Food, HGTV, HGTV.ca, Whistler
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