Sheryl interviewing Damian from The Kettle Society 

Last week, CBC’s North by Northwest Radio Host, Sheryl MacKay visited The Kettle Society, a mental health not for profit, to report on the new Kettle Choir, a historic collaboration between Vancouver Opera and The Kettle.

The choir features the voices and stories of Kettle members who have personally experienced homelessness and/or mental illness. Sheryl sat down with a member from the Vancouver Opera, The Kettle, and Geof, a member of the choir and resident at Kettle on Burrard. Each of them shared their thoughts on the choir’s impact and what the program means to them. So far, they have noticed amazing transformations since they began singing together every Monday. Kettle members who were once shy and quiet, are now singing at the top of their lungs, and are more confident than ever before.

The choir is currently working towards Requiem for a Lost Girl, a raw, heartfelt chamber production, which is set to be performed next year at the Vancouver Opera Festival. Requiem for a Lost Girl tells the story of a young girl who lost her life to streets, and explores themes of poverty, mental illness, and addiction, subjects that Kettle members can intimately relate too.

Link to full interview here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/programs/northbynorthwest/sunday-june-11-1.4155849

We are thrilled to be working with The Kettle on this project and will be attending The Kettle’s upcoming Making a Difference Evening on June 15, where the Kettle Choir will perform a special song. Show your support and buy a ticket to this inspiring event. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-kettle-making-a-difference-evening-tickets-33836205000

Elettra was a awarded a silver in the Canadian Public Relations Society's National Awards of Excellence. Our win came in the Special Events PR category and recognized our work on the Urban Grind campaign for Harbour Centre. Gwen Hardy proudly accept the honour at the CPRS National Conference in Kelowna. 

For the past couple of months we've been working with our friends at Decoda Literacy Solutions on the relaunch of their Digital Badges program. What are digital badges, you ask? Well, they are the new way to digitally display your unique skills, knowledge, and experience. They are issued by a variety of organizations in recognition of achievements and learning. And they are changing the way we introduce ourselves to the work. 

But don't take our word for it! Watch this nifty new Decoda Digital Badges new video that we created in partnership with the amazing talent at Hyphen Communications. 

Hyphen also created a brilliant infographic that explains exactly how digital badges work, and why they are such a huge improvement over the paper certificate of yesterday.

This week, literacy practitioners all across BC will receive their a digital badges kit, featuring a host of resources designed to help the spirit badges catch fire in every corner of the province. 

We've loved working on this great project, and we encourage everyone to check out digital badges today.

Dynasty Seafood accepting the Restaurant of the Year award from the Vancouver Magazine editorial team Dee Dhaliwal, Anicka Quin, and Neal McLennan. 

Awards show celebrates first-ever Chinese Restaurant of the Year; Joël Watanabe named Chef of the Year

At yesterday’s Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, Dynasty Seafood became the first-ever Chinese restaurant to win the coveted Restaurant of the Year title. During the 28th annual addition of the awards show, 41 gold awards were handed out, as the industry’s top talent gathered to celebrate their own.

“Though Vancouver is renowned for having the best Chinese food outside of China, there has often been a disconnect between Chinese restaurants and non-Chinese diners. Dynasty Seafood has changed all that,” said Neal McLennan, Food Editor, Vancouver Magazine. “Chef Sam Leung has bridged the gap like no other, by reaching out to non-Chinese diners without compromising the integrity of his traditional dishes. We are thrilled to celebrate Dynasty Seafood, and all the talented teams who took home Restaurant Awards this year.”

 Chef of the Year honours went to Joël Watanabe. The award recognizes the triumph of Watanabe’s refined fusion style which Vancouverites have come know, first through his modernized Chinese-French menu at Bao Bei, and now through his Japanese-Italian menu at Kissa Tanto. “Humming with clarity,” “honesty,” and “elegance,” is how the judges described Watanabe’s food. Kissa Tanto also picked up gold in the Best Pan-Asian and Best Design categories.

Fraserhood favourite, Savio Volpe, celebrated top honours in the Best New Restaurant category. This year’s show saw the addition of several new categories, including Best Brunch (Café Medina), Best Sushi (Zest), Best Vegan/Vegetarian (The Acorn), Best Bakery (Thomas Haas), and Best Pacific Northwest (Royal Dinette).

There were surprise upsets in some categories, with CinCin taking Best Italian and My Shanti winning Best Indian. Meanwhile, Hawksworth once again defended its Best Upscale Restaurant title, and Le Crocodile and Maenam repeated for Best French and Best Thai respectively. Best Latin saw La Mezcaleria and newcomer, El Santo, tie for first place. Around the province, Araxi took Best Whistler, Agrius won Best Victoria, and Waterfront Wines was named Best Okanagan.

Uva’s Sabrine Dhaliwal took home Bartender of the Year; L’Abattoir’s Lisa Haley was named Sommelier of the Year;  Pemberton’s North Arm Farm won the Producer/Supplier Award; and Sid and Joan Cross were honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. For five decades, Sid, an oenophile, and Joan, a cookbook editor, have sought out and celebrated the local culinary pioneers who have changed the way we eat and drink. Together, they’ve promoted the region’s up-and-coming city talent to chefs, winemakers, and producers throughout the world.