Top honours awarded to Hawksworth, Wildebeest, La Quercia 

John Bishop, Alain Rayé recognized for mentorship, lifetime achievement

Vancouver, B.C.; April 23rd, 2013 –More than 700 of B.C.’s top chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers, and food critics gathered at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre yesterday to recognize the city’s best at the 24th Annual Restaurant Awards. For a second consecutive year, Hawksworth was awarded both Restaurant of the Year and Best Upscale, with acclaimed Chef David Hawksworth taking Chef of the Year honours.   “This year’s results reflect a balance between innovation and consistency across Vancouver’s culinary landscape,” said Vancouver magazine Editor-in-Chief, John Burns.  “The city welcomed several exceptional new rooms, while restaurants with longstanding histories and previous award recipients proved they continue to thrive.” Wildebeest took home the honour of Best New, having impressed the panel of 19 distinguished judges with their nose-to-tail cuisine. The room’s interiors also earned them the award for Best New Design.  The judges selected La Quercia as their favourite in the category of Best Casual, citing Chef Adam Pegg’s pasta and the value of their $45 seven-course menu as contributing factors in their voting. Revolver claimed top prize in the new category of Best Coffee House, with their slow-brewed cups edging out other finalists including 49th Parallel and Thomas Haas.  Haas did receive the honour of Pastry Chef of the Year. Perennial favourites demonstrated their staying power, with gold awards going to Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar for Best Seafood, Vij’s for Best Indian, and Phnom Penh for Best Vietnamese.  Meanwhile several rooms made their first appearances at the top of their category including Hoi Tong for Best Upscale Chinese, and Tableau Bar Bistro for Best Casual French. This year’s Mentorship Award went to John Bishop of Bishop’s, for his longstanding commitment to mentoring and developing chefs. Alain Rayé took home this year’s Lifetime Achievement honours for his impressive 40-plus years in the culinary industry. The owner and chef at the North Shore’s award winning La Régalade began his foray into cooking just outside of Paris at the age of 14, with his ambitious cuisine garnering critical acclaim throughout his lengthy career. The Green Award was given to Forage in recognition of the sustainable initiatives that extend through every aspect of their operations. Chef Chris Whittaker has led the drive to reduce their energy consumption and waste, implementing high efficiency equipment and extended composting and recycling programs.

Other notable awards include: Tacofino fr Best Food Cart; Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill & Enoteca for Best Upscale Italian; Dynasty Seafood for Best Dim Sum; Maenam for Best Thai; Cactus Club Cafe for Best Casual Chain; Robert “H” Holl-Allen for Bartender of the Year. Vancouver magazine’s May issue includes a 32-page feature on all the award categories. The issue is on newsstands now and digital subscriptions are available at vanmag.com.

Volunteer Opportunity – Event Coordination Event: Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards

Date/Time: Monday, April 22nd 10:30am – 6pm (required) Sunday, April 21st 2pm – 5pm (if available)

Elettra Communications is looking for student volunteers to assist with Vancouver’s premier restaurant industry event. This opportunity will appeal to students who have an interest in public relations, publishing, marketing, or event management.  

Now in its 24th year, Vancouver Magazine’s Restaurant Awards event is the biggest of its kind in North America. Twenty of the city’s top food critics form the judging panel and vote on the best dining experience in more than 40 categories. The event itself includes a reception and awards show. The annual extravaganza welcomes more than 800 restaurateurs, chefs, sommeliers, suppliers, and food and wine critics.

Elettra Communications is the producer of Vancouver magazine’s Restaurant Awards. Elettra is a public relations firm that specializes in event management, media relations, and marketing consulting. For more information visit www.elettra.ca

Duties: Volunteers will assist with a range of activities including: • Event set up • Gift bag assembly and distribution • Guest check-in • Awards presenting/backstage coordination • Coat check

Benefit to you: • Event coordination experience. • Exposure to the behind-the-scenes workings of a large event. • Opportunity to build contacts in the PR, marketing, and publishing industries. • Lunch will be provided.

Dress code: All black. No jeans; no running shoes/sneakers.

How to apply: If you would like to volunteer for this opportunity, please contact cassandra@elettra.ca

In your email please provide a brief introduction of yourself, and include a description of your current course of study and your contact information.

It's Boink Day today! Check out our friends from Spring Advertising in today's issue of Metro.

Mark Madryga of Global Morning News was also practicing his boinking today. Check out a video of his skills here.

Spring Advertising's Boink Day is back and bouncier than ever! The media advisory is below, but also check out the website and the Facebook page.

Boinking for a Good Cause Vancouverites bounce into spring and support the Food Bank

WHAT: Winter is nearly over in Vancouver, and Spring Advertising is marking the first day of spring with Boink Day on Wednesday, March 20, 2013. The event is a public pogo bounce challenge that gives Vancouverites a chance to shake off winter cabin fever while benefitting the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.

HOW: For each pogo “boink” performed, Spring Advertising will donate $0.10 to the Food Bank. Pogo sticks will be provided on site, or participants can bring their own.

Every $1 donated enables the food bank to purchase $3 of nutritious fresh fruit, vegetables, and eggs. The public can also make a cash or non-perishable food donation on-site.  

WHY: Boink Day raises funds for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, and also gives Vancouverites a chance to bounce out of the long, dark, rainy winter and into the spring.

WHERE: Vancouver Art Gallery – Georgia Street side

WHEN: Wednesday, March 20, 7am – 7pm. Rain or shine. Media are welcome to bounce by anytime during the day, but prime boinking time (based on expected pogoing traffic) is expected to be 12pm-1pm.

www.boinkday.com / www.facebook.com/SpringAd / @springad / #boinkday

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CONTACT: Cassandra Parsons Elettra Communications 604 738 3870 / (c) 778 866 5620 cassandra@elettra.ca

 Vancouver magazine and PINQ have great recommendations on what to do this weekend...visit Long Table Distillery, of course! Click on the image to watch Vancouver magazine's video:

              And read PINQ's take on Vancouver's only small batch distillery here:

The city is embracing the art of small-batch distilling. Thanks to the Vancouver Sun and Metro for their stellar coverage of Long Table Distillery. Click on the images to read more:

People are excited to hear all about newly opened Long Table Distillery, the only place in Vancouver to get locally handmade spirits.  Thanks to Vancity Buzz for featuring LTD yesterday - check out the article here!  

Craft distillery is the city’s first in decades

This February, Long Table Distillery officially opens to the public, making it the first distillery to operate in the city of Vancouver in decades. Long Table handcrafts small batch, premium quality spirits that will feature locally sourced and foraged ingredients. At opening, the distillery’s product offering includes a London Dry Gin and Texada Vodka.

“Our vision for Long Table Distillery is to build a culture around craft spirits in Vancouver,” says Charles Tremewen, founder and distiller, Long Table Distillery. “Our passion for distilling runs deep, and now it’s finally time to share our excitement for craft spirits with the city.”

A lifelong interest in sustainability and natural, handmade products, combined with a visit to Portland’s Distillery Row inspired Tremewen and his wife Rita to pursue a local venture of their own. Tremewen began studying Artisan Distilling at Michigan State University and searched for the perfect location to house the operation, which led him to Long Table’s home at 1451 Hornby Street.

The desire to develop a sense of community around the micro-distillery drove Tremewen’s vision when it came to fitting the building’s interior.  In the centre of the large tasting room is a 14-foot live-edge Sequoia Redwood table that was cut from a locally sourced reclaimed tree and finished by Tremewen and friends of the distillery.  It ultimately became the inspiration for the distillery’s name.

“Our long table is a place where people will gather, be social, and explore the variety that’s possible with craft distilling,” continues Tremewen. “Using Long Table as our name embodies our mission and reflects what we’re about - sharing our love of local, handcrafted, and small batch spirits with the community.”

At the heart of Long Table’s operation is the 300-litre handmade copper still made in Germany by Christian CARL. Once the equipment was in place, Tremewen spent the next three months working with the system and refining his spirit recipes.

Long Table’s current offerings are a London Dry Gin, filled with robust juniper and citrus notes, and a Texada Vodka, which is passed through a filter of limestone sourced from Texada Island, B.C.  When the snow thaws and foraging for botanicals on B.C.’s coastal mountains begins, Long Table will introduce a West Coast Gin made with locally foraged juniper and botanicals.

Distilling the spirits in small batches allows for better flavour control than with large-scale production.   The small size of the operation also means Long Table has the ability to develop a unique range of seasonal spirits. In the future, Tremewen plans to feature a daily fresh sheet of new infusions, and a variety of apothecary spirits such as limoncello, an aquavit (an unsweetened caraway based liquor), and eventually whisky.

Currently the product is available to both the public and wholesale accounts through Long Table’s tasting room, with plans for the product to be available for purchase through the BC Liquor Distribution Branch in the spring.

Tasting room hours of operation are currently Friday and Saturday from 10:00am to 6:00pm, and Monday through Thursday by appointment (visit www.longtabledistillery.com for seasonally adjusted schedule).

Elettra Communications has an immediate opening for a public relations consultant with experience in media relations, issues management, and event management. Responsibilities:

• Act as day-to-day contact for clients.
• Participate in the development of PR strategies.
• Handle tactical execution of PR strategies from start to finish.
• Develop a variety of communications tools, including news releases, fact sheets, media statements, bios, articles, web copy, speeches, and client correspondence.
• Create targeted media lists – local and national.
• Develop effective pitches and successfully generate media coverage for clients.
• Handle incoming media inquiries.
• Develop social media strategies, assist clients with implementation.
• Develop messaging and provide guidance and coaching to spokespeople.
• Develop issues management strategies and key messages.
• Monitor coverage in traditional and social media, and develop project recaps.
• Provide event management support, as required.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Business, Marketing, Public Relations, or English.
• Minimum three years experience in a media relations-intensive position.
• Experience in PR account management.
• Proven track record of success garnering media coverage.
• Strong competency in social media strategy, content development, and monitoring.
• Experience with issues and crisis management in a communications environment.
• Experience providing coaching to company spokespeople.
• Exceptional writing abilities.
• Exceptional media literacy.
• Flexible with hours and able to respond to media inquiries / attend events outside the 9-5, Monday-Friday workweek.
• Previous experience in a PR agency setting will be considered an asset.

Applicants are asked to send their cover letter and resume to info@elettra.ca. We wish to thank all applicants for their interest. However, only those invited for an interview will be contacted.

We're so pleased that Canadian Interiors has featured Saskatoon's James Hotel in its November/December issue. This gorgeous boutique hotel has us longing for sunny prairie skies.

In their Winter issue, the ever-gorgeous MONTECRISTO magazine has a piece on 2nd Century Rug Company's MOV Collection.

20th Century Rug Company's MOV Rug Collection just keeps getting attention. Check out the coverage in Western Living and Look magazine.

JOEY Executive Chef Chris Mills was honoured to be selected as one of the National Post's Worthy 30 over the weekend - check out the feature here!