LaurenMote.com

by Lauren Mote Arriving into the most well known mountain city in Canada, where does a group of foodies on a day trip escape for dinner? There was really only one choice, in fact you could say we travelled through brutal construction and the hot and humid continental climate of the British Columbian interior to [...]

by Lauren Mote Barry White once sang, “I can’t get enough of your love baby…” that’s kinda how I feel about restaurants owned by Andrey Durbach and Chris Stewart. La Buca, the second restaurant opened by the dynamic culinary duo, is a quaint and cozy 32 seat room at MacDonald and 24th st. in the [...]

by Lauren Mote The fuel to live or the fuel to indulge further? Both are true. What used to be  a kebob hut on 4th st, now stands, and for quite some time, Fuel restaurant. Owned by Chef Robert Belcham and Sommelier Tom Doughty, Fuel restaurant takes our love of pork and foie gras to [...]

Uva – The newest “grape” on Smithe. Monday was an interesting day. A wine class constructed around theories of food and wine pairing – Chef David Wong at the culinary institute and star Wine Instructor Ian Phillips – create a 5 course mini-tasting menu with a wine flight program to highlight the dos and don’ts [...]

by Lauren Mote La Isla Boneta It’s ironic in a way that a restaurant so gorgeous, so simple and so wonderful, literally called “beautiful” in spanish, somehow stands in the sun at the corner of Carall and West Cordova, right on the outskirts of Gastown, and vividly close to the Vancouver transient east-side. On a [...]

by Lauren Mote Sometimes one can feel almost too lucky – an afternoon of prancing around a grand ballroom at the Pan Pacific Hotel here at Canada Place in Vancouver – we have nothing in our hands, except an ISO tasting glass and a handful of business cards. Welcome to the Trade Tasting at Vancouver’s [...]

by Lauren Mote Welcome to the winter wonderland. On the West Coast, I was laughed at when I wore my Canada Goose Down Coat as protection at the bus stop on Howe St. from the freezing rain… but, when you jump off the airplane at -25C you’d better wish you had one. Two snow storms, [...]

by Lauren Mote As we awoke on the balmy Thursday morning at 3:30am, I stumbled to find the light, the coffee, and my suitcase. In 2 hours time, Johnny and I would embark on our first trip home to Toronto, the chilly, nostalgic nesting place we left a while ago. We get off the plane [...]

by Lauren Mote Tonight, as I accompanied Vitamin V editor Sarah Bancroft, we celebrated the world’s finest sparkling wines and mouth-watering oysters at Joe Forte’s annual charity event to support the Vancouver Child Burn Unit. Goldfish publicist and Joe Forte’s public relations representative, Tara Parker-Tait, cordially extended a ticket to the charitable event, as a [...]

by Lauren Mote Yesterday, a girlfriend of mine arrived from Toronto. It was her first time to British Columbia, let alone Vancouver. She was on a stop-over for the night before she would travel to Whistler Village in the morning to visit with her brother for a couple of days. Being that my friend Melissa [...]