Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Romer's , showcasing their "drunken donuts" foremost but also with some brochures for "holiday gatherings" at their "Vault" location in Kitsilano . These donuts are soaked on the inside and not your typical spongy doughy interior so watch out for their richness and order to share. Sauce is served on the side in the restaurant.

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of the most interesting vendors flying under radar was Coast Cricket Protein . Their wares looked like chocolate bars and tasted like it, but they were actually about eating crickets for protein! As for the wares, the chocolate bar and peanut butter bars tasted like... chocolate and peanut butter! Nothing weird or off-putting, which I think was the point.

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Wholly Veggie . They are vegetarian, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy free. Which is almost vegan but not quite -- they still use egg as a binding agent, but apparently working toward being vegan in 2018. I got to try all three types and I did like them for their strong, clear, flavour. Possibly strong enough to cut through whatever else you're throwing into a burger. Definitely don't overwhelm it like you might a regular burger. Wholly Veggie has various easy recipe suggestions online . Something else I also really liked was how it wasn't trying to be meat in taste or texture. They are conveniently patty shaped and proudly vegetarian, advertising vegetarian flavour. Fake meat patties, often with soy and bitter overtones, have never really worked...

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Panda Coco, snacks made of flavoured coconut chips. Coconut chips aren't a novelty anymore of course but Panda Coco does them very nicely, and with a southeast asian twist, with such flavours as durian and tom yum soup . What I really liked about the samples I tried from Panda Coco is the strong, clear flavour. Sometimes you'll see specialty flavours for potato chips such as poutine or hamburger, but they are so salty on top of struggling to identify the iconic tastes of each specialty flavour. Not here. Tom yum soup flavour is clear (and not super-strong -- because if you've had the paste or the soup, you know it can be darn strong and sour). Durian flavour is clearly durian. For those two flavours, the coconut chips are just a vehicle to carry...

I got the chance to go to Yelp's Holiday Market Party , a fundraiser for the Lion's Gate Hospital Foundation  as well as an opportunity for various up-and-coming food and drink vendors to show their wares. One of them was Amanda Huhn's  La Petite Cakerie , which had vegan and vegan-and-gluten-free goods. I tried to sample the "normal" one alongside the gluten-free counterparts. As mini-cupcakes go, the vegan ones were very good and certainly much better than the generally oilier-feeling supermarket cheapies. The gluten free cupcakes, however, had a grainy texture and a greater tendency to crumble, which is sadly common in gluten-free baking. It also had a flavour to it that demanded so much attention -- more than even the delicious cream on top -- that I found it too distracting to like. That said, I am not celiac and for people who have to be gluten-free, to a great extent beggars can't be choosers and the difference might be moot anyway. Cupcakes ...