This winter thirty wines received the Judge’s Award for Best Value at the 2009 InterVin International Wine Awards, an intensive three-day blind tasting competition staged in September at White Oaks Resort & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The special citation was granted to wines receiving high scores from InterVin judges that retail for less than $15. The 30 best value winners — six of which are priced under $10 per bottle — represent a dynamic array of wines from Canada, Argentina, Australia, Chile, Italy, Spain, South Africa and United States. “Given that eight out of 10 bottles of wine sold in…

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It’s there in Black and White. Lunching with names in the movie-tone news at a chic beach front restaurant on the Croisette in Cannes, I ask the waiter in my best high school French for fresh black pepper for my Salade Nicoise. “You want black pepper,” he snarls, “go to Africa.” Still, he grudgingly brings an ancient pepper mill.

In restaurants all over the world, before I can put fork to lip, waiters are wielding pepper mills the size of Mark McGuire’s bat, grinding and twisting them at my table. I’ve become addicted to hot pepper: black,…

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St. Regis Installs Sculptures for Olympic Period and Beyond Set to Feature Pieces by Renowned Artist Seward Johnson

The St. Regis Hotel is featuring two works from renowned sculptor Seward Johnson during and beyond the Olympic period. The St. Regis Hotel Vancouver is already graced with a superb collection of original art which includes over 20 pieces placed throughout the public spaces of the building. This year, to coincide with the Olympics, the St. Regis Hotel is housing two pieces of art from internationally renowned sculptor Seward Johnson. The two sculptures that are installed, “Anticipation” and “Aprés-Ski,” capture…

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Top Table Bars Fête Olympic Victors with Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Podium Athletes Invited to Celebrate at Araxi, Blue Water Cafe, CinCin + West

Vancouver + Whistler, B.C. - Winning an Olympic medal is no easy feat. The road is long, the sacrifices many, and the support structures that enable athletes to reach the podium are elaborate. But ask an Olympic athlete the key to their success, and the reply is almost always, "My family and friends." Araxi in Whistler, and Blue Water Cafe, CinCin, and West…

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Il Mulino always succeeded in providing casual neighbourliness as well as its natural sophistication. Managed with loving care and professionalism from the kitchen to the wine cellar to the service, no one element of the dining experience was ever taken for granted here, and so patrons have always expected, and been treated to, the very best. When ownership changed hands last fall some wondered if that high standard would be affected, until word broke that the new face at Il Mulino would be none other than Oscar Valverde of such renowned establishments as Sotto Sotto,…

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