FOOD

PRIDE A rainbow of food and drinks for Vancouver Pride

by Craig Takeuchi

Pride comes in various forms, and that’s particularly true this year. Whether partying at home or in public, there’s a prismatic array of food and drinks to enjoy in Vancouver.

COOL COLOURS Need to beat the heat? Notch8 Restaurant at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia Street) is serving a shortbread-cookie ice cream sandwich ($7), with $2 of each sale going to the Vancouver Pride Society (VPS). This colourful frozen dessert is made with housemade shortbread cookies and ice cream.

TROPICAL TREATS Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts baking and pastry chef and instructor Julien Salomoni has created a rainbow-topped coconut dacquoise sponge cake ($7), with pineapple confit, pineapple marinated in vanilla and honey, and a white-chocolate mousse infused with Malibu coconut rum. It’s available from Thursday (July 22) until August 1 at Blue Hat Bakery-Café (101–1505 West 2nd Avenue).

SPILL THE HIGH TEA Working the (airport) runways, a special afternoon tea service at Fairmont Vancouver Airport’s Globe@ YVR (3111 Grant McConachie Way, Richmond) lands from July 30 to August 1. At $69 per person ($35 for children) with an assortment of tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets. While tea is being spilled, the other type of tea can be sipped—guests can choose from Lot 35 loose leaf teas and tea cocktails, such as the Hibiscus Mule ($14, with $1 from each sale going to the VPS).

During Pride, this coconut dacquoise sponge cake is available at the Blue Hat Bakery-Café.

A SPECTRUM OF GROCERIES Whole Foods Market is offering a Pride bag for $15

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that contains food items with a total value exceeding $75, with all proceeds going to Vancouver’s Dr. Peter Centre Among the products are items from Chobani, Righteous Gelato, Green Beaver, Wholly Veggie, Mate Libre, Aisle, Brew Dr. Kombucha, Hornby Organic, and more. These bags can be ordered online (www.eventbrite.ca/e/ pride-bag-sales-at-whole-foods-marketmetro-vancouver-tickets-161666357427/) and picked up at select Whole Foods locations on August 1 and 2.

LIBATION LIBERATION The new pop-up patio at the Fairmont Pacific Rim (1038 Canada Place), called Oakridge at Pac Rim Patio, is serving the Pride-themed Strawberry Youth ($20), a gin-based strawberry-rhubarb–infused cocktail incorporating chamomile, citrus, and Champagne. Plus, there are also Pride-themed beers from Strathcona Beer Company ($11 each) such as Beautiful Mosaic Pale Ale, Big Sexy Funk Hazy IPA, and Love Buzz Strawberry Guava Sour.

PRIDE PICNIC PICKS This year’s parade may be virtual, but Pride supporters can converge in person at several official Vancouver Pride picnics, all held at Jonathan Rogers Park (110 West 7th Avenue) in Mount Pleasant. The Beyond the Binary Picnic—for anyone who is trans, genderfluid, genderqueer, agender, or nonbinary, as well as allies and friends—will run from noon to 2 p.m. on July 30. Attendees can bring their own food while enjoying entertainment. The following day (July 31), from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., is the Teddy Bears Family Picnic for families and children, with entertainment by improv troupe QueerProv and drag performer Karmella Barr. Then on Pride Day (August 1), the Pride Picnic will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Attendees can bring their own food or purchase items from food trucks amid live entertainment. Registration for all of these limited-capacity events is free at the VPS website (vancouverpride.ca/).

BRUNCH BOUNCEBACK After Pride is over, partygoers can rebound (or ricochet, as the case may be) with the Pride Recovery Brunch ($59 per person, with $5 from each sale going to Vancouver Pride) on August 2 at ARC Restaurant (900 Canada Place). Drag queen extraordinaire Kendall Gender will preside over the bottomless brunch, along with drag performers Carlotta Gurl and Jaylene Tyme keeping up with Kendall. g