Growing Chefs, Red Carpet Wines, and Paris at Pastis

Growing Chefs!

If you’ve never heard of this organization, here is your chance to get acquainted. Growing Chefs! is a non-profit society founded in 2005 that teaches kids about food and urban agriculture by sending volunteer chefs into elementary school classrooms. Chefs plant windowsill gardens with the students and then return every two weeks for 3.5 months to help care for the gardens and lead the students through fun lessons about vegetable exploration, cooking, sustainability, and healthy eating. It’s an opportunity for the chef community to share their immense knowledge with children and, to date, the program has helped over 1,000 students in 26 B.C. schools learn more about growing, preparing and eating food

This Monday, October 25, at 6:45pm, Growing Chefs will hold their bi-annual fundraiser and silent auction, From Farms to Forks: A Harvest Kitchen Party at The Dirty Apron Cooking School. Growing Chefs! 2008 fundraiser raised $17,000, which was more than half the total revenue raised in their 2008/2009 fiscal year. Tickets are $140 and are available at growingchefs.ca/harvest-party.

Languedoc Wines Go to Hollywood

The wines of the Languedoc and Pays d’Oc region are often overlooked by in consumers’ rush to scoop up the latest Bordeaux and Burgundy vintages, and it’s too bad. These wines really are the hidden gems of southern France. Unlike Bordeaux, these wines are still affordable, thanks to their still-relative obscurity, and boast an easy-drinking quality that makes them favourites for cocktail and dinner parties.

This month, you can taste a selection of Languedoc and Pays d’Oc wines while taking part in Vancouver’s iconic Hollywood Theatre’s 75th anniversary celebration, taking place from Friday, October 22 to Sunday, October 24, 2010. Languedoc Wine Council is sponsoring the three-day party, which will feature current blockbusters and cinema classics alike, all served up with the theatre’s established traditional flair alongside a delicious assortment of Languedoc wines. Catering for the big events is being done by C Restaurant (Friday night) and The New Bohemian Local Restaurant & Social Lounge (Saturday and Sunday nights).

In addition, Languedoc and Pays d’Oc are the featured wine regions this month at Liberty Wine Merchants, with tasting opportunities at all six locations and a grand prize giveaway of a $300 Languedoc and Pays d’Oc gift basket.

For details on movies and show times, visit www.hollywoodtheatre.ca.

Paris at Pastis

EAT writer Julie Pegg recently reviewed Barbara-jo McIntosh’s latest release, Cooking for Me and Sometimes You: A Parisienne Romance with Recipes. Now, you can enjoy meals inspired by the book for the next four weeks at Bistro Pastis. Each week will showcase a different $45 three-course menu. Now until October 24, enjoy a charcuterie-themed menu. I attended the opening night event, and supped on moist, delicate duck confit a l’orange, watercress salad with Dungeness crab and crispy pancetta, and ginger-poached pear with housemade coffee ice cream for desert. The restaurant is also offering 25% off its wine list throughout the promotion.