Chinese Restaurants, Awards and B.C. Fruit Trees

There are only a few more days to vote for your favourite Chinese restaurants in the Diners’ Choice awards component of the 2011 Chinese Restaurant Awards. This is the first year that the public was able to nominate their favourites in each category, so the finalists really do represent the people’s choice. You can vote online at www.chineserestaurantawards.com until this Friday, November 12.

And speaking of Chinese restaurants…Lin Chinese Cuisine, a multiple past winner of the afore-mentioned awards, just celebrated their three-year anniversary the other night with a special dinner for friends and media. The famous xiao long bao (soupy dumplings) were, of course, part of the 14-course feast, but new dishes like the chicken in blueberry and hawthorn sauce also wowed fellow diners, as did a zichai (a green, leafy vegetable similar to spinach) and tofu soup with diced prawns. The teal blue colour of a mint-red bean dessert ball was slightly discomfiting to some, but the peanut satay “bunny” balls were heavenly. Congrats to Lin on a successful run thus far!

BC Tree Fruits has re-launched their brand and packaging to draw more attention to the 800+ local growers that they represent and market. Did you know that the Ambrosia variety—a sweet red-and-yellow stripe—started as a nearly extinct seedling that was accidently discovered by growers Sally and Wilfrid Mennell in their Cawston orchard? You can find recipes using Ambrosia and several other varieties online at www.bctree.com. And stay tuned, I have a feeling we will be seeing these apples pop up in all sorts of places this season—including cocktails.