Art, Eat and Sip: A Delicious Self-Guided Tour of Vancouver’s Granville Island

Photo Credit: Tara Lee

The highly anticipated 15^th annual Dine Out Vancouver launches tomorrow (cue the trumpets)! If you don’t already have restaurant reservations lined up, don’t despair. There is still plenty of availability to choose from among the 284 restaurants participating with prix fixe menus ($20, $30, $40).

As well, the over 100 food experience events are also promising to be a culinary blast! One I’m particularly looking forward to combines three of my favourite things: art, food and drink, and Granville Island.

Art, Eat and Sip on Granville Island (presented by Vancouver Foodster) takes place the night of Wednesday, January 25, 2017. Basically, it’s a roaming self-guided tour that will take you to some of the best insider spots on Granville Island.

Sourced from Vancouver Foodster website

My boyfriend and I went last year and had an absolute blast! Now that we’re past the two year mark, date nights sometimes fall into the mundane, consisting of going to a tried-and-true restaurant and then returning to my place to watch a movie. Art, Eat and Sip was a great way for us to walk around and explore Granville Island together, as well as find out more about the food, drink, and art scene there.

Photo Credit: Flickr – Natalie Lapointe

I go to Granville Island as often as I can because I love it so much. The “Island,” which is actually a peninsula, is located under the Granville Street Bridge. The area was previously industrial land, but over the years, has transformed into a vibrant destination for visitors looking to shop at the many boutiques, go to see live theatre, visit artisan studios, and dine and drink at the restaurants, cafes, and brewery/distillery/wine shop/sake maker there. One of the main draws is the Public Market, home to an abundance of food vendors and stalls, selling local produce, seafood and meat, and homemade goods, such as pastries, cheeses, and hot meals.

Your Art, Eat and Sip tour will begin at Granville Island Hotel where you’ll check in and receive your event “Passport,” which will consist of a map of the Island with each of your stop-offs on it, as well as information on what you will eat/drink/see at each.

From there, your route depends entirely on your interests in terms of what order you want to see everything, and how you want to pace your experience (you have from 6pm to 10pm to complete everything). While the tour is very doable on foot, you could also bike around the Island if you want to get to places faster. Depending on how much you anticipate drinking, I’d also plan on walking, taking public transport, or catching a cab to and from the Island.

The tour includes the following places:

Granville Island Brewing

Photo Credit: Tara Lee

Launched in 1984, Granville Island Brewing is proud to call themselves Canada’s first microbrewery. Last year, we sampled tacos and Hey Day Hefeweizen beer, a perfect pairing, as well as a milk chocolate salted caramel with Infamous IPA.

Artisan Sake Make

This establishment specializes in handcrafted and small batch sake. Their brand name “OSAKE” is known as the first premium sake that is locally made in Canada. During your visit there, you’ll get the chance try one of their products, like the Junmai Sake. Last year, they also paired it with their SakeKasu chocolate truffles, which were heavenly. I’m curious to see what they have in store for participants this year.

The Liberty Distillery

TRUST whiskey; Sourced from The Liberty Distillery Facebook page

This craft artistan distillery, which started in 2010, produces all sorts of spirits, like vodka, gin, and whiskey. Expect to try some of their signature spirits, and maybe even a cocktail for further imbibing fun.

Liberty Wine Merchants

I often go to this wine shop due to their very knowledgeable staff and great selection. During the tour, you can expect some great wine tastings.

Dockside Restaurant

Sourced from Dockside Facebook page

Located in the Granville Island Hotel, Dockside specializes in west coast cuisine, most especially showcasing sustainable Ocean Wise seafood. Last year, we had a wok squid taster there.

Off the Tracks Espresso Bar & Bistro

This charming café offers light meals as well as perfect cups of coffee. Last year, we enjoyed tacos there, as well as carrot cake with locally roasted espresso.

Art Works Wonders Studio

Visit resident artists Heather MacNeil, Charlene Long and Mark Bowen at this working art studio.

Barbara Arnold, Artist

Sourced from Barbara Arnold Facebook page

Marvel at Barbara Arnold’s abstract and mixed media paintings while you sample delectable macarons from Bon Macaron Patisserie.

Photo Credit: Tara Lee

New Leaf Creative Solutions

Learn all about all forms of print making (eg relief printing, copper and zinc etching) as well as the many collaborative artistic projects that New Leaf gets involved in and coordinates. The Lemon Square will be serving their zingy treats here as well.

Studio 13 Fine Art

Visit resident artists Alice Rich and Skai Fowler at this gallery and working studio.

Tickets for Art, Sip and Eat are available on-line.

Brunch Crawls!

If you like the idea of a roaming self-guided food crawl, as part of Dine Out Vancouver, Vancouver Foodster is also presenting six brunch crawls. Visit local restaurants/establishments and gorge on a variety of brunch items, like pancakes, eggs benny, and waffles: