Vancouver's COAST Restaurant goes Indian

Yaletown's COAST Restaurant is featuring authentic Indian cuisine September 12-23.

"At COAST, we love to expose our guests to exotic tastes from around the world," says Executive Chef Jeremy Atkins. "With Indian cuisine, you have the freedom to experiment with different spices and flavor combinations to really create that wow factor for guests."

Here are some of the menu items. Pair with a local BC wine and you'll be transported to an exotic place and taste.

Indian Ocean Tiger Prawns with green curry, slivered mango and chilled panna
Black Widow Gewurztraminer 2006, Naramata Bench

Fire-Grilled Jack Fish & Summer Vegetable Kabobs with cumin scented basmati rice and roasted cashew butter
Winchester Cellars Sharp Rock Chardonnay 2005, Victoria

Chai Kheer Rice Pudding with chilled coconut sabayon
Mission Hill Late Harvest Riesling 2005, Okanagan Valley

COAST Restaurant is located at 1257 Hamilton Street in Yaletown. Call 604.685.5010 for reservations.

Granville Island Hotel sunrise. Sue Frause photo.

Moving Beyond - Vancouver textile show

Vancouver, BC's Surface Design Association presents its first juried exhibition, Moving Beyond.

The show runs Sept. 6-27, 2007.

Venues include five locations in Gastown and Granville Island: Urbanity, Button Button, SAWA Tea & Craft, Textile Content Studio and Mooncruise.

The exhibition showcases diverse, original and innovative textile art by BC members of the SDA.

Participating in the exhibition are Angelika Werth, Anne Marie Andrishak, Brigitte Rice, Cher Cartwright, Hanna Haapasalo, Jane Kenyon, Jennifer Love, Julia Manitius, Kaija Rautiainen, Kate Barber, Kristin Rohr, Melissa Bienvenue Woods and Yvonne Wakabayashi.

A roving reception will be held Friday, Sept. 6, from 6-9 PM at the five venues.

The #50 False Creek bus runs frequently between Gastown and Granville Island.

Go green with Fairmont

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is making green the color for summer.

Now through September 3, overnight guests with hybrid vehicles can park for free at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel and her sister properties The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, The Fairmont Waterfront, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria and the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Guests will enjoy an average savings of $60 USD on a two-night stay, making it a true economic advantage.

Vitamin V : Get a daily dose for free

If you're a fan of Vancouver like me, keep up with what's going on in this cool Canadian city by subscribing to the online vitamin v.

The online lifestyle magazine arrives in your mailbox Monday-Friday with news about health and beauty, fashion and decor, arts and culture, dining and nightlife and travel and leisure.

And it's free!

Coal Harbour, Vancouver. Sue Frause photo.

Music in a Chinese garden

Vancouver's Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden hosts outdoor musical performances on Friday nights throughout the summer.

Now in its 14th season, this year's series includes classical, world, fusion, Asian, Gypsy jazz and African music.

All shows begin at 7:30 PM (doors open at 7 PM). Tickets are $15CAD.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is located in Chinatown at 578 Carrall St. The entrance is in the lane off Carrall between Pender and Keefer. Look for the discreet doorway along the wall. Open daily from 9:30 AM to 7:00 PM. Sue Frause photo.

Vancouver's Listel Hotel offers artful hotel package

Henri Fantin-Latour (French, 1836-1904). Marie-Yolande de Fitz-James,
1867. Oil on fabric; 50.2 x 42.2 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift
of Lewis C. Williams 1982.256. © The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Listel Hotel in Vancouver, BC has an artistic package featuring Vancouver Art Gallery’s Monet to Dali: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The Monet to Dalí exhibit represents the most comprehensive showing of European painting and sculpture in Vancouver in more than half a century. Touted as Vancouver’s most art-full hotel, it's only a five minute walk on Robson to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The Listel's Surreal Impressions package includes:

• Two express entry tickets to the exhibit (you walk right past the crowds)
• An exhibit catalogue of the show
• A room on the hotel’s Gallery Floors, where each room is an individual gallery featuring original or limited edition work from more than 35 different artists
• A 15% discount at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s gift shop

The package is priced at $289.00 CDN (+ applicable taxes) per room based on double occupancy. It's available until Sept. 16, 2007. Reservations may be made by calling 800.663.5491 or e-mailing reservations@thelistelhotel.com.

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art is drawn from the superb collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Vancouver Art Gallery's exhibition consists of more than 80 paintings, drawings and sculpture that demonstrate key examples from the European modernist movement. Organized into four groupings, it covers a century of art making from 1864 to 1964 and showcases important work by the major Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, early modern sculptors and avant garde artists interested in Dadaism, Cubism and Surrealism. Most notably, the exhibition includes key works by Manet, Monet, Cézanne, van Gogh, Rodin, Picasso, Dalí and other renowned artists. Together, the works in this stellar collection illuminate the breadth of creativity in one of the most extraordinary epochs in the history of Western art. The show is at the Vancouver Art Gallery until September 16, 2007.

Lunch to go in Vancouver

One of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, BC now offers lunches to go. Located on Denman right across the street from English Bay, it's the perfect spot to pick up your picnic and head to the beach.

The Raincity Grill's take-out window is now open weekends only -- beginning June 1 it will dish out delicious food from 11 AM to 7PM daily.

Raincity Grill has also upped the green factor, using sugarcane fiber containers and aspen wood cutlery from Lumby, BC. Both are made from renewable resources.

For $9.95 you'll receive a sandwich, salad and a sweet treat. Among the tasty sandwich offerings are Oyama ham with gruyere cheese and roasted eggplant and onion with hummus and bell pepper. Select from Caesar, potato or coleslaw salads.

Raincity Grill is located at 1193 Denman Street in Vancouver's West End -- a great jumping off spot for visiting Stanley Park.

English Bay is a Fun picnic spot. Sue Frause photo.

Granville Island Farmers Market

The popular Granville Island Farmers Market in Vancouver opens May 17 for another season. The weekly event takes place every Thursday through October.

During spring and early summer, growers will descend on the market with bedding plants, hanging baskets and fresh flowers. By July, fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms will arrive within hours of being plucked and picked.

The Farmers Market is from 9AM-3PM every Thursday and is located in the parking lot east of the Public Market.

Granville Island Public Market and The Net Loft are open seven days a week 'til 7 PM.

Ferries cross False Creek to Granville Island. Sue Frause photo.