Collaboration dinners

Good morning! 

One thing you may not have known about me — I lived in Budapest for a year while my partner went to grad school. Right now, I’m visiting the country for the first time since I lived there.

It’s a whirlwind of nostalgia and, sadly, regret. Walking past the coffee shop I’d buy beans from, narrow alleyways and beautifully ornate architecture, the incomprehensible street signs written in Hungarian... When you visit a city that has shaped your life, you can’t help but feel a smidge of regret about the things you didn’t do.

So rather than leave this intro on a negative note as I wallow in nostalgia, I’ll just say this — the next time you’re sitting on your couch, debating whether to do something in Vancouver, just do it. Don’t come back to Vancouver one day and regret the things you didn’t do.

And speaking of events, today freelance writer Sarah Harowitz returns with a story exploring a burgeoning trend in the city: collab dinners.

Let’s dive in!

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor and founder

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Monday: 8 🌡️ 4 | 🌧️

Tuesday: 11 🌡️ 4 | 🌧️

Wednesday: 11 🌡️ 6 | 🌤️

RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

Collaboration dinners are the latest hot trend amongst Vancouver’s chefs

By Sara Harowitz. Read the story online here.

The dining room at DD Mau pulses with an orchestra of sounds: loud music thumping through the speakers; cocktails shaken and stirred; and a happy chorus of, “Hi, friends!” shouted at anyone who walks in the door.

Excited guests have gathered at the Chinatown restaurant for the first installment of Feast & Friends: DD Mau’s collaborative dinner series that invites chefs and bartenders from around the city to come together in the creation of a special one-off menu.

This edition features Chanthy Yen — last year’s Top Chef Canada winner, and the mind behind the soon-to-open downtown Cambodian restaurant Touk — as well as Max Curzon-Price and Andrew Kong, the duo behind the roving Bar Supernova, which turns food waste into cocktails (don’t worry if you haven’t caught them yet: they also have plans to open their own space). 

The drinks are inventive and delightfully weird, from the Tomato and Shells — a drinkable shrimp cocktail, if you will — to the Mango & Pepper, a spicy little number complete with lickable fruit-leather garnish.

The food menu, meanwhile, unfolds in a steady stream of fragrant family-style dishes: a mix of Cambodian flavours from Yen and Vietnamese ones from DD Mau chef Tyler Hoang. Some instant favourites? Consider the braised beef tongue with Cambodian mole from Yen, so decadent and rich; or the cold glass noodles with tamarind-tomato broth and fresh herbs from Hoang, so refreshing and bright. 

The beauty of a meal like this is that it’s here for a good time, not a long time. The collaboration dinner’s impermanence is one of its strongest assets: free from the shackles of the everyday menu, it allows chefs to challenge themselves.

“The goal is for chefs and bartenders to get their creative juices flowing in terms of thinking outside of their regular menus,” says DD Mau co-owner Kim Tran. “The idea spawned as a fun way to connect the food community — but also guests, as well — over a creative concept. It brings chefs, bartenders, and, of course, our team together to create a unique menu.”

The first Feast & Friends edition took place on September 9 and 10, while the second —featuring chef Mark Singson and bartender Tadia Rae — happened on October 19. A third volume is currently in the works for January 25. 

Collaboration dinners are nothing new, but Vancouver’s chefs and restaurateurs are breathing fresh life into them with fun and inventive concepts. DD Mau’s is unique for its all-local focus, and for its decision to invite not only a guest chef, but a guest bartender. Still, it’s far from the only Vancouver venture that is tapping into the collaboration-over-competition mindset.

Gastown restaurant L’abattoir is partnering up with Victoria’s Ugly Duckling for a two-part series that sees each restaurant’s chef cooking a one-night-only guest spot at the other. It begins in Victoria on November 3, when L’abattoir executive chef Jasper Cruickshank heads to Ugly Duckling; then on January 27, Ugly Duckling chef/owner Corbin Mathany will do a stint at L’abattoir.

For Mathany, who calls L’abattoir “one of my favourite restaurants ever, not just in Vancouver,” the key to any good collaboration dinner is, well, right there in the name. 

“The biggest thing I’ve found with some collaborations is that it can feel like two very separate menus that you’re eating in alternate courses,” he says. “So, a lot of time goes into making sure that everybody’s voice shines, but that it feels like a cohesive experience — and not like a competition to have the most memorable dish of the night.” (As for how that cohesion comes to be, Mathany jokes that it starts with “a very long email chain.”)

He sees collaboration dinners as a way to get re-inspired. When you’re a young chef starting out in the industry, he explains, you’re exposed to so many different perspectives and ideas in the kitchen. When you have your own restaurant, however, you’re much more insular.

“You get siloed into your immediate vicinity,” he says. “So part of it is winning that back, and getting to continue to experience how other people approach their food. It’s getting that broader perspective back that you tend to lose once you’re just in your own restaurant every day.”

Of course, these types of dinners aren’t just great for the chefs — they’re also a boon for the diner, who gets to experience an exclusive menu, be introduced to new restaurants or cuisines, and learn a little more about the chef process.

“It’s giving them a little bit of insight into how chefs work,” says Karl Gregg of Rosie’s BBQ, which pops up around the city and also runs the kitchen at Main St. Brewing. “And that’s one of the things I want to make sure we talk about at our events.”

Gregg is currently running a collaboration series at Main St. Brewing in support of peer-led support organization Chefs’ Table Society; the first edition took place on October 23 and featured dishes by chef John Bates from Austin’s one-Michelin-starred InterStellar BBQ. The second edition, happening on November 6, will feature a giant seafood boil cooked in partnership with Chef’s Table president Johnny Bridge. It’s sure to be a feast, albeit a laid-back one.

“It’s the backyard barbecue kind of stuff,” says Gregg, “that chefs like to do when they’re not at work.

The straight goods

• The next installment of DD Mau’s Feast & Friends is set to take place on January 25, 2026. The guest chef and bartender have yet to be announced; check the restaurant’s Instagram for updates.

• The next Chef’s Table Dinner at Main Street Brewing will take place on November 6. Tickets are $35. Get them here.

• TUgly Duckling x L’Abattoir takes place at Ugly Duckling in Victoria on November 3 (tickets are $230 and can be reserved here), and at L’Abattoir on January 27, 2026 (ticket details will be posted in the coming weeks here).

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

11%

That’s the percentage of Vancouver voters who would vote to re-elect Mayor Ken Sim, according to a new poll conducted by Mainstreet Research that pitted several potential candidates running head-to-head for the city’s top job. Read more. [Daily Hive]

THE AGENDA

🏠️ A new Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation report found that, unlike other major cities in Canada, there was a 56 per cent decline in the number of gentle-to-medium density housing developments in Vancouver between 2018 and 2024. Read more. [CBC]

🌧️ Meteorologists are estimating heavy rain on Halloween. Read more. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🪧 The B.C. public service strike might be over soon, as the BCGEU announces that it will recommend that members vote in favour of a deal reached with the province. Read more. [The Canadian Press]

🧑‍⚖️ The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is being sued by B.C. Senator Yuen Pau Woo and Dr. Patricia McAvity over the death of their son, who was found dead on the grounds of Vancouver General Hospital four days after he went missing from involuntary psychiatric care. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

🏗️ Council gave the go-ahead for the development of a 29-storey hotel tower on the corner of West Pender St. and Richards St. The new hotel would replace a parkade and include 586 hotel rooms, conference and meeting space, and amenities like a rooftop pool and hot tub. Read more. [Daily Hive]

❌ Broadway between Main and Quebec streets will be closed to vehicles for four months starting in January, as work on the SkyTrain extension continues. Read more. [CBC]

👍️ The team might not have a name yet, but the new Vancouver PWHL expansion has hired an impressive group of coaches. Read more. [The Hockey News]

🏒 The Canucks lost to the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday. Read more. [Global News]

🐋 Ship passengers were injured on Thursday when a whale-watching vessel struck a humpback in the Howe Sound. This is the second incident in a week where a ship hit a whale near Vancouver. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

EVENT GUIDE

VIFF – Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro | VIFF Centre, 1181 Seymour St. | Now until Nov. 5 | Film series celebrating Frankenstein with classics and Guillermo del Toro’s new film | Tickets $16

Halloween on The Drive | Commercial Drive | Oct. 31, 3:30–5:30 pm | Trick-or-treat along The Drive with local shops offering treats for kids in costume | Free

DTES Heart of the City Festival | Various venues | Oct. 31–Nov. 8 | 22nd annual arts festival featuring over 100 theatre, dance, and storytelling events | Free & ticketed events

Main Street Safe Trick or Treat | Main Street, Mount Pleasant | Oct. 31, 3–6 pm | Candy giveaways, kids’ performances, and face painting along Main Street’s local shops | Free

Cirque Costume Ball | Science World, 1455 Quebec St. | Oct. 31, 9 pm–2 am | Massive Halloween bash with aerialists, LED dancers, DJs, and live cirque acts | Tickets $71+

City of Richmond Halloween Fireworks Festival | Minoru Park, 7191 Granville Ave., Richmond | Oct. 31, 6:30–9:15 pm | Family Creepy Carnival with live shows, activities, and fireworks finale | Free

Man Up Halloween: MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR | The Birdhouse, 44 W. 4th Ave. | Nov. 1, 9 pm | Undead disco drag because disco never dies! | Tickets $16

Rabbit Festival | Scottish Cultural Centre, 8886 Hudson St. | Nov. 1, 12–4 pm | Family event celebrating rabbits with grooming demos, vets, and vendors | By donation

I Know What You Did Last Weekend | The Improv Centre, 1502 Duranleau St. | Until Nov. 1, 7:30 pm | ’90s slasher-meets-improv show where the audience helps shape the story | Tickets $29+

Borshch & Bannock: Heart of the City Festival | 805 East Pender St. | Nov. 2, 12–3 pm | Intercultural lunch with live music, crafts, and performances from Indigenous and Ukrainian artists | Free

Canyon Frights | Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, 3735 Capilano Rd. | Until Nov. 2, 10 am–8 pm | Family Halloween event with pumpkins, live shows, and spooky photo ops | Tickets $78

2025 Eastside Culture Crawl | Eastside Arts District | Nov. 20–21, 5–10 pm; Nov. 22–23, 11 am–6 pm | Four-day open studios with 500+ artists, galleries, and crafts | Free

Science World After Dark: Bloody Science | Science World, 1455 Quebec St. | Oct. 30, 6–10 pm | Spooky adults-only night with sword swallowing, forensic demos, and themed drinks | Tickets from $44.95

Latin American Heritage Month Festival | Ocean Artworks, Granville Island; Brentwood Mall Plaza; Latin Plaza Hub | Until Nov. 2 | Festival with 30+ cultural events including music, dance, art, and Day of the Dead celebrations | Free & ticketed events

SHOCK 6 Halloween at Good Co. Granville | Good Co. Granville, 965 Granville St. | Oct. 31, 9 pm–3 am | Haunted house party with music, prizes, and candy at Granville’s biggest Halloween bash | Tickets $35

Submit your event and it could appear here and reach 20,00+ Vancouver locals.

CITY HALL

Proposal to create city-owned housing developer is voted down — here’s why it matters

A proposal to create a city-owned development company failed this week after city councillors failed to effectively negotiate the particulars of an idea they all generally supported. The plan would have created a government business enterprise (GBE), which would have received $8 million in start-up funding and six vacant city-owned sites to develop 4,000+ homes and generate revenue for the city. 

ABC Coun. Peter Meiszner characterized the breakdown as a “fundamental disagreement” between members of the ABC party and other city councillors about the purpose of the initiative, he said in a conversation with Vancity Lookout. However, during the council meeting, the key disagreements were over specifics like what the revenue would be spent on, and a lack of specifics about the proposed company. 

The plan was supported by Mayor Ken Sim and ABC, the majority party at City Hall that has consistently forwarded the idea of leveraging city-owned land to develop market rental housing and generate revenue for the city. ABC’s policies and directives, like the 2023 request for staff to come up with ideas to use city-owned land to “unlock the delivery of new middle-income housing,” led staff to come back with the concept of a city-owned development company.

NEW VANCOUVER JOBS

Discover your dream job in Vancouver:

• Customer operations manager at Indigo

• Director of development, Sauder School of Business at UBC

• Communications and student recruitment manager at Simon Fraser University

• Sales and events coordinator at Hyatt

• Team lead, content at Vancouver Airport Authority

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• It’s not restaurant collaborations popping up in Vancouver — there’s literal restaurant pop-ups.

• For the second straight year, this Thai restaurant in Burnaby was rated the best in Canada. [Straight]

• It’s fall, so here are a few cozy cafes where you can get your hygge on. [Daily Hive]

• If you like reading tourists’ complimentary accounts of their time in Vancouver, here’s one from Indian actor Ssudeep Sahir. [Times of India]

• A Netflix horror movie has taken over a Vancouver high school for filming. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Get in line for some sample sales. [Cuirocity]

VANCOUVER NEWS QUIZ

PHOTO OF THE DAY

It’s spooky season over at Science World!

STORIES THIS WEEK