Dining Out and going dry in January

Hello everyone and welcome back.

We dropped our first edition of the Vancity Lookout Eats newsletter last Thursday and boy was it exciting. I hope you enjoyed the content. Send in your thoughts or tips on what you might like to see us cover. We have a lot of great ideas in store but always want to know your feedback.

Well, after a fun-filled staff party for yours truly this past Sunday (I really should start booking the next day off), the inward thinking and hibernating part of my psyche has come in full force. I’m sure plenty of you are already there as the rains pound us with a constant barrage of “summer is a long time away” emotions while we decide between watching the new Knives Out or past episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The dilemmas are real?

Today we’ve got a quick analysis of what dry January symbolizes, a few thoughts on Dine Out, dream scenarios for a new basketball themed bar and a short interview with the owner of a non-alcoholic cocktail brand.

Let’s get to it.

— Jamie Mah, Vancity Lookout Eats food editor

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HEALTH

Going dry is the question

Over the past couple of years going dry for January was my thing, even though I did decide to skip it this year, I’m still fascinated by the concept. It was a challenge I embraced in spite of its presumed difficulty. If pressed to think about the concept logically, how hard can it be to not drink for 31 days?

Well, as I’m sure many of you who have tried and failed, it is quite tough. This made me think about my relationship with drinking in general.

Our world and society are wrapped within the confines of consuming alcohol. It’s at the center of many of our ceremonial events, whether they be New Year’s celebrations or personal gatherings, the joyful union of toasting our fellow friends and family has a lasting bond with fermentation and distillation.

• Did you know?: Dry January began in 2012 as a public health initiative from Alcohol Change UK, a British charity.

I interviewed UBC professor Edward Slingerland 18 months ago on my podcast regarding his new book, Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced and Stumbled Our Way To Civilization. In that interview, I wanted to discuss his book’s narrative as it relates to our intense bond with alcohol.

His book paints a fascinating illustration of how drinking helped grow and pave the way for our advancement as a society. Yet, in spite of this realization, it’s with events such as dry January, that we so often look inward at ourselves and how we relate to alcohol personally.

I believe this is a good thing, regardless if you participate or not. The idea and conversation surrounding this topic has its benefits. Ironically, professor Slingerland discussed this very subject recently for The Atlantic. 

Caroline Mimbs Nyce

“In Drunk, you describe many of the positive benefits of alcohol. So I was curious what you make of Dry January, whether you just see it as a check on the negative—or if you had any concerns about it, given the way that alcohol has helped us build civilizations and helped with creativity.”

Edward Slingerland

“I think it’s a quite healthy attempt to check rising consumption. January is the beginning of the year. People have just been through the holiday season, where they’ve been probably drinking quite heavily at parties and family gatherings. So it just makes sense.

During Dry January, if you’re not drinking alcohol, you’re going to lose some of the functional effects. You’re going to lose the creativity boost and social bonding. But it makes sense to endure some costs occasionally if you need to course correct.

For instance, problem drinking during the pandemic became really serious. Once you up your consumption, it’s very, very hard to dial back down. And probably the most effective way to do that is a kind of hard stop for a bit to just let your physiology reset.”

It occurs to me that Professor Slingerland’s comments may suggest that whether you’re in the middle of your dry spell or not, the annual check in is never a bad idea and I mean that more in a mental sense versus physical.

As someone who makes the bulk of my living serving alcohol to guests four days a week, my awareness of the whole sphere, good and bad, concerning alcohol's effects within our own lives is comprehensive. I feel it’s somewhat paramount that we do check in more often.

I champion a person’s free will to choose their own path, but I will always encourage discourse and movement of what “going dry” means, January or not, as I know so many of us do not do this.

I believe what I enjoy the most regarding this silly annual tradition is that it forces everyone to pause and reflect upon their relationship towards alcohol, and how they might continue that journey for this one month or for a lifetime.

In the past few years I’ve seen more and more friends remain dry for good after years of ups and downs with alcohol. To know their stories and see them come through the other end in a positive light leads me to feel a sense of optimism that for all its hokey charm, dry January isn’t such a bad tradition to recognize. So if going dry is the question you find yourself asking now or next year, I think the personal check-in is well worthwhile.

How to support Dry January

If you are up for supporting the “dry January” initiative, and want to champion a good cause, the fine folks up at Tacofino are pouring delicious Nonny beer all month long with $2 from each sale of beer or mocktail going to help the Coast Mental Health Association. 

You can even get Nonny on draft at their Ocho and Gastown locations. I’ve had these beers, they’re really good. Plus Nonny co-owner Lane is a great guy, I interviewed him last year on my podcast. Have a listen if you want to learn more about his brand.

IMPROVING VANCOUVER’S FOOD SCENE

A better way to do Dine Out

Last Thursday, my Lookout teammate Geoff reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in sharing my thoughts on Dine Out. Having not seen his message until it was too late, I figured I’d dispense my feelings for you today.

I do like some things about it. But, first off, there’s much left to be desired about the concept.

A majority of participating restaurants don’t offer what they normally sell. They cater to an audience who are most likely never to return once the deal they came for is no longer offered.

I’ve seen and heard this countless times in the past from chefs and staff who cringe at the very idea of Dine Out. It isn't fun to work and a lot of the best restaurants in town never participate. You think you’ll ever see St. Lawrence or Kissa Tanto on there? Absolutely not.

It may be interpreted that Dine Out cheapens their brands as it lays bare a soulless experience for those who are unwilling to accept the true cost of dining out or are too uninterested to seek out their own unique adventure.

I liken the draw to Dine Out similar to that of a herd mentality, as so many are largely influenced by emotion and instinct, rather than by their own independent analysis. This is happening so I must participate.

However, I must profess that I do understand that there are those who cannot afford extravagant dinners out on the regular or possibly at all. Having the opportunity to visit select restaurants they might not normally be able to afford too does present a nice perk, so there is that.

Even still, on the flip side, I get why restaurants join. I’m confident a lot feel that if they don’t, they’ll miss out on volume sales, which for any restaurateur, is a big fear. Economics trump ego more than we think and that’s okay.

Lastly, for diners, it’s a simple event, with low barrier costs that’s happening in your city. Plus to put things into perspective, a lot of people aren’t like me - an invested foodie and industry veteran who's seen both sides of this coin. I recognize a considerable amount of people could care less about this industry the way I do and that’s also okay.

For them, going out to Bells & Whistles for $32 while getting three courses is a great deal, and quite frankly, from that team, it will be. So be that as it may, Dine Out is what it is. I don’t love it, but it isn’t the worst thing to happen for the restaurant community.

Nevertheless, I have a few recommendations for Destination Vancouver:

1. Convince some of the better restaurants to participate. You’ve already got a few on hand: Burdock & co, Autostrada, The Mackenzie Room, Hawksworth and several others, but the big players do not play. For legitimacy, fix that. You spent all this money to get Michelin to this city, involve your best restaurants. Maybe they could do more expensive iterations, or single-night events if they’re not keen on doing the whole two-week extravaganza.

2. It doesn't need to be cheap. The original concept was based on getting diners to come out during the slower months of January and February, but this shouldn't just be limited to the lower cost restaurants. Again, please refer to my point number one for more detail here.

The must-visit list

There are a lot of top notch spots on this list. We’re quite lucky in Vancouver to have such a strong culinary scene with plenty of diversity. Even so, these are the few I’d most certainly check out.

The list of places I’d hit up:

• The Acorn: The best vegetarian restaurant going. A vegan’s dream

• Pepino’s Spaghetti House: Think Goodfellas with charm. Those Cherry Coke Baby Back Ribs are heaven.

• The Mackenzie Room: A beautiful room for a perfect date. The Chicken of the Sea is a must!!

• Burdock & co.: Andrea Carlson kills everything she touches.

• Autostrada: Fun fact - owner Lucais and I went to the same University at the same time. We both played Varcity. I love his cooking style and attitude. Simple and delicious Italian fare.

• Bufala: Order a bottle of Lambrusco and get the Calabria. You can thank me later.

And for fun:

• Bayside Lounge: Why it’s on here, I have no idea, but that room rips. Don’t be surprised if you stay until 2am.

A REQUEST

Here’s what I want from Courtside Bar

So there’s a new NBA themed bar called Courtside opening up next door to Superbaba up at Main and 8th. It’s been in the works for a bit as news dropped of its arrival last summer.

I expected them to be open by now but have heard they’ve run into licensing issues, which coming from this city, is not surprising. Doesn’t matter. Whatever’s the cause for the delay isn’t of importance. What I want and hope from them, however, as a massive NBA junkie, is for the group to nail this concept. With that being said, here’s a few of my desired scenarios for Courtside.

Also, for context, I’m bringing this up today because word is they’re close to opening.

1. I don’t want a basketball rim in the joint. This isn’t an arcade or gym.

2. There should be enough televisions to play every league pass game on a given night.

3. Old school games are a must. I want reruns of 90s Bulls vs Knicks or any Bird vs Magic gem.

4. Cocktails must be named after the tallest and shortest players in NBA history.

5. A Bill Russell photo has to be somewhere. The guy won 11 rings!

6. NBA trivia nights are a must.

7. This photo must be on the cover of the menu.

8. Gotta be a wall of jerseys somewhere.

9. The Vancouver Grizzlies feature prominently, except no Big Country. Guy sucked.

10. Steve Nash has to be in attendance for opening day.

Keep your eyes peeled for this beauty. Here’s hoping they nail this list, especially number seven.

INTERVIEW

Nick Devine of Edna’s non-alcoholic cocktails

Keeping in the spirit(!) of the dry January narrative, I reached out to my friend Nick Devine to get his thoughts on the non-alcoholic sector and why he chose to enter it. If you don’t know Nick, he was a very prominent bartender in Vancouver for several decades, having most recently been a part of the Cascade group (The Cascade Room, Main Street Brewing).

His new line of non-alcoholic spirits, Edna’s, have taken off and given the sphere a true brand to stand by, similar to how Nonny Beer has showcased that non alcoholic beer can actually taste good.

As someone who worked in the bar trade for years, outside of the obvious business growth advantage you saw with starting your own non-alcoholic line, what drew you to this side of the equation?

It was more of a gradual process.

I’ve been drawn to the manufacturing side of the beverage world ever since being part of opening Main Street Brewery, about 10 years ago now. Was not long after opening, I wanted to use my cocktail skillset and reputation, to create a line of RTD bottled cocktails. Bizarre BC booze taxation rules made it difficult to use spirits at that time, so I entertained the idea of using beer as a base.

The Company, Ascot Beer Cocktail Co, never really got off the ground despite being really well received. It came down to a tax categorization issue with the LDB, and after numerous talks, wasn’t able to continue with the business.

So, the bitterness may have subsided a bit, since then, but the idea never really went away. I then really started paying attention to the Non-Alcoholic category, and how there was not a lot of, if any, really quality options available.

So, using my previous knowledge and experience, pivoted the idea into a Non-Alcoholic RTD business. This was pre-Covid, and then Covid scuppered my plans, but after a rocky few years, eventually found the soundest of partners to launch Edna’s with.

I always saw the potential of the Non-Alcoholic sector for growth, but I honestly didn’t realize quite how big and how fast it would happen. The future is bright!

What feedback have you received in regards to your brand as being an excellent alternative to drinking?

We are still very new in the market, only launching for sale in April 2022, but so far so good. Edna's has been really positive and well received.

I think what stands us out to our competitors is that we are very close to the real thing, and go the extra mile in quality. Being all natural, full flavored, using authentic spirit extracts for aroma, using citrus shrub for bite and acidity, as well as premium juices, extracts and oils. The fact that they make a fantastic mixer doesn’t hurt either ;)

We’re truly excited to be part of this growing category, and can’t wait to see where Edna’s can go.

You can get your hands on Edna’s pretty much anywhere now. Do grab some today if you’re craving something delicious without alcohol.

TOP PHOTO

A few days ago, this man, Robbie Kane, owner of Café Medina turned 50. I used to do his social media and boy is he swell. Really loves what he does as he’s one of those heavily involved (in a good way) owners whom I highly respect. If you visit his restaurant sometime soon, wish him a happy belated.