Beebe Cline

Its secretive, Blood Alley entrance in Gastown. Look up for the salt shaker. The gorgeous, clean, modern design—with a picture window looking onto a whitewashed flophouse. GM Chris Stearns’ new faux-hawk. Did he get it for his recent stage in the kitchen at Charlie Trotter? Brilliant and unusual wine selects, like the amazing Italian Feudi di San Gregorio white ($60/bottle). The beautiful concrete bathroom walls. Really. Sean Heather’s (The Irish Heather) prize meat slicer. The modern take on the ploughman’s lunch that constitutes the menu. $15 gets you three meats or cheeses from a rotating list, with Terra

If “trip to Australia” has been on your to-do list since the Sydney Olympics, instead pop out to Tofino this summer for a similar vibe.

sleep

Crystal Cove Beach Resort Might not compare to the Wick, but it isn’t trying to. Pack a group of you into pet friendly log cabins on Mackenzie Beach—many with private hot tubs—that start at $280 in peak season. There’s a full kitchen, propane BBQ, and fireplace, so all you have to do is show up and stop. 1165 Cedarwood Place, 250-725-4213, www.crystalcovebeachresort.com

eat in

In its new, larger location, Breakers Delicatessen stocks high-quality snacks from Leslie Stowe’s Rainforest

If you were forced to leave Vancouver, what would you miss most?

The seawall? The mountains? Jericho Beach? Vij’s?

It’s safe to say (and Jamie Oliver concurs) that there is no other restaurant in the world quite like Vij’s.

And soon you can have a little bit of Vij’s wherever you go, as this September marks the release of the restaurant’s first cookbook, Vij’s: Elegant and Inspired Indian Food, ($40).

Just like you’ve got to get to the restaurant early to secure a seat, you’ll have to get straight on this incredible deal.

Barbara Jo’s Books To Cooks is hosting Sunday afternoon chai with Vikram and his wife/co-author Meeru,

You’ve finally done it: unearthed that box of summer clothes from storage.

But those linen pants, floaty cotton tunics and feathery tanks are looking like they’ve been rescued from the bottom of a Sally Ann bargain bin.

A major fashion rescue is in order.

But stop: No need to haul everything to the dry cleaner when there’s the Rowenta Steam Master. A favourite of both Martha Stewart and the designers on Project Runway, this steamer looks like an iron, but doesn’t act like one.

With the touch of a trigger, the Steam Master puffs out up to 60 grams of steam per minute (in other words, you’ll only need one pass at even the most wrinkled

Summer’s here and you’ve already got the razor burn, blading bumps, and surfing scratches to prove it.

But not for long.

Enter Théra Wise, a new Vancouver-based line of all natural healing ointments developed by a team of eastern medicine doctors and cosmetologists.

Its SHO (Skin Healing Ointment) is an anti-bacterial cream made from botanical goodies like organic chamomile and rosehip seed oil, burdock root, honeysuckle, grapefruit seed, and aloe extract.

While busting germs like an all-natural Polysporyn, this earthy elixir will also aid in wound healing, calms skin irritation and inflammation, and has a pleasant

I just sold this House at 17409 63A AV, Cloverdale BC in the Cloverdale neighborhood.

View this recently sold House or see all my home sales

Sadly, we don’t mean Capri to Santorini.

But our good old Granville Island has a host of new culinary destinations that deserve a stop-in, even if your Missoni bikini and massive Dior sunglasses give you away.

Load up on local organics at Spud’s new Public Market kiosk near Terra Breads, then saunter over to the just-opened Edible BC—the Store, where you can buy heat-and-eat meals from Rangoli, Quince and Les Amis du Fromage, plus hard-to-find BC treats like Oculus Cherries from Mission Hill wineries.

Finally, stop at the new Liberty Wine Merchants outlet in the Net Loft building across from the market, and be amazed by the local selection—including

Okay, so talking at the movies is definitely out. But talking after the movie, that’s allowed. And talking with smart people like Generation X’s Douglas Coupland after the movie, well that’s just plain cool.

The recently built, non-profit Vancouver International Film Centre.

hosts a monthly Cinema Salon, where it invites a high profile person to choose a film that influences them, then chat about it after the show.

So next time the film comes up at a dinner party, you can say, “yes, well Doug and I were chatting about that recently and he said…”

Coupland’s Salon on the 1991 Japanese film Rhapsody in August with Richard Gere takes

Are the fashion police on your trail? Are you convinced that you’re being video-stalked by the hosts of What Not To Wear? OK, bra strap bandit. We’ve got you covered.

Those bra straps peeking out of your racer-back tank just aren’t doing you justice.

Just when you were running out of safety pins (ouch!), in comes the smart young woman from local company Embrace.

She’s invented a clear plastic device that holds your straps in place (and makes them disappear from sight) while giving the girls a boost at the same time.

It’s your get-out-of-jail free card.

Buy embrace ($8.50) find retailers, and view bra strap bandits at www.embracethebrastrapsolution.ca

 

Need

We’re all looking for the miracle cream. But miracle make up? Now there’s an idea.

What would you do for a magic powder that gives you a natural, sun kissed glow, protects you from cancer-causing rays, won’t clog pores, is water resistant, anti-aging, healing, anti-bacterial, hypo-allergenic and organic?

Éminence’s ingenious Organic Sun Defense powder comes in a clear tube with a pump on one end to distribute the perfect amount of fine powder onto the attached brush for each application. Impossible to spill and made entirely of natural minerals and vitamins, it even helps acne and rosacea and has an SPF of 30. 

And did we mention