Main's on the move
Giving busy 4th Avenue a run for diners’ dollars, Main Street’s latest addition is sweet spot Grub (4328 Main Street). With just 30 seats, this modern room has a “fresh board” of market-inspired daily entreés, antipasto, and thin-crust pizzas. A third Burgoo is slated to open mid June at 15th and Main, while across the street Brewery Creek Cold Beer and Wine Store is in expansion mode.

Thank god it’s Tuesday
Fridays weren’t enough. Now, the guys at Boneta (1 West Cordova Street) dish lunch Tuesday to Saturday. Salads ($14) to pork chops, linguine with clams, halibut, and grilled chicken sandwiches ($16 to $18) all made with aplomb and local ingredients. If you can’t swing lunch, stop in after 2:30 p.m. for la vraie poutine and other snacks from Québécois chef Jeremie Bastien.

There’s nothing like mama’s cooking
La Terrazza chef and partner Gennaro Iorio got his kitchen kickoff in hometown Trail operating his own pizza parlour at 16. Today, back home, his mom grows organic tomatoes, makes tomato sauce (meat and vegetarian), and spicy Italian sausages, and sells them under the Maria’s Fine Foods label at La Grotto Del Formaggio (1791 Commercial Drive).

Spot prawns around town
Spot-prawn season is in full swing, sales are going strong at False Creek Fisherman’s Wharf (1505 West 1st Avenue), and diners are flocking to restos (30 of them) featuring spot-prawn dishes. Find them at www.chefstablesociety.ca/events.php, or reserve for Raincity Grill’s spot-prawn 100-Mile Tasting Menu ($62, www.raincitygrill.com/).

A little bit saucy
Now the Weber’s up and running, check out the new Ronnie & Denzel’s line of all-natural hot sauces dreamed up by barbecue champ and cookbook author Ron Shewchuk and award-winning hot-sauce maker Denzel Sandberg. Much of the heat comes from Okanagan-grown peppers. Samples Saturday (May 31) at Westlynn Meats & Seafoods (1199 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver) from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and Well Seasoned (20771 Langley Bypass, Langley) from noon to 3 p.m.

Lunch to linger over
Sign of summer, C Restaurant (2–1600 Howe Street) now opens weekdays for seaside seafood. The four-course lunch tasting menu is a steal at $30, or choose í  la carte from the dinner menu at half the usual price.

Adieu to a chef of distinction
Vancouver’s culinary community is notably poorer with the May 19 passing of chef Soren Fakstorp, most recently chef instructor at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Vancouver. While tributes were heartfelt and many, chef Bruno Marti, chair of the Canadian Culinary Federation, hit the mark, noting that while many chefs have earned medals, international recognition, and lifetime-achievement awards, no one was more deserving than genial, generous Fakstorp, mentor to hundreds of students.