Dining » Straight Goods

Italian Job
Ready, set, dial. Dine Italia, back for Year 3, has dining deals for days—well, from Monday (September 1) to September 15 at least, at a raft of Lower Mainland restaurants. Try old faves like Quattro, Papi’s in Steveston, and Burnaby’s Vita Bella, or Fourth Avenue newbies Trattoria Italian Kitchen and La Quercia. Multicourse menus range from $20 to $50. Find them and other restos at www.iccbc.com/page200.htm .

 

Catch the wild wave
Pack the cooler for Steveston’s first Wild B.C. Seafood Fest on Saturday (August 30), 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s event goes beyond sardines to include wild B.C. salmon and sablefish. See cooking demos, with chef and cookbook author Stephen Wong prepping salmon, Aurora Bistro’s Jeff Van Geest tricking out sablefish, and Le Gavroche’s Manuel Ferreira’s Mediterranean-style sardines ( www.bcseafood.ca/ ).

Churn baby churn
Ever thought about making your own butter? You can learn how—along with techniques for making yogurt, cheese, whey, and even ghee—at a dairy workshop given by Tomas Hicks, the former director of Necessary Voices Society. It takes place at a private home Friday (August 29) at 6:30 p.m, and costs $40, including dinner. For info, call 604-708-9058 or e-mail farmertomas@gmail.com. If you can’t make this session, there will be another in September.

Meal deal-o-rama
If you think the $23 regular price of a three-course dinner at JJ’s Fine Dining is a deal, the $17 summer special is a steal. The early-bird meal (last reservations at 6:30 p.m.) is cooked and served by students at Vancouver Community College (250 West Pender Street, 604-443-8479). The special runs Mondays to Thursdays until September 4, after which it costs 25 percent more.

Green shoots
Green Earth Organics has come a long way from its beginnings in an East Vancouver basement. To mark 10 years of the organic fruit, vegetable, and grocery delivery company, it has launched a new Web site with an expanded product range, and is offering 10 dollars' worth of free groceries for the first 20 new members to sign up. Just mention Georgia Straight to get the goodies.

How does your garden grow?
The Earthwise Society is inviting those who appreciate everything homegrown to its first annual Grow Local Fair. Attractions include a blueberry-pancake brekkie, a small farmers market, and a community bake sale. The event takes place Sunday (August 31) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the society’s garden at the foot of Boundary Bay Road (6400 3rd Avenue, Delta). Admission is $2, or free for kids five and under. For info, see www.earthwisesociety.bc.ca/ .

Wine of a time
Drop everything and ferry over to Pender Island Saturday (August 30) for Morning Bay Vineyard’s third annual music-and-wine-soaked Winestock 2008. It’s a wallet-pleasing $25 per person or $50 per family for “wine, food, and music in Canada’s only oceanfront vineyard.” Musicians? Members of the Tragically Hip, Odds, and more. See www.morningbay.ca/ for tickets and directions.