{"id":18497,"date":"2019-10-30T16:33:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T23:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=18497"},"modified":"2019-10-30T16:35:21","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T23:35:21","slug":"dine-railtown-is-vancouvers-new-food-festival-in-vancouvers-oldest-neighbourhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/dine-railtown-is-vancouvers-new-food-festival-in-vancouvers-oldest-neighbourhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Dine Railtown is Vancouver’s new food festival in Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strathcona<\/b>\u00a0is the city’s oldest neighbourhood, just east of\u00a0Chinatown, and with\u00a0Canadian National Railway\u00a0and\u00a0Great Northern Railway to the south. This area is filled popular restaurants among foodies such as Ask for Luigi<\/strong>, The Belgard Kitchen<\/strong>, The Mackenzie Room<\/strong>, and St. Lawrence<\/strong>.\u00a0 And here comes the great news for local foodies –\u00a0Nine leading Railtown restaurants and caf\u00e9s will come together to showcase the heart of a growing culinary community and help support a community-serving organization by running a new food festival\u00a0Dine Railtown<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0November 1 <\/strong>through the end of the month.<\/p>\n

Supported by the\u00a0Strathcona Business Improvement Association<\/a>\u00a0(SBIA), each of the participating restaurants offers exclusive dish with proceeds from the sale of each item earmarked for programming at the\u00a0Powell Street Getaway<\/strong>, one of 42 sites operated by the\u00a0Lookout Housing and Health Society<\/a>\u00a0across Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island. This is a great opportunity for
\nthe locals to discover Railtown as a wonderful dining destination in the city and build connections to the community.<\/p>\n

I was invited to try the exclusive dish from 3 of the 9 participating restaurants.<\/p>\n

The first was from the cozy and charming The Uncommon Cafe<\/strong>, who I previously ran a project with<\/a>. The\u00a0Braised Chicken Sandwich\u00a0<\/strong>($12) is loaded with homemade herb aioli and jalape\u00f1o jelly, brie cheese, applewood smoked bacon, and crispy fried onions. The flavor combination is just incredible, and every single bite is so comforting.<\/p>\n

\"Braised<\/a>
Braised Chicken Sandwich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Braised<\/a>
Braised Chicken Sandwich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cafe is known for its cool casual vibes, and delicious home-made food using fresh local products. They are also a commissary kitchen that supports many local businesses in the food industry.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Uncommon Cafe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Uncommon Cafe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next, we headed to one of the well known Italian restaurants in the city, Ask for Luigi<\/strong>, where I had one of the most amazing pasta experiences<\/a>. For the Dine Railtown initiative, they are offering the\u00a0Fried Cauliflower and Chickpeas\u00a0 <\/strong>($15), topped with herbs, spicy aioli, and parmesan. As fried cauliflower is such a popular dish in so many restaurants now, their version definitely stands out with the flavors and texture.<\/p>\n

\"Fried<\/a>
Fried Cauliflower and Chickpeas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This intimate Italian-inspired restaurant offers traditional fare with famous hand-made pasta and outstanding family-style service since 2006. Their brunch service is also legendary and worth lining up for.<\/p>\n

\"Ask<\/a>
Ask for Luigi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ask<\/a>
Ask for Luigi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final stop was Railtown Cafe<\/strong>, where we enjoy the\u00a0Classic Beef Stroganoff Bowl\u00a0 <\/strong>($16), which was prepared with buttered egg noodles, flank steak, mushrooms, onions, and sour cream. It is so hearty and full of big favours – a perfect dish for the chilly late fall and early winter.<\/p>\n

\"Classic<\/a>
Classic Beef Stroganoff Bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cafe\/caterer is a cornerstone establishment of the Railtown food scene, known for its epic build-your-own salad bar, gourmet sandwiches, and healthy comfort food. And they have 4 locations with the original location in Railtown, two in downtown, and one on Main Street.<\/p>\n

\"Railtown<\/a>
Railtown Cafe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Railtown<\/a>
Railtown Cafe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The full list of participating restaurants and featured dishes are as follows:<\/p>\n

The Belgard Kitchen<\/a>
\n55 Dunlevy Avenue
\nYam Gnocchi with Lamb Ragu \u00a0$19<\/strong>
\nbraised pork shoulder, brown sage butter, sweet peas<\/em><\/p>\n

Ask For Luigi<\/a>
\n305 Alexander Street
\nFried Cauliflower and Chickpeas \u00a0$15<\/strong>
\nHerbs, spicy aioli, parmesan<\/em><\/p>\n

Cuchillo<\/a>
\n261 Powell Street
\nWild Caught Argentinian Sea Prawns \u00a0$24<\/strong>
\nButter browned corn arepas, green apple jalape\u00f1o pipian verde<\/em><\/p>\n

The Uncommon Caf\u00e9<\/a>
\n477 Powell Street
\nBraised Chicken Sandwich \u00a0$12<\/strong>
\nHomemade herb aioli and jalape\u00f1o jelly, brie cheese,
\napplewood smoked bacon, crispy fried onions<\/em><\/p>\n

Railtown Cafe<\/a>
\n397 Railway Street
\nClassic Beef Stroganoff Bowl \u00a0$16<\/strong>
\nButtered egg noodles, flank steak, mushrooms, onions, sour cream<\/em><\/p>\n

St. Lawrence<\/a>
\n269 Powell Street
\nEscargots \u00a0$18<\/strong>
\nGarlic butter, puff pastry<\/em><\/p>\n

Pallet Coffee Roasters<\/a>
\n395 Alexander Street
\nFeature Pourover Coffee and any 340g Bag of Coffee Beans \u00a0$20<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mackenzie Room<\/a>
\n415 Powell Street
\nChicken of the Sea \u00a0$19<\/strong>
\nsea urchin parfait, burnt onion nectar, poached pears,
\nhazelnut butter, squid ink brioche<\/em><\/p>\n

LanaLou\u2019s Restaurant<\/a>
\n362 Powell Street
\nQuinoa and Brown Rice Salad Bowl \u00a0$13<\/strong>
\nginger tamari dressing, greens, grape tomatoes,
\navocado, beets, pumpkin and sunflower seeds<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

An exciting highlight of the Dine Railtown initiative is the launch of a custom illustrative map drawn by local artist\u00a0Tom Froese<\/strong>\u00a0that highlights\u00a0both\u00a0well-known and hidden culinary gems located within the Railtown neighbourhood. The map will be available at all participating Dine Railtown locations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strathcona\u00a0is the city’s oldest neighbourhood, just east of\u00a0Chinatown, and with\u00a0Canadian National Railway\u00a0and\u00a0Great Northern Railway to the south. This area is filled popular restaurants among foodies such as Ask for Luigi, The Belgard Kitchen, The Mackenzie Room, and St. Lawrence.\u00a0 And here comes the great news for local foodies –\u00a0Nine leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[206,178,300,72,250,261,179,309],"tags":[535],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/D9478AFE-D42C-4A1A-9827-B87E49F80E66.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18497"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18518,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18497\/revisions\/18518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}