Foodie Alert: The 2016 Taste of Yaletown is nearly here

Fourteen days, 31 restaurants and a lot of food. Get ready to taste the neighbourhood

The 12th annual Taste of Yaletown, the neighbourhood’s iconic foodie event, is on our doorstep. Starting October 13, 31 restaurants located in the district will be offering special menus for set prices of $25, $35 and $45 available only for the two-week duration of the event.This year, the new menu format “Sharing & Pairing” will allow Vancouverites to share tastings plates paired with a drink. “Chefs want to try new things,” says Annette O’Shea, executive director of the Yaletown Business Improvement Association. “Some also really want to promote people sharing plates, so why don’t we make that a new style of dining? Why don’t we honour that communal nature?” (The usual three-course meal is also available).The list of this year’s participating restaurants was released last week, and VanMag’s Restaurant Award winners Bistro Sakana and La Pentola are among them. And you can find the special menus of all 31 restaurants here. “We wanted our menu to be very approachable to anyone who’s walking through the door,” says WildTale Coastal Grill chef Erik Heck. Whether that’s “somebody who’s been part of the neighbourhood for years or someone who’s coming down to explore.”The Taste of Yaletown started 12 years ago, when the YBIA was trying to bring the 40 restaurants in the neighbourhood back then into the spotlight. “Now that we have 85 ,” says O’Shea, “we are the dining district. These are gold-medal winning chefs here.”Enter our contest for a chance to win one of three $50 gift cards (valid at any participating restaurant) here. Contest ends October 7.