Lower Lonsdale Fall Festival – Sunday, September 27th
Posted by Michelle Evans in Babies & Children, News & Events on September 23rd, 2009
On Sunday, September 27th, the 100 block of West 1st street in North Vancouver will be buzzing with excitement. The 5th annual Lower Lonsdale Fall Festival kicks off at 10am with a pancake breakfast and will continue through 4pm with loads of entertainment and family fun.
Some of the action will include:
- North Vancouver Fire Fighter Truck #11 ladder truck, reptile exhibit, bouncy castle and mascots Salty Sam and Rocky the Ram
- Musical Entertainment on the main stage: Childsplay, Circle of Friends, and Kutipara
- Dance Demonstrations by Hot Flash Hoffers and the JB Tappers
- Draw prizes throughout the day
- Roving Performances by Mark The Wanderer Crystal Ball Juggling, Graham the Magician and Public Dreams Stilt Walker Michele Christen
- The Edge Climbing Wall
- Lower Lonsdale Craft Fair
- Street demos by Griffins Boxing, Natural Trekking Nordic Pole Walking, Second Wave Skate and Snow Board Shop, Obsession Bikes and Paws For Dance
For full details, visit the City of North Vancouver’s event listing.
The Resurrection of Urban Shore
Posted by Michelle Evans in News & Events on September 20th, 2009
I do apologize for the hiatus. Mostly I was sulking at the prospect of moving away from this beautiful place I call home. See, I had my apartment on the market this summer in hopes of finding myself with a larger home – we’re expecting our 2nd child now. Instead I ended up coming to the realization that I wouldn’t find what I want in this area just yet and would prefer to live more modestly in the place I love rather than move, especially if it meant leaving the Shore.
So I’m back to stay, and so is Urban Shore.
Now that the excuses are out of the way… I got out this afternoon to enjoy the neigborhood and dig up some info for you. A few new places have cropped up over the summer and a few places have shut down. Add in a some changes of ownership a little new construction and the City of North Vancouver’s urban hub is taking on a fresh look. Here are a few tidbits:
The North Vancouver City Library celebrated it’s 1st anniversary today. In the last year it has circulated more than 1 million items and now offers free WiFi throughout the entire Civic Plaza (.PDF) during library hours. Connect to the wireless network ‘PLAZAIR’; no password is required.
Bella Candela Grill on Esplanade has shut down but plans to re-open as a take-out/delivery place. I’m curious to see what will crop up there; I’ll keep you posted.
I got a message in August from Paul Mon-Kau of The District Social House that he has sold Kantine Urban Cafeteria. So far it doesn’t look like much has changed. The menu is a little different but still very affordable. Branding is the same but the website doesn’t seem current. There was a nice buzz there this afternoon, which was nice to see. I’m a big fan of the Esplanade Plaza, but it seems to lack in foot traffic a little.
I’ve always been a HUGE fan of the New Apple Farm Market at 20th and Lonsdale for produce and specialty/asian and organic foods, and I’ll dedicate an entire post to it at some point, but I just noticed a brand new produce store across the street from Starbucks at 13th & Lonsdale: Anna’s Fresh Produce at 1342 Lonsdale Avenue carries only produce. Their selection isn’t super extensive but their prices are awesome… just about everything was under $1.00/lb – coloured peppers were all $.79/lb and pineapples were 2/$3.50 for the ones I just spent $4.00 each on at another grocery store. Definitely going there for produce next time.
Thanks to all my readers for your support. I am back and excited about the future of Urban Shore. I hope you are too.
Don’t forget to check out Urban Shore on Flickr and now you can follow Urban Shore on Twitter @urbanshoreca.
Upcoming Events at Yogapod
Posted by Michelle Evans in Arts & Culture, Health & Wellness, News & Events on May 18th, 2009
Photo: maxim kuschpel on Flickr
I’ve expressed my love of Yogapod before, but now I want to really share the love and tell you about some of their upcoming events:
Spiritual Cinema Circle
On Saturday, May 23, 2009 from 8:30pm – 11:30pm, you can enrich your life with other like-minded individuals. Here’s a little piece of information I obtained direct from an inside source:
Did you know that many visionary, soulful movies are made every year but never get into the theaters? Independent, spiritual filmmakers are creating movies with heart and soul, movies that really matter. Until now, though, hardly anybody got to see them.
Now, everything has changed. Now, there’s a place for you to see those inspiring, heart opening
films, right here at Yogapod. We are excited to start this cinema festival monthly beginning in May.cost | $5 profits go to local charity
30 Day Challenge: June 1-30, 2009
I will completely admit to never having completed a 30 day challenge. With a small child at home and a full time job I just can’t imagine making it that much of a priority. I’m sure I’ll give it a whirl when my son is older, though. My mother in law, however, has done this several times and absolutely LOVES it! If you are into yoga and have the time, I’d totally recommend you at least try it.
You have to commit to practicing daily; I believe you can double up a class once each week (i.e. miss one day and take 2 classes the next within the same week) but you really need to dig deep to make it happen. I’m sure it’s absolutely rewarding but if you still need convincing, read this inspirational story of one man’s 30 day yoga challenge transformation.
Deepen your practice by committing to 30 days of consecutive practice for the month of June. Never practiced before? No problem, this is a great way to immerse yourself! Please call or email for any further informtation.
Contact:
Yogapod is located at 101-260 West Esplanade Street in North Vancouver, BC. Contact them at 604.924.9642 or by emailing one@yogapod.com.
By the way, if you get all inspired looking at photos of people doing yoga, you should check out Maxim Kuschpel’s entire photostream on Flickr; this set is my favourite.
Youth Week & City Fest 102
Posted by Michelle Evans in Arts & Culture, News & Events on April 28th, 2009
Each year, to celebrate the youth of our community and their achievements, the City of North Vancouver participates in Youth Week BC in the first week of May.
Youth Week is an international celebration of youth held annually during the first week of May. It is a week of fun, interaction and celebration intending to build a strong connection between young people and their communities and to profile the issues, accomplishments and diversity of youth across the province.
Wherever Youth Week is celebrated, the idea behind it is the same: Young people are important and need to be recognized in a constructive and positive manner. Their contributions need to be acknowledged and celebrated. [bcyouthweek.com]
From May 1st to 7th, Youth Week in North Vancouver include activities and events such as BBQ’s, dances, free swimming, pool parties, popcicle giveaways, and rock paper scissors contests. Plus, May 4th is the final day for photography submissions to the Presentation House Gallery’s Hangups & Hangouts Photo Contest. You can download the full Youth Week schedule of activities & events for the City of North Vancouver here (.PDF).
City Fest 102 Youth Festival
This is what really got me excited; I just saw a poster for this in the door of the Youth Centre at the John Braithwaite Centre on my way home this evening.
On Saturday, May 9th, from 12-4pm, the skate park and parking lot at Centennial Theatre will be transformed into City Fest 102 – a youth festival complete with a skate contest with prizes and giveaways; bands, demos and talent shows (even a recording studio!); an interactive art project and art show; free food and more. Download the City Fest 102 poster (.PDF)
I couldn’t find details about how to get in on the skate contest, but if you want to, you should probably get this filled out and signed ahead of time if you’re under 19: skate contest waiver (.PDF)
If you whip in to the youth centre at John Braithwaite, you may still be able to pick up a coupon for a free popcorn and cotton candy (while supplies last, of course). They gave me one when I stopped in.
Youth in our community deserve to be celebrated more than they are. If you know anyone between the ages of 10 and 20, please send them this link. This sounds like it’s going to be a great time!
Raglan’s Bistro
Posted by Michelle Evans in Restaurants on April 23rd, 2009
Well, this evening didn’t get off to a good start, but it sure ended well.
So I caught a tweet a couple of days ago from Deuce Restaurant that they were offering $3.95 beers and a buck a shuck oysters with a DJ after 9pm on Thursdays. I responded with a question about the start time, but I guess being really new to twitter and all, they didn’t get the hang of replies. No worries, we decided to take our chances.
We arrived at Deuce about 5:30pm to an empty restaurant and were told they don’t have oysters tonight. Bummer.
So we decided to move on.
As an employee of one of Vancouver’s top attractions, I get a Tourism Challenge Passport to encourage trial at a variety of attractions, hotels and restaurants around Vancouver. We decided to check out Tantra Lounge at the Quay, given the Deuce thing didn’t work out as we’d hoped. I never knew, but Tantra is fully licensed and all patrons must be over 19 years of age. Okay… given that I had my son in tow, that wasn’t going to work for us.
We then decided to head up the street to Raglan’s Bistro, a North Vancouver favourite.
I’m so glad we did. I appreciate a dining environment free of patchouli.
We were immediately greeted with a warm welcome and invited in. Our drink order was taken right away and our son was offered crayons (though I’d recommend they get some larger sheets of paper rather than offering a piece of receipt paper, but no biggie – anything is great with a 3 year old).
Raglan’s Bistro is decorated as a Tiki Hut with surf boards, cute chalk drawings, great music and a large screen showing surf movies; even the menus are printed on bamboo mats. This was a HUGE hit with our son, whose favourite movie is Surf’s Up.
I love the sign in the middle that reads, “Shared Seating – Musical chairs & shared seating have been a tradition in this location for 18 years. Get to know your neighbour; create community.”
We opted for a plate of Mexican Nachos to share. We were toying with some other ideas – I’ve been craving yam fries for weeks now it seems – but the nachos were so satisfying we didn’t end up needing anything else.
Raglan’s has a small-ish but super unique menu full of simple but fun foods. Offering an assortment of salads, tapas, burgers, and pizzas, you wouldn’t think it was that unusual. However, the assorted Poutines might make you double-take as might a variety of Nachos.
Tapas include favourites such as Yam Fries for $6 or Calamari for $9; salads offered include a few unique choices such as Grilled Pineapple and Goat Cheese for $12 or Squid & Tiger Prawn for $15. Poutine selections include Classic, Cheeseburger, Pulled Pork and Ancho Chicken; and Raglan’s also offers the standard burgers for $10-$14 and thin crust pizzas for $12-$15.
The Mexican Nachos were fantastic – the best Nachos I’ve had, actually, as far as flavour goes. For $16 it was a nice sized plate of chips with cheese, black beans, chorizo sausage, chipotle sour cream, large chunk tomato salsa and guacamole. Even the chips were seasoned so the whole flavour was unlike anything I’ve yet had.
Beverages include a selection of beers, wines – by the glass or bottle – and tiki drinks. I opted for a Blue Hawaiian, which promised a pineapple-coconut yumminess… it was good, but a bit too sweet. Perhaps a shorter glass would have been a better mixture.
All in all, the food and service were great and the atmosphere was super fun. Don’t believe me? Check out the Raglan’s reviews on dinehere.ca, a more Raglan’s reviews on Urban Spoon or a couple of older ones on foodpages.ca. I would definitely recommend Raglan’s to anyone looking for a great place to grab a quick bite or even take a low-maintenance date.
Contact & Hours:
Raglan’s Bistro is located at 15 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver – just a stone’s throw from Lonsdale Quay – and can be reached by phone at 604.988.8203. They’re open Monday to Thursday from 5pm to midnight, Fridays from 5pm to 1am and Saturdays & Sundays from 10am to midnight. I hear they do a mean brunch; that’ll be my next visit.
As for Deuce and Tantra… maybe I’ll check them out another time.
*Listed prices are only valid as of publishing date and are subject to change*
North Vancouver Easter Celebrations
Posted by Michelle Evans in News & Events on April 9th, 2009
Happy Easter everyone! For those of you who celebrate Easter and have yet to decide what to do with your families this weekend, here are a couple of local ideas:
Lonsdale Quay Easter Celebration – Sunday
From 10am to 3:30pm at Lonsdale Quay Market you can enjoy a variety of Easter activities including:
- The Cobs Bread Easter Egg Hunt at 10am
- Easter crafts, face painting, balloons and treats in Kid’s Alley from 12:30pm – 3:30pm
- A visit from the Easter Bunny from 2-3pm
- Enter to win an Easter Gift Basket from the customer service desk all weekend long
Heywood Park Easter Treasure Hunt – Saturday
Brought to you by the North Vancouver Lions Club, this free community Easter Treasure Hunt will start at 10:30am on Saturday, April 11th at Heywood Park and includes some face painting activities as well.
More North Vancouver events are available on the North Vancouver Recreation Commission’s Events Calendar.
Easter Chocolates from Thomas Haas
If you haven’t yet picked up your Easter goodies, you can still visit Thomas Haas Chocolates at 128 – 998 Harbourside Drive (near the North Shore Auto Mall) to find some of the finest chocolates ever made right here in our neighborhood.
They are open Good Friday, April 10th, from 8:30am to 5:00pm.
Ideas for a Sustainable City: April 4-5, 2009
Posted by Michelle Evans in Arts & Culture, News & Events on April 1st, 2009
I came across another event worth noting… this weekend the Eco Arts Festival of Sustainable Culture comes to the John Braithwaite Centre at 145 West 1st Street, North Vancouver.
Eco Arts Festival of Sustainable Culture is a free, community-based event that will actively engage artists, citizens and organizations to think about sustainability as: a lifestyle choice, an individual and collective responsibility, and an ongoing process.
The festival will include performances, workshops, tours, community projects and a panel discussion over the weekend of April 4 and 5, 2009.
The festival will take place at John Braithwaite Community Centre (all free, daytime events), Anne MacDonald Hall (one ticketed, evening event), with tours in and around Lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver.
For more information, check out the Festival Overview or view the more detailed schedule of events for each day.
Saturday, April 4 – Schedule of Events
Sunday, April 5 – Schedule of Events
There’s even a pancake breakfast on Sunday… who doesn’t like pancakes?
Kantine Urban Cafeteria
Posted by Michelle Evans in Coffee Shops, Restaurants on March 29th, 2009
Now that the weather is springlike, I finally got out on a photo walk this afternoon and made my way all over the Lower Lonsdale area, down to the Pier, in to The Quay, up through the plaza by the John Braithwaite centre and back home by way of the little playground between 1st and 2nd just West of Chesterfield.
On my travels I got a chance to stop by the new Kantine Urban Cafeteria – the newest great concept in urban dining taking the place of the old Angelina’s Cafe that didn’t seem able to make a go of it. The location – 210-150 West Esplanade (upstairs from Shopper’s Drug Mart) – doesn’t lend itself well to walking traffic, but this concept (and super funky branding!) just might be cool enough to really catch on with the local office community.
According to Martini Boys, the man behind the new Kantine restaurant is Paul Mon-Kau, who also brought North Vancouver The District Social House on Lower Lonsdale. While I didn’t get a chance to eat there this time around, what I really fell in love with was the simplicity of the space. The interior is lovely and clean looking with funky orange chalk boards highlighting their daily specials. I also seem to have a soft spot for that plaza where Kantine is located.
Kantine Urban Cafeteria offers an assortment of soups, stews, paninis, salads and pastries and caters mainly to the local lunch crowd; that’s not to say, however, that you shouldn’t make your way there for lunch on a sunny weekend or a quick dinner after work. Definitely cheap-eats pricing here – I mean, the listed specials were a Breakfast Burrito with a Coffee for $3.25 or a Panini, Chips & a Pop for $7. That’s a great deal right there, and that’s just the start: They promise “10 Meals under $10 ready in under 10 minutes”.
As a bit of a techie and, well… a marketer, what I really like about what Mon-Kau is doing is the fact that not only is the branding beautiful and modern, but Kantine Urban Cafeteria has its own blog AND you can even place your order at Kantine online! It’s only natural they’d also offer free WiFi. Now if they started accepting orders via Twitter that would really be on the edge.
As I said, I didn’t get a chance to eat there yet, but here are a couple of reviews of Kantine from Foodpages.ca. I’m going to bet the food is good; I’ve only heard great things about The District, so Mon-Kau’s team obviously knows what they’re doing.
Kantine is open 7 days a week and also offers catering. Next time you swing by Esplanade Plaza, stop in and enjoy a quick bite that doesn’t break the bank.
Cool North Shore Sustainability Event Series
Posted by Michelle Evans in News & Events on March 29th, 2009
Photo: OregonDOT on Flickr
I just stumbled upon an apparent series of new sustainability events slated to take place at Bella Candela at 109 West Esplanade. The first is the “Cool North Shore” Climate Change Café on Wednesday, April 8th from 5:30 to 9:00pm. While registration is now closed for this particular event, it looks like they intend for it to become a monthly series.
Want to do more about reducing waste and tackling climate change in your own home and community? Interested in finding out what you can do to create a low-carbon North Shore community that future generations will be proud of? Want to be supported and make sure your actions really make a difference?
Then join us along with your team of 4 or more on April 8 from 5:30-9 pm (dinner included) at Bella Candela Restaurant, 109 West Esplanade, North Vancouver for a fun, engaging and action-oriented evening.
To register, please send your name and names of your fellow attendees, with their emails and phone numbers, by March 25 to: registration@coolnorthshore.ca. Space is limited to 50 people (overflow will go to a later session). Please bring $15 to cover a portion of the food and materials costs. If you have questions, contact info@coolnorthshore.ca.
The next event is “Cool North Shore” Drinks on Thursday, April 16th at 7pm. Meet sustainability minded North Shore people over a drink:
… North Shore resident Doug Horn will share with us his journey of creating an electricity neutral home through efficiency gains and solar panels. A true pioneer, Doug will shift your perception of what’s possible on the North Shore. (…)
To register, please invite a friend and send your names and emails to: registration@coolnorthshore.ca. Please bring $5 to cover admission and appetizers. If you have questions, contact info@coolnorthshore.ca.
It seems the future home of this event series is coolnorthshore.ca. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more. If anyone knows more about these events, please feel free to leave more info in the comments and/or submit the details to urbanshore.ca@gmail.com.
Presentation House Gallery: Photo Contest
Posted by Michelle Evans in Arts & Culture, News & Events on March 23rd, 2009
Photo: Shermeee on Flickr
The Presentation House Gallery is running another youth photo contest. This time around, the theme is Hangups & Hangouts:
If you’re between 13 and 18 and you’re on the North Shore, this contest is for you. You’re invited to submit a series of 3 photos, with title(s) in response to the theme. The photos should have a clear relationship and should inform each other. They will be judged as a series, not as 3 individual images.
Similar to the Under Grouse photo contest they ran last fall (Under Grouse photo contest submissions here), this one comes with a cash prize of $1000 for one lucky winner. The deadline for submission is May 4th.
For more information, visit the contest page of Chester Field’s Blog – a blog created to foster an interest in photography among youth of the North Shore.
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