This is my favourite time of the year!

Dine out Vancouver is Canada’s largest restaurant festival. An initiative of Tourism Vancouver and in partnership with American Express, hundreds of fine restaurants will offer tasting menus and culinary events starting January 17th until February 2nd. Menus range from $18, $28 and $38 per person, making this a very affordable way to try out new restaurants, or indulge in an old favourite.

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This year is jam packed with exciting events, and tickets are on sale now- check out their calendar for details. There’s lots to choose from – from the best of Hawksworth restaurant to an East Vancouver brunch crawl. I’m gonna have serious trouble picking out what I want to do.

Some of the highlights include:

–  Soup Project – featuring 50 of Vancouver’s top chefs adding one ingredient each to a communal soup with the entire city invited to taste the result.

–  Inventive events like Six Course Discourse, The Snowshoe Fondue, Film Feast: Jiro Dreams of Sushi and more.

– Street Food City III, showcasing Vancouver’s exotic array of food trucks.

– Expanded Plated & Paired at the Public Market, featuring more restaurants and wine purveyors than ever before.

– Dine Out Vancouver Festival hotel stays starting at $78 per night.

– American Express cardholders enjoy advanced reservations.

Throughout the festival, diners can participate in the Best Bite Awards and vote for their favourite Dine Out experience by rating restaurants in a variety of categories, including Best Menu (for each price category), Best Service, Best BC VQA Wine Pairing and Best Restaurant Experience. Stay tuned for more information on the newly refreshed Dine Out For a Year contest.

Some key dates to consider: