5/31/11 – In Britannia Beach, on the drive from Vancouver to Whistler, Galileo fronts Howe Sound, roasts their own coffee in-house and bakes pastries like the oh-so-Canadian butter tart, which featured a flaky shell and a buttery base loaded with raisins.

5/31/11 – In an industrial section of south Whistler called Function Junction, Whistler Brewing Co. brews using water from nearby Place Glacier, producing beers like Paradise Valley Grapefruit Ale, Honey Lager and Whiskey Jack Ale, which are all available on draught in the tasting room. Commercial production and bottling takes place across the province in Kamloops.

6/1/11 – It was a pleasant surprise to find a Stumptown Coffee pourover bar at Pure Bread bakery in Function Junction, a high-quality bakery from Mark and Paula and Lamming. During my visit, the barista was brewing single-origin Rwanda Muyongwe, which went great with the Morning Glory.

6/1/11 – Pemberton Distillery distiller Tyler Schramm overlooks the twin stills, which already produce Schramm Vodka and Schramm Gin, and will eventually yield Scotch by 2015.

6/1/11 – North Arm Farm, situated in Pemberton’s farming cradle, featured strawberry popcorn as the centerpiece for their farm lunch, prepared by chef Alex Stoll of The Pony, which handles on-site food service for farmers Jordan Sturdy and wife Trish. Since the cobs are so small – only a few inches across – they end up as decorations.

6/2/11 – In Whistler, the Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Centre features cultural artifacts from the Squamish and Lil’Wat Nations. Their food appears in the downstairs cafe, which resembles an Istken (earthen dwelling with firepit). My lunch included salmon chowder and a side of bannock bread, which is crispy outside and biscuit-like inside.

6/3/11 – 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, from Vince Piccolo, is at the vanguard of the Vancouver scene. Beans are roasted in Burnaby, and they have a single Kitsilano coffeehouse, which houses a cutting-edge Mirage espresso machine, produced by Kees van der Westen in the Netherlands. 49th Parallel also supplies other top area coffeehouses like Coffeebar and Caffe Cittadella.

6/3/11 – Hong Kong egg cakes appeared at Vancouver’s Chinatown Night Market and instantly triggered memories of the egg cakes my family used to eat in New York City’s Chinatown, when I was a kid. Only at 5 years old, I wouldn’t have known what they were called.

6/3/11 – I sighted an Anatomic Pig next to beheaded Tintin on the shelf at Judas Goat, a tapas restaurant situated on Blood Alley. Dismembered animals and cartoon characters make sense given the alley’s butchery background.