Hosted by Richard Wolak of Vancouver Foodster, Tasting Plates is a culinary tour that takes guests through restaurants, cafes, and food trucks throughout a particular neighbourhood. Participants will experience a variety of new dishes, meet chefs, and make new friends along the way.
Unlike some other food tours offered in Vancouver, Tasting Plates encourages diners to participate at their own pace. The tour, while heavily focused on food, is also a social experience.
“At the end of the night, you have all these new friends, everyone’s tweeting each other, and you’ve experienced something different. You get to try all the restaurants you’ve never had before," Wolak said.
Wolak created Tasting Plates based on his own colourful food experiences. After attending various media events where he was taken to a variety of restaurants, Wolak wanted to offer this dining experience to others.
In addition, he wanted to use Tasting Plates as a public event to highlight part of Vancouver’s vibrant food community that may not necessarily get the same media push that newer restaurants receive.
After a successful Tasting Plates Winter Edition in Downtown, Wolak now focuses on East Vancouver particularly Main Street, Kingsway and Fraser Street area, which he said is a "hotbed for restaurants.”
The summer edition of Tasting Plates, taking place on June 27 will feature Bob Likes Thai Food, Rocky Mountain Flatbread , Triple O’s Food Truck, Cafe Trafiq, Salt Spring Coffee, Mobius Coffee & Tea , Fray on Fraser , Sal y Limon with other restaurants soon to be revealed.
The majority of these restaurants, all within walking distance of one another, will serve Tasting Plates diners exclusively and feature new dishes as well as vegetarian options.
Tickets for Tasting Plates cost $30 (before June 23). Part of the ticket sales will be donated to Project Limelight, an East Vancouver organization working to inspire confidence and form lasting friendships for children through theatre programs.
Project Limelight's vision is to create a community of support for young people in East Vancouver as they make their way through their most formative years.
Purchase tickets for Vancouver Tasting Plates Summer Edition
Learn more about Tasting Plates
Wolak, founder of Tasting Plates, began his food career after writing several books on café culture. After encouragement from his friends, Wolak began Vancouver Foodster, a blog dedicated to connecting readers to Vancouver restaurants and highlighting individuals making an impact on Vancouver’s food, film, art and music scene. Along with Tasting Plates, Wolak is also the founder of Food Talks, a social gathering of leaders in the food community speaking about their passion followed by a Q and A session with attendees.
