The Acorn is a vegetarian restaurant that recently opened up on Main Street earlier this summer. They serve dishes focused on fresh seasonal vegetables and have vegan, raw & gluten free options available. I've heard great things about this restaurant so this sounded like a perfect restaurant to catch up with my allergy plagued friend.

It was a Wednesday night and I arrived just slightly before 7pm but there was a huge lineup waiting for a table already.

 A lot of people were sitting/standing around the bar area that was located right at the entrance.

We were given some picked cabbage and candied walnuts while we waited. And waited. It wasn't until about 8pm when we finally got a table and we had to share it too, but we didn't mind.



Having had a lot of time to look at the menu, we knew exactly what to order. There's also an acorn etched in the wooden backing of the menu!

Burrata - Burrata Cheese, Nectarine, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Focaccia, Arugula - $12

The three of us shared an appetizer, the Burrata. It usually has Focaccia bread but my friend is unfortunately allergic to black pepper so it was replaced with a slice of some other type of bread. I liked it! I wish I didn't have to share though... 

Cherry - Arancini, Goats Cheese, Okanagan Cherry Emulsion, Baby Mizuna

Having table mates was a perk! They were very friendly and let me take photos of their appetizers when they saw me taking photos of mine. Haha!

Kale - Kale, Tempeh, Smoked Paprika Croutons, Crispy Capers, Olives, Caesar Dressing, Asiago Cheese

 I think the above was the Kale salad. She said that this was the best salad she ever had!

Artichoke - Artichoke Pate, Garlic Tarragon Croustinis, Preserved Lemon & Walnut Salad

Mushroom - Seared King Oyster Mushroom, Creamed Quinoa, Pickled String Beans, Nasturtium, Mushroom Jus, Pine Salt (GF / V Option) - $19

For my main, I chose the Mushroom. It looked so good on their website, I knew I had to get it. And I LOVED IT! I cleaned the entire plate. The king oyster mushrooms were seared and had a consistency somewhat like steak. Mmm. Everything was seasoned just right and was so delicious. I could eat like this every day.

Zucchini - Zucchini Tagliatelle, Candied Olives, Blossoms, Cashew Rose Sauce, Pinenut & Tomato Salad (GF / RAW / V) - $17

Watermelon - Hannah Brook Farm Greens, Watermelon, Ricotta Salata, Beets, Basil, Lemon (GF / V Option) - $15

My friends shared the Zucchini and a large Watermelon salad. They thought both were pretty tasty as well and everything was very fresh.

Overall, I loved the food, the service was great. The only bad thing is that you can't make any reservations! But judging by their popularity, they have no problem filling their restaurant. People were still waiting by the time we were finished at about 10pm.

I recommend trying the Acorn out even if you are regularly a carnivore!

No flowers in my garden anymore...This is problem I'll have to rectify...Instead here are some edible plants growing. Above is some baby basil that I got from one of Vancity's sponsored outdoor movie nights. It is growing pretty slowly...maybe because I've been keeping it inside and it's not getting enough light. I hope it'll grow big enough to eat before the weather cools off.

An update on the kale I got at the Richmond Garlic Festival a few weeks back. The photo on the left was when I first planted it and the one on the right is how big is it now! 

It is growing very strong! I only bought one because I wasn't sure if I would kill it but now I wish I bought more! The other greens growing beside it are "German Gai Lan" (from a literal Chinese translation). We grow it every year. It overwinters and then we get weeks and weeks of greens in the spring.

I have also a medley of lettuce growing. I'll have to thin the patch even more soon.

Orange cherry tomato plant is still producing lots of fruit but the grape cherry tomatoes are still green...I don't know why???

So what's growing in your garden?

Gastown's first ever BBQ and Chili Festival went down with a blast on Saturday and Sunday last weekend.
The Blarney Stone, and 11 other Gastown Restaurants, hosted the outdoor, block party which spanned Carrall Street between Cordova and Water street. The festival featured the restaurants competing in BBQ and Chili Competitions, in which the public could purchase tasting tickets to sample the dishes and vote for their favourites.


I wasn't able to attend the BBQ portion of the competition, which took place on Saturday. I'll have to make sure I don't miss it if there's another one next year since the restaurants were making beef sliders, chicken wings and ribs! Sounds so delicious!

It wasn't hard to find the festival Sunday. A live band was playing and K and I just followed the music! People were even dancing!


The area was crowded with people vying for a taste of chili! I noticed that all the tables were decorated with plants grown in a Patch container!


Now on to the chili! Each taste ticket costs $2.25 or $20 for ten and part of the proceeds went to Athletics 4 Kids, a local charity that helps underprivileged kids participate in Sports. I purchased four taste tickets.

Walking around examining the contents of the chili pots first, we picked the one that looked the most chunky. That turned out to be Save on Meats.


Save on Meats' plain chili was served with a piece of corn bread, was very thick and chunky filled with meaty goodness. Not spicy either, just the way I like it.

This turned out to be my favourite one of the ones I tried. So yummy!

Our second choice was the Blarney Stone. We thought that since they were the host restaurant, we should try it out.

 Their chili had green onions, cheese and a small bit of chicken in it.

It was filled with beans, not so much meat and was runnier than Save on Meats.

Our next choice was Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar because of the trophy.

Rogue was a Gastown Blues & Chili Fest champion! Of course I had to try their chili to see if they lived up to their name.

Their chili had cheese and parsley on top.

It was also chunky but it was very spicy! My nose was running after I ate it. It was very good though. The only reason I chose Save on Meats' chili over Rogue was because of the heat factor. (I know, I know, I'm a total wuss!)

The last chili we tried was from Calabash Caribbean Bistro because they also had won a prize.

Calabash was the People's Choice at the Gastown Blues & Chili Fest. Sounded promising!

They had run out of their first batches of chili so we had to wait a little bit before the next batch was ready. We were given a fried coconut dumpling while we waited. It was a solid piece of dough that tasted like sweet coconut. 

By itself the coconut dumpling was dry but it helped cut the heat when eaten with the chili. Yum!

Calabash's chili was very meaty and had a different spice added than the other ones so tasted very unique. It was also pretty good!

Other restaurants that participated included The Charles Bar,

Lamplighter Public House,

Steamworks Brewing Company,

The Irish Heather,

Deacon's Corner, which had onions and cheese as toppings, 

Peckinpah Restaurant,

 Clough Club,

and Pivo Public House.

A lot of the staff were wearing this t-shirt.

This was an awesome event! I loved trying out the chili and everyone seemed to be having fun and chilling and enjoying the food and music in Gastown. Here's hoping to another year!