Mother’s Day is coming and now is the time to make that brunch reservation to avoid that drugstore shop of shame.
Mother’s Day is this Sunday (May 13), people, and the last thing you want to do is end up at a drugstore finding a last-minute gift. Now is the time to figure out where you’re going to take Mom for a memorable meal. Here are a few options to show her you care over a delicious dinner or brunch.
UMAMI MOMMY Ma gets her pick of gyozas (pork or chili-shrimp teppan or lettuce-wrapped crispy-chicken taco) as just one part of the celebratory dinner ($60 for two) at Gyoza Bar (622 West Pender Street). The meal also includes a “bao board” with maplegarlic chicken or soy-garlic tenderloinbeef skewers, Korean spiced pork rib, or miso-baked “scallop dynamite” and more. For dessert—drum roll, please—a platter with mochi ice cream (frozen treats consisting of ice cream wrapped in various flavours of rice dough) and green-tea cheesecake. At Minami (1118 Mainland Street), the Mother’s Day Premium Zen lunch ($45) features eight seasonal kobachi (“small bowl”) items, such as Fraser Valley miso- dongpo (sweet, soybraised) pork belly with togarashi chicharron (spice blend), and miso- sakekasu (sake lees) king salmon with marinated Japanese eggplant, as well as aburi (flameseared) sushi and green-tea opera cake for dessert. Dinner centres on chef Seigo Nakamura’s premium sashimi platter ($40 per person). MAMA MIA Be one of the first in town to visit the newly opened Sopra Sotto Pizzeria (1510 Commercial Drive) in the heart of Little Italy. Choose tagliatelle with truffle, sausage, and mixed mushrooms (it sounds so much more divine in Italian: tagliatelle con funghi, salsiccia, e tartuffo) or penne with prawns and zucchini as part of a three-course meal ($35) that ends with tiramisu or torta della nonna (lemon custard with almonds and pine nuts in shortbread crust). Cibo Trattoria (900 Seymour Street) is offering its regular menu for brunch and dinner as well as an evening fourcourse prix fixe ($ 65). For the latter, pick a primi: prosciutto-andmascarpone ravioli made with beet dough and served with nettle-andalmond pesto and Parmesan fondue (yes, please) or preserved-lemon tagliatelle with dried tomato, arugula, chili, garlic, and olive oil. Secondi choices are bison tenderloin with braised kale, crispy-roasted mushroom polenta with asparagus salad, and pan-seared halibut with spring-pea risotto.
THE PIE’S THE LIMIT There’s nothing wrong with pizza for Mother’s Day, given the quality of pies you can find in Vancouver. The tiny, cozy Corduroy Pie Company (758 West 16th Avenue) nails it with crazy-good combos like bacon and Brussels sprouts with capers and roasted onions or cured pork, roasted butternut squash, and parsley-walnut pesto with Parmesan and goat cheese. (Plus, beer on tap.) Mom really gets a break over dinner at Rocky Mountain Flatbread (4186 Main Street and 1876 West 1st Avenue): the kids get to go off and make their own pies, rolling the dough and all, so she can sip wine and have an actual conversation with her partner. That’s from 5 to 7 p. m.; the rest of the day, she gets a free, warm double- chocolate brownie with her meal.
QUEEN MOM Brunch and dinner both come in extravagant East-meets-west buffet form at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar (845 Burrard Street) in the Sutton Place Hotel ($ 80 for adults, $35 for kids). Look for mimosa trolley service and seafood selections such as smoked steelhead trout and albacore tataki during the day; evening options include stations with carved prime strip loin, roasted leg of lamb, and porchetta, as well as others serving up clam chowder, West Coast paella, and smoked sablefish. At the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, YEW Seafood + Bar (791 West Georgia Street) sets up several wow- calibre carving stations for its Mother’s Day brunch ($99 for adults, $50 for children aged six to 12, $25 for those under five): beef Wellington, salt-baked salmon, porchetta with fennel slaw, and chorizo-and-b.c.- clam pasta. Then there are raw-seafood and oyster bars, prawn hash, and cheese and charcuterie boards with honeycomb, house-made pickles, Mediterranean olives, pecan bread, and more, all alongside traditional dishes like salmon Benny and French toast. Retro desserts include Grandma’s old-fashioned chocolate cake, strawberry shortcake, caramelized apple pie, trifle, pecancaramel tart, and bananas Foster with house-made ice creams.