June 13-26
VOL.11 ISSUE. 21HOME / FOOD & DRINK

A very good BC craft beer finally hits SK

Back in 1984, Canadian beer was uniformly yellow, fizzy and boring, and Mitch Taylor and Bill Harvey were not pleased — so they decided to change things.After two years of preparation, which included lobbying both provincial and federal governments to change laws to even allow them to do it, the pair opened the doors to Canada’s first microbrewery. Vancouver’s Granville Island Brewing started humbly, but was driven by big ideas.Granville was not only the first Canadian microbrewery (it was quickly followed by a handful of others), they were also the first brewery in Canada since World War II to commit to brewing only with barley, hops, water and yeast: no corn syrup for them (which is, sadly, a main ingredient in most commercial lagers to this day).Canada has hundreds of small breweries today, and the idea of making beer devoid of preservatives, adjuncts or chemicals is commonplace. But back in 1984 it was a revolutionary step.Granville Island didn’t remain in Taylor and Harvey’s hands for long, unfortunately. Cash shortages and the need for more capital to finance operations and new equipment forced them to sell a portion of the company on the stock e

Here’s a buffet even a foodie finds fantastic

SWADESH RESTAURANT2107 22nd St. W.306-978-1300It’s a beautiful example of synergy when an ethnic grocery store opens a restaurant across the street: you know what your restaurant needs, and you can order it in sufficient quantity — and you already have a population of devoted shoppers who’d be happy to have you cook for them.Swadesh, you’ve got a good thing going.For any of you who braved this restaurant location in an earlier incarnation (it was previously a Turkish restaurant), the interior has had an impressive makeover. With new benches, fresh carpet and bright paint colours, the motif appears to be chili-inspired, with red upholstery and green walls. Having remembered a certain sketchiness factor in the last version of the space, my lunch date and I were pleasantly surprised.I’ve been quite vocal about buffet restaurants not being my favourite — because when you’re making food in huge quantities and keeping it warm in chafing dishes for who knows how long, it’s easy for quality to suffer. Indian/Pakistani food seems to be the exception to the rule, however. It’s usually long-cooked and saucy — the veggies are supposed