CARS TO GO: BMW dealer Brian Jessel cleared his East Side lot of luxury vehicles to host his 11th Cabriolet Charity Gala. Some 400 business leaders and influential Vancouverites came together for a fun and meaningful night of food, fashion and musical entertainment while supporting leading cancer research. Juno nominated recording artist Shawn Hook was the latest to entertain at the posh party, joining the likes of Colin James, Jay Leno, the Barenaked Ladies and CeeLo Green who have headlined the signature soiree staged at Jessel’s Boundary Road dealership. Always a sparkling affair, the see-and-be-scene night included a Holt Renfrew fashion show, delicious food and drinks courtesy of Vancouver’s top chefs and restaurants, and fundraising games of chance. The night of glamour, which marked two special milestones, 30 years of Brian Jessel BMW and 100 years of BMW, reportedly raised $100,000 for the National Pancreatic Cancer Canada Foundation.
GETTING THEIR DINE ON: Making a difference one delicious bite at a time, thousands dined out in support of A Loving Spoonful and the Friends for Life Society. Dining Out for Life, B.C.’s largest restaurant fundraiser, celebrated 22 years last Thursday. More than 100 restaurants from Whistler to White Rock came together to donate 25 per cent of their food sales to support people living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses. While rates of infection have declined considerably, and new therapies are extending lives, there are still some 15,000 people in B.C. living with the HIV/AIDs. ALS delivers free, nutritious meals to people affected by HIV/AIDS in the Greater Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»area, while the West End’s FFL society provides holistic, as well as counselling, nutrition programs and in-home support. Since 1994, Dining Out for Life has raised more than $3 million for both charities.
THE ARTFUL ROGER: Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar’s Roger Ma was crowned champion at the third annual Curry Cup competition presented by the Chef’s Table Society of B.C. The restaurant’s chef de cuisine’s Balinese Chicken Curry bested seven other top chefs to earn the coveted title, another win in a succession of culinary competition victories for the Boulevard kitchen team. Ma claimed the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Aquarium Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown back in November only days before executive chef Alex Chen grabbed the regional gold at the Gold Medal Plates regional competition in Victoria. Chen would go on to a bronze finish in the national championships. Ma will follow in the footsteps of Chen on April 27 when he competes in the Canadian Culinary Foundation Bocuse d’Or Canada Competition in Toronto to represent Canada on the world stage in Lyon, France. Proceeds from the Curry Cup competition, staged at Heritage Hall, benefitted the Growing Chefs Society.
