Posted by Andrea | August 17th, 2010 | 5 Comments »
A new trend in the social media world started up early this summer and in the past 5 months online group buying sites are popping up everywhere. Good news for Kits residents – many of these sites are featuring Kitsilano specific deals. If you get on board to this new trend you stand to save yourself some serious dollars.
The concept, although simple, was a perfect formula for businesses trying to draw consumers indoors post Olympics and on the heels of a hard hit recession and allows consumers to get a great deal (50-80% off in most cases) at a click of a button.
With so many deal sites out there which ones get you the best deals in Kits?
One of my favourites – which we regularly feature the deals of on kitsilano.ca is Grooster. Why I like this site? For starters, Grooster is founded and operated locally here in Vancouver. Having that local touch means not only do they have their pulse on the hottest restaurants, spas and activities we want deals at but almost more importantly, I like that the founders are local and are supporting other local businesses.
Groupon often supports Kitsilano businesses with some of their past daily deals including Semperviva, the Winemaster and the Cellar. They are arguably the biggest player in this online buying game, based in Chicago, they offer deals in over 90 cities across North America. Ethical Deal, launching next month, is a great option for those only wanting green, sustainable deals.
Other options including Wag Jag and Social Shopper I keep my eye on, but they don’t seem to offer Kitsilano based deals as often as Grooster does. Visit their site today to sign up for free and start checking out the deals for yourself. Happy shopping Kitsilano!
Posted by Frances | August 14th, 2010 | 75 Comments »
Warm, late summer dinners are best spent eating outside on the patio, and there’s something about the lush garden patio of Quattro Restaurant that drew me in. I think it’s the refreshing shade provided by all those trees and bushes, a coolness that I welcomed as I ate my Italian dinner at Q4.
The first dish to arrive was Arancini di Riso ($14.95) — Dungeness crab and rice croquette balls with a caper-lemon aioli. The thick, crisp croquette shell revealed an even denser, creamier mixture of crabmeat and arborio rice. Each bite sank to my stomach and filled me with a heaviness that the purely decorative, jaunty shaved fennel salad can’t lift. This was definitely comfort food, but with a very sophisticated presentation.
The second dish was a lot livelier. Truth be told, I was really surprised by how much I liked the Radicchio Bocconcini ($12.95). Its description in the menu is rather unassuming: grilled radicchio-wrapped mozzarella and prosciutto in a cherry vinaigrette. What the menu doesn’t reveal is how this dish arrives fresh from the grill — warm, juicy, plump, fragrantly-smoked. The tangy, cool cherry vinaigrette complements the warm and savoury mozzarella and prosciutto. The tender radicchio leaves a small bitter (but not unpleasant) aftertaste, especially soaked in the cherry vinaigrette. I’m salivating as I’m writing this. Out of all the things I’ve tried at Q4, the Radicchio Bocconcini is my favourite entree.
As an Italian restaurant, Q4 boasts many pasta choices, and if you come down on Monday and Tuesday nights, they have $10 pasta plates. Vegetarians would do well to order the Ravioli Piemontese ($22.95), which consists of 7 ravioli pieces fully stuffed with a lot of wild mushrooms, Mascarpone cheese, and white truffle oil in a light porcini cream. Q4 doesn’t skimp on the mushrooms, which makes this dish very rich and heady. To counter the potency of the mushrooms in this dish, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask your server for an equally potent glass of wine to help wash it down.
The house specialty is the mysteriously-named Spaghetti Quattro ($17.95). The menu states that it’s for “Italians only” and doesn’t provide any other description so my curiosity is piqued — of course I had to order it. What arrived was spaghetti with chicken, black beans, parsley, chilli, and a lot of garlic. If Q4 is more than generous with the mushrooms for the Ravioli Piemontese, then they had a similarly liberal approach with garlic in the Spaghetti Quattro. I probably repelled vampires within a five-mile radius after eating this.
Pasta is very filling, so make sure to leave room for dessert. Q4 offers four dessert selections, and every single one of them is worth stomach space. I was already so full that I could only choose one dessert for this meal. The Ciliege Filate ($8.50), aka Cherry Tart, consisted of crispy phyllo pastry with smooth and sweet mascarpone cheese, accented with the tart and chewy cherries on top. This dessert wasn’t overly sweet but light and balanced. I chose the ciliege filate out of all the other delicious desserts because it’s the most photogenic one — seriously, look at it. I don’t know how I devoured something so beautiful, but I managed.
To win the $50 gift certificate, just leave a comment on this post. The winner will be drawn next week on Friday, August 20, 8 pm. Good luck!
Posted by Andrea | August 13th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Scoot Scoot!! Grooster’s online deal of the day has come to Kits today.
Always coveted the scooter you see at your neighbourhood coffee shop, whizzing by on the street, or rolling up at the lights? Treat yourself and be the envy of others with this offer on a shiny new gas powered scooter. This Grooster Pass gets you one of RayBen Motor’s Retro 50 Scooters for only $1746 (regularly $2910).
The Retro 50 Scooter has vintage styling, chrome handlebars, unique gauge clusters. Choose from four colors – Silver, Red, Green or Blue. These scooters will have you cruising or commuting to work in style. Save big on the scooter and then save hundreds of dollars on gas, insurance and parking.
RayBen Motors, based in Vancouver, strives to provide transportation alternatives at reasonable prices to improve the livability of our planet and environment.
Celebrating their 5th Anniversary, Kayak for a Cure is back in Vancouver for another amazing event that promises to please all of your summer senses.
Kayak for a Cure kicks off on Sunday, August 29th at Jericho Beach at the Ecomarine Ocean Kayak Centre. Registration is at 8:00am and the kayaks launch promptly at 9AM. They’ll be serving up Starbucks coffee and snacks along with great music to get you pumped.
New to kayaking? No sweat. There will be certified ocean kayak staff members there to guide you and provide you with safety tips and the Canadian Cancer Foundations’ Sun patrol is handing out free sunscreen. Afterwards there is a beach party where you can mix and mingle with your fellow kayakers and enjoy a BBQ lunch.
More so than in years past, spots are limited due to demand vs. number of kayaks available (100), so if you’ve got your own kayak bring it along. Register online to reserve your spot right away.
Posted by Andrea | August 12th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
In the last few years there has been a surge, particularly amongst Kits business, of green cleaning products and cosmetics. With sustainable stores in our neighbourhood including Capers, Greens Market and Choices stocking primarily “green” products for cleaning, dishes and laundry you really have no shortage of options and no reason to switch out that chemically filled Mr. Clean for a natural, more environmentally sound choice.
One of my personal favourites is a Vancouver founded and operated business - Aspen Clean . Aspen Clean has been in the green cleaning business for 6+ years and recently announced that you can now buy their 100% natural Ecocert approved cleaning solutions in Kitsilano. Next time you are strolling along Granville Island pop into the Market Kitchen to check out the Aspen Clean line. I have personally used the products and have been blown away from the results. Unlike other green products I have tried this one actually works just as well, and sometimes better than its chemical counterparts. The fact that you can support a local Vancouver business and not pollute the environment while scrubbing your tub is icing on the cleaning cake!
Posted by Andrea | August 11th, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Hot on the heels of my post on all the changes happening on our loved W4th strip, another long standing outlet is closing up shop…the good news is they are re-opening and staying in Kitsilano just a bit further west in the Dunbar community.
The Comic Shop has been a regular feature of the Arbutus and W4th block, 2089 W4th Ave since 1979. It has year after year been voted Vancouver’s Best Comic Shop by the Georgia Straight Best of Awards and has some great history in the community as highlighted on the store’s website.
The store will be closing the doors on their current location at the end of August and opening their new location – 3518 W. 4th Ave (near Dunbar) September 1st. in preparation for the move The Comic Shop is holding a big sale in preparation of their move including up to 80% off some books and products.
No word yet what will be next to move in, but similar to Duthie books it is sad to see a longstanding store have to move from the place they have called home for decades.
Kitsilano Neighbourhood House is hosting its first Growers Market and you’re invited.
Join Westside backyard growers, community gardeners, and urban farmers as they trade, sell, or give to charity, their locally grown vegetables, fruits, berries, and flowers. The Growers Market takes place at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House (2305-2325 West 7th Avenue) on Thursdays from 4:30pm – 7:00pm for the duration of August and September.
The organization of the market was made possible by a grant from the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Grant Initiative.
To register to sell at the market or for more information contact Gord McGee at gord@kitshouse.org or 778-686-5701.
KitsFest is a 3-day event running from August 20th to 22nd celebrating sports and healthy living through a variety of competitive tournaments including basketball, tennis and volleyball. And this year KitsFest is proud to feature a new sport sanctioned by the US Tennis Association – Beach Tennis.
The family friendly festival has activities for all ages. The “Kids Zone” features an obstacle course, games and face painting. The “Baseline Bistro” will host some of Kits’ favorite local eateries and restaurants.
July 2010 is in the books. For those of you wondering what the hot topics were in Kitsilano during the month, here are the Top 5 blog posts from July based on pageviews.
Posted by Ben C. | August 8th, 2010 | 6 Comments »
As I discuss the July numbers for Kitsilano real estate, it is important to keep in mind that with the lower sales volumes typical for the summer months it is not uncommon to see slightly skewed statistics. This you will see shortly with the Kitsilano detached home market. But first…
The Kitsilano condo and townhome market has seen a marked decline in the number of new listings since April and that trend continued through the end of July. Lower listing volumes during the Summer months is a common theme in Vancouver, so look for that trend to continue through August before a likely climb in inventory in September. Along with the decreasing number of new listings, we also saw a slowdown in sales this past month, with a total sales numbers the lowest we have seen since December 2009. Again, much of this can be attributed to a Summer slowdown (expect more of the same in August), but it will be interesting to see how the trend unfolds as we head into September, a time that is typically more active in the Vancouver real estate calendar.
As would be expected with slower activity, prices for Kits condos and townhomes also fell last month, with the average price dropping to its lowest level since March 2009. Combine the lower prices with mortgage rates that are back below 4% for a 5-year fixed term, and there are some intriguing deals to be had out there.
Switching over to detached homes in Kitsilano, the general trends are very similar to what we have seen with condos and townhomes. The average price point fell almost 50% last month, although the very limited number of July sales combined with several luxury sales from June that skewed those numbers upward, makes this statistic a little mis-leading. Comparing the average price point from July to that of May shows a much lesser degree of decline.
Active listings for Kitsilano homes reached its lowest point since December 2009 with sales volume declining to numbers we have not seen since Spring of last year. Again, when looking forward, the sagging prices and still almost record-low mortgage rates should be tempting for those who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to pounce.
As is almost always the case in the slower summer months, trends can looked skewed and number can be deceiving. That said, there is no debating that prices have declined slightly and may continue downwards in the short-term. A falling inventory is limiting available options for would be purchasers, which means that desirable properties are selling quickly and as a buyer you will still need to move quickly if you see something that looks fabulous. The next few months appear to present some very strong buying conditions as a softer market and low interest rates are providing increased affordability. Look to take advantage of the situation before rates start to rise towards the end of the year…
A new trend in the social media world started up early this summer and in the past 5 months online group buying sites are popping up everywhere. Good news for Kits residents – many of these sites are featuring Kitsilano specific deals. If you get on board to this new trend you stand to save yourself some serious dollars.
Hot on the heels of my post on all the changes happening on our loved W4th strip, another long standing outlet is closing up shop…the good news is they are re-opening and staying in Kitsilano just a bit further west in the Dunbar community.
