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This year’s Dine Around & Stay in Town Launch will take place on Thursday, February 16th.

For more information, please visit Tourism Victoria.

Read about the night in the latest issue of the BC Restaurant News available through this link

The provincial government won’t soften its 10-month-old roadside administrative penalties for impaired driving, citing a 50-per-cent drop in drunk driving deaths since the rules took effect.

Nor will it embark on a public information campaign previously pledged to help revellers decide how much they can drink before they might exceed the lower blood-alcohol limit of 0.05 if caught behind the wheel.

“Half the number of people have died on the roads as a result of drunk driving, based on the statistics we see,” Premier Christy Clark told reporters recently.

Preliminary numbers show 30 deaths in alcohol-related crashes in the first seven months of the new regulations, down from an average of 61 in the same October-to-April period of the previous five years.

Police credit the new regulations – with the threat of stiff fines and car impoundments – for the improved driving safety record.

Police can now impose an immediate penalty on any driver who blows in the “warn” range between 0.05 and 0.08.

Instead of issuing a 24-hour suspension or a formal impaired charge, police can impose a 90-day driving ban, a $500 fine and impound the vehicle for 30 days, with the owner on the hook for the towing and storage charges.

Former Public Safety Minister Rich Coleman had promised a review of the new rules late last year after the bar and restaurant industry complained of lost business because patrons were drinking less.

He had indicated that might lead to an appeal period where drivers caught by police could lodge challenges before the penalties are applied.

But no such legislation was tabled this spring.

B.C. Restaurant and Foodservice Association president Ian Tostenson said his members no accept that the rules are here to stay.

“When the theme of Families First cam through from the premier, it was pretty obvious that no one in their right mind was going to say families are important – and by the way, we’re going to loosen up on the impaired driving penalties.”

Business was down much more steeply in the immediate months after the change, he said.

Copyright 2011 Prince George Free Press

White Spot is hitting the street.

The iconic B.C. restaurant chain is jumping into Vancouver’s burgeoning street food scene with a big new truck that it hopes to get licensed to operate every day.

But the nine-metre-long Triple O’s truck wasn’t one of the street food sellers approved in the second round of city licenses granted earlier this year so it won’t be parking on an avenue or road near you anywhere soon.

It will, however, be appearing at special events like the Celebration of Light – where it made its debut on the weekend.

Scott Lewis, director of operations for Triple O’s, said Wednesday that the new truck isn’t simply a matter of selling the chain’s menu on the street.

In addition to the standard food, the truck will try different items.

“We’ll use the vehicle to test these on the spot with guests and get feedback before we take them to our brick-and-mortar restaurants,” said Lewis.

“We’ll also be testing different locations in areas and towns,” he said.

If the truck is parked in a certain location that doesn’t have White Spot and it gets a lot of business, that could be a prime location for a new restaurant.

The truck will also be used at charity events as part of White Spot’s ongoing corporate sponsorship.

Not everyone is happy with the White Spot plan.

Arturo Revuelta of Arturo’s Mexico To Go food truck is worried that a major corporation like White Spot can lower prices enough to kill off the competition.

“It’s a concern, they’re a big company,” said Revuelta.

Jay Cho of Coma Food was taken aback by the news.

“I’m very shocked,” said Cho, who serves a fusion of Korean, Mexican and American food. “I don’t understand why these big corporations want to do mobile food kitchens. Oh, wow.”

Former Vancouver resident Lisa Pons is visiting the city from France, where she now lives, and was surprised to hear about the White Spot move.

“You see some of these guys with their small mobile truck and they put their life savings into it and now they have to compete against corporate giants,” said Pons, who was sampling some food from the Dim Sum Express. “It seems a bit unfair.”

White Spot’s move to the streets even got some traction on Twitter – from as far away as Alberta.

Calgary Food Trucks tweeted it was a “bad idea.”

“The street food culture is all about small business, not big box,” they tweeted. “Tell em to stick to what they know.”

But Tara Foslien saw it differently and commented: “White Spot is part of Vancouver’s history – so I think it’s great!”

Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, worked with the city on redefining the street food guidelines in the second expansion of the program.

By choosing what was served and where it was sold, some of the friction between the mobile group and their bricks-and-mortar counterparts was reduced.

“I think it’s worked out really well,” said Tostenson, who thinks restaurants and street vendors provide two different experiences.

As for White Spot getting involved, Tostenson said: “I think that’s cool.”

Vancouver is scheduled to approve about 15 new street-vending licenses annually for the next four years.

fluba@theprovince.com

twitter.com/frankluba

Health care facilities will be required to provide nutritional information for their food starting this fall, with private restaurants urged to voluntarily follow suit, the B.C. government announced Wednesday.

Nutritional information will include the amount of sodium and calories in menu items as well as the recommended daily requirement for sodium and calories, the province said.

Restaurants that choose to voluntarily participate in the program must post an Informed Dining logo on their premises and must provide the nutrition information for standard menu items before or at the point of ordering in the restaurant, either in a brochure, menu insert or poster.

The province’s $1.9-million Healthy Families BC Informed Dining program is meant to provide the public with the information needed to make healthier choices when eating out. The money will be spent on program implementation and evaluation, public awareness and promotion.

Provincial health officers will monitor compliance as part of their regular food safety inspections.

Health Minister Mike de Jong was unavailable to comment on the initiative.

Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, said the program will encourage increased involvement from restaurants.

“We have to make it easy for restaurants to get there,” he said, urging the province to also help fund the cost of crunching the nutritional information. “Here is the standard that guests of restaurants can come to expect.”

And while it is voluntary for private restaurants, he expects it to be embraced by industry as more customers become accustomed to seeing nutritional information.

“It’s our way of living here,” he said.

Tostenson said the recommended daily requirement levels to be listed as part of the program will include up to 2,700 calories for an adult (19 to 50 age category) and up to 2,300 milligrams of sodium.

The province said the program will help promote healthy weights and prevent high blood pressure and chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The program was developed in collaboration with the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC and Yukon, chain and independent restaurant leaders and public health partners.

In 2009, B.C. regulated the use of trans fats in restaurants and food service establishments.

Nutrition labelling of pre-packaged food is already regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition reported that in 2006, of all the money spent on food in Canada, 40 per cent is spent in food service outlets, the province said.

lpynn@vancouversun.com

British Columbians dining at local restaurants this fall may start seeing nutritional pamphlets with their menu items.

The provincial health ministry, supported by the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association (BCRFA), announced $1.9 million to advertise the Informed Dining Program Wednesday.

The program will pay to advertise restaurants willing to present nutritional information upon customers’ requests.

Ministry spokeswoman Michelle Stewart said the program -a first in Canada -is planned for the long run, but won’t be mandatory.

BCRFA president Ian Tostenson said the challenge will be getting small independent restaurants interested. Tostenson said most chain restaurants already have nutritional information stored away, but the cost of getting nutritional information could add up for independents. He’s working to negotiate how some of the $1.9 million could be used to subsidize the menu changes that could cost “several hundreds of dollars per item.”

There’s already one independent restaurant that isn’t excited about the possibility of footing the costs.

Shane Dagan, owner of Steveston Seafood House in Richmond, said he’s noticed a trend of more nutrition-conscious customers and would “definitely” be interested in the program if there was a subsidy. But he added that he wouldn’t do all the “careful measurements and record taking” on his own.

@michaelchmui

© 2011 Sun Media Corporation. All rights reserved.

Daniel Thorburn, Ron Barillaro and Ian Tostenson are delighted.

Caroline Grover, Jason Cox and Rick Thorpe are dismayed.

And Tom Siddon and Mike Pearce are just sorry the whole mess took place.

“I’m elated,” Thorburn, the organizer of the Fight HST petition in Kelowna, told The Okanagan Saturday when he heard B.C.’s controversial HST had been shot down in a referendum.

“Fight HST was an epic challenge of the ordinary people taking on big government, and we won. It’s monumental.” Thorburn’s sentiments were echoed Friday by Barillaro, the Fight HST co-ordinator in Penticton, and Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association.

“We’re disappointed with the outcome,” said Kelowna Chamber of Commerce CEO Caroline Grover.

“We campaigned for the HST because it taxed consumption rather than income and represented real savings to industry. While we have to respect the referendum decision, this province still has to have a dialogue about putting jobs first and having the best, most efficient tax system.” Cox, president of the Penticton Chamber of Commerce, and Thorpe, former Liberal MLA for Okanagan-Westside, concur.

“The old GST and PST system, that we will now have to revert to, is inefficient and costs business,” said Cox, a business consultant.

“We’re still going to have to have a frank discussion on how we pay for everything and how we encourage job growth.” Rick Thorpe added: “We should have HST because it’s the best thing we can do long-term for the economy and jobs. I feel a lot of people who voted to squash the tax didn’t fully understand that.” Siddon of Kaleden, a local school trustee and MP and cabinet minister when Brian Mulroney’s Conservative government brought in the GST, said there are lessons to be learned.

“I’m in favour of harmonized sales tax,” he said.

“But it should have been 10 per cent right off the bat (instead of 12 per cent) and it should not have been sprung on the public three weeks after a provincial election where the Liberals were re-elected saying they were not considering a HST.” Penticton Coun. Mike Pearce is also in favour of HST in principle.

“But I was opposed to the way the tax was implemented and expanded to include additional goods and services,” he said.

“It led to resentment and confusion and resulted in the travesty we have today.” Barillaro applauds those who voted to kill the HST.

“It was also a vote against deception and included a whole bunch of goods and services that were previously exempt from tax in a new tax,” he said.

Tostenson hopes people start dining again in restaurants with the HST’s demise.

“This should have a stabilizing effect on restaurants,” he said.

“We did not need HST, especially at a time when the economy is slow, there’s tough new drinking and driving laws and the minimum wage is going up.“