Track & Food Podcast

I recently sat down with Max Curzon-Price and Andrew Kong to hear how things are shaping up for their upcoming Chinatown project, Bar Supernova (they’re targeting an August opening — follow them on Instagram for updates), situated next door to the legendary Keefer Bar . As construction ramps up, the two dished on how they’re feeling, where the budget has gone so far, and what to expect from their...

Recently, I sat down with my good friend James Iranzad ( Gooseneck Hospitality ) for a long-overdue catch-up, beginning with a piece that caught both our attention: Substance Abuse , a column by Ed Elson in the Simply Put newsletter. Elson's provocative thesis suggests that the dramatic decline in alcohol sales isn't primarily about health consciousness, GLP-1 drugs, or cannabis legaliza...

This week, I'm joined by Liz Carlisle and Aubrey Streit Krug, co-editors of Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods (Island Press, March 3, 2026), a new collection from The Land Institute and UC Santa Barbara that asks a deceptively simple question: what would agriculture look like if we stopped starting over every year? Perennial crops (plants that come back season after season without...

Three years ago, I interviewed labour economist David Fairey and UVic sociologist Anelyse Weiler about British Columbia's piece rate system — the legal framework that allows farm workers to be paid less than minimum wage. Although I've worked in hospitality for years, and thought I understood the labour behind a meal, that conversation made me realize otherwise. Enter Canadian journalist...

Opening a bar in Vancouver in 2026 can cost of upwards of over a million dollars - and that's before you've even served a single drink. So what does it take to sign a lease, survive the build-out, and create something that lasts? I recently sat down with four veterans of Vancouver's hospitality scene to talk through exactly that. Andrew Kong and Max Curzon-Price are two of the city&...

Recently, I sat down for a discussion with my good friend James Iranzad (co-owner and operator of Gooseneck Hospitality ), along with two of the city's most respected chefs, Joël Watanabe ( Kissa Tanto , Bao Bei , Meo ) and Ron McKinlay. McKinlay is a Vancouver-born chef who has spent the past nine years in Toronto as the Executive Chef at Canoe in Toronto. Earlier this year, he left that pos...

Once again, I'm joined by James Iranzad (Gooseneck Hospitality) and James Langford-Smith (Pamplemousse Jus), as we dig into a few topics that have been top of mind lately... We kick things off by unpacking what the BCGEU strike has meant for the hospitality industry, and how we can better protect ourselves during future labour negotiations. From there, the discussion shifts to Nikki Bayley’s...

In this episode, I sit down with my good friend James Iranzad, of Gooseneck Hospitality (Bufala, Lucky Taco, Bells & Whistles), to unpack three big conversations shaping BC’s dining scene right now, kicking off with the BCLDB strike and how it’s rippling through restaurants across the province — from inventory headaches to staff morale. Then we dig into the latest Michelin Awards and what they...

In this episode, we dive into some of the more pressing (and sometimes frustrating) issues the hospitality world is experiencing right now – beginning with ‘tip-flation’ and the growing backlash from consumers. Is the tipping model completely broken? Or are people just tired of being prompted to tip everywhere they go? From there, we dig into reservation and cancellation policies. Credit card hold...

Once again, I’m joined by my good friends James Iranzad ( Gooseneck Hospitality ) and James Langford-Smith ( Pamplemousse Jus ) for another of our signature catch-ups. In this episode, we discuss the buzz around recent restaurant awards — Van Mag , Canada’s 100 Best , and North America’s 50 Best Bars — and the latest restaurant openings here in Vancouver. We also reflect on the emotional power of...

In this episode, I’m joined by four of Vancouver’s top bar talents – Amber Bruce ( The Keefer Bar , June ), Tara Davies ( Chupito Cocteleria ), Andrew Kong ( Suyo ), and Alexa Gervais ( L’Abattoir ) — for a roundtable discussion on the state of Vancouver’s cocktail scene. With North America’s 50 Best Bars having just left town, we dive into what that meant for local hospitality, the challenges of...

In December of 2023, Adam Henderson ( Superflux Beer Company ), Sam Payne ( The Parkside Brewery , Rewind Beer Co. ), and Nick Black ( Strange Fellows Brewing ) joined me to discuss the (seemingly dire) state of the beer industry. Now, just over a year later, the trio of local brewery pros have returned to drink a few beers and discuss the changes, adaptations and growth the industry has seen sinc...

Continuing with last year’s end-of-year episode, James Iranzad ( Gooseneck Hospitality ) and James Langford-Smith ( Pamplemousse Jus ) join me once again to discuss their top 10 favourite bars in British Columbia. Additionally, the pair share their thoughts on ‘Dry January’ to begin our discussion. Happy New Year! If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email at trackand...

With the year-end comes a fun-filled year-end list! Who better to join in ranking B.C.'s top 15 restaurants than my good friends, local industry vets, and frequent collaborative cohorts, James Iranzad ( Gooseneck Hospitality) and James Langford-Smith ( Pamplemousse Jus ). In addition to comparing this year's top experiences from some of our favourite restaurants, in this final episode of...

"If you've ever dreamed of moving to Europe to cook and learn from the best, then The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf might feel familiar. The new novel from Vancouver author (-slash-journalist-slash-UBC-Professor-of-Creative-Writing) Timothy Taylor follows the life of Teo, an inexperienced kid from Vancouver pursuing his culinary fantasy in Paris. There, he meets Frankie, a confident Quebec...

Corey Mintz is a distinguished food journalist hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has contributed to several prominent publications, such as The New York Times , Eater , and The Globe and Mail , and is the author of The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What Comes After .   In this episode, Corey and I delve into a range of topics, from tipping and restaurant pricing, to th...

Welcome to the Episode 100 extravaganza! In honour of this milestone, we catch up with former Track & Food podcast co-host, Mickey McLeod, and friend of the podcast, Tristan Young, of The Keefer Bar . Then, with the help of industry vets Shira Blustein ( Acorn , Lila ), James Langford-Smith ( Pamplemousse Jus ), James Iranzad ( Gooseneck Hospitality ), and Michelle Sproule ( Scout Magazine ),...

Will poverty always be a systemic issue? This is the question at the heart of Tracy Smith-Carrier’s article, “Implementing a basic income means overcoming myths about the ‘undeserving poor’” , published in The Conversation last December – and the focus of today’s interview with its author. Smith-Carrier has studied poverty for over 25 years, and is currently an Associate Professor and Canada Resea...

Back in the fall, I received some good intel, via text, about a peculiar issue brewing up along Main Street, regarding the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association (BIA). The problem was a proposed expansion of where the BIA lines fell, with the Main and 19-29th Street areas considered a new addition. The text suggested a lot of pushback from business owners in this proposed expansion area...

Whether at work or with friends, one of the more common questions posed to me is: “Where do you recommend going for dinner?” In a city as varied and culturally diverse as Vancouver, options for delicious fare seem endless. But despite the abundance of intrigue and hard-to-book tables, the local sector is in peril (much like the beer industry featured in my previous episode). This is largely (still...

If you had asked me what I thought ‘craft beer’ was when I first moved to Vancouver, back in 2009, my answer would have been something vague about its ‘higher quality’. Fast forward to today, and layers of experiences, flavours and perspectives add nuance and understanding to what the beer sector signifies. Market capitalization and interest usually peak when something new captures the scene, with...

In this newest edition of the triple(J) - H series, prominent former winemaker Heidi Noble joins alongside James Iranzad ( Gooseneck Hospitality ) and James Langford-Smith ( Pamplemousse Jus ) to help predict who will win, keep, and possibly move up in year two of Vancouver's Michelin guide.  Enjoy! This year's announcement is on October 5th. 

In 2018, Vancouver non-profit Foundations for Social Change , along with researchers from UBC, set out to do a small experiment: a one-year trial where they gave a lump sum of $7,500 cash, no strings attached, directly to people experiencing homelessness to see whether the direct cash method would provide them with a leg up finding stable housing, or if they would instead spend it on temptation go...

In this episode, award-winning freelance journalist, Rachel Nuwer, discusses her fantastic and revelatory new book, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World . Featuring the real life stories of many intriguing characters, from ravers to PTSD sufferers, Nuwer's book covers a lot of ground: from how MDMA (aka Ectasy or "Molly") accidentally came to be (in a...

Two years ago, I was fortunate enough to speak with UBC Professor Edward Slingerland regarding his then-new book, Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization (take a listen to the June 16th, 2021 episode here ). If you haven’t already read it, Drunk is a fantastic and sometimes hilarious examination of drunkenness, how being drunk enables us to trust and cooperate, and how a...