Page 130 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL WINTER 2024 SCOTLAND

draws hundreds of indigenous dancers and
drummers from all over North America.
My first stop after a restful night at the
Versante Hotel - just a short hop from the
Vancouver Airport - was Richmond’s Banh
Mi Tres Bon Vietnamese restaurant. The
eatery is on the city’s popular Dumpling Trail,
which features more than a dozen restau‐
rants with tasty fare from all over Asia.
Then it was on to the Gulf of Georgia
Cannery National Historic Site in the historic
fishing village of Steveston. Built in 1894, this
“monster” cannery was once the top pro‐
ducer of canned salmon in British Columbia,
packing 2.5 million tins in 1897. Today, it’s a
museum with interactive exhibits, films, and
tours that demonstrate the cannery's key
role in the history of Canada's West Coast
fishing industry.
Next I walked around Steveston and
checked out the Steveston Museum and Post
Office on Moncton Street. It’s filled with ar‐
tifacts from the village’s past. The main
exhibit was the sobering “Suitcase Project,”
which included photographs and oral histo‐
ries from Canadians of Japanese descent
who were given less than 24 hours to pack
before they were shipped off to internment
camps for much of World War II.
Then I walked through the picturesque
town, which has been featured in films and
programs such as “Power Rangers,” “X-Files”
and “Once Upon A Time” before I landed at
the Blue Canoe Restaurant, where I had the
first of numerous delicious aquatic dishes on
my trip.
That evening, I visited the Richmond Night
Market which featured hundreds of stalls
with Asian street food, including fried ramen
donuts, fried milk (I'm not kidding), Japanese
poutine, Spam fries, and kimchi bacon rolls,
as well as live performers and huge bouncy
castles for kids. As for the food, I opted for
a small bite of the ramen donut and a mango
smoothie.

130 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE WINTER 2025