Sailing on the Pacific Yellowfin

Spectacular ink is proud to announce that we are now representing the historic wooden motor yacht: " The Pacific Yellowfin" (www.pacificyellowfin.com ).

This converted coastal freighter has a pretty colourful history having been a mine layer,a spy vessel,a whale research station, a hippy commune in San Francisco and now a luxury cruising vessel in British Columbia.

If you like gleaming mahoganny, amazing food, lots of toys and spectacular scenery then a cruise on the Yellowfin are definitely the place to be !

Cruising the waters of the Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound and the Inside Passage the Pacific Yellowfin provides guests with a great platform to observe wildlife and the stunning British Columbia scenery as well as play in the ocean or on land.

Watch this space for more news from the Pacific Yellowfin !

CANADA PUTS ITS BEST FOOT FORWARD IN LOS ANGELES

The Canada Media Marketplace, the Canadian Tourism Commission's flagship event to showcase Canada to the US media, was a successful event again this April. The BC night, held at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, was a night to remember. Delegates were treated to cocktails by Vancouver's Chambar, entertainment by a troupe from Cirque du Soleil, and hugs from the chubby mascots that adorn 2010 merchandise. Jayne squeezed between Miga, Quatchi and Sumi!

Meetings with US journalists, scheduled from early morning till dusk, gave us plenty of opportunity to entice writers, bloggers and broadcasters to British Columbia to experience our piece of paradise. Four colleagues enjoy breakfast: Jane Ince, Kristine George, Nora Weber and Kelly Reid.






The RCMP were on hand to add a dash of colour to the formalities.

Jayne also found time to meet with an editor at Bon Appetit to introduce her clients. Together they noshed at LA's Pizzeria Mozza, known for numerous accolades and was recently featured in LAX Magazine's list of the 75 best restaurants in LA.

Watch this space fro your next thrilling installment from the SI team !!

Messing in Texas !!

1500 miles, 37 Travel Agencies and over 150 Travel agents and we survived!

Peter headed south on March 23 to the Lone Star State on the SLH ( Small Luxury Hotels) road show representing Hastings House on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.www.hastingshouse.com

I met up with the rest of the crew at the ultra hip W Hotel in Dallas whose motto is Whatever Whenever should probably been better left as just plain Whatever !!! There was our fearless leader Jon D. Makhmaltchi, Director of Global Sales at SLH and the rest of the crew who I was to spend the next five days with: Elizabeth Gullickson from the Sanctuary at Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale,Arizona,JJ ( We never did find out what those initials stand for) Doran from the Malmaison Group of properties based in Prague, Adriana Chardí Cobo representing two properties: Esenzia on the Riviera Maya and CasaNova in cosmopolitan Barcelona and last but not least Barbara Schmaelzle from the Sky Lodge in beautiful Park City, Utah.

Over the course of the next five days we met with many friendly Texas Travel Agents who all assured us that SLH was the best thing since sliced bread and that they would send us more business than we could cope with ! From the biggest little town in the west , Fort Worth to the shining metropolis of Dallas and the state capital, Austin we ended in the oil town of Houston.

The weather gods were kind this year ( apparently last year it felt like the second coming of Noah!) We met with two very special dogs in Dallas, bats in Austin and full size Chinese warrior statues in Houston.!We sampled the Texas cuisine from Burgers in Dallas, Tex Mex in St Antonio to Chic - filet's (Yum!) in Austin . We even visited Jon's ancestral home in St Antonio that once had been a whorehouse!

It was a great trip and we are all busy following up with all who we met !

We messed with Texas and survived ! Yeeeha !

Guests 'sabre' Champagne at the Bearfoot Bistro

Quaffing champagne is not an every day event. Opening a champagne bottle with a sabre is an experience to be savoured. When the restaurant owner, Andre Saint-Jacques holds the Guinness Book of Records for sabring the most champagne bottles in a minute, you feel the need for extra panache to sabre even one bottle. (At the Bearfoot Bistro, of course, guests who order a bottle of champagne are invited to lop the top off with a sabre.) Luckily for me, the top flew off like a bullet from a pistol, and as the bubbly flowed into the glasses, we savoured the champagne in the newly expanded wine cellar. It’s quite a sensation to be surrounded by 20,000 bottles of wine and champagne from virtually every wine producing area in the world. Returning to our table ,Executive Chef, Melissa Craig, wowed us with a nine-course Chef’s Menu, paired with wines, sake, sherry and more. The non-alcoholic drinkers were equally honoured to find that mixologist JS had prepared a fabulous pairing of non-alcoholic drinks for each course.

Photo caption: Bearfoot Bistro sommelier, Keith Nicholson, gives Jayne a quick lesson on how to sabre a champagne bottle.

 Www.bearfootbistro.com

Another Spectacular Ink Client wins big award .....

Congratulations to Melissa Craig the executive chef at the Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler who recently won the coveted Gold Medal Plate at the Canadian Culinary Championships, one of the country's top culinary awards. She came from behind, after only gaining a place at the championship as she replaced another at the last minute. After her apprenticeship at Sooke Harbour House in Sooke BC and King Pacific Lodge ( another Spectacular Ink Client) on the North Coast of British Columbia she has emerged as the rising star of the Canadian culinary scene and has recently visited some of the top restaurants around the world with Bearfoot Bistro owner Andre Saint -Jacques in order to gain even great culinary knowledge.

The Globe and Mail, one of the top dailies here in Canada calls Melissa's cooking "exceptionally refined,with flavours and textures perfectly balanced."

"I'm looking for the best of the best from anywhere in the world " says Melissa

She will be traveling with the Canadian Olympic team acting as the Canadian culinary ambassador including visits to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Watch this space for further news about Melissa in the coming weeks.

To find out more visit: www.bearfootbistro.com

While on the the subject of food the chef from King Pacific Lodge , Max Ridorossi and his team are preparing the stocks, preserves, jams, and pickles in Vancouver, to stock the kitchen for the busy summer months. In addition to getting a head start on the season, Ridorossi will be reducing the carbon footprint of this floating lodge by eliminating the transportation by floatplane and road of thousands of kilos of supplies.

For more information visit: www.kingpacificlodge.com

Welcome to Spectacular Talk !

Welcome to the Spectacular Talk Blog

Yes we have finally joined the world of blogging to keep all you curious folks abreast of what is happening at Spectacular Ink . You will have to excuse us while we learn this new medium and get acquainted with all the different functions but be patient because we will make your regular visit worthwhile ....promise !

Yesterday we hosted our Spectacular Ink showcase , a biennial event which brings together many of our clients with the local ( Vancouver) media, trade and travel industry colleagues. It was held at the Blue Water Cafe
( www.bluewatercafe.net/) . It was a great success , even if we say so ourselves. The venue was excellent, the company was lively and everyone enjoyed" the show" .


We introduced some of our newer clients to the local media including Harrison Hot Springs Hotel , Harrison Tourism and Bearfoot Bistro. Our speaker Walt Judas from Tourism Vancouver gave an overview of what is happening in Vancouver in the lead up to the 2010 Winter Olympics and how the hospitality industry needs to be gearing up and getting involved at all levels of the " largest sporting event on earth " . After we drew a bunch of fabulous prizes donated by our clients we enjoyed good conversation mixed with a few glasses of wine and some fabulous appies provided by some of our clients' chefs and of course Bluewater Cafe.

The clients that attended were:
Hastings House , Salt Spring Island , BC
Harrison Hot Springs Hotel, Harrison , BC
Villa Marco Polo, Victoria, BC
Tourism Richmond, Richmond, BC,
Tourism Harrison, Harrison, BC
Rockwater Secret Cove Resort BC

The clients that were unable to attend were:
King Pacific Lodge, Princess Royal island, BC
Bearfoot Bistro, Whistler, BC
Great Bear Nature Tours, Central Coast , BC

(For links to all the above clients please see the Links section in the navigation bar)

Thanks everyone for coming and we look forward to working with you all in the coming year.

We all retired to the restaurant after the event and enjoyed some great Blue Water food !

Here is to a great event and great company !