I'll be in Vancouver in late November, and I'm wondering if any of the Vancouver forumites would like to meet up for an offline on Friday, November 23? I hear BYOW is okay now in BC?

I'd be interested but we're in Whistler that night. Enjoy your visit.

Count me in.

Great! I'm looking forward to meeting you, Gundam. I hope we get a few more.

Mark me as probable.

There's a chance that we'll be away that weekend, otherwise would enjoy meeting you. We'll know definitely by end of next week.

Should just add that corkage is allowable in BC now, but not all restaurants are offering it. Also, prices vary from $5 to $50, and there are a few minor restrictions that some restaurants enforce rigidly (e.g. bottle must have been purchased in BC, not previously opened, etc.).

It has to be purchased in BC? So, I guess I can't bring anything from home, unless the venue has a fairly loose policy on that. How do they check? Do they really expect people to bring an original receipt for the twenty year old wine they brought from their cellar?

Regarding the restaurant, I will have to defer that to you locals to suggest a place. Do you guys normally choose a wine theme?

As I said, some restaurants are very rigid about the rules, including a few very well-known and popular ones. They're easily able to find out online whether the wines were ever sold in BC, and I think that's probably about all the due diligence expected of them. Most restaurants are pretty reasonable if they allow corkage, but as we're still in the early stages of this wonderful relaxation of our draconian liquor laws, some places are still trying to figure out how to be compliant and please the customers simultaneously. It'll get better over time.

Doesn't hurt to make inquiries prior to booking, though. We changed our dinner reservations in Whistler recently after calling to inquire about corkage and being told all the conditions that had to be met, on top of the $50 corkage charge. But that's really not the norm.

Seaquam. Drive 20 minutes south, and you won't be having this problem.

I hear you, Gundam. Fortunately, there are some places in town where we can be accommodated nicely.

Hope we'll talk soon.

Hi guys. Any others interested in meeting up for this offline?

I thought I'd bump this one more time to see if this mini-Offline is still on.

I apologize for not replying earlier, but I have been waiting for other people to make definitive decisions that affect me. Unfortunately, we are not going to be available Nov. 23. I don't know when you're in town, but if you could swing Wed. Nov. 21, then we can do a nice evening on that date.

If all goes well-- and at this time it looks quite favourable-- I will have an awful lot of time after Dec. 15 for offlines, travel, and reading whenever I want, even spontaneously. Hopefully, if next Wed. can't work, then the next time you're headed this way...

Hi, Seaquam. Wednesday Nov 21 does work for me. How about Gundam?

OK! Please send PM, and we'll set up a plan.

I will get in touch with Gundam ASAP.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Seaquam,