Early Game Plan
The proactive Seattleite’s guide to enjoying a super-sliding, high-flying, great-dining time at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
By Kathryn Robinson and James Ross Gardner
Hillcrest / Nat Bailey Stadium Park
Watch for Sliding Rocks
Everyone seems to joke about the Olympic-worthiness of curling, the perpetual whipping boy of every Winter Games. No worries, curling fans, we’re on your side. All we’ll say—for the sake of comprehension, of course—is that curling is some mad amalgam of bowling, darts, and sweeping up after yourself after eating unshelled peanuts. It goes like this: A team of four tries to hit a bull’s eye on an icy surface with 42-pound stones. One player shoves a stone across the ice and others sweep to manipulate the ice to affect the stone’s speed and direction (or curl). The team that gets its rocks closest to the circle’s center wins tickets to see a real sport. Oh stop, curlers, we kid, we kid. In actuality, because it’s so misunderstood, this is probably one of your surest bets when it comes to scoring tickets. When you get to the event, please don’t repeat any of what we said here, except to tell those 42-pound-stone-wielding athletes that we’re big, big fans.
Where you’ll eat
A curvaceous, plywood-clad café in the burgeoning dining district of South Main, Aurora Bistro (2420 Main St, South Main, 604-873-9944; www.aurorabistro.ca), trades in West Coast neo–comfort food: arugula-hazelnut pesto with white-bean puree and goat cheese on baguette, lamb sirloin with potatoes and minted pea sauce. Nearly all of it’s locally wrought, including an impressive all-BC wine list. Après-curling, cap the evening with a belt in the hot new Cascade Room (2616 Main St, South Main, 604-709-8650; www.thecascade.ca). Average as a restaurant but off the charts as a cocktail bar, the Cascade Room features red wallpaper, hipster prowlers, pulsing music, hot bartenders, and killer mojitos.
Published: September 2008
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