Last night, we had the chance to rub elbows with a few foodie-fanatics at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia’s posh York Room as part of the Dine Out Vancouver Festival. The culinary cause: Hawksworth’s Side Dishes series of dinners – of which we were lucky enough to have scored an invitation to attend.

What a delectable evening it was, starting with a cocktail we opted to treat ourselves to in the Hawksworth Lounge prior to moving the party upstairs to the private dining room with our fellow revelers. Don’t judge us too harshly; it ‘was’ almost hump-day after all.

That being said, after being greeted and shown our seat at one of two long communal tables pristinely set for the night – we waited with anticipation for the arrival of our first course (part of a three course prix fixe menu) at this sold out Tasting Dishes event.

Wines were poured to compliment each dish, the first being a Tempranillo blend which paired perfectly with the 48hr short rib prepared with black pepper jam, green papaya and honeydew melon.

Next up, a special surprise treat (sans vino). Butternut stuffed agnolotti served atop crumbled, fried Italian biscotti – amazing!

agnolotti2[1] — The Butternut Stuffed Agnolotti

The Lois Lake steelhead trout made an appearance next, served with parisienne gnocchi, asparagus and alongside a BC wine – the Meyer Family Vineyards Chardonnay.

steelhead[1] — The Lois Lake Steelhead Trout

For our final course, we admittedly swore thanks to the fact that we’d worn our ‘stretchy jeans’ as a mascarpone cream espresso landed before us. To accompany this delectable creation, limoncello was offered…. And who are we to decline?

dessert[1] — The Marscapone Cream Espresso

All said, this stunning evening, complete with expertly prepared dishes and paired with a beautiful set of wines certainly set the bar high being our first Dine Out Vancouver experience for 2014! With three more Best of Hawksworth Tasting Dishes evenings to go, we’re certain that those lucky enough to score a reservation will more than echo our sentiment.