Fall celebration season in Vancouver: what’s on the table this year

There's a stretch in Vancouver, from the last warm week of September through Thanksgiving and into the grey of November, when celebrations change character. The seawall empties out, the restaurants fill up, and hosts stop fighting the weather and start using it. Fall is the season of long tables, low light and food that takes hours to make. What follows is what the season does well here, and how to use it.

Candlelight over everything

Turn the overhead lights off. A table lit by candles, clusters of tapers, tea lights in amber glass, makes a community hall feel like a supper club, and it costs almost nothing. Ask your venue about open-flame rules first; many spaces allow candles in hurricanes or ask for LED tapers, which have gotten very good.

The long table

If the room allows it, one or two long tables served family-style change how the night feels. Guests pass dishes and talk across the table, and the meal becomes the event. Family-style makes the food the decor, and one runner of foliage, dried grasses and dahlias does the job of a dozen centrepieces.

Foliage, dried stems and the colours outside

Fall florals in Vancouver can borrow from the street: copper beech, oak leaves, rosehips, dahlias in burgundy and rust, dried grasses that last for weeks. Mixing fresh and dried means arrangements can be made days ahead and taken home afterwards. Warm neutrals, deep reds and the occasional shock of marigold are the palette.

The season itself

If you need reminding what October looks like out there, this short film from Destination BC's Super, Natural BC channel does it nicely.

Food that takes its time

Ask for dishes that come out of the oven and get passed down the table: braises, roasts, whole squash, wild mushrooms, apples in everything. A grazing spread works well in the cocktail hour, and one spectacular dessert (a pavlova, a croquembouche, a tower of doughnuts from a local bakery) does more than a whole table of small ones.

Live music comes indoors

A trio in the corner of a warm room suits fall in a way a patio DJ never quite can: jazz, bossa nova, an acoustic set through dinner, then something with more energy once the speeches are done. Small venues and restaurants are the natural home for this, and Vancouver's musicians know the format well.

Weekday celebrations

A Thursday or a Sunday in fall is easier to get. Venues have dates, Pros have dates, and the night feels like a secret the guests were lucky to be let in on.