It’s been a little over two years since I graced the Big Apple with my presence. I was last in town for my daytime talk show debut on the Tamron Hall Show in February, 2020. That trip happily coincided with fashion week and I enjoyed running around the city for fashion week parties and seeing friends. This all seems like a distant memory now. As travel opens up, I’m sure that I will be there once again.

Until then, “love from New York” comes to Vancouver in the form of a grand imbibe pop up. New York City’s number 10 ranked cocktail bar on the World’s 50 Best cocktail bar list (2021), Katana Kitten heads to Vancouver for three nights only.  Renowned owner and mixologist Masahiro Urushido, combines the best from the cocktail and culinary worlds of two beloved cities: New York and Tokyo. He will bring his expertise to Vancouver's premier luxury hotel Fairmont Pacific Rim, creating a specialty menu at both of the hotel’s exquisite restaurants: Botanist and The Lobby Lounge & RawBar. 

On April 20, the pop up will start at Botanist with a collaboration between Urushido and Head Bartender Jeff Savage and Executive Chef Hector Laguna. The four-course cocktail pairing menu will be available for one night. To start, guests will enjoy a welcome drink of Lemon Daiginjo (Fords Officers’ Reserve, lemon, sake) to open the palate. They will also be treated to other delights like, Watini (Fords Gin, vermouth, ao-togarashi, koji, green yuzu) paired with Grilled Japanese Wagyu (teriyaki and eggplant).

The full menu for the cocktail tasting experience at Botanist is available to viewhere and reservations can be made here for the 5:30p.m. seating, andhere for the 9:00p.m. seating. On April 21 and 22, Urushido and the Katana Kitten team will collaborate with Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Executive Chef Damon Campbell in the Lobby Lounge & RawBar. I’m looking forward to this menu featuring the Amaretto Sour (Woodford Reserve Rye, amaretto, umeboshi, honey, lemon, egg white, and yukari). Don’t worry if you can’t make it, The Katana Kitten menu will be available in The Lobby Lounge & RawBar for a full month following the pop up. If you are in Vancouver this month, you won’t want to miss it.