If choosing wine to bring to a dinner party takes up half your weekend, try something a little sweeter.

Pick up a batch of authentic Italian cannolis from the gelato shop (your foodie friends will be so jealous you beat them to the pastry punch). Available only on weekends and in limited supply, the cinnamon-tinted shells are filled with a light cream made of ricotta cheese, sugar, chocolate chips and a touch of liquor, and topped with roasted almonds and a light dusting of icing sugar.

Oh and you can tell everyone they are handmade—they don’t need to know not by you.

$14 for 6. Available Friday-Sunday only at La Casa Gelato, 1033 Venables St., Vancouver, 604-251-3211, www.lacasagelato.com

You probably won’t eat all your meals at the Everything Cafe, but you could.

Sean Heather’s latest spot, a cool and quaint coffee shop-cum-diner in Chinatown, serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner in a setting of shiny bar stools, red leather banquets and bleached wood. We came in famished to late lunch with the ladies. We left positively stuffed from a yummy Reuben ($8) made with local corned beef, and a potato salad ($3.50) tossed with frisée, Dijon and a tangy dressing.

Located next to the new Rennie offices, you’re bound to get a side of real estate too.

Everything Cafe, 75 E. Pender St., Vancouver, 604-681-3115.

The devil on one shoulder is coaxing us to stay out late again while the angel on the other begs us to stay in and play Scrabble.

At new Gastown joint Guilt & Company, we can satisfy our angels and demons. Situated in the brick underbelly of Chill Winston, the bar and live venue serves up boozy drinks and classic board games into the wee hours.

Check out their free comedy nights on Wednesdays (while you play chess) and order yourself a “Lying Eyes” cocktail ($12), which comes with a Polaroid picture of you and your crew.

And if Trouble is what you’re looking for, they’ve got that game too.

Guilt & Company, 1 Alexander St. (downstairs), Vancouver, 604-288-1704, www.guiltandcompany.com

L is for Love, Lebanese and Lunch.

And at the newest Café Nuba it’s manger à trois. While smaller than the restaurant’s West Hastings street spot, the latest location is no less romantic. Decked in marble and muted hues, it takes its design cues from a 1970s roadside café you might have found in Morocco. Meet your Main Street man there for falafel ($7) and a fresh smoothie ($5) from the juice bar then take some pistacho baklava ($2.75) to go.

Café Nuba on Third, 146 E. Third Ave., Vancouver, 604-568-6727, www.nuba.ca

Your veggies are domestic and so is your dining table, so how come your vodka comes from France? 

Pemberton, B.C.’s new Schramm craft vodka ($50), made by 32-year-old master distiller Tyler Schramm, is the only certified organic potato vodka in the world.

The winner of Double Gold at the World Sprits Awards in Europe, it’s a sipping vodka with a floral nose and creamy finish that goes down more like a French marc.

So now there is less guilt buying all your clothes from Vanessa Bruno and Isabel Marant.

Schramm Vodka tastings and tours, $6, Thursday-Sunday, 1954 Venture Place, Pemberton, B.C., 604-894-0222, www.pembertondistillery.ca
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Take the hard hits of hockey and the nostalgia of a spin around the Stardust roller rink and you’ve got one hot Saturday night.

It’s roller derby Whip It-style and Vancouver has its own league, the Terminal City Rollergirls. We took in the season opener and it was full of thrills, spills and fishnets on four wheels. If you’re foggy on the rules, like we were, grab a program that explains blockers, jammers and pivots, to get up to speed.

And just for fun, pick your rollergirl name then double-check it against the international roster (unfortunately Punky Bruiser and Lucille Brawl are already taken).

Next bout is May 15 at Minoru Area, 7551 Minoru Gate, Richmond, www.terminalcityrollergirls.com

Let’s face it—after Friday’s stuffy 9-course dinner party, all you really want is simplicity on a plate.

Club sandwiches, quiche, crepes and meatloaf are the type of down home cooking you’ll find at the new Acme Café, located so close to the new Woodward’s building, it’s effectively its lunch counter.

Big booths, high ceilings, friendly staff in an open kitchen, and a long, curving bar attract an eclectic mix, and you can guarantee people will have much more interesting things to talk about than real estate.

Acme Café, 51 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, 604-569-1022, www.acmecafe.ca

To celebrate the release of Alice in Wonderland, there has been all matter of Alice-themed paraphernalia. But we think the best way to honor Lewis Carroll’s classic is with a very merry un-birthday tea party.

Hotel Vancouver has rejigged its afternoon tea to be Wonderland-inspired. Playing cards are strewn across the table underneath your tier of treats. The standbys we love, like melt-in-your-mouth scones and Devonshire cream, are still on the menu, but the dessert tray now boasts flamingo-esque profiteroles and cupcakes. And then there’s the lovely little discount you receive for bringing your movie ticket stub or wearing a pretty party hat.

An all Alice afternoon this Easter weekend will solidify your station as Coolest Aunt Ever.

Mad Hatter’s Tea (adults $36, children $16) runs until April 30, 2010 at The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, 900 West Georgia St., Vancouver, 604-662-1900, www.fairmont.com/hotelvancouver

To justify splurging on those extremely high Louboutins, you wear them everywhere. But when your pals want to go for pizza, you feel a little too Posh.

No need to de-Loub for Charlie’s. The new Yaletown resto-lounge serves up gourmet slices in a slick setting. Seat your posse at the long communal table with deliberately mismatched chairs and order three 14-inch pizzas to share: the short rib topped with horseradish cream, smoked salmon sprinkled with goat cheese, and duck drizzled with truffle oil (all $25).

Major slices and major shoes—that’s amore.

Charlie's, 1265 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-568-6685, www.charlielovespizza.com

A tapas bar in Blood Alley named for the hired goat that leads livestock to slaughter sounds gruesome, but it’s actually very toothsome.

Judas Goat is the new Gastown gastro-venture from Sean Heather and Scott Hawthorn, the same smart twosome behind Salt. The space is pint-sized (seats 28) but spiffy with bright yellow stools and a bold black and white mural by Robert Chaplin. Take a date there for a pre-show nibble and order the warm lamb cheek wrapped in Savoy cabbage and white truffle oil ($8), smoked paprika and lemon sablefish with Israeli couscous ($9) and potted prawns with pistachio butter ($7).

Just be sure to tell your party that following you down a dark alley means they’ll get dinner, not become it.

Judas Goat, 27 Blood Alley, Vancouver, 604-681-5090, open Monday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.