Living

ZEN JAPANESE RESTAURANT With an elemental dependence on ingredients from the sea, it makes sense that purveyors of Japanese cuisine would want to take care of the ocean.

- Expressive Modern, by Amy Lau, The Monacelli Press, 216 pages, $60. LOOKING at the photographs of homes that interior designer Amy Lau has worked on is to witness a study in precision.

Baby Storytime: Free dropin for children ages two and younger, Thursdays, 10: 15-10: 45 a.m. at the North Vancouver City Library, 120 West 14th St. Info: www.nvcl. ca.

The story is local at one North Shore food retailer.

As a wine region, Chile already enjoys a built-in culture of sustainability, thanks in great part to its natural geographic isolation.

Thanks to an upstart coffee microroaster, when the masses at the Vancouver Convention Centre get their daily jolt, it's organic and fair-trade. Since 2010, North Vancouver's Moja Coffee has been the exclusive supplier to the VCC.

OCTOPUS One way to avoid the depletion of our favourite fish from the sea is to include less popular marine creatures on the menu; the squishy, spiny and tentacled beasts that seem more scary than succulent.

The advance of our food scene from its once uninspired doldrums to its current position as one of the most diverse and attractive in the world has been staggeringly quick.

Lobster Festival is back until March 31 at Le Gavroche, 1616 Alberni St., Vancouver. Guests can enjoy a lobsterpacked three-course dinner for $39. To complement this special menu, guests can purchase Provençal wine pairings for an additional $25.

CHANGING seasons are a perfect time to tune up and check out your car. BCAA offers these 10 car care "musts." 1. Tire Pressure. Overinflated tires ride roughly and suffer premature wear at the center of their tread.