Elite Event: Classy Cocktails and Lovely Lebanese!

Definitely a stand out of all the Elite Events I’ve attended, in my 4 years of Elitedom. JamJar provided a nice intimate space to mingle, and the food was amazing! Really, the falafel was the best I’ve ever had, their dark chocolate was to die for, and the little jars of apricots that we got to take home were delish. Staff were wonderful, especially the friendly bartender who actively sought out folks in need of another drink. Thanks JamJar and Ayla for the fantastic event!

Better late than never :)
This was my first Elite outing and it was absolutely amazing! First off, thank you Fady for inviting us into your restaurant and thank you Ayla for putting this together!
The customer service rocked! My drink was always full and the food was non stop! Everything they had tasted great. The one thing I didn’t try was the falafel. The other Elites are RAVING about it! I will hopefully be visiting within the next few weeks and will for sure be ordering them.
We each also received a jar of apricots & spices, super delicious!

Fadi, and the kind forks at Jam Jar were consummate hosts and truly made Vancouver’s Unilocal!community feel what Lebanese hospitality is like.
Being of Lebanese origins, I was looking forward to the Jam Jar event, so you can imagine how excited I was when I received the email that I had been upgraded from the wait list to the guest list (score!!! thanks Ayla!).
I was so excited that I accidentally showed up an hour and a half early for the event, having time to kill is never a bad thing. Fadi, the owner, was kind enough to let me find a quiet corner for the restaurant and enjoy a double of top shelf Arak and a bowl of olives (I then left for an hour so as not to disturb setup time).
Upon my return, I was greeted by a restaurant buzzing with Unilocalers, filled with a joyful and merry atmosphere (food, drink and merriment — what more can you ask for). The kitchen and bar staff were in a mad rush to fulfill everybody’s requests and the vibe was electric.
The event was a success by all accounts, and I hope to be back soon to taste the full menu, and enjoy more fantastic Lebanese hospitality.

Thanks Ayla you rocked ‘the lovely Lebanese’. I was swept up on a magic carpet ride of delish treats riding the winds of the corner a/​c unit (so fab).
The night was liberated with the Hibiscus Bloom gin cocktail — hello summer.
I had opportunity to try the lamb (Makanik) and beef (Sujuk) sausage and both were very very tasty but the Sujuk sausage just was a little more wowsa. The shish tawouk was a true treat (moist and flavourful) paired alongside the tabbouleh –Yummers.
The hummus, which might be a hard item to empress with given that so many folks have tried their hand at making it, was a surprisingly original YUM both for flavour and texture. The falafel was a nice big size and crispy outside and moist inside. A BIG FAVE was the previously never experienced Mohamara roasted red pepper and walnut dip served on crispy Lebanese bread– hello Jars to go business, wow!
I scoured the menu to find the dark chocolate with dates nuts and pepper– where oh where can I have more– AMAZING!
Once the permits kick in and they can pop the top off and open up the front windows this place will be Mecca marvelous. Til then the hardest choice on my return will be choosing what to order since eating a bit of EVERYTHING won’t be on the menu.

Delicious welcome cocktail, friendly staff and amazing tapas to fill my tummy were the ingredients of a perfect Unilocal event!
Décor is very hipster chic without being pretentious and having the bar in the middle makes it easy to mingle and sip while checking out the mayhem in the kitchen… always a good conversation starter.
The food was absolutely delicious and healthy, the freshly made bread was out of this world. Thank you to our host and our fearless CM, we all had a great time while catching up with all the Elites whom I hadn’t chatted for in a while.
I’ll definitely be back to try more items from the menu and get my Lebanese fix.

This was my first Unilocal Elite event and my first time at JamJar! Thank you Ayla for the wonderful organization! Here are my thoughts on the lovely food and drink we enjoyed:
There were a ton of canapes here. Team Tastic was sitting in the corner so we had to fight to the front a couple times to get the food we wanted (i.e. falafel) and we had the following:
Spinach Dip
Original Hummus
Baba Ghanouj (salad)
Sujuk (beef sausages)
Makanik (lamb sausages)
Shish Tawouk (yogurt marinated chicken breast skewers)
Falafel
Dark Chocolate Almond Bark with Walnut and Molasses
Unidentified Red Wine
Hibiscus Bloom Cocktail (coconut rum)
Lemonade & Strawberry Mint Ice Tea
Saj Bread with Black Bean Hummus
It’s a ton of food and starting with the Spinach Dip, it was a great selection. The spinach was pureed into a thick paste and had a strong vegetable taste to it. It didn’t taste too healthy to me and I liked it.
Same with the Original Hummus, this was the classic chickpea-​colour base we know and love, a lot more spices and veggies go into this mix than the simple flavours you find at the grocer.
The Baba Ghanouj came on a leaf of lettuce that you’d pick up and eat. I prefer Baba Ghanouj in a bowl though so I can scoop up the tomato juices but this was presented well.
The Sujuk were cooked with a lot of seasoning and you could see this on the skin. They were pretty tough, almost like bison meat, so this would be a good Mezze dish to order if you want something thick.
The Makanik on the other hand were more tender for me and I’d get these on a return trip.
The Shish Tawouk was a little dry but the sauce helped with mediating that moistness back up.
The Falafel. Wow this was amazing! Meticulously drenched in… a similar derivative of tzatziki sauce? It looked precious and diving into each ball revealed a green internal filling that almost tasted like chicken when mixed with the crispy shell. Yum! I’m ordering this next time I’m in.
The Dark Chocolate Almond Bark had a bitter foretaste with the 70% cocoa and sweet aftertaste with the molasses. Great combo!
Now over on the drink side, the Red Wine was a bit too heavy for me to pair with anything but the sausages, and I much preferred the Wunderbar Kolsch. This was a lighter beer with a fresh un-​hopsy aftertaste which I enjoyed much more. On the bubbly side of things, the Hibiscus Bloom Cocktail had an intense coconut flavour which is great for tropical lovers and the Lemonade and Strawberry Mint Ice Tea was like a Passiontea Lemonade on mint-​flavoured steroids. Great drink for those who want to stay refreshed.
All in all I’m coming back for a meal which includes falafel, lamb skewers, and the kolsch. Obviously when I look at the menu I’ll end up ordering twice as much since that’s just what happens, but I’m interested in the dinner entrees!

A huge thanks to Ayla and JamJar for a wonderful and intimate event. I thoroughly enjoyed my first Unilocal event which included lot of friendly Unilocalers, great food and delicious cocktails all around. I was also very impressed the restaurant staff who worked tirelessly to make sure everyone got to try the various offerings that they had on the event menu that night. These guys were awesome.
Hands down, the top food item of the night for me were the giant falafel balls. Fresh from the frier, these puppies were paired with an amazing dip. I could have some right now.
The bread making session was very cool and I loved that it was so hands on.
I can’t wait to come back to JamJar to check out what else they have on the menu!

Several months as an Elite Unilocaler (earned the status while traveling in Europe), yet this was my first Elite event. So much fun! My +1 and I (the lovely Cathie C.) got to sample amazing food and drinks for free (yep, totally free), while checking out the atmosphere of a truly wonderful foodie gem. Seriously, a must-​go for the falafels, they were as perfect as perfect gets. Then again, so was the various kinds of hummus, the hibiscus boozy drinks, and the salted chocolate, fig and nut dessert…
Why the name JamJar? We were told upon attending by the owner that in Lebanon, there’s an overabundance of fruit. Most meals are vegetarian. So what do you do with all these fruits and vegetables? You jam them, put them in jars, and offer them as host/​ess gifts. Often. It’s a sign of Lebanese friendliness, and thus one of the freebies we received for checking in (so many freebies!) was, literally, a JamJar.

Really enjoyed my first Unilocal Elite Event — a big thank you to Ayla and Fady for hosting us.
Very nice meeting a few of you and hope to meet a few more at Unilocal’s dog days! :)
I especially liked the beef (spicy!), chicken and lamb skewers and the authentic flatbread with Hummus and Spinach.
The cocktails were very refreshing on a humid evening.
As for the venue itself, it is intimate and has a cool vibe going for it. We loved the layout and it’s a great spot for people watching too! The staff could not have been any sweeter or more accommodating. I look forward to returning for dinner sometime soon. Also liked hearing about how they came up with the name Jamjar and some of their inspiration for the restaurant.
Thanks also for all the thoughtful little gifts — home made apricot and spices in a jar? Yum! Much appreciated.

So I got lucky… lucky that I got into this party as a plus one to Sophia (thank you thank you) and I understood why this event was so ‘jammed’ up! I’ve never been to this spot, but right off Commercial near Broadway is JamJar… a small quant size restaurant, by the time I got here, 5 minutes after 6, this place was pretty full (obviously these Unilocalers are prompt to the party). Most people were seated as well, so it was now standing room only, and the first thing I noticed was the constant stream of food coming from the back of the kitchen. While waiting to sign in and get my trusty name sticker, I was offered hummus from one of the waitresses while she was trying to serve everyone and get all the food off of her tray.
Eventually I got to speak to our awesome CM Ayla (A-​la, Aiiiiilaaaa, I forgot what Cory B. said when he first pronounced her name) but it was another great night, where she allowed me to wear the Elite sticker. even though I was the plus 1 (score!). I have to say, the Vancouver community has grown and changed, as many people I met on this night. it was their first event (gasp!!!) so making new connections was pretty easy, just open your mouth… hopefully not full of food. and talk. Of course alcohol always helps this type of situation, and there was much to go around… from the hibiscus bloom cocktail, red and white wine, and some non-​alcholic (gasp) lemonade and strawberry ice tea (I did not have this… so I can’t say).
I was amazed at how fast the people working in the kitchen continued to floor us with finger foods, for anyone who had seats, they even had plates on the table, I was one of those people standing, and it didn’t matter, from my memory… the sujuk, shish tawouk, makanik, katayef… all these came not in just one round… in many rounds where I had to decline so I could get the rest of the food. I will admit, I didn’t eat any of the greens, but all the leafy dishes looked amazing, and the service, for such a packed place, was top notch, especially the bartender, where he kept on engaging me everytime my drink was looking empty, thank you once again!
Eventually one of the best times of the night, when Ayla gets up to do her speech, introduce the owner, and… there was some event with bread… I saw a huge crowd helping out toward the kitchen, and the party continued. Whoever got in also, whille using the trusty Unilocal app, got to take home the new Unilocal bag… yes… like fold up shopping bag, and a nice small bottle of apricot and spices. talking about jamming the jar! There was also a nice jar at the bar. hopefully all of you stuffed some faces in there to thank all the people that made this happen and worked hard to keep those Unilocal smiles going!
It was a joyous occasion and I got to meet some Unilocaler’s I’ve only read on this website, and never got to meet in person. until last night. Until next time. another job very well done Ayla!

Fabulous fun with yappy Unilocalers! Thank you Community Manager Ayla for organizing this awesome shindig.
The Unilocal swag included keychains, pens, and a reusable bag. The establishment even provided a jar of apricot and date compote. By the way, hold onto the jar, because you can bring it back for refills. Yum!
My favorite part, other than meeting my fellow Unilocalers, was learning about the bread and seeing it made. In addition to the usual ingredients of flour, salt and yeast, there are ground cherry pits in the mix. Wha? That’s cray cray! If you were standing next to the stove while it was baking, you could even catch a whiff of the sweet scent.
Fadi, shukran (Arabic for thank you) for your hospitality. I hear you do Zaatar and cheese bread on the weekends. I will definitely be back to try that!

Well done again Ayla.
What’s not to like about humus, falafel and drinks?
Last time I came to Jamjar was at night an couldn’t quite appreciate the space. Love lebanese food and the atmosphere for a quite bite w friends
Awesome.

Jammin It Up at Jam Jar!
Ok So its been awhile since I’ve seen my Unilocaly peeps! This venue was perfect, intimate yet roomy enough to wander and mingle with other Unilocalers located on Commercial Drive. I loved this event chatting up with old Unilocal friends and meeting some new ones and of course Yummy Lebanese food and lots of it! From lamb or beef sausages, salad, several yummy hummuses original or spinach, garlic chicken skewers, falafels, make your own bread station and to top it all off with pepper nut chocolates yes please! And the drinks where do I begin its hot out we all crave something refreshing like a hibiscus bloom cocktail, or just a nice cold glass or white wine, or beer! Lots of options!!!
We had some awesome swag as well from Jam Jars apricot jam I cant wait to try and Unilocal reusable shopping bag. The staff was amazing they had food and drinks coming from left right and center. I cant wait to come back and try out other menu items.
Thanks to Ayla and Jam Jar!

Woo woo! Been awhile but this intimate little ‘do at Jam Jar was a great way to re-​Yelp! Fady and his team were super friendly and generous, with nonstop cocktails, falafel, hummus, pita, tabbouleh, shish tawouk… you name it! It was all delicious, and I loved Fady’s discussion about Lebanese hospitality! Was a great spot and a great event, and I’ll definitely be back. Ayla’s sparkly gold eyeshadow? Also awesome. :)

Super-​packed with friendly Unilocalers and guests. Totally brilliant move to have the easy and interactive flatbread making right at the kitchen counter. Special thanks to the cute Cassie who was super-​patient with all us noobs, always with a sweet smile ready for everyone she met.
Bonus «wow» for the jars of apricots we got to take home. Very interesting flavour with the use of soda water…
It’ll be interesting to see what moments
captured as the official event photographer!
Thank you Ayla and Jamjar for a very interesting event!