2011
MEDIA
Vancouver Sun
Best picnics: Goodbye sandwiches, hello prawns
Lucy Hyslop, Special to The Sun
June 15, 2011
Preparation, preparation, preparation: The picnic lovers' mantra is well recited because, as every Canadian knows, when the sun finally appears, there's no time for dilly-dallying. Read more...
2010
MEDIA
Vancouver Sun
Wrapping up the feeling of home
From Salish scents to hockey hoodies, here's a taste of B.C.-made treasures
Gift ideas by Lucy Hyslop, Special to The Sun
December 21, 2010
Moroccan roll
It was Vancouver's Heather Nichol's bid to make a cracker without yeast, sugar, and hydrogenated oils that led to her popular Gone Crackers (pun-fully named for her marking a particularly annus horribilis). Share the spice - without the heat - this Christmas with her latest flavour, Gone Crackers' Moroccan Spice. Put a few packages, along with some goat cheese or aged cheddar, into a gift basket and voila - it's gift-giving made easy. Costs around $6.59 each at stores around B.C. including Well Seasoned, Urban Fare and Bosa Foods.
Mike Nierychlo ONLINE
Gone Crackers, with The Cracker Lady
December 20, 2010
CityLine
Around the House
December 20, 2010
Gone Crackers on CityLine! Click here to watch the full episode.
Eat Drink Be Local
Going Crazy, Want To Come?
December 16, 2010
 Gone Crackers
In 2001 Heather Nichol had a life changing moment. After joking with friends that she should create a line of crackers called "Gone Crackers" to celebrate her "annus horriblis", Heather did just that. With a background in food and design, she dove in and began testing recipes with the goal to create a tasty cracker made from the best ingredients excluding yeast, sugar and hydrogenated oils. Her first foray was a Parmesan & Rosemary cracker that became an instant hit with friends and family.
Fast forward 10 years and Gone Crackers has grown to include 5 flavours - the original Parmesan & Rosemary, Blue Cheese & Cracked Pepper, Canadian Cheddar & Chive, Undressed and Heather's newest creation - Moroccan Spice which we enjoyed with a goat cheese and roasted veggie terrine. Sold throughout Canada and a favourite of BC wineries (Heather was asked to create her Undressed cracker as a palate cleanser to serve at wine tastings), Gone Crackers has had quite a ride.
Gone Crackers is Gift 9 in our search for BC's 12 Most EDBL Christmas Gifts.
Vancouver Sun
Vancouver social media magazine caters to people who love food but are short on time
Daily offerings touch on B.C.-made products, events
Randy Shore
December 16, 2010
A pair of Vancouver entrepreneurs have launched a social media magazine that connects local foodies with great B.C. produce and local artisanal foods and wines in daily bite-sized reports. EatDrinkBeLocal is a sort of personal shopper for people who love food and quality comestibles but who don't have time to do all the research and investigation required to unearth the metaphorical truffles beneath our feet. Read more...
The Province
Holiday hostess (Gone Crackers is Susie's Favourite For The Season!)
Susie Wall
December 14, 2010
She's poured the Pellegrino, lined up the linen napkins and rolled out a charcuterie worthy of a glossy magazine spread. Your haute hostess deserves a treat in return, non? Whether you're buying for a hip homebody in need of a luxe, fir-scented candle (my go-to fave is Frasier Fir by Thymes), a gourmand who burns through a bottle of high octane olive oil every few days (hit Williams Sonoma or Meinhardt), a sentimentalist who will adore a simple picture frame wrapped in twine and craft paper or a girlie-girl who will go ga-ga for a sparkly ornament on a satin ribbon (try The Cross in Yaletown) - a small, thoughtful gift is the chic way to thank the maven behind your next open house invite. Read more...
WINE ACCESS - CANADA'S FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE
Fill a Wine Lover's Stocking
Stocking stuffers for oenophiles
Shelley Boettcher
December 13, 2010
Sure, you can always pick up a bottle of wine for someone's stocking. But sometimes it's fun to find smaller, interesting gifts for a wine lover. Read more...
Calgary Herald
food stuff
Christmas crackers
December 12, 2010
A line of Canadian crackers has expanded its range by one, just in time for the entertaining season.
Gone Crackers, started by Heather Nichol, already offers flavours such as olive oil and cracked pepper, roasted shallot and herb, and Canadian cheddar and chive, but the newest addition to the line has a more exotic flair.
Using ginger, cumin, coriander and cardamom, the Moroccan Spice crackers are designed to pair well with soft cheeses, apple spice and cranberry compotes.
All of the Go Crackers are meant to complement a glass of wine, and Nichol says the Moroccan flavours work nicely with Germanic and aromatic ones, such as Gewurztraminers.
Find Gone Crackers at Calgary stores such as Meez, Planet Organic, Blush Lane, Savour Fine Foods and Sunterra Keynote.
For a quick canape to serve at holiday parties, match the Moroccan Spice crackers with this quick cheese spread created by Nichol.
Kasey & Tony's Best of Food and Wine Show
September 3, 2010
Heather Nichol was a guest on 650am Kasey & Tony's Best of Food and Wine show on location at Everything Wine in North Vancouver. Nichol's lively segment featured her latest cracker creation "Moroccan Spice". Kasey and Tony, both gave the new flavour a big thumbs up, and praised her for not using sugar or dried fruit in any of her crackers.
CityFood Magazine
Gone Crackers for Moroccan Spice
August 25, 2010
Uh, oh. Looks like we have a new addiction.
British Columbians have always loved Gone Crackers, local food entrepreneur Heather Nichol's gourmet line of savoury and delicious cocktail crackers. We've long been a big fan of the "Parmesan" version ourselves, but her latest flavour - Moroccan Spice - could give it serious competition in our hearts. Read more...
2009
CRACKER MUSINGS
fall notes...
Heather Nichol
Fall 2009
That cool breeze on a warm day tells me fall is on its way. The record hot temperatures this year sure made up for our wet and cold spring. Golf ball size cherries... the best I've ever had... luscious apricots, and peaches... yummmm! Read more...
VIDEO
Uptown 2009 Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA) Gift Lounge
September 13, 2009
This past October, the CCMA's were held in Vancouver, and Gone Crackers was there! The Uptown Giftbox Co. produced the official Gift Lounge right at GM Place. From crackers to cowboy boots, this was a Gift Lounge like no other, and it had the stars buzzing! Jason Priestley, Colin James, Martina McBride, and Jan Arden to name a few... The Lounge was created so the stars could meet the people behind the products they were receiving. Sneek a peek at the video! View video...
MEDIA
Georgia Straight
Gone Crackers Undressed crackers
Carolyn Ali
December 3, 2009
Flour, sea salt, and olive oil... The ingredients couldn't be more basic, but they give Gone Crackers Undressed crackers a gentle, subtle flavour. The artisanal crackers were created by Vancouverite Heather Nichol as a palate cleanser for wine tastings, and the sturdy freeform ovals are so delicious on their own they don't need toppings (yet they make a sophisticated base for pâtés and cheeses). At $6.99 for a 142-gram box, they're a bit of a splurge, but it is almost the holidays. Other flavours, including Blue Cheese and Cracked Pepper, taste just as good. Find them at Capers Whole Foods Market, Urban Fare, wine and cheese shops, and elsewhere.
 Vancouver Sun
Secrets from the swag suite at the Canadian Country Music Awards
September 14, 2009
Martina McBride is tiny, but she has size eight feet and her calves measure 13-and-a-half inches around, and we know this because Cassandra Rush measured them. Read more...
Vancouver Sun
Local giftbox maker cracks the Juno scene
March 12, 2009
When Gabrielle Durning opened her White Rock shop a few years back, she had big plans, so big that she made this promise to herself: "One day I'm going to do the Junos." Read more...
Eat Magazine
Editor's Pick: Gone Crackers
June 18, 2009
In the latter part of 1999, through a series of life changing events, Vancouverite Heather Nichol joked about creating a line of crackers called Gone Crackers to celebrate her annus horriblis. Ten years later, her crisp, flavourful, crackers fly off the shelves of many of BC's best food shops and restaurants. Whether you crunch into the Parmesan and Rosemary, Blue Cheese and Cracked Pepper, or Canadian Cheddar and Chive, Nichol's crackers will stop you in your tracks. In fact, the ingredients are married so well and the slow-baked texture is so perfectly toothsome, it almost seems sacriligous to top them.
2008
CRACKER MUSINGS
fall notes...
Heather Nichol
Fall 2008
This fall I am recalling the past year, including the summer of 2007. The summer months are a busy time for Gone Crackers in the Okanagan, as they find their way into more of our spectacular wineries, and specialty shops. Read more...
Gone Crackers in Afganistan
November 2008
Gone Crackers in Afganistan with soldiers from Canada, USA and Australia
2007
MEDIA
WINE ACCESS - CANADA'S FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE
Gone Crackers: "Nothing" Ever Tasted So Good
June / July 2007
In 2001 Vancouver-based (49° 13´ N) baker Heather Nichol went on a mission to create flavourful crackers made from the highest ingredients, while excluding yeast, sugar, and hydrogenated oils. What she achieved with her Gone Crackers 'Undressed', was one of the best pairings for wine tasting since it met cheese. Nichol explains why these are the perfect pair. "The biggest thing about all of my crackers is there is no sugar in them to compete with the natural sugars in wine. The olive oil in the Undressed offers a delicate flavour, so though they are plain, they are not tasteless." Michael Bartier, award winning winemaker at Golden Mile Cellars described these piquant palate cleansers as the best his winery has ever come across. For now, the crackers are only available in British Columbia, and at some of the region's wineries, including Golden Mile, Domaine de Chaberton and Township 7 Vineyards, but Heather hopes to be expanding into Eastern distribution soon.
For more info or to get your hands on a box, visit www.gonecrackers.ca.
The Province
Hers was a crackerjack of an idea
June 25, 2007
 What is your business? We make a line of savoury gourmet crackers designed to complement wine. Every cracker on the market has sugar in it, and for wine, sugar and nuts are not good - especially at the beginning of the night. They just clog up the palate. And sugar tends to make wine taste bitter.
How did you get started? Actually, the name came before the business. It was 2001 and I was having a hard time personally, struggling with my health and just ground down, when I saw a recipe for crackers. I thought, I should make crackers and call them "Gone Crackers." I've always been entrepreneurial. I've had businesses all my life: clothing, china, and I once had a food shop in Kitsilano. When I told my family about this idea, they rolled their eyes. Nobody was doing crackers back then. I started collecting recipes and trying them out and one day, they started getting pretty tasty. I brought them out in December 2001.
What's unique about your crackers? They're totally designed to go with wine, as palate cleansers. I started out with just one flavour, and now we make six - parmesan and rosemary was first and it's still the most popular. The ingredients are simple, the flavours are bold - and there's no yeast, sugar or trans fats.
What has surprised you? That adding a life to my business has absolutely helped. I think I was hiding in the business, but I've been getting up to the Okanagan a lot recently and I'm having so much more fun.
What do you find challenging? It hasn't been easy doing this by myself, but it is possible. I've got great support from my six staff - I call them my dream team - but people usually think this is more than just a one-person company.
Future plans? I want the business to grow, but I know we're never going to be in every large grocery store. I'm concentrating on the customers we want - people who really appreciate wine. Bigger isn't necessarily better.
Vitamin V
Cracker Jack
March 16, 2007
When B.C. wineries were looking for the perfect palate cleanser to serve at their wine tastings, they turned to the crack team at Vancouver's Gone Crackers.
The result, Gone Crackers Undressed, is a thin and crispy savoury wafer made simply with flour, olive oil and sea salt that tempers the palate between sips - perfect for your own wine tasting.
Now where's that corkscrew?
View Gone Crackers Undressed and find retailers near you at www.gonecrackers.ca.
The Vancouver Sun
Wine-tasters love these pleasing palate cleansers
Mia Stainsby
March 7, 2007
 Gone Crackers isn't submissive or coy. The locally made crackers play big in the mouth with flavours like Parmesan and Rosemary, Blue Cheese and Cracked Pepper, Roasted Shallot and Herbs and Cheddar and Chive. They have rustic heft.
Gone Crackers founder Heather Nichol recently heeded the call of winemakers who asked for a "palate cleansing" cracker to serve at wine tastings and she responded by undressing. "Undressed" is her newest cracker with flour, sea salt and olive oil as the only ingredients. Not only do they complement wine, they make a go o d backdrop to assertive dips, cheeses or patés.
"Gone Crackers Undressed are the best palate cleansers we have come across," says Michael Bartier, winemaker at Golden Mile Cellars in Oliver. "We find them very effective in allowing us to taste a long flight of wines without palate fatigue. And they taste good, too."
Nichol says wineries had been clamouring for her to produce the crackers. "The big point is, they last through a lot of wine tastings and they're tremendous palate cleansers in a technical way, unlike bread which can go stale. Or sometimes, the crust carries too much flavour. This cracker has even flavour."
The crackers, she says, are not perfectly shaped. "None of us are. They're more like home-made. I was tired of the perfect rounds and squares. I wanted something unique and savoury and simply made."
With the Undressed line, she says, it was important not to interrupt the flavour of the wine. Gone Crackers products are available at Choices, Capers, Whole Foods, Stong's and Village Wines ( in Vancouver and North Vancouver) and retail for $ 5.99 to $ 6.99.
The Georgia Straight
Gone Crackers' Undressed
Food of the Week by Angela Murrills
February 22, 2007
Fancy crackers are big business these days and are usually flavoured with exotic ingredients. Fair enough, but sometimes you want something simple that won't fight the taste of the dip or spread or cheese you're serving them with. Developed as a palate cleanser to be scoffed between sips at wine tastings, local company Gone Crackers' newest variety is aptly called Undressed. They're just arriving in stores. Choices (various locations) and Mark Anthony Wines (928 West King Edward Avenue and 15220 North Bluff Road, White Rock) should have them by now; others will follow. The price runs from $5.99 to $6.99, depending where you snap them up.
2006
CRACKER MUSINGS
fall notes...
Heather Nichol
Fall 2006
My fall notes start off with looking back on a really great summer. The weather was hot, my garden thrived, and there were a bunch of gatherings with friends that really felt like we were capturing the most of the season. Read more...
2003
ADDITIONAL MEDIA HAPPENINGS
- The Vancouver Sun
Gone Crackers delivers a winning wafer - Rave reviews for recipe leads to firm's expansion
Mia Stainsby
January 15, 2003
Friends told her she'd "gone crackers," but Heather Nichol forged on. Read more...
- Bakers Journal
Nichol Fine Foods makes a name for itself with designer crackers.
Tuija Seipell
August / September 2003 (Vol. 63, No.7)
In December 2001, an unusual-looking box of crackers appeared in Vancouver's fine food stores. Customers noticed and loved the box and its contents. By January 2003, the Gone Crackers brand was the talk of the town in well-heeled foodie circles, particularly after rave reviews in the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province newspapers. Read more...
- The Vancouver Province
Mark Laba's Adventures in Dining
Gone Crackers Flax & Sesame and Reggiano Parmesan & Rosemary Crackers, $5.99-$6.99
Mark Laba
June 27, 2002
Some folks go coconuts, some go bananas and then there's those who go crackers. Read more...
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