Vancouver Pickle Shop to Dill-ight LA

What do birds, mustaches, llamas, and pickles have in common?

They've all been recent superstars of the greeting card aisle, and in other corners of trendy gift stores, too.

The fact is that it is difficult nowadays to not come across a mug or a t-shirt rocking a plump pickle, alongside the words "I'm a pretty big dill."

But what if an actual pickle-selling pickle shop popped up in town, a pickle purveyor that's more than a pretty big dill in Vancouver, the foodie-forward Canadian city in which it started?

That feels like a gherkin-scented gift in itself. And such a shop makes its debut on Valentine's Day, a fact that is sure to please pickle people near and far.

If you're close to the Original Farmers Market, that puts you in the "near" category, for that's where Kaylin & Hobbs is now open for tangy business.

It's the first U.S. store for Kaylin & Hobbs, which is no briny, er, tiny feat. For founders Scott Kaylin and Chris Hobbs wanted to bring New York-style pickles to Vancouver when they first started out, making the shop's arrival in America something of a full and flavorful circle.

The artisan pickle-making outfits flavors are legendary in their northern hometown, and visitors to the clocktower'd public market will find quite the variety of choices, which include honey mustard, horseradish, and full sour.

Did your cheeks just pucker, way back near your ears? Yeah.

Pickles possess such sour power that a person can react to words on a page, words that describe the tubular, super-crunchy superstar.

If you've called upon Kaylin & Hobbs while in Vancouver, you may have visited their started-in-2017 shop at Granville Island Public Market. But their spear-tastic, throw-'em-on-a-burger bites are sold at several grocery stores around British Columbia, and Alberta, too.

One thing to note, if you're a full sour fan?

Word from the new shop is that they'll sell out quickly, as soon as they're available, for they'll only be "fermented in small batches."

Don't worry, you're not in a pickle if you don't find your full sours. Take a look at the variety of other tang-tastic types, and get buys, biting, and face-scrunching.

You know that pleasing pickle face scrunch, surely? It's the best thing to do with one's face, second only to a smile.

And here's a smile to leave with, before you go pickle shopping: There's a contest on to win a year's supply of "puckerlicious" pickles. Stop by the shop through Feb. 16 for more details.

Where there's a dill, there's a way.