COMFORT-FOOD — REVIEWS

STRAIGHT & MARROW

Growing up, Chris Lam spent most nights helping out in his father's restaurant: bussing tables, inquiring about ingredients, and sometimes just horsing around. The Vancouver chef comes from a long line of restauranteurs. His grandfather and great-grandfather both had restaurants in Macau—and, although he tried taking another route by enrolling in medical school (mostly to please his mother he says), he found he just couldn't break away from the life of food and hospitality. "I tried very hard. My Dad is a chef [and] every dad chef doesn't want their kid to follow in their footsteps," Lam explains over the phone. "Because it's a pretty hard life." Launching his first restaurant in the midst of a pandemic certainly wasn't his plan—and must add to his parent's fears of a hard life—but Lam tells me that when you love restaurant culture and the life that comes along with it, either you're in—come what may—or you get out. "And I really enjoy the life," he admits, laughing.

HASTINGS SUNRISETracy GieszDecember 3, 2020CASUAL, VANCOUVER, FARM-TO-TABLE, OPEN-LATE, COMFORT-FOOD, GLUTEN-FREE

BAR GOBO

After her first visit to Bar Gobo, a friend texted me facetiously that she could, "bathe in that anchovy butter," and couldn't "stop thinking about it like a toxic guy." Her words put into satire exactly what I'd been feeling after my initial visit to the Union street wine bar—except my daydreams conjured up the rillette I'd tasted and the wine list that accompanied each dish so masterfully. The 16-seat wine bar (a capacity of 25 seats post-covid) is the newborn sister of arguably the most ecologically-minded kitchen in the city: Burdock & Co.—Vancouver Chef Andrea Carlson's Main street restaurant just off of 11th Avenue. Burdock was the fertile grounds of the Bar Gobo concept which started as a natural wine, cocktail, and dumpling pop-up. Gobo is a Japanese variation of the Burdock root, an ingredient often used by Carlson and her team.

SAY MERCY!

It's a few hours before dinner service on a late summer afternoon. Antonio Cayonne and Andrew Jameson are seated in their restaurant's dining room, laptops open and chairs stacked around them. We begin talking about their early years, long before Say Mercy! even broached the horizon. The business partners—who speak to each other with evident admiration and clear respect—met in Toronto over a decade ago while working in the hospitality industry. It would only be a few years later when they both found themselves in Vancouver for different reasons: Jameson had family in the city and Cayonne, a talented actor and performer, wanted to further explore the West Coast film industry. But fate would have it that the duo soon meet a skilled chef named Sean Reeve.

FRASERHOODTracy GieszAugust 29, 2020CASUAL, PATIO, FARM-TO-TABLE, VANCOUVER, ITALIAN, MODERN-CANADIAN, COMFORT-FOOD, LUNCH, FINE-DININGComment

OPHELÍA

Ophelia is authentically Mexican—something Higareda wanted to return to. The Veracruz-born chef has worked all over the globe: He honed avant-garde techniques as a sous chef at Michelin-stared restaurants in Spain and France, saw the explosion of TexMex while working as a chef in Al Paso, and grew a distaste for monoculture agriculture systems in Peru and Argentina—a time when chemical-company Monsanto (now Bayer) expanded its monopoly on the growth of corn. “I hate Monsanto,” he says with a grin. Higareda even took a three-year hiatus from cooking to play professional basketball in Mexico. (When the team sold him to a city he didn’t like, he returned to the kitchen to further explore his love for food.)

OLYMPIC VILLAGETracy GieszJuly 17, 2020CASUAL, PATIO, FARM-TO-TABLE, VANCOUVER, VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, OPEN-LATE, WIFI, COMFORT-FOOD, GLUTEN-FREEComment

¿CóMO? TAPERIA

The Spanish city-inspired eatery, perched inside a corner room on Main street, successfully brings the spirit of Barcelona to North America. The team wanted to celebrate the boisterous Catalan culture they'd come to know and love without resorting to the stereotypes that typically exemplify North American interpretations of European cuisine.

FLOURIST

Bishop and McDermott’s mission was to offer a dry-goods source that focused on traceability: the ability to track food through all stages of production, processing, and distribution. A plan for a café-bakery-mill-and-market amalgamation unfolded: the duo wanted a place where the public could find premium, entirely traceable dry goods grown by Canadian farmers—as well as purchase flour that is stone-milled each day and a treat or two if desired. "We never stock flour in our warehouse," the young women explain.

HIGH STREET ON HUDSON

It's easy to have high standards for bread these days. Gone is the era of pre-ordered, bleached- and enriched-flour loaves delivered to restaurants in twist-tied plastic; thrumming back is the revived ritual of daily baking. Natural yeasts and housemade sourdough starters have become the bedrock of nearly every discerning brunch hub (before they hit our own kitchens). Charred, hardy crusts with sticky, soft centers have become the prized side to artfully-plated entrees at highbrow dining tables. Bread, it seems, is here to stay.

CAFFÈ LA TANA

In North America, it's not often you find a daytime caffè, known for its coffee and pastries, that is also lauded for its handmade pasta. To be fair, Caffè La Tana is the sister establishment of adjoining Pepino's restaurant, an Italian American-themed pasta house with equal emphasis on handcrafted dishes. But the lunchtime pasta menu at the 1,100-square-foot La Tana certainly sets itself apart. The eatery has already gained international media coverage since opening in the fall of 2018—and is much adored for its modish Instagram account which notifies enthusiasts of their daily pasta options.

COMMERCIAL DRIVETracy GieszFebruary 12, 2020Caffé La TanaCASUAL, BAKERY, VANCOUVER, ITALIAN, FARM-TO-TABLE, COFFEE, COMFORT-FOOD, LUNCH, BREAKFASTComment

UBUNTU CANTEEN

There’s a special place in many Vancouverite’s hearts for anything David Gunawan does. His approach to thoughtful food—whether in high cuisine or through casual café fare—has always been something of an anomaly. With his first restaurant, Farmer’s Apprentice, the now-standard of farm-to-table cooking exploded in popularity. But Gunawan put forth his own philosophy which he tied to the locavore trend: kaiseki-style cooking. This more meditative food movement …

NOOK

At both the Olympic Village and Kitsilano locations of the casual-Italian restaurant, service is a blend of unaffected and exceptionally jovial. During dinner, classic rock lingers on the speakers—this is certainly a place that loves its vinyl—and there's a sense of cohesion between the FOH and kitchen staff. Frequently outfitted in KISS, Van Halen, or Fleetwood Mac t-shirts, servers and management rarely give off the sense that they're frazzled—even on incredibly high-volume nights.

OLYMPIC VILLAGETracy GieszNovember 21, 2019COMFORT-FOOD, VANCOUVER, ITALIAN, CASUAL, LUNCH, OPEN-LATEComment

ROW FOURTEEN

At the back of Row Fourteen, a sous chef picks green leaves off a purslane stalk while another slices peaches. The Klippensteins aren't on site: like every weekend, they're in Vancouver. The duo has been selling their family farm's organic produce at the Vancouver Farmers Markets for over a decade: their children often by their side, running the cash (and market coin) tills. Yes, the Klippensteins are dedicated vendors, but from youth, their dream was always to start a restaurant. Today, they can do both.

ST. LAWRENCE

No one at St. Lawrence is trying to impress you. That’s not to say the service isn’t gracious, thoughtful, and even unrivaled at times; it’s to say that they know the food speaks for itself. There is no picking through the menu, carving out the gluten, meat, or dairy: dishes come as the kitchen intends them too. And for good reason. Having won multiple local and national awards in just the two years they’ve been open, the team—a combined experience of decades in Vancouver's most distinct establishments—can relax and just do what they do best: serve up French food and libations.

WILDEBEEST

Wildebeest Executive Chef Ian McHale connects with British Columbia-based foragers—Victoria’s Lance Staples, for example, who forgaes full-time—and sources from small farms such as the family-run Subtilia Ranch and Salt Spring Island’s 120-acre organic Foxglove Farm. Sourcing his nori from Haida Gwaii cultivators, McHale also aims to illustrate the centuries-old knowledge of Indigenous foragers. He spearheaded Wildebeest’s in-house canning routine—preserved fruits and vegetables sustain the restaurant’s menu through less foliaged winter months: Lady Fern fiddlehead vinegar, Grand Fir salt, and pickled wild strawberries, to name a few.

GASTOWNTracy GieszJune 3, 2019FARM-TO-TABLE, VANCOUVER, OPEN-LATE, FINE-DINING, COMFORT-FOOD, MODERN-CANADIAN, LUNCH

DACHI

That same idea eventually became the decree behind Dachi: a strong focus on locality, both in sourcing and in terms of place. Their commitment lies in large part to the community they've moved into. The word ‘dachi’ is a Japanese colloquialism for buddy or pal derived from the word Tomodachi meaning friend. Thus, Dachi is meant to be a place for neighbours; they strive to be a local haunt where one could stop by regularly to learn about the ever-evolving menu, unique selection of natural wines, and distinct sake program.

HASTINGS SUNRISETracy GieszApril 7, 2019CASUAL, PATIO, FARM-TO-TABLE, VANCOUVER, OPEN-LATE, MODERN-CANADIAN, COMFORT-FOODComment

HUNDY

When Their There opened just under a year ago, there was something suspicious about the large walls of light oak paneling that shut off the back part of the café. Perhaps an office for the very busy team behind the highly successful bakery-restaurant duo of Their There and AnnaLena? Or was something else brewing? Understanding proprietors Mikey Robbins and Jeff Parr, who together possess a seemingly unquenchable desire to create, you’d be correct to assume the latter. Fast-forward to December 2018 and a new project was born: an essentials-focused, straight-to-the-chase, late-night burger and fries joint called Hundy.

KITSILANOTracy GieszFebruary 21, 2019CASUAL, FARM-TO-TABLE, COMFORT-FOOD, MODERN-CANADIAN, VEGETARIAN, WIFI, OPEN-LATE, VANCOUVERComment

THEIR THERE

Confetti cruller, chocolate malt cronut, creme brûlée doughnut, honey matcha croissant. The unique pastry themes and flavours behind the ever-changing glass display at this Kitsilano vanguard are the subject of wide-spread buzz. In a city where bakeries seem to be both mushrooming all over *and* bursting at their seams, Their There manages to stand above the crowd. Where else can you get a glass of permaculture-cultivated, skin fermented, barrel aged, BC Pino Blanc with your Paris-Brest or pumpkin cronut?

KITSILANOTracy GieszFebruary 13, 2019VANCOUVER, COMFORT-FOOD, COFFEE, BAKERY, CASUAL, LUNCH, WIFI, MODERN-CANADIANComment

ATLA

A chef who often stops by her local Farmer's Markets, Soto-Innes seems to understand the value of small, permaculture- and biodiverse- focused produce, so this is often what's on your plate at ATLA. The added price for Farmer's Market veggies in place of monoculture grown crops, packs in added minerals, nutrients, and, of course, flavor. It's why you can't really criticize fourteen dollar radishes. In each dish, the flavors mingle decadently. You can attain luscious taste without relying on the conventional salt and fat found in dairy; the herb-rich sauces Soto-Innes weaves into each dish add to a satisfying crunch that is sure to incite new cravings in the days to come.

SOHO-NOLITA, NYCTracy GieszOctober 22, 2018NEW-YORK, PATIO, CASUAL, LUNCH, FARM-TO-TABLE, COMFORT-FOOD, VEGETARIAN, WIFI

THE ARBOR

The Arbor, Vancouver’s newest vegan, comfort-food eatery, is a consolidation of backgrounds ranging from The Acorn (owners Scott Lewis and Shira Blustein) to Farmer's Apprentice and Royal Dinette (Sommelier Paul McCloskey) as well as Bishop’s (Chef Rob Clarke). Fortunately, in pursuing their new endeavour, the team did not retreat from a philosophy of ecologically minded, freshly produced ingredients. The focus on quality transferred over from their respective backgrounds flawlessly, all while creating a complementary inverse to The Arbor’s vegetarian fine dining sister restaurant just five storefronts up Main Street: the still-popular Acorn.

MOUNT PLEASANTTracy GieszJanuary 24, 2018COMFORT-FOOD, LUNCH, CASUALComment

ASK FOR LUIGI

Whenever anyone asks for the 'best pasta spot' in Vancouver, Ask For Luigi is the first off all Vancouverite's lips. Offering an intimate, romantic room, with elegant, informed, and classic service, this Italian-inspired restaurant certainly delivers. Known for its rich yet fresh handmade pasta, the Ask for Luigi enterprise has our generation smitten with pasta again. They also have a team that can deliver to your door, as there is often more demand than the little room can house.

RAILTOWNTracy GieszDecember 19, 2017ITALIAN, COMFORT-FOOD, VANCOUVER, CASUALComment

TIMBERTRAIN

Timbertrain is a vignette of two loves: trains and coffee. Entering into the coffee shop is like stepping into a modernized rail car, the world is bustling and quick to pass by, but here you can settle back as a passenger, have a conversation, drink coffee, peruse the newspaper and enjoy the sites (feel free to hop back into the rat race at any time you like). As kids, the owners Peter, Jeff, and Min had an infatuation for trains, which in turn forged awe for “how trains worked, how trains transported people from one place to another, and most importantly, how trains brought people together.”

GASTOWNTracy GieszAugust 26, 2017COFFEE, VANCOUVER, CASUAL, WIFI, COMFORT-FOOD

Restaurant and café reviews