Vancouver Magazine, April2018

Your Ultimate Tofino To-Do List: Surf, Eat, Play (and Eat Some More) THE RETURN OF THE M C BARGE // EAST SIDE RAILWAY WOES SL EEK SU NGL AS SE S FOR SPR I NG // TAST E T E ST: BE ST BR E A K FAST SA N DW ICHE S // 4/20 L I V E S ON // & MOR E

THE20 20 NEIGHBOURHOODS IN THE CITY

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A P R I L 2 0 1 8 // VO LU M E 5 1 // N U M B E R 3

FE ATURE

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Best Places to Live Now

COVER ILLUSTRATION: ROB DOBI; TRAIN: JUSTUS HAYES; ABOVE AND SNAPSHOT: ARIANA GILLRIE; REVIEWS AND MOVEABLE FEAST: CHRISTIN GILBERT

We’ve crunched the data, and these numbers don’t lie: presenting the VanMag guide to the city’s most livable neighbourhoods.

All Together Now Neighbours mixing and mingling in oh-so-walkable Strathcona, our 16th best ‘hood.

City 7

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7 Reasons to Love Vancouver Our cherry-blossom snowstorms are the best part of spring.

15 The Dish An Arctic char dish born in the Okanagan.

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12 Snapshot Photographer Ariana Gillrie hits up the 4/20 festivities.

Play 39

16 Reviews A fresh look at two rooms: Red Umbrella and Aleph.

8 At Issue A rail line returns to disrupt East Van life.

10 In Brief This month’s must-see play, chasing the runner’s high, and a Q&A with the man who dares to map the data.

Taste

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20 Taste Test Our expert panel determines the city’s best breakfast sandwich.

39 The Destination Craving a hit of West Coast wonder? Tofino awaits.

44 Hot Take Rainy-day styles for looking good through April showers.

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22 Sips Restaurant news and cocktail wisdom.

46 The Accessory Be prepared for when the sun rears its head with these chic shades.

48 About Last Night Fred Lee’s social snaps.

46

50 City Informer What ever happened to the McBarge?

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General Manager | Publisher Dee Dhaliwal Editorial Director Anicka Quin Executive Editor Stacey McLachlan Food Editor Neal McLennan Associate Art Director Natalie Gagnon Associate Editor Julia Dilworth Assistant Art Director Jenny Reed Online Editor Kaitlyn Funk Videographer Mark Philps Contributing Editors Frances Bula, Amanda Ross Editorial Interns Alyssa Hirose, Jessica Palacio, Allie Turner Art Intern Amanda Siegmann Editorial Email mail@vanmag.com Account Managers Judy Johnson, Theresa Tran Sales Coordinator Karina Platon Online Coordinator Theresa Tran Production Manager Lee Tidsbury Advertising Designer Swin Nung Chai Senior Marketing Strategist Kaitlyn Lush Sales Email karina.platon@vanmag.com Vancouver Office 3rd Floor, 2025 Willingdon Avenue Burnaby, B.C. V5C 0J3 604-877-7732 National Media Sales Representation, Mediative Senior Account Manager, National Sales Ian Lederer, 416-626-4258, ian.lederer@ mediative.com U.S. Sales Representation, Media-Corps 1-866-744-9890, info@media-corps.com Yellow Pages Digital and Media Solutions Ltd. Vice-President & Chief Publishing Officer Caroline Andrews

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VANCOUVER MAGAZINE is published 10 times a year by 9778748 Canada Inc. Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the publisher’s written permission. Not responsible for unsolicited editorial material.

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ED NOTE

Love Where You Live

PORTRAIT: EVA AN KHERA J; ST YLING BY LUISA RINO, MAKEUP BY MEL ANIE NEUFELD; CLOTHING COURTESY HOLT RENFREW, HOLTRENFREW.COM. FOOD: LUIS VALDIZON.

And create a few Peak Vancouver days.

ONE LATE-AUGUST DAY last summer, a friend and I had what we refer to as our Peak Vancouver day. We started with a stroll over to Alberni Street to feast on dim sum at Kirin, then packed up our panniers with rosé, books and snacks, and biked to Third Beach to hang out for a few hours. (Oh, summer of rosé, how I miss thee.) We ran into neighbours while swimming (which felt much more kismet-y than if we had spotted them on land), and then towelled off and saddled up for a cross-city bike ride over to the PNE, where there were food trucks, rides, beer gardens and a delightful session at the Dueling Pianos tent.

Thanks to the scream-shot camera over the wooden roller coaster, I have photographic evidence of just how beachy (read: giant) my hair was. And also how big my smile.

We were maxing out our neighbourhoods for the day. We’re both West Enders (I had nothing to do with it being named our top ’hood this issue, I promise—that’s thanks to the cold hard stats from data journalist Chad Skelton), so that’s where we were for a good chunk of time. It was pretty quintessential “livable neighbourhood” that day: embodying some of the legendary urban activist Jane Jacobs’s ideas for what makes a great place to live (like a mix of retail and residential space, a diversity of building types and ages, density and walkability), plus a smattering of qualifiers from the livability index, too: safe transportation (yay, bike lanes), clean environment (a swimmable ocean), social engagement (hey, neighbours!) and more.

Our Best Neighbourhoods story (page 26) this issue takes all of those factors into account, as our executive editor Stacey McLachlan lays out, along with just how that data shifts depending on your personal wants and needs for whatever point you are at in your life. (As a single person, for example, schools and family density are less important to me.) There’s no doubt that most people feel a certain attachment to their own neighbourhood—Vancouver, despite the current housing crisis, still tops many “Most Livable City” lists around the world—but I encourage you to try out the neighbourhood tool we’ve created at vanmag.com/FindYourHood to see how the factors that are important to you might direct you to your best spot to live. And, by all means, share with me your Peak Vancouver days—let there be many of them for all of us in the months to come.

How to Open a Restaurant It takes more than just a good chef to make a new room a success—a solid concept, design smarts, media buzz and a whole lot of luck are important parts of the recipe, too. We go behind the scenes in the lead-up to an anticipated Commercial Drive opening to find out just what it takes to bring a new resto to life.

The 29th Annual Restaurant Awards Our expert judges reveal this year’s big winners, so get ready to make those reservations now to beat the crowds as we name our 2018 champions in dozens of delicious categories.

On the Web Editors’ Picks: The Best Thing We Ate This Week Our editorial team weighs in each week with their musttry dishes from around the city—powerhouse acai bowls, decadent French toast, to-die-for dumplings and beyond.

Follow me on Instagram!

Anicka Quin EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

ANICK A . QUIN @VANMAG . COM

Coming Up Next Issue

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VA N M A G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 8

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VA N M AG .C O M/C I T Y

City

RE ASONS TO LOVE VANCOUVER

Reason #49

ROB RAGLIN

Our snowstorms are pretty in pink.

WHILE THE REST OF CANADA is still struggling with shovels and plows come early spring, Vancouverites are experiencing a snowfall of another variety: cherry blossom petals. But it’s not like we haven’t earned this little hit of natural whimsy. We tough it out through months of flat, all-consuming grey, through fog and sleet and downpours, all for the promise of that light at the end of the tunnel: spring, in all of its blossoming bubble-gum-pink glory. The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival runs April 3 through 29, but you don’t need songs and haikus to celebrate our West Coast flower power—a detour down a side street, beneath a canopy of blooms, is poetry in and of itself.

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City

AT I S S U E

AT ISSUE

Engineering Trouble

A rail line comes back to life in an east-side neighbourhood—and residents are none too pleased.

Amy O’Brian

After A decAde of quiet, the rail line that runs through Strathcona rumbled to life again in January of 2017. With little warning, slowmoving trains began snaking along the previously dormant tracks, causing traffic jams for commuters and noise-related headaches for nearby residents. The tracks, which for years had contributed to the area’s industrial feel—and made for excellent blackberry picking in summer— were suddenly alive.

Between six and 12 trains a day, some in the middle of the night, began screeching and rumbling along the stretch of tracks between the Port of Vancouver and the Glen rail yard on the False Creek flats. Drivers and cyclists travelling to and from downtown suddenly found themselves stopped in their own tracks as trains sluggishly crossed Venables, Union and other streets.

Now, more than a year after the line was reactivated by CN Rail, the trains continue, on no apparent schedule and with no end in sight.

Safety and noise have become major concerns for those living near the tracks, as well as for city officials, who were as surprised as anyone by the dramatic increase in train traffic.

With trains blocking major thoroughfares at peak times, drivers will race the train and try to beat it to the

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crossing, says Winston Chou, Vancouver’s manager of transportation and data management. Meanwhile, cyclists and pedestrians have been reported climbing between train cars, particularly when a train has stopped on the tracks.

“People think, ‘Either I can rush and beat the train, or I’m going to be waiting here for 20 minutes,’”

Chou says. “That’s a problem. From a safety standpoint, people start to do crazy things.”

But while all this traffic disruption and noise might seem unjust, it is all perfectly legal. CN controls the track and has the right to use it.

As for why CN decided to ramp up activity on the line, the answer is less clear. The rail company did not

PHOTO MODIFIED FROM ORIGINAL BY: COSMIC CAT COOKIE

by

AT I S S U E

City

People think, ‘Either I can rush and beat the train, or I’m going to be waiting here for 20 minutes.’ That’s a problem.”

of the Port of Vancouver’s Centerm container terminal. “We’re going through massive expansion at the port, and it could be as much about preparing us for the inevitability of [that],” Fry says.

Brayden Dyczkowski has another theory. He lives with his wife and baby in a Strathcona house about 10 metres from the tracks. He thinks the increase in trains has to do with the 15-year battle over the unused Arbutus tracks, which ended with CP Rail getting about half of the $100 million it was demanding from the city for the sale of the land. The battle came to an end less than a year before CN resumed activity on the Waiting Games Strathcona tracks.

A train grinds through at Venables at Glen Drive.

“It just seems like too much of a Strathcona residents have coincidence,” he says. been frustrated by apparently random schedules Regardless of the reason, the and late-night noise. trains are here to stay. But while Dyczkowski recognizes CN’s right to use the line, he also has expectations about respect from his neighbours— including industrial neighbours valrespond to VanMag’s request for ued at tens of billions of dollars. His comment, but representatives have previously said the change was made primary complaints have to do with CN’s poor maintenance of the fence to restore service to Vancouver’s between his house and the track, and intermodal terminals. the middle-of-the-night shunting.

Pete Fry, a Strathcona resident “The whole train goes bang bang and community advocate, says he’s bang all the way down, almost like heard it has to do with a falling-out between CP and CN, but, said it could a jackhammer in your ear if you’re anywhere within 20 feet of it. It also be a by-product of the growth

shakes our whole house,” Dyczkowski says.

“It’s funny. They don’t seem to do that during the day, but they usually do it between two and four in the morning.”

Dyczkowski, Chou, Fry and others are also concerned about drivers who speed north on Campbell Avenue— past a social housing complex and community centre—when traffic on Prior is stopped by a train.

“There’s not a whole lot of thought to the sheer amount of children who live along that street. It’s kind of scary,” Dyczkowski says. “It feels like it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hit.”

The city has applied for federal funding so it can install early warning message boards, which would allow drivers heading in and out of downtown on Prior and Venables to choose an alternate route if there is a train coming. This could greatly reduce the amount of traffic that runs through Strathcona.

But other than the warning boards and ongoing talks with CN, says Chou, “there are limitations” to what the city can do. “We are trying to encourage CN to be a good neighbour,” Chou says. “[They] are operating rail in an urban environment. It’s not the same as operating it out in the Prairies.”

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City

IN BRIEF

THE E XPERT

Mapping Maverick

Jens von Bergmann, the recently emerged go-to expert on census and housing data in Vancouver, on the rise of the citizen expert and the downfall of the city’s housing market. by

Frances Bula

Q:

So, you’ve become one of Vancouver’s experts, in this new era of self-declared citizen experts, on controversial topics like real estate and housing data. The maps you produce from an application you developed get used by media and parents and government agencies. How did that happen, when you’re not affiliated with an institution?

A:

I started to get interested in housing issues and teardowns.

A friend sent me a census data set from the city. I didn’t know what to do with it, so I made a web map. It sat there for a while until a journalist picked it up to do a story about people reporting less income than they had in shelter costs.

Then other people started asking me all kinds of census data questions. I realized what a pain it was to do census data lookups. So I built Census Mapper as a solution, to make that data accessible.

Q. Had you done anything like that before? What’s your background?

A. I grew up mostly in Bonn [in Germany]. I have a PhD from Michigan State in mathematics, but my area is pure math and string theory. For a while, my wife and I were doing the university thing, both teaching, both at different institutions. Then we spent time in Taiwan, where she’s from, when our kid was young. I built an app for daycare centres in Taiwan, where there are lots of government regulations on daycares, so

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I realized what a pain it was to do census data lookups.”

they keep a lot of records. It’s now used by several of them. Most of the money I make from that goes into business development in Taiwan. When my wife got a job offer here (at UBC, as an associate professor in the faculty of dentistry), we decided to come here and I would figure out what to do for work on my own.

Q. What’s the most popular map from your Census Mapper series?

A. My trick-or-treat map. (It uses census data to map the number of children of prime trick-or-treating age in a neighbourhood.) The prime users are parents around Halloween, trying to figure out how much candy to buy. I get 150,000 people in a couple of days. Some cities push traffic through the roof, like Calgary.

Q. It’s a challenge these days to have rational conversations about topics people are emotional about, like the causes of Vancouver’s housing crisis. You’ve tended to contradict some claims about empty condos or foreign investors.

How do you deal with the conflict?

A. It’s a weird space to be in, especially

Digital Cartographer Von Bergmann’s Census Mapper visually displays stats, like this one showing population density.

because I’m in this space without being a professor. I get hate mail. Partially, my answer to this has been to write a blog post on whatever the issue is, one that contains the entire analysis, data and code, so people can download it.

Some of the conversation I see does worry me. One thing that really bothers me is the idea that people apply the term money laundering to anyone who circumvents Chinese capital controls.

Q. Has your unpaid census work led to anything else?

A. People come to me for analysis—companies, institutions, non-profits. When companies that market real estate to China come to me, I just say no. I have this role in media; I don’t want to compromise that. I’m now working on a new project for Natural Resources Canada, looking at earthquake risk and exposure.

Overall participation in running races was down 7 percent across the province in 2017, partly due to fire- and snow-related cancellations.

Participation in B.C. ultramarathons increased 27 percent in 2017; altogether, 2,536 people finished a 50K+ race in the province last year.

7%

Runguides.com lists 147 running races across the Lower Mainland this year, together totalling more than 2,296 kilometres.

Want a foam party to go with your runner’s high?

A 5K in Abbotsford this June features 2.5 million cubic feet of suds.

km

THE BRE AK DOWN

We’re Going the Distance

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15 km: That’s the longest—and most popular—route at City Running Tours, a new company that combines sweat and side stitches with guided tours of Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Hear that pitter-patter in the dawn and dusk? That’s the sound of 42,000 people hitting the streets to train for the 34th annual Sun Run on April 22. As they work on their lung capacity, we take a look at other ways Vancouver’s fit folk are pounding the pavement. by

159,575

runners finished races across the province in 2017.

Melissa Edwards

11 percent of Vancouverites in a 2015 StatsCan survey were runners, compared with 23 percent who hiked and 25 percent who biked. Twenty percent, meanwhile, did nothing.

11%

23%

25%

20%

THE TICKE T

DAVID COOPER

Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen Among the work of all the countless singer-songwriters of his generation, Leonard Cohen’s is arguably best suited to theatrical interpretation. Virtually all of his songs are plays in miniature: tempestuous love affairs, foreign intrigue, the tightrope walk between comedy and tragedy that is everyday life. So it was surprising that no one thought to do it sooner when, in 2012, Comox Valley-born playwright Tracey Power debuted Chelsea Hotel, in which six performers dramatize (and sing and play) some of Cohen’s most popular hymns to the human odyssey. It subsequently garnered multiple awards and nominations (including Ovation! honours for Outstanding Ensemble Production, Direction and Music Direction), toured Canada and came to be known The Deets among insiders as “the make-out show,” thanks to its Date: March 17 to aphrodisiac-like effect upon audiences. In homage to April 21, 2018 Venue: Firehall Arts Cohen, who passed away in late 2016 at age 82, and Centre, firehallartscentre.ca in celebration of Firehall Arts Centre’s 35th-anniverPrice: $20 to $33 sary season, Chelsea Hotel is remounted for the first time in Vancouver since 2015. —Michael White

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City

SNAPSHOT

Higher Ground

The 4/20 Events Society may not have been able to obtain a permit from the city’s Park Board, but that didn’t stop nearly 40,000 revellers from descending on Sunset Beach last April 20. Under a cloud of smoke that you could spot (and smell) from Burrard Bridge, vendors, activists and weed lovers gathered for one of the city’s most contested holidays. as told to photos by

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Dominika Lirette Ariana Gillrie

1. “We’re not selling anything here in the park, because we don’t believe that we should be able to,” says Joseph Le, owner of the S.W.E.D. (Smoke Weed Every Day) dispensary. Instead, Le hopes to build brand awareness among those with dispensary cards.

“We want to respect the city; we want to respect the policing.

And so we’ve decided that we’re not here to go sell merchandise at the park, because there’s a lot of underage people.”

2. This may be Anna Martin’s last time at Vancouver’s 4/20 for a while. “I’m moving back to Ireland in six weeks,” says Martin, who’s lived here for three years.

However, for today, she’s looking forward to “getting high.”

3. “Basically, I think that it’s important to follow evidencebased science, and all of the evidence says that there’s a lot of good that cannabis can do for people,” says Kali Readwin, who supports legalizing marijuana. “I mean,

look at everybody here having a good time, chill. Like, if everybody was drunk in this kind of situation I feel like there’d be more complications.”

4. Gill Nesbitt is somewhat of a 4/20 connoisseur—she’s been to events in Whistler, St. Maarten, Grand Cayman and Australia. “I grew up in a family that really embraced [marijuana],” says Nesbitt. “There’s been a big liberation for weed in this last year. People don’t realize how much it does.”

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5. Sara Gillingwater, from White Rock, B.C., has been attending 4/20 since she was of legal age, but she is sporting a tamer outfit this year. “Usually I go as a weed fairy, but I thought, you never know the weather.

It could rain; it could almost snow,” says Gillingwater.

“I thought I’d wear something that I can put a hoodie over.”

6. Jayda Thompson, 19, was up at 2 a.m. decorating this $4 T-shirt. “It was a

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last-minute thing,” says Thompson. “I went by Michael’s, got this shirt, cut it.”

7. Former Calgarian Demi Levendale is taken aback by the scale of Vancouver’s event. “Alberta needs to amp it up a lot,” says Levendale.

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8. Every year, Saleem Sheikh comes to 4/20 from Langley with his buddies. “This is actually my sixth time coming here,” says Sheik, a fan of the new Sunset Beach location. “It’s more spacious. You get to get around nicely and freely.”

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9. Kuni Sakurai has been planning on attending this event for over a year. Originally from Japan, he travelled here from Australia just to partake in the day’s festivities.

“It’s very good. I like it,” says Sakurai.

10. Not everyone here is interested in smoking weed. “I actually don’t really smoke,” says Philip Solomonovich. “I just wanted to come for the community vibe.”

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TWO RIVERS MEATS

THE SHOP BUTCHER SHOP & EATERY

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Taste

PHOTO: CLINTON HUSSE Y; ST YLING: L AWREN MONETA

THE DISH

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE HERETOFORE THE word “local,” in terms of Arctic char, applied to only a very narrow band of hardy types that call the Far North home. But a few years ago, Okanagan entrepreneur Gary Klassen brought the fish south and started sustainably farming it near Oliver. His Road 17 (yes, it’s actually four roads away from Road 13 winery) Arctic char has been a runaway hit ever since, with chefs angling to get an allotment, but perhaps nobody

has embraced the concept more than his neighbour, Jeff van Geest at Tinhorn Creek’s Miradoro. The chef sears the medium-firm fish (diners often remark that it seems like a cross between trout and salmon) with a sublime crust, plates it with a sweet pea and clam ragu, adds some puff y ricotta gnudi and then tops it with some foraged black trumpet mushrooms—a mindbendingly local mélange. tinhorn.com/restaurant

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Taste

REVIEWS

EASY DOES IT

Two rooms—one classic, one new—want to be your neighbourhood go-to spot. by

Classic Breakfast

Anicka Quin and Neal McLennan Christin Gilbert

photographs by

The Thing abouT a breakfast place is that it’s pretty difficult to screw up the basics. Eggs, toast, bacon and homefries—with some variation on the latter— are the attraction (and low bar) to many a greasy spoon that brings in the weekend crowd.

And when Mitra Ameri first took over the Red Umbrella café in the West End four years ago, it had been just such a going, if middling, concern for years. But then Ameri did what’s near impossible in Vancouver these days—she elevated the room to a true neighbourhood joint that feels as though it’s been there for decades under her careful watch. She’s in the kitchen seven days a week, cranking out sourdough breads, braising the 12-hour pulled pork for the Cuban sandwich and baking the date squares and lemon slices that line the front counter.

The classic breakfast (two eggs, meat, toast, home fries) is straightforward, though a hasselbacked and grilled Bavarian sausage—and homemade bread for the toast, of course—let you know there’s a chef in the kitchen.

Benedicts are served atop a buttery homemade biscuit instead of the classic English muffin—better to soak up rich hollandaise, but sturdy enough for piling on grilled

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THE DEETS

Red Umbrella

1707 Davie St. 604-688-7818 facebook.com/redumbrellacafe Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Owner Mitra Ameri

mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini, avocado and just-runny eggs. A vegetarian breakfast is artfully presented around a heaping mound of grilled spinach surrounded by a fan of avocado slices, tomatoes and hash browns, and made-toorder eggs.

The brunch wheel isn’t reinvented here—you won’t find tagines or

A Perfect Bennie

particularly creative omelette combinations—but the food is warmly made and presented, in a quirky and crowded space of wooden tables and faux Eames Eiffel chairs that feels like an extension of Ameri’s home kitchen. Just what you’d hope for—if rarely achieved— in those early, pre-caffeinated hours of the morning.

1706 WEST 1ST AVE ARMOURY DISTRICT VANCOUVER 604 683 1116 LIVINGSPACE.COM

Taste

REVIEWS

THE DEETS

Aleph Eatery

1889 Powell St. 604-428-7975 alepheatery.com

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday Lunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (last seating at 1:30 p.m.)

Dinner 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (last seating at 9:15 p.m.)

How can you not have a soft spot for a husband-and-wife restaurant with a website that says: “Food does not take sides and I wish to express this story through creating a place out of the similarities in the Middle East rather than focusing on the differences.”

In the face of such love, what sort of shallow jerk would point out that his $8 side of potatoes came out a full five minutes after he had already finished his $15 halloumi grilled cheese, without so much as a “sorry about that?” Or point out that halloumi, a cheese that doesn’t melt, maybe isn’t the ideal choice for a melted cheese sandwich?

Or recount a story from a fellow patron who, upon pointing out that her pancakes weren’t cooked all the way through, was told they like to serve them “juicy?”

Not me, that’s for sure. I’m the magnanimous sort who’d rather focus on how great that costly bowl of potatoes was—super-crispy, with a beautifully light tahini and what tasted like fresh-grilled peppers, all served in a gorgeous lapis-hued bowl. Or the type to notice that the halloumi had been thoughtfully pre-fried before being grilled in the sandwich in an effort to get it toward an appropriate level of gooiness. Or to enjoy a light, airy

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Halloumi Grilled Cheese Pricey Potatoes

The halloumi had been thoughtfully pre-fried before being grilled.

space so cute and rough-hewn that I assume they’re violating some civic ordinance by not selling copies of Kinfolk. If you’re a sweetheart like me, then Aleph will leave you happy.

But if you’re like that aforementioned jerk in the first paragraph, you’re probably best to skip it. You’ll be too busy griping about the lack of parking to feel the love anyway.

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Birds and the Beets

BEST IN SHOW

“That crunch is phenomenal,” said Levykh as she bit into the toasted house-baked ciabatta. Topped with cheesy, soft scrambled eggs, pickled red onion, fresh greens and a spicy soy mayo, this sandwich had everything the judges were looking for. $7.50, 55 Powell St. / 54 Alexander St., birdsandbeets.ca

Taste

T H E TA S T E T E S T

THE BREAKFAST CLUB

There’s nothing a breakfast sandwich can’t do. Fuel an eighthour road trip? No problem. Energize a gossip-filled brunch? You bet.

Cure a mind-numbing hangover?

Oh, hell yes. And according to three local foodies, these are the ones that’ll do it all best.

Kaitlyn Funk Clinton Hussey styLINg by Lawren Moneta by

photo by

Say Hey Cafe

Our taste testers wanted to like Say Hey’s breakfast hoagie more than they did, but the tarragon aioli was overwhelming.

They did appreciate the smoky ham and fried shallots, though: “They put in a really good effort,” said Hirose. $10.50, 156 E Pender St., sayheycafe.ca

McDonald’s

We threw the original breakfast sandwich in as a control, but the classic Egg McMuff in (so perfectly round that it was compared to Lunchables) didn’t fool any of the judges.

“It tastes like plastic,” they all agreed. $3.60, various locations, mcdonalds.ca

Save On Meats

The judges didn’t like Save On Meats’ decision to use “overpowering” processed cheese slices (“Real it up a little more,” said one).

Combined with a too-buttery English muff in and a bland piece of ham, all was lost. $6.95, 43 W Hastings St., saveonmeats.ca

Meet the Judges

HONOUR ABLE MENTION

Lucky’s Doughnuts

Follow @vanmag_com and

look for the #VMTasteTest hashtag for your chance to be a judge

Lucky’s fully loaded egg burger (maple bacon, cheddar cheese, garlic aioli, caramelized onions, tomato relish) may be messy, but each judge agreed “it’s a really goddamn good sandwich.” And despite being full near the end of the tasting, they all wanted more: “I could easily eat that entire thing,” said Briscoe. $9, 689 Thurlow St., luckysdoughnuts.com

Jenna Briscoe is front-of-house manager at the perennially busy Café Medina; for the tasting, we took her out of her comfort zone (around-the-block lineups) for a grab-and-go-style breakfast.

Anya Levykh is a food, drink and travel writer— and a VanMag Restaurant Awards judge—with a particular love for hearty breakfast sandwiches: “It’s everything in one good handful.”

Alyssa Hirose is a VanMag intern! When she’s not busy taste-testing (you’re welcome), you can find her in the classroom or on the improv comedy stage at UBC.

BA K E R

D EL L ARO B B I A

A L I VA R

L E E

A R K E T I P O

M

S A B A

S A N G I A C O M O

G A M M A

C

G U I R E

EXCEPTIONAL INDOOR & OUTDOOR FURNISHINGS

Furniture Showrooms: 1855/1880 Fir Street Armoury District Vancouver 604.736.8822 Mon - Sat 10-5:30 pm broughaminteriors.com

Taste

SIPS

by

Neal McLennan

THE (NEW) MOST BEAUTIFUL WINERY IN B.C.

LIQUOR LESSON

5 Types of IPAs You Should Know

West Coast Often uses West Coast hops, like cascade, which impart a huge citrus fruit wallop to go with the bitter. East Coast or Northeast Coast is an altogether more malty and less tame IPA. Try: Russell Punch Bowl

Hazy An unfiltered cloudy style, with lower carbonation and an orange rind/melon taste.

Generally less bitter. Sometimes called New England or Juicy. Try: Parallel 49 Trash Panda

THE YEAR WAS 1996, and a dreamer of an Okanagan winemaker hooked up with an up-and-coming Seattle architect and created a winery—Mission Hill—that somehow managed to appeal to both modernist and classicist simultaneously. Fast forward 22 years and Anthony Von Mandl’s (the aforementioned dreamer) vision for an ultra-premium pinot noir and riesling winery needed a home that would express its world-beating aspirations.

Cue the return of the up-and-comer—Tom Kundig—now one of the most in-demand architects in North America. The result is a showstopper of minimalism snaking down the West Kelowna hillside. Gone is the softness of Mission Hill, both in design and interaction—you’ll need an appointment to visit and the $100 wine is on allotment, but such is the price of progress, folks.

THE EVENT

Milkshake No milk added, but there are lactose sugars, which impart some thickness and fruitiness.

Not crazy bitter. Try: Bridge Brewing The Fuzz

BC Distilled

Fresh Hop Comes only for a brief time in the early fall, when hops are ripe and dumped in without drying. Floral, herbal and fresh. Try: Stanley Park Fresh Hop Red IPA

What a difference a half decade makes. The inaugural event was a cozy affair, with 17 pioneers, like Liberty and Odd Society, taking home the hardware. This year’s festival takes place on April 14, and while it’s still at the Croatian Cultural Centre, it has now grown to become the largest event of its kind in Canada. bcdistilled.ca

Visit vanmag.com/taste for more food and spirits.

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BC DISTILLED: WILD HEARTS COLLECTIVE

Single-Hopped Like it says—uses only a single hop strain, like Citra or Amarillo, to flavour the beer.

Try: Twin Sails Dat Juice

Client: C|Prime / Size: 4.6” X 4.9” / CMYK / Vancouver Magazine

NE WS

Shame, Shame, Shame

In late January, the provincial government raided four establishments—Vancouver’s Fets Whisky Kitchen, along with Victoria’s Union Club and Little Jumbo, and Nanaimo’s Grand Hotel—to seize bottles from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, almost $40,000 worth with respect to Fets.

Let’s unpack this mess. In B.C.: 1 Bars are only allowed to

A NEW YORK ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER Reflected in its carefully crafted menu, C|Prime puts a premium on locally sourced and curated ingredients. Using the finest cuts of BC-raised meats, fresh seafood, vegetables and cheeses paired with innovative, rich sauces and salts, the restaurant offers incomparable dishes that showcase both Italian and New York inspired flavours.

buy liquor from the Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB), and

2 That same LDB also brings in

the special whisky in question to private stores, but…

3 It’s verboten for bars to buy

from those stores, even though the taxes have been fully paid and the LDB doesn’t stock the whisky for bars to buy.

So, these bars have been operating in this grey area for years—but not anymore. The whisky has been seized and, as of press time, there was no suggestion it was coming back. On the plus side… just kidding; there is no plus side, just yet another sad reminder that we live in far and away the worst liquor jurisdiction in Canada.

Located in the Century Plaza Hotel

1015 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y5 T (604) 684 3474 F (604) 682 5790

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All You Need to Know

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Jon Bonné is the best wine writer in North America right now, and maybe in the world. His New California Wine not only documented the Golden State’s back-to-basics wine revolution, it also helped spur it on. And while that book was deep into nerdy territory, this new tome, The New Wine Rules, is a more manageable first step into becoming a more informed and thoughtful wine connoisseur. Best wine book of the year.

for your chance to win Blundstone boots.

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Untitled-1 1

2018-01-26 3:56

Cover Story

BEST NEIGHBOURHOODS

Best Places Whether you’re moving to the city, relocating across town or looking to put down roots, we’ve crunched the numbers for you to determine Vancouver’s most livable ’hoods right now. by

Stacey McLachlan Data CoLLECtED aND aNaLyZED by Chad Skelton Ariana Gillrie ILLUstratIoNs by Rob Dobi

How We Did It We have our fair share of lively debates here at VanMag HQ—whether macarons are still a thing, whether the Sylvia Hotel is haunted, et cetera, et cetera—but “What’s the best neighbourhood in Vancouver?” was the question that really brought the heat. Suddenly, it was east-siders versus west-siders, trendiness versus longevity, and hours of production time lost as we argued over the specific boundaries of whatever “the Fraserhood” is.

But subjectivity can take one only so far when it comes to finding an answer. After duking it out and doing our research (we are professionals, after all), we finally put our opinions aside and boiled “livability” down to its

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VA N M A G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 8

THE QUALIFIERS

Lots of good restaurants and cafés //Great for biking, walking or transit //Plenty of green space //Low crime // Long-term residents // A mix of owners and renters //Affordable // Ethnically diverse // Educated and civically engaged neighbours

bare bones. Beyond lifestyle preferences and the intangible—and deeply personal— cool factor, we could all agree on a few things (see our full wish list to the left): a great urban neighbourhood will always be walkable, have reliable neighbours and feel safe and connected.

Our qualifiers established, we then turned to the expert, award-winning data journalist Chad Skelton, to mine stats and figures for analytic gold. Skelton worked with us to define quantifiable measurements for everything on our

NATALIE GAGNON

LoCatIoN photography

to Live Now

list, from trustworthy data sources like Stats Can and the City of Vancouver. To determine ethnic diversity, for example, he measured the chance that any two people, chosen at random, will be of a different race; for biking, walking or transit, he collected data on all the commuters who get to work without a car.

A few editorial decisions were made once the numbers were in hand. UBC ranked highly in all of our qualifying categories, but we agreed that recommending the campus to non-students was unrealistic. We cut a few lower-profile residential ’hoods from the comparison altogether (no offense, Arbutus Ridge!) to focus on the more diversely developed areas of the city. Ultimately, though, it was the cold, hard data that decided our 2018 Best Neighbourhood—the West End. (Just a coincidence that this is

where our editorial director, Anicka Quin, happens to live…though that hasn’t stopped her from gloating.)

Of course, everyone (not just our opinionated editors) needs something different from a community—access to running trails, a great ramen bar, a safe place for your kids to play, a lively singles scene. Though each of the neighbourhoods on this list may be great, they’re also just a starting point—so we’ve put Skelton’s amazing interactive neighbourhood finder tool at vanmag.com/ FindYourHood for you to tweak for yourself. Play around with categories that mean the most to you, find your personal best neighbourhood and then let us know where you landed. Because even after putting this issue to bed, we know this is one debate that may never reach an end.

VA N M A G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 8

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ER

West End

There’s a reason the West End ranks at the top of our livability index.

I FELL IN LOVE with the West End before I ever set foot inside Canada. It’s the pin-up in that billion-dollar Tourism Vancouver beauty shot: all gleaming high-rises; the ocean hugging the beachfront shoreline; Stanley Park glowing greenly at its tip, with snow-capped mountains rising majestically to complete the can’t-believe-it’s-notPhotoshopped image of perfection.

When I moved to the city in 2012, I wound up in a sublet in Kits and would longingly stare at what felt like the “real” Vancouver across the water. As soon as I could leave, I did so, and found my home among the gay bars, gyoza joints, all-night supermarkets, beautiful beaches and gorgeous green spaces of the West End. I loved that

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VA N M A G . C O M

Nikki Bayley

this was where the city comes to party: for Pride, for the annual fireworks, the concerts in Malkin Bowl and movies in the park. I loved its easy walkability, discovering the beauty of Mole Hill, the heritage homes scattered like hidden treasures, the summer market in Nelson Park and the contrary joy of snickering at the drum circle and firestick twirlers at Third Beach while secretly loving them.

From nesting crows randomly dive-bombing our heads in the spring to the nightly urban adventure of dodging skunks and begging tourists to stop feeding raccoons: we might be in the heart of the city, but our leafy ’hood is alive with nature. And if you ever need a break from the gleeful shimmer of the disco lights strung along Davie

Fairview

South Granville

Chinatown

12345 West End

Top 10 Most Livable Vancouver Neighbourhoods

by

1 Downtown

THE WINN

11 False Creek 12 West Point Grey 13 Main Street/Riley Park/Mount Pleasant 14 Commercial Drive 15 South Cambie

Nature Calls in the West End

66%

of the West End is green space

9 PARKS

Stanley, Nelson, Devonian Harbour, Morton, Alexandra, English Bay Beach, Sunset Beach, Barclay Heritage, Ceperley

Cover Story

BEST NEIGHBOURHOODS

Street or the noisy bustle of hungry diners as they wait in lineups to devour bowls of ramen and triple-fried Korean chicken on Denman and Robson, escape is a few minutes away into the hush of Stanley Park, our big and beautiful backyard. I fall in love with the city every single time I walk around Lost Lagoon, seeing those glass high-rises glittering across the water, framed by soaring firs.

The first apartments in the West End were just three floors high, then six, and in the ’60s and ’70s, an orgy of high-rise building broke out, with more than 200 towers pushing their way into the skyline. The West End became one of the most densely populated areas in North America, and that hodgepodge of people living in close quarters blossomed into a network of communities. From the LQBTQ+ support of Qmunity to the Gordon Neighbourhood House on Broughton, with their almost-daily community lunches and programs of everything from qigong to family-friendly play sessions and social events for twenty- and thirtysomethings, there’s a deep sense of community in

The Vibe: Friendly beachside hangout Average Monthly Rent: $1,287 Average Home Price: $635,738 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Hit up Score for out-of-control Caesars; the seawall for dodging rollerbladers and taking in the ocean views; Maple Leaf Bakery for giant apple fritters.

Locals Say: “You’ll never feel unwelcome or out of place here.

It’s a cute residential neighbourhood in the middle of downtown, next to a beach so beautiful they called it ‘Sunset.’ Eat it, every other neighbourhood.”

—Caitlin Howden, 35, director at Blind Tiger Comedy and member of the Sunday Service

Kitsilano

Railtown

Coal Harbour

Yaletown

Gastown

678910

16 Strathcona 17 Killarney/Fraserview 18 Hastings-Sunrise 19 Kensington-Cedar Cottage/Fraser Street 20 Marpole 21 Kerrisdale 22 Dunbar 23 Shaughnessy

Cover Story

BEST NEIGHBOURHOODS

Find Your Scene

Try as we might to narrow down our “best neighbourhood” criteria to a few universal factors, the fact is that neighbourhoods can be beloved for reasons that are not necessarily one-size-fits-all.

So we’ve done some further calculating to offer some data-based suggestions for finding the right ’hood for your lifestyle. Follow the arrows…

It’s a plan that Green Party councillor Adriane Carr voted against, over fears that the Georgia, Alberni and Burrard developments would push land prices sky-high (which they have) but, an optimist at heart, Carr says she remains hopeful for the “interior” of the West End—which has limited opportunities for increased density, and for the positives of the plan: increasing community support and maintaining the leafy green centre of the West End. I know that the West End is going to change with such increased density, and although Peter Meiszner, editor-in-chief at UrbanYVR, a Vancouver-based real estate, architecture and urban-planning news website, tells me that “the city’s West End Plan has pushed up land values so high because of the increased density now allowed that luxury condos are really the only thing that make economic sense,” I know we’ll find a way for our communities to stay strong; after all, if you’re going to live in Vancouver, there’s simply nowhere better to live than the West End, and all of us residents know that. Each spring brings the beauty of cherry blossoms to our streets. It’s an appropriate natural phenomenon for this ever-evolving ’hood: sakura viewing is meant to teach us that beauty is fleeting, that we should enjoy what we have right now. Part of loving any urban neighbourhood is accepting change and savouring the moment—and keeping the spark alive in this magical place while it’s here.

City-Slicker Seniors Vancouver’s Oldest ’Hoods AVER AGE AGE

Who’s Making Bank?

The Highest Yaletown Dunbar Incomes in $88,789 $92,818 Vancouver

South Cambie Fairview Shaughnessy

$143,155

False Creek

52 52

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ANDY DIXON PORTRAIT: TREVOR BRADY

the ’hood—and, in a city that has a rep for social isolation and being tough on newcomers, the West End welcome is especially warm.

Of course, in this city, that warmth comes at an increasingly high price. When I got here, you could easily find a decent apartment for around $1,000 a month; five years later, that’s simply not possible. “The challenges in the West End are partly because it is so desirable,” says MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert. “Rents have gone crazy; long-time residents are really squeezed and hit by large rises; we have an occupancy rate of 99.6 percent in the West End, and there’s steep competition for that 0.4 — I VA N D E C K E R , Juno-Nominated Comedian percent.” Although Herbert’s team has done essential work helping end fixed-term tenancy loopholes and outlawing the odious Geographical Area Increase clause (a clause in the Residential Tenancy Act that said a landlord should be able to charge more to existing tenants if other nearby rents were higher), he says that as a government they’re playing catch-up: “I’m a positive guy, but we need to make changes to stop it becoming a playground for the rich.”

With luck, those safeguards will be in place as we transition through the West End Community Plan, which currently has 10 towers under construction with another four on the way, and seeks to add some 7,000 to 10,000 new residents over the next 30 years.

The West End’s got that village feel right in the middle of downtown.

You’re close to the ocean or a forest and also any kind of food your little tummy desires.

Sure, there’s a big hill and crows attack you if you decide to eat a muffin on a park bench alone, but that’s a trade I am willing to make.”

Honourable Mentions

The Vibe: Heritage blended with hipsterdom Average Monthly Rent: $741 Average Home Price: $583,725 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Japanese-Italian fusion at the always-busy Kissa Tanto; the best barbecue buns at New Town; eastside-cool workouts at Tight Club.

Locals Say: “One side of my family originally settled here when they arrived in Canada.

The other side owned one of the first Chinese restaurants in Vancouver; if it were still standing, it would be only a few blocks from my apartment.”

—Geoff Louie, 29, accountant

ARIANA GILLRIE

These runner-up ’hoods scored high on our livability index and proved there’s plenty on offer beyond the beach.

2

Chinatown

3

South Granville

The Vibe: High-end shopping plus charming heritage low-rises Average Monthly Rent: $1,363 Average Home Price: $804,606 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Grab chi-chi drinks at West, then fulfill your reno fantasies at the dozen home decor shops that line the SoGra strip.

Locals Say: “It’s my favourite area to stroll on a sunny day. It’s full of beautiful pre-war apartment buildings, and there are always neighbourhood dogs to say hello to. Plus, the wild mushroom gnudi at Fiore on 12th are delicious little pillows from heaven.”—Sally White, 31, creative director at Owl Crate Jr.

Where to Find Millennials (or Avoid Them) Vancouver’s Youngest ‘Hoods

AVER AGE AGE

Downtown

34 37 38

Main Street

South Granville

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD

If You Love Getting into Civic Debates

South Granville residents had the highest voter turnout at the last provincial election: 67 percent made it out to the polls.

Chinatown is arguably the densest and most lively area of Vancouver. It has an abundance of energy and spirit, and contains some of my favourite bars and restaurants like Bao Bei, Bestie and, just south of the viaduct, Upstairs at Campagnolo, Pizza Farina and the Boxcar.

The last two are side by side, and one can bring the pizza into the bar.” — A N DY DI XON , Visual Artist

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4

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD

If You Want to Discuss Philosophy

The people of Dunbar are the most educated lot—66 percent of the adult population rocks a post-secondary degree.

Fairview

The Vibe: Sleepy—but just a short walk away from action in any direction Average Monthly Rent: $1,279 Average Home Price: $684,255 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Coffee at Elysian before a workout at Gymbox—gotta be fit to climb that Oak Street hill.

Locals Say: “The Laurel Street land bridge starts on the corner of West 7th Avenue and crosses over 6th Avenue. I love that you don’t really know when you’re on it—it’s a really beautiful example of landscape integration.”

—Marianne Amodio, 46, architect

5

Downtown

The Vibe: Big-city bustle Average Monthly Rent: $1,692 Average Home Price: $785,058 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Shop-hop Robson’s swanky brand-name stores and get lost in the Holt Renfrew Beauty Hall; peruse the food truck options outside the Vancouver Art Gallery as carefully as the art inside.

Locals Say: “The food court at International Village is surprisingly wonderful, especially Bali Thai and Canra Sri Lankan, and you can buy literally everything you need at Yokoyaya. But I would recommend never going to Jam Cafe because there is no brunch in the world worth that lineup.”—Michelle Cyca, 30, writer

Where the Rental Cheques Flow Neighbourhoods with the Most Renters

Chinatown

96%

Railtown

95%

Gastown

90%

Dunbar

86% Where to Find Mortgage Maniacs Shaughnessy 79% Neighbourhoods Hastings-Sunrise with the Most 68% Homeowners

It’s a Small World The Cultural Makeup of the Most Ethnically Diverse ’Hood: Killarney/ Fraserview

6

Gastown

The Vibe: Techies and tourists collide on boutique-lined cobblestone streets Average Monthly Rent: $914 Average Home Price: $644,599 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Work your way through the 50 beers on the menu at the Alibi Room; stock up on fashion basics at Frank and Oak. Locals Say: “I live and work in Gastown, so I basically never leave. In the afternoon, I like to head over to Crab Park with friends for a barbecue and soak up the sun; it’s not uncommon to see something unexpected, from an interpretive dance performance to a brass band on parade.”—Kristyn Stilling, 37, film producer

11,675 Chinese 2,970 British 2,760 Filipino

BEST NEIGHBOURHOODS

Cover Story

1,995 South Asian 1,715 German 670 Italian 600 African

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD

For Families

Kids rule in West Point Grey (as do schools and parks): 15 percent of the neighbours are under the age of 15.

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD

for Food Bloggers...

Gastown has 150 restaurants and coffee shops per 10,000 people. (No stats so far on how good the lighting in each is for Instagram shots, though.)

…and Those Who Hate Driving The vast majority

of Gastownians have ditched their wheels: 74 percent of them bike, transit or walk to work.

VA N M A G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 8

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BEST NEIGHBOURHOODS

7

With tons of green space, long-term residents and an educated population, Seymour/Deep Cove is the most livable neighbourhood on the North Shore.

Yaletown

The Vibe: West Coast yuppie paradise Average Monthly Rent: $1,910 Average Home Price: $1,095,068 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Early morning SoulCycle sweat sessions; scones at Small Victory; vodka tonics at the Distillery Bar and Kitchen.

Locals Say: “Being a first-time mom actually means I can only do one or two things out of the house a day, but spreading doggie play dates at Coopers’ Park and Hurricane Grill patio brunches throughout the week makes it a great place to live.”—Deirdré Fang, 30, standardized-patient trainer

8 Hey, Big Spenders Average Home Price

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD If You Don’t Mind the Bridge

Coal Harbour

The Vibe: Polished and serene Average Monthly Rent: $1,823 Average Home: $1,358,013 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Cycle the seawall to earn that hot chocolate from Mink.

Locals Say: “It’s the best location for North Shore mountain views and seaplane watching, with easy access to the West End, downtown, Stanley Park and the North Shore.”—Maureen Leyland, 62, retired lawyer

VANCOUVER

Shaughnessy Dunbar West Point Grey NORTH SHORE

Caulfeild Seymour Lonsdale

$3.3 M $2.9 M $2.8 M $2.9 M $1.19 M $901 K

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD

For Pet Owners

There are 6.3 pet care services or vet clinics per 10,000 people in South Cambie , so a medical professional or solid grooming session are always within paw’s reach.

PHOTOS: ARIANA GILLRIE; ILLUSTRATION: ROB DOBI

Cover Story

BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD To Get to Know Your Neighbours

People like to settle in and stay awhile in Hastings-Sunrise : 65 percent of residents have lived in the same home for at least five years.

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BEST NEIGHBOURHOODS

Cover Story

Railtown

The Vibe: Gritty and up-and-coming Average Monthly Rent: $560 Average Home Price: $679,218 Neighbourhood Dream Day: The Settlement Building is home to Postmark Brewing and excellent brunch spot Belgard Kitchen; find modern Québecois cuisine at the buzzy St. Lawrence and handcrafted furniture from Hinterland Design.

Locals Say: “Railtown still feels very quiet and removed from the city, even if it’s just blocks away. Once people come here, they often stay.”

—Kate Horsman, nutritionist at Rebel Health

For Singles Ready to Mingle

54 percent of Railtowners are unattached: chat up that cutie at Ask for Luigi.

Kitsilano

The Vibe: Chill but connected Average Monthly Rent: $1,512 Average Home Price: $1,277,759 Neighbourhood Dream Day: Snag a spot on Darby’s second-floor patio— with views for miles—on a sunny day; the beach and Arbutus Greenway offer a little nature escape from the city.

Locals Say: “Walk down to 4th for breakfast pizza at Nook, hop on the bikes, cruise the Greenway, end up down at the Kits dog beach—it’s all the perks of a regular beach, plus cute dogs.”—Colin —Colin Sharp, 28, copywriter

IMAGE CREDIT

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BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD

VA N M A G . C O M A P R I L 2 0 1 8

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Cover Story

BEST NEIGHBOURHOODS

The Up-and-Comers

One big new development and everything can change—or at least that’s what we’re expecting in these ’hoods to watch. by

Jennifer Van Evra

Commercial and Broadway

Commercial Drive is one of the most vibrant areas of the city, but it has yet to see residential towers move in—due largely to intense neighbourhood opposition. That will change in a big way with the new Westbank- and Revery Architecture-led development at Commercial and East Broadway. Current plans include four towers, the tallest at 24 storeys; 649 condo units that mix affordable rentals, market condos and co-op spaces; more than 10,000 square feet of retail space; and an off-site public plaza that’s modelled after New York’s High Line, with terraced seating, a concourse and a children’s playground. The “vertical village” also boasts bright hues and large patios to mimic the area’s colourful homes and garden spaces, while a grand staircase that connects to the SkyTrain entrance provides plenty of Drive-worthy hangout space.

Oakridge With the arrival of the Canada

Line, the entire Cambie corridor has become a locus of development, including at Oakridge, where Westbank, QuadReal and Henriquez Partners Architects have teamed up on a massive redesign. They’re not set in stone yet, but current plans include 10 towers up to 44 storeys that mix commercial and office spaces, as well as a whopping 2,000 residential units—roughly 600 of them market and affordable rentals. There will be plenty of public amenities, too, among them a new civic centre, a community centre, a public library, a seniors’ centre, a cultural space and more than seven acres of street- and roof-level park, complete with community gardens. And if you’re a diehard shopper, fear not: the mall is slated to remain open during construction, which is expected to take more than six years.

Downtown

Reportedly inspired by the form of a church pipe organ, the Butterfly—which will occupy the lot adjacent to the First Baptist Church at Burrard and Nelson—is upping the bar on luxury in the area. At 57 storeys, the artful Revery Architecture-designed residential tower will be the thirdtallest building in the city. At $1.9 million for a 630-square-foot unit, the curve-heavy building, which boasts outdoor breezeways with three-storey trees, elegant Italian kitchens and other ritzy finishes, is also reaching lofty heights in terms of price. To help alleviate significant community concerns, the development also comes with the restoration of the 107-year-old church, along with funding for its services, including below-market rental housing, child-care facilities, programs for youth and seniors, a counselling centre and a new social-housing building.

Northeast False Creek It’s still

years away, but the upcoming development that will have the biggest impact on Vancouver’s landscape—and skyline—is the overhaul of Northeast False Creek. With the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts gone, downtown and East Vancouver will be integrated in a way they haven’t been for decades. The final plans include new condo towers, a waterfront district with a destination park that can accommodate festivals and events, an ice rink and community centre, 1,800 affordable housing units, a more efficient street network, an emphasis on historic communities and more. For some, however, the potential loss of judiciously protected mountain views is raising red flags; others are concerned that too much prime waterfront turf will go to condos. Just to the east, the groundbreaking new St. Paul’s Hospital and integrated health campus—roughly 14 football fields in size—will add to the area’s sea change.

South Granville

“I’ve seen small produce stores change over into high-end boutiques, Vij’s left us for Cambie—but we gained spots like Heirloom and Storm Crow. The unique apartment names and colours have mostly stayed the same, for which I’m grateful.”—Christine McAvoy, 33, photographer, resident for 10 years

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Kitsilano

“Many old houses of various design have been torn down, replaced by newer, multi-storey condo buildings; great bike lanes have been created; property prices and rents have made it impossible for a lot of people to stay here. It has become a neighbourhood for the wealthy.”—Christer Waara, 64, videographer, resident for 22 years

Renfrew–Collingwood

“Inside the Tim Hortons on Kingsway at Tyne, you’ll see Syrian refugees sitting across from Chinese seniors. Pass by the grocery stores, the churches, the Neighbourhood House—you won’t find kombucha on tap, but you’ll find neighbourliness, where everyone is actually welcome.

It’s a place in constant flux. That’s the beauty of it.”

—Jason Hsieh, 33, planner, resident for 20 years

CHRISTINE MCAVOY PORTRAIT: LEIGH ELDRIDGE

Long-time Vancouverites on How Their Neighbourhoods Have Changed.

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TO F I N O T I M E / H OT S H A D E S / R A I N PR O O F WA R D R O B E

VA N M AG .C O M/G O

Play Natural Wonder It’s peak rainforest along Tofino’s Hot Springs Cove boardwalk with its fern beds, cedar underpasses and moss for miles—and the payoff at the end of the path is just as sweet.

HARDO MÜLLER

TR AVEL

INTO THE WOODS

Whether you’re scoping out the almost-magical coastal wilderness or feasting on the world-class dishes that are served up with small-town charm, Tofino has got a little something for every itinerary. by

Julia Dilworth and Stacey McLachlan

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T H E D E S T I N AT I O N

Come Hungry l CAFFEINATE AND CARBO -LOAD

Tofino Coffee Roasting Co.

112-605 Gibson St. There’s no room to sit down in this compact café, but the small square footage appropriately reflects the small-batch ethos of the roasting process. Besides, there’s no shortage of picturesque spots nearby to enjoy your strong Americano and perfectly flaky twice-baked almond croissant. tofinocoffeeroasting.com

Kuma

AF TERNOON DELIGHT

Shelter

Wolf in the Fog’s chef Nicholas Nutting out foraging for lastminute additions to the restaurant’s evening menu.

601 Campbell St. Open since 2004, Shelter has got their casualfine experience down to a science at this point.

The vibe is that of a laid-back island version of Cactus Club (no surprise that Richard Jaffray is a silent investor), but the local focus of the menu gives it a delicious sense of place: think BLTs with house-smoked salmon, Marina Island littleneck clams and free-run saltand-pepper wings. shelterrestaurant.com NICE TO ME AT YOU

Picnic Charcuterie

STELL AR SANDWICH

RedCan Gourmet

700 Industrial Way “Artisan” and “hoagie” aren’t usually used in the same sentence, but there’s no other way to describe the excellent sandwiches RedCan whips up using fresh-baked baguettes and smoked brisket. Get yours to go and bring it across the street to Tofino Brewing Co.—it’ll pair perfectly with your tasting flight. redcangourmet.com

DRE AM DINNER

Wolf in the Fog

150 4th St. In 2014, Wolf was named EnRoute’s best new restaurant in Canada, and four years later chef Nicholas Nutting is still at the top of his game. Each dish—from crispy potato-crusted oysters to a shiitake-infused seaweed salad to the fall-off-the-fork hot smoked char—is a forager’s dream, spotlighting regional treasures and the seasonal harvest with stunning presentation and an impeccable depth of flavour. The excellent cocktails (we loved the cedar sour) are just a bonus. wolfinthefog.com NIGHT Y-NIGHTCAP

THE HAPPIEST HOUR

Kuma

101-120 4th St. Pop in for happy hour at this mod take on a Japanese izakaya—though it’s a struggle not to spoil your appetite for dinner here.

Pair your Sapporo tallboy with the grilled chicken karaage rice balls, house ramen with braised pork belly and Bear tuna (local albacore with tamari-truff le vinaigrette spread onto crunchy crostini). kumatofino.com

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The Hatch

634 Campbell St. The pub may be under new management—part of a revitalization of the Tofino Resort and Marina property this past summer—but it boasts Tofino’s oldest liquor licence, so it’s the only place in town open until 2 a.m. On tap at the horseshoeshaped bar, find options from West Coast craft brews (and sourdough-crust pizzas from the kitchen’s wood-fired oven, should you somehow feel hungry again). tofinoresortandmarina.com

Picnic Charcuterie

Tofino Brewing Co.

TOFINO BREWING CO.: MARK McKEOUGH; HATCH: JEREMY KORESKI; STARFISH: DAVID J. L APORTE; HOT SPRINGS COVE: FEDERICO MORONI

117 Industrial Way It’s a carnivore’s dream in Picnic’s tiny storefront, where the display cases are packed to the brim with salamis, sausages and cured meats that are butchered and aged on-site. Stock up on thick slabs of hand-cut bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast, or slice up chunks of chanterelle salami to eat then and there. picniccharcuterie.com

Explorers’ Club Time to get outside.

Shelter

Wolf in the Fog’s cedar sour cocktail

Soak Up the Natural Hot Springs This isn’t a below-ground hot tub in the woods. When you finally reach Hot Springs Cove (more on that later), a winding wooden trail through the rainforest delivers you at a deep rock crevice that snakes down to the oceanfront. It’s filled with small pools of steaming natural hot-spring water (which typically sit at around 109°F), with the hottest temps at the most inland point, spraying madly from the rocks up top. Sit in the narrow waist-deep pools and enjoy the hydrotherapy session against a score of waves crashing down below. If you bring in food, the local husky-mix dogs will find you and sniff you up and down for scraps (don’t give in!).

Getting there At 27 nautical miles northwest of Tofino in Maquinna Provincial Park, it’s boat or plane.

We recommend you do both: Jamie’s Whaling Station and Adventure Centre tours you around Clayoquot Sound for two hours to spot grey whales on your way there, and then you get to pile into a float plane to zip back—20 minutes and you’re back in Tofino, ready for the next adventure ($199 for adults; $179 for kids three to 12). jamies.com Easy (Even for You) Beginner Surfing Lesson Surfing scares the pants off many a non-Olympic swimmer, and that’s why Tofino is the best place to try it. Long, flat beaches mean the rising water gradient is slow, and therefore the swimming chops required are totally average. Yes, you can drown in an inch of water, but at waist-deep with your feet firmly planted in the soft sand, the ocean seems far less threatening.

First-timers should book a lesson, and Surf Sisters is one of the originals on the coast. Super-positive (and patient) instructors teach you all the basics on the beach before assisting you in the water with everything from getting on your board to holding your board while you flush your nostrils of sea water. Catch one wave, even in a half-crouch, and you’ll be hooked. surfsister.com

Hot Springs Cove

Surf Sisters

GET TING AROUND T WO WHEEL S

Rent a bike from Tons of Fun Cycles and pop from Long Beach Lodge and into town via the easy-riding highway-adjacent cycling path. From $30 for four hours, tofcycles.com

MOTOR MAGIC

Hop on a scooter from Tuff City Scooter and Bike Rentals and speed along the winding Vancouver Island roads for maximum beach access. $89 per day, tofinoapp.com

The Hatch

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T H E D E S T I N AT I O N

Where to Stay

Pacific Sands Resort Tofino Resort and Marina

Tofino Resort room with on-theme wall art by photographer Jeremy Koreski.

Tofino Resort and Marina From the exterior, the freshly painted black-and-white buildings of this rejuvenated resort (now under the ownership of former Vancouver Canucks Willie Mitchell and Dan Hamhuis) pop against the lush greens, blues and greys of the Tofino landscape. Inside, the 62 coastal-cool guest suites have been renovated to perfect simplicity: cozy beds, patios with a view and oh-soInstagrammable photographic wall wraps from artist Jeremy Koreski. King rooms with an inlet view from $159 per night, tofinoresortandmarina.com

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Surfside Grill

HOW TO GET THERE ORCA AIRWAYS

Orca Airways’ daily flights get you from YVR to Tofino in a super-scenic 40 minutes, and if you pay attention you might even spot a whale or two among the waves below. One-way flights from $175, flyorcaair.com

TOFINO RESORT ROOM: JOSHUA L AWRENCE; PACIFIC SANDS RESORT: MATHILDE BL AIN; TOFINO RESORT MARINA: JEREMY KORESKI; SURFSIDE GRILL: SHAYD JOHNSON; PL ANE: INTEGRA AIR

Pacific Sands Resort The resort’s roomy two- and three-bedroom villas sit in the treeline framing Cox Bay Beach, so with the windows open on both floors, the steady sound of the Pacific Ocean waves will have you sleeping like a baby.

When you’re not cooking up crew meals in the full kitchen (guests also have access to a gourmet pantry for specialized kitchen appliances), there’s Pac Sands’ on-site restaurant: the Surfside Grill. Picnic tables on the patio keep things feeling very West Coast surf shack, but with a menu sourced from local waters and Vancouver Island growers, you wouldn’t dare call this farmto-fork classic beach fare pub food. Another perk: a whole fleet of hybrid bikes are on standby for when you want to cycle to town— or just as far as Tofino Brewing.

Private beach houses from $549 per night, pacificsands.com

Cox Bay

Must-Have Souvenirs l Tofino makers craft key pieces to soak in the beach vibe all year long.

i Holding a Flame

Proceeds from this Cloud Factory cedar smoke candle ($48), made locally from Vancouver Island beeswax, are used to protect old-growth rainforests. caravanbeachshop.com

p Wrap Up

Even if you’re not hitting the beach, the bold prints of Tofino Towel Co.’s signature round towels ($100) make for a beautiful throw blanket. facebook.com/pg/salttofino

k What’s the Word

Hand-stamped High Waters Design necklaces ($56), from the owner of carefully curated creative market Merge, get the message across. mergetofino.com

n Flipping Out

Designer Julie Boocock’s hand-cut bags—like the Flip Bag in caramel ($195)—work equally well for your laid-back island adventure and your big-city commute. marketcanvasleather.com

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T H E H O T TA K E

by

Amanda Ross

m Local jean phenom

APRIL SHOWERS

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day . . . or at least wait until we have these perfect picks in hand.

Duer introduces its newest performance denim, the Stay Dry 2.0, a men’s pant that’s oil-, dirt- and water-repellent (hello, cycling commute!), thanks to its environmentally friendly, biodegradable Rainshield treatment. $149, shopduer.com

p Based out of Scotland, heritage

o Spring 2018’s

collab between Swedish raincoat titan Stutterheim and Italian colourblock queen Marni serves up bold colours, sportswearinfluenced lines and that cult fave, rubberized cotton. Women’s Stripe coat Sand Multi, $1,100, stutterheim.com

brand Hunter Boots knows a thing or two about wet weather (they made wellies for WWI soldiers).

These Original Refined Chelsea Gloss boots channel classic design, but in modern colours like Fountain Blue. $170, thebay.com

p Until summer’s sun, there’s St. Tropez’s

Bronzing Face single-use sheet mask, which contains a tanning serum infused with hyaluronic acid that gives a sun-kissed glow in just five minutes. $10, beautyboutique.ca

o If you could bottle the fresh smell of

rain and sell it, you’d be on to something.

Wait, someone has: Clean Fragrance’s Rain eau de parfum hits just the right dewy note. $95 for 60 ml, sephora.ca

NOW OPEN

Leisure Center

950 Homer St., leisure-center.com What: At the nexus of fashion and art, there’s this Dover Street Market-esque ode to high-concept brands like Vetements and Loewe (props for pronouncing it Low-wev-eh).

Why we’re excited: Our own lifestyle temple to fashion and design with exclusive-to-Vancouver brands like Mastermind Japan and Balenciaga Kids.

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l In the new digital age (RIP, Vancouver’s iconic Umbrella Shop), Davek’s umbrellas are built with old-school quality (featuring a lifetime guarantee) and new-school smarts, with advanced Loss Alert technology that connects to your smartphone via a tiny beacon chip embedded in the handle.

From $165, davekny.com

Ariana Gillrie PHOTO BY

From the editors of Vancouver Magazine, City Guide is the ultimate, authoritative, insider’s guide to Vancouver’s top places to live-locals’ favourite watering holes, brunch legends, destination shops and activitiesdestination shops and activities— plus insights into real estate and resident life.

Play

T H E AC C E S S O R Y

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2

3

SHAPE SHIFTERS

From candy-hued shades to Judy Jetson frames— this is the year for anything-goes eyewear.

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1. Le Specs The Fugitive cat-eye sunglasses ($165), simons.ca. 2. Chrome Hearts Baby Bitch sunglasses ($1,730), holtrenfrew.com. 3. Stefano Ricci Heritage sunglasses in galvanized ruthenium with mirrored blue lenses (price on request), stefanoricci.com. 4. Super Future Eddie sunglasses in peach Havana ($265), gravitypope.com. 5. Ollie Quinn Relle coloured lenses ($155), olliequinn.ca. 6. Fendi Rainbow sunglasses ($595), fendi.com. 7. Quay Australia 43MM Kylie angular oval sunglasses ($105), thebay.com.

8. Thom Browne TB-810 sunglasses in grey/silver flash ($1,100), holtrefrew.com.

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8

PRESENTS

NIGHT OF WONDERS

On March 8, over 350 of Vancouver’s business and social luminaries came together for a Night of Wonders, raising funds to grant the wishes of BC & Yukon children diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

The Children’s Wish Foundation is the largest all Canadian wish granting charity dedicated to granting wishes to children between the ages of 3 and 17 diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

We are experiencing unprecedented increases of wish referrals and requests. Now more than ever, we are seeking donors and corporate sponsors. Visit www.childrenswish.ca for more information.

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS PRESENTED BY WISH GRANTERS

CORPORATE

SILVER

VENUE

EVENT

VIP RECEPTION

PRODUCTION & CULINARY

#WISHESTAKEFLIGHT DR. JEAN & DR. ALASTAIR CARRUTHERS

@NightOfWonders @ChildrensWishBC @NightOfWonders @cwfbc @ChildrensWishBC

#WISHESTAKEFLIGHT

MEDIA

#WISHESTAKEFLIGHT

@NightOfWonders @ChildrensWishBC

@NightOfWonders @ChildrensWishBC

@NightOfWonders @cwfbc

@NightOfWonders @cwfbc

@ChildrensWishBC

Play

ABOUT L AST NIGHT

Science World’s Science of Cocktails

Shaken and Stirred An open bar and a retail launch brought out the city’s top movers and shakers.

Colin MacDougall, Lot 40 brand ambassador, demos the science behind making the perfect Old-Fashioned.

by Fred Lee @FredAboutTown

The Room Science World was transformed into Vancouver’s largest cocktail laboratory to let the city’s most talented bartenders and chefs showcase the biology, chemistry and physics behind their cocktails and cuisine. CEO Scott Sampson and founding party co-chair Tristan Sawtell raised a glass to welcome 1,500 guests to the science centre’s biggest fundraiser.

The Stars An army of mixologists—62 bar stars in all, including Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Grant Sceney, Tableau’s JS Dupuis and Royal Dinette’s Kaitlyn Stewart (recently crowned the world’s best bartender at the prestigious World Class Bartender of the Year cocktail competition in Mexico City)— fronted the open bar and cocktail party.

The Cause Mixed with a greater good, the science experiment—now in its third year—concocted more than $275,000 to support Science World’s Class Field Trip bursary program for underserved schools.

The fundraising effort will ignite the imaginations of 8,000 students who would otherwise not be able to experience the wonder and excitement inside the geodesic dome.

Bittered Sling Bitters’ Jonathan Chovancek and Royal Dinette’s Kaitlyn Stewart.

Dirty Apron Cooking School’s David Robertson.

Science World CEO Scott Sampson and party co-chair Tristan Sawtell.

Dior Vancouver Opening

Janice Cameron, Ada Fung and Sofia Ladhari helped christen the Dior boutique.

Dior senior brass Mike Borges and Douglas Mandel welcomed top clients.

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The Opening Christian Dior’s new boutique is the latest concession store to open within Holt Renfrew Vancouver. Though the brand has long had a presence at the store, the new dedicated space triples its square footage. Modelled after the French designer’s Paris Avenue Montaigne flagship, the 1,200-square-foot leather goods shop located just inside Holt’s main entrance welcomed adoring fans and retail insiders.

The Handbag The retail space features a wide range of luxury products, including shoes, small accessories and, of course, its signature handbags. As usual, the Lady Dior bag, Dior’s iconic piece, in a variety of sizes, colours and embellishments, was the belle of the ball, drawing oohs and aahs from the style savvy.

The Party Highlight A travelling exhibition of customized Lady Dior bags reimagined by 10 global artists headlined the downtown event. Playing with the signature cannage motif and quilting pattern and letter charms, artists created their unique versions of the best-selling handbag.

Holt Renfrew’s Carla Stef and Betty Leung.

Dior boutique manager Selena Wong displays one of the artist renditions of the iconic Lady Dior bag.

Shirley Zhao and Olivia, 14 months, took in the Dior boutique opening.

ILLUSTRATION: NIMA GHOL AMI

Award-winning barkeeps Grant Sceney and Jenner Cormier.

&

THANK YOU TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Our annual contributors’ party celebrates the photographers, writers and illustrators that help make VanMag & Western Living the best they can be.

This year, we showed the love with the help of the swanky D/6 Lounge at Parq Vancouver.

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2.

3.

6.

4.

5.

7.

8.

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1. The secret behind-the-bookshelf room at D/6 provided a spot for intimate conversation.

4. Photographers unite (left to right): Martin Knowles, Jesse Yuen and Andrew Latreille.

7. Quin cozies up with a duo of talented writers: Matt O’Grady (left) and Michael Harris.

2. Writer Haley Cameron (left) poses with online editor Kaitlyn Funk and associate editor Julia Dilworth.

5. Two photographers walk up to a bar...Johan Wall (left) chats with Amanda Skuse.

8. Photographer Clinton Hussey, looking victorious after winning tickets to our VanMag x Earls wine-tasting event.

3. Executive editor Stacey McLachlan (left) with publisher Dee Dhaliwal and editorial director Anicka Quin.

6. Food stylist Lawren Moneta shares a laugh with photographers Makito Inomata (middle) and Andrew Latreille.

9. Contributors feasted on offerings from all of Parq’s restaurants—including a seafood smorgasboard.

CIT Y INFORMER

What Ever Happened to the McBarge? by

Stacey McLachlan Byron Eggenschwiler

ILLUstratIoN by

WE’VE ALL been there: enjoying a family pack of chicken nuggets after a hard day at the office (get it, girl!), elbow deep in sweet-and-sour dipping sauce, wondering why, in this day and age, are we not able to have this sort of fulfilling fast-food experience…at sea?!

It’s frustrating, because though today we’re forced to consume our all-beef patties landlocked like idiots, McDonald’s was once at the forefront of ocean-burger technology. During Expo 86, the fast-food giant opened up a state-of-the-art floating bistro in Vancouver: at 187 feet long, the grand dame McBarge—a.k.a. the Friendship 500—proudly hosted 12,000 people a day, none of whom were me, thanks to a cruel twist of fate in which I was not alive yet. Staff allegedly described the food experience as “performance art,” which is not the kind of pride I see today from the stoned teens messing up my hangover-breakfast or-

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Today we’re forced to consume our allbeef patties landlocked like idiots. der. (I said a McMuffin with a hashbrown instead of sausage and then two more hashbrowns instead of the English muffin! I don’t see what’s so hard about this!)

After Expo, the restaurant was towed to Burrard Inlet, where it languished for decades, to the disappointment of sea-legged McDLT fans but to the delight of mischievous rowboat owners. Suggestions for repurposing this waterlogged architectural wonder have bubbled to

the surface throughout the years—maybe it could be a homeless shelter, or a new Capilano campus, or a house for me and all my friends on a reality show called Boat Buds: Ocean Commotion—but the McBarge’s future lies with its current owner, maverick businessman Howard Meakin. In 2015, he towed it to Maple Ridge, and now he is currently attempting to raise $4.5 million to convert it into a deep-sea discovery centre,

a museum celebrating Canada’s advancements in undersea technology. Want to support this sadly nonnugget-themed endeavour?

Contribute to Meakin’s crowdfunding campaign and receive rewards like “McBarge mementos,” which presumably are just calcified Filet-O-Fish sandwiches: a little piece of Vancouver history to call your own.

Got a question for City Informer? stacey.mclachlan@vanmag.com

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