Vancouver Magazine December/January 2025

Contents

PERSONAL SPACE

Canucks star J.T. Miller and wife Natalie, an interior designer, have created a game-night-ready home.

HOT TAKE

Must-have winter kicks to splash your way through the city this season.

SO FUN CITY

Outside Voices is the no-pressure choir you need to check out. Plus, a full calendar of post-holiday to-dos.

ON THE RISE

A Bronze Age wraps slow fashion in a bow for the “girls who get it.”

KNOW-IT-ALL

Why is it called False Creek? It all started with a captain’s cartographic oopsies...

DISRUPTOR

Female-forward footwear that’s ahead of its time.

74 76 78 71

REVIEWS

Cozy, unpretentious, packed with flavour—Casa Molina is more than just great paella, guys.

WINE LIST

Sip outside the box with these fresh, festive bottles.

MICHELIN MISSES

Which under-the-radar spots deserve a star, too?

THE VANMAG GUIDE

Insider tips to level up your vintage shopping game.

What’s Cookin’?

Our 25 Things to Eat story is a feast for the senses, with photography by Clinton Hussey and Mark Gibbon; food styling by Lawren Moneta; tiles from Ann Sacks; and styling assistance by Maxine Braidwood and Celine Simpson. See page 29 for the best bites and sips.

29

25 THINGS TO EAT AND DRINK NOW

Al pastor tacos, cherry ice cream cones and everything in between—these are the best bites we couldn’t get off our minds this year. Dig in, Vancouver!

56 WHY CAN’T WE BUILD MORE?

What’s stopping Vancouver from building the homes we desperately need?

61 REAL WEDDINGS

A dreamy December wedding in Tofino, winter (yes, winter!) florals, cozy indoor celebration ideas and the must-have wedding dress styles to say “yes” to this season.

ceo and group publisher Ryan Benn

group vp , publishing and operations Nina Wagner

editorial

vice president , content Anicka Quin

editors - in - chief Stacey McLachlan ( Vancouver ), Nathan Caddell ( BCBusiness )

managing editor Dani Wright

associate editor Rushmila Rahman

assistant editor Kerri Donaldson

wine and spirits editor Neal McLennan

contributing editors Frances Bula, Melissa Edwards, Alyssa Hirose, Amanda Ross

editorial intern Samad Folami email mail@vanmag.com

design

creative director Jenny Reed

art directors Stesha Ho ( Vancouver ), Edwin Pabellon ( BCBusiness )

advisory council

Angus An, chef/owner, Maenam restaurant; Victoria Emslie, senior manager corporate relations, Nicola Wealth; Khelsilem, council chairperson, Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw; Carol Lee, chair, Vancouver Chinatown Foundation; Gary Pooni, president, Pooni Group; Jen Riley, VP brand and communications, Bosa Properties; Joseph Thompson, co-founder and COO, Kits Eyewear; Greg Zayadi, president, Rennie Group

sales representation

vice president , sales Anna Lee

senior media specialists Brianne Harper, Mira Hershcovitch, Amy LaJambe, Sheri Stubel

sales coordinator Rebecca Scutt

email sales@canadawide.com

u s sales specialist Hayes Media Sales tel 602-432-4868 email lesley@hayesmediasales.com

production / administration

group vp , education and administration Jane Griffiths

group director of operations Devin Steinberg

director of circulation Tracy McRitchie

manager , hr and administration Ava Pashmchi

digital manager Rebekah Ho

executive assistant to ceo Hannah Dewar

production manager / digital ad coordinator Kim McLane

production associate Natasha Jayawardana

production support technician Ina Bowerbank office administrator Celine Simpson

finance

group vp , finance Conroy Ing, CPA, CMA vp of finance Sonia Roxburgh, CPA, CGA accounting Terri Mason, Eileen Gajowski

address Suite 130, 4321 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby, B.C. V5C 6S7 tel 604-299-7311 fax 604-299-9188 web vanmag.com email sales@canadawide.com VANCOUVER MAGAZINE is published eight times a year by Canada Wide Media Limited Suite 130, 4321 Still Creek Dr., Burnaby,

Who’s Hungry?

It was almost midnight on a Friday when my phone buzzed with a message from Rushmila Rahman, an editor at our sister publication BCBusiness. Was it some sort of breaking news emergency?

In our world: yes. “I normally don’t like dessert,” Rushmila texted, “but the flan at Zapoteca on 4th is to die for.”

Receiving a pudding recommendation from a coworker in the middle of the night might be cause for alarm for some, but for our editorial team, it’s unremarkable. Collectively, we view the discovery of any great new dumpling dish, standout cocktail or irresistible jar of chili sauce as stop-the-presses intel... so if that means waking up your friend and colleague with a dessert alert, well, so be it.

This sort of food-centric info swapping doesn’t just happen over text. Our Monday morning tradition at the Vanmag office is to fill up our coffee mugs, gather in the boardroom and give a rundown of everything we ate while we were apart. Ostensibly, the meeting is meant to be a debrief about our weekends and a moment to put together our game plan for the week ahead, but once one person mentions a new cardamom coffee or the discovery of the gluten-free breakfast sandwich of their dreams, all bets are off. (The art director of BCBusiness recently, kindly, asked if he could please be excused from this standing foodie report... who can prove if that was because of a recent fight that broke out over whose fave pizza place was best?)

All of this is to say: as much as we love food, we love sharing about it even more. Can you find any greater pride than in recommending the perfect treat or must-try dish to a friend? The satisfaction of that “I told you so!” moment just can’t be beat. Which is why our annual Best Things to Eat issue is one of our favourites of the year. On page 29, we’re sharing 25 unforgettable dishes and drinks to prove to you that Vancouver deserves its reputation as a world-class food city—and, believe us, it wasn’t easy to get it down to that number. (Ask food editor Dani Wright for her original longlist spreadsheet sometime.)

Hang on to this issue and use it as your guide to eating your way through this delicious city, one lemongrass chicken banh mi, Portuguese egg tart bubble waffle or pan-fried pork bun at a time. Even better than a late-night text, right?

STACEY McLACHLAN

Coming Up Next Issue

Power 50

Who powers this city?

We’re back with our annual ranking of the changemakers, tastemakers and rulebreakers who shape Vancouver, from politics, business, culture, tech, activism and beyond— plus, some highly anticipated additions to our Power 50 Hall of Fame.

The New Power Lunch

Forget the white tablecloths and prix-fixe meals: today’s business lunch can take many different forms. Whether you’re searching for a spot to woo a prospective client or somewhere to dream big with your co-founder, snag a table at these next-gen power lunchrooms.

On the Web

The Top Stories of 2024

As one year ends and another begins, we’re looking back at the most popular pieces from 2024, and sharing our readers’ top picks and the stories our own editorial team can’t stop thinking about.

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CHANGING LIVES THROUGH MUSIC

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CULTURE

They’re the Millers

Interior designer Natalie Miller and her husband, Canucks forward J.T., have found a home on the West Coast after several years stateside.

by Nathan Caddell photography by Tanya Goehring

Pillow

Talk

The massive white sofa serves as the centrepiece of the living room. In addition to guests, it often supports the Millers’ three kids and the family’s two dogs. Despite that, only one part of it looks at all worse for wear: J.T.’s wellworn spot on the large sectional. “The dogs can both lie on me from there and I can put my drink on the table,” he says.

Western Promises

While J.T. Miller is on the ice with his Vancouver Canucks teammates this season, there will be many nights in which his wife, Natalie Miller, principal of Natalie Miller Interiors, is putting on a show of her own: when the team is away, the players’ significant others often gather to watch the games, and the Miller residence has become the go-to spot. “I host the most out of everybody,” she says. “And I like this space because it’s big enough to host 18 of us but it can also feel cozy.”

The Millers are originally from Pennsylvania (they still go back in the off season) and lived in New York and Tampa Bay when J.T. played for the Rangers and the Lightning, respectively. For their current home, Natalie went with a decidedly West Coast vibe. “Vancouver gives me opportunities to bring in more coastal pieces,” she says. “This house is more modern than our past ones, so I brought in some textures that make it feel more lived in.”

Home Arena

This season is the couple’s sixth in Vancouver and both Millers feel at home in the Lower Mainland. “My parents get mad because I don’t call [Pennsylvania] home anymore. But what Natalie’s done with the house—she’s transformed it in the time we’ve been here; it really feels like home now,” says J.T. before taking a playful shot at his wife. “I think she has really great taste… but I’m not sure about trees in the house.” Natalie, posing for the camera, doesn’t miss a beat: “Smile if you still have all your teeth.”

Object Permanence

J.T. was traded to Vancouver in 2019 but didn’t sign a long-term contract extension with the team until 2022. Once the ink was dry on his seven-year deal, Natalie moved quickly to make things feel more permanent in their home. “When we first moved from Tampa, we had a completely different array of furniture from other cities,” she says. When J.T. signed his extension, Natalie donated all their old furniture to Habitat for Humanity. “I took a few seasons to fill it with new stuff and make it feel like home.”

There is one thing from Tampa that the Millers will never get rid of—a set of three photos that commemorates their time down south. “We had a photographer in Tampa who did all the family photos when we lived there,” Natalie says. “Obviously my son’s not in it, but I feel like it goes with the vibe of the house. It reminds me of the time we were in Tampa and our little family.”

Lightning in a Frame

HOT TAKE

by Amanda Ross

Step It Up

ROLL PLAY

Stop, drop and roll with Canada Goose’s Cypress fold-down puffer boot, which goes from high-top ski hill style to low-top city slicker in one quick rollover of nylon fabric. $695, canadagoose.ca

COLD COMFORT

Baffin’s Canadian-engineered Geneva moon boots come tundra-rated, which means rigorous testing in freezing temperatures between -10 and -30°C. $200, baffin.com

These stylish boots are made for walking—and surviving the wet and chilly days to come. Now that’s putting your best foot forward.

WARM UP

When it’s -40°C, Canadian-made Kamik’s Tundra boot offers an 8-mm Thermal Guard moisture-wicking lining made from 100-percent recycled content that keeps feet toasty warm. $100, kamik.com

LOJEL

This fall, Japanese luggage brand Lojel landed on Vancouver shores with North America’s first brick-and-mortar store on 4th Avenue, unpacking sleek, minimalist suitcase designs like the zipperless Voja and flat-top Cubo. 2183 W 4th Ave. | lojel.com

MATERIAL MIX

Walk this way in The North Face’s Shellista V Mid waterproof boot with fleece lining and full-

AMAZING GRACE

Winter elegance starts with Hermès’s Journey ankle boot in calfskin with shearling lining and natural lambskin insole. $1,950, hermes.com

NOW OPEN

PRETTY IN PINK

Made for day hikes, the Kopec Mid GTX boot by Arc’teryx also works

ORANGE YOU GLAD

Get in waterproof step with the Kineticmaterial. $180, sorelfootwear.ca

SPONSORS

Sing It Loud

No auditions, just vibes—Outside Voices is bringing community, joy and Rumours to the masses.

by Kerri Donaldson

Singing your favourite Fleetwood Mac song at full blast is usually reserved for those magical car moments when the radio gods bless you and your windows are rolled up tight. But now, thanks to a new community choir, you can belt out those favourites with a crowd. Outside Voices, led by local music maker David Beckingham, is giving Vancouverites a fun, low-pressure way to reconnect through song. (Let’s be honest, karaoke can only satisfy our inner Adele for so long.) “I’ll never forget the first rehearsal,” says Beckingham, a guitarist for Juno-winning indie band Hey Ocean. “Sixty people singing Radiohead while I played guitar—it was magic.”

His path to forming Outside Voices was pure serendipity. He bumped into an old music-industry friend, Emily Millard, at the Folk Fest in 2023; she was moving away, and she encouraged him to apply to take her spot as director of the Kingsgate Chorus community choir. “I had never even been in a choir, let alone directed one,” Beckingham laughs. But with 20 years of music under his belt, he gave it a shot, got the gig—and the choir grew fast.

So fast, in fact, that it soon had a waitlist, and Beckingham found himself putting together another choir of his own in February 2024: Outside Voices. “I think people are still craving community after COVID, and this was a fun way to bring people together,” he says. His new choir focuses on a distinct collection of fresh pop-and-rock arrangements; this summer, the group worked on a Fleetwood Mac-centric setlist. “I’m a huge fan, especially of the guitarist,” says Beckingham. “I basically just pick songs I love and hope people are into it.” Spoiler alert:

THE DEETS

Join the waitlist by visiting @outside_voices_yvr; registration is $275 per season

they are. Outside Voices now has a waitlist of its own.

The best part? No auditions. “I just ask about your music experience when you sign up,” Beckingham says. “As long as you can carry a tune, you’re in.” It’s all about keeping things chill. “Singing is personal—we should all have permission to explore our musicality and singing voices. I want people to feel comfortable exploring that in a group setting where their voice can blend in.” The choir members range from 19-yearolds to folks in their 60s, though most are in their 30s

and 40s. Got a low voice? This is your sign to join. “We’re always on the lookout for baritones,” Beckingham adds.

Rehearsals are once a week, and sometimes the group even brings practice outside, literally putting those “outside voices” to work. But it’s not just about the music–there’s a magic that Beckingham is chasing. “We use the word ‘joy’ a lot in the choir,” he says. “You ask someone to sing with more joy, and it instantly brightens the sound.”

Blue Sky Singing (Clockwise from left) OV’s concert at Wise Hall; another at Trout Lake; organizer David Beckingham; and park rehearsals.

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The Holiday Hit List

Everything you need to keep on holly-ing and jolly-ing through to February. by Kerri

Donaldson

DOWN TO CLOWN: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S ECHO

WHEN Until December 15

WHERE Concord Pacific Place COST From $68

A jaw-dropping blend of acrobatics, storytelling and “how the hell did they even...?” moments—all under one Big Top.

MERRY MAKERS: EAST VAN PANTO’S ROBIN HOOD

WHEN Until January 5

WHERE York Theatre COST From $29

The legendary outlaw gets an East Van remix in this all-ages panto—think Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest... but make it Trout Lake!

REID ON REID: FORMLINE CALLIGRAPHY: THE CREATIVE SYNERGY OF BILL REID AND BOB REID

WHEN Until February 2

WHERE Bill Reid Gallery COST Adult admission from $13

An exhibition that explores the creative relationship between Haida artist Bill Reid and famed printmaker, calligrapher and close friend Robert (Bob) Reid—two Reids for the price of one.

THE WRITE OFF: VANCOUVER STORY SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

WHEN December 12

WHERE Vogue Theatre COST $20

Word nerds! Cheer on ten of Vancouver’s top storytellers as they slam their original tales, vying for the championship and over $2,000 in prizes at one of Canada’s longest-running storytelling events.

TEXTUAL HEALING: SHANE KOYCZAN

WHEN December 5

WHERE Vogue Theatre COST From $30

The spoken word savant, famed for his 2010 Winter Olympics performance, brings his powerful poetry back to Vancouver just in time for the holidays.

BLOCK PARTY: BLOCKHEAD

WHEN December 7

WHERE Biltmore Cabaret COST $25

With 12 solo albums plus collabs with legends like Aesop Rock, this uber cool NYC DJ and producer is ready to turn your holiday jingle into an unforgettable instrumental hip-hop jangle.

ICED OUT: DISNEY ON ICE: MAGIC IN THE STARS

WHEN November 27 to December 1

WHERE Pacific Coliseum COST From $30

Join Mickey, Minnie and the crew as they glide, spin and triple jump their way through Disney classics like Aladdin, Frozen 2 and Encanto—while you try not to laugh if any one of them bails.

ART PAW-TY: PAINT-YOUR-PET

WHEN December 8

WHERE CowDog Brewing COST $65

Sip craft beers, snack on some treats and channel your inner Van Gogh by painting a portrait of your Santa’s little helper.

MERRY CRAFTMAS: MAKE IT! SHOW

WHEN December 12 to 15

WHERE PNE Forum COST $12

Wrap up your last-minute holiday shopping and support local artisans at this whimsy-forward craft market—featuring handmade goods and a licenced bar to make your shopping even more festive. That’s a holiday win-win!

We’ve been chatting with our BC community, and here’s what we learned

DINING HABITS: DID YOU KNOW THAT 72% OF VANCOUVERITES DINE OUT 1-2 TIMES A WEEK ?

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES:

We love the great outdoors! WALKING is Vancouver's favorite outdoor activity ( 87% ), followed by HIKING ( 53% ) and PICNICKING ( 39% ).

WHAT MATTERS TO US:

Vancouverites are passionate about the cost of living , healthcare , and affordable housing . Are these topics important to you too? Now we have a question for you! What generalizations or stereotypes do people make when they find out you're from British Columbia?

FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN 1 OF 5 $100 VISA GIFT CARDS

DANCE MOB: THE GLITCH MOB

WHEN December 14

WHERE The Red Room

COST From $35

Trade in that holiday Bublé for some bass and electro beats at this high-energy EDM party—get ready for a night that’s anything but silent.

TOP COMIC: ILIZA SHLESINGER

WHEN January 17

WHERE Queen Elizabeth Theatre COST $46

Shlesinger has six Netflix specials, including Hot Forever and Elder Millennial, and her loyal fans are often seen sporting custom Iliza-inspired swag to her live shows.

ON POINTE: BALLET

BC PRESENTS THE NUTCRACKER (ROYAL WINNIPEG BALLET)

WHEN December 13 to 15

WHERE Queen Elizabeth Theatre COST From $29

It’s not legally Christmas without this iconic holiday classic—featuring the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, toe-tapping Tchaikovsky bangers and one nimble rat king (not that kind!).

SLEIGH

BELLES:

A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS

WHEN December 23

WHERE Queen Elizabeth Theatre COST From $71

Hosted by Brooke Lynn Hytes (Canada’s Drag Race), this 10thanniversary tour brings your favourite queens—past RuPaul’s Drag Race winners, fan favourites and legends—for a fierce and festive holiday slay ride.

OLD SOULS: THEE SACRED SOULS

WHEN January 14

WHERE Commodore Ballroom COST $54

The “Can I Call You Rose” trio are coming to bring their soulful, drippy vintage-sounding melodies to serenade you into the new year (and a different era).

WAITING FOR THE SHOE TO DROP:

CINDERELLA

WHEN December 13 to January 5

WHERE Metro Theatre COST From $52

A family that pantos together, stays together—and this classic fairy tale is a panto gold mime (get it?!). Expect comedy, live music and your kids to be entertained for an hour without their iPads.

BALLROOM BLITZ:

“SALUTE TO

VIENNA” NEW YEAR’S CONCERT

WHEN January 1

WHERE The Orpheum COST From $74

Ring in the New Year Vienna-style with a concert featuring a European cast of singers, ballroom dancers and ballet that brings to life the music of Johann Strauss and hopefully scares away any post-NYE hangovers in the process.

MUSIC MAN: TIM HEIDECKER

WHEN January 25

WHERE The Hollywood Theatre COST $25

The absurdist comedian (the Tim of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!) is coming, but not for comedy reasons. Instead, he’s showing off another skill: being a very talented indie musician.

THE PLAYLIST

Here’s what Vancouverbased author Katrina Kwan has on her pop culture radar.

THE PODCAST

The Nerds Awaken

It’s my go-to podcast for all things pop culture. The hosts, Janna and Julie, are absolute sweethearts. They talk about everything from new book releases to TV shows and they’re hilarious.

THE GAME Hades

I’m obsessed with a game called Hades by Supergiant Games.

It’s a rogue-like dungeon crawler based in Greek myth. I’ve been playing its sequel, Hades II, non-stop. Not only is the action thrilling, the characters are also incredibly engaging. I’m not very good, but there’s something satisfying about trying new weapon and ability combos with every new run.

THE SHOW Blue Eye Samurai I can’t recommend it enough.

The animation is gorgeous and the storytelling is A-tier. I’m eagerly awaiting the next season (and praying that Netflix doesn’t do something dumb like cancel the show—did I just jinx myself?).

Kwan’s culinary rom-com Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love and fantasy-adventure The Last Dragon of the East are both included on Indigo’s Most Anticipated Canadian Books list—and are available in bookstores now.

Going for Bronze

A Bronze Age puts a bow on form and function.

by Celine Simpson

Over the past eight years, Renée Power and her cult-status fashion brand A Bronze Age have found the balance of form, function—and a little bit of whimsy. “The girl who’s coming to us, she wants maybe some bows on the sleeve,” says Power. “It may not be for everyone, but that one customer that really identifies with it? She gets it and she’s loving it.”

EDITOR’S PICK

The slow-fashion label began in 2016 with imported artisanal goods from Morocco, grew with the support of family and has since blossomed into an internationally selling name. Today, A Bronze Age produces thoughtful, multi-season garments lovingly adorned with romantic details—think quaintrelleworthy lace, ruffles and puff sleeves, always infused with function and place in mind. There’s a trademark playful femininity here, but one backed by a considered West Coast vibe: case in point, the Judy rain jacket, made from water-resistant material, with its clean lines and a Granny-inspired hood. “It’s a more practical piece for us, but it’s touching how many people have purchased that coat and just really, really love it,” says Power.

Like with any slow-fashion brand, the design process is meticulous. The small, dedicated team, inclusive of Power’s aunts and cousins, carefully sample and handcraft each piece. It’s a labour of love, and all done locally. The Hart skirt, which evolved naturally from the updated feminine silhouettes of the brand, came to life in the team’s capable hands. “There was a lot of trial and error because we had

never constructed something like it before,” says Power. “It took a lot of back and forth.” The result is an elegant A-line skirt with a playful balloon-gathered hem: a timeless piece with memorable detail.

The whimsy here is always anchored by plenty of good ol’ hard work and tenacity; Power credits both her team and the close-knit (pun intended) Vancouver fashion scene for the brand’s staying power. “It’s been so warm and supportive to create something here,” she says. And what she’s created has resonated far beyond city

limits, with pieces now in demand in the U.S. and Japan. But as anyone wearing an inspired outfit that receives an enthusiastic, approving smile from another trendsetter in the wild knows, the girls who get it are everywhere. “We’re all fun fashion girls,” says Power.

The elegantly folded Kiku croissant bag ($215) is a creative (and luxe) addition to any outfit.

Bubbles and Bows A Bronze Age designer Renée Power (left) creates whimsical, femine pieces like the Judy rain jacket (bottom, $475) and the bubbly Hart skirt (top, $375).

Over 150 five star reviews and counting! Reviews

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Why Is it Called False Creek?

A lazy mistake a hundredplus years ago still haunts the inlet to this day.

Obviously, there’s a lot of criticism we should heap on the original colonial settlers of this land, but I think it’s fair to give at least one accolade to “explorer” Captain George Richards: the man wasn’t afraid to admit when he was wrong.

When Richards stumbled across a sandy channel—called Snauq by local Indigenous communities—as he was out surveying the coast in his little party boat back in 1859 (classic Captain

Richards!), he was like, “We’ve got ourselves a creek, boys! Somebody write this down!” before immediately, humbly, graciously being like, “No, wait, oops, ha ha, my bad.”

Obviously, as we all know from the Oxford Dictionary (an underrated beach read) an inlet is “a small arm of the sea, a lake or a river” and a creek is “a narrow inlet.” Mixing these two things up could be humiliating for any of us, but for a captain, is particularly egregious. (More egregious than just renaming things willy-nilly on stolen land? No, but that’s for a different column.)

But if I may defend Captain Richards, who, if paintings are to be believed, had the hair of a young Conan O’Brien and the nose of an old Adrien Brody: Is he not human? Is he not allowed to be flawed? I mean, who among us has not “phoned it in” on occasion? Have we not encountered enough LinkedIn articles by hustle-culture-pilled ex-boyfriends to know by now that failure is actually how we grow? Was Captain Richards not leading with vulnerability, just as so many Silicon Valley executives have tried to do after reading the back of a Brené Brown book in the airport on their way to SXSW?!

But let’s put aside all of these excuses for why Richards got mixed up, and just admire that he called himself out. He could’ve corrected the error quietly, dubbing the waterway “Real Inlet,” or, you know, crazy idea, just let the people who were already living here keep the name they used, and the news cycle would’ve moved on. I would’ve been writing a column today about some other important Vancouver question like, “Why is there a pizza place called Straight Brooklyn and another one with the same font on their sign called Straight Outta Brooklyn?” But he didn’t hide. He didn’t make a half-assed YouTube apology video. He totally owned it, naming the inlet “False Creek” so that his error would be preserved for all time. Like a hero. Cancelled celebs, take note.

by Stacey McLachlan

illustrations by Ane Arzelus

And let’s not forget that the captain had other responsibilities on his plate as he managed a crew of sailors far from home: do you think it’s easy to remember what “an inlet” is when you’re figuring out an internal comms strategy for your latest scurvy outbreak? Honestly, I’m surprised how few middle-manager explorers were taking stress leave at that point in time.

Things have changed a lot since the 1850s, though. At the time, False Creek was twice as long, lined by sandy banks and reaching all the way to Clark Drive; then, in the 1920s, the marshy eastern stretch of the inlet was filled in to make space for a railyard. Today, the truncated “creek” is home to 10 marinas and notoriously disgusting waters, with a concentration of gastrointestinaldisease-causing bacteria that’s higher than 200 per 100 ml of water. So while False Creek started as a fun nickname honouring Richards’s cartographic goof, maybe it’s time to update it for a new age. Throw in a few periods and we can turn F.A.L.S.E. into an acronym that can prevent us all from making a more dire mistake than misidentifying an inlet: Forget About, Like, Swimming, Ew.

A big thank you to all our sponsors, table hosts, guests, and event partners for joining us on Thursday, October 17th at the Commodore Ballroom. Together you have helped us to give the gift of music by providing crucial funding to music therapy programs across British Columbia for 2025!

For more information on the programs we support, or for future sponsorship opportunities, please contact info@musicheals.ca

If the Shoe Fits

High-performance running shoes from Hettas are achieving something shockingly rare: acknowledging the needs of women who run.

by Stacey McLachlan

Lindsay Housman has accidentally become a podiatrist.

She casually drops words like “metatarsal,” has heel-strike rates memorized and spends much of her day thinking about Achilles injuries. It’s just the sort of thing that happens when you start a biomechanics-focused shoe brand for women.

For all the physical distinctions one might note between men and women, feet (at a glance) seem more or less the same. Most of us have two, most with five toes each. Walking into a Sport Chek, you might veer toward one gendered selection of footwear over the other, but the distinction between the Nikes on either side would mostly be about scale or colour. A shoe is a shoe is a shoe... isn’t it?

Well, it isn’t. As Housman has learned after a lifetime of athletics (volleyball, skiing, HIIT classes, you name it), a chronic foot injury and an illuminating conversation with now-collaborator Doug Sheridan (a former Adidas product designer), there are pivotal differences between the anatomy of each sex’s feet— ones that shoe companies just haven’t cared to accommodate.

“Doug told me about the history of the athletic industry being predominantly focused around male anatomy, and it just blew my mind,” says Housman.

“Especially knowing how much a woman’s body changes from puberty to pregnancy to perimenopause to menopause, how is the unique physiology not considered?”

Statistically, women’s feet are more pie shaped, with a rounded instep, lower ankle bones and proportionately narrower heels.

In addition, their fifth metatarsal (in case you aren’t an amateur podiatrist like Housman, that means your pinky toe knuckle) juts out more predominantly and their big toe curves upward. These differences mean that

most shoes just don’t fit as well as they could—ankle pads rub awkwardly, toes punch through, heels slip. The way women run, too, can be distinct from their male jock counterparts, with a distinct force profile (the intensity and speed with which a foot impacts the ground).

And so, applying all she’d learned in her career in tech and business (KPMG, Intrawest Group) Housman dove into finding a solution, feet-first. In 2021, the quest began, and in November 2023, Hettas finally launched its first line

Sole Searching

The brand, led by Housman (top left) has quickly become enmeshed with the running community. “We chose to focus on running first for many reasons. The community aspect is so important," she says. "But also, for anyone who’s active, at some point, you run.”

of high-performance footwear specifically designed for women’s feet. Hettas has three shoes in the collection currently—the Alma Cruise, Alma Tempo and Alma Speed, each pair $238 and available in three colourways—to suit different styles of running. Sprinters tend to like the Speed, chill joggers reach for the Cruise and marathoners prefer the Tempo. A narrow heel cup and lower ankle collar holds the heel without rubbing on ankle bones or agitating the Achilles tendon; a rounded instep snugly holds the foot in place; the stretchy mesh upper and deeper toe box leave more room for women’s upward-bending metatarsal; a proprietary Pebax plate and high-tech foam in the midsole

absorb impact in a way that’s easier on women’s joints. These are the details female runners likely didn’t know they needed, but ones intended to prevent injury, improve performance and keep women out and moving for as long as they can.

Housman isn’t just in the business to take away New Balance’s market share—the company’s mandate is to change the conversation around women in sport. Which is why Housman and husband Kyle have now self-funded the first two research projects at Simon Fraser about biometrics and anatomy, and Arc’teryx is now a co-sponsor of a federal research grant at the university. A feasibility study about hormones, injury and

performance is in the works. All the info they’re collecting will be publicly available so that (hopefully) more athletic equipment can be tailored to the unique biometric, anatomic and hormonal needs of this audience.

“Our first project was a literature review of published research on women and running over the past 40 years, which highlighted the research gap,” says Housman. “A review of six major journals, from 2014 to 2021, revealed that only six percent of studies focused on women exclusively. Most shockingly, a study from 2016 said that women are often excluded from research as their hormonal cycles created too many ‘confounding variables.’ This clearly needs to change.”

Some of this research is happening in the lab, but much of it is going on out on Vancouver’s streets and tracks—or far beyond. Hettas has partnered with run clubs in San Francisco, Brooklyn and Toronto, and runs focus groups with university track athletes, too. Runners will test out the shoes and complete surveys and feedback. “We recently had an elite athlete put over 1,000 kilometres on the Tempos,” says Housman. “We ask for photos, we’ve asked for the shoes back. As far as I know, we haven’t had one toe poke through.”

On the Run

Hettas’s research has revealed that women’s force profile—the intensity with which a foot strikes the ground—is 30 percent lower than men’s, but with a quicker gait.

The juciest buns p.35

Make a delicious mess with these tacos p.36

These pakoras are fried perfection p.32 An “eat this every day” kind of this sandwich p.36

You

EAT& DRINKNOW

hussey and mark gibbon

25 THINGS TO EAT & DRINK

HHope you’re all caught up on last year’s roster of must-try dishes, essential meals and put-on-everything sauces we can’t stop thinking about, because we’re back with another to-do list to feast on. From fro-yo infused with cherries and nostalgia to artful cocktails and crispy, snackable hand pies, these are the delicious, decadent and downright essential bites that make this city a gourmand’s paradise—foodies, start your engines. BY THE EDITORS

well well well well well well

LINH CAFE

Our celebratory dish of choice, Linh Cafe’s beef wellington ($85) is a stunning take on the British classic. Substituting black forest ham for the traditional prosciutto adds a punch of flavour (and structural integrity), while the creamy peppercorn sauce brings bite and the buttery puff pastry delivers technique-driven crisp. We’re not forgetting the star, though: the tenderloin itself is executed to perfection, meaning your first bite will be as good as your last—because, really, we’re not leaving a single morsel on the table. linhcafe.com

BEEF WELLINGTON

SHUCK YEAH

As a general rule of thumb, we avoid green oysters... but we’ll make an enthusiastic exception at Meo. In the Chinatown cocktail bar, the briny bivalves are served up by the half-dozen in vibrant pools of herbcelery emulsion ($30); fresh pico de gallo on top adds an additional zing as you slurp from each shell. It’s a taste of both the ocean and the garden—one that has us seeing green. meochinatown.com

HEAD OVER HEELS

We’re not afraid to admit that we love all things cabbage, but it’s not often the star of the show at our local restaurants. But at Pizza Coming Soon, the seared cabbage ($18) gets its rightful due. The lactofermented cruciferous beauty is perfectly seared and plated with a miso cashew crema so excellently umami you’ll want it on all the things, while the bright yuzu kosho vinaigrette keeps it all from feeling too rich or heavy. It’s a dish even the cabbage-averse set would be hard pressed to turn down. pizzacomingsoon.com

Suyo’s Max Curzon-Price won this magazine’s 2024 Bartender of the Year award, but with the Mineral cocktail ($26), he proves that he might have missed his calling as a magician. The earthy, aromatic whisky-and-tequila drink features two layers of flavoured ice that mimic the layers of the earth; as they melt, your cocktail transforms. Abracadabra! suyo.ca

It goes without saying that the best part about fried rice is the menagerie of textures thanks to an abundance of, obviously, fried ingredients co-mingling in the same dish. Lunch Lady takes its house special fried rice ($24) to the next level with a combination of tender cured pork belly, succulent tiger prawns, salty lap cheong sausage and the not-so-secret star ingredient: puffed rice. The resulting product means a snap, crackle, pop of rice perfection. thelunchlady.com

ANCHOVY STUFFED OLIVES POTATO AND CAULIFLOWER PAKORAS

Can you really enjoy an aperitivo without a little snack?

Livia says no and swings for the fences with an anchovy stuffed inside the queen of olives ($5): the castelvetrano. She’s buttery, she’s mild and, when filled with an umami-bomb, she transforms into the ideal salty sidekick to the pitch-perfect negroni you’ll order alongside. liviasweets.com

Move over ketchup—Klippers spicy heirloom tomato jam ($10) is bringing main character energy to your carb game. Packed with farm-fresh heirloom tomatoes (a.k.a. the GOAT of flavour, according to tomato buffs), onions and a spicy kick, this 250-ml jar is filled with limitless snacking potential. Whether you’re jazzing up toast, crackers or baked scones—or just spooning it straight from the jar, we won’t judge—it’s a zesty summer heat you can spread all year long. shopklippers.ca

6 9 7 8

Denman’s Whatafood slings Brazilian street food like nobody’s business. The pastel classico carne seca ($5) is not to be missed—this crispy-as-allhell hand pie is filled with Brazilian-style beef jerky and a ton of alliums (green onions, white onion and garlic) and comes paired with uniquely savouryyet-sweet cassava cream for an on-the-go snack that’s perfect for a wander around Stanley Park... if it makes it that far. whatafood.ca

Pakoras and chutney are like hot dogs at a baseball game— comforting, familiar, always a solid choice. But when one makes us stop and take notice, like Lila’s potato and cauliflower pakoras ($15), it’s like falling in love for the first time all over again (sans any rebound concerns). Lila, Main Street’s newest vegan Indian gem, is already on our foodie radar despite being open less than a year. These crispy, perfectly fried chickpea-battered bites (gluten-free, we might add) come with a classic mango chutney with a fresh mint twist. lilarestaurant.ca

ENDLESS SUMMER

ENDLESS SUMMER

PASSION, ORANGE, GUAVA AND VODKA COCKTAIL NICELIFE

Thanks to the city’s year-round alcohol in parks program, you can bring back that summer feeling even in the middle of winter—and with NiceLife’s ready-to-drink cocktails, sharing a toast in Queen E Park no longer means smuggling a tepid beer in your backpack (not that we would ever do something so monstrous). We’re pretty obsessed with the brand’s unique, bar-worthy flavour combinations— like the passion, orange, guava and vodka ($5), which is made with real fruit and tastes like a Hawaiian vacation in a (very chic) glass bottle. nicelife.ca

25 THINGS TO EAT & DRINK NOW

VODKA PEPPERONI PIE

DON’T ARGUE PIZZA

“Best pizza in the city” is an oft-debated topic among Vanmag editors. The crust, the cheese-level, heck, the toppings—most of us will die on the hill of opinion supremacy as we advocate for our slice. But there’s one thing we all agree on: Don’t Argue Pizza’s vodka pepperoni pie ($34) is the city’s current do-notmiss ’za. The creamy sauce is the ideal counterpart to the charred ’roni cups, the cheese is just pull-worthy enough and basil and honey add a sweetness that has us singing “that’s amore.” dontarguepizza.com

PORTUGUESE

The sweet scent of decadent, crisping batter has us following our noses like cartoon characters (while fighting the inevitable crowds) on Robson Street to Eggette House’s newest location. Once you’re inside the counter-service store, your decision won’t be easy—but if seeing the staff gingerly scoop house-baked custard for the Portuguese egg tart bubble waffles ($8.50) isn’t a flavour endorsement, we don’t know what is. The waffle itself is hot and golden and the inside creamy. If you break your waffle open (we know, it’s sacrilege to not just inhale it all at once) you can even see the trademark pasteis de nata blackened top. eggettehouse.ca

MUSSELS AND NDUJA

DEAR GUS

Mount Pleasant’s 513-squarefoot snack bar Dear Gus is proof that good things come in small packages. Plus, if you cozy up to the marble bar, you can watch (or stare longingly) as the best plate of mussels ($28) in the city is prepared by chef Jorge Tuane. The bivalves arrive suspended in a hearty tomato-saffron broth enriched with spicy nduja that makes the dish more than just snackable; hell, when scooped up with the made-daily bread, it’s last-meal-level good. deargus.com

We’re big fans of all varieties of buns: steamed, deep-fried, you name it, we eat it. But Wang’s Shanghai Cuisine brings the best of both worlds together with its pan-fried pork buns ($8.75): a soft soup-dumpling top meets a crisp, texture-forward bottom and it’s all tied together with a rich broth so flavourful you’ll be more than happy to burn your tongue as you scramble for your first bite. 604-428-6818

Here at Vanmag we’re no strangers to chili oil—but Mama in the Kitchen’s HK curry street food version ($16) brings more than just the heat. Created to replicate the founder’s childhood memories in Hong Kong, this handcrafted “put on everything” condiment has a curry-forward kick but mellows down on the palate thanks to hoisin and oyster sauce. mamainthekitchen.ca

A WHOLE LATTE FLAVOUR

MISHMISH

Be warned: unlike many of the flavoured drinks you can get at Starbucks, if you order something at Mishmish, you’re going to actually get that thing—not a cloyingly sweet, artificial version of it. Take the Fraser Street bakery’s made-in-house cardamom syrup ($0.30) that can be added to any drink. When it’s stirred into a latte it arrives floral, slightly savoury and scrumptious. Plus, it’s an absolutely delightful pairing with one of Mishmish’s pastries (we’re partial to the halva cornflake cookie). mishmish.ca

There are plenty of pastas to fall in love with on the menu at Cambie Village hot spot Elio Volpe, but the calabreselli alla vodka with crab ($30) is the true heartthrob of the lot. Obviously, the Banda Volpi group has their fresh pasta game dialled in at this point, but the addition of the spicy, creamy, peppery vodka sauce and heaps of fresh crab meat (with a generous dusting of pangrattato, naturally) takes the dish to lick-the-plate-clean heights. eliovolpe.com

AL PASTOR

FEELING CRABBY TACO ’BOUT A GOOD TIME CAKE WALK

One of the best things about brunch is the ability to order dessert that’s masquerading as regular old breakfast fare. Hunnybee Bruncheonette’s sweet ricotta pancakes ($14) are not only the fluffiest, butteriest and possibly most generously portioned in the city, they also come topped with maple syrup, butter, cultured cream and a key ingredient: a dollop of intensely fruity jam. hunnybee.ca

When your friend recommends a sandwich by saying “I’d eat it every day if I could,” you know you’ve got a contender for one of the best dishes in the city—and Merci Beaucoup’s lemongrass chicken banh mi ($9.75) delivers on the high expectations (at under $10, no less!). No one at the cult-fave Commercial Drive Vietnamese café is trying to reinvent the wheel here, but every classic detail is done right with this sando, from the perfectly crusty made-fresh French baguette to the bright pickled carrots to the tender, lemongrass-marinated meat. mercibeaucoupcafe.com

On Mondays and Tuesdays Chinatown’s Hunnybee Bruncheonette transforms into a haven for Mexican food fanatics: Taqueria Chicatana. A spinning trompo is layered with achiote-marinated pork and pineapple, and when it’s shaved off, topped with onions, cilantro and avocado salsa and served on a corn tortilla, it becomes the best al pastor taco ($6) this side of well, Southern California. @taqueriachicatana

Good Thief may have only opened on Main Street in 2024, but its well-crafted Hoi An Nights cocktail ($18) already has us wanting more of what this rebellious snack bar has up its sleeve. The drink creates a splash with its bright purple hue, and flavour-wise it leans delicate thanks to lemongrass gin, lychee, jasmine, ube foam (hence, purple), Maldon salt and chili—making this cocktail bright, spicy, not-too-sweet and on the more-ish side of floral. goodthief.ca

CARDAMOM SYRUP

CALABRESELLI ALLA VODKA WITH CRAB

TACO

RICOTTA PANCAKES

LEMONGRASS CHICKEN BANH MI

ELIO VOLPE

TAQUERIA CHICATANA

HUNNYBEE BRUNCHEONETTE

MERCI BEAUCOUP

TO EAT & DRINK

MUHAMMARA YASMA DOUBLEDIPPED DOUBLEDIPPED

We Vanmag editors stand on business. Which means we’re lobbying hard for dip to be considered its own food group. That lobbying plea comes with a nomination for best in show: the muhammara ($14) at Yasma. Not only is it a stunning shade of red thanks to fire-roasted peppers, but with the textural crunch of walnuts and tang of pomegranate molasses, well, it’s worthy of a double-dip (or three). yasma.ca

Who makes the best sour beer in Vancouver? It probably depends on who you ask. Brassneck’s rotating Changeling has a claim for sure, as does Strathcona’s Love Buzz and Luppolo’s Limoncello Sour Weisse. But, for our money, Container Brewing is the current heavyweight champion. Upon writing, the Hey Dreamer ($5.35) was in rotation—it’s tart as heck but also immensely refreshing. But whatever’s on tap we know that if it’s from Container, it’ll be the kind of beer you reach for on a long day and suddenly the things you were worrying about cease to exist. cbrew.ca

HEY DREAMER BEER SONG CONTAINER BREWING

A MELON

Ripe melon and chewy tapioca pearls meet in Song’s melon sago ($12): a not-too-sweet rendition of the classic Thai dessert made intensely refreshing thanks to melt-in-your-mouth coconut shaved ice and delicate fresh young coconut. This texture-forward (chewy, icy, melon-y?!) pudding is the ultimate palate reset after enjoying one of the restau rant’s hot curries. songyvr.com

Be prepared to wait for your cherry ice cream cone ($6 for a small waffle cone) at Kitsilano’s Killer Ice Cream. Everything is churned-to-order in the two frantically running soft serve machines, so yeah, it can take a minute. But it’s a sweet treat that’s worth a little patience. Fresh B.C.-farmed cherries are whipped with B.C. dairy vanilla ice cream (or fro-yo or oat or coconut, if that’s your thing) into a picture-perfect pink swirl that tastes as summery as it looks. And if cherry isn’t available, pick a delicious alternative from the ever-changing fruit menu—peach basil, anyone? killericecream.ca

MELON SAGO

CHERRY ICE CREAM CONE KILLER ICE CREAM

THE LEADING CHARITY INVESTING IN HEALTH CARE INNOVATION

CRAVING A REAL TASTE OF SPAIN?

MAIN in Vancouver

Restaurants from Spain Certification Program recognizes and supports restaurant initiatives around the globe focused on authentic cuisine and produce from Spain that guarantee the quality standards of these establishments. The idea behind this initiative is to provide the consumer with quality standards and criteria to find the real experience when looking for authentic Spanish cuisine and produce. These restaurants are excellent examples to other businesses that wish to offer Spain on a plate around the world.

WHERE COASTAL INFLUENCES

“The Hot Table to Book in Whistler”

Image by Josh Neufeld Photography

SCAN TO LEARN MORE

grown... and we still can’t seem to catch up.

HOLD-UP #1

The journey to build is long THE SOLUTION

Simultaneous permitting

Let the cautionary tale of the nine-years-inthe-making 105 Keefer illustrate how long it can take to bring a building to market.

That may be an extreme example, but any Vancouver developer will tell you it can take around six years (!) from purchase to occupancy, largely because of the city process. That’s why the province amended the Local Government Act to prohibit time-consuming public hearings if the project already fits within an existing plan. It also came up with a new flat-fee levy designed to remove the costly community amenity contributions (CACs) from pro formas on projects around transit hubs. (The high cost of CACs negotiated by the city are cited by the BC Chamber of Commerce as a hindrance to housing supply.)

“We need to find a way collectively to get [housing] faster to construction starts, full stop,” says Curtis Neeser, executive vice-president of residential development for Beedie Living. He knows first-hand just how slow the process can be: that nine-year 105 Keefer St. project in Chinatown is a Beedie development, and it’s still a work in progress.

“I’m not suggesting there shouldn’t be strong oversight, but we do need to find a quicker way through,” says Neeser. “To the credit of the provincial government, they seem to recognize that.”

Here’s a solution, says developer McGregor Wark, who’s VP of Headwater Projects: do what other municipalities (like Kelowna) do and streamline the approvals. Typically, Vancouver developers must go through a rezoning and then a development permit exercise, followed by a building permit, which can take years. Why not combine most of it?

We put this question to Josh White, general manager of planning, urban design and sustainability for the City of Vancouver, which is working hard on reducing permitting times. He says the city is moving towards concurrent approvals, but the timeline for that new process—much like the timeline for so many condo projects—is up in the air.

HOLD-UP #2

A love-hate relationship with investors

THE SOLUTION

Regulate investor-driven buying

This year, the feds increased the capital gains tax on investment properties, and developers groaned. According to Statistics Canada, about half of condos in Vancouver are investor owned, purchased via presale and rented out as secondary rental properties to avoid empty homes taxes. (This isn’t necessarily a Vancouver-specific problem, of course: Toronto rates are comparable.)

Proponents say that investor-owned units are a key part of the rental market here and chasing them away isn’t the solution. “Investors form an important pillar of demand for residential developments,” says Jonathan Cooper, president of Macdonald Realty and former chief operating officer for developer Holborn Holdings. “Presales are needed for developers to unlock financing so that they can build more housing. With our already tight rental controls in B.C., reducing the investment value of residential units—through changing the capital gains inclusion rate—could reduce investor demand for presales and lead to less housing being built.”

Local governments have also come to rely on the model to extract a share of non-market housing from new condo developments—depending on the municipality, between five and 20 percent of the units in a project are supposed to have below-market rates.

Critics, such as UBC professor Patrick Condon and York University professor Mark Winfield, argue that it’s a business model that only exacerbates the housing problem because housing for investment leads to a glut of tiny units and drives up overall land values.

Condon supports the taxing of landowners for the “land lift,” or increased value of land due to rezoning, and using the money for social benefit. In his book, Broken City, the message is not to wish for enough affordability after an upzone, but instead to insist on it, with at least 50 percent of the project devoted to non-market housing.

“If your market is robust, you get the opportunity to use that market to leverage a proportion of that for your community

WHY CAN’T WE BUILD MORE?

empty homes, flipping and foreign invest ment and speculation—all introduced in recent years by the both province and the feds—need to be maintained, says Andy Yan, associate professor of urban studies and director of SFU’s City Program.

HOLD-UP #3

A steady stream of new Vancouverites THE SOLUTION

Sync up immigration and housing policies

A contentious policy that affects supply is the feds’ immigration goal of half a million permanent newcomers each year. That’s not even counting the 2.5 million temporary students and workers who drive so much of the demand for rental housing. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates that, nationally, 3.5 million units are needed by 2030 to address the population growth.

Australian-born David Williams is vice-president of policy for the Business Council of B.C. and a former senior economist for the Bank of Canada. A boom in the population started in 2016 and “accelerated spectacularly” from 2022, he says. “In effect, at the current pace, the federal government has decided to add another B.C. to Canada every four and a half years.”

In 2023, for the first time on record since 1961, population growth outpaced net investment in housing, also known as residential capital stock. “We have never had a situation where the population growth is faster than the growth of residential capital stock,” says Williams. “But the federal government achieved that last year. In other words, adjusted for population and depreciation, Canada’s housing stock actually shrank.”

More Vancouverites should theoretically mean more tradespeople moving to town, too, but the vacancy rate in construction jobs is far higher than in other industries, according to a Desjardins Economic Studies report from last year.

The solution isn’t necessarily to stop the influx of fresh faces, say developers, but for the government to proactively sync up im-

migration and housing policies, and work harder to attract immigrants who work in construction. Bring on the plumbers, electricians and carpenters to help build the housing that Vancouverites—new and old—so desperately need.

HOLD-UP #4

View corridors and new builds don’t mix THE SOLUTION

Update old policies but don’t lose the charm

Cities change. But not everybody agrees that protections of views, character homes and light and airy spaces around buildings should be given up so fast. There is something called livability, after all.

“There are a lot of people wanting to reduce or remove those view cones,” says SFU’s Andy Yan. “It’s all in play, trying to get that additional height.”

He’s referring to the many decades that Vancouver has protected mountain views at several points around the city, including lookouts from Trout Lake and Olympic Village, as well as more than a dozen other spots.

But increasing land values, and the constant cycle of razing and re-building— as opposed to repurposing old buildings the way, say, Paris or Copenhagen has done— has put a premium on land and air space. New concrete towers are especially pricey. To make up for the cost, the towers must aim for the sky. And besides, condos with a view can command top dollar.

In July, city staff recommended scrapping some of the protected views and reducing and altering others.

The view protections are just one reason why the Cohen Block in the Downtown Eastside has taken so long to get approved. The former Army and Navy store site is in desperate need of revitalization, and owner Jacqui Cohen, who partnered with Bosa Properties, says it’s a legacy project—a mix of housing, retail and office in a beleaguered area that would benefit from new development.

“Grandpa Sam bought this property over a century ago. This is the Cohen legacy so it’s important to get it right,” she says. “The process of change and development— from Army and Navy to Cohen Block—has admittedly taken more time than I expected or wanted; however, we need to nail it. It will be a driver of positive change for so many people. And I want it to stand proudly for generations to come.”

Dan Cupa, vice-president of development for Bosa Properties, has said his company would build more housing if they could go higher. “There are all sorts of different aspects within the view cones that render them antiquated, especially at the expense of housing and especially at the expense of affordable housing,” he says. “For example, the Creekside view cone was already partially obscured by vegetation and play equipment, offering minimal public benefit.”

Brent Sawchyn, principal of developer PC Urban, has about 900 rental units under construction. Sawchyn estimates

that “tens of thousands of homes” have likely been lost to policies that protect view cones, eliminate shadowing from towers or dictate floor plate size. “Policies that were established 35 years ago by planning departments of the day are coming home to haunt us,” he says.

Still, Larry Beasley, former co-director of planning for the City of Vancouver and a key figure in the original implementation of the view cone policy, says there are smarter ways to tackle supply without giving up on longstanding priorities like views, character housing and sunshine. It can be done, with ingenuity and public consultation. “One of the chief ways that has not been explored is development of the False Creek Flats,” says Beasley. “The Creative District alone, on the south side of the Flats along Great Northern Way, can yield thousands of units of housing without sacrificing the industrial capacity. The whole Flats could yield tens of thousands of units—all rental if needed—and still keep our industrial capacity.”

HOLD-UP #5

Outrageous interest rates

THE SOLUTION

the cost, we are not lending at all,’” he says.

“For them to feel this particular project is safe, they need that margin to be present in order to lend it to a developer to build.”

Toronto-based Phil Soper, president of Royal LePage, says it comes back to reducing permitting times, which would help offset some of the cost and risk of borrowing for extended time periods.

HOLD-UP #6

For-profit developers are creating most of the stock

THE SOLUTION

Senior government needs to step it up

Reducing permitting times (again)

Nobody is going to purchase expensive land and sell units at reduced prices. In fact, after the downturn of 2023, there was a rash of foreclosures on projects embarked on by inexperienced developers who couldn’t pay the suddenly huge carrying costs. It doesn’t help that the lifeblood of Vancouver’s investment housing market is the Chinese buyer, and China’s housing market has tanked. The offshore spending spree lost steam.

As well, even if developers could flat-out build, they’re still constrained by interest rates, which impact everything from the cost of labour and materials to borrowing to consumer confidence.

A lot of it comes down to financing, which is controlled by the lenders, says Tom Huang, co-owner and managing direc tor of Tera Development. “We feel like we are all working for our lenders, our banks. They will look at the pro forma and say, ‘If you are not making at least 15 percent on

VANCOUVER DEVELOPER

WILL TELL YOU A PROJECT CAN TAKE AROUND SIX YEARS (!) FROM PURCHASE TO OCCUPANCY, LARGELY BECAUSE

When the feds gave up the duty to deliver affordable housing in the mid-’90s, industry experts agreed it was a massive setback for supply. Subsidized housing programs, such as cooperatives, fell by the wayside. Housing was mostly left to market cycles. “The older stock of housing now by default has become our affordable supply because we really haven’t built [social] housing since the ’80s, since the federal government abdicated their responsibility,” says PC Urban’s Sawchyn.

But the Desjardins report says we need aggressive policies aimed at getting housing built—so maybe it’s time to take a page out of the Canadian history books.

“We are learning that the private sector isn’t as good as government could be at delivering social housing,” Sawchyn says. “We can help them out, but they have to get back in the game.”

Matthew McClenaghan, president of Edgar Development, says his company certainly needed government support for their 23-acre, $1.1-billion Port Moody master-planned Portwood community, where they’ve just started construction. The plan is for around 2,200 units—328 of them affordable rentals—with the vast majority geared toward families. They benefited from what McClenaghan calls “reasonable” CACs, along with good financing rates from the CMHC.

“We have the province’s attention, and we have the federal government’s attention,” he says. “Housing can’t get built on the shoulders of the private sector. It’s not one person’s job alone.”

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From

the editors of magazine

SNOW ON THE

BEACH

A December wedding in Tofino brings the magic. by CAROLINE MITCHELL

photos by RONNIE LEE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY

They say you can’t have it all... but no one told Olivia and Brett Neron. “I’d always dreamed of a winter wedding but also loved the idea of a beach wedding,” explains Olivia. “Tofino captured both of those elements.”

After meeting at a beach volleyball charity event (“Our teams never overlapped, but we met because his roommate was hitting on my roommate, and the rest is history,” laughs Olivia), the Ottawa-based couple dated for three years before planning a special destination wedding on the West Coast.

An intimate group of 14 guests bundled up and made the trek to Chesterman Beach to witness Brett (a heavy civil engineer) and Olivia (a dental hygienist) exchange vows on a shimmering December day. Afterward, the party gathered in the cozy, candlelit wine cellar of the Wickaninnish Inn for dinner, speeches and champagne-flavoured cake.

While the snow on the beach that day may have been unexpected, one key detail of this beautiful day wasn’t a surprise at all: “We never left each other’s side all night,” says Olivia.

BEAUTY AND THE BEADS Olivia wore a longsleeved crepe Condesa wedding dress by Atelier Pronovias; the beaded panels depict an intricate pattern of sunflowers and vines. Brett’s slim-cut Tiger of Sweden suit was sourced from Nordstrom . His loafers are from Aldo

GET INN TO IT Olivia’s parents travelled to Tofino the summer before the wedding to scope out the Wickaninnish Inn for their daughter. “They were taken aback by its serene beauty and history,” says Olivia. The five-star hospitality at the iconic hotel didn’t hurt, either. (“The staff was as exceptional as everyone raves about.”)

“I think day-after sessions are a fun option most couples don’t consider, but it reduces the stress of portraits on the wedding day,” says Hill.

THE MORNING AFTER Photographer

Ronnie Lee Hill did a day-after photo shoot with Olivia and Brett in Ucluelet.

NOW The all-white bouquet from Tofino florist Pollen and Co included ranunculus and roses. Pollen also brought greenery to hang from the chandelier over the table (made by Indigenous master carver Henry Nolla) in the wine cellar.

c TABLE MANNERS Bespoke Decor curated the tabletop look for the cozy long-table dinner in the Wick’s wine cellar. Black taper candles, brass candleholders, linen napkins and matte-black chargers emphasize the elegance of the space.

VIP ROOM Including the bride and groom, there were only 16 people in attendance at Olivia and Brett’s wedding—a size that Olivia heartily recommends. “We truly had so much quality time with each and every one of our guests.”

WHITE

POPPING OFF The Wickaninnish Inn’s pastry chef took charge of dessert: a champagne-flavoured white cake with Pop Rocks in the icing.

GLAM GEAR Olivia’s sister acted as the couple’s matron of honour and wore an Antonio Melani dress; the best man donned a Grafton suit.

POWER FLOWERS

The weather may be cold, but these winter floral trends are hot, hot, hot.

by stacey mclachlaN

Who says spring weddings get to have all the floral fun?

We talked to a half-dozen florists for insights into winter wedding trends and discovered that the snowy season is when creativity truly blooms.

FORGET EVERYTHING YOU ASSUMED ABOUT MOODY, MUTED PALETTES

Bright and bold florals have been the name of the game for 2024 weddings— why should winter be any different?

“Winter is long and cold and pops of colour will brighten dark days and nights,” says Genevieve Blondin, owner of Garden Party Flowers. Think berry and fruit-punch hues to keep things seasonally chic.

...OR MAYBE MONOCHROME IS YOUR THING

There are two ways to try this trend.

Go au naturel. “We are seeing a trend toward more monochromatic (one colour or tone) and mono-botanical (single floral variety) bouquets,” says Blondin.

Go for drama. “I’m leaning toward monochromatic statements with metallic silver or gold, or even black. I’m also seeing a lot more painted florals,” notes Kerstyn Tottenham, co-owner of Our Little Flower Company.

FLORAL BLOCKING 101

Floral blocking—creating bridesmaid bouquets with just one type of flower, using a different flower for each bridesmaid—is the trend you’ll be seeing in ceremonies all season long. Here’s what you need to know.

It’s not new. “Floral blocking is an oldie but a goodie that’s making a comeback.

It was a short-lived trend, but I think it deserves its moment to shine again,” says Tottenham.

It’s about going all in. “Each bridesmaid has one particular type of flower, arranged and designed in a modern style,” explains Estefani Alvarenga, founder of De la Flore. “Some arrangements having a limited number of stems per bouquet (making them smaller), use elegant blooms and are styled asymmetrically. They might also be colour-blocked.“

It all ties in to the bride. “Often the bridesmaids will each have a different type of flower, and then the bride has a

VARIETAL TO WATCH: AMARYLLIS

Amaryllis is one of the biggest blooms you can find next to peonies, and it’s only around in winter. “Plus, those deep, rich colours you see this time of year make for some of the prettiest arrangements,” adds Tottenham.

Love in Bloom

Opposite page: Amina and Shaun celebrate their love by a dramatic display from Écorce Flowers; clockwise from left: bright and bold monochromatic florals by Écorce; bold greenery at The Polygon Gallery; floral blocking bouquets; dramatic metallic statement florals, also by Écorce.

bouquet comprised of the amalgamation of all the flower types,” says Sarah Fennell, owner of You Floral.

GO HARD WITH THE GREENERY

“With our winter wedding couples, they often opt for lots of greenery in their bouquets, often incorporating evergreens

LEAN INTO TEXTURE

Some varietals to try to add texture and depth, according to Sarah Fennell:

THE INSIDE TRACK

Winter is the ideal time to celebrate love in the great indoors. by TIA SACKS

TAKE YOUR CREATIVITY TO THE TABLE

Alvarenga has noticed two distinct reception-table floral trends. Trend #1: Keeping it small. “There is a lot of floral blocking being used for receptions, but also smaller arrangements on the table versus tall, big or long-and-low arrangements. We’re seeing frog-pin arrangements, or bud vases: minimalist, yet modern and elegant.” Trend #2: Getting back to the land. “I’ve been noticing the use of more earthy textures: mushrooms, rocks, shells, vegetables. The use of fruit is very hot right now, and I’m sure that’s only the start.”

Sure, it’s cold outside—but winter weather is the perfect excuse to get a little cozy on your wedding day. Twinkling lights and rustic textures, roaring fireplaces and charming interiors: these are the things a dreamy winter wedding is made of. Here’s where to find ’em.

1. PACIFIC BALLROOM AT THE FAIRMONT VANCOUVER

Location: Vancouver

Maximum Capacity: 400

Price: $45,000 minimum food and beverage spend

The nickname for this 85-year-old Fairmont property is “the Castle,” so if you’re looking for a wintry fairy-tale wedding, there’s no better spot. The sweeping Art Deco ballroom is draped in golds and creams with a twinkling crystal chande -

lier: windows look onto the snow-dusted city below. Bonus: your booking includes a night in one of the historic hotel’s glamorous honeymoon suites.

2. CAFE MEDINA

Location: Vancouver

Maximum Capacity: 55 seated; 70 standing Price: Available upon request; food starts at $85/person

This one’s for the foodie couples in the house: high ceilings, decorative mouldings and exquisite Mediterranean food make Café Medina not only a sought-after brunch spot but also a stunning wedding venue. Choose from seated or standing dinner and cocktail options: think stuffed eggplant with creamed feta, confit duck leg or an old fashioned made with saffron-spiced honey.

Seeded eucalyptus Eryngium

Waxflower Berries (Fennel likes privet)

Dried bunny tails

3. CECIL GREEN PARK HOUSE

Location: Vancouver

Maximum Capacity: 200 for ceremony; 140 for reception

Price: From $4,000

The timeless charm of the Cecil Green Park House offers a warm escape from the Vancouver chill. The historic seaside mansion is yours for the day—take your pick from the many rooms the house has to offer for your ceremony and reception: from an intimate 18th-century drawing room (hello, crown moulding) to the mahogany-andstained-glass Kanakla room.

4. THE CHEAKAMUS CENTRE

Location: Squamish

Maximum Capacity: 120 seated; 130 standing

Price: From $2,750

You might be taking the wedding indoors, but that doesn’t mean you have to forgo

a little nature. The lush forest setting of the Cheakamus Centre is seemingly boundless (it includes all 165 hectares of the surrounding ecological reserve), even when you’re celebrating in the contemporary, wood-and-glass building.

5. WEDGEWOOD HOTEL AND SPA

Location: Vancouver

Maximum Capacity: 55 seated; 100 standing

Price: Available upon request Fireplaces, mahogany walls and leather accents galore: this is what a downtown winter wedding should be. Go for

the moody dining room for an intimate dinner with 20 guests, or mix and mingle in the 100-standing Devonshire room—either way, the food served by in-house, Michelin-recommended Bacchus Restaurant is sure to please.

6. FRASER RIVER LODGE

Location: Agassiz

Maximum Capacity: 200

Price: From $12,800 ($4,000 for elopements and micro-weddings)

The all-inclusive venue offers ceremony spaces, guest accommodations and catering. The lodge’s snowy grounds and vistas of Mount Cheam make for picture-perfect photos, while the warm, woodsy interiors keep your guests cabin-cozy through the night. Make a rustic weekend of the whole affair—the Lodge also offers activities like axe throwing and wilderness trips.

THE LOOKS OF LOVE

We grilled wedding dress experts about the season’s biggest trends to ensure you’re dressed to impress on the big day. by CAROLINE MITCHELL

THE LOOK SLEEVE IT TO ME

PROS SAY “Brides are more inclined to go with a sleeve or something with more coverage, depending on the setting,” says Tessa Marie Crowe, head stylist at Every Bridal. Some brands, like Truvelle, even offer detachable sleeves.

WEAR IT Winter by Made with Love; Truvelle’s Wisteria Sleeves

THE LOOK SILVER SIREN

PROS SAY “We’re seeing beading and cooler-toned gowns: think Frozen vibes,” says Crowe. “Brides are embracing their inner Elsa for winter weddings.”

WEAR IT The Flora or Simone by Katherine Tash

THE LOOK ROYAL ELEGANCE

PROS SAY Winter is the perfect time for that regal accessory, Crowe notes: “Accessorizing becomes more wondrous with capes, faux fur and Sofia Richie-inspired diamonds.”

WEAR IT Ludlow jacket by Alexandra Grecco or the Jewel cape by Jenny Yoo

THE LOOK COZY IN CREPE

PROS SAY “The winter bride loves a classic crepe dress,” says Gaby Bayona, owner of bridalwear brands Truvelle, Laudae and Aesling. “They often say it feels cozy and glove-like for a chilly day.”

WEAR IT The Aesling Frida or Westminster

THE LOOK LUXE TEXTURE

PROS SAY “In the winter, brides might be interested in incorporating textured fabrics into their look—like sparkle, jacquards, laces,” says Lindsay Mix, head of merchandising at Park and Fifth.

WEAR IT The Dalton from Park and Fifth

THE LOOK CLASSIC CINDERELLA

PROS SAY The swerve away from sleek modernism is here. “I can feel this resurgence of a more traditional, vintage style gown coming back, like a Cinderella ball gown or a classic lace,” notes Crowe.

WEAR IT Protea by Alena Leena or Marisol by Jenny Yoo

THE LOOK HAUTE NEW HUES

PROS SAY “Brides are starting to play with hints of colour a bit more,” says Mix, noting that vintage-inspired champagne and hints of blue have started to become more popular. Adds wedding dress designer Stesha Ho (who, full disclosure, is also the art director of this magazine), “Blush or almond allow embellishment like lace or beading to stand out more... and makes it easier to rewear your dress after your wedding.”

WEAR IT Hazel Arden by Jenny Yoo or Luna by Katherine Tash; the Park and Fifth Emerson

THE LOOK DROP-WAIST DRAMA

PROS SAY Winter will carry on a look that’s been popular throughout the year. Says Ho, “We’ll be riding on the trend of drop-waist and Basque-style dresses, which feature a V-shaped waistline.”

WEAR IT Bride Katie wears a custom twopiece Basque-style corset with a tulle skirt

THE LOOK COSTUME CHANGE

PROS SAY “We’re seeing brides requesting two- or three-in-one dresses, where we create a few things on their dresses to be detachable, for example, sleeves, skirt, a bow or a topper,” says Ho. For brides who like the idea of having a gown for the ceremony and a mini dress for the reception, a convertible dress with detachable elements does it all.

THE LOOK TWO-PIECE PERFECTION

PROS SAY “It’s a way to give your wedding dress longevity where they are able to rewear it after their wedding, like pairing their Basque-style corset top with pants or jeans, to sort of make it more casual,” says Ho.

WEAR IT Bride Megan wears a custom mini dress (above) with a detachable overskirt (below)

THE LOOK BLACK-TIE

BRIDESMAIDS

PROS SAY “Bridesmaids may opt for more of a ‘gala’ look in darker colours, and dresses may be more structured or have a bit of drama, like a high slit or a low back,” says Mix.

WEAR IT The Park and Fifth Thurlow in dark olive or the Reeve dress in black

WEAR IT Park and Fifth’s Conrad set

THE LOOK BUTTERCUP BLISS

PROS SAY “This year we’ve seen a big rise in butter yellow for bridesmaids, which I am absolutely here for,” says Crowe, noting that mismatched pastels have been a hot trend too, any time of year.

WEAR IT Buttercup yellow bridesmaids gowns by Jenny Yoo

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TASTE

We’re diving deep into what makes a meal noteworthy. Read on for our review of the city’s newest Spanish restaurant, Casa Molina; plus, what did the Michelin Guide miss in its awards this fall? Hint: some of the best spots in the city.

Croqueta ’bout it These delicate fritters are meltydelicious flavour bombs.

Beyond the Paella

Mount Pleasant’s newest Spanish restaurant is cozy, unpretentious and just plain delicious. by Dani Wright

This isn’t the first time I’ve crossed paths with chef Javier Blanc (or the second, or the third). I interviewed him way back in 2022 about his experience competing at the Concurs Internacional de Paella Valenciana de Sueca (World Paella Day Cup)—he and partner Chef Ela Blasco secured silver the very next year by, the way—and after that I made a point to try his food whenever I could. At food festivals, summer pop-ups on Como Taperia’s patio, private events—if Blasco and Blanc’s company, Paella Guys, is there, you’ll find me in line for a bowl of veggies, protein and saffron-scented rice. So when I heard that Blanc had opened his own brick-and-mortar spot, Casa Molina in Mount Pleasant, with Blasco in place as culinary director and chef, I knew I wanted a seat at the table.

That table just happens to be inside an adorable converted house. Casa Molina only seats 25, but the room feels cozy rather than cramped thanks to dim, golden-hued light accenting the limewashed walls and unstained wood tables. Between that and the scent of something sizzling in the kitchen, it does feel like you’re entering someone’s home—if, you know, that person also had the forethought to create a batch of sangria ($15). I order mine almost the moment we sit down: Casa Molina’s version is spirit-forward, but in the way that reflects the 10-year-old brandy it’s made with: there’s warmth without bite, and flavour without muddying the wine down into an afterthought. My partner goes the other direction with the Agua

Small Restaurant, Big Flavour Counter-clockwise from top left: Casa Molina’s top dishes, including Chef Blanc’s famed paella; the homey interior of Casa Molina; lime-washed walls contribute to the at-home experience; smoky and succulent octopus; salmorejo (a.k.a. manchego ice cream with Iberico crumble and tomato soup); housemade bread, Iberico ham and the incredible, must-try croquettas.

de Valencia ($15); it’s light, refreshing and uncomplicated—just how I prefer a ginbased cocktail to be.

Sometimes it feels like ordering bread as a dish at a restaurant is a cop-out—is there really bad bread? (The answer is yes, obviously; I’m a food writer, my opinions are strong.) But this isn’t your ordinary bread ($9). It’s touted as artisan, and though that word gets thrown around a lot, here, it’s merited. High hydration and a just-long-enough fermentation meet to produce a toothsome yet yielding crust and a bouncy, airy centre. When served with the must-order, traditional-style garlic aioli ($3)—that is to say, simply oil, garlic and salt—I all but forget I’ve ordered anything else, because this is bliss.

But then the Iberico ham ($16) arrives. Yes, the Spanish cousin to prosciutto wasn’t made by Chef Blanc, but it was sourced by him and his team. The 48-month ham is salty, it’s gently marbled, it’s nutty and it’s bold, thanks to all those acorns the Iberian pigs were munching. And when placed atop aioli-smeared bread, the flavours meet in a way that highlights each one without crowding anyone out. Sure, it’s simple, but it really sings.

While we’re savouring the ham, a trio of croquetas ($18) arrive: ham, shrimp and spinach. Being knee-deep in Ibericoworship already, ham is the obvious choice to start with. An impossibly thin crust gives way to a punchy, smoky and melty centre. So melty, in fact, that the question becomes: how the heck did it all stay together in the fryer? The shrimp croqueta is just as delicate—chunks of bouncy shellfish meet a bechamel-esque sauce, all miraculously contained within maybe a millimetre of crisp breading. It’s fragile to hold, like it could collapse under the pressure of my fingertips, but it stays together despite the absolutely insane ratio of filling to breading. The spinach iteration is the surprise hit of the night: the decadent funk of blue cheese is met with a sweet undertone; nutmeg is my first guess, but either way the final croqueta turns into a two-bite wonder.

The octopus ($32) arrives as the final dish of the night—and it smells like bacon. A generous garnishing of spicy pimentón is the culprit; it’s smokier than the store-bought stuff we stock at home. The heat itself isn’t overly present—it’s more like a very welcome warmth atop the ultra-tender octopus and layer of Madeleine-style potatoes (they’re sliced thin, and taste creamy). Like most of what I’ve ordered, it’s simple, but so expertly executed. We clean the plate down to the last bite.

All of this isn’t to say that Casa Molina doesn’t have technique-driven plates. Take the salmorejo (manchego ice cream with Iberico crumble and chilled tomato soup), the huevo trufado con espuma de patata (sous vide egg, potato foam, truffle and potatoes) or the award-winning Valenciana paella that Chef Blanc is known for. But my experience here has been a study of simplicity: whether or not it takes bells and whistles to make food delicious. I’m not immune to a good show, but when food is ingredient-forward and unpretentious, any flaws are more likely to stand out. Here, I didn’t find a single one. If that’s not the best reason to return to the tiny converted house on Manitoba Street, I don’t know what is.

2211 Manitoba Street Open Wednesday to Sunday THE ESSENTIAL DEETS

THE WINE LIST

by Neal McLennan

Jansz Brut, $49

here’s the twist

Ah, the dreaded holiday wine pick. On the one hand, you personally like to push the vinous boundaries, especially on big occasions. On the other hand, you just got Pop to warm up to pinot, and Mom so loves her chardonnay. So instead of being that person who’s being forced to spend the first two courses explaining exactly why a young dolcetto goes with turkey, why not try to move the needle in more a comfortable but meaningful way this year? Just a little tweak here and there on age or grape, and the whole fam will be more likely to want to go with you on the journey.

Château Verdignan 2005, $55

I’ve spent the last several years singing the praises of B.C. sparkling, and it’s still a go-to for high-quality, well-priced bubbles. But sometimes a wine drinker likes to branch out... as in all the way to Tasmania, Australia’s southern island that also specializes in cool-climate grapes. This bottle follows a very Champagne-y journey: chardonnay and pinot noir, secondary fermentation in the bottle and an electric, vibrant thrill when it lands in the glass. It’s light enough to be downright ethereal on its own, but there’s also some hidden depth that would love to stand up to a ladle full of gravy. A delight.

The Brits love serving aged “claret” with turkey. Truthfully, they love serving it with everything, but they’re on to something with turkey because—as in all things—age strips away the vigour and brashness. What you’re left with is a mediumbodied wonder that makes its hay in subtlety. And, luckily for us, the BCL always sources a bottle or two of really aged Bordeaux from lesser regions and then offers them up at a steal—like this bottle from the Haut-Médoc that’s in the twilight of its viability but may still have a Christmas miracle or two left in it.

Gachot Monot Bourgogne Aligoté, $31

Even Mom and Pop shudder when they think about the price of Burgundy these days, but absolute revelations exist for those willing to wander off the bold-name path. A case in point: here you have an excellent value-driven producer like Gachot Monot producing a less well-known grape (aligoté, a high acid, citrus-heavy partner to the more expected chardonnay) with all the care of a Grand Cru. Add six years of bottle age to soften the edges and you have a prestige wine at a bargain price that will satisfy both the sauvignon blanc and chardonnay fans. And the snobs, too.

AH-SO CORK PULLER

We’re dealing with some older bottles here so the lever-style Rabbit, a Christmas present from 14 years ago, is a no-go, as it just tears the cork up. You can make like a somm and try to finesse an old cork out with a classic waiter’s corkscrew, or you could put one of these babies in your arsenal. The twin blades grab onto the cork’s side to avoid the dreaded coring out, and they’re widely available for a modest amount at most wine stores (or even Amazon in a pinch). $12

grape GOODS

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Miss upon a star Miss upon a star Miss Upon a Star

The Michelin Awards highlight some of the city’s best restaurants—and then totally drop the ball with our other worthy contenders. by Neal

McLennan

It would be a fantastically bad idea for me to criticize the Michelin list. For starters, doing so would make it clear that I am not one of the company’s famed secret inspectors—even though I satisfy their traditional holy trinity of requirements: old, white, male. (Although maybe slinging shots at the list is exactly what an inspector who wanted to stay undercover would do?) But more so, when you’ve spent years working for a magazine that has its own longstanding restaurant awards, any criticism would be bound to come off as sour grapes. I mean, how do you say “you know, the city had to pay Michelin an undisclosed huge chunk of money (rumoured to be $5 million) to come to Vancouver” without coming across as small and petty?

And yet. No sooner was the list released than everyone I know started chiming in with their two cents on what the inspectors missed (or with headscratching on who was included). To be fair, I think most people are of the mind that it’s a very solid list, and I don’t know anyone who has cast any serious aspersions on the integrity of the judges

or the process—no PR dinners here, nor special “treats” sent out by chefs. And, given that at least some, if not all, members of the judging pool aren’t from Vancouver, you don’t have local faves being elevated for reasons other than food (which is bad news for White Spot but good news for restaurant-goers). Now, with that out of the way, let’s get to the catty part of the program. Because I have such respect for Michelin’s process, I believe an homage to their scoring system is suitable. So, I’m going to rank what I see as misses on a scale of 1 to 3, with 3-Star Miss being the most cringingly bad, 2-Star Miss a solid d’oh! and 1-Star Miss just a hair off the target.

3-Star Miss: Niente for La Quercia

The Michelin Guide doesn’t think too much of our Italian restaurants: none were awarded stars and only Magari by Oca was bestowed with one of the 16 Bib Gourmands. There are six in the Recommended list, but by then it’s too little too late, no? And while I appreciate that we’re not known as an Italian restaurant hot spot, we’re not exactly a wasteland, either. No fact furthers this point more than the complete omission of La Quercia, Adam Pegg’s temple of authenticity tucked away deep into the city’s west side. It’s a restaurant with such focus and purity of purpose—it has no equals on either pillar among the awarded Italian restaurants—that it should be tailor-made for the principles espoused by the guide. The irony is that for a guide whose initial M.O. was asking if a restaurant was “worth a drive,” my inkling is that the inspectors either didn’t make or rarely made the trek to Alma Street—and this is an educated guess, because we’ve on occasion had the same challenges during our own restaurant awards judging. But those who do make it are treated to a spot whose single-minded pursuit is capturing the ragione di vita of Italian cuisine. The inspectors did get it right by singling out Magari by Oca, but

La Quercia

Boulevard

Blue Water Café

that’s a restaurant so infused with the DNA of La Quercia (their beloved late chef Greg Dilabio learned his skills beside Pegg—who was also an early investor) that to laud one and ignore the other is not just wrong, it’s nonsensical.

2-Star Miss: Suck It, Hotels

When the guide’s initial visit to Vancouver was first announced a few years back, the two restaurants everyone knew were locks on stars were St. Lawrence and Boulevard. Luckily, Bet MGM wasn’t taking action or some of us would have lost a lot of money on the second half of that exacta. In a lot of ways, Boulevard felt like it was created in the image of a starred restaurant: not one, but two internationally lauded chefs in Alex Chen and Roger Ma; a full-time, equally lauded pastry chef in Kenta Takahashi; an elegant room staffed with an uber-professional waitstaff; a locavore cuisine grounded in classics that’s still relentlessly tweaked with diverse global influences. And for all this they get a Recommended nod. Seriously, it would be better for them to get nothing than have to look up to, say, a Bib Gourmand winner like Little Bird Dim Sum and Craft Beer and say, “Maybe one day, if we work really hard...”

My guess is that this is Michelin trying to shed its old reputation as a lover of stuffy rooms with fancy china in favour of the low-fi temples of indifference in order to show the kids they still got it. But Boulevard isn’t a stuffy room and the food

coming out of the kitchen is absolutely deserving on an imagination and execution level. To a lesser degree, Botanist gets caught in this same morass. It’s also a room with a very dialled-in chef—Hector Laguna—and they also go to the expense of having the supremely talented Kate Siegel as a pastry chef and their bar program might be the best in the entire country. And for the effort, they also get Recommended, the exact same recognition as their downstairs neighbour, the Lobby Lounge and Raw Bar, which, not even kidding here, I didn’t even know was considered a restaurant save for when they have Masayoshi-san come in and do lunch. Go figure.

1-Star Miss: fine china

Unlike with our Italian scene, we are known as one of the great outside-ofChina centres of Chinese food, but while the guide makes more than a passing nod (one 1-Star, one Bib Gourmand and five Recommended) it seems their sights are skewed just enough that they’re not quite getting what we’re selling here. Their 1-star—iDen and QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House—is a supremely odd place. Never forget that this room landed on the scene promising “5-D Dining” (spoiler alert, there’s no such thing) while also having an “open” sign that I swear was purchased at Costco. No disrespect to the food or service, but I do note that it’s not the sort of place that sees a lot of repeat visits from those in the food scene.

The bigger concern is that Michelin seems to have been enthralled by the shiny veneer of the newer Chinese spots—in addition to iDen, which is quite swank despite the sign, they gave a Bib

Gourmand to the very slick and bustling Seaport City Seafood on Cambie. Again, nothing too wrong here, but decor seems to have an outsized influence on judging for the Chinese spots, because the dowdy old-fashioned looking restaurants seem to get short shrift.

Exhibit A and B are Broadway neighbours Dynasty and Chef’s Choice. Yes, both landed on the Recommended list, but honestly that’s not high enough if the guide wants to go deep on our Chinese restaurants. It’s true that both rooms are not exactly sexy and both are absolutely getting hammered with the endless construction happening in front of them, but their food is simply too on point and flawlessly executed to stick them so far down.

Of course there’s more (no Blue Water at all, Maenam only gets a Recommended), but there always is when you’re bitching about something. The reality is that it’s a good list and, for a lot of the restaurants, really helpful to their bottom line—and there’s no complaining about that.

Chef’s Choice

Maenam

Getting the Coolest (Real) Vintage Clothes

Up your style game, sustainably, thanks to tips from local experts. by Alyssa Hirose

You can spot a vintage-shop vet from their keen eye, impeccable taste and sore triceps (picking through racks upon racks of used clothing is a serious workout). Thanks to a growing collective consciousness around consuming sustainably and a city buzzy with thrift, consignment and curated second-hand shops, new old clothes are all around us... but finding a fit ’fit that fits can still be a pain. We tapped Liz Krebs, operations manager at The Only, and Lydia Okello, content creator and model, for their advice.

Define your store. You can find vintage clothing in many types of second-hand shops. Krebs explains that (in general) thrift stores depend solely on donations, consignment stores rely on the public to bring items in (and then split profits with the consignor) and vintage stores buy and curate their product from ragyards, wholesalers or other collectors. Get in the mood. Sometimes, second-hand

shopping is a state of mind. “You definitely have to be in the right headspace for it,” says Krebs. “I have 100 percent walked into a thrift store and walked immediately back out feeling overwhelmed.” So grab that matcha latte, bring your best hype-friend and chill: good vibes equal good finds.

Always check the tags. Fast fashion can find its way to thrift and consignment stores, and your cute “vintage” trousers might just be hot garbage. “I am notorious for checking the tags,” says Okello. “I’ll look up brands, and I’m always going

to look at the fibre content.” Cotton, wool, linen and silk are green flags, Okello shares.

Bring a measuring tape with you. Both Krebs and Okello suggest knowing your own measurements and bringing a measuring tape with you. Sizes on tags won’t be consistent across brands, and this way you can get a sense of how something fits you even if change rooms aren’t available. Krebs adds that many vintage shops will have a measuring tape on hand if you forget— just ask.

Go early and often. Krebs recommends shopping early, as slow mornings on the sales floor allow staff more time to put new items out. “Most places get new product daily or weekly,” she adds, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t find anything you like: there’s always next time.

Be a respectful customer. Duh. These folks are working their butts off to give you the most style-forward sustainable shopping experience, and we all know retail can be hell. So respect the work and be kind. “Putting your clothes back on the hangers instead of leaving them in a pile is always nice,” Krebs suggests.

stone unturned when it comes to shopping secondhand: besides your cool neighbourhood vintage shop, they also recommend small thrift stores (“Hospital auxiliaries are always great!”), apps like Poshmark, Gem and Lucky Sweater, sites like eBay and Etsy and social platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Instagram.

Don’t forget the accessories. There’s more in store than clothing, and Okello never skips the racks holding bags, belts, scarves, ties, and jewellery. “You’ll find very high-quality goods tucked in the depths of an accessory bin, and incredibly unique things as well,” they say.

When in doubt, head to the suburbs. Have car, will thrift. Second-hand shops outside of the city are full of (often cheaper) possibilities. “Day trip to smaller towns— they’re often less pickedover,” says Krebs. Okello agrees: “I grew up in the Fraser Valley, so I also try to hit up the thrifts when I’m out that way. Many treasures to be found.”

Try small shops and the wide web. Okello leaves no

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