Vancouver Magazine, July/August 2021

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PLUS: JUSTICE LEAGUE | FOOD TRUCKS REIGN | ROLLER-SK ATING RENAISSANCE

Jonathan Sanz of El Mercat brings Basque Country cuisine to the coast.

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SPONSORED REPORT

FOODIE GETAWAYS NEAR VANCOUVER:

360-DEGREE DISCOVERY OF NEW SUMMER FLAVOURS

F

ancy yourself an adventurer? A lover of the unusual and little known? Shake off the last few months at home and discover new foodie locales around the province. As we slowly follow BC’s Restart plan, it is time to think about some drool-worthy getaways–all in a safe and responsible way. Check out these easy-to-get-to destinations around BC where the local flavour is calling and worth staying a few days to explore.

West - Sunshine Coast The Sunshine Coast is known for its cozy communities and postcard views, not to mention it is a fishing, paddling, and hiking dream spot.

Sechelt is the perfect hub for launching day trips and is a hidden gem for culinary delights, including El Segundo, where bold, fresh, vibrant flavours come to life in a colourful fusion curation. Or, finish a day of exploring with appetizers at The Porch Restaurant, located at the Oceanside Resort in Davis Bay. After dinner, settle into a room at this newly renovated hotel, or spend the night at the Driftwood Motor Inn, Sechelt’s beachside hotel, but not until you’ve had a nightcap at its Beachside Kitchen Bar and Patio.

That Chicken Place alone is worth the trip to Powell River.

Prepare your tastebuds for original West Coast fried chicken and poutine (and old-fashioned

milkshakes, twisters and the ultimate Chicken and Waffle Sandwich). This is the perfect family-friendly spot when staying in Historic Townsite. It’s all just steps away from heritage spots like the Old Courthouse Inn, Townsite Public Market, and Townsite Brewing, so all your needs can be met without even getting in the car.

SURA Korean BBQ | Richmond, BC | Tourism Richmond

Golden Village District | Richmond, BC | Tourism Richmond

East - Coquitlam and Surrey Get ready for a flavour extravaganza east of Vancouver, with hundreds of opportunities for tasting international foods. Stay in the heart of Korea Town along North Road in Coquitlam at The Executive Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre Metro Vancouver. Try Hashtag Café, which is turning heads with its Cro-Waffles, a combo of a croissant and waffle on a stick. Kokoro Tokyo Masezoba is heavenly for ramen and Kimbab Cheonguk is the top spot for Korean.

While in the area, don’t miss Surrey’s newly launched Spice Trail–a culinary and retail experience focused on South Asian, Malay, Korean, and other ethnic cuisines.

With more than 30 participating establishments, you’ll want to stay a while. Try Chacha’s Tandoor & Grill for a mix of street food and North Indian cuisine with tandoori try Guacamole Mexican Grill’s Ceviche de Camarones and Pollo Mole, paired with the non-alcoholic horchata. For a taste of the Caribbean, visit Di Reggae Cafe and try the

Townsite Brewing | Powell River, BC | Destination BC/Local Wanderer

Va No

oxtail soup on the brand new patio.

See as much as you can with a stay at the Civic Hotel, Four Points

by Sheraton Surrey, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Surrey, or Comfort Inn & Suites–all of which offer Spice Trail packages.

North - North Shore Visit one of the birthplaces of freeride downhill mountain biking:

Vancouver’s North Shore, where visitors can hike, zipline, rock climb, and of course, dine–all in one day.

Plan a getaway to the Shipyards District, a historic area just a short SeaBus ride away from Downtown Vancouver. Enjoy cozy fire pits, diverse food offerings, and abundant patio-hopping and the very walkable North Shore Ale Trail, all nestled between the scenic backdrop of

Created by Vancouver magazine in partnership with DESTINATION BC

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Vancouver’s city skyline and the North Shore mountains.

Hotels like the Seaside Hotel and the North Vancouver Hotel are offering up some incredible deals (vancouvernorthshore.com) for summertime stays including BOGOs with Reckless Biking eBike rentals and gift vouchers for Lonsdale Quay Market.

South – Richmond Richmond’s art, history, and foodie action are largely influenced by the city’s multicultural identity and its

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diverse population of Asian residents. From Japanese food courts to Hong Kong-style cafes, Chinese barbecue stalls to dim sum institutions, there’s lots of ways to start experiencing the city’s unique food culture.

Revel in options on Wai Sek Kai (Food Street), a threeblock stretch of the Golden Village with 200 restau-rants, or grab your chopsticks and some extra napkins and get ready for a taste explosion on The Dumpling Trail, a collection of restaurants serving up some of the most

delectable dumplings this side of the Pacific.

Book an overnight stay in the new Versante Hotel opening at the end of July, or consider Steveston whose fishing heritage and freshoff-the-boat seafood beckon at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Make this a summer to remember for more reasons than one. Go beyond the usual, with an open heart and open mind, and discover something new, right here in BC. Plan your summer getaway now at ExploreBC.com.

CONTACT: http://www.hellobc.com CONNECT: Facebook @HelloBC | Twitter@hellobc | Instagram@hellobc

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Studio, 1, 2 & 3 bedroom homes coming soon to Austin Heights.

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TANYA GOEHRING

A view for everyone.

From every floor.

VA N M AG .C O M

J U LY/AU G U S T 2 0 2 1 // VO LU M E 5 4 // N U M B E R 4

FE ATURES

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Made in Vancouver Awards Introducing the winners of our third annual Made in Vancouver Awards: the talented folks who have kept crafting, cooking and concocting in a year like no other.

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All’s Fair in Love and COVID

TANYA GOEHRING

Zoom dating, distanced walks and exclusiveby-provincial-healthorder relationships dominated. Now, what is love?

Hot Take Quake Studio’s PoLite Candesticks lit up the MIVA Home Category.

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City

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27 Justice for All Advocates hope to bring restorative justice to Vancouver. What does that mean for our legal system?

91 The Ticket Plug in to local singersongwriter Amanda Sum’s indie-pop tunes.

Plus, all the best things to do—live and online— in the city this summer.

32 Pitch a Rent Last year looked promising, but rent reductions won’t be a new normal for most landlords.

36 What It’s Like To Walking the line between resilience and hopelessness in the anti-Asian hate crime capital of North America (here).

38 City Informer An exploration of how Vancouver recovered from the Spanish flu, and what our own post-pandemic life might look like.

98 Modern Family Vancouver-based celebrity impersonators who have mastered the imitation game.

100 On the Rise Londre takes recycled plastic bottles and turns them into gorgeous swimwear, no retouching required.

103 Freedom Is a Skate of Mind Strap in—this COVID trend just might be here to stay.

109 Open Season Designer Annaliesse Kelly transforms a cramped condo into an airy, modern home.

118 The Dish D.I.C.E.D. Discovery Café is serving up the best burger deal in town—and giving back to the community.

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121 Full Throttle Food Trucks The food truck craze seemed to putter out pre-pandemic, but there’s a new road ahead for restaurants on wheels.

128 Snapshot Furniture designer and artist Steven Pollock turned to wildlife photography during the pandemic, and the results are worth tweeting about.

130 Love Letter Bird-watching provided peace, serenity and fresh air when we really needed it.

What the duck else was there to do?

130

CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEF T: MARI FOUZ; ALYSSA HIROSE; KRISTIN KORCH; NICOL AS CHAREST; INSTAGRAM @CRACKONVAN; STEVEN POLLOCK

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Contemporary Cool Vintage art and original pieces dot the gallery-white walls of this stunning Vancouver condo.

Story page 109.

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CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEF T: MARI FOUZ; ALYSSA HIROSE; KRISTIN KORCH; NICOL AS CHAREST; INSTAGRAM @CRACKONVAN; STEVEN POLLOCK

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Harrison Hot Springs in the Harrison River Valley is the perfect “road trip” dessnason. A 90-minute drive from Vancouver on Scenic Highway 7, it is just far enough away from home that you feel like you Harrison Hot Springs in the Harrison River the you perfect 90-minute have escaped the confines of the city but notValley so faristhat are “road numbtrip” fromdessnason. hours on theA road.

With drive from Vancouver on Scenic Highway 7, it is just far enough away from home that you feel like you no ferries and no borders there is nothing to get in the way of a fun filled day on the beach, water, have escaped the confines of the cityyou butcan notrelax, so farenjoy, that you numb in from hours With or town.

Away from urban cityscapes andare breathe wild.

Takeon in the theroad. boundless no ferries no borders therelakes, is nothing to get inthat themake way ofthe a fun filled day onValley the beach, water, vistas of theand mountains, rivers, and streams Harrison River so special. or town. Away from urban cityscapes you can relax, enjoy, and breathe in wild. Take in the boundless vistas of mountains, rivers, and streamsHot thatSprings make the Harrison River Valley so special.

In addison tothe its world-famous hot lakes, springs, Harrison offers top quality accommodasons,

great eateries, and a wide variety of outdoor acsvises- especially in the summer. The summer it is the addison to itsfamily world-famous springs, Harrisonsandy Hot Springs toplake, quality smeInfor the perfect getaway-hot with an incredible beach,offers prissne andaccommodasons, our top aaracson, great eateries, and a wide variety of outdoor acsvisesespecially in the summer.

The it is the the Harrison Watersports Waterpark. Harrison’s own version of the “wipe out zone”summer offers hours sme for the perfect family getawaywith an incredible sandy beach, prissne lake, and our top aaracson, of fun for the ensre family. Looking to breathe in the wild and take in our nature? Take a guided the Harrison Watersports Waterpark. Harrison’s own version of the “wipe out zone” offers hours kayak tour or rent a kayak, bumper boat, or one of the BBQ boats. Boat tours are also available of fun for the ensre family. Looking to breathe in the wild and take in our nature? Take a guided to nearby Rainbow Falls or wildlife viewing down the prissne Harrison River. kayak tour or rent a kayak, bumper boat, or one of the BBQ boats. Boat tours are also available to nearby Rainbow Falls or wildlife viewing down the prissne Harrison River.

Whether you’re looking to hike, bike, paddle, stalk the Sasquatch or just soak in the healing Wh hot springs you can find your adventure… just up the road in Harrison Hot Springs.

Whether you’re looking to hike, bike, paddle, stalk the Sasquatch or just soak in the healing Wh For more informason go to www.tourismharrison.com hot springs you can find your adventure… just up the road in Harrison Hot Springs.

For more informason go to www.tourismharrison.com

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Publisher Samantha Legge Editorial Director Anicka Quin Creative Director Catherine Mullaly Food Editor Neal McLennan Associate Art Director Jenny Reed Associate Editor Nathan Caddell Assistant Editor Alyssa Hirose Editor at Large Stacey McLachlan Contributing Editors Frances Bula, Amanda Ross Editorial Intern Bridget Stringer-Holden Editorial Email mail@vanmag.com

Director of Sales Brianne Harper (on leave) Sales Manager Anna Lee Senior Account Executives Johnny Alviar, Charie Ginete-Ilon, Mira Hershcovitch, Jessica McBean, Joan McGrogan, Sheri Stubel Digital Ad Coordinator Kim McLane Senior Production Manager Kristina Borys (on leave) Project Coordinator Landon Spenrath Production Coordination/Design Nadine Gieseler Sales Email sales@canadawide.com U.S. Sales Representation, Hayes Media Sales Lesley Hayes Tel 602-432-4868 Email lesley@hayesmediasales.com European Sales Representation S&R Media Sylvie Durlach Tel +33 1 44 18 06 62 Email srmedia@club-internet.fr

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DELIVERING JOY AND DELIGHT SAFELY TO YOUR DOOR EVERY 90 DAYS. JUST $115 ($225 + VALUE) A curated collection of self-care items.

Chairman and CEO Peter Legge, OBC, LLD (HON) President Samantha Legge, MBA VP of HR/Admin Joy Ginete-Cockle VP of Finance Sonia Roxburgh, CPA, CGA Executive Creative Director Rick Thibert Director of Circulation Tracy McRitchie Head of Brand Partnerships Johnny Alviar, MCE, SCE Accounting Terri Mason, Eileen Gajowski Circulation Katie Gajowski, Kelly Kalirai Office Manager/Sales Coordinator Lori North Executive Assistant to the CEO Charie Ginete-Ilon

VANCOUVER MAGAZINE is published six times a year by Canada Wide Media Limited, Suite 230, 4321 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby, B.C. V5C 6S7. Phone 604-2997311; fax 604-299-9188. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the publisher’s written permission. Not responsible for unsolicited editorial material. Privacy Policy: On occasion, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened organizations whose product or service might interest you. If you prefer that we not share your name and address (postal and/ or email), you can easily remove your name from our mailing lists by reaching us at any of the listed contact points. You can review our complete Privacy Policy at Vanmag.com. Indexed in the Canadian Magazine Index by Micromedia Ltd. and also in the Canadian Periodical Index. International standard serial no. ISSN 0380-9552.

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Winter 2018

YOUR HOME, AUTO & TRAVEL MAGAZINE

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A CURE FOR CERVICAL CANCER Dr. Gina Ogilvie and her team are on a mission to eliminate the causes P6

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ED NOTE

A few years ago, I did a 21-day challenge at my gym (basically, a combo of diet change and daily workouts), the research-driven rationale being that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. And the habit did stick, to some extent.

I still work out with that gym, although for the last year I’ve been watching my trainers from a Zoom screen. But the no sugar, grains or alcohol component of the plan went sideways fairly quickly once the challenge wrapped—and, for the last year, it was completely out the window.

As we draw closer to a re-opening of our world, I’m curious to see how many of our (far more than 21-day!) pandemic-induced habits will stick with us. At the time I’m writing this, we’re 16 months into our habitmaking ways, whether that’s daily walks, Zoom cocktails or TikTok videos (and is anyone still making sourdough?). But the new habits keep on coming, and so we’re highlighting a few third-wave trends in this issue— from a roller-skating renaissance (“Freedom Is a Skate of Mind,” page 103) to a personal favourite, bird watching (“Winging It” and “The Case for Wood Ducks,” starting on page 128).

I’m also thrilled to shine a light on the already-productive folks who’ve been as busy as ever during this time, making the food, beauty and style products that won our 3rd Annual Made in Vancouver Awards. Some of those makers launched their lines in the last year, like our cover star Jonathan Sanz (don’t get Food Editor Neal McLennan started on how obsessed he is with Sanz’s Basque-style cheesecake), while others have been building their companies over time and killing it despite the pandemic, like Luksha’s Anastasia Babenko. All are excellent at what they do—making world-class products right here in our fair city.

Whatever habits you’ve picked up this past year (and then some), I know we’re all ready to ditch the one that’s kept us as safe as possible, and that’s distance from loved ones. May that practice be no longer necessary very soon—a change of habit I’ll happily toast with a Vancouver-made beverage or three.

Coming Up Next Issue The Restaurant Awards In the beforetimes, this would be the 32nd annual celebration of our city’s restaurant scene. But in a time when all restaurants need support rather than judgement, we’re pivoting to a package that combines the best of the Restaurant Awards with a celebration of the history and resilience of the good people who work in it.

It Ain’t Easy Restaurants already had a tough go of it before COVID hit—and the last year has been brutal. How does a restaurant survive in 2021? Food Editor Neal McLennan talks to those who make a go of it—and those who tried, but couldn’t.

On the Web The Draft: Ice Cream Who makes the best ice cream in the city? Our editors draft their top picks: and you vote on who got it right.

FOLLOW US ON

Anicka Quin editorial director

anick a . quin @vanmag . com

@ aniqua

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

On Making and Breaking

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MARI FOUZ

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R E S TO R AT I V E J U S T I C E / O N T H E M A R K E T / A N T I -A S I A N C I T Y / A F T E R T H E PA N D E M I C

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

City Just Cause

Restorative justice has had success both close to home and abroad. Now, a group of advocates is hoping to bring it to Vancouver in a meaningful way.

Nathan Caddell

MARI FOUZ

by

Clair MacGougan has long believed in the principles of restorative justice. But there was no hiding his reservations when he was recently asked to participate in a pilot project to try to launch the initiative in Vancouver.

“I was cringing a bit,” admits MacGougan. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get involved with something where there wasn’t the political will to make change.” Fair enough; he’d been through it before.

It was over a decade ago when Evelyn Zellerer first approached MacGougan, who is executive director of the Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre, about running a restorative justice pilot program.

As one of the leaders of the civilian-run HSCPC, MacGougan had a “good sense of what worked and what didn’t,” he recalls. “One of the things I always felt was lacking was just how long it took to resolve everything, and how hard it was on the people. Often the problems weren’t resolved.”

Different from the traditional criminal justice approach that we all know—still probably most effectively boiled down by Law and Order’s “two separate, yet equally important, groups” summation—restorative justice is a global social movement that seeks to find ways to include everyone affected by a conflict or crime in the process of repairing the harm, and to

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City AT I S S U E shift how communities think about and achieve justice.

It’s had success in jurisdictions around the world, but when Zellerer and MacGougan first partnered to try to incorporate the concept in Vancouver, it didn’t take. “There was never an appetite to put money into it,” says MacGougan. “Many cities throughout the world have given all sorts of resources, but Vancouver didn’t.”

The pilot was ended after a few years due to a lack of funding, but Zellerer, who holds a PhD in criminology from SFU and is the founder of Peace of the Circle, didn’t stop trying to bring the concept to the city.

About a year and a half ago, she started to have conversations with Catherine Bargen and Aaron Lyons, co-founders of restorative justice advocacy firm Just Outcomes.

“Vancouver is our home and it doesn’t have a community-based funded restorative justice program, which is an anomaly,” says Zellerer, pointing to municipalities like North Vancouver, Abbotsford, Richmond and Langley.

So when Zellerer went back to MacGougan recently, she was able to bring along with her a list of stakeholders that had shown interest in taking part in an initiative called Building Partnerships for Restorative Justice in Vancouver. There are now dozens of individuals representing numerous organizations on the list, including those in traditional places of power, such as an abundance of city councillors and representatives from the Vancouver Police Department and provincial ministries.

“When I heard the people she was pulling together and talked to some of the city councillors about it, it sounded like they have more of an appetite now,” says MacGougan.

“Just by bringing people together

to see it differently, the way Evelyn and her partners have done it, they’re not telling us the way it needs to be, they’re just creating the space. Restorative justice is a term that many different people have different ideas about what it can be.”

There are also a number of other groups represented, like Black Lives Matter Vancouver, Qmunity and Women Against Violence Against Women, to name a few.

The stakeholders met in early April

The current legal system, argues Bargen, will ask what happened, who’s to blame and what punishment they deserve. “And then that’ll play out,” she says. “The questions that restorative justice starts with are who was harmed, what are their needs and who is responsible for those needs; who needs to be involved.”

Though restorative justice has been part of Canada’s justice system for over 40 years in some form or another, a 2016-17 Department of

We need to create a table that is owned and set by people both who have typically had a seat and those who have not. The idea isn’t a table owned by the establishment with others invited. It’s a co-created table.” a a ron lyon s , c o - f ou n de r of r e s t or at i v e j us t ic e a dvo c ac y f i r m j us t ou t c om e s

and late May, and hope to keep an open dialogue in framing what restorative justice in Vancouver might look like.

“We need to create a table that is owned and set by people both who have typically had a seat and those who have not,” says Lyons.

“The idea isn’t a table owned by the establishment with others invited.

It’s a co-created table, and that really speaks to what restorative justice is about—a different vision of power and the distribution of that power, and how we collaborate across communities and systems.”

Though MacGougan’s assertion that restorative justice can mean different things to different people isn’t wrong, the voices behind Building Partnerships for Restorative Justice in Vancouver seem very much aligned in their individual approaches.

Justice study found that over half of Canadians weren’t familiar with the concept.

After being given a thorough explanation, 62 percent of those surveyed believed that it would provide victims of crime a more satisfying and meaningful experience than the mainstream criminal justice system. And 87 percent indicated that victims should have access to restorative justice if they wish.

Proponents argue that the framework for restorative justice is essentially applicable to every­ thing from a murder charge to shoplifting. But the outcomes will vary from case to case, and different processes have arisen around the world for delivering those outcomes.

Peacemaking circles were first developed in the Yukon and are now used widely, while in New Zealand, family group conferencing has

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City AT I S S U E been deployed to great effect. Other strategies include victim-offender mediation and tribunals.

Many of these processes bring the offender face-to-face with the victim or victims, and Lyons acknowledges that, in some cases— such as sexualized violence—that’s not always going to be the best tactic. “That’s an area of some contention, and an important caution within restorative justice because of the power dynamics in play within cases like that,” he says.

“If there’s going to be a restorative response in those cases, it needs to be in careful collaboration with groups who work to end gender-based violence and understand the dynamics of those kinds of offences intricately.”

The most common under­ standing of the concept is as a diversion program, something to keep cases out of the courts. And while it can be applied at that level, restorative justice isn’t synonymous with diversion.

“It can occur outside the system altogether, at a community level, in unreported crimes, at a diversion level, in parallel with a court process; can occur after sentencing, after there’s been periods of incarceration,” says Lyons. “Really at any point in the continuum where there’s been harm.”

Restorative justice can also be applied in the workplace, where Bargen argues that there’s something of a “polarized view” when it comes to dealing with wrongdoing. “Either you ignore what’s wrong—or fire people,” she says.

“Those seem like the two options, whereas restorative justice provides pathways toward new alternatives.

How do we address what’s wrong in meaningful ways? What does accountability look like, and how do we build a new future together once we’ve taken that accountability and

built something that connects us and is more effective?”

When we talk on the phone in late May, Vancouver councillor Michael Wiebe is getting ready for his own upcoming court date. Wiebe, a member of the Vancouver Green Party and one of the stakeholders in the restorative justice initiative, is set to stand trial in front of the B.C. Supreme Court for an alleged conflict of interest that could cost him his job.

neighbourhood is very different and I don’t think restorative justice is going to be right for everyone right away. But I do think it’s an approach that we need to support, pilot and work with the community on what works and what doesn’t.”

Likewise, Bargen, Lyons and Zellerer believe that much of what it looks like will be up to the stakeholders involved and how they see it filtering through their communities.

“We hope that people have

It’s a very intimidating place, even for someone like myself—male, Caucasian, wearing a power suit. We need to make sure ... that justice is done and dealt with in a different way.” m ic h a e l w i e b e , va nc ou v e r c i t y c ou nc i l l or

“It’s a very intimidating place, even for someone like myself— male, Caucasian, wearing a power suit. I feel uncomfortable in that situation,” he says. “We need to make sure we’re creating a place to solve critical issues and make sure that justice is done and dealt with in a different way.”

Restorative justice has proven effective in cities across the globe and closer to home. The Manitoba provincial government noted in 2019 that its justice modernization strategy, which heavily employs restorative justice, helped reduce court backlogs and dropped the prison population. In the U.K., both independent and government studies have found that restorative justice methods have left the victim more satisfied and has reduced recidivism rates.

So what might it look like in Vancouver? “This is a city of neighbourhoods,” says Wiebe.

“It’s a very complex city; each

these kinds of more relational and humanizing opportunities, no matter where they might be within the system,” says Lyons.

For Zellerer, it’s been a long journey stuffed to the brim with international speaking tours and training engagements. And it’s time to bring it home. Though she’s going to support the stakeholders to conduct restorative justice however they collectively see fit, she has her own ideas on what it could become.

“Many of us have a vision of flipping it so that a restorative approach is the first response, and the criminal justice system becomes our backup,” she says. “When it’s required and appropriate, people will always have access to their rights going through courts, determining guilt, addressing constitutional issues.

There are certain things the courts may do well. It’s just that most of what they do needs to go through the community instead.”

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During COVID, renters were being enticed with reductions and other perks, but plenty of signs now say that grace period is very much over. by

Jennifer Van Evra

When the lease on Rebecca Holt’s apartment was coming up for renewal in the summer of 2020, she began noticing something unusual in her South Granville neighbourhood: for rent signs.

The urban planner had moved back to Vancouver from San Francisco the summer before; at the time, the rental market was red hot, so she snapped up a one-bedroom in a converted South Granville rooming house. The rent was $2,050.

When the year lease was almost up, Holt spotted a nearby character building that was offering newer, larger suites and there were five

or six available—an unimaginable prospect pre-COVID. Among the suites was a bright, roomy fourthfloor one-bedroom for $1,600.

“I was like, holy crap, $450 a month cheaper? That’s almost six grand a year,” says Holt, who told her landlord she would stay put if they dropped the rent. The answer was no, so she gave notice.

“It makes a huge difference.”

But Holt wasn’t the only renter getting a significant reprieve.

According to a report by Rentals .ca, the average rent for all Canadian properties listed on the site was down nearly 10 percent year over year.

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Renter’s Remorse

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Our heartfelt thanks!

We’re so grateful to all our sponsors, donors, participants and special guests who came together, beating as one to make the 2021 Heart & Stroke Gala: At Home Edition a true success! Together we raised over $350,000 in support of four incredible Heart & Stroke researchers in B.C. A special thank you to the many local businesses and individuals who donated fantastic items and services for the Gala auction. To learn more about the Heart & Stroke Gala, read about the researchers funded and to watch a recording of the event, visit heartandstrokegala.ca. We look forward to seeing you in June, 2022 for an in-person celebration!

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City AT I S S U E

By December 2020 in Vancouver, one-bedrooms were down 5.2 percent on average, to $1,865, while two bedrooms were down a whopping 13.8 percent, to $2,636.

In Burnaby, one-bedrooms were down an average of 9.3 percent, to $1,661, and in Victoria, they were down 5.4 percent, to $1,547.

In some corners, the shifts were even more dramatic. Landlords and developers began offering several months free and other perks, while renters were negotiating their monthly rates down. As a result, tenants like Holt saw their rents drop 20 percent or more.

The dip was the result of a confluence of factors tied to the COVID-19 pandemic—the stream of immigrants slowing to a trickle, the absence of international students, young Vancouverites living at home longer due to lost wages and the push toward remote work that enticed renters out of the downtown core and even the city itself.

“Folks who were downtown were like, ‘I have to work from home?

Maybe I’ll live someplace out in the suburbs,’” says UBC professor Tsur Somerville. “A small 400-squarefoot studio is far less desirable if you have to spend all your time in it, because then it’s a jail, not a home.”

But while B.C.ers rejoiced at the unveiling of the province’s reopening plan in late May, it likely means a return to tough times for renters.

Already, the average Vancouver one-bedroom rental was back up to $1,935 in May, according to Rentals.ca. That’s a 2 percent year-over-year increase, and it’s higher than the $1,882 average the website reported for February 2020.

David Hutniak, CEO of LandlordBC, says the provincial government did a commendable job of getting both landlords and tenants through the COVID-19 crisis, and managed to avert a total crash in the market.

Smaller landlords with a basement suite or an investment condo were especially hard hit because many are heavily leveraged, while the moratorium on rent increases and evictions put some into an even deeper bind.

But what the COVID crisis has confirmed, he insists, is that rental housing is supply and demanddriven, and that when supply increases, rents come down. As a result, governments need to push for more purpose-built rentals to

other words, the dip we saw during COVID isn’t nearly enough.

“People who are in locationlocked jobs that don’t pay that much may still struggle until rents fundamentally drop rather substantially,” he says. Even before the pandemic, low-income families and seniors were especially affected, he adds, and the pandemic has revealed glaring inequities in the B.C. economy.

“Long term, it’s about defining new rules of the road—or new rules of the house,” he says. “I

Long term, it’s about defining new rules of the road—or new rules of the house. I think this is the opportunity to help redefine the post-pandemic economy, in particular concerns around housing and equity.” a n dy ya n , u r ba n pl a n n e r

alleviate the strain on renters.

“A big part of our rental housing crisis is simply a matter of supply,” argues Hutniak, who says he would love to see a balanced market with a 3 or 4 percent vacancy rate. “This is not rocket science. It’s economics 101.”

Urban planner and SFU City Program director Andy Yan doesn’t think “normal” as we knew it is coming back after the pandemic.

The issue, he says, isn’t only about housing; it’s about how the economy recovers, and, specifically, how employment evolves.

Yan points to a recent Statistics Canada survey finding that roughly 40 percent of Canadian jobs can be done from home—while 60 percent of Canadians, many of them in lower-paying industries like manufacturing, tourism, retail and hospitality, will likely make up the bulk of urban renters. In

+

s f u c i t y pro g r a m di r e c t or

think this is the opportunity to help redefine the post-pandemic economy, in particular concerns around housing and equity.”

Back in South Granville, Holt loves her new suite. It has lots of light, a private balcony, mountain and city views, better laundry and amenities, and a better space for her to work from home.

Holt points out that once a suite is tenanted, landlords can’t raise the rent by more than the rate of inflation—and last year they couldn’t raise it at all—so renters who were able to “lock in” during the pandemic will likely enjoy lower rents for years to come.

“I can be here for however long and I know my rent will only go up by a few percent. I’m probably not going to live here long enough to see it go past $1,700,” she says.

“And for the location and the space I have, that’s a bit of a gift.”

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City W H AT I T ’ S L I K E T O

What It’s Like to Live in the AntiAsian Hate Crime Capital of North America Sticks and stones may break my bones but words actually hurt a lot, too. story and illustration by

Alyssa Hirose

i get asked where I’m from all the time. I have a few answers that are technically correct (Here, Richmond, None of Your Fucking Business) but they rarely satisfy the asker. Now, according to national media outlets, I can say I’m from the Anti-Asian Hate Crime Capital of North America. Brag alert!

It’s a badge of dishonour that doesn’t surprise me. As COVID-19 spread, so did reports of anti-Asian racism in the city. Folks took to social media pledging to fight the good fight, businesses raised funds supporting the Asian community, and I wrote a webpost about my feelings. There was an outpouring of support that gave me hope.

Last week, someone called my sister a ch*nk on the street.

I’ll backtrack. My sister and I are white and Asian. I try not to say I’m half Japanese because that’s not true—I’m a whole person. But I am a whole person who looks both white and Asian. The exact words of the stranger who confronted my sister were, “Are you a ch*nk?” It’s a real trick to call someone a slur and challenge their identity in one go.

I have also been called that word.

And while my whiteness often shields me from such overt racism, it also means that sometimes folks say racist things about my community— in front of me—because they don’t know I’m a part of it. It’s pretty emotionally exhausting to be a spy. One idiot spewing a racial slur doesn’t erase the very positive efforts of a community rallying together, but it does stick in your head.

With the end of COVID-19 on the horizon, we are all looking forward to some sense of normalcy. I can’t speak for the local Asian community (or even the local biracial Asian community) but I hope that this normalcy comes with a caveat: we need to acknowledge and radically fight racism in this city. It needs to be a conscious part of everything we do. A global pandemic or a senseless murder may throw racism into the spotlight, but it isn’t large-scale violent events that earned our city its new Anti-Asian title. It’s regular racists doing regular racist things, and other regular people watching.

I’m not an expert on this, and it’s an overwhelming problem.

If you’re looking to do a little more, here’s what I do: find joy in activism that’s both conventional and a little less traditional.

Personally, my victimization as an Asian woman always comes with a big dose of white guilt. We’re all reckoning with the realities of racism in different ways, and for many of us just being ourselves is an act of resistance. But if you’re looking to do a little more, here’s what I do: find joy in activism that’s both conventional (attending a protest, donating to a charity, calling out racism when you see it) and a little less traditional—revolution isn’t just politics, it’s art. Watch TV shows made by Asian people, listen to songs by Asian musicians, read books by Asian authors.

After all, words have a lot of power.

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FullPage_

BLUEWATERCONCEPTS.CA SERVING THE SEA TO SKY

D E S I G N - B U I L D - R E N OVAT E

Welcome To A Better Way To Build

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CIT Y INFORMER

What Did the Spanish Flu Do to Vancouver? by

Stacey McLachlan Byron Eggenschwiler

illustration by

Look, I’m flattered that you think I know anything about the future.

Really, it is such a compliment and, importantly, it makes me feel like I could pull off a psychic-chic silk turban or at the very least some sort of drapey robe. But my job isn’t to make up cryptic enigmas to help you pretend you have control over your life (I’ll leave that to QAnon or the Co-Star app), it’s to get to the bottom of things using the power of cold hard facts and/or to make sure this column is at least 400 words! So if I’m going to speculate wildly about what tomorrow and a post-pandemic life may bring, you’d better believe I’m going to root it in deep research and analyses of historical patterns, ideally collected by someone who did not spend her required Stats 104 class trying to make a page-flip animation of a stickman taking off his top hat in the corners of her textbook. (Yes, it worked! Yes, I got a C-!)

As a wise man (I wanna say...

Sting?) once said: “To move forward, you must look back... unless you are in the middle of taking your driver’s test, I cannot stress this enough.” To predict where we’ll be in 2022 when Canada opens up again and we’re all filled to the brim with delicious vaccines, we can take some cues

When we’re all filled to the brim with delicious vaccines, we can take some cues from a pandemic of the past. from a pandemic of the past: 1918, when the so-called Spanish flu was devastating a young ’Couv.

I know this is typically a jokey column (for example, I know Sting didn’t say that thing about looking back and also that in no situation could I ever pull off a psychic-chic silk turban!), but there’s no glossing over the fact that the 1918 flu was brutal. It killed 50,000 people in Canada, including one percent of the population of Vancouver, primarily people between the ages of 19 and 39. The city had the third-highest mortality rate in the world. I don’t

want to make light of what a huge and tragic loss that was.

But I think we can all agree that the misguided attempts to cure that flu are worth mocking. For instance: something called “goose grease” was wildly popular, though it is unclear to me if that’s something made from geese or to use for geese (maybe both?). People were wearing masks that fit just over their nose like a little cloth beak. And Dr. Henry Esson Young, basically an old-timey Dr. Bonnie Henry, was urging people to avoid low necklines and wet feet (prude).

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City I N F O R M E R Similar to our modern-day situation, businesses, schools and churches were shuttered to stop the spread, and employment dried up. Sure, this gave everyone more time to grease up their geese, but, economically and socially, these measures only amplified an already tough wartime situation.

It was the platonic ideal of “No Fun City.”

(That being said, not even a pandemic could stop people from gathering to watch Harry Gardiner, “the Human Fly,” scale the outside of the World Building. I mean, if you’re going to catch a life-threatening flu, I honestly can’t think of a better way to do it.)

But though Vancouver went through some horrific losses a century ago, I’m pleased to report that those dark days didn’t last forever. When the “all clear” was finally given in October 1919, everyone presumably threw their nosemasks in the air like graduation mortarboards and took a deep breath of the sweet, sweet scent of all the hedonism in the air.

Of course, there are always a number of factors that impact how and why the economy thrives or flops (resource management, how cute the people printed on the currency are, et cetera), but there’s no denying that the dual end of the war and the pandemic were instrumental in creating a real, as the French say, “Vengabus” sort of vibe. Ships full of heroic boys were back home, and tongue-kissing was medically sanctioned once again!

Why wouldn’t people want to celebrate?

And so sleepy, scarred Vancouver slowly but surely Charleston’d into the Roaring ’20s. It was a prosperous time: a veterans housing program kept

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City I N F O R M E R

women's cycling apparel made in Vancouver, BC

expression for every adventure w w w s a m s a ra c y c le c o m

builders hard at work, and the busy sawmills and ports brought tons of people through town.

Even restaurants boomed again as businesses bounced back and operating costs dropped.

(The end of prohibition around this time also probably didn’t hurt.) Goose grease sales, of course, tanked and, sadly, have never recovered.

The new Ballantyne Pier became the British Empire’s most technically advanced port. For those of us who don’t care about shipping infrastructure, there were also some wins in other arenas: the Orpheum Theatre and Hotel Georgia were built in ’27; the Marine Building and Hotel Vancouver both began construction in the late ’20s.

The stock market was soaring and people were spending with abandon, living their best YOLO consumerist fantasies. In fact, things were going so well economically post-pandemic that Vancouver replaced Winnipeg as the leading city in Western Canada. (Suck it, “Friendly Manitoba!”)

So! Based on all this, if I were to look into my crystal ball (which, if my accountant is reading, I will be claiming as a business expense) I would predict that post-pandemic Vancouver may look just as vibrant and lively as we all emerge from our COVID cocoons ready to live life to the fullest... though, that being said, the best thing about answering a future-looking question like this is that there’s no way to prove me right or wrong.

Another job well done!

Thanks to Andy Yan, Michael Kluckner, John Atkin, and the Friends of the City of Vancouver Archives for your insights!

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

@ s a m s a ra c y c le c lu b

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C OV E R STORY

photography by

Tanya Goehring styling by

Robin Del Pino Jordyn Taylor-Robins

Made in Vancouver Awards

3RD ANNUAL

WHAT A PLACE TO CALL HOME. When the pandemic wreaked havoc on worldwide supply chains, there was an increased focus on locally made goods across the globe. But as the following pages illustrate, Vancouver has long been way ahead of the game: our local artisans and makers are creating world-class products right here at home. The quality of the entries we received for our Made in Vancouver Awards speaks to that long lineage of excellence.

Our judges carefully assessed each and every entry, and after months of deliberations over an exceptionally strong roster, we’re thrilled to present the winners of Vanmag’s 3rd Annual Made in Vancouver Awards.

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SWEETS

CO-WINNERS

L e macaron est mort.

The fancy French pastry sandwich was always better suited to Instagram shots, than, you know, eating. But in its place we offer a Gallic delicacy with an equally august history, but that, with its mix of rum, vanilla and custard, tastes great.

Unlike macarons, which taste equally meh the world over, the knock on canelé is that, like a pint of Guinness or Portuguese pastéis de nata, they don’t travel. So what a revelation to find La Bise, a small bakery just south of Granville Island with no website and whose owner, Nicole Scriabin, possesses a preternatural ability to make canelé so authentic that you’ll swear you’re on the banks of Gironde enjoying them with a small tumbler of Château d’Yquem. And while La Bise’s “standard” version is the most authentic, we’re giving the nod to the version with a dab of dense salted caramel on top.

Perhaps not so Bordelaise, but we think our French friends would appreciate the delicious insouciance.

$4.25, instagram.com/ labisebakery * continued on pg. 50

G O O D B E A S T A M B E R C R U S H E D C U P F R O M N I N E T E E N T E N H O M E B O U T I Q U E , S O R I YA N A G I T E A S P O O N & H I M E F O R K F R O M I T S U M O

Salted Caramel Canelé from La Bise

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SWEET STUFF It was too close to call between a pastry inspired by Bordeaux, and a cheesecake that channelled the Basque region.

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SWEETS

CO-WINNERS

Basque Cheesecake from El Mercat Opening the box on one of these authentic creations from transplanted Spaniard Jonathan Sanz is very much an Ode to Joy moment. Before you is a perfectly imperfect, all-natural wonder, wrapped in rope with a lovely, perfectly charred top. And, once you dig in, it gets better. Dense but light, sweet but savoury, the merest possible hint of a crust holding it all together—it’s truly beautiful. And then the price— anyone who’s made a proper cheesecake at home knows it’s an expensive endeavour, so to see a tariff of $30 on a cake that, while they claim it feeds four to six, could easily feed eight? It’s insanity, and maybe the most affordable indulgence in town right now.

$20 small, $30 medium, elmercat.ca

HONOURABLE MENTION

HONOURABLE MENTION

Smore Toffee Two Brothers Toffee

Kaya Pandan Jam Miss Chen

For the most part, the nostalgia of s’mores tops the taste of s’mores, but the toffee whisperers at Two Brothers Toffee transform the chocolate, graham cracker, marshmallow and a big assist from their artisanal toffee into something worthy of remembering.

There’s a lot of reasons to go into business, but this one is sorta uniquely awesome: “Miss Chen Kaya is a jam company started by me, Isabelle Chen, because I wanted to fundraise for a dog last spring.” The result is a rich, smooth kaya (coconut jam) flavoured with pandan leaves that’s a welcome quick trip to Singapore in these non-travel times.

$19.99, twobrotherstoffee.com

$6.50-$8, misschenkaya.com

FINALISTS

SIGNATURE BAK’D COOKIE BOX BAK’D Cookies

CHUBBY PUPPY COOKIES Panela Lemon

We’ll take this six-pack over flowers any day. $28.50, bakdcookies.ca

If a Boston cream met a cookie, and hugged. $4.99, panelalemon.com

MATCHA LAVA CANELÉ Little Flower Company A gorgeous take on a French classic. $4.75, little flowercompanycake.com

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MIX Susgrainable Health Food The very definition of good and good for you. $11.99, susgrainable.com

RAF’HELLO VEGAN MACARONS Sweet’n’ Sassy You’ll never know where the dairy went. $2.50, sweetnsassypatisserie.com

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ANDREARODMAN.COM

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SAVOURY

WINNER

Signature Poke Marinade from Organic Ocean This award goes not just to this bottle of poke sauce, although the blend of soy sauce, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, sesame oil and rayu is worthy enough. It also goes to what it represents— Organic Ocean, slammed by the loss of restaurant customers in the pandemic, facilitating an entirely new relationship between supplier and customer: one in which a normal schmo might find themselves with an Ocean Wise albacore tuna loin, working on their heretofore nonexistent knife skills, cubing the meat, then marinating it and emerging a short time later having accomplished something once only the domain of the white-toque wearer. Let’s call it powerto-the-people poke.

$9.38, organicocean.com

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MAHALO YVR Organic Ocean’s Poke Marinade allowed home chefs to transform local albacore into a restaurantworthy dish.

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HONOURABLE MENTION

HONOURABLE MENTION

HONOURABLE MENTION

Creamy Coconut Aamti The Indian Pantry

Fermented Chili Paste Scratch

Cormorant Cheese Blue Heron

Truth? Plenty of mortals use readymade sauces when cooking South Asian dishes. But these pouches have all the convenience of Patak’s while still retaining a hand-crafted ethos. This is an heirloom dish from Chef Tushar’s grandmother that uses slow simmered tomatoes, turmeric, onion, garlic and red chili, all mixed into coconut milk.

Peak Vancouver, in the best way.

Scratch uses the leftover pulp from their barrel-aged hot sauce to create this amazing chili paste, then relies on wild yeasts to continue its transformation into a hot sauce of just the right scoville units to turn all the orange bounty of B.C.—cayenne, habanero and cherry bomb peppers—into a blast of spicy goodness.

In the annals of discovery, a vegan cheese that appeals to non-vegans ranks up there with finding the Ark of the Covenant. But this vegetable ash-rinded, cashew-based, blue and white mould-ripened wonder from industry leader Blue Heron has all the complexity and depth of its dairy-based brethren, and can hold its own—or, heck, shine—on any cheese plate.

$12, scratchfinefoods.com

$8.50/100g, blueheroncheese.com

$9.99, theindianpantrycatering.com

FINALISTS

BAKE-AT-HOME CROISSANTS Bench Bakehouse

WILD SOCKEYE SALMON WELLINGTON Shop Intercity

A fresh-from-the-oven one-way ticket to France. $14 for 4 croissants, thebenchbakehouse.com

The absolute perfect fancy dinner party hack. $5.75, shopintercity.ca

ROULÉ JAMBON FROMAGE Merci Boulangerie

FRESH TORTILLAS Chancho

The tastiest circular reasoning we know of. $5.25, merciboulangerie.com

We’re calling it: the most authentic in the province. $5.75 for 1 dozen, chancho.ca

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SAVOURY

HONOURABLE MENTION

Parmigiano Reggiano Soufflé La Quercia The cardinal rule for a dinner party: never attempt a soufflé.

And since there’s no such thing as a ready-made version, we have an entire generation who’ve missed out on the airy delights and joys of eating a cloud made with cheese.

But leave it to Chef Adam Pegg, the quiet genius behind La Quercia, to solve the problem with these foolproof dinner-party heroes.

$22.99 for two, laquercia.ca

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PURPLE REIGN JusTea put a uniquely local spin on Kenyan purple tea.

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DRINKS

WINNER

V I N TA G E C A S T I R O N T E A P O T F R O M I T S U M O

Purple Tea Trio from JusTea Most people don’t know about purple tea, but that might soon change if Paul Bain and his dad Grayson have their way.

The Kenyan-grown tea leaves are naturally purple thanks to the presence of anthocyanins, giving them 10 percent more antioxidants than green tea, with 60 percent less caffeine. Pair that with the company’s eye-catching stacking tin design that comes with a hand-carved Kenyan tea scoop, and you have the ingredients to brew up the start of a purple revolution.

$19.99, justea.com

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Need a new recipe?

DRINKS

Subscribe to the Newsletter at

westernliving.ca

HONOURABLE MENTION

HONOURABLE MENTION

Blue Valentine Hoochy ’Booch

Tea Discs iLola

Imagine your blue raspberry Slurpee up and melted on you. Now imagine you found it again, it tastes great and it’s suddenly good for you (thanks to a blue-green algae called E3Live that gives it its electric colour). That’s this kombucha.

The perfect marriage of loose-tea flavour with the precision of a bag.

You drop one of these sustainable, packed-with-probiotics little numbers in your tea strainer, add boiling water and voila, a perfect artisanal moment. Brilliant.

$5.50, hoochybooch.com

$36.00 for 12 tea discs, ilolalife.com

HONOURABLE MENTION

Milkshake Sour Main Street Brewing A tart, fruity sour with just enough frothiness and a hint of vanilla to create a creamy texture that somehow works beautifully.

It’s that rare something-foreveryone beer.

$12.79, mainstreetbeer.ca

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Experience Your Future Homes Floor Plan Firsthand.

A building project is a huge investment, you want the peace of mind that the final build will match the architectural designs.

Thats where WalkOn Plans comes in.

WalkOn Plans provides a wholly new, Canadian, and custom visualization concept for homebuilders and owners, architects, real estate agents, and everyone in between that allows you to experience a full scale walkthrough of your floorplan.

GET A QUOTE TODAY! Call or email us at

(778) 242-1044 | info@walkonplans.ca walkonplans.ca Discover the Insight and Peace of Mind WalkOn Plans Can Offer

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ALL ABOUT BALANCE Luksha’s Probiotic Radiance Cream features lush ingredients like carrot tissue oil.

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BEAUT Y

WINNER

Eco-Balance Probiotic Radiance Cream by Luksha We’ve had our eye on Luksha Cosmetics since the Made in Vancouver Awards launched three years ago—they’ve been finalists before, and this year they rightfully clinched the top prize with this probiotic cream. Founder Anastasia Babenko studied in Russia as an epidemiologist, and has been perfecting her organic skincare line from her home base in Burnaby since 2016. And this cream just feels beautiful. The small-batch line has a pale yellow colour thanks to carrot tissue oil and coenzyme Q10, and it’s rich with organic ingredients like pomegranate seed oil (its high concentration of ellagic, punicic and omega 5 fatty acids helps to regenerate and repair skin).

Probiotics top off the mix to improve and balance the skin’s barrier and biome.

$56, lukshacosmetics.com

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BEAUT Y

HONOURABLE MENTION

HONOURABLE MENTION

HONOURABLE MENTION

Keep Calm Oil-to-Milk Cleanser The Other Skincare Company

Vanilla Cocoa Lip Balm Rose Company

Mayan Magic LaVigne Naturals

While oil cleansers are great at melting away dirt and makeup, they’re also known for leaving a not-too-pleasant residue on your skin—and, for those prone to breakouts, it’s not ideal. A small pump of this super-rich oil cleanser goes a long way, and it rinses off clean with water. And even our problem-skin tester got soft, glowy results, not a breakout in sight.

Post-winter, chapped-lip-maskface has us always reaching for our lip balms, and this one is lovely: simple, clean ingredients like organic coconut oil and cocoa butter, and a light chocolatevanilla scent. But just as impressive is the packaging: the Rose Company set out to reduce the waste created by everyday beauty essentials. Each custom paper tube is made from FSC-certified paper, and is totally compostable.

The wonder cream that launched LaVigne Naturals 17 years ago is the balm that keeps on giving.

Made from shea butter, vegetable emollients and 20 percent tepezcohuite—an ingredient used for centuries by the Mayan people in Mexico to heal skin—it really is magic on everything from eczema to hand-sanitizer-irritated hands.

$49, theotherskincare.com

$20, shoptherosecompany.com

From $19.50, lavignenaturals.com

FINALISTS

CANADIAN WILDERNESS BODY POLISH Beauty Through Balance A lovely combo of healing aloe vera and hemp oil in a gentle sea salt scrub. $48, beautythrough balance.ca

BARE SUPER OIL Flora’s Bare A lovely serum made with rosehip, pomegranate, raspberry and apricot seed oil—and no fillers. $40, florasbare.com

NATURALLY SENSITIVE I Luv It Natural Deodorant A natural deodorant that smells like coconuts and works too?

Sold. $22, iluvit.ca

MINERAL SERUM Nena Skincare Glacial mineral water turned serum (with vitamins C and E, and hyaluronic acid, too) that’s light but hydrating. $35, nenaskincare.com

LIQUID HAND SANITIZER Scentuals

CLEANSING FACIAL CLEANSER Truly

A lemongrass and eucalyptus scent makes this non-drying sanitizing spray a treat. $8.45, scentuals.com

A lemon-fresh scent that’s anything but astringent: leaves your skin feeling soft and clean. $36, truly lifestylebrand.com

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Eclipse Integrated provides the latest innovation in folding and sliding door systems. The doors are in a unique product category offering award-winning development and are made from the highest-quality materials combined with superior craftsmanship.

The doors are effortless to use, stunning to look at and offer a complete solution with pleat-free screens and shade built into the door frame.

Constructed with our patent-pending hardware designed to be out of sight providing no visual distractions and a seamless finish.

Open your doors to luxury today.

INTEGRATED SHADE

Visit our state-of-the-art showroom featuring 7 displays of folding and sliding Integrated Door & Screen Systems.

Unit 109 - 8288 North Fraser Way, Burnaby, BC V3N 0E9 Ph: (604) 901-6044 www.eclipseintegrated.com

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INTEGRATED INSECT SCREEN

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HOME

MODERN METAL Quake Studio’s candlesticks are crafted from 100-percent Canadian aluminum.

WINNER

PoLite Candlesticks from Quake Studio B.C.’s natural beauty is an obvious inspiration for many an artist or crafter, but all too often the results lean a little, er, rustic (for instance: any driftwood mobile ever). So to see Quake Studio’s modernist interpretation of the West Coast’s organic charms is a welcome change of pace.

Though the sculptural candlesticks feature sturdy, smooth bases that echo the curves of the shoreline along the Salish Sea, the execution leans toward Scandinavian minimalism, with crisp tubular forms reaching skyward from a sleek, swerving base. Made from 100-percent Canadian aluminum, they’re an ode to this muse-like location, done in a one-of-a-kind way.

from $250, quakestudio.com

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HOME

HONOURABLE MENTION

HONOURABLE MENTION

Dryer Balls ULAT

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Trowel Green Theory Design

Fashion industry veteran Jennifer LeBrun started off making these pleasingly plump dryer balls from humanely sourced Canadian wool as Christmas gifts for her family—now, they’re available at retailers all over the world. Toss three balls in per load to decrease energy consumption, alleviate chemical build-up and soften clothes, and, when they reach the end of their lifespan, LeBrun has a few ideas for reincarnating the handmade orbs. “Cut up the set and place outside for birds to use for making nests,” she suggests.

$30, ulat.ca

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This slick, powder-coated gardening tool is part of Green Theory’s LO line—which stands for “leftover”—and we have to give props for this creative, stylish reimagining of what would otherwise be scrap aluminum from GT’s collection of planters, screens and site furnishings.

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$35, greentheorydesign.com

FINALISTS

CANDLES AND STANDLES Rellow

HYCROFT CHAIR Solo by Allan Switzer

Hand-poured soy wax candles get a lift from custom rustic pine stands.

From $15, rellowcandleco.com

A lifetime spent in the luxury furniture business sparked a passion in Switzer for sustainable materials and craftsmanship that can last a lifetime. $5,590, solobyallanswitzer.com

THEA WOOD FARMHOUSE BENCH Timber and Yarn Sturdy, sustainable and polished to a subtle sheen, this bench is rustic-chic done right. $316, timberandyarnco.com

ZEN SOY CANDLE Vela Candle Bar Two cousins designed this candle line to capture their favourite scent memories—like drinking jasmine green tea with their grandparents. $25, velacandlebar.com

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40 Anniversary Ad_Final.pdf

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS Since 1981, my family has been creating quality, designer Canadian-made furniture. We're known for our full service approach to creating unique, beautiful and liveable spaces. This year, we're celebrating 40 years in business and we didn't get here alone.

Thank you for being a part of our journey!

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Shop our made-in-Canada STUDIO Collection and more at our showroom | 750 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver Browse online at www.onceatreefurniture.com Get inspired @onceatreefurniture

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FASHION

PUT A RING ON IT Noren Studio creates a new classic with their Staple Ring.

WINNER

Staple Ring by Noren Studio There’s jewellery you slip on to complete an outfit, and there are those triedand-true pieces you never take off. This is the latter.

The aptly named Staple ring is as understated as it is tough, but it isn’t called the staple just for its versatility—the ring is actually inspired by that classic desktop technology, with each 18-karat rose gold “staple” passing through the sterling silver.

The folks behind Noren—husband and wife duo Keith Lau and Josephine Liu—were inspired by the exposed simplicity of Scandinavian furniture design when they set out to create a mixedmetal piece without using any soldering. It was the craftsmanship of Ingmar Relling’s Siesta chair (similar in form to the laterfamous Ikea Poang chair) that sparked this winning accessory. Lau and Liu loved the visible, functional details—and you know what they say: if you like it, then you should put a ring on it.

The result is a piece that fits together with an almost mechanical perfection. It’s a classic.

$800, norenstudio.com

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Looking to refresh your space?

FASHION

Subscribe to the Newsletter at

westernliving.ca

HONOURABLE MENTION

Freedom Tights Samsara Cycle The traditional solution to discomfort while cycling is the chamois (the cushy part of bike shorts sewn into the crotch), but it’s never been particularly flattering. Samsara’s Freedom tights keep the comforting chamois but totally ditch the heavy stitching and subtly integrate the padding—it’s like a seamless saddle pillow. They’re made using a waterfree, waste-free print process and designed for your best ride—less discomfort means less shifting in your seat, resulting in more power. We’re sensing a bit of a cycle here: Samsara won this category last year with their bold Performance jersey, and the Freedom tights feature that same local, original artwork we’re obsessed with.

$159, samsara-cycle.com

FINALISTS

ISLA SKORT Ace Athletics

FLAIL EARRINGS Rock Candy

We love (yes, that’s a tennis joke) the cute pleats, and the built-in compression shorts guarantee a good game. $80, aceathletics.com

These eclectic gemstone earrings embrace maximalism in the best way. Ideal for looking chic on a video call. $650, gemrockcandy.com

BUBBLE TRINITY Zadel Jewellery Studio The three corners of the 14-karat-gold triangle represent being kind, calm, and safe—a pretty nod to pandemic times. $425, zadeljewel lerystudio.com

SHARD BAG Sever Studio This laser-cut, handassembled purse inspired by broken glass has high fashion in the bag. $775, severstudio.online

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WILDCARD

WINNER

Notebooks from Paperbacknote Though it’s the sneaky repurposing of pulp novel covers into freshly bound notebooks that wowed our judges, we’d also like to applaud Paperbacknote’s clever repurposing of the old books’ interior pages as well. The brand creates coasters and origami-inspired artworks out of old chunks of Archie Comics and the like, giving forgotten reads a new life on multiple fronts. But back to the winning product itself: cheeky retro paperback covers wrap fresh, crisp blank pages, carefully hand-bound and ready and waiting for writers to craft a new story (or grocery list, let’s be real) of their own.

$25, paperbacknote.com HONOURABLE MENTION

Blooms with Purpose Perennial Gatherings

PALS & GALS These repurposed comics are now notebooks filled with blank pages —the perfect home for your Riverdale fan fic?

We’re suckers for a beautiful bouquet, but these arrangements smell even sweeter: all net proceeds go to a new charitable cause each month.

Most of the blooms and foliage are grown locally or hand-cut from florist Megan Davis’s own garden—a low impact on the planet, a high impact on social change.

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Y O U A R E A L R E A DY B E AU T I F U L

Lightweight.

Volumizing.

Long-lasting.

FLUTTER MASCARA

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BE WHERE YOUR BEST LIFE IS REVELSTOKE, BC

NOW SELLING FROM $539,999

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VISIT MACKENZIEVILLAGE.CA

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Feature R E L AT I O N S H I P S

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i T C

What had o

by

in the Time of COVID

What effect has social isolation had on our love lives?

PAMEL A JOE MCFARL ANE / ISTOCK

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What effect has social isolation had on our love lives?

Stacey McLachlan

ON APRIL 19, 2020, Jimmy Rustle (not his real name, obviously) went on a date. He’d been single on and off for a few years and was no stranger to the online dating game, so this wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence... but the then-new pandemic had put a bit of a wrench into things. There were no drinks or dinner to be had—just a long walk in East Van at a safe distance.

“We went to a park, and walked a couple of laps until it got too cold, then we lamented not being able to get a beer,” says 32-year-old Rustle, a consultant who remained active on a variety of dating apps even as COVID fears ramped up. “She was a good conversationalist, so the walking was actually really nice.”

A year-and-then-some later, these Jane Austen-style date-walks are now more than familiar to most Vancouver singletons. The pandemic’s on-againoff-again lockdowns meant that, at any given time, the risk of hooking up went far beyond STIs or heartbreak— and as the stakes shifted, so too did the landscape of romance itself.

Instead of pints, the unattached nervously navigated chaste strolls in the park. Newer couples got serious, fast, wanting to lock it in before lockdown.

Once-casual lovers grilled each other about bubble sizes. Beyond adjusting to new work lives, social lives, health concerns, and on and on, those looking for love or companionship this past year also faced a mass

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Feature R E L AT I O N S H I P S

W G

How do we flirt with masks on? Will a “foot high-five” really show a potential lover that you care? If you weren’t seeing your own mother, should you really be meeting up with that guy from Hinge?

in Canada in 2020, for instance—as boredom and loneliness took hold.

For those who were looking for connection without risking infection, technology was there to bridge that gap. Bumble—a dating app designed for women to make the first move— has voice call and video chat features integrated right into the platform for people to connect beyond text.

Jill Lockley, a 27-year-old teacher, changed her Tinder bio to “Virtually Date Me” in the spring, and quickly scheduled with another interested woman. “We watched a movie on Netflix Party,” she says. (Incredibles 2,

if you’re wondering.)

But obviously, the past year has not just been one of distanced chats and Pixar films. Even during times where meetups were discouraged by Dr. Bonnie Henry—and by the apps themselves—propositions flew. Another Vancouver single, a 35-year-old baker we’ll call Abe Hornby, saw an influx of activity over the past year. “People have nothing else to do, and fear makes people horny—that’s science, baby,” he says. “I think most people have been willing to take that risk on a one-off basis... especially since, if they don’t, no sex for them. Historically,

o FOTOGRAFIA INC. / ISTOCK

reassessment of etiquette and behaviour, of communication and commitment. How do we flirt with masks on?

Will a “foot high-five” really show a potential lover that you care? If you weren’t seeing your own mother, should you really be meeting up with that guy from Hinge?

The pandemic may not have changed dating and relationships forever... but it certainly changed them for a lot of people this year. Lovers: it’s been a dangerous time.

Early on in COVID, dating apps reported staggering spikes in usage— Hinge’s downloads grew by 96 percent

A bo ho In

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Welcome to Boarding at Glenlyon Norfolk School

GRYPHON HOUSE

A unique opportunity to live in a home style boarding program in a beautiful heritage house in Victoria and attend one of BC’s top International Baccalaureate schools

The IB Diploma at GNS

FOTOGRAFIA INC. / ISTOCK

An of 94% 94% An average average of

of our IB IBDiploma Candidates of our Diploma Candidates earn their their full IB Diploma with earn full IB Diploma a score of 24 or higher with a score of 24 or higher

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For years For over over 20 20 years

GNSGNS hashasbeen offering been offering the the IB DiplomaProgramme Programme to to IB Diploma local and international students local & international students

Welcome to Gryphon House Realize your potential. Change the world. For more than 100 years, Victoria’s Glenlyon Norfolk School (GNS) has been challenging and supporting students to live these words through truth and courage in learning and in life. GNS has a long history of offering the full continuum of International Baccalaureate programs to its 750 JK–12 students. This year, the school is launching a new home style boarding program that completes the circle in preparing students for independence and success in university and beyond.

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Feature R E L AT I O N S H I P S

REPORTS FROM THE FRONT LINES OF LOVE “We had to decide pretty much right away after the first couple of dates if we were exclusively seeing each other. It definitely got very serious very quickly. Neither of us were able to go home for Christmas, so we spent it together and it felt very intimate.”—Jamie Hilman, teacher, 28 “Online dating is literally the only option right now. I haven’t come across one person that seems to care about COVID restrictions. There are so many levels to how terrible it is.”—Melissa Grout, event planner, 33 “One thing I’ve found funny is having discussions about COVID safety precautions that seem to mirror an STI chat: ‘how many bubble buddies do you have,’ ‘do you wear a mask...’”—Amy Watkins,

“Started a new relationship in July of last year. Friends before that. Was it out of desperation? We’ll never know.”

—Katie Burrell, content creator, 32 “The pandemic is that perfect scapegoat for that first-year obsessive honeymoon phase.”

—Taryn Hardes, marketing consultant, 31 “The pandemic put all social activities on hold and allowed me to be obsessed with my new partner in a socially acceptable way, thanks to being locked in our houses and only allowed to see one person.”

—Kayley Monro, art handler, 27 “We started dating last April when things really were locked down. It was a good test to see if we really were interested in each other, because there was truly nothing to do but talk.” —Nathan Hare, digital writer, 25 “I’m only dating right now because I’m a one-person household and I often don’t see anyone for weeks at a time. I look forward to deleting these apps.” —Rebecca Renton, administrator, 26

that’s been a bit motivator for people.”

(Though even for the hot-to-trot set, sanitation was often still top of mind this past year: on Grindr, usernames changed from the likes of LOOKING FOR RN to WASH YOUR HANDS.) As the months wore on, even those who were anxious at first sometimes found themselves bending the rules. At first, Fantasia Singh, a 25-year-old executive assistant (with a fake name), was hyper-cautious and would get angry with roommates for bringing guys over. “But in 2021 I felt like I had a handle on COVID... cocky of me,” she says. She ended up dating a guy for a couple of months, and the two were exclusive to be COVID-safe, but she found it frustrating. “It was too early, and it wasn’t really for us.” And because there was nothing to do but hang out at each others’ houses, it “lacked proper courtship rituals and doomed the relationship to hookup status.”

It was more about companionship than actual connection, a way to stave off the boredom. But can you blame anyone for reaching out for human touch? We’re in the midst of a “parallel pandemic of loneliness,” as Vancouver psychiatrist Dr. Shimi Kang put it in a Global News report this year.

For those who feel like dating apps turned into a soul-crushing Thunderdome these past months, the science may actually back you up. The superficial mechanism of these apps, which often rely on a visual first impression, have gotten even super-er, according to Dr. Alec Beall, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia who specializes in the intersection between disease pathogens and signs of attractions. (It truly is his time to shine.) In his recent work, Beall reviewed studies that found fear of communicable disease is high, people tend to value mates who have

VISUAL SPACE / ISTOCK

content specialist, 39

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Feature R E L AT I O N S H I P S If things were going well, these past months have been a time to really enjoy your partner’s company. But if things were tenuous before COVID... well, this was likely a make it-or-break-it stretch.

G r affecting my family,” says Philips. “It was a topic we went back to again and again, and each time we’d be more defensive with each other. I felt like he was judging my family even though we were only trying to get by. I was pretty resentful in the end.”

Tom Unova (one more alias for good measure), meanwhile, saw his marriage dissolve last summer; he and his now-ex remain friends, but the magic was just gone. And so, in the strangest of times, the 40-yearold writer found himself experiencing dating again after an eight-year hiatus. The slow pace of pandemicera wooing has actually felt right, he says. “The meet-ups happen waaay later, after a good amount of just texting back and forth, seeing if there’s a fun energy there that might make the leap to real life. You have to

meet outdoors —so usually in the day.

You stay six feet apart. Usually I’ve just walked around and talked with women for an hour or two,” he says.

“The slow-motion has been great for someone like me, who’s just looking to make authentic connections and very slowly see where things go.”

While he’s certainly not meeting people in real life the way a fresh getmy-groove-back young divorcé might have in days of yore, in many ways the pandemic has actually removed some barriers for Unova to get back out there. More people are on the apps, improving his chances of meeting someone cool. And his social anxiety (“and a completely atrophied ‘game’”) is basically non-existent online, where he can shine in text. “I’ve been able to rediscover my playful side in a mode that plays to my strengths and enables

JONATHAN COOPER / UNSPL ASH

indicators of health—clear skin, symmetrical faces, bright eyes.

“When people are scared of disease, they lean toward attractive mates,” says Beall. In other words: our primate brains think hot people are less likely to get us sick. (Though as the world normalizes again, Beall predicts, we’ll see a shift back to valuing other important qualities, like kindness and humour.)

If you weren’t out there in the trenches competing for the most symmetrically faced lover, though, you may still have faced a struggle during the pandemic. Those in existing relationships were dealing with their own unique recalibration: Beall calls it a “stress test.” If things were going well, these past months have been a time to really enjoy your partner’s company. But if things were tenuous before COVID... well, this was likely a make-it-or-breakit stretch. “It was a major decision point,” says Beall. “People were asking themselves, ‘Do I stick with my partner through this?’”

Twenty-four-year-old dental assistant Audrey Philips (a pseudonym) was about three months into a new romantic relationship with a longtime friend when COVID really hit B.C. Their different perspectives on the pandemic quickly put things on the rocks—starting with the outbreak at the Pacific Dental Conference in March 2020, which Philips’s mom (a dental hygienist) had attended. “He told my mom she was selfish for going back to work, and appeared only to worry about the number of infections, and I was worried about people losing their jobs and being unable to provide for themselves. Job loss was

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Feature R E L AT I O N S H I P S

14 days. Suddenly, the new couple found themselves in some pretty close quarters.

“It was a combination of very stressful and very comforting,” admits Vayne. “At first I found myself especially stressed and short-tempered, and was worried I would totally push him away or self-sabotage.

But it was actually really comforting to have someone to talk to. It’s definitely expedited some honesty, which has been helpful—we were already really open communicators, but he saw me cry and watched me freak out more in the first three days of quarantine than anyone else I’ve ever dated has ever seen.”

Vayne and her partner tried not to just talk about COVID, both to avoid anxiety spiralling and to keep getting to know each other. It was an intense situation to be thrown into

me to put my flirtiest foot forward— my left foot,” he says.

And then, in our safari of pandemic-era lovers, we have those who were in new or not-quite-readyto-put-a-label-on-it relationships. For this group, COVID either put things on pause (many new lovers report switching from in-person hangouts to Skype or Zoom)... or inadvertently ramped things up. “It made me tell a girl I loved her,” says 23-year-old standup comedian An-Te Chu. A quick poll on Instagram revealed dozens of couples who got serious early on in pandemic. Sure, maybe they would’ve shacked up regardless— but most agree that the circumstances turned up the heat. “We became each other’s emotional support much faster than we meant to,” says

a Vancouver arborist who now lives with his girlfriend. Elsewhere in the city: “We jumped into spending every single night together because there was literally nothing else to do, and we haven’t really changed our habits even as things have been reopening,” says an art handler in “fresh love thanks to the global panini.”

Thirty-year-old content marketer Kayleigh Vayne (you guessed it: another pseudonym) had been dating her boyfriend for just three months when they decided to take a golf trip to Oregon for their first weekend away together. The trip was great, but the timing was not: they crossed the border just as Bonnie Henry was announcing that anyone coming back from the States would need to be quarantined together for

in the early days of a romance, but ultimately, as Vayne sees it, it was a good chance for a relationship to sink or swim: “It definitely was an early look into how we handle stress and uncertainty—which was probably for the best.” The two moved in together this past September.

Who knows what the state of B.C. or the world will be by the time this story is published, but it’s currently feeling like real life is within reach.

It feels not-unrealistic to imagine a day when serial daters can get back to playing the field; we can cry in our friends’ arms again after a breakup and new loves can take it as slow as they like. “We might see more dating in general,” says Beall. “New lovers, old lovers... the times of loneliness are hopefully in the rearview mirror.”

NICK FEWINGS / UNSPL ASH

Quarantine was a chance for a relationship to sink or swim: “It’s definitely an early look into how people handle stress and uncertainty—which is probably for the best,” says Vayne.

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BELEN GARCIA

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T H I N G S TO D O / B A R G A I N B U R G E R / S K AT E D O N ’ T H AT E / L I V E T W E E T I N G

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

Culture THE TICK E T

HERE COMES THE SUM

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BELEN GARCIA

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As Amanda Sum wrapped up her undergrad in theatre performance at SFU, it was clear that music was playing a supporting role in her artistic journey—all of her experimental work incorporated some kind of musical element. “I had considered singing and songwriting hobbies, and had put them on the backburner,” she says. “But I really liked this thought of crossing theatre with music without it being conventional musical theatre.” She applied for a few grants in secret (“I’ve learned since not to be shameful about asking for help,” she laughs) and earned enough support to record three original songs: “Groupthink,” “Mary Shelley” and “Hot-Headed Egos.”

Sum released music videos for “Groupthink” and “Hot-Headed Egos,” and both are rich in girl power and Asian-Canadian influence. The indie-pop videos combine a nostalgic aesthetic with lyrics very true to now, and there’s a striking authenticity that comes from Sum’s wacky nature. All of her recordings were made by an all-female production team and feature an all-Asian female band. Her team is a much-needed representation refresh for the local music industry, which was Sum’s intention from the beginning. “I’m really pleased and really proud of that,” she says. “If I got an opportunity, I want to share it with others who are in the same boat.” Sum has a short dance film premiering in Vancouver’s Festival of Recorded Movement (FORM), taking place in September 2021. She also has an album in the works—look for it in 2022. amandasum.com

@amanduhsum

Don’t Call Me Baby “It’s hard to be taken seriously and viewed as professional when I embody someone who is young, but I can be my youthful self and still crack down to work,” says Sum. Her video “Hot-Headed Egos” reflects the coexistence between child and adult that many of us feel, no matter our age.

vard Any

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Back on Track

20

Art Downtown sheds sunshine on local work.

Online, in-person and hybrid events to ease you back in to precedented times. by

Carrie Mae Weems’s iris print on paper, called Missing Link, Happiness, will be on display as part of the Polygon Gallery’s Interior Infinite.

Alyssa Hirose

WINGS AND WIZARDS DATE Through September 2021 VENUE BC Place PRICE From $65 wingsandwizards.com This 7,000-square-foot nerdy dreamscape is a walkthrough audiovisual experience devoted to the magical world of wizards.

A ticket purchase comes with a magic wand you can use to “cast spells, solve riddles and move through space and time”… technology, eh?

Carnaval del Sol hosts both live and online events this year.

Wings and Wizards brings magic to BC Place all summer.

INTERIOR INFINITE DATE June 25 to September 5 VENUE The Polygon Gallery PRICE By donation thepolygon.ca Normal is hard to define, and these artists did just the opposite. Interior Infinite is an art exhibition that embraces the humour and chaos of identity through sculpture, photography and video. It’s carnivalesque, grotesque and wonderfully weird.

ART DOWNTOWN DATE June 16 to September 30 VENUE Vancouver Convention Centre and Vancouver Art Gallery PRICE Free vanvaf.com Here’s a real breath of fresh air—this weekly outdoor event features live music and local artists showing off their work (including some painting right before your eyes).

CARNAVAL DEL SOL DATE July 1 to 24 VENUE Online and in-person PRICE Varies carnavaldelsol.ca The largest Latin American festival in the PNW is hosting a hybrid fest this year, with both online events and live outdoor performances. The 2021 Carnaval is focused on reconnecting through art and food—something we’re definitely hungry for.

INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL DATE June 17 to July 17 VENUE Online and in-person PRICE Varies indiansummerfest.ca This mostly virtual fest also offers food delivered to your door (the menu includes Vij’s, of course) and special gift boxes, plus a self-guided walking tour of the Punjabi Market.

Catch the online musical performances every Thursday and Saturday.

QUEER ARTS FESTIVAL DATE July 24 to August 13 VENUE Various PRICE Varies queerartsfestival.com This year’s theme is “Dispersed: It’s Not Easy Being Green,” and it’s all about turning apocalyptic fear into art. The lineup includes BYOB (bring your own blanket) rooftop film screenings, performance art in a cemetery, a pillow-making workshop and more.

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Catch Two-Spirit Mi’gmaq photographer Duane Issac’s work at the Queer Arts Festival.

CARNAVAL DEL SOL: MARCOS ALEJANDRO BADRA; RUBY SINGH: KRISTINE COFSK Y

Culture

See musician Ruby Singh at the online Indian Summer Festival July 8.

THE TICKET

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CARNAVAL DEL SOL: MARCOS ALEJANDRO BADRA; RUBY SINGH: KRISTINE COFSK Y

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Culture T H E T I C K E T

Chapter 21 will tug at your heartstrings.

INTRODUCTION TO CHOCOLATEMAKING AND CONFECTIONERY DATE July 24 VENUE Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts PRICE $220 picachef.com PICA alum chef Rebecca Chen teaches this beginner’s class on chocolate. Participants will get an intro to tempering techniques and methods, and make truffles, mendiants and more.

Definitely don’t let your dog eat this homework.

POWELL STREET FESTIVAL DATE July 31 & August 1 VENUE Online PRICE Free powellstreetfestival.com The 45th annual Powell Street Festival’s virtual events include taiko drumming, dance and a martial arts showcase, but the celebration of Japanese Canadian culture isn’t all on screen: there’s also takeout available from local vendors and cool festival merch for sale.

VINES ART FESTIVAL DATE August 4 to 15 VENUE Various PRICE Free vinesartfestival.com This arts festival was outdoors before it was cool—it celebrates site-specific works at local Vancouver parks, so every play, dance and musical performance on offer is designed to take place outside.

SCHOOLYARD HARVEST DINNER: STILL AT HOME EDITION DATE August 19 VENUE Online PRICE $175 for a Harvest Dinner Box for two freshroots.ca This dinner benefits Fresh Roots, a local nonprofit that runs urban schoolyard farm programs for kids and teens.

Feast on the splendours of the summer at home and get a togo box of locally grown goods, then join their virtual event.

Waves of Innovation is anchored at Richmond’s Gulf of Georgia Cannery until 2023.

The Schoolyard Harvest Dinner is farm fresh.

MY FATHER IS THE GREATEST MAN IN THE WORLD DATE September 15 to May 15 VENUE Online PRICE $10 artsclub.com The Arts Club’s audio play series continues with this show

by Tai Amy Grauman. It follows Rose, a Métis country singer with roots in Alberta, as she journeys home to uncover her father’s past.

CHAPTER 21 DATE September 29 to October 3 VENUE Firehall Arts Centre PRICE From $15 firehallartscentre.ca A combination of dance and theatre, this show tells the story of an active young artist grappling with a devastating collision of events. Get ready to feel a lot of feelings.

Dae Nneka of Afro Van Connect performs at the Vines Art Festival this August.

WAVES OF INNOVATION: STORIES FROM THE WEST COAST DATE All summer VENUE Gulf of Georgia Cannery PRICE $12 gulfofgeorgiacannery.org This national historic site’s newest exhibit features stories and interactive displays (think: a boat you can row) that tackle the commercial fishing industry.

It highlights the voices of Indigenous, Chinese Canadian and Japanese Canadian fishers and cannery workers, and the impact the industry had on them and their families.

CHAPTER 21: MEL ANIE ORR

Indulge your sweet tooth at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts’ chocolatemaking class.

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Culture M O D E R N FA M I LY 1 “The show my wife, Michelle, and I have is called ‘Legendary Duos’: famous duos throughout time. Meat Loaf is just one of the characters I portray; Michelle plays his girl onstage, and we do ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light.’ We also do Sonny and Cher, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Phantom of the Opera. That’s one of our favourites, with the mask and the cape. We go right up through history to Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.”—Wally Kozakow, a.k.a.

Meat Loaf

Us, We’re Just Like Stars

Some belt out the hits; others are simply happy to be fodder for a can’t-believe-it photo op. But every tribute artist (as many impersonators prefer to be called) is doing it for the sheer love of their look-alike. Agencies like Simply the Best Talent—which represents many of the “stars” seen here— offer up a roster of icons on demand right here in Vancouver for an up-close-and-personal experience (online or outdoors during pandemic times) that might even be more fun than the real thing. After all, what are the odds you’re going to get the genuine Tina to come to your Zoom wedding? as told to

Stacey McLachlan

photo by

Adam Blasberg

2 “There’s a lot of tanning, a lot of hair, a lot—a lot—of ponytail. You contour, put on some glitter.

And when it comes to performing, I’ll try to emulate part of her essence: it’s her songs and the way she sings them that matter. But when you do tribute, you have to keep a part of yourself in there. It’s an art to try to find both you and Ariana together.”—Zenia Marshall, a.k.a.

Ariana Grande

2 1

3

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3 “I enjoy it more when I don’t try so hard to be Tina. If you try to be that artist, you’re not: I don’t feel good. I feel so cheesy.

What I would say to other tribute artists is to just have fun with it, but you have to perfect the makeup and get close to the hair and outfit. Thank God I have a good pair of legs.”—Luisa Marshall, a.k.a.

Tina Turner

4 “George and I both have Greek roots and a passion for music.

My craziest crowd was a group of 700 women representing LipSense on a cruise ship. The screaming was nuts. They made me feel like a real rock star. My day job is working as a bus driver, but one weekend, I performed in front of 18,000 during a Canucks game.”—Bill Pantazis, a.k.a.

George Michael

5 “You can kind of learn audience psychology and tailor a set as you go. There are the standards, like ‘Heartbreak Hotel.’ ‘Suspicious Minds’ is theatrical: there’s a big karate section in it. ‘My Way,’ I really like the story, knowing what he was going through in his personal life when he performed it. One of the things I’ve learned about him is that, yes, he was a great performer and singer, but he could sell a song. He could sing you the phone book and sell it.”—Eli Williams, a.k.a. Elvis Presley

6 “At her concert, I was just walking past the huge lineup and a girl screamed. Suddenly, I got swarmed by fans because they thought I was her, which I found funny, considering it was her concert and she was most likely backstage.”

—Jayden Linkletter, a.k.a. Billie Eilish

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Culture O N T H E R I S E

NEXT TOP BOTTLE Londre Bodywear turns recycled plastic bottles into stylish swimwear—no filter needed. by

Alyssa Hirose

We want to be able to empower all of our customers to feel their best.” m Ainsley Rose and Hannah Todd, co-founders of Vancouver-based Londre (left), have transformed over 200,000 plastic bottles into sustainable swimwear (from $56). They’re expanding to Europe and Australia this year.

CHRISTINE PIENA AR

Ainsley Rose and Hannah Todd were on a trip to Mexico in 2016 when the inevitable swimsuit conversation came up. “Most of the suits out there are either appropriate for a Vegas pool party or a swim meet,” says Rose, “and at that time there was nothing sustainable in the swimwear market.” The two friends (and roommates) had only tangential connections to the industry—Rose had a background in wedding photography and Todd did a brief stint at Lululemon—but they decided to dive headfirst into the deep end with Londre Bodywear.

Londre’s swimsuits are made from recycled plastic bottles gathered from beaches and streets in Taiwan, which has “some of the most efficient and productive recycling in the world,” says Todd. The plastic is melted down and spun into fabric at an Oeko-Tex 100-certified textile mill and then shipped to Vancouver, where all of the suits are made. The swimwear may be made with recycled bottles, but you wouldn’t know it. The buttery-soft compression material feels more luxurious than traditional suit fabric, and Londre’s sleek styles are designed to last.

Rose and Todd’s mindfulness goes beyond sustainable manufacturing—it’s evident in their marketing, too. “From the beginning, we vowed never to Photoshop our images,” explains Todd, who struggled with an eating disorder as a teen. “We want to be able to empower all of our customers to feel their best.”

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INTRODUCING THE GRAND TOWER

65 LEVELS OF EXPANDABLE LIVING

CHRISTINE PIENA AR

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INSPIRING EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AND LIFE

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NICOL AS CHAREST

Book a tour or register for events at J OI NUS.MULG R AV E .CO M

Culture R O L L E R S K AT I N G

FREEDOM IS A SKATE OF MIND

Roller skating has seen a pandemic-boost in popularity— and can feel pretty liberating after months of isolation.

NICOL AS CHAREST

by

Michelle Cyca

In early April, I did something that felt both joyful and foolish: I strapped on a pair of roller skates for the first time in my life. My friend Alice had just started skating, using an empty parking lot halfway between our houses, so I impulsively purchased a pair to learn with her. After being deprived of pleasurable novelty for over a year, I was feeling giddy before I even pushed off for the first time.

Then, I was hooked.

After 12-plus months of confinement, roller skating felt like freedom. First tottering, then tentatively gliding, I was present in my body in a way that had been missing during the pandemic, when I often felt like a brain trapped in an iPhone. The fresh air, the endorphins and the fun— sharpened by the fear of falling—all of it was exhilarating and addictive.

I’m not the only one with this newfound obsession: like baking bread and adopting dogs, roller skating has experienced a COVID-related boost in popularity. In

RollerGirl.ca owner and roller skating enthusiast Lisa Suggitt slays an “air to fakie” trick at the Hastings skate park.

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Culture R O L L E R S K AT I N G

There’s just something about skating that triggers extreme glee.”

Vancouver, the evidence is everywhere: gliding along the seawall, practicing in parking lots, carving bowls in skate parks.

Before the pandemic, “I would rarely see anyone on roller skates who I didn’t know,” says Lisa Suggitt, a lifelong skater and owner of roller skate supply shop RollerGirl.ca, which has been outfitting Canadian skaters since 2003. “Now everywhere I look I see people roller skating; it’s amazing.” The skyrocketing demand for roller skates led Suggitt to transform RollerGirl.ca’s retail space on Main and East 11th Avenue into a warehouse to keep up with sales, which hit an 18-year high in April.

The mass appeal makes sense as soon as you try it. “The thrill, the freedom, the wind in your hair, the sun on your face—it’s totally liberating,” says Suggitt. Carla Smith, cofounder of Rolla Skate Club, theorizes that it’s an effective outlet for pandemic pressure.

“People need a release, they need something to charge their batteries. They want to get outside and learn new things,” she says. Smith launched

Rolla Skate Club in 2018 with fellow derby player Lucy Croysdill to offer classes and events for women and non-binary skaters of all levels, though she mentions that men are also welcome to participate. Another skater, Vanessa Terrell, explains: “There’s just something about skating that triggers extreme glee.”

Terrell skated as a kid, and part of her motivation to pick it up again came from watching the 2019 documentary United Skates, which celebrates the vibrant history of roller skating in Black communities. “It’s a culture thing for me,” says Terrell, who found solace in skating amid last year’s Black Lives Matter

ADAM BL ASBERG

“It’s a culture thing for me,” says Vanessa Terrell.

“Skating is a place where Black people could go and be free.”

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but how ?

ADAM BL ASBERG

that’s how

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Culture R O L L E R S K AT I N G

Lisa Suggitt (left) performs a booty block for her roller derby team, TCRG Terminal City All Stars (above), at the Big O tournament in Oregon.

their own collectives. Many of these groups are explicitly interested in fostering a welcoming and inclusive skate culture, particularly for racialized people.

“Roller skating consists of a lot of women, queer, trans* and non-binary people, and people of colour,” says the East Van Skate Crows (EVSC), a local group who chose to answer questions as a collective. “Many feel intimidated and bullied [at skate parks], especially as beginners. Being a visible minority in the skate park is difficult, and then being a visible minority on roller skates at the skate park can make you a target for harassment.”

By documenting their activities and sharing their progress on social media, they’re helping to change ideas of who belongs at these parks, while providing safety and encouragement to new roller skaters.

Skate crews also provide each other with something that has been missing during COVID: camaraderie. “We kept each other’s heads above water just enough to survive,” said EVSC. After a year of social starvation, we need that more than ever. So if you’re a new skater looking for a friend to cheer you on, you can join me at my local parking lot. I’ll be there all summer long.

NICOL AS CHAREST

protests. “Skating is a place where Black people could go and be free.” In recent years, many roller rinks have been forced out of business by gentrification; United Skates follows the efforts of Black skaters to save and restore these disappearing spaces.

No stranger to gentrification, Vancouver’s roller rinks have disappeared too. During the last roller skating renaissance of the late 1970s and early ’80s, the Stardust rinks in North Vancouver, Richmond and Surrey were packed every night. But interest waned (blame the surging popularity of rollerblades, which have a single line of wheels rather than the two sets of two you see on roller skates), and the last Stardust location—once called “the Studio 54 of Surrey”—closed in 2005.

“There are very few spaces like this,” says Smith of the Kerrisdale gym that Rolla Skate Club has called home since January 2019—and that’s now slated for eventual demolition.

Pre-pandemic, their space hosted 300 skaters each week; now, they’ve pivoted temporarily to online and outdoor classes. “The Vancouver School Board and Parks Board won’t let any wheels in their gyms or community centres. The only option, if you can find it, is renting an ice rink in the summer.”

Post-pandemic, the booming skate population could use more indoor space. But part of what made roller skating an ideal pandemic pursuit is that you can do it almost anywhere. Tennis courts, parking lots and smooth side streets can all serve as a makeshift roller rink. The City of Vancouver, taking note of the growing interest, is also developing a Skateboard Amenities Strategy to build out skating infrastructure. (Despite its name, the strategy is inclusive of roller skates, BMX bikes, scooters and “other small-wheeled sports.”) As part of their planning, the City will also install a series of pop-up skate parks throughout the summer.

YouTube and Instagram are full of tutorials and tips for beginners, and social media also brings skaters together. Terrell found her crew, the Bad Bounce BIPOC Skaters, on Instagram; others are connecting with groups like CIB Vancouver and Rolla Skate Club, or forming

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NICOL AS CHAREST

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Culture C I T Y S T Y L E

Mix Master A mix of black and white dining chairs (the black from Rove Concepts; the white from Inform) are clustered around a dining table from Article. Above it all hangs a Mitzi light fixture by Hudson Valley Lighting.

THE BRIGHT STUFF

AK Design principal Annaliesse Kelly turns a dark, dated space into an open, modern home sweet home. by

Stacey McLachlan Kristin Korch

photographs by

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Culture C I T Y S T Y L E

Counter Culture The same Glacier White Corian that’s used for the kitchen counters was also employed for the bathroom backsplash and countertops.

T

Dream Kitchen Kelly initially had goals of opening the kitchen up entirely, but as it was a topfloor unit, she faced a bit of a hiccup trying to contend with venting from the units below. But sometimes a challenge becomes a design opportunity. “I created a feature hood fan with the marble backsplash and an art wall for the dining room,” says Kelly. “In the end, it turned out better than if it was all open.”

he best designers don’t just have a knack for pairing colours and textures, or for laying out furniture: they can look at a totally hopeless space, and see not the awkward drywall or dated carpet but the gem that’s buried underneath. Call it X-ray vision, or ESP—either way, it’s the superpower that Vancouver-based designer Annaliesse Kelly, principal of AK Design, was tapping into when she bought a dark and dreary 40-year-old suite in Burnaby.

The compartmentalized design of the original layout left the space feeling cramped and closed off, despite its 1,000 square feet and its corner-unit placement. But Kelly only saw potential. She knocked out living room walls to eliminate wasted space in the hall, adding in structural beams to allow for more width. Now, a new layout maximizes both space and sun, and it does so with plenty of style. Kelly’s ample art collection is displayed on the crisp, gallery-white walls, and each room features beautifully appointed furniture.

The future, as Kelly envisioned it, is now—potential fully reached.

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Culture C I T Y S T Y L E

Window to the World “My favourite thing about this place is the beautiful natural light,” says Kelly. “The space is a corner with clerestory windows, so it gets morning and evening light with a peek-a-boo view of downtown.”

Perfect Pieces In the living room, a Mobilia pendant lights things up while a CF Interiors sofa is paired with a BluDot coffee table and a blue armchair from Inform Interiors.

Frame Job Kelly is an art lover, and so her home is filled with a mix of original works and vintage collectibles. In the living room, a series by Ola Volo hangs on the wall.

The dining room features pieces by artist Amelia Alcock-White, as well as a larger work by Steve Baylis.

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Culture C I T Y S T Y L E

Bed Head Kelly fell in love with some fabric from Kravet and knew she had to go big with it: she commissioned a custom upholstered bed frame to put the textile front and centre.

Grand Opening Headers were removed to connect the kitchen to the living room, while two tiny bathrooms were joined to create something larger and more luxurious.

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Culture T H E D I S H

DRINK THIS

HOSTEL TAKEOVER We’re living in a golden age of burgers. Downlow, Between 2 Buns, Hundy and Trans Am are just a handful of the patty practitioners that have legions of dedicated fans willing to line up for their faves (with seemingly every one of them honour-bound to immediately post a pic of their juicy prize). But far west from these madd(en)ing crowds there’s a burger being made in seeming monastic exile by one of the city’s most lauded and beloved chefs. Many will remember Quang Dang from when he ran the kitchen at West, where his relaxed, even goofy vibe brought the South Granville spot some much-needed stability in the postHawksworth era. After West closed in 2019, Dang continued for a spell in various TopTable spots, but as COVID wreaked havoc on the industry, we sort of lost track of him... until we heard whispers that he was “flipping burgers” at the Jericho Hostel near Locarno Beach. To be honest it seemed like a plot dreamed up by a Hollywood screenwriter, but damned if it wasn’t true—and the full truth is even better. Dang has teamed up with Chef Don Guthro at D.I.C.E.D. Discovery Café, a social enterprise that gives back to the community by providing affordable chef training to those in need, along with money raised by their “breakfast, burger and beer” joint a few hundred feet from the beach. The burger—all classicism with lettuce (not the au courant “shredduce”), raw onion and tomato—is, at $5.95, not just the best burger deal in town, but actually in the running for the best food deal in town, especially when served with the side of philanthropy.

1. To be clear, although the price suggests otherwise, this is a full sized quarter-pound hamburger.

Amazing.

You think you know Vinho Verde, but you do not. Yes, you love the slight effervescence, low alcohol and easy price of Casal Garcia—so do we—but for wines from this region, going even slightly up the price ladder reaps untold benefits. Take this big brother bottle to Casal Garcia from Aveleda: it offers a deeper complexity of flavours—think lime zest grated over fresh melon—that seems perfectly suited for summer. And it’s $17. Don’t even get us started on what happens when you spend $25. Minds will be blown.—N.M.

Neal McLennan

2. The burger skews classic with Canadian cheddar (over the resurgent American cheese) and local Fraser Valley beef.

PA S S I O N F R U I T O R A N G E A N D G U AVA (P O G) S O U R F R O M D E E P C OV E B R E W E R S AND DISTILLERS, $ 14.40 for a four-pack I have to be honest—I don’t know why this can features a peacock, other than North Van’s Deep Cove just deciding to flex its design muscles. And while it’s not quite as beautiful as the other photos of birds in this issue (“Winging It,” page 128) , this is one of the most striking cans you’ll see on liquor store shelves.

Thankfully, the liquid inside more than holds its end of the bargain. Tart and delicious but never overly sweet thanks to some discreet lactose sugar, this is the ideal beach beer.

—Nathan Caddell

BURGER: DICED DISCOVERY CAFÉ/FACEBOOK

by

AV E L E DA VINHO VERDE, $ 17

3. In a city that’s seriously lacking in beachside spots, the Discovery Café’s location—just a block from Jerocho Beach—is a godsend.

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Is it easier to find true love, or achieve financial success?

Study by TD explores Canadian's love lives and financial behaviours

W C a tu o

When it comes to major life goals, many Canadians likely include financial stability and a lasting relationship on their list.

But as it turns out, one may be easier to find than the other.

Love and Money by the numbers

Love and Money, a recent survey from TD exploring the financial behaviours of more than 3,000 married, in a relationship or divorced North Americans, found that only two in five (40%) Canadians surveyed believe they’ve found their soulmate. The survey also reveals that half of Canadian respondents (49%) believe it’s easier to find true love than financial success. Additionally, the survey shines some light on how Canadian couples surveyed are faring when it comes to their finances during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The impact of COVID-19 pandemic

A year into life under COVID-19, the pandemic continues to disrupt nearly every aspect of our lives including our financial well-being and ability to celebrate life’s milestones with loved ones.

BURGER: DICED DISCOVERY CAFÉ/FACEBOOK

According to Love and Money, 60% of Canadian couples surveyed report that they’re having trouble meeting their financial goals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the pandemic has led to behavioural changes for 51% of Canadian respondents who say they’ve adjusted their spending habits because of COVID-19: • 62% reduced overall non-essential spending • 44% cancelled vacations or travel • 36% delayed larger purchases • 28% cancelled unnecessary subscriptions & memberships • 19% set limits on individual spending That said, many Canadian couples surveyed are feeling cautiously optimistic about their future financial goals.

• Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) Canadian respondents are currently saving for something.

• For those in a committed relationship, the survey also reveals that COVID-19 has made talking about money easier: • Nearly half (45%) of Canadians surveyed say the pandemic has led to more open and constructive conversations about their finances, including the need to adjust spending habits by reducing spending on non-essential items and delaying larger purchases.

Communication is key

The survey shows that conversations about money are critical, especially when sharing your finances with another person. In fact, “not talking about money with my partner on a regular basis” is the top financial mistake noted amongst Canadian respondents.

Additionally: • 77% of Canadian couples surveyed say they typically open up about their finances within the first year of their relationship – including 56% who get very candid within the first six months.

• Among Canadian married couples and those in a committed relationship, 85% of respondents say they’re talking about money on a monthly basis.

• Millennials appear to be the least likely to put their financial cards on the table, with only 53% of Love and Money Canadian survey respondents saying they would discuss money in the first six months of a relationship the lowest amongst all generations.

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Financial fears Financial

among Canadian’s As you might expect, the survey also shows that when it comes surveyed to love and money, not all conversations go smoothly…

So, what The TD Love and Money 'not being able to among Canadian’s are Canadians arguing their finances? for our family' study reveals thatabout the when it comes toprovide surveyed • Perhaps unsurprisingly, arguments about money were most The TD Love and Money 'notofbeing able to 'loss employment' concern amongst provide for common amongst divorced respondents (29%) vs 20% of our family' study reveals that the Canadians surveyed 'not being able to pay respondents in able relationships. is not being to retire. 'loss of employment' concern amongst • 10% of Canadian couples surveyed say they argue about essential Canadians surveyed 'not being pay current lifestyle' joint expenses such as bills or mortgage payments, whileable 16% to argue is not being able to retire. about optional joint expenses such as dining out or subscriptions. 'not being able to retire' • Lastly, the Love and Money survey reveals that 8% of Canadian current lifestyle' 8% 9% 11% 14% 16% respondents who are in a relationship admit that they are keeping 'not beingbank able to retire' a financial secret from their partner - including a secret Tying the Insights from account and/or significantly largecredit cardknot: debt.

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$5,000 on their wedding and 31% TD is helping many Canadians with their finances during uncertain an engagement ring nor see itthese as necessary spent between $5,000 and $15,000 times through personalized financial advice and everyday banking capabilities via online tools, likerespondents TD Ready Advice and TD versus MySpend. of Canadian say the

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About TD Love and Money Survey: Research company MARU/Matchbox conducted the an engagement ring nor see it as necessary survey among a nationally representative sample of Canadian consumers focused on couples and money. The online fieldwork occurred between December 2, 2020 and December 8, 2020. A total 1748 completes were gathered in Canada and 1709 in the Ready U.S. Data have been weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the population.

Visit TD Advice Margin of ErrorMARU/Matchbox, on the totalDecember sample8th, is +/Love and Money Survey, 2020.2.3%.

2021-06-17 12:36 PM

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K YOKO FIERRO

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Heat Check Kevin McKenzie is master of the plancha at Top Rope Birria.

Culture M OV E A B L E F E A S T

ROLLING THUNDER

K YOKO FIERRO

by

Neal McLennan

It was 2011 when this magazine decided that the burgeoning trend of food trucks had reached critical mass and was deserving of its own category in our annual Vanmag Restaurant Awards.

The winner that year was Roaming Dragon, the pan-Asian trailblazer that helped usher in the food-truck revolution to our fair city. Over the years that followed, more winners emerged— some sadly departed (RIP Re-Up), some still going strong (Tacofino!). But by 2018 our judges and editors, always juggling an ever-expanding range of categories, made a tough decision: food trucks, while still clearly part of the culinary landscape, were no longer the bastion of innovation they had been in the early days. So, for a while, they were out as a category.

Well, what a difference a pandemic makes. Food trucks— with their by-necessity outdoor locale, their lean-and-mean staffing requirements and their ability to drive away from the neighbourhoods that had suddenly become dead zones thanks to everyone working from home, were swiftly primed to take back the mantle they wore a decade ago, when they were all the buzz.

Places that had been doing steady lunch business started to see lineups reminiscent of the good ol’ days. And industry (and nonindustry) folks who lost their bricks-and-mortar jobs embraced the power of saying eff-it and taking the leap into the driver’s seat and above the flattop. Now, here’s our crib sheet to the mobile dreamers who’ve reinvigorated four-wheel cooking.

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Behold “the Andre,” a quesabirria with a cheese skirt and kimchi from Top Rope Birria.

Top Rope Birria

K YOKO FIERRO

THE SPOT:

The Folks: Kevin McKenzie (Red Seal Chef, Blind Channel Resort, Yaletown Brewing Co.) The Skinny: If you stopped a rando Vancouverite pre-March 2021 and asked them about birria tacos, you’d likely get a blank stare. The Jalisco specialty of beef tacos dipped in their own little bowl of consommé had not crossed the 49th parallel in any meaningful way prepandemic and McKenzie wanted to change that. So, inspired by an aunt who lived in Jalisco, he set about bringing this beloved street food to town with his own twist: the quesabirria, a corn tortilla dipped in the red braising fat and fried crisp on a plancha, loaded with a melted cheese blend, braised beef, onion and cilantro. Wow. Top Rope has been popping up—incongruently using the Green Coast Coffee cart—at Strange Fellows, Studio Brewing and Dageraad and the crowds have been... huge. They’re now even popping-up on Tuesday nights at the Birds and the Beets patio, where they’ll be able to serve margaritas with their fare.

The Food: Well, there’s not much of an option—you’re having quesabirria—but that’s a good thing. Just make sure to say yes when they ask you if you want it with a cheese skirt. You always want a cheese skirt. And if you add the kimchi it’ll help you stuff more in your face.

The Verdict: So good. Really, so very good.

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K YOKO FIERRO

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Y T

Culture M OV E A B L E F E A S T

Left: Crack On’s Augustine Schwerin and Mark Kearney.

Right: The Eggy McEggFace

Above: The amazingly crispy hashbrown.

Right: We’re here for the puns: it’s the Eggspo ’86 Below: The unstoppable Mad Yolk

CA up

Crack On

The Folks: Irish ex-pats Augustine Schwerin (Ask for Luigi, Anh and Chi) and Mark Kearney (former advertising exec) The Skinny: Stop me if you’ve heard this one: an egg-centric food truck comes from out of nowhere, fills an overlooked niche and enjoys overnight success. Well, that’s the trajectory of Vancouver’s beloved Yolks, and the vacuum they left when they went bricks and mortar has been filled by this pair of affable Irishmen, who have a way with les oeufs. At first, they eschewed more traditional locales—they were frequently found near the big dig at Oakridge and its 3,000 hungry construction workers—but they’re now, like Top Rope and Between 2 Buns, part of the weekend brewery circuit (Faculty, Strange Fellows Brewing, 33 Acres, Moody Ales and, notably, North Van’s Wildeye Brewing, who can offer caesars to go with your brunch sammy). And the Crack of the name is a play on the Irish idiom for having a good convo with friends—“what’s the craic.”

The Food: Although the Eggspo ’86 has the catchiest name, we favour the Mad Yolk, which features Asian pickles, c aramelized onions, cheddar, housemade gochujang aioli and sausage from Pete’s Meat.

The Verdict: A worthy successor to Yolks’ golden crown.

Ta m

W

• L t

• A p

• V INSTAGRAM @CRACKONVAN

THE SPOT:

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Culture M OV E A B L E F E A S T

The Folks: Tony Hua (Origo Club) The Skinny: Like Top Rope, this operation started out guerilla style, popping up at local breweries (Container, Dageraad, Keefer Yard) and garnering long lines and devotees that would make NXIVM jealous.

But at the end of last year they took some lemons (the closing of Bestie on Pender) and made smash burgers from this now quasi-permanent location. The ethos here is derived from the Japanese concept of ichigyo zammai—the idea of simplifying by concentrating on and perfecting one thing.

That, and the drive to create a tasty burger that doesn’t fall apart with toppings when you try to eat it.

The Food: Again, this isn’t the Variety Show of Hearts. There are some occasional variations (jalapeno) but for the most part you go for two patties, pickles, shredduce.

Don’t ask about tomatoes. Ever.

The Verdict: C’mon—these guys helped turn an entire city against flame-grilled burgers—that’s how good they are.

Tomatoes may never recover.

LEIL A K WOK

Between 2 Buns

INSTAGRAM @BET WEEN2BUNSBURGERS

THE SPOT:

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THE SPOT:

LEIL A K WOK

INSTAGRAM @BET WEEN2BUNSBURGERS

Soy Egg

Le Tigre

The Folks: Chef Steve Kuan and former sous chef Jace Yun (Torafuku) The Skinny: Perhaps no venture speaks to the food truck renaissance than the return of Le Tigre. This truck always ranked high in our awards, and it was so successful that it was one of the first to transition from four wheels to honest-togoodness restaurant—the still-popular Torafuku. But the pandemic presented them with the opportunity to play their greatest mobile hits, and they ended up getting the truck Superbaba left behind when it transitioned to its own bricksand-mortar spot on Main.

The Food: Well, their Kick Ass Rice with roasted brussels sprouts belongs on the shortlist of the city’s most influential dishes of the past two decades, and it still impresses. So does the Soy Egg, a marriage of konjac noodles and soymarinated ramen egg in a chili sauce, served cold.

The Verdict: The best thing to happen to South Granville Thursdays since Matt Landry popped his first Lambrusco.

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Culture S N A P S H O T

Winging It

While others were perfecting their sourdough starter, furniture designer and artist Steven Pollock purchased a Nikon lens on Craigslist and picked up bird photography as his pandemic pastime. “It started as a way to zoom closer to see these birds I was walking by every day— and then I became hooked on capturing them in motion,” he says. Lost Lagoon has become a favourite haunt—here are a few of his captures in Stanley Park’s birding treasure. as told to photos by

1

Anicka Quin Steven Pollock

1. I’d discovered, thanks to a YouTube video, that Anna’s hummingbirds have a habitual circle they travel in. I’d spotted this one before, so I decided to just stand and wait for him to come back—and suddenly he was just at my knee. I just started snapping—I wasn’t even sure what my settings were. Half of it is luck, capturing a great photo.

2. As a furniture designer, I’m always researching about materials and techniques, and I’ve thrown myself into research with bird photography too.

Early on I learned so many acronyms—BIF, or Bird In Flight, being a common one.

And I love capturing them in movement— like these American wigeons coming in to landing.

3. Canada geese are pretty fun to photograph while flying, because they’re slower moving than other birds.

4. This Steller’s jay was one of my first shots when I picked up my new lens. It was in late spring, which is a great time to shoot—there aren’t any leaves on the trees for them to hide.

2

5. I spent a fair bit of time at the heronry, near the entrance of the lagoon, trying to capture great blue herons as they took off from their nests.

Once they started to have babies, this eagle would raid them, causing a fair bit of panic and a few pretty brutal battles.

6. How can you not take a picture of the babies? This gosling isn’t more than a day old.

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7. When they posted warnings about coyotes attacking humans, I started to see more of them.

This one was just a juvenile, and it wasn’t threatening at all. In fact, it was having a lot of fun and behaving like a puppy, rolling around on its back and tossing a plastic bottle up in the air to catch it.

5

8. This great blue heron—GBH on birding forums, of course—really shows the magic of shooting during the golden hour of dusk.

You wouldn’t get the same colour in its feathers if you were shooting with the sun directly overhead.

And he was another lucky shot—he just appeared out of nowhere, soaring across the lagoon in close proximity to where I was standing. And I just started snapping.

4

7

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LOV E LET TER

The Case for Wood Ducks “Any luck?”

I haven’t talked to my friend Steven in over a week, but I know what the text means. He wants to know where the good ducks are.

“Good ducks” makes it sound like they’re better behaved, or more handsome, or just superior to the other birds. And they are all of those things. Because, for the past eight months of quarantine, they’ve also been getting us through.

Like it was for many, when everything that was once my everything—long meals in great restaurants, nights in dark movie theatres with shared bags of buttery popcorn, weekends in Seattle belting out ballads on the karaoke mic in Capitol Hill—when that was all but gone, I walked.

Some days it was a distanced walk with a friend, but most the time it was me and my thoughts, an audiobook, a podcast... anything to shift the scenery that was my apartment in the West End, and the darkness that was sinking me into a worse-than-usual winter depression.

My original loop took me along the seawall and into the trails of Stanley Park, but when the coyotes started telling us we weren’t super welcome there, I decided I liked my calves unbitten and shifted to a loop of Lost Lagoon.

And by December, around the time I invested in a proper raincoat, I was starting to think less about the podcast in my ears and the heaviness in my chest, and more about what was in front me: those pretty little ducks. You can only pass the hundreds of black and white beauties that raft together just off of Second Beach so many times before you start to think… wait, what is that bird?

By the time I saw my first gathering of wood ducks by the stone bridge over the lagoon—with their paint-

by-numbers green, tan and maroon feathers and their little Star Wars Imperial Navy helmet of a head—well, I’d found a new hobby. I downloaded the Merlin bird identification app, scored a pair of vintage Bushnells on Craigslist, and, to paraphrase Harlan Pepper from Best in Show, I couldn’t stop naming ducks.

I was thrilled when the looks-like-a-duck-in-thewater-but-like-a-chicken-on-land American coot I’d been watching found a partner, after months of being a loner. I watched as hundreds of lesser scaups blanketed the lagoon in April, only to disappear again in May. Those flocks off Second? The excellently named buffleheads, and plenty of Barrow’s goldeneyes. And while it’s not a duck at all, I meditated alongside a great blue heron, who can hold its statuesque pose for as long as it takes for that one perfect fish to swim just a little too close.

When my friend Steven and his partner Debbie joined me on one of those walks, the name-that-duck game infected him, too—so much so that he picked up a used camera lens and, just like that, became skilled bird photographer (see “Winging It,” page 128), making those fleeting bird-spotting moments more permanent.

And with each new bird in my ID-tank, I felt that little crack in my mid-winter depression—the one that shows it’s starting to lift. On the path, other camera-andbino-toting walkers would spot mine and tip me off to an elusive harlequin, a lone northern shoveler—and then I did it too, happily helping a fellow watcher identify a greater scaup.

I became a part of something again. And, after the fracturing of this past year, that’s more than a small thing.

“Any luck?” So much luck, indeed.—Anicka Quin

STEVEN POLLOCK

The handsomest of birds helped pull me out of a dark winter.

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STEVEN POLLOCK

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