Our Little Secret

LORD, HOW DO YOU DECIDE BEST BAR? Is it a cocktail emporium? A place with the best craft beer selection? Where the music is perfect? Where you bring an out-of-town friend to show off your city? Um, yes to all—and the wonder is that it’s still tough to choose. Here are this year’s standouts.

TRANS AM

1879 POWELL ST.

Like every truly great success story, this one could have gone wrong in myriad ways. The much-babbled-about no-cell-phone policy, for example. It could have been a jaded ploy to grab some pre-opening publicity (if they had, you know, any publicity). Or a menu (newly expanded) that still features just two burgers, a $125 steak, one side and some olives could seem a bit precious. Only playing vinyl, contrived. The complete lack of tables, an annoyance. But all these things are delivered with such a dose of no-B.S. authenticity that it pervades every inch of this 13- “seat” marvel on Powell Street and helps make this improbable candidate our favourite bar in Vancouver.

And the place is authentic because the proprietor is. Gianmarco Colannino worked in the industry, got cancer, beat it and, after returning to work (for a beer company), took a step back—priorities fully in place—and decided to open a bar like the ones he loved in other cities but could never find here: small, with a casual atmosphere and a hard focus on the work side, where neighbourhood folk could hang out, listen to good music and shoot the shit. He essentially built the place himself using a handsaw, because he didn’t have the scratch for an electric one, let alone a professional contractor. The early days—where the food was more front and centre—were tough, with overflow from neighbour Bistro Wagon Rouge providing a thin lifeline. But Colannino streamlined the menu radically: one burger, one steak, one side. He brought in bartender Dave Beck when Merchant’s Oyster Bar closed, and the two started to craft a cocktail program that is near-perfect in its construction: a page of classic cocktails (like the Red Hook; see sidebar), a page of originals, a small rotating selection of craft beer and a cool selection of wines at “market price,” which Colannino mistakenly thinks is a 100-percent markup—insanely low.

This summer saw the addition of chef Edie Steensma, who initially left a sweet gig at Autostrada Downtown just to help out here. (That’s the sort of devotion this place inspires.) Soon she had taken over the food program—now two burgers (!) and daily teasers like Spam gyoza—and together the three of them run the bar like a well-lubricated machine.

But the easygoing atmosphere belies a serious dedication to making this spot hum—they routinely take staff trips to other cities to see how they can up their game—but they’re just so self-minimizing about their work that it all seems so easy. It’s not, but they want you to believe it is. After all, this is a bar, and you’re here to have a good time.

THE KEEFER BAR

135 KEEFER ST.

An almost perfect bar. Its roster of bartenders—both past and present— includes former Bartenders of the Year Dani Tatarin and Amber Bruce, as well as legends Gez McAlpine and Keenan Hood, who stepped away before they could get the award. It’s a spot that one night might see a shirtless BOTY Josh Pape reliving his mixology youth and the next see a studious inquiry of the subtle use of peated whisky into modern drink-making. But always it comes back to the drinks—which likewise always walk that exquisite line between serious and playful. Even when the Keefer is slammed (which is pretty much always), the team of pros here craft each cocktail like they’re in a competition. No bar has impacted the way Vancouverites drink more than this one—a stalwart that still feels like it’s brand new.

CAMPAGNOLO UPSTAIRS

1020 MAIN ST., 2ND FLOOR

It’s oft said that Vancouver’s a lonely city, cruel to outsiders, but that sentiment is never expressed on the second floor of 1020 Main Street. Campagnolo Upstairs is the closest thing the entire city has to a neighbourhood bar. Ascending the stairs is an exercise in shoulder relaxing, such that by the time you arrive you’re ready to receive the ever-present greetings from barman extraordinaire Peter Van de Reep, a man with the friendly demeanour of Woody Harrelson, the curiosity of Malcolm Gladwell and the moustache of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It’s a place where everything is just so—well-priced classic cocktails made with precision, the rarity of a curated wine list that itself is worthy of patronage, bar snacks (including the original dirty burger) that are 145 percent better than they need to be. And it’s all tied together with a bow of camaraderie that belies our reputation as the No Fun City.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

THE BOTANIST 1038 CANADA PL.

This mecca for true cocktail nerds also serves as a world-beating factory for creating competition-winning bartenders in its spare time. The most elegant watering hole in the city.

BOXCAR 923 MAIN ST.

It turns out good things do come in small packages. Boxcar boasts one of the better beer lists in town, along with strong offerings in the cocktail section. Oh, and they’ll let you bring in some pie from Pizzeria Farina next door. Take them up on it.