Culture R E V I E W S
Pizza Coming Soon chef/ owner Keith Allison.
THE DEETS
Pizza Coming Soon 179 East Pender St. 604-558-4900 pizzacomingsoon.com
The historic neighbourhood is leading the pandemic bounceback. by
Neal McLennan
In many ways, Chinatown is perfectly positioned to blossom post-pandemic: out of all the neighbourhoods in town, it’s the one that’s perpetually had to be on its toes thanks to successive waves of racism, gentrification, relocation, urban encroachment— repeat. But the marvel of the ’hood is that it just puts its head down and moves forward, accepting whatever challenge comes next with a “been-there, done-that” resolve that seems absent from, say, Kerrisdale. And it’s this mettle that’s attracted yet another cadre of restaurateurs who, perhaps emboldened by the resilient environment, pressed on with opening their spots at just about the worst time possible.
The chicken was excellent—a PortugueseJapanese mash-up of flavours imbued into a mahogany-skinned bird with just the perfect amount of moistness while still retaining the firmness you want in a roast chicken. I resolved to be the first in line when in-person dining resumed. I wasn’t, of course. I got busy and by the time my wife and I returned, the secret of this spot had leaked a bit. I had heard rumours that it was “impossible to get into,” so was pleasantly surprised that a 6 p.m. phone call on a Wednesday resulted in a “come on down”
HANA PESUT
CHINATOWN 4 WAYS
Is it moxie or madness for a restaurant that opened late last year to have a name that appears created to stymie the dreaded Google search engine? For the record, it’s in no way a “pizza” restaurant, nor is it any longer “coming soon,” and while the old crank in me decries the overly meta name, the writer in me (whose words also seem to—unwittingly—stymie the Google search engine) feels a kindred spirit with these kooks. My connection was deepened with some takeout before in-person dining was re-happening: they were offering a smoking deal on dinner for two built around their periyaki chicken and, swinging by the retro room (it looks one part A Clockwork Orange and one part... well, it really just looks like A Clockwork Orange) reinforced the lovingly oddball nature of this operation. Again—and I can’t stress this enough—there is no pizza, but there was a really well-curated selection of (what else?) natty wine lined up on the counter and the friendly dude giving me my takeout was reminiscent of Brad Pitt’s turn as Floyd in True Romance.
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