Food may not be first on the mind when living in or visiting beautiful British Columbia. However, when
you’re not skiing, snowboarding, or taking in the exquisite and often majestic flora and fauna, you may want
to explore the culinary creations of Canada’s westernmost province. From a patisserie to a Chinese brasserie,
a tasting room to a seafood café and raw bar, the options for top dining — or sampling — experiences are
endless, and so are the flavours.
Blue Water Café and Raw Bar
1095 Hamilton St. (at Helmcken in Yaletown), Vancouver
Hailed as Vancouver’s definitive destination for seafood, Blue Water Café and Raw Bar is housed in a striking
old brick and beam warehouse in the heart of historic Yaletown. Blue Water’s executive chef Frank Pabst
serves up innovative and impeccably executed West Coast dishes, and insists on using seafood from wild and
sustainable harvest. The restaurant’s dynamic dining room provides diners with a view of the opposing “East
meets West” kitchen and raw bar, which consists of ringside seats allowing for an up-close-and-personal
dining experience. Guests will watch as skilled sushi chefs jubilantly create contemporary Japanese dishes
using local ingredients, such as Dungeness crab and wild sockeye salmon.
The sweeping main bar leads out to the heated patio, where guests can enjoy an inspired and diverse cocktail
menu consisting of rare cognacs and tequilas, as well as over 100 single malt whiskeys. The private wine room
holds an extensive award-winning wine and bubbly selection, offering over 20 wines, and an array of iced
vodkas, chilled sakes, and premium draft and bottled beers. Located near Vancouver’s entertainment district,
Blue Water Café and Raw Bar serves as an ideal place not only for seafood, but also to meet before and after
the theatre, shows, concerts, hockey games and other events.
Chambar
562 Beatty St., Vancouver
Promising an evening where visitors can experience an “unpretentious fling with fine dining,” Vancouver’s
Chambar brings something refreshing — literally and figuratively — to the table. From being socially
conscious by donating dining proceeds to individuals living with AIDS, to using only sustainable food
sources, Chambar is truly a breath of fresh air. With the restaurant’s name in French loosely translating to
mean “When the teacher leaves the room, all the kids go crazy,” Chambar offers a wild, ingenious pairing of
Belgium and North African cuisine, perfect for those with restless palates. Using local, organic ingredients,
Chambar’s menu consists of tantalizing dishes, including an array of appetizers, and main courses of duck,
lamb, venison and sustainably caught fish. Nestled in a brick and beam building, Chambar’s ambiance combines
Italian design accents with an eclectic rotating art collection, complete with beautiful hardwood flooring.
Located at the front of the restaurant is Chambar’s long paralam bar, which delivers an award-winning
cocktail list, including drinks created with local fruit. Owned and operated by a husband-and-wife team —
executive chef Nico Schuermans and Karri Schuermans — Chambar is certified as a “green restaurant” and serves
only sustainably harvested seafood through the Ocean Wise program, and is also working towards being
Vancouver’s first carbon-neutral restaurant. If visiting this environmentally and socially responsible
restaurant wasn’t enough, Chambar also offers cooking classes as part of their Dirty Apron Cooking School and
Shop, allowing food enthusiasts to not only come to eat their favourite dish, but learn to make it too.
Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie
163 Keefer St., Vancouver
With its name referring to a Chinese term of endearment, translating to mean “precious” in English, this
restaurant is a true gem. Located around the corner from Main Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown, this modern
Shanghainese/Taiwanese eatery appears to be a homage to owner Tannis Ling’s parents, with black-and-white
family photos adorning the restaurant’s walls and many of the dishes on the menu being slightly tweaked
adaptations of Ling’s mother’s traditional Taiwanese recipes. Seating only 50 at capacity, this quaint
restaurant is decorated with an ingenious juxtaposition of modern aesthetics — a row of white-painted chef’s
knives on a white-painted wall — and antique allure — collections of antique mirrors, framed needlepoint
embroidery and even vintage nude pinups in the washrooms. Reminiscent of a Victorian parlour, Bao Bei offers
plush armchairs and oriental carpets, a welcoming warm alternative to larger, more elaborate
eateries.
Serving a blend of Shanghainese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese dishes with a French influence, by half-Japanese,
half-French chef Joel Watanabe, Bao Bei uses high-quality free-range meats, organic produce and fresh
house-made condiments. Watanabe even spent time cooking with Ling’s mother, as well as nine days in Taipei
with the Ling family, and learned to make wonton wrappers among other dishes. With almost everything made
in-house, this shared-plate haven offering “petits plats Chinois” (Chinese small plates) may appear small in
some respects, but it definitely packs a whole lot of precious in every bite.
Salt Tasting Room
45 Blood Alley, Vancouver
A tasting room specializing in artisanal cheeses, small-batch cured meats, and a dynamic array of wines,
beers and sherries, Salt brings a different dining experience to the table . Salt’s simplistic approach to
good food is not what you’d expect: Guests assemble a tasting plate from Salt’s chalkboard, which displays a
selection of 10 cheeses, 10 meats and 10 condiments. With their cheese, meat and condiment selection
constantly changing, it is literally impossible to have the same tasting experience twice. Maintaining close
relationships with local charcuterie producers, including Oyama Sausage Co., J N & Z Deli, and Moccia’s,
Salt is proud to source from local suppliers. When it comes to cheese, Salt offers a diverse selection of
local and imported cheeses, from Neal’s Yard in London, and producers like Moonstruck Organic Cheese on Salt
Spring Island and Farm House Natural Cheeses in Agassiz, to name a few. With condiments like Guinness grainy
mustard, honeycomb from Similkameen Apiary, Mediterranean olives, and Spanish Marcona almonds, guests may
forget all about traditional set-plate restaurant offerings.
Salt offers a varying selection of pates and terrines, as well as hearty soups, seasonal salads and an array
of grilled sandwiches served at lunch, not to mention dozens of wines, beer, ports and sherries. And if the
tasting wasn’t enough, below the tasting room is Salt’s Salt Cellar. Used for private functions from
birthdays to fashion shows, The Salt Cellar is just another reason why Salt Tasting Room is a restaurant
flavour that need not be overlooked.
Sweet Revenge Patisserie
4160 Main St., Vancouver
In longing for the days when “desserts were crafted and savoured, rather than manufactured and
mass-consumed,” Sweet Revenge Patisserie in Vancouver is devoted to serving an alternative to
factory-produced “cakes” laden with shortening, chemicals and preservatives. As a return to simpler times,
Sweet Revenge serves old-fashioned, homemade desserts, pies and pastries “just like grandma used to bake.”
Using only real butter, organic flour and organic free-range eggs, Sweet Revenge proudly refuses to use
shortening, margarine, lard or preservatives. Even the ambiance oozes wholesome goodness, with lush red
wallpapers, oil lamps, antique furniture and softwood floors.
After guests savour carefully prepared desserts made with fresh ingredients and ample affection — such as the
Berry Trifle, a traditional English dessert with homemade sponge cake soaked in Grand Marnier, vanilla
custard and berry coulis, adorned with fresh berries and topped with real whipped cream — store-bought
goodies will become a thing of the past. The nostalgia for more wholesome times continues with music ranging
from Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf and Johnny Hartman playing throughout the Patisserie, accompanying each
visitor’s decadent bite.
