The chaos theory says events that might seem random, or lacking in order, are actually quite predictable.
Last Thursday afternoon, there was a quiet sense of chaos at Save On Meats as staff scrambled to put order back in the butcher shop and diner. After months of being closed for renovations, owner Mark Brand had set that night for a soft opening.
A collection of original signs created by Dan Climon, who also did the signs when Brand breathed new life into the iconic DTES diner two and a half years ago, is lined up along the diners bar. (Brand also commissioned Climon to do the Talk Is Cheap sign that has a place of honour on the back wall. I was tired of people talking shit and doing nothing, Brand says of the signs motto.) Pig/Save On Meats-inspired artwork leans against the opposite brick wall, all waiting to be hung up. Over in the butcher shop, which is in a third of its former space, the meat display counters are being polished and filled and theres a sense of bustle in the kitchen.
Save-On Meats, with its dancing pig neon sign, opened at 43 West Hastings in 1957. Al DesLauriers owned it from 1980 until his retirement in 2009, when it was closed. In June of 2011, Brand and his former wife Nico, who teared up when she recently toured the removated space, took a leap of faith when they took over the business.
DesLauriers held off selling the building until he could find someone who was as committed to the butcher shop as he was. The new owner, Anthem Properties, remodelled the top three floors into office space and is highly supportive of Brands new initiative with Vancouver Community College and the City of Vancouver to transform the bulk of the butcher shop space into an incubator kitchen for DTES projects.
His patience has been nothing short of epic, Brand says of Anthems CEO Eric Carlson, who will be charging a reduced rent for 10 years.
Working with chefs Gavin Soo, Elliott Hashimoto and Jeff McIntosh, Brand says theyve created the best diner menu ever. Try the shepherds pie, he says, and Youll say, Holy shit, somethings different.
