As per usual, there are many new and interesting eateries that are currently in various states of construction. Here are the five that you should be paying particularly close attention to...
Wildebeest | 120 Hastings | Wildebeest.ca | Opening Imminent
Wildebeest is a good place to start because a) everyone is talking about it, and b) it could be open when this column goes to print. The two-level restaurant and wine bar at 120 W. Hastings has a lot going for it. First, its owners, Josh Pape and James Iranzad, are a couple of industry lifers with very high standards. (Pape is one of Canadas top bartenders and co-owner of The Diamond in Gastown, and Iranzad is a dedicated food and drink wonk and the owner of Abigails Party in Kitsilano.) Together, theyve poured their hearts, souls, personal tastes and bank accounts into this project. Second, in charge of the kitchen is David Gunawan, the former executive chef at South Granvilles multiple award-winning West. He has designed a multitude of sharable exercises in self-indulgence for Wildebeest, all of which have me salivating (think poutine with roasted foie gras, crispy pork skin with blackberry jam, oysters with 10-year-old Ardbeg whisky, etc.). Third, its the new home of manager Brooke Delves (ex-Salt Tasting Room, Maenam), so good service goes without saying. All told, its the most highly anticipated restaurant opening of 2012, and it is finally upon us!
Heirloom | 1509 West 12th | HeirloomRestaurant.ca | Opening Imminent
The 53-year-old Primos Mexican Grill at the foot of South Granvilles old Douglas Lodge will very soon become Vancouvers largest vegetarian restaurant. Heirloom, as the new joint is called, will feature a menu of small to large sharable dishes (sans faces) prepared by Georgia Morley, Chip Wilsons former classically trained personal chef. The 100-seater has undergone a top-to-bottom renovation, and has been designed by EVOKE ID, the same company behind the looks of over a dozen Vancouver notables (eg. Union Bar, El Caminos, Sanafir). Expect a modern but casual feel, prices under $20, and none of the pretension/politics that sometimes feels umbilically attached to vegetarian restaurants.
Beaucoup | 2150 Fir | BeaucoupBakery.com | Opening September
It was a case of tune in, turn on, and drop out with Jackie Ellis. Her love affair with baking first led her to moonlight at Vancouvers farmers markets, selling homemade layer cakes and such. The experience then steered her away from a successful, nine-year career in graphic design to a pastry school in Paris and places beyond. My goal was to taste as much as I could, she says. I sought out the best pastry shops and restaurants and travelled there just to eat. Thirty pounds later, and with passport stamps from Europe and Africa also under her belt, she now finds herself busily working on converting a warehouse space on Fir Street off West 6th into her dream bakery. Beaucoup will see a mix of treats from her childhood and modern French pastries, coffee from 49th Parallel, and brioche sandwiches employing local microgreens and meats from Oyama. Uncompromising excellence is a usual consequence of passions like hers, so expect great things when the doors first open.
Espana | 1118 Denam | No Website Yet | Opening September
Two of our top local talents, Ed Perrow and Neil Taylor, are opening a small Spanish restaurant in the heart of the West End this September. Perrow, you might remember, was the operations manager of both Bin 941 and Bin 942 for many years before helping to open La Brasserie on Davie. Hes lately of Uva Wine Bar and Cibo Trattoria in the Moda Hotel, where he found an immediate groove with Taylor, the executive chef. Espana is a bit of a departure for both, but what makes the project all the more exciting is the fact that this is the first time either has entered the ownership game. They will be serving kalimoxto, pinxtos, and tapas dishes alongside a few larger, sharable plates paired with Spanish wines and sherries, presumably to a nightly full house.
Pidgin | 350 Carrall | No Website Yet | Opening November/December
The 2007 Canadian Culinary Champion, Makoto Ono, has arrived in Vancouver to build and open a new 66-seat restaurant and bar across from Pigeon Park on the Downtown Eastside. This is a major score for Vancouver food lovers. Not only is Ono the son of Sadao Ohno, the celebrated Japanese master chef/owner of the recently closed Edohei in Winnipeg (Sadao retired in February), hes also proved himself with fierce talents of his own on the national and international stage. Some background: he flew through cooking school in Vancouver; started at the bottom at the now defunct Kojis; staged at Jean-Georges Vongerichtens Vong in New York and Marco Pierre Whites Mirabelle in the UK; and joined his father on the line in Winnipeg for several years all before opening that citys well-regarded Gluttons eatery back in 2004. His success at the Canadian Culinary Championships took him to China, where he opened restaurants to critical acclaim in both Beijing and Hong Kong. This new project is his long awaited homecoming, and I suspect that he aims to blow us away. (I especially dig the name Pidgin which ties neatly to the location and to Onos expression of an amalgam of cuisines that will include French, Japanese, and Korean).
