Pop-ups are nothing new these days. They range from restaurants and wine bars to clothing and soap stores. Throw a rock and you’ll likely hit a rock-collecting pop-up. That being said, there is some golden wheat among the chaff, and here are a couple new pop-ups that you’ll want to visit before they close up their short-term shops.
Orchard & the Sea
By day, it’s popular café The Birds and the Beets. By night, it’s the first of its kind in Vancouver—a craft cider bar. The project is a collaboration between chef Jefferson Alvarez and Txotx (pronounced “cho-ch”) Imports. The latter specializes in cider, beer, wine and spirits from the Basque region. The name, in fact, refers to the act of drinking cider from a tapped barrel, as well as being a popular toast.
The focus here is on the ciders, both local and imported, with small plates crafted by Alvarez. On a recent visit, those small plates ($5-$8) included chorizo and potatoes, baked gluten-free chicken drumsticks with spicy aioli, tomato and anchovy salad, Manchego cheese with quince paste, as well as one large platter ($35) of txuleton, a traditional Basque ribeye steak that weighs in at a full pound. Here, the sliced steak is so soft and tender that it practically falls apart on my fork.
As for the ciders, we enjoyed everything from Shacksbury’s The Basque to Tod Creek Coastal Blue and Twisted Hills’ Paradise Pear. Both menus rotate frequently, so there’s always something new to try, including ciders that you can’t find anywhere else in the city and in sizes that are perfect for sharesies. No word yet on the precise closing date, but early September is likely.
Open Thursday-Friday, 6-11pm, Saturday 5-11pm | 55 Powell | OrchardAndTheSea.ca
Mensch Jewish Delicatessen
Nitzan Cohen is serious about his meat. The Israeli-born chef, who previously worked at Blackbird Public House and caterer Cocktails & Canapes, has a soft spot for New York-style pastrami. Unlike the more common Montreal smoked meat, Cohen’s pastrami is smoked for eight hours, brined for 10 days, and then steamed for four hours. It’s then hand-cut into thick, greedy slices (10 ounces-worth) and piled onto rye for the signature Reuben sandwich or the more simple (but no less filling) pastrami. The meat is juicy, chewy and fork-tender, with just the right amount of spice in the rub.
The counter-service deli also offer a truly stellar take on the classic lox on a bagel. The salmon is beet-cured and piled on a poppy seed bagel with abandon before being topped with labneh cheese instead of the more traditional Philly. It’s a brilliant sammie that only needs the accompanying slice of dill pickle (made in-house) to make it complete. Egg salad, served on challah bread, is another star – smooth, creamy, tangy – made with free-range eggs and roma tomatoes. It goes down like it’s going out of style – which it likely was before Cohen re-introduced it to the slavering masses.
Look to pay around $9 for a half-size and $13-$14 for a full, 10-ounce serving. For dessert, if you’re lucky, there will be babka, although the lokshen kugel is excellent. If you’re wondering about the latter, it’s the Jewish take on bread pudding, except made with noodles and is a creamy, slightly crunchy delight that will cause obsession and Friday night cravings (or that could just be me). Taste it all before Sept. 9.
Open Monday-Thursday, 11am-3pm, Friday 11am-6pm. | 666 E. Broadway | Facebook.com/menschdelicatessen
Anya Levykh is a freelance food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. In addition to obsessively collecting cookbooks, she is a judge for the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @foodgirlfriday.
