Openings and closings (2006–2008 part 2)

[barolo]

The Majestic is opening in the old Fresgo Inn spot on Davie. Here's the scoop according to CityFood:

Another neighbourhood restaurant in the final stages, although of a different mood entirely, is the Majestic in Davie Village. It’s a brand new “progressive”, “entertainment-driven”, resto-lounge on Davie Street that will cater to a particular mix from the area's gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender community (the GLBT). However, in billing themselves as “straight friendly” they want it also noted that they will warmly welcome guests of that other persuasion.

[Feedbag]

Finally found the Crystal Hunan everyone was raving about in Burnaby.

Much to my chagrin, however, it was dark, mail piling up inside the door.

This at 5:30 on Friday night makes me think the worst. Anyone know for sure?

Why is it Hunan restaurants can't make a go of it in this city? First the one

at Main and Marine Drive, now this....Any others left?

[annanstee]

Not sure if it's been posted  about yet or not, but this was mentioned in an email received today from the Farmers Market Society:

"The New Kitsilano Market will open mid-Juy and run until mid-October, Sundays 10am – 2 pm location to be determined."

Great news!

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Any idea where it will be held? Doesn't look like the site has been updated

[eatrustic]

Not sure if it's been posted  about yet or not, but this was mentioned in an email received today from the Farmers Market Society:

"The New Kitsilano Market will open mid-Juy and run until mid-October, Sundays 10am – 2 pm location to be determined."

Great news!

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Any idea where it will be held? Doesn't look like the site has been updated

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Don't think they quite have it nailed down yet.

The Riley Park (Nat Bailey) Market which is on Wednesdays should be interesting as Olympic construction is going to remove a portion of the parking lot around Nat Bailey and should make for an exciting time on the days there is a game and a market.

[bccoati]

Openning next to the Noodle Box on W. 4th: "Cheesecake 101 - Gourmet Outlet". No idea what it is.

[Beebs]

It looks like Chow, the new spot at Granville @ 15th run by Jean-Cristophe Poirier (Lumière, C) is almost ready to open.

The interior looks very sleek. There's supposed to be a patio in the works as well.

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I drove by last week and it looked like they were opened. Does anyone have any other details on Chow? Website, menu? Google didn't pull up much. I'm eager to give it a go once things have settled a bit.

[Vancitygirl]

Too busy for a full post, but I went in last night and the room looks great. Very modern. Just had a drink, so can't comment on the food. Will be back very soon as it is in my neighbourhood.

http://www.chow-restaurant.com/

[HKDave]

Fatburger on Beatty and Dunsmuir is open.  I have to stop by to see if they are sharing the kitchen with Ricky's.

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They're not.

[mangez]

It looks like Chow, the new spot at Granville @ 15th run by Jean-Cristophe Poirier (Lumière, C) is almost ready to open.

The interior looks very sleek. There's supposed to be a patio in the works as well.

←

I drove by last week and it looked like they were opened. Does anyone have any other details on Chow? Website, menu? Google didn't pull up much. I'm eager to give it a go once things have settled a bit.

←

First report on Chow. Excellent food, we really had a great time. Better luck than Gastropod and Fuel. Jason and Michael are owners with Jean-Cristophe being the chef.

Room is a little noisy, quite crowded on a Thursday night, before the long weekend I suppose.

Highly recommended.

[bccoati]

Marbleslab Creamery openning soon in the space where El Patio was supposed to move in on Denman (at Davie).

[ghillie]

It looks like Chow, the new spot at Granville @ 15th run by Jean-Cristophe Poirier (Lumière, C) is almost ready to open.

The interior looks very sleek. There's supposed to be a patio in the works as well.

←

I drove by last week and it looked like they were opened. Does anyone have any other details on Chow? Website, menu? Google didn't pull up much. I'm eager to give it a go once things have settled a bit.

←

First report on Chow. Excellent food, we really had a great time. Better luck than Gastropod and Fuel. Jason and Michael are owners with Jean-Cristophe being the chef.

Room is a little noisy, quite crowded on a Thursday night, before the long weekend I suppose.

Highly recommended.

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Read the pretentious menu and the prices. won't be seeing me there in a hurry. Plus someone needs to tell them that Dieppe is not in Normandy if they want to exploit that on their drinks menu.

[Daddy-A]

Plus someone needs to tell them that Dieppe is not in Normandy if they want to exploit that on their drinks menu.

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Ummmm ... yeah it is CLICK. Although technically it is Haute Normandy now, the region wasn't split until the 50's.

I do agree with you on the "pretentious" comment though..

A.

[kissmekate]

Plus someone needs to tell them that Dieppe is not in Normandy if they want to exploit that on their drinks menu.

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Ummmm ... yeah it is CLICK. Although technically it is Haute Normandy now, the region wasn't split until the 50's.

I do agree with you on the "pretentious" comment though..

A.

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Well yes, Dieppe is definitely in Normandy, although Wikpedia would not be my equitable source.

I have not yet been to Chow but thought their menu looked fabulous! Their web page, which is what I imagine you are considering to be pretentious, I found not to be at all. It looks to me that Chow has decided to do it alone, no PR, no blogs and pre buzz, just a nice menu with a simple description of their philosophy.

Very much worth a try based on hearing great things about the food. Why prejudge and second guess a web site visionary statement? I say, try it before you judge it.

[Andrew Morrison]

Phenomenal dinner there tonight. The whole spread. About 12 dishes all told and all excellent. Cate, for the record, they enjoyed plenty of pre-opening buzz. Much of their menu and talk of their concept/bio/raison et cetera has been floating around the local web ether for a couple of months now. Just five days in on a Tuesday tonight and they were already packed and performing.

[chocomoo]

Mink, a “coffee and chocolate bar”, has opened in the old Portfolio Gallery and Café space at the base of the Terminal City Club tower on Hastings.  It’s got espresso and non-espresso coffee, featuring the Clover coffee brewing system which is supposed to be the latest and greatest.  They also have lots of artisanal chocolate bars featuring pastel packaging, cute names and high prices – think $5.00 for a 50 gram chocolate bar.  It’s nice and sleek looking, the chocolate was good, and the people were very nice the two times I’ve been in.  They plan to offer Belgian waffles, chocolate fondues and a few other chocolate foods, but no savoury items as far as I can tell.   

Here’s the website:

Mink Chocolates

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I just spent 20 minutes on their website drooling over all the different kinds of chocolate bars that they make... The "Dream" (dark chocolate bar - passion fruit puree & Thai coconut milk in white chocolate ganache), "Love Potion" (dark chocolate bar - roasted banana, dark rum & lime in chocolate ganache), and "The Sporting Life" (dark chocolate bar - double chocolate stout in chocolate ganache with salted pretzel) look especially intriguing.

[Pommette]

Phenomenal dinner there tonight. The whole spread. About 12 dishes all told and all excellent. Cate, for the record, they enjoyed plenty of pre-opening buzz. Much of their menu and talk of their concept/bio/raison et cetera has been floating around the local web ether for a couple of months now. Just five days in on a Tuesday tonight and they were already packed and performing.

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Was there last night as well, but only had time for a quick sip at the bar which was most enjoyable. The bar itself is gorgeous and loved the fact that the stemware selected was based on the varietal ordered. How delightful, indeed.

Everything felt smooth and polished, much cleaner than other recent openings of months past from what I've heard.

Welcome to SG, Chow!

[kissmekate]

Phenomenal dinner there tonight. The whole spread. About 12 dishes all told and all excellent. Cate, for the record, they enjoyed plenty of pre-opening buzz. Much of their menu and talk of their concept/bio/raison et cetera has been floating around the local web ether for a couple of months now. Just five days in on a Tuesday tonight and they were already packed and performing.

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I know there was buzz, just not too over the top. They sound like nice people with great food. Looking forward to trying it. Now I just need to get to:

Jules

Fuel

Bistro Bistro

Gastropod

Century

The Red Door

Fetch

Connor Butler

Aurora Bistro

Fiction

Fat Burger

Chill Winston

and now Chow!

Ahhhhh...

So many restaurants to try, so little time

[McTee]

I know there was buzz, just not too over the top. They sound like nice people with great food. Looking forward to trying it. Now I just need to get to:

Jules

Fuel

Bistro Bistro

Gastropod

Century

The Red Door

Fetch

Connor Butler

Aurora Bistro

Fiction

Fat Burger

Chill Winston

and now Chow!

Ahhhhh...

So many restaurants to try, so little time 

And come summer, probably another 5 or 6 that had just opened........

My list is a bit longer than yours, and gets added to on a regular basis.

Edited April 12, 2007 by McTee (log)

[tokyogurumegal]

Senses is apparently closing this weekend. Too bad... I use to buy their mocha and brioche every morning when I worked around there. I'm rarely in N. Van, it seems like such a hike to go buy Thomas Haas pastries. Does anyone know whether they'll re-open in another location?

[badpesto]

Does anyone remember One Restaurant in Gastown? I keep running into people telling me a crazy story about those guys fleeing their defunct restaurant after cutting and sawing ALL the electrical, plumbing, ducting and gas lines. Does anyone know the truth to this insane urban myth?

[SBonner]

Does anyone remember One Restaurant in Gastown? I keep running into people telling me a crazy story about those guys fleeing their defunct restaurant after cutting and sawing ALL the electrical, plumbing, ducting and gas lines. Does anyone know the truth to this insane urban myth?

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I live in the lofts across the street and remember seeing a lot of late night activity The place was pretty well stripped other than the kitchen equipment. In their defense they did make a dump into a nice looking room.

Stephen

Edited April 13, 2007 by SBonner (log)

[eatrustic]

Senses is apparently closing this weekend.  Too bad... I use to buy their mocha and brioche every morning when I worked around there.  I'm rarely in N. Van, it seems like such a hike to go buy Thomas Haas pastries.  Does anyone know whether they'll re-open in another location?

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I'm not particularly disappointed that they are closing (more than likely due to the reno's going on around them). I've found the place to be way too minimal in what they offered, especially once they stopped serving paninis etc.

If I want a Thomas Haas fix I'm more than happy to trip over to North Van once or twice a month to his very cool little shop (what Senses should have been).

Although not downtown and not quite as good as Thomas, Patisserie LeBeau fills my need for nice croissants etc.

[chocomoo]

Senses is apparently closing this weekend.  Too bad... I use to buy their mocha and brioche every morning when I worked around there.  I'm rarely in N. Van, it seems like such a hike to go buy Thomas Haas pastries.  Does anyone know whether they'll re-open in another location?

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Oh NOOOO!! Where am I going to get buttery, flaky croissants to savour at work now? The only other choices close to me are Starbuck's & Caffe Artigiano (their almond croissant does not even come close to Senses).

Just when I had discovered their milk chocolate passionfruit mousse cake... *sob*

Well, I guess I have some stocking up to do today at lunchtime!

I sincerely hope that they reopen another one close by soon...

[Beebs]

It looks like Chow, the new spot at Granville @ 15th run by Jean-Cristophe Poirier (Lumière, C) is almost ready to open.

The interior looks very sleek. There's supposed to be a patio in the works as well.

←

I drove by last week and it looked like they were opened. Does anyone have any other details on Chow? Website, menu? Google didn't pull up much. I'm eager to give it a go once things have settled a bit.

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So I made it to Chow yesterday with a few others. I had grilled sablefish with crisp pork terrine, lemon tart, and their earl grey marTEAni (we decided to order our own meals as we were all at varying levels of hunger rather than share a bunch of dishes). Meal was good -- sablefish nicely cooked and although I thought that a deepfried pork terrine is an odd pairing with the sablefish, I could have eaten a plateful of those still. Lemon tart was excellent, not too sweet, refreshing & light. Lovely presentations. They did a great job with the space, gorgeous lounge. Service was attentive and friendly.

I didn't find the menu "pretentious", but I thought the entrees a bit presumptious for what it is, especially for being a brand-new restaurant ($19 for the sablefish). Although the food was well-executed, I didn't find it spectacular for an appetizer-sized portion at "regular" entree prices. Let's just say there are plenty of new places to check out over the next several months. But I would go back for drinks at the lounge, and would certainly be willing to return for another meal & try more dishes in a few months time.

[run2eat]

...Where am I going to get buttery, flaky croissants to savour at work now? ..

Might be out of your way, but Quince on 3rd and Burrard makes divine croissants!