1355 Hornby

[Chef Fowke]

This is hard, because I do not want it to sound like a Shill…

My wife is a historian and wants to create a timeline of restuarants at 1355 Hornby.

Jamie Maw wrote a review about RARE one Restaurant in Vancouver Magazine today. The review was glowing and exceeded my expectations. I expect sales to increase by 100% to 200% next week…

With that said: he talked about the suicide location I was in….does anyone know the history of 1355 Hornby?

WHO HAS BEEN HERE?

From the beginning…..

What did they offer?

Who was the owner?

Who was the chef?

Who were their neighbours?

How has the neighbourhood changed?

What were their successes?

Why are they no longer at 1355 Hornby?

This could be a cool study in the changes in Vancouver!

[eatvancouver]

congrats, you and your team deserve it.

[kissmekate]

My earliest recollection of the RARE location was first as Massimo’s, an Italian restaurant, which was followed by a restaurant with a wine name (Zinfandels maybe?) After that E’Toile, owned by Andre Durbach of Parkside, then Bis Moreno. I think they all had their own reasons for closing. In the early days there were very few residences around there so they had to rely on destination diners and visitors to the city but without a view, or stunning architecture and a courtyard (like Il Giardino). The area now seems to have more businesses and certainly more residences.

The area around Rare is actually one of the more established restaurant areas in Vancouver. Although not a restaurant row like Robson Street or South Granville, the streets around the north side of False Creek on the outside edge of downtown Vancouver have been the home to some of Vancouver’s top restaurants, and longest running!

The old guards - Umberto’s empire – Il Giardino, The Yellow House, La Cantina. La Bodega is still there, as is A Kettle of Fish. There was Victoria Station and Dem Bones (now Tony Roma’s). On the waterfront was a floating seafood restaurant, and under the bridge Bandies. There was Café Splash and Starfish (now C), Andersons and the Riley Café (now NU). That first block of Hornby had a dozen small restaurants, and scattered along the bottom of Howe, Pacific and Beach, a few dozen more; long gone in some case, some replaced by new restaurants, others by condos. At Pacific and Hornby there was Chez Daniel, L’escargot, La Cuisine and La Cuisine International, then Baz Lee’s 819 and finally a curry restaurant. Now word is that it will be a new restaurant called Intuition.

On a busy Saturday nights you could watch waiters scuttling back and forth from their back doors and alleyways to neighbouring restaurants; Il Giordino borrowing a few loaves of bread from 819; Kettle of Fish lending out a few lobsters to the Victoria Station; cigars from La Cantina to Massimo’s; napkins from Dem Bones to 819; glasses from the Yellow House to…

Then along came C Restaurant, Fiddlehead Joe’s, Bin 941, the Chilli House and that Hot Rock place…..Now there is Nu, Marmalade and of course, RARE. Umberto is building a hotel right over top of Il Giardino, and what used to be landfill and industrial along the waterfront and lower Beatty is now high end condo’s.

[Daddy-A]

This is hard, because I do not want it to sound like a Shill…

I figure as long as you're not talking about Kolachies or Go Fish! few if any will accuse you of being a shill around here.

Kate stole my thunder as far as history ... although I can add that the first time I took a date out for dinner, we went to Dem Bones on Pacific. Nothing says "I think you're cute" like rib sauce on your face.

A.

[annanstee]

Right after Etoile was another place called, I think, Zinfandel.

[Chef Fowke]

Someone once said something about a Greek Restaurant?

[HKDave]

I think the full sequence of restaurants there was: Massimo’s, Café Milano, Étoile, Zinfandel, a generic Greek place, Bis Moreno.

I ate at that address a couple of times pre-Rare, but one meal - actually, one dish - stands out.

It was years ago in the Etoile / Andre Durbach days. It was early evening, and the front of house was dead. We might have been the only guests. The dish was chicken liver, pancetta and sage.

It was fantastic.

If I were to identify one reason why I ended up going to culinary school and now chop veggies in other people's kitchens, it was that dish.

[Chef Fowke]

I think the full sequence of restaurants there was: Massimo’s, Café Milano, Étoile, Zinfandel, a generic Greek place, Bis Moreno.

←

How long were each open?

[barolo]

These are rough guesses:

Bis Moreno opened in mid to late 2003

the Greek place was open for a year or less before Bis Moreno

Zinfandel was open for about a year and half before the Greek place

Etoile closed in 2000/01?

[Jerry_A]

I know I never post here (been out of the loop for a while) and this is sort of off-topic, but I will be dining at Rare on Friday night and I have to say this is the first time in a very, very long time that I have been so excited to dine at a restaurant in Vancouver.

Thanks in advance Chef Fowke, I am sure everything will be as fantastic as it looks/sounds.

[barolo]

Here's a link to the Vancouver Magazine review: To live and dine in West Van. The first half of the article is about Ocean Club, the second half focusses on Rare.

A short quote:

The menu is a jamboree of locality, sometimes pushed with long-distance ingredients. It’s exciting, sometimes vertiginous cooking, but with its feet on the ground. And unlike some tasting menus, where stultifying ceremony occasionally outweighs the collaborative plates, this restaurant has got it largely right, playing whimsy over anything too, too serious, and mostly winning.