by Andrew Morrison | Bestie is the first cool thing about Vancouver, and that’s probably because I just ate there with one of my boys and it was awesome. It was very inspiring to watch Clinton McDougall and Dane Brown – two guys without much training or restaurant experience – open a simple, straightforward eatery in Chinatown with public assistance and knock it completely out of the park without ever compromising their original vision. Sure it’s just German-style sausages and beer, but they have an oblique, out of the ordinary style that totally endears (and don’t just take my word for it — they were recently featured in Cool Hunting, Superfuture, Trendland, and a ton of other websites. When they were at Brewery & The Beast (June’s outdoor BBQ and beer extravaganza on False Creek), instead of putting up placards or sandwich boards to tell diners and drinkers who they were (very much the expected norm), they decided instead to spell out their name in giant gold balloons above their stall and jokingly hawk their wares carney-style, as if they were on Coney Island in 1958. No biggie in the large or small grand scheme of things, but to me, it exemplified their rare and contagious spirit of “Let’s just do it anyway”. Bestie – aside from being a reliably delicious place to get full – is a shining example of how passion and the resolve to be a little different from everyone else can trump experience, savvy, and pockets full of money.