Anticipated Openings
October 5, 2008 by Scout Magazine
Filed under Anticipated, Gluttony
Vancouver’s first look at new and exciting restaurants in the pipe…
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Charlie’s
Coming to Yaletown is Charlie’s Restaurant and Bar. If all goes according to plan, it’ll open in the old Pinky’s/LK Dining Lounge address at 1265 Hamilton Street in the first week of February. I took in a tour of the construction site earlier…
Acme Cafe
I mentioned a bunch of new restaurants in the pipe in my Urban Rush appearance yesterday. One of them, which we’d yet to mention on this site, was the very buzzworthy Acme Cafe. It’s slated to slip into the main floor of the…
Cork & Fin
Francis Regio, formerly (and long) a fixture at the West End’s much loved Tapastree, has taken over the old Blake’s location at 221 Carrall St. (corner of Blood Alley next to the original Irish Heather) and plans to open a new seafood and wine bar called…
Calabash
Researching for an upcoming magazine article I popped my head in to the construction site of Calabash, an upcoming 75 seat, two level, Caribbean-themed restaurant and lounge slated for the redeveloped space at 428 Carrall St. across from…
Woodwards “Gastropub”
This is interesting. The Adelphia Group (think the Dover Arms pub and both the Caprice and Celebrities nightclubs) is applying to the City to open a 150 seat liquor primary “gastropub” on the ground floor of…
The Keefer Bar
From the little known Department of It Was Bound To Happen Sooner Or Later comes The Keefer, a new “Boutique Hotel Residence” currently under construction at 135 Keefer Street in Chinatown…
The Corner Suite
Former Boneta co-owner and Le Crocodile/Lumiere/Chambar managerial alumnus Andre McGillivray has partnered up with barman Steve Da Cruz and secured the old Piccolo Mondo location…
Oru at the Pacific Rim
The upcoming Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel will soon announce its plans for a restaurant. The not-yet-finished hotel has saddled up with the local design and architecture firm MGB, and together they are building a new, view-heavy, upscale, street-level…
Hawksworth
The completely renovated Hotel Georgia will play host to former West chef David Hawksworth’s 6,000 sq ft. restaurant, complete with 1400 sq ft. kitchen. According to Hawksworth, the spacious dining room should seat “at least 100″…
Judas Goat Taberna
From the little known Department of Just When You Thought 2009 Was Going To Totally Suck comes phenomenal news from a Gastown alleyway. Restaurateur Sean Heather is planning to open a new concept in the…
Jolly Alderman Redux
The old Jolly Alderman Pub in the Plaza 500 Hotel is going under the knife today to make room for a new concept that will be umbilically attached to FigMint, the hotel’s dining room and lounge…
Bao Bei (OPEN)
Bartender Tannis Ling, a fixture on the wood and well at Chambar since 2005, has just signed a lease that has given her possession of 163 Keefer Street, a space just around the corner from Main…
Hapa Izakaya (OPEN)
Hapa Izakaya, arguably Vancouver’s hippest Japanese joint with locations on Robson and Yew, will soon be opening their third outlet in the city. Owners Justin and Lea Ault have picked up the old Shiru-Bay Chopstick Cafe spot…
Thomas Haas (OPEN)
Thomas Haas is opening a second location of Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates next to Lumiere and DB Bistro Moderne on West Broadway (as if that neighbourhood needed more awesomeness!)…The 1400 sqft space was…
Lupo (OPEN)
I went by the old Villa del Lupo location at 869 Hamilton tonight (by new I meant old) to have a peek at its newest incarnation, which is simply dubbed “Lupo”. The restaurant, which is currently enjoying its soft opening…
Refuel (OPEN)
A couple weeks back we broke the sad news that Fuel Restaurant would be closing down at the end of the month in order to re-open as a new, casual restaurant with lower price points and a more casual environment…
Pourhouse (OPEN)
Music to my ears from Voya barkeep Jay Jones this morning: “I’m opening my own joint at the end of the summer”. It’s about time the journeyman settled down! He’s worked a lot of places over the years….
La Taqueria (OPEN)
The old Nuba space at 322 West Hastings has sat dormant ever since the restaurant moved across the street several months ago, but it will soon see life again, this time in the guise of an…
Local (OPEN)
Check the details on “Local”, the upcoming new and apparently regionally-focused (believe it when I see it) restaurant project in Summerland. Local wine Zeus, Harry McWatters, is involved…
Las Tortas (OPEN)
We’d been watching Las Tortas closely ever since the paper went up on the hole-in-the-wall windows at 3353 Cambie a few months ago, so when word came that they’d opened over the weekend…
Mis Trucos (OPEN)
Chef Kris Barnholden (most recently Andrey Durbach’s chef de cuisine at Parkside) is opening a new modern Mediterranean tapas restaurant in the heart of the gaybourhood at 1141 Davie St…
Chaise Lounge (Open)
A new, modern-style 40 seat diner is on its way to the old Wing Nut location at 4444 Main St. (between 28th and 29th). It will be called Chaise Lounge. According to Burgoo and Wing Nut co-owner…
Coast (Open)
I took a quick look at Coast’s new, 200 seat Alberni St. digs a few days ago. It’s massive, with soaring ceilings, a large lounge area, and a broad mezzanine. The seafood restaurant, part of Emad Yacoub’s multi- location empire…
The Diamond (Open)
There are a few hurdles left to cross on this one so I can’t say much beyond it’s in Gastown and it’s being brought to us by bartenders Mark Brand, Josh Pape, and Sophie Taverner. Stellar supporting cast, too. More news soon…
Nook (Open)
Nicole Welsh and Mike Jeffs of the West End’s much-loved and undersung Tapastree restaurant have been busily putting together a new, casual Italian mini-joint called “Nook” in the former…
Maenam (Open)
The award-winning Gastropod restaurant on West 4th will close at the end of April and reopen two weeks later as Maenam, an authentic Thai restaurant that will play plenty of attention to service, wine, and cocktails…
Latitude (Open)
Lisa Henderson and Larry Nicolay, former owners of Tofino’s superb Rainforest Café, are opening a new restaurant at 3250 Main St. called Latitude. Located in the old Budapest Restaurant spot, the totally redone room will see 46 seats…
Circa (Open)
This is interesting, and no April Fool’s joke. For over a year the massive location at 1050 Granville has been something of a running joke in the restaurant trade. Someone sunk a huge amount of money into the…
8½ (Open)
The new restaurant that will be going into the old Soma location (see previous post) will be called 8½, after Frederico Fellini’s famous 1962 film of the same name. They take possession on April 1st and hope to do a quick turnaround reno…
L’Altro Buca (OPEN)
Parkside, one of my favourite restaurants in the city, is going to close at the beginning of March for a minor refit and then reopen as another La Buca at the end of the month. It will have the same menu as the original…
Au Petit Chavignol (OPEN)
I checked out the construction site of the new Les Amis du Fromage location and its 40 seat wine bar, Au Petit Chavignol, today over at 843/845 East Hastings. The cheese man himself, Joe Chaput and…
Nuba (OPEN)
I went by the brand new Nuba restaurant in the Dominion Building at West Hastings and Cambie tonight (207 W. Hastings, 604-688-1655, Nuba.ca). They’ve just moved across the street from their much-loved, tiny, and…
Deacon’s Corner (OPEN)
With the economy teetering on the total tank, opening a 30’s style, 75-seat lunch counter diner ain’t such a bad idea. Say hello to Deacon’s Corner, an under construction, 7am to 3pm, cheap and cheerful greasy spoon…
Market (OPEN)
My friend Owen and I went in for a first pass to the highly anticipated Market in the new Shangri-La hotel last night. They’d only just opened for their first public service after back to back “friends and family” test runs, but it filled up fast…
Wallflower (OPEN)
Wallflower Modern Diner opened last night at 2420 Main (formerly Aurora Bistro). The diner concept is going to see something of a renaissance this year, with the recession-weary and cash-worried looking for cold comfort for change…
Charm (OPEN)
A brand-spanking new 60 seat restaurant and bar called Charm Modern Thai has just opened in Yaletown. It’s in the old Diner/Lucky Diner/Flite location at 1269 Hamilton Street, and it still has that New Restaurant Smell. It’s small and sexy…
Fetch (OPEN)
I’ll be going to check it out as soon as I can, knowing that the trick up their sleeve is one Andrew Springett, the talented chef who once toiled at La Belle Auberge and Diva at the Met before he moved to Tofino to run the kitchen…
R.TL (OPEN)
Popped in to the brand new R.TL in Yaletown tonight for a digestif on my way home from DB Bistro. The new restaurant, helmed by Alain Canuel, is looking good. The film above is from tonight but I’ve also added the preview video below…
Lumiere (OPEN)
Understandably, first impressions were hamstrung by the boisterous crowd and the party atmosphere. It was a very entertaining, usual suspects affair, with much of the serious talk focused on the coming financial dreadnought…
DB Bistro (OPEN)
So I just figured out that I can post with fitted photos via iPhone. Technology is so much older than me yet it keeps teaching me new tricks. Bloody unnatural, that is. Currently at DB Bistro feasting on a monster and never going home…
Dolcetto (OPEN)
Regular readers will remember that Cru Restaurant owner Mark Taylor opened up a new cafe on West Broadway a couple of months back. It was named after the grape varietal, “Dolcetto”, which translates from the vernacular as “Little Sweet One”…
Miku (OPEN)
On the set of Urban Rush yesterday, hosts Michael Eckford and Fiona Forbes asked me what was going in across the street and pointed out the window to the voluminous space that used to house The Spotted Prawn. I had to confess that I had no clue…
Campagnolo (OPEN)
I met our web designer at Campagnolo tonight, ostensibly to discuss plans for the second beta version of Scout (due next Monday) but really just to check the much anticipated casual Italian restaurant out on their first night…
The Refinery (OPEN)
Paid a very brief visit to The Refinery tonight, the new project from the Sip Resto Lounge folks (and right next door at 1115 Granville). The soft launch appears to be underway. We would have stayed, but we’d already dined and were on our way to watch…
Chambar Expansion (OPEN)
Swung by Chambar while en route to a party that I never ended up making it to this evening. As you can see above (and below) there’s now a pair of Egyptian doors on the far wall of the main dining room. The space beyond…
The Wine Room (OPEN)
Joeys to open a 70 seat wine bar at Bentall 1 (the southwest corner of Pender and Burrard – main floor). It will be called The Wine Room. Nicholson says we can expect “a place that is serious about wine and serious about having fun with wine”…
Piato (OPEN)
I was out at Fuel last night after judging the Seachoice Culinary Competition and I remembered I’d read in our Tablespotting forum that Piato had opened up just down West 4th in the former India Grill location. I popped in and had a
Pan² (OPEN)
Walking up from Nu after today’s Chef’s Table Society meeting, I spotted a door ajar in the old Tony Roma’s location on Pacific around the corner from Il Giardino. A very tough location, to say the absolute least, as walk-by traffic is…
