Vancouver’s first look at new and exciting restaurants in the pipe…

——————————————————————————

The Sardine Can

his afternoon, Chris Stewart and Andrey Durbach – of Cafeteria, La Buca and Pied-A-Terre fame – secured a location in Gastown for their next restaurant, which will be called The Sardine Can. It’s an apt name…

Tacofino (Brick & Mortar)

Kaeli Robinsong and Jason Susman, the pair behind the Tacofino food truck, have just taken possession of 2327 East Hastings with plans for a wheel-free location of their popular mobile brand, just a few doors down from Campagnolo Roma…

The Fat Dragon

The concept is interesting – Chinese food with a Southern US “lick of smoke” – and I’m sure they’ll nail it (the menu reads fantastic, and we’ll get to that soon). The thing, though, that will define The Fat Dragon isn’t the food, but rather the location…

Famoso

Famoso, which will be cheaper than both with no pie more than $14.50, could be entering a world of Little Italy hate, but as a diner, I could give a shit. If it’s better than Marcello’s or Lombardo’s, that’s all that counts, and I…

Wildebeest

Early last month we revealed that restaurateurs James Iranzad (Cartel, Abigail’s Party) and Josh Pape (The Diamond) had secured 120 West Hastings with plans for a new joint arriving in 2012. There was no name or chef at…

Siena (Open)

Mark Taylor, the owner of West Broadway’s award-winning Cru, has picked up the storied but long vacant Star Anise location (1485 West 12th). With it, he plans to open a new restaurant called Siena…

L’Officio

Lucais Syme and Adam Pegg, the chefs/owners of the award-winning La Quercia( inarguably one of the most respected restaurants in Vancouver), have secured the address next door to their location at…

Rainier

Heather’s new pickup was once pretty run down. It’s been fixed up by BC Housing to the clean state of a starched skeleton, though its mosaic floor has been reduced to 1/4 of the total voluminous space (a previous abomination)…

New Vij’s Concept

The extra interesting double plus super good news is that Vikram and his wife Meeru are definitely going to be openinga brand new concept different from the original in their storied South Granville location. I tried…

The Union (Open)

The restaurant, due this December (fingers crossed), is located at 219 Union St. at the foot of the new V6A building where Strathcona connects with Main St. on Union St. at the southern reach of Chinatown…

The New Wild Rice (Open)

Wild Riceowner Andrew Wong has  a new restaurant space in New West. It’s been a long time coming. Developer Mark Shieh (who is very much a stand up guy) has had Wong and Wild Rice on his radar to fill the restaurant space at the new and…

Chewie’s Steam & Oyster Bar (Open)

Restaurant trade watchers and bivalve addicts might remember that long-time Rodney’s Oyster House fixture Richard Chew (aka “Chewie”) left the Yaletown icon after five years of shucking toil this past January.

Pizzeria Barbarella (Open)

Terry Deane of Abbotsford’s revered Ah-Beetz pizzeria is headed to Vancouver to open a new joint dubbed Pizzeria Barbarella, so named to honour the memory of his mother (she passed away in November). It’s currently under…

Bitter (Open)

Sean Heather and Scott Hawthorn, partners at Salt Tasting Room and Judas Goat, are joining forces for a third time to open a new joint called Bitter. “It’s an extension of Salt, really” says Heather, “only its a beer format instead of wine”…

NOVO Pizzeria & Wine Bar (Open)

NOVO Pizzeria & Wine Bar is coming to 2118 Burrard Street, just off West 6th next to Fifth Avenue Cinemas (formerly the Indendio West location). The 88 seater will boast over 2,000 sqft of indoor space with another 34 seats on a south facing patio.

The “New” Boneta (Open)

As announced last night at Boneta’s birthday party, the popular Gastown eatery’s time at 1 West Cordova is coming to a close. That might have caused some furrowed brows and maybe even a tear, but fret not, as owners Jeremie, Mark and Neil aren’t finished…

Thierry (Open)

Chocolatier-Pâtissier Thierry Busset is preparing to open his atelier in partnership with the Top Table Group later this year. Under a bright awning that recalls the storefront pâtisseries of his native France – and simply reading…

Pizzeria Farina (Open)

This is going down just a couple of blocks from my house in Strathcona at 915 Main St. off Prior (where Italian Job Pizza used to be). It’s a tiny spot with only a handful of seats, so they’ll be concentrating on take-out and delivery (by bicycle!).

Edible At The Market (Open)

Edible British Columbia is pleased to announce that it will be opening an expanded version of its original retail concept at Granville Island in the spring of 2011. The expansion will include an increased shopping…

La Taqueria On Cambie (Open)

Awesome news for taco lovers! West Hasting’s cool little La Taqueriawill soon be cloned. Owner Marcelo Romero reports that he’s just picked up the 2549 Cambie address at West Broadway. He hopes to have the 1,200 sqft, 35 seater open by

Rumpus Room (Open)

I knew that a few local restaurateurs had been sniffing around the old Juicy Chicken location (aka GH Chicken) on the northwest corner of Main and 11th (2601 Main, right across from Cafeteria)…

Save On Meats (Open)

After much cajoling over many months, Mark “I’ll show you when there’s something to show” Brand finally gave me a tour of the much anticipated Save On Meats renovation/restoration yesterday. It was well worth the wait….

Pronto (Open)

A new Italian eatery called Prontois opening next week at 3473 Cambie (formerly Art’s Flowers & Gifts). The design of the charming, 37 seat room is by Stefan Gagnon (Les Faux Bourgeois, Jules Bistro) and Scott Cohen…

Nelson The Seagull (Open)

Until today, when I opened the door and walked into the construction site, I’d assumed it was a clothing store landing at 315 Carrall (the old Brickyard location). Imagine my surprise when I learned that Nelson The Seagullwas…

Electric Owl (Open)

If you’ve walked down Main between Terminal and Prior in the last five years, you’ve likely got an eyeful of the eyesore that is the skeletal remains of the old American Hotel. It’s now in the latter stages of…

Ki Restaurant (Open)

It looks like Ki restaurant next to Market in the Shangri-La is finally accelerating its construction after gathering dust for the past two years. The Japanese-themed restaurant will be the latest from David Aisenstat…

Hawksworth (Open)

There hasn’t been much ion the way of news floating about on the highly anticipated “Hawksworth” restaurant front for a few months now so I thought it might be time for an update. Let me bring you up to speed…

Campagnolo Roma (Open)

Tom Doughty and chef Rob Belcham of Refuel and Campagnolotook possession of 2297 East Hastings this afternoon. The pair aim to open a new restaurant in its place called Campagnolo Roma…

Ensemble (Open)

We can confirm that Mackay has taken over the recently vacated Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe location at 850 Thurlow Street (just south of Robson) with plans to open his first restaurant – dubbed Ensemble…

The Ascot (Open)

I just took a spin inside the old Cassis spot at 420 West Pender. I’d taken previous peeks but there wasn’t much to look at. Originally, owners Stu Morton (ex-GM of Brandi’s) and John Wirth ()had thought of calling it…

Tableau Bar Bistro (Open)

When the end of Voya at the Loden Hotel came back in January, it wasn’t much of a shock to restaurant wonks. Opening in the midst of the financial meltdown, the place saw its once-gorgeous dining room soon thereafter…

Pink Elephant (Open)

I took a gander inside the upcoming Pink Elephant restaurant at 1152 Alberni yesterday. Even if you’re not entirely sure about the hot pink and light grey colour palette, it’s nevertheless impressive what they’ve done with…

Hapa Umi (Open)

Justin and Lea Ault of Hapa Izakayahave secured the old Metro restaurant location next to the Pan Pacific. The pair, with three cool Hapas already in their stable (Kits, Robson, Yaletown), aim to open a new Japanese concept that…

Cafe Regalade (Open)

Steeve Rayé, the son of Alain Rayé (owner/chef at West Vancouver’s award-winning La Regalade), has closed his short-lived pastry shop in Kitsilano at 2836 West 4th (opened late October)…

Stackhouse (Open)

Yet another opening on the horizon, this time on the southern end of the Granville Entertainment District, right next door to Red Squared in the space formerly occupied by ABC International Travel…

Nicli Antica Pizzeria (Open)

Yesterday I met with Bill McCaig at 62 East Cordova in Gastown and got a happy earful on his plans for the one-story building, which he purchased last January. It’s a huge open concept space, about 4,000 sqft in total…

Big Lou’s (Open)

Karl Gregg and Allan Bosomworth of Two Chefs & A Table are opening a nose to tail 1930′s-style butcher shop on the northwest corner of Gore (natch) & Powell this September (269 Powell). It’ll be called Big Lou’s…

Peckinpah (Open)

Restaurant builder Ryan Murfitt (Bao Bei, Calabash, and many more) and restaurateur Tyson Reimer (Cobre, Deacon’s Corner) have secured a lease of the ground floor at 2 Water Street. If you’re not familiar with the address it’s…

The Helm (Open)

The old “Unwine’d” spot at 1180 Howe St. has been picked up by a group of first timers (Angela Moore, Laura Francis, David Carlini, Cameron Wasnea) who have been busily turning it into a new restaurant concept called The Helm…

Q4 al Centro (Open)

Patrick Corsi and Alex B. Tsakumis, partners in the ever-popular Q4 Ristorante in Kitsilano, are pleased to announce they will be opening a second Q4 location downtown in November 2010. The new restaurant will…

La Ghianda (Open)

Well, this is exciting. Lucais Syme and Adam Pegg, the two owner/chefs of one of my favourite restaurants on the planet, La Quercia, have in recent weeks been quietly going about turning the old Hôt Cuisine space at…

The Outpost Cafe (Open)

Dig your biscuits and gravy? Then Katharine Reynolds will soon have you covered. The local film industry vet is changing career directions and opening the daytime-only Outpost Cafe next month at 3392 Fraser…

The Red Wagon (Open)

Brad Miller, who cut his teeth at Au Petit Chavignol, West and Bistro Pastis, is on the verge of going solo with The Red Wagon, a new 35 seat diner serving breakfast and lunch (and possibly dinner) in the old King’s Cafe…

Fiasco (Open)

This is the old Amarcord location at 1168 Hamilton St. that James Neil picked up in the heart of Yaletown (the quiet Italian shuttered in the summer). Make what you will of the press release. It’ll be a shame if the name…

London Pub (Open)

Here are a few photos of the nearly completed “London Pub” and neighbouring Brixton Caffe at 700 Main St (at Georgia in Chinatown). I’ve been passing this property every day for a couple of months now and it’s…

Waldorf Hotel (Open)

The 63-year old Waldorf Hotel at 1489 East Hastings, originally designed by Mercer & Mercer in a (then) modern style, has been picked up by restaurateur Ernesto Gomez (Nuba, etc), architect Scott Cohen (Gastropod, etc) and musician Thomas…

Tavola (Open)

The West End’s trailblazing Tapastree at 1829 Robson is set to close on September 15th and then reopen as an Italian restaurant called Tavola (”Table”) at the beginning of October. The transformation will see the room…

Meat & Bread (Open)

I’ve got a hankering for a porchetta sandwich after getting the low-down on Meat & Bread, a new specialty sandwich shop arriving in Gastown this Autumn. The 1380 sqft. space at 320 Cambie at Hastings in the old Flack Building…

Oyster (Open)

Jeremy Towning is shutting down his “Exchange” sandwich/coffee/wine shop at 475 Howe Street (the Stock Exchange building) and will re-open it as “Oyster”. The new, 25 seat seafood and raw bar will be tiny with the product mostly local…

Sea Monstr Sushi (Open)

Boneta/Diamond co-owner and his business partner Alex Usow (in the Powell St. clothing store Sharks + Hammers) are opening a new sushi restaurant at 55 Powell in Gastown. It’ll be called Sea Monstr Sushi, a name (that I love) conjured…

Lucy’s (Open)

Whip owners Erv Salvadore and his wife Casey Thiessen have just opened Lucy’s Eastside Diner at 2708 Main St. (the former home of Yummy’s Frozen Dim Sum). It’s a 30 seater with a…

The Charles Bar (Open)

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…

Commune Cafe (Open)

Industry veterans Annette Rawlinson (C, Au Petit Chavignol) and Tina Fineza (Flying Tiger, Les Faux Bourgeois, La Taqueria) are joining consultancy forces for the first time to open The Commune Cafe this July…

L’Abattoir (Open)

A new Gastown restaurant is under construction in the original Irish Heather location at 217. Demolition began yesterday. It’s called L’Abattoir (‘slaughterhouse’ in French is so much sexier), a name chosen to…

Cafeteria (Open)

Though this only just happened this morning and they don’t take possession until May 18th, we can tell you that they’re looking to execute a quick turnaround with an opening date set for mid-June. There is no official name for it yet, but…

Adesso Bistro (Open)

We hinted at this the other day when we reported on La Buca and Pied-a-Terre owners Chris Stewart and Andrey Durbach (interview) selling the L’Altro Buca spot to pick up the Ping’s Cafe location on Main Street. Carol Gadsby and…

Calabash (Open)

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…

Acme Cafe (Open)

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 (Open)

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…

The Keefer Bar (Open)

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 (Open)

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 (Open)

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…

Judas Goat (Open)

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…

Charlie’s (Open)

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…

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 Tapastreerestaurant 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 filmof 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 Bucaat 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 manhimself, 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 anticipatedMarket 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 Thaihas 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 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 (Closed)

I was out at Fuel last night after judging the Seachoice Culinary Competitionand 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 (Closed)

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…

——————————————