by Michelle Sproule | There’s been a lot of cool stuff going down on a single stretch of the DTES lately. The 400 block of Columbia is being transformed into something of a magnet to young, independent Vancouver creatives. It is already home to Shudder Gallery, Beats & Bikes, and Positive Negative Gallery, and very soon it will welcome a new shop called Duchesse Vintage & Such, the new headquarters of small scale design house Strathcona Carpentry, and a German street food parlour called Bestie. Here’s a little skinny on each one…

Duchesse Vintage and Such

430 Columbia Street | Anna McLean & Anna MacLellan | Anticipated opening: June, 2012

Duchesse is going to be sweet vintage shop for both men and women. It’ll offer a carefully curated assemblage of vintage clothing, furniture, housewares and all manner of oddities. Ricky Alvarez is doing the interior design and Glasfurd & Walker are doing all the logo, branding and signage work (see Bao Bei, Meat & Bread, etc.). Can’t wait for this one. Anna(s) got taste!

Positive Negative Gallery

436 Columbia Street | Adam Lupton | Open

“Positive Negative is all about creativity: the thought, the expression, and the execution that creative people pour into their passion – their work.” It’s an artist-run gallery that loves showing and promoting local and international artists and designers every month. Colin Moore’s show Monsters of Görlitzer Park is up and running until May 5th, and then it’s the international polaroid show Anywhere But Here from May 16th to June 2nd. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday from 1pm until 5pm. Check it out if you haven’t already.

Beats & Bikes

420 Columbia Street | Justin Jung, Syavash Yorish, German Pombo | Open

Beats & Bikes is a collective group of local designers, musicians, artists and makers that work on creative projects that involve music and bikes. They’re also the folks that brought us this rad PSA on what happens when you steal a bike.

Shudder Gallery

433 Columbia St. | Director:  Mysa Kaczkowski | Asst. Coordinator/Designer: Sylvana D’Angelo | Asst. Coordinator: Sharona Franklin | Open

“Encouraging national participation from artists and performers across Canada for the last 5 years, Shudder Gallery aims to promote all forms of contemporary creative communication and visual arts for the emerging artist. Opening a dialogue within the community and across Vancouver, Shudder is a platform for discussion and discovery.” Be quick to drop in to check out Alex Heilbron’s Haphy, “a light-hearted but emphatic response to the habitual interpretation of contemporary art.” The show only runs until this Saturday, May 5th.

Strathcona Carpentry: Chinatown Experiment

324 Columbia St. | Devon Abson and Devon McKenzie | Opening Soon(ish)

Devon and Devon of Strathcona Carpentry are the contractors behind Gastown’s Housexguest and Strathcona’s Board of Trade aesthetic, as well as numerous residential projects. Their new space is going to function primarily as an office but the storefront will provide a platform for testing out new construction processes, design ideas and to judge the so-called sustainability of new “eco products”. The idea for the experiment portion of their project evolved from their own need as small contractors to try to gain knowledge to build sustainably but remain profitable even on small scale projects.

Bestie

105 East Pender (at Columbia) | Clinton McDougall and Dane Brown | Opening in August

We broke the news on Bestie recently. As you may recall, it’s going to be a 25 seat sausage and beer restaurant in the old “Panda On Pender” location at 105 East Pender just off Columbia (look for the old “Chinese Records, Books, Tapes” sign). Though it technically isn’t on the 400 block like the others, it does share the same secret back alley.  As we wrote previously, their concept is simple: three sausages, three beers, three sides, three sauces, and three wines on tap. Stoked.

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It’s a diverse group, and there’s much to anticipate. As a nearby resident, I’m thrilled about each and every one. I’m sure some of my neighbours would decry them as “gentrifiers” or the foot soldiers thereof (because we all know young artisans, first time restaurateurs, and curators are just rolling in it), but that brand of blinkered assumption comes with the territory. They’re each and every one of them young, independent-minded Vancouverites, and no one should fault them for making a go of it. There’s also word of a biker-friendly cafe going in on the same block, but the owners don’t yet have possession and are hesitant to discuss it publicly until they have a signed deal. We’ll have more on that as it develops, but in the meantime, give this block a proper stroll. Though only three of the above are open now (the rest are coming this summer), it’s still very much worth a wander.

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Michelle Sproule grew up in Kitsilano and attended University in Australia and the University of Victoria before receiving her graduate degree in Library Sciences from The University of Toronto. She lives in beautiful Strathcona and enjoys wandering aimlessly through the city’s shops and streets with her best friend – a beat up, sticky, grimy, and uncooperative camera.

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Chambar is located at 562 Beatty St. in Vancouver's Crosstown neighbourhood | 604-879-7119 | www.chambar.com

The GOODS from Chambar

Vancouver, BC | Chambar Restaurant is looking for full-time cooks with a minimum of 3 years of experience in fine dining. Chambar is a high volume and fast paced environment. The candidate must have a strong work ethic and be detail oriented. Wages are very competitive. Please email resumes to jobs@chambar.com. No phone calls please. Learn more about the restaurant after the jump…

Details

562 Beatty St, Vancouver, BC | V6B 2L3 | MAP
Tel: 604-879-7119 | Fax: 604-879-7118
Web: www.chambar.com
Email: info@chambar.com
Dinner: 7 nights from 5:30PM
Private events upon request

Gallery

Team

Owners: Nico and Karri Schuermans
Executive Chef: Nico Schuermans
General Manager: Justin Tisdall

About Chambar

Chambar offers a unique pairing of Belgian and North African influences. Wherever possible, organic and local ingredients are combined to create fantastic food that reflects the seasons. The menu is a diverse offering of appetizers, moule frites, and main courses of lamb, duck, and venison. A variety of Belgian beers are also available, and can be paired with any item on the menu. At the bar, an award winning cocktail list boasts an extensive array of infused spirits and fresh local fruit. The long paralam bar, which has been inlaid with walnut and tinted resin, is perfect place to enjoy a pre-dinner dinner drink or to catch up with old friends. In the dining room blood red booths are high enough to allow for privacy, and maybe just a hint of debauchery, while Italian designed chairs and an eclectic and rotating art collection complement Chambar’s heritage surroundings beautifully.

Awards

Vancouver Magazine – 2005 Best New Fine Dining
Vancouver Magazine - 2008-2009 Best Other European
Georgia Straight – 2005 Best New Restaurant
Vancouver Courier – 2005 Best New Restaurant

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Culinary enthusiasts Alex Dadzis and Ken Tsui took over Gene Cafe (2404 Main) last night and turned it into a hawker stand. They were flogging steamed Fei Bing pancakes stuffed with ethically-sourced ingredients like Paradise Valley pork belly with house-made apple jelly (also sesame shiitake & smoked tofu with hoisin and sriracha; five spice yam chips; and “ice queen sweethearts” – almond cookie ice cream sandwiches). Awesome grub guys. Keep up the good work!

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EVERYTHING SEEN IN VANCOUVER

by Sean Orr | Revising the revisions: History: B.C. teachers’ strikes are so last century. Hey, check it out! We’ve always treated teachers like shit, so let’s keep treating them like shit! Besides, as a province, we are totally broke.

In other news, B.C. is totally not broke.

Pending spending: Minister Ida Chong defends $3 million in unallocated discretionary arts funding. And in doing so, she leaves us with this insight: “If we decided we were not going to expend it and felt that all dollars that we wanted to spend on arts and culture for the year were complete, we would have just returned the amount to treasury”. Holy shit that is brilliant! So, for the next budget she should announce that she’s “allocating” ONE BILLION DOLLARS to the arts, spend only a fraction of it, and then just magically absorb the rest!

DOXA’s Open Letter to Canadian Heritage Minister, James Moore. “If Canadian Heritage’s funding criteria have suddenly changed, how have they changed?” You’re fooling yourself, DOXA. If it doesn’t have Canadian Geese, a moose, an orca, or has nothing to do with hockey/Tim Hortons/the War of 1812, then it isn’t “heritage” enough.

War on Kids: Jobs recovery for young ‘almost non-existent’. Read it and then look at the VPDs latest riot poster. Now, watch this trailer.

Free Ride: Eliminate all tolls on highways and bridges. Oh, and demand more highways and bridges (a reaction to something the mayors never requested, unless Frances Bula is living in an alternate universe).

Fresh scabs, old wound: Rocky Mountaineer workers face another lost year. An interesting tidbit: the owner donated passes to all Oscar nominees, oblivious of course that all Oscar nominees belong to a union.

Smoking the equity pipe: Vancouver’s Demographic Time Bomb. That’s awesome. It also reminds me of going camping at Chehalis Lake in Dean’s truck listening to Rancid the whole way up.

Set of sterling silver branch and twig rings with a bronze and 14k gold rock ring | Colby June Jewelry

EVERY COOL THING WE WANT

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