DINER: Cambie’s Revolver Coffee To Double In Size After Securing New Spot Next Door

by Andrew Morrison | Over the weekend I met up with two of the Giannakos brothers (George and Chris) next door to their cafe, Revolver Coffee, at 325 Cambie. They’ve taken possession of the space that used to be Pennyblack (a tattoo parlour) and aim to use it as a retail shop over the holiday season. So if one of your loved ones digs the art of the perfect cup of coffee, pencil this place in as an essential browse. It will open up at some point later this week.

Once the New Year kicks in, they are going to completely renovate the space and connect it to Revolver in order to give the always packed coffee house twice as many seats and more retail stuff. Word is they’re talking to Craig Stanghetta to reprise his role as designer. Expect the finished expansion to open its doors to the public in the early Spring.

ALL ANTICIPATED OPENINGS

GOODS: The “Compendious Coffee Chart” Now Available At Gastown’s “Revolver”

Revolver is located at 325 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC | 604-558-4444 | revolvercoffee.ca

The GOODS from Revolver Coffee

Vancouver, BC | We’ve scored a handful of POPCHARTLAB’s awesome “Compendious Coffee Chart” posters from Brooklyn, New York. The company makes charts with meticulous detail and accuracy, and trust us when we say they’ve done their research. They’ve managed to include every which way possible to brew coffee and have connected them together in a way that makes for a delectable piece of eye-candy. Each poster is 24″ x 18″, and printed on hefty recycled archival stock that comes hand signed and numbered by the artists (from a run of only 1000). It’s an easy gift that would look great on any kitchen or office wall, and even if you don’t make coffee often, it’s weirdly interesting to look at, is it not? Available in the store for $29 (+hst). Details about Revolver after the jump… Read more

FOREIGN RESTAURANT PORN: “Coutume” In Paris Would Fit Well In Hastings-Sunrise

by Andrew Morrison | Foreign Restaurant Porn is a new Scout column that looks at a covet-worthy restaurant, bar or cafe (from parts afar) each week and uses it to plug a hole – geographically or conceptually - in Vancouver’s own restaurant landscape. Last week we looked at London’s sleek Viet Hoa Mess. This week we’re focusing on a cafe called Coutume in central Paris.

What it is: Specialty Coffee Joint & Roastery | Casual, Affordable | Designed by CUT

Where it is: 47 rue Babylone | Paris | France

Where we wish it was: The 2300 block of East Hastings, somewhere close to Campagnolo Roma, Tacofino Commissary, and The Red Wagon. There are lots of “For Lease” signs up on those blocks, and we hear the rates aren’t yet horrifying (presently approaching horrifying).

Why we wish it was there: Hastings-Sunrise could use a locally-owned independent cafe that nerded out on coffee in a space that was as much a pleasure to hang out in as Revolver or Matchstick. Having a roastery attached would be a huge bonus.

MORE FOREIGN RESTAURANT PORN

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Andrew Morrison lives and works in Vancouver as editor-in-chief of Scout, food columnist at the Westender, and National Referee & Judge at the Canadian Culinary Championships. He also contributes regularly to a wide range of publications, radio programs, and television shows on local food, culture and travel; collects inexpensive things; and enjoys rare birds, skateboards, cocktails, shoes, good pastas, many songs, and the smell of camp fires.

GOODS: “Revolver Coffee” Releases Freshly Bottled & Branded Cold Brew For Summer

Revolver is located at 325 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC | 604-558-4444 | revolvercoffee.ca

The GOODS from Revolver Coffee

Vancouver, BC | Summer has arrived, albeit quite unfashionably late, but it’s here nonetheless. And to go along with it we’ve launched Revolver Cold Brew. It’s brewed in-house using a coffee from our line up for 12 hours over night, bottled fresh, and kept cold until you’re ready for it. Drink it neat or on the rocks, it tastes good both ways And yes, you get to keep the bottle – we’ll sure you’ll find a use for it. Read more

SEEN IN VANCOUVER #368: Sons & Lovers Used Book Pop-Up Shop At Revolver Coffee

by Rommy Ghaly | This past Sunday, book lovers Robyn Yager and George Giannakos held their first Sons and Lovers pop-up at Gastown’s Revolver Coffee. Their goal was to make the books they loved, the ones “that had been read, thrown in backpacks, relocated, moved, and lasted through the ages,” available to everyone else who was looking for a good summer read. The event saw people stopping by, chatting over cookies and coffee, and perusing the outstanding selection of classics from Hemingway and Faulkner to Kafka and Verne. They had hoped to sell as many as 50 books in the three hour pop-up, but they sold over 125. The next Sons and Lovers pop-up is TBD, so stay tuned to their Twitter or head over to their website for more details.

EVERYTHING SEEN IN VANCOUVER

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Rommy Ghaly was born and raised in New York. He’s spent the past sixteen years moving around from city to city and country to country, trying (and failing miserably) to find himself. You may see him out in the streets with his cameras taking photos of people he doesn’t know. The results of those adventures can be found at vancouverish.com.

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HEADS UP: Sons & Lovers “Summer Reading Pop-Up Shop” At Revolver Coffee On May 20

Dig books? Of course you do, and the folks at Sons & Lovers Books are doing a pop-up sale at Revolver Coffee on Cambie next Sunday, May 20th from 1pm to 4pm (cash only). They’ll be decorating the coffee shop with a curated selection of 200+ titles, all of them used classics dripping with character and charisma. Expect plenty of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Salinger, Wilde, Lawrence, Austen, Bronte, Eliot, Plath, Steinbeck and such. George and Robyn have great taste. See you there!

SEEN IN VANCOUVER #353: The 2012 BC AeroPress Championships At Revolver Coffee

by Rommy Ghaly | In 1984, Stanford University engineering grad Alan Adler invented the Aerobie, a flying disc that would set world records for being the farthest thrown object. But in the coffee world, Alan Adler would become known for something far more impressive: the AeroPress coffee brewing method and device, which he invented in 2005. Aligning with the recent boom in artisan-prepared coffee brews, the AeroPress is a method which has provided coffee connoisseurs with a new way of tasting coffee that uses air pressure to extract the maximum amount of flavour from a grind with minimal residue and within a very short period of time.

On April 1st, 2012, Vancouver’s own Revolver Coffee hosted the first ever BC (and Canadian) qualifier for the annual World AeroPress Championship, a major competition held this April 20th in Portland “Where Baristas Go to Die” Oregon. A group of BC’s most talented baristas came together in Gastown for what would prove to be an epic coffee battle for the ages. The packed house (including three expert judges) watched 12 guys duke it out for three hours. Only one person could walk home with a spot representing BC (and Canada by default) in Portland later this month.

The passion, hard work, and expertise exhibited by these baristas is something that really needs to be seen in person to be appreciated. There is a genuine craft behind the serving of a great cup of coffee and Sunday was the showcase for the greatest craftsmen in the province.

Congratulations to Cody Smith from Black & White Coffee Roasters of Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. Don’t let us down, Cody, since we all know what happens when Vancouver gets let down in a championship.

For more information on the 2012 BC AeroPress Championships at Revolver, be sure to check out their blog.

EVERYTHING SEEN IN VANCOUVER

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Rommy Ghaly was born and raised in New York. He’s spent the past sixteen years moving around from city to city and country to country, trying (and failing miserably) to find himself. You may see him out in the streets with his cameras taking photos of people he doesn’t know. The results of those adventures can be found at vancouverish.com.

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GOODS: Gastown’s “Revolver Coffee” Selling Curated Book Bundles During The Holidays

Revolver is located at 325 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC | 604-558-4444 | revolvercoffee.ca

The GOODS from Revolver Coffee

Vancouver, BC | As of this morning, Revolver will be carrying bundles of used books comprised of classics and modern classics.  The bundles, curated by Sons & Lovers Books, are a set of five books that were found scattered across the city of Vancouver; chosen based on content and aesthetic. In other words, these books look as good as they read.  The bundles come with a custom-made library card checklist and a to-and-from tag, all wrapped in twine. Priced at $35, these “instant libraries” will make great gifts, or be the perfect companion to your coffee. Read more

GOODS: Gastown’s “Revolver Coffee” Has Joined The Growing Scout Community

We’ve invited awesome Revolver Coffee to join our curated GOODS section as a recommended cafe. They’re now proud members of Scout, and as such we’ll be posting their news and employment needs in addition to hosting a page for them on our awesome list of independent  goodnesses. We’d like to take this chance to thank them for their support of Scout, and for making Vancouver a more caffeinated place to live.

ALL THE LOCAL “GOODS”

Revolver Coffee

Details

325 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC
Telephone: 604-558-4444
Mon-Fri: 8-6 | Sat: 9-6 | Sun: Rest
Email: sheriff@revolvercoffee.ca
Website: revolvercoffee.ca | Twitter

Gallery

People

General Manager: John Giannakos
Director of Coffee: Chris Giannakos

About Revolver Coffee

Inspired by some of the world’s most influential cafes, from Japan to New York to Montreal and back, Revolver is the brainchild of owners and operators, the Giannakos family. Situated on Gastown’s vibrant Cambie St., Revolver places a heavy focus on it’s progressive yet simple coffee program, proudly doing so on a menu of less than 10 items. Every single cup of coffee is made individually, only after it has been ordered – never before – through various brew methods and a rotating seasonal coffee menu from leading roasters around North America. Every coffee available on the menu (and many that are not) are put to the test every week in a blind tasting that determines whether or not it will be offered the following week. This insures that only the best tasting coffees of the moment are being served. No variable is left unmeasured as every detail in the brewing process is closely monitored using various scales, timers, and ratios – the key to providing consistency. From using exposed plumbing and electrical, to the open laboratory styled brewing bar, through to using glass instead of traditional ceramics, the cafe is designed to provide full transparency both in design and in the experience. Customers are thrown into the middle of all the action as every drink is brewed in full view on a 20+ foot bar top that stretches through most of the room, made entirely of reclaimed B.C. Fir. In addition to coffee, Revolver pays the same respect to it’s tea program (most of which are directly sourced through a tea buying group) as well as providing an array of pastries and baked goods from West Vancouver’s Cafe Crema. In the end, Revolver is about two things: coffee, and the experience that should come with it.

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VANCOUVER AT WORK #8: At “Revolver” Where The Shots Ring Out On Cambie Street

Reader “J.G.” | General Manager | Revolver | Cambie, Gastown | 8:11am

With Vancouver At Work, we invite Scout readers to send in photos of their work spaces, be they home offices, corporate cubicles, artist studios, fishing boats, bars or kitchen lines. It’s a lot like our View From Your Window feature, only you tell us your initials, your title at work, your place of work (optional), the neighbourhood, and the time the photo was taken with “Vancouver At Work” in the subject line. Photos and info should be sent to scoutmagazine [at] gmail [dot com], and need to be as high res as the sender can manage. Cell phone shots will do if they are no smaller than 588px wide. Now get snapping!