Waldorf Hotel To Go Boutique With Refit & New Restaurants…

This is so rad that I have goosebumps and its like 29 degrees here in the vineyard’s shade…

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 Anselmi (Copyright, etc). They are now in the midst of renovating the iconic but much neglected 30 room hotel with a complete concept/branding overhaul and “boutique” status being the ultimate goal. We were given the exclusive details a couple of days ago.

Here’s the choice pull quote from the creative brief:

In 1955, capitalizing on an emerging interest in Tiki Culture, the complex was transformed into a “tiki” themed hotel. Original architects Mercer and Mercer restyled the existing decor, replacing the minimalist features of their original design with an exotic motif influenced by tribal cultures of the Polynesian islands. The newly renovated Waldorf quickly became known for providing a unique dining and entertaining experience that included authentic Polynesian cuisine, art, music and dancing. Catering to an affluent clientele of executives, citizens, visitors and guests, the hotel was an immediate success. This prosperity continued up until the 70s when, as the neighborhood found itself in decline and it’s clientele began to shift down market. Several attempts to revive the hotel in the subsequent years have not been successful at restoring its iconic status [...] The group see potential to re-enter the market as a boutique hotel, targeting a different clientele. A dominant trend in the hospitality industry over the past ten years, boutique hotels have emerged as a popular option for smaller sized properties looking to appeal to customers who wish to have a unique experience when visiting a hotel. In the local economy there are high-end hotels that have a “boutique” strategy but none that cater to a mid-range customer. In many other markets this positioning has proved very successful, examples include: The Drake in Toronto, The Ace in Seattle, The Jupiter in Portland. The Waldorf aims to offer the same type of cultural experience for a midrange price creating a totally unique positioning for itself in the local economy.

In addition to their aesthetic and creative assets in Cohen and Anselmi, the partners have brought in chef Ned Bell of Kelowna’s Cabana to lead the food and beverage side of the operation. If you’re notfamiliar with the guy, he was once upon a time a sous chef to Rob Feenie and a Food Network star in his own right. I’ve known him for a few years now and he’s got serious game. His new playground will see a 120 seat “value-oriented” cafe showcasing hotel classics and Pan-American street food at Nuba prices (ie. cheap), a 60 seat dining room for Basque and Southern French fare at bistro prices, and a 100 seat patio (arriving next summer) serving Mexican seafood from an outdoor grill. On the Liquor Primary side, they’re keeping the 97 seat Tiki bar as close to the original as possible with exotic drinks and DJs spinning vinyl on an all-analogue stereo system featuring vintage Lansings Hartsfield speakers.

If that wasn’t kickass enough, they’re also creating a state of the art multi-media performance hall licensed for 300 people and playing host to the new location of Barbarella, the popular Main St. salon and barbershop. Throw in multiple projectors playing looped films throughout the building, a recording studio in the basement, and regular gigs of live music, theatre, comedy, and performance art, and you have a hurricane of change coming to East Hastings. The official launch will see a 3 day opening party on the weekend of Halloween.

Like I said, goosebumps…

I’ll be going into much more detail in a upcoming Vancouver magazine article on the current eastward gravitational pull of our restaurant scene, so that’s all for now.

All Anticipated Openings

Celebrate BC Craft Beer at Homegrown Heroes Cask Dinner

News from Scout supporter R&B Brewing Co.

Vancouver BC | On Wednesday May 12th at 7:30pm, The Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe and R&B Brewing Co. present the Homegrown Heroes Cask Dinner. Five local BC Craft Breweries, including R&B Brewing Co, Crannog Ales, Steamworks Brewing Co., Vancouver Island Brewery and Spinnakers Brew Pub, will each present a cask beer to pair with one of five courses prepared by Chef Jason Leizert of The Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe. Homegrown Heroes diners will indulge in five courses including R&B Saison poached Foie Gras Terrine with pickled prune paired with R&B Psycho Saison Belgian Ale, Boudin Blanc with pomme puree & grainy mustard sauce paired with Crannog Gael’s Blood Potato Ale, Sablefish Collars, rhubarb galette, stinging nettle beurre blanc paired with Steamworks NXNW Pale Ale, braised Oxtail Pot Pie, flowering brussel sprouts, poached organic egg yolk, bacon jam paired with Vancouver Island ALT and Cocoa Nib chocolate truffles & 5 year aged cheddar from Quebec paired with Spinnaker’s Oatmeal Stout. Tickets for the dinner are $80 and will include a commemorative tee shirt exclusive to the Homegrown Heroes Cask Dinner. Full details after the jump… Read more

Irish Heather And The Cascade In New Book: “21st Century Bars”

Two of our favourite local bars, The Cascade Room and The Irish Heather, have landed in a new, 240 hardcover book called 21st Century Bars. The photo-driven tome from The Images Publishing Group details the most beautifully designed bars from all around the world. Kudos to the designers of both joints – our friends at Vancouver’s own Evoke ID.

Underground Bar “Guilt & Co.” Opens In The Belly Of Gastown

A new liquor primary establishment called Guilt & Co. has opened in the refinished dungeon underneath Chill Winston on Gassy Jack Square. It’s basically an 89 seat extension of Chill Winston with the same owners and operators, a low ceilinged haunt for several strata of scenester. There’s a cold side and hot place kitchen plating what appears to be at the very least an amusing menu (those $5 pepperoni sticks better be good), a stage for live shows, and a cave that will play host to either private functions or little deuces upon which guests can request to play games like Boggle, Scrabble, and Cranium. Word is they’ll soon have two ancient Nintendo sets going as well, so we can shoot ducks while nursing Tsing Tao. GM Dani Vachon tells me that there will be unorthodox comedic improv on Wednesdays from 9pm until 11pm, and then live sets of genre-bending jams Thursday through Saturday from 10pm until midnight (on weekends they’re staying open until 2am). The space has got some vivid character and there plenty of things to look at in the interactive sense, like one of a kind menu covers and little “icebreakers” coasters (basically just pieces of paper with arbitrary questions like “Where is the next place that you will go traveling?”). The drinks list looks alright, too. They have plenty of beer, and very little of it is boring. The bar is the centerpiece, and tender Jonathan James (who helped to launch Mis Trucos) is at the wood in what I heard was a mandatory uniform of hat and suspenders. The name reminds me mightily of New York’s Death & Co., but what beats being an accessory to theft in the pursuit of a good time? It looks worth peeking your head in for sure, if only for a pint and some Scattergories. Your move.

ALL ANTICIPATED OPENINGS

Corner Suite Named “Best New Vancouver Bar” By Food & Wine

The Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe has been named the “Best New Bar In Vancouver” by Food & Wine magazine assistant research editor Kelly Snowden.

“Ten years ago, I knew nothing about the right way to make cocktails—I’d even use my teeth to open a beer,” says mixologist Steve Da Cruz. Today, Da Cruz is a star of Vancouver’s phenomenal cocktail scene.

For the drinks at the new Corner Suite Bistro de Luxe, he resurrects cocktails from 19th-century books, though some of his best drinks have a slightly more modern provenance. One is the Vancouver, a combination of gin, sweet vermouth and Benedictine created at the city’s Sylvia Hotel in the 1950s. “I learned how to make it from a customer with a thick Scottish brogue, who came in dressed like he was one of The Dirty Dozen,” Da Cruz says.

Da Cruz became obsessed with cocktails while hanging out in seminal Manhattan bars like Milk & Honey, but he’s happier in Vancouver. “In New York, you had to twist someone’s arm to lend you an unusual spirit,” he says. “Here, we share what we can.”

The snippet doesn’t say why it’s the “best”, but what’s glossy journalism without those declarative, wholly subjective and hyperbolic headlines? It goes without saying that barman/co-owner Steve Da Cruz can make a drink with the best of them (boy, does he ever), but is CSBDL really the Best New Bar in Vancouver? Maybe, but if we think of all the other places that have opened in the past year (if a year is what Snowden allowed), it’s a pretty tight field. Tannis and her crew at Bao Bei are solid. Jay Jones at Pourhouse is no slouch. And what about the The Diamond, which has amassed enough raw bartending talent to slay all for blocks around?

Your thoughts after the jump… Read more

Habit Lounge & Cascade Room On Main Join The Scout Community

We are happy to announce that both Habit Lounge and The Cascade Room are now a proud member supporters of Scout. We will be publishing their news and press releases on our front page and hosting two pages for them in our list of recommended restaurants. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support. Click ahead to read on or jump directly to their Scout page here and here. Read more

Because Paying A $20 Cover To Drink Beer In A Tent Is Retarded

The biggest draw of Gastown right now seems to be the temporary German beerhall set up in the parking lot next to Steamworks. It’s not even in Gastown proper, but rather at its gates, sucking a lot of the daytime Olympic traffic from the neighbourhood. I went by yesterday and marveled at all the folks lined up when over a dozen kickass watering holes were within reach down the street. I hear zee Germans actually sold more beer in the first 9 days of the Games than they did at Turin altogether. Word is they actually ran out and had to charter a flight full of Thuringian suds to meet the ridiculous demand.

To help the local establishments out, Richard Gallagher, partner and creative director of Gastown’s Engine Digital, put this cool two-sided flyer together. Feel free to tweet, copy, paste, Facebook and forward it to all your contacts. All of those included - The Alibi Room, Cobre, The Diamond, Shebeen, Irish Heather, Boneta, Chill Winston, Six Acres, Salt, Jules, Revel Room, Black Frog, Pourhouse, Greedy Pig – are just a wedge to a 3-wood off the typical tourist track. Check ‘em out, not least because paying a $20 cover to line the pockets of people who aren’t invested in the city is sort of dumb. “No Tents. No Line-Ups. Actual Bars”. Dig it.

The Granville Room Crafts New Olympic-Inspired Cocktails…

News from Scout supporter The Granville Room

Vancouver, BC | As the Olympic torch makes its way across Canada, the Granville Room shows its spirit with the announcement of its Olympic-inspired cocktails, created by resident bar star Trevor Kallies. Available January 1st until the end of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, each cocktail is inspired by a great Canadian Olympic moment and showcases Canadian liquor and ingredients. Trevor created five cocktails in honour of the five Olympic rings, which sell for $9 each. Read more

Yaletown Goes Bollywood For Opus’ 7th Annual Street Party

News from Scout supporter Elixir Bistro

2009 marks the seventh year of the annual summer street party for world-renowned Opus Hotel, voted one of the world’s top 100 hotels by Conde Nast Traveler. This eagerly anticipated event [Friday, July 31st 6pm – 9pm] is one of Vancouver’s largest private outdoor parties, and draws over 500 invite-only VIPs into the streets. Invitees include media, local politicians, actors, key corporate clients, and VIP guests.

The OPUS Foundation is proud to announce its ongoing support of UNICEF’s Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign. As a gesture of its commitment, The OPUS Foundation will present UNICEF Canada with a $10,000 donation as part of a commitment of $50,000 over 5 years.

The theme of this year’s event is Bollywood Dreams, and will feature beautiful sights, sounds, and dynamic entertainment presented by the Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration Society. Indian themed food and refreshments will be served in collaboration with celebrity Chef Vikram Vij. Following the outdoor celebration, guests will continue this exclusive evening indoors, with a special dinner menu in Elixir and renowned DJs throughout the night in Opus Bar. Read more

Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver At The Granville Room…

News from Scout supporter The Granville Room

Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver will bring his book The Brewmaster’s Table to life at a four course brewmaster’s dinner at the Granville Room. On Friday August 14th, beer lovers will flock to the Granville Room for the best beer event to hit Vancouver this summer. Tickets are $75 each, and include a 4 course dinner prepared by Granville Room Chef Kye Agrios (no modifications – vegetarians beware), paired Brooklyn Beer. Full menu and complete details after the jump… Read more

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