“Time flies” is a terrible cliche, but it’s nevertheless no end of fascinating to (repeatedly) witness how quickly restaurants become seemingly indispensable facets of their communities. Dating from three years ago this week, these shots show the moment when restaurateurs Chris Stewart and Andrey Durbach took possession of 26 Powell Street in Gastown. The address had a nasty habit of chewing restaurants up and unceremoniously spitting them out, but over the next two months Stewart and Durbach would turn it into The Sardine Can, the small Spanish tapas joint that now hums deliciously to a pack house nearly every night. The shots below are from opening day.

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