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Long Before St. Lawrence Came Along, There Was a Little Butcher Shop…

For this edition of #ThrowbackThursday we travel back to August, 2010 and the very beginnings of Big Lou’s Butcher Shop at 269 Powell Street (now St. Lawrence)…

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, named in honour of an old school Sechelt butcher who was the father of one of Gregg’s buddies growing up.

The space is split into two rooms, one for retail and sandwich scarfing (12 piano stools) and the other for butchery (both top out at about 800 sqft apiece). The former will see a long glass display case and counter service with the menu projected on the wall, while the former will feature a bright picture window (so passing street carnivores can press their noses against it) as well as a glass extension of a walk-in cooler that will showcase their aged beef.

They’ll be working with local meats from Polderside, Sloping Hills and other reputable farms, selling beef, turkey, chicken, duck, geese, pork, lamb and venison in addition to sandwiches made to order like slow roasted roast beef with red wine caramelised onions and mayo infused with drippings, Vietnamese banh mi, porchetta, sausage baguettes and pea meal bacon. Retail items will include their own line of wet and dry rubs, sauces and bagged meals for taking home, like Moroccan lamb shanks, Polderside coq au vin, and wine-braised short ribs.

The following images were taken soon after Bosomworth and Gregg took possession…

  • Big Lou's Butcher Shop | Exterior
  • Big Lou's Butcher Shop | Interior, retail side
  • Big Lou's Butcher Shop | Interior, butcher's side
  • Big Lou's Butcher Shop | Interior, butcher's window
  • Big Lou's Butcher Shop | Interior, door to butcher's side
  • Big Lou's Butcher Shop | Interior, retail shop, door to butcher's side
  • Big Lou's Butcher Shop | Exterior

Big Lou’s closed after four years, no doubt collateral damage in the wake of Bosomworth getting busted for recording staff and guests using the washroom at their other restaurant, Two Chefs and a Table (now Ask For Luigi).

Scout reported at the time of Big Lou’s demise:

“If you don’t know the place, they made great sausages, cut nice steaks, and made excellent sandwiches. But it had also suffered under a dark cloud for the past two years […] Though Big Lou’s was largely spared the ignominy, it must have been quite the clusterfuck for Gregg to endure by association.”

Dubbed “the peeping chef” in Vancouver news reports, Bosomworth was given a suspended sentence with 12 months probation.


Big Lou's Butcher Shop
Neighbourhood: Railtown Japantown
269 Powell St.
(Closed)

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