Astylish French crêperie and cider bar will open next year at 1471 Continental Street in the new Vancouver House development on False Creek’s north shore.
The vision behind Ça Marche belongs to Maxime Bettili, who has long wanted to share with Vancouverites the sweet and savoury buckwheat crêpes of his native Brittany on France’s northwest coast (aka Crêpe Bretonne). Diners will recognize Max as the hard-working co-owner and floor fixture at Kitsilano’s excellent Au Comptoir, one of Vancouver’s best and most reliable casual restaurants. Ça Marche will be his first solo project.
He first laid out the idea for me over a year ago, detailing the type of crêpe he was aiming for and the kind of atmosphere he wanted to create. His zeal for the simple, sophisticated concept – basically a modern but casual place to hang out, have a few drinks and share something unapologetically and deliciously French – is borderline evangelical. And I’m a believer. Because look…
The little 25 seat restaurant and cider bar will be housed in the 900 sqft, pre-rusted rectangular box that sticks out on the sidewalk of Continental Street, mere stone throws from highly anticipated restaurant neighbours Momofuku Noodle Bar and Autostrada Osteria. If I have my timelines correct, all three establishments should be open by this summer, if not before.
As I write this (and as you can see from the photo at the very top) Ça Marche’s exterior is emblazoned with Vancouver House logos and the branding of a gym located nearby. This is, of course, temporary. Max showed me a rough rendering with all of that wiped away and it looked really cool — as unique a tiny hospitality space as one can hope for in a brand new building masterminded by Vancouver developers. He says the plan calls for an additional 25 seats on the sidewalk, so I imagine it will be a bustling magnet on warm summer nights.
The name, Max tells me, is restaurant French for “order up” or “coming right up”, though in everyday conversation he says it translates as “ok, great” or “that works”. The branding work is set and solid, done by the champs at Glasfurd & Walker, who’ve also deliciously visualized the project with the images below…
So exciting! Congrats Max!
Looking forward to this!
Dig it! Reminds me of Breizh Café Montorgueil & Cider Bar.
Great news !
I have been missing the buckwheat crepes and French ciders at Le Bretagne ( was on Jervis just off Robson) for too long now .
Tell us more about the cider!