Gastown’s Irish Heather and Shebeen to Close, Move to New Neighbourhood

Sean Heather’s Irish Heather and Shebeen Whisk(e)y House are set to move out of their Gastown address on April 4th having secured a new location that will accommodate both establishments in a different neighbourhood.

There have been whispers and rumours of this among Gastown restaurateurs and hospitality workers for the past couple of months, but Sean Heather made it official with an announcement via social media today (Monday, March 22):

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The Irish Heather has been a fundamental fixture in Gastown since 1997, its first iteration charming a loyal following at 217 Carrall Street (now L’Abattoir) until late 2009, when it moved across the street to its current (though not for long) address at 210 Carrall Street. It played a major part in the neighbourhood’s restaurant renaissance, which began in the middle of the second millennium’s first decade, when the original Irish Heather began to enjoy its ‘institution’ status, and continued until the mid-teens, when lease rates entered the realm of the truly ridiculous and started scaring off chef-driven first-timers and independents. Through it all, the Irish Heather has been a rock, a respite for a pie and a pint. Gastown won’t be the same without it, so enjoy its last two weeks with your respects and bent elbows.

We’ll have news and images of the new location shortly, but in the meantime here is a collection of photos that is already making us miss the old one…

Irish Heather Shebeen

Neighbourhood: Chinatown

248 East Georgia St.

604-688-9779

WEBSITE

Reverence, Respect, and Realization: What The Acorn Taught Me

At 21 years old, I'm still just a kid and relatively new to working in restaurants, but I grew up umbilically tied to the hospitality industry. My father was a food writer, and my mother is a photographer. Their careers meant that most of my early years were spent in kitchens and dining rooms instead of on playgrounds and soccer fields; consequently, I learned my table manners before I could count past one hundred.