A Look Inside Folke, Opening Soon in Kitsilano

Colin Uyeda and Pricilla Deo took possession of the space at 2585 W Broadway two months ago. Eight weeks and a few gallons of fresh paint later, wine-forward and plant-based ‘Folke‘ is ready to open doors.

We paid a visit to Folke last night to take in the transformed room and taste our way through the menu. See the photo gallery below for visuals, and then make some room in your schedule to head in and check it out for yourself, starting Thursday, June 2nd. Hours will be Thursday – Monday, 5:00 pm — 11:00 pm. Reservations can be made via Folke’s website here.

For some backstory, here’s an excerpt from what we published about the place in April:

Before his recent three year-run as the chef de cuisine at Kissa Tanto, Chef Uyeda was at Pilgrimme on Galiano Island. Deo is a pastry chef (recently at Tsawwassen Springs). Together, the duo plans to open a community-oriented vegan restaurant. They are calling it Folke.

As Deo explains: “The name Folke means to bring people together. That is our goal. We want guests to feel like they’re having just really good food in a fun, casual environment. We want it to feel like they’re coming over to a friend’s house for dinner. Having our open kitchen will allow guests to see chefs at work. We’ll have a lot of beautiful art and decor to make the space feel warm and inviting. We want the ambiance to feel chatty, comfortable and cozy.”

To underscore the concept of bringing people together, Folke’s kitchen staff will be the ones running the food to the tables – a service decision motivated by a desire to connect guests to a menu that is intent on showcasing vegetables for what they are (rather than one that attempts to recreate meat-based recipes using plant-based substitutes). There will also be a wine program, which Deo and Uyeda have designed together, and a selection of local beer and cider, seasonal cocktails and some non-alcoholic beverages (crafted in-house).

When I asked the pair about the style of service, Deo explained that the concept was something that Uyeda had come across while working at Pilgrimme and the now-closed Relae (Copenhagen). “Colin found that it really helped bring the team together and encouraged everyone to work together. It helps break down that divide between front-of-house and back-of-house and allows the servers to focus on the guest experience. We also like the idea of having the chefs be able to explain the dish; they are the ones who know it best and can speak to it, so why not have them be the ones sharing that?””.