‘Bar Gobo’ Opening Soon on Union Street

Back in February I wrote excitedly about the coming of Harvest Noodles, a new 25-seat restaurant in the works from chef Andrea Carlson, Kevin Bismanis, and Gabriella Meyer. The reputable team, who Vancouver diners will know from Burdock & Co. and Harvest Community Foods, were hoping to launch their hot noodle soup joint at 237 Union St. in the middle of March. But then Covid happened and all was put on hold as the world upended.

– Harvest Noodles taking shape in March, 2020 –

Fast-forward to today, six months later, with a shutdown endured and new challenges met, and the idea for harvest Noodles has been shelved and supplanted by something very different: Bar Gobo. If that name sounds familiar it’s because it was a regular wine and food pop-up event at Burdock & Co. (“gobo” is the Japanese word for burdock), one that paired interesting wines and simple cocktails with bar snacks, good music and a Happy Hour vibe. It’s a smart concept for the current times, a stable board to ride the waves of unpredictability that lurk around the autumn corner. It’s also a good fit for the Strathcona/Chinatown location and the 500 sqft space itself, which has been a casual, woody, long bar/banquette situation since its 2012 inception as The Parker.

Andrea says we can expect to start snacking on good cheese bread, chimichurri beef, devilled eggs, bratwurst buns, olives, burrata cheese, proper chocolate mousse and other tasty things besides in less than two weeks with the personable Peter Van de Reep, this year’s Sommelier of the Year and the former face of the just shuttered Campagnolo Upstairs, running the show. This will amount to just 10 seats inside and another 3 outside while the Covid-19 rules still apply. (There’s a temporary patio permit in the works, too.) Peter is developing the opening 12 bottle list as I type, as well as a streamlined cocktail list. I think it’s more than fair to expect good things here, not to mention a consistently full room (such as ‘full’ is these days).

Bar Gobo will be open evenings only, five nights a week. More details soon.