Kitsilano will soon see a new restaurant called Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods open up in its heart at 1903 West 4th (right on the northwest corner with Cypress).

The concept is healthy fast food served cafeteria-style in a bright, open concept room. Expect wholesome soups, stews, sandwiches and salads with a wide variety of mix and match possibilities and a small selection of beer and wine. Think half a sandwich with a small soup and a salad of kale, granny smith apples and pine nuts, or golden beets with fennel and jicama, or sugar snap peas with radishes and walnuts — there will be up to 12 salad options! Add-on proteins such as free range organic chicken, wild fish and prawns will be grilled to order. A light lunch should cost under $10, and a filling supper about $15.

The veggie-heavy 34 seater is coming to us from Steven and Meghan Clarke, two food-loving MBA refugees from the banking/communications realms. The chef is the very capable Ryan Mah (formerly of Chinois, Goldfish, Wild Rice, Joe Fortes) so don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the concept. I anticipate good food here.

Tractor still has a ways to go. The Clarkes have been busy acquiring tables and lighting from our friends over at Scott Landon Antiques (that’s Scott with Steven in one of the shots above), but they’ve only just poured the concrete for the floor and still haven’t done much of the framing work. The 1400 sqft space has never (to my knowledge) housed a restaurant before, so they’re having to install a new venting system, too. It’s also pretty dark in there, so they’re knocking down much of the wall facing Cypress. Not only will bring a lot of light in, it will also create access to the 18 seat patio that they are currently seeking approval for. Look at the blueprint up top to imagine what that will look like, and cross your fingers for an opening in May.

ALL ANTICIPATED OPENINGS