The new Tractor Foods location is almost finished at 1751 Quebec St. in Olympic Village. Final occupancy permits were expected this week and the soft opening – best case scenario – is set for some point this weekend or early next week. The health-conscious, counter-service lunch and dinner spot (11am to 9:30pm) will follow the same delicious lines as the Kitsilano and Financial District locations, only it will have a few new kitchen toys to play with (eg. prsitine, big and lovely combi ovens). I’m sure there will be some differences, and I’m looking forward to tasting them.

Despite it being fitted with drywall and a broad open kitchen with a massive hood vent, it’s still very much the same soaring space I encountered when I first took a peek inside back in January. Design-wise, it’s a clear reflection of its neighbourhood, which is to say that it’s unrepentantly boxy, glossy, new, big and made of steel, glass, and concrete. That puts it in easy lockstep with Tractor’s brand positioning, which I’ve always seen as very machine-like — a futuristic good food and healthy lifestyle support apparatus, a natural ally of the same marketable projection of the sky scraping Vancouver that surrounds and dwarfs it.

I took these photos last week when I toured the new space with owners Steve and Meghan Clarke. I imagine it’s all tidy and good to go at this point. Take a look, and try your best to imagine a big sidewalk patio out front…

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