by Andrew Morrison | Brothers Greg and David Faber have taken a 10 year lease out on the old Bank of Montreal building at Main and Prior (across from Farina and the Cobalt). They are looking to turn it into a quality cafe. If you’ve never been in there before, it’s a real beauty of an open concept space. Built by Honeyman & Curtis Architects in the late 1920’s in the Classical Revival style (soaring coffered beamed ceilings, black granite flooring and Corinthian pilasters), it’s old bones are a leak and a few cracks shy of seriously majestic. It will see some 49 seats, one of the fabled Slayer espresso machines (a first in Canada?), beans from L.A.’s high falutin’ Handsome Coffee Roasters (home to legendary barista champion Michael Philips, who will be up for staff training), locally sourced sandwiches, pies from The Pie Hole, snacks, house-made sodas and more. Sadly, for tipplers, there will be no liquor license.

2,700 sqft. is a lot of space for a cafe, so a good percentage of it will be given over to a seasonally specific pop-up retail shop selling all manner of goods to what the Fabers call “the modern gentleman adventurer” (think brands such as Barbour, Apolis, Levi’s Made and Crafted, etc.). The focus for the retail component will be heavy on craftsmanship, so boys can expect some really nice stuff. Vancouver design firm Port & Quarter are on the job together with Big O Construction (see Wildebeest, Ernest Ice Cream, Vancouver Urban Winery), Union Wood Co., and graphic designers Gabe Hall and Ryan Chung.

The Fabers are travellers who are big into motorcycles (hence the name, Wide Open Throttle), so I imagine we’ll see that fetish work its way into the concept as well (expect goods from Les Ateliers Ruby, for example). Greg got into bikes while on a catering stint with the US Army in Northern Iraq. That’s him above with his wife on the back of a Royal Enfield on a ride somewhere in Kurdistan. “At WOTS,” he writes, “we draw inspiration from the quality and craftsmanship of days gone by. We are inspired by men like Lawrence of Arabia and Steve McQueen: men of style and substance who weren’t afraid of the road less travelled or getting their hands dirty.” Expect opening day at some point in the Fall.

ALL ANTICIPATED OPENINGS

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Andrew Morrison is the editor-in-chief of Scout and BC’s Senior Judge at the Canadian Culinary Championships. He contributes regularly to a wide range of publications, radio programs, and TV shows on local food, culture and travel. He live and works in the vibrant Strathcona neighbourhood, where he also collects inexpensive things and enjoys birds, skateboards, whisky, shoes, many songs, and the smell of wood fires.