Annalena and Their There co-owners Jeffrey Parr and Mike Robbins are set to launch their new project, Hundy – a burger restaurant within a restaurant at 2042 West 4th Avenue in Kits – on Saturday, December 22nd.

I go my first bite and proper look at a finished Hundy during a private going-away party for an Annalena/Their There staff member a couple of nights ago. The menu had just a few items on it: bacon cheeseburger, cheeseburger, fries and beer. (If the offerings grow by opening day I doubt it will be by much — this is supposed to be a simple concept.) I tucked into the bacon cheeseburger, its miso-brushed, umami-bomb of a beef patty and special sauce compelling me to make short work of the thing.

We only just broke the news of this spot a little over a week ago, but if you missed that story you’ll need the basic skinny:

I first learned about Hundy almost 7 months ago. Annalena co-owners Jeff Parr and Mike Robbins were showing me around the construction site at the new cafe spot they’d acquired for their then soon-to-open Their There concept, and I noticed that they’d cut off some 300+ sqft of 2,300 sqft behind a 7 ft. wooden wall topped with plants. What gives? Oh, that? That’s the next thing, they told me, and proceeded to lay out their grand plan.

Their There was just Phase One of a two-part operation. As a daytime-only cafe, the now somewhat oddly-shaped room (formerly Mission) would draw in the coffee crowd with killer baked goods, sandwiches, beans from Portland’s beloved Heart Coffee, and a thoughtful interior design. Phase Two would be Hundy, the thing that’s hidden behind that wall, and today I was finally given the green light to make mention of it.

Behind that wall are four booths that can fit up to six people each, essentially adding another 24 seats to the whole, making for a grand total of some 55 seats. (There are other cool elements to the hidden space, but I’ll leave those for later.) The wall is convertible, meaning it can slide/fold open. The access point will remain hidden during the daytime while Their There is operating, and open only when Hundy takes over at 5pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Like Their There, Hundy will be an entirely counter-service show, with a focus on simple burgers (Two Rivers’ brisket and shoulder), really good double-cooked fries (house-punched) and a tightly curated selection of high quality local beer. They want to be in full-swing during late-night, so I think it’s fair to anticipate a good post-shift industry showing. What’s in a name? Hundy is slang for a hundred dollar bill. (If they ever open other locations, they will Two Hundy, Three Hundy, and so on.)

One new development of note: it will only be open on Friday and Saturday nights for the first month or so. The cool elements I mentioned above? A stand-up arcade machine (preloaded with every old school game), two recessed flat screen TVs playing Canucks games in black and white, some very interesting light fixtures (held by monkeys and mice), concrete-cast Nike shoe vases, assorted Be@rbrick sculptures and a pretty mint VHS tape collection of 80s/90s blockbuster movies. Here’s a closer look:

Hundy

Neighbourhood: Kitsilano

2042 West 4th Ave.

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