For this week’s edition of Throwback Thursday we go back exactly ten years to the controlled mayhem that was the launch of one of Vancouver’s best restaurants, L’Abattoir.

I was able to get these behind-the-scenes shots because I’d been documenting the restaurant’s construction for months and participating in the front of house training process. That first night (and for many nights to follow) I would work the pass as an expo, running plates out to tables and taking a few photos here and there. Despite it being a full decade since the frantic day and night shown in the photos below, chef Lee Cooper’s West Coast-meets-French restaurant on Carrall Street still looks and feels as fresh as it did back then. Many of the faces have changed, but it remains as reliably excellent a place for drinks and dinner as ever.

L'Abattoir

Neighbourhood: Gastown

217 Carrall St.

604-568-1701

WEBSITE