Ksenia Dempster is a baker and proud “dessert person”. A firm believer that desserts should make people happy, she is on a mission to spotlight the final courses that are worth unbuttoning your pants for, and the talented local chefs behind them. To be clear: this column is not intended to review anything or anyone. Ksenia is in no way, shape or form a “critic”. She’s just an accomplished dessert enthusiast wanting to share intel on good desserts! Know someone making a nice dessert that you think she should know about? Hit her up on Instagram at @kseniademp.

Hey, have you guys heard of this place called Gary’s? Of course you have. That chicken liver on brioche dish you keep seeing all over your Instagram feed? It’s theirs. That spot all your friends (“foodie” or not) keep raving about? It’s them. They’re your favourite restaurant’s favourite restaurant, and all for very good, very well-deserved reasons.

Gary’s has taken centre stage in the Vancouver restaurant scene, attaining double Michelin nods for both food and hospitality, as well as a recent placement in En Route magazine’s ‘The Top 10’ Best New Restaurants in Canada 2024. *Snaps for Gary’s!*

I can’t and won’t tell you what to do, but if you haven’t yet been, let this be the flimsy paper straw that broke the camel’s back and got you to make a visit. And when you do: sit at the bar, and definitely don’t skip dessert!

THE DESSERT

‘Chocolate Mousse
(70% dark chocolate mousse, bergamot cream, salted-toasted almonds)

Find it at:
Gary’s

When I put out the call for favourite desserts in the city, the Chocolate Mousse at Gary’s was by far the most recommended to me. This tidbit should make Chef Mathew Bishop happy, as it was conceived out of some healthy competitive spirit: “We had one in Seattle that wasn’t great, but we liked the concept. We wanted to see how good we could make it.” Now, it’s a full time menu staple.

The Chef

Chef Bishop was born-and-raised in the Fraser Valley. Having spent his full career (to date) in British Columbia, Mathew started out as a dishwasher, honing his skills in some of the best kitchens in the province over the years since. In 2022, he stepped down from his role as Kitchen Director (for Collective Hospitality) to find inspiration and inevitably open his first restaurant, Gary’s, with partner, Bailey Hayward.

How do you take your coffee?
I don’t drink coffee but when I did, black.

What did you think you’d be when you “grew up”?
Architect or Marine Biologist.

What was your childhood birthday cake? What is it now?
Childhood was a DQ ice cream cake. Now, it’s anything covered in buttercream.

Favourite chocolate bar or candy?
Ritter Sport Milk Chocolate + Almonds.

What is your favourite seasonal ingredient to work with right now?
Mushrooms!

Where should I go next?
The kitchen at ¿CóMO? has a Spanish Flan with a pineapple rum caramel. I ate it this weekend and it was great. I don’t know if it will be on for a minute, but if it’s still around I’d HIGHLY recommend it!

ABOUT GARY’S

Co-owners Chef Mathew Bishop and Bailey Hayward (also GM) opened Gary’s in the Fall of 2023. Taking cue from dinner parties they would host in their own home – affectionately and inside-joke-y named “Gary’s Social Club” – the duo wanted to open an unfussy neighbourhood spot “with no ego and no pretentiousness; just about the food and the hospitality.”

With a little over a year under their belt, we can call it a “mission accomplished”. The cozy yet bright, knick-knack abundant dining room is disarmingly comfortable – like a friend’s house where you never have to take your shoes off at the door. The food menu is seasonally influenced and designed to share, while the wine list is “short, sharp and dynamic, championing producers [of] low-intervention farming & winemaking.” The hospitality is warm, friendly, and professional; the FOH team, graciously led by Bailey, knows their sh*t.

Gary's

Neighbourhood: West Side

1485 West 12th Ave.

604-245-3800

WEBSITE