The View From Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge
Photo Courtesy of ©iStock-Steve Rosset
There’s a lot on the table for Vancouver in the new year. Several top chefs in Western Canada’s largest city plan to open new restaurants in the coming months. Mark your dining calendar now for meals at the most anticipated restaurants for 2015.
Chef David Hawksworth, Photo Courtesy of Chef David Hawksworth
A New Hawksworth Restaurant
Some of the city’s most exciting food news comes from chef David Hawksworth of the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Hawksworth Restaurant. The toque and his team have announced plans for a 7,500-square-foot restaurant slated to open downtown later in 2015. Expect a more laid-back ambience than the chef’s flagship dining room at the Five-Star Rosewood Hotel Georgia, yet the kitchen will have a continued focus on regional ingredients. The eatery, which will feature a rustically sophisticated décor and an imposing bar, will occupy space on the ground-floor and mezzanine levels of the MNP Tower, which sits a short stroll from the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Four-Star Fairmont Pacific Rim and the Coal Harbour waterfront.
More Projects from Vikram Vij
Vikram Vij, who kicked off Vancouver’s love affair with modern Indian food when he and his wife and business partner, Meeru Dhalwala, opened their still-packed Vij’s back in 1994, is moving his flagship restaurant while, at the same time, working on a new concept for their original South Granville space. Construction is well under way at the new Vij’s location in the Cambie Village neighborhood, in anticipation of a spring opening. The company is still keeping mum, though, about plans for the original Vij’s site. In the meantime, if you find yourself south of Vancouver, stop for a meal at My Shanti, Vij’s glittering South Surrey dining room that’s been serving short ribs, samosas and other Indian delights since its June 2014 debut.
Chef Umberto Menghi, Photo Courtesy of Umberto Menghi
The Return of Giardino
Longtime restaurateur Umberto Menghi, who runs two Whistler dining rooms, plans to reopen his Italian fine-dining room, Giardino, at a new Vancouver location some time in 2015. Originally launched in 1973, Il Giardino occupied a historic yellow house downtown for more than three decades. The new Giardino is scheduled to open its doors at a nearby Hornby Street location. Area foodies can only hope that the menu of hearty meats and uncomplicated pasta dishes makes the move, too.
Lights, Camera, Dinnertime
Even German-born filmmaker Uwe Boll is getting in on the Vancouver food act this year. Best known for video-game-inspired movies and horror flicks like Postal, House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark, Boll is preparing to unveil the modern European establishment Bauhaus (One West Cordova Street) in the city’s Gastown neighborhood in March. While menu details weren’t released at press time, news of the director hiring chef Stefan Hartmann (of Berlin’s now-shuttered Hartmanns) to lead the charge in his new kitchen proves that Boll’s venture doesn’t plan on being a comedy but rather an innovative production with lots of culinary drama.
