After a long winter of rolling black clouds, if not steady rain, any slight sign of that big yellow ball in the sky does funny things to people here.
(Actually, a lot of Vancouverites wear shorts and sandals year-round
— whether as a demonstration of their hardiness or connection with the wild, or as a perennial act of wishful thinking, I can’t say. This type also tends to eat outside, year-round, in their woolly sweaters and Gore-Tex jackets — and we’re not just talking smokers here.)
But back to the general population. When a wan April sun appears, worshippers head for the beach, doffing their clothes in temperatures they wouldn’t tolerate in their own homes. Come May, everyone wants to dine outside. Suddenly, you can’t find a seat on the south-west-facing patio at Kits Coffee, and the waterfront deck at Bridges on Granville Island begins to look crowded. Why? In part, because Vancouverites like to think ofthemselves as slightly European. Bottom line: summer is short. Al fresco dining is very big.
There is outside, and then there is outside. Any food business that can claw from the city a little bit of rented sidewalk space will put out some tables and chairs and call it a patio. This is fine if you don’t mind ingesting diesel fumes with your meal, and putting up with barking dogs chained to the lamppost. Conditions are better on side roads like Yew Street in Kitsilano, where, though patios are usually small, there is less traffic.
But the best al fresco dining happens where a true patio or courtyard exists. A favorite is Brix (1138 Homer Street, Yaletown, 604-915-9463). This funky space with an interior courtyard serves some heady dishes, like stuffed Cornish game hen in an orange and papaya reduction, but simpler tapas as well. There are also sixty or so wines by the glass.
If you climb the open staircase inside Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House (777 Thurlow Street, Downtown, 604-669-1940), you’ll arrive at a spacious patio where the fashionable and flush hang out. Some of the best outdoor dining is found along the concrete loading docks that once served the railway — at the warehouses-turned-restaurants and bars of Yaletown. Dine in peace, even splendor (food- and ambiance-wise), at the Blue Water Café and Raw Bar (1095 Hamilton Street, 604-688-8078); Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill (1133 Hamilton Street, 604-688-7466); Simply Thai Restaurant (1211 Hamilton Street, 604-642-0123); and numerous others.
Less hip, but more visually sensational, are the patios at The Teahouse Restaurant at Ferguson Point (7501 Stanley Park Drive, Stanley Park, 604-669-3281) and the well-regarded Fish House in Stanley Park (8901 Stanley Park Drive, near the tennis courts, 604-681-7275). Another gorgeous patio space (with interesting food) is located in a Modernist building overlooking Howe Sound that once served as the University of British Columbia (uBc) Faculty Club — Sage Bistro (6331 Crescent Road, UBC, 604-822-0968).
Great views of False Creek can be had from Monk McQueen’s Oyster and Seafood Bar (6o1 Stamps Landing, Central Vancouver, 604-877-1351) and Sandbar — a multi-faceted restaurant complex with separate sushi bar and heated patio dining (1535 Johnston Street, Granville Island, 604-669-9030). North False Creek also boasts some exceptional patios (and restaurants), including upper-register C Restaurant (1000 Howe Street, Downtown South, 604-681-1164). However, city ordinances demanded by nearby residents require some mid-evening patio closures here, I’m told.
Alternatively, observe the passing madness along The Drive (where life pulsates into the wee hours) from the patio of the youngish and trendy Havana (1212 Commercial Drive, East Vancouver, 604-253-9119). The Cannery Seafood Restaurant (2205 Commissioner Street, East Vancouver, 604-254-9606) provides picture-window views of marine activity on inner Burrard Inlet, along with excellent seafood.
Further afield, there’s the comfy Beach House at Dundarave Pier (150 25th Street, West Vancouver, 604-922-1414), located right on the wave-battered shorline. Or travel by gondola up Grouse Mountain to the heady Observatory (North Vancouver, 604-984-0661), housed in a rustic, comfy chalet. South of the city, and popular with the burger and beer crowd, is the Flying Beaver Bar on the Fraser River (4760 Inglis Drive, Richmond, 604-273-0278).
One of the best a! fresco sites in the city is the Galley Patio and Grill (1300 Discovery Street, Westside, 604-222-1331) in the Jericho Sailing Centre. Food-wise, it’s mostly paddler-size breakfasts, burgers, and fish ‘n’ chips. In its own words, it’s "perched directly over the sand of Locarno Beach... with views across English Bay to the majestic North Shore mountains and east to Vancouver’s magnificent skyline” a pretty accurate pitch for the setting. On the downside, the Galley is only open on weekends from fall to spring, though daily from May through mid-September.
A superb place for a leisurely and peaceful lunch is the terrace of the Gallery Café, above the Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby Street, Downtown, 604-688-2233).
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