Vancouver

10 reasons why the West coast is the best coast

As Western Canada’s most populous city, Vancouver has long been a top travel destination for sophisticated dining, mountain air and stunning views. This year it’s truer than ever: between new establishments and iconic locales that have been reinvented in 2021, here are ten places you just need to visit on your next Vancouver vacation:

1. EAT MIANTIAO

Embracing ingredients and rituals shared by Italian and Chinese cultures, Miantiao brings new meaning to fusion cuisine. This recently opened restaurant inside the Shangri-La Vancouver aims for “playful experimentation” while cooking with “an Italian mindset.” The result is innovative dishes made with traditional ingredients, such as smoked beef tripe with pecorino and kohlrabi served with a century egg. But the star of the show is Miantiao’s fai tu! service, where the chef simply chooses and cooks for you.

2. SEE BILL REID GALLERY OF NORTHWEST COAST ART

Named after famed Haida artist and master carver Bill Reid, this is the only gallery in the country dedicated to contemporary Indigenous art of the Northwest Coast. The gallery’s current exhibition features the powerful work of artist and activist Sho Sho Esquiro. The show “celebrates the beauty, strength and resilience of First Nations communities in the face of historical and ongoing trauma,” and includes a selection of Esquiro’s stunning couture gowns, made with materials sourced directly from the Yukon.

3. EAT OH CAROLINA

Café and grocery store Oh Carolina is where nostalgia meets reality. In a bid to become “the store on the corner that becomes a second home,” the owners opened Oh Carolina earlier this summer, and they’ve been building community ever since. The store offers a consciously-sourced selection of grocery items, but the main attraction is the menu of superlative sandwiches, salads and fabulous coffee. Grab a smoked sockeye salmon toast, pastrami sandwich or grilled cheese on sourdough. Be sure to watch their Instagram for pop-ups (a recent one involved prawn rolls and beer).

4. DO ENHANCE ARTS SPA

It’s not selfish if it’s self-care. Inspired by the notion that every single person deserves a chance to enrich, energize and enhance their bodies from “head to heart,” Tila Huynh co-founded Enhance Arts Spa in February of this year. With treatments ranging from their BB Glow facial treatment to reflexology to Thai body massage, this beauty bar and spa hybrid allows visitors to restore and revitalize their minds, bodies, spirits and lashes.

5. EAT CANTINA NORTE

Back in the late 80s, Café Norte was Vancouver’s most-awarded and much-loved Mexican restaurant. Due to unfortunate circumstances, the owners, Philip and Linda Mitchell, had to close its doors in 1998. Now, the owners’ children, Jeremy and Katie Mitchell, have brought back the beloved flavours of the past with a new resto called Cantina Norte (located steps from the original). The upscale casual restaurant offers favourites like quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos and other Mexican favourites. Try the scallop aguachile made of fresh local scallops, thinly sliced and cured with green chili and cucumber.

6. EAT SALMON N’ BANNOCK

An Indigenous-owned and operated restaurant, Salmon n’ Bannock aims to “feed your spirit.” In a room filled with First Nations artwork, the restaurant serves creative traditional fare like bannock tacos, smoked salmon burgers and bison pot roast. Committed to using traditional ingredients, Chef Inez Cook and her team prioritize Indigenous suppliers and use organic, free-range game meats and wild-caught fish. Sample the mushrooms on toasted bannock with melted brie, sage-blueberries and bison gravy (rumoured to be good enough to drink from a wine glass).

7. STAY FAIRMONT WATERFRONT

It’s probably been a while since you’ve travelled – why not make your first hotel stay a luxury experience? Fairmont hotels are famous for beautiful locations and ample amenities, and the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel is no slouch. Located on gorgeous Vancouver Harbour, it’s close to just about everything, with elegant guest rooms and fabulous dining. If you really want to turn up the luxury, the hotel is offering a special package that includes a private helicopter ride to the B.C. backcountry for a chef-curated picnic lunch by a lake or on a mountain-top.

8. EAT YUZU VANCOUVER

With a focus on sandwiches and desserts in aesthetically pleasing Japanese convenience store packaging, Yuzu Vancouver is the perfect grab-and-go joint to hit before a long walk, a picnic or any activity that requires snacks. With options such as pork, teriyaki chicken, beef and tofu, Yuzu Vancouver’s katsu sandwiches are as cute as they are delicious. For dessert, try a brown sugar pudding or yuzu panna cotta, then finish your meal with an iced barley tea.

9. DO + EAT GRANVILLE ISLAND

A longtime artistic and cultural hub, Granville Island is located on Vancouver’s urban waterfront and is always a great place to while away an afternoon. Pick up a curry or some fresh fish ‘n’ chips at the Public Market, peruse an art gallery or pottery studio, take a leisurely walk along the seawall. This fall, renowned Haida carver Clarence Mills is back at Granville Island, giving visitors a chance to see an authentic Haida artist at work as he transforms cedar into embodiments of the mythology of his culture.

10. EAT LUNCH LADY

A collaboration between local restaurateur Michael Tran and Vietnamese food stall owner Nguyen Thi Thanh, Lunch Lady is bringing globally popular Vietnamese street-eats to Vancouver. (Nguyen was dubbed “Lunch Lady” by the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain during an episode of No Reservations.) The eatery offers daily noodle rotations such as bún bò huê (a soup with rice vermicelli and beef) and bánh canh cua (crab tapioca noodle soup), as well as mouthwatering mains like clams steamed in lemongrass broth and garlic fried noodles.