Vancouver City Guide

GRANVILLE ISLAND The tiny peninsula under the Granville Bridge hosts Vancouver’s year-round public market and is crowded with culinary specialty shops and eateries.

KITSILANO Beachy Kits has lots of vegan and organic picks plus neighbourhood joints and fine dining. Grocery selections include Kitsilano Natural Foods.

DOWNTOWN You can eat well downtown throughout the day at top brunch institutions like Café Medina and Jam Café, a wealth of food trucks and coffee spots, innovative lunchtime eateries and great dinner selections.

GASTOWN Vancouver’s historic neighbourhood, just east of downtown, seems to have the highest concentration of the city’s cool restaurants. You’ll find craft beer, innovative cocktails, tasting flights of coffee, fried pickles, bao sandwiches and the city’s most innovative dishes.

CHINATOWN Great Chinese food, of course, but Japanese-Italian fusion, fantastic fried chicken, and some of the best cocktail bars in town.

COMMERCIAL DRIVE “The Drive”, once known as Vancouver’s Little Italy, certainly has great Italian but the 22-block strip has eateries from all over the world including El Salvador and Nepal, plus several tap houses.

THE WEST END The neighbourhood next door to Stanley Park includes a cluster of excellent ramen shops near Denman and Robson plus several go-to eateries along Davie and Denman.

EAST VAN Residents of this large area eat well at a wide range of neighbourhood cafés like Osteria Savio Volpe and Crowbar, plus pick up ingredients for their kitchens at shops like the no-packaging Nada Grocery.

RICHMOND Some say Vancouver’s airport suburb has better Chinese food than China and Hong Kong, but you can also find French cuisine and afternoon tea set in an Asian art gallery, a winery and over 200 farms.

GRANVILLE ISLAND PUBLIC MARKET Open daily, 9 am – 7 pm.  www.GranvilleIsland.com/Public-Market

VANCOUVER FARMERS MARKETS Various locations on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, some starting in April and May, others in June, all going until October. www.EatLocal.org

LADNER VILLAGE MARKET Every second Sunday from June to early September. www.LadnerVillageMarket.com

For a complete list of farmers’ markets in Vancouver, see www.eatlocal.org/markets.

PACIFIC INSTITUTE OF CULINARY ARTS Wine and casual cooking classes, teen camps plus professional programs. 101-1505 W. 2nd Ave. www.PICAchef.com

THE DIRTY APRON COOKING SCHOOL Hands-on classes, their own cookbook and a YouTube channel. 540 Beatty St. www.DirtyApron.com

PASTRY TRAINING CENTRE OF VANCOUVER Pastry, baking and chocolate classes for pros and aspiring home chefs; the retail store provides tools and supplies. 818 Renfrew St. www.VancouverPastrySchool.com

NORTHWEST CULINARY ACADEMY OF VANCOUVER Classes for professionals and enthusiasts, including 6-evening basics, 2-week boot camps, 8-week intensives. 2725 Main St.  www.NWCAV.com

THE GOURMET WAREHOUSE Supplying both amateurs and pros with tools and ingredients, with cooking classes too. 1340 E. Hastings St. www.GourmetWarehouse.ca

COOK CULTURE Stocking bake- and cookware, tools and servingware, plus hands-on and demonstration cooking classes. 377 Howe St. plus locations on W. Broadway and in North Van. www.CookCulture.com

MING WO COOKWARE Vancouver’s source for kitchenware since 1917. 2707 Granville St. and other locations. www.MingWo.com

BOSA FOODS Specializing in Italian and Mediterranean ingredients and kitchenware. 1465 Kootenay St. and 562 Victoria Dr. www.BosaFoods.com

Vancouver’s great tastes

Nelson the Seagull sourdough
Charcuterie from Oyama Sausage Co.
Baguettes by Terra Breads
Smits & Co.w chilli pepper goat gouda
Tacofino’s fish tacos
Vij’s keep-in-the-freezer meals
Spot prawns
The Juke Box from Juke Fried Chicken
Temper Chocolate
Soups by kitskitchen
Rogers Best Brown sugar
Amola sea salt
Soups and stocks from The Stock Market
East Van Jam’s high-fruit low-sugar spreads
Umaluma’s non-dairy gelato
Ice cream taco Tuesdays at Rain or Shine
Doughnuts by Cartems Donuts
The Wooden Boat’s nuoc cham

Vancouver’s great drinks

Café Medina’s lavender latte
Sherry Bone Luge from Wildebeest
Roots and Wings’ coffee-infused Double Vice Vodka
JJ Bean coffee and JJ Leaf teas
49th Parallel Coffee
Coffee beans from East Van Roasters
Culture Craft Kombucha
Nectar Juicery juices
Long Table Distillery’s Cucumber Gin
Bittered Sling bitters
Domo stone-ground teas
Osake small batch wines by Artisan Sake Maker
Anything created by Kaitlyn Stewart, winner of World’s Best Bartender in 2017