Word on the Street
To understand Vancouver’s pioneering culinary world you must take to the streets – with a guide from Vancouver Foodie Tours – and encounter the city’s food trucks. Vancouver is home to the largest food truck scene in Canada and for this we thank Councillor Heather Deal. Inspired by New York’s food truck craze, Deal couldn’t understand why a similar trend hadn’t gripped Vancouver and began investigating. In 2010, just after the Winter Olympics, she invited food truck owners to apply for licenses. From 800 applicants, 17 were awarded and in 2011 a permanent programme was introduced with keen entrepreneurs pitching their original ideas and business plans to a panel of chefs, councillors and food bloggers.
Our sampling began with city-wide favourite JAPADOG, founded by ex-Tokyo native Noriki Tamura. At the forefront of the food truck movement, JAPADOG serves Japanese hot dogs that are worth braving the inevitable line-up for. Their signature is a creation that combines teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, butter-fried onion, seaweed and Kurobuta – meat from a rare breed of pig, a herd of which is kept by the Royal Family at Windsor.
A short amble from the Law Courts is the Vancouver Art Gallery, another Erickson creation, with food trucks parked on all four of its corners. It is here that you’ll find Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck – adored by those with a hankering for comfort food. Begin your experience with a ginger and mint lemonade before trying one of Mom’s daily specials – Monday’s meatloaf option is immensely popular. ‘Mom’ Cindy Hamilton started the company to spend more time with her daughter and happily gives Gaston, the French Bulldog who visits her daily, treats upon arrival. Respect must also be paid to Kaboom Box, which specialises in dishes made from sustainable British Columbian produce. Their smoked salmon, marinated in brown sugar and salt and smoked on site, is a must.
Substance and Style
Of course fine fare comes in more traditional packages. Keen to sample west coast seafood (less salty than its eastern counterpart), I dined at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar where even the amuse-bouche is a celebration of complexity. Flavours here are bold, almost Nordic, and the atmosphere is immediately welcoming. The signature Seafood Tower honours the oysters of British Columbia with Spanish and Asian piquancy making the fruits de mer all the more enticing. The stars are the Kusshi oysters, a west coast delicacy found in the deep water of Vancouver Island, but it would be a crime to leave without sampling the black cod, so delicate that it crumbles should you hover a fork nearby.
For something casual, stop by Latab, a wine bar that collaborates with different chefs and brewers once a month to celebrate Vancouver’s culinary creativity. A pared back aesthetic ensures the space feels intimate and relaxed while the regular bar menu sees owners Eryn Dorman and Kris Barnholden get a little daring. Similarly passionate is Savio Volpe, known for its osteria-rustic fare and Italianate respect for fine local ingredients. There is an openness to the space, all light wood and immense windows, and your eyes are constantly drawn to the central open kitchen and bar where charcuterie plates and desserts are prepared with flair – the construction of creamy, zesty cannoli proving hypnotic. After watching the dish take shape throughout the evening the pyramid of pastry shells slowly disappearing it was impossible not to order one – although a tiramisu sundae is something I will have to return for.
