Where Should We Eat Tonight?

As most of you know, my husband is a restaurant manager. Being in the business myself with him for many years and now having the joy of listening to his stories even though we no longer work together, the industry plays a huge part in both of our lives.

Speaking with a friend who is a restaurateur a few months back, he had heard a projection that 40% of restaurants in BC would close this year. Even in times of HST and an economic downturn, I found this very hard to believe. Actually, it seemed impossible. I assumed this to include tiny little establishments (a 10 seat restaurant, small community bistro, coffee shops etc) which made for such an overwhelming percentage. Never for a minute did I believe it would be major Vancouver ‘institutions’.

Dining is a huge part of our lives. Over the years, there are many restaurants we have come to love but recently, the list is getting shorter and shorter. Not just because of closures but because of declining quality and value. I plan on doing some specific restaurant/ food reviews in the future, but wanted to do a brief overview of what’s going on around town.

RECENT CLOSURES:

The Hermitage,

Robson Street

The Cannery, Commissioner St (this is such a shame!)

Villa De Lupo,

Hamilton Street

Aqua Riva (Summer 2011),
Waterfront

The William Tell,

Beatty St

Sammie J Peppers, Granville Island (no loss here, hate that place)

A Kettle of Fish, Pacific & Hornby St

Mona’s, Hornby St

Morton’s Steakhouse, Cordova

The Macaroni Grill,

Davie Street

(Okay, it was like 3 years ago but I’m still not over it)

At least six of the above restaurants had been in business longer than I have been alive.

I’m sure there are others that I have forgotten or don’t yet know about. So this begs the question: what the hell is happening? I often believed that places that provided good food and service would be able to stick it out. Many of the places listed above were great, but didn’t make it. The majority were expensive. It would seem that so many people in Vancouver are in such dire situations because of housing prices, taxation etc. that places to eat like this were simply no longer an option. To counter that though, there are many wealthy people that live in Vancouver. Where did they go? Is everyone cutting back? I don’t know. All I know is that great places filled with a lifetime of memories are closing, and Cactus Club is opening.

It’s really tragic. I mean, Vancouver is the most livable city in the world, whatever that means. Should we not have some decent restaurants? Even with the economic crisis in the US, major cities still maintain some outstanding dining options. Whether you dine out at nice places every weekend, or only once a year, the dwindling selection is concerning.  Perhaps this is why Cactus Club opens in any location it can rear its ugly head? It’s as far ($ wise) as people are willing to go.

On that note, I am hoping to do some posts in the future about some of the good restaurants left in Vancity.

I better work quickly though because they may shut their doors as I’m typing…

To conclude: Christmas Party? Birthday? Anniversary? Mother’s Day? Night on the town? www.topofvancouver.com

What is your favourite restaurant?