Explore Vancouver
Canada’s city by the sea is ready for the Olympic spotlight. With a strong Asian influence, the bustling suburb of Richmond boasts a number of rich culinary and cultural hot spots.

Head to the Suburbs
Since the 1990s, prosperous Hong Kong business people have been coming to Vancouver, mostly to protect their fortunes rather than to make them. Many of them settled in the suburb of Richmond, near Vancouver International Airport. During the 2010 Olympics in February, Richmond will host athletes and visitors at the Richmond Oval district, the new heart of the city. Given the ups and downs of the Canadian dollar, which at this writing has dipped to a little over 80 cents, this is an opportune time to visit Vancouver and engage in some Olympic eating. According to Carl Chu, author of several books on Chinese cuisine, “The seafood in Richmond is better than in Hong Kong and so are the chefs.”

Steveston Village
Steveston Village sits in a picturesque corner of Richmond. Although not as active as it was in the 1890s, when forty-five canneries employed about half the local population, this is still Canada's largest commercial fishing port. Locals celebrate Canada Day with a Salmon Festival and every summer they gather at the Powell Street Festival, an annual celebration of Japanese Canadian arts, culture and heritage—the longest running festival in Metro Vancouver. For dinner, head to the boardwalk. At Reflections Gastronomie, chef/owner Marat Dreyshner serves a sophisticated menu that includes goat cheese salad and wild salmon-white fish terrine. Go to Kari House for homestyle Malaysian cuisine, Tapenade Bistro for Mediterranean dishes, the Kisamos Greek Taverna for Greek favorites, Papi's Market for casual Italian deli and wine, the award winning Steveston Seafood House for fresh fish, and Pajo’s Fish and Chips for open-air lunch on the wharf.

Murakami House
In the early 1900s Asayo Murakami, a well-born and educated woman whose premature widowhood had left her future in doubt, sailed to Canada with dozens of other picture brides. It was common practice back then for lonely Japanese and Korean immigrant laborers, with the help of a matchmaker and family recommendations, to sift through photographs and pick out a bride from their homeland. That is how Murakami came to be chosen, but when the plucky young woman set eyes on her prospective new husband she was not impressed. "This man from the picture, as soon as I saw his face, I knew he was not my type," she said, and called off the marriage contract on the spot. After three long years of canning fish and picking strawberries, Asayo was able to repay the $250 cost of her voyage. Eventually she found a more suitable partner, and when she died in 2002, she was 104 years old. She left nine children, 21 grandchildren, 57 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren, and the distinction of having been the last picture bride. Her home and her beloved garden, Murakami House, is now a Steveston historical landmark.

Vancouver Shopping
Golden Village, Aberdeen Centre and Yaohan Center are three vast and modern Asian shopping malls where you’ll find Buddhist temples, Chinese herbalists, acupuncture parlors, a Japanese version of $1 stores, and modern Asian furniture shops. At Golden Village, stop at restaurants such as Tsukiji, Kirin, Northern Delicacy and check out the sake selection at Vogue. In the Aberdeen Mall, Van Cheong Tea House sells high-quality oolong for $80 a pound. Dim sum lunch at President Chinese Seafood Restaurant means steamed pork buns, shaomai, fried shrimp rolls and steamed vegetables with oyster sauce. Inside Yaohan Center the Osaka Market sells matsutakes, pea shoots and gai lan. Live fish tanks hold geoduck clams, lemon sole, sea snails and king crabs. Restaurants serve spicy Szechuan dishes, Korean barbeque and freshly pulled noodles.

The Richmond Night Market
The Richmond Night Market (12631 Vulcan Way) is a summertime weekends-only Asian-style outdoor mall where over 50 food stalls compete with 300 vendors selling everything from trinkets to Tee shirts, DVDs and chotchkas while live performers entertain. There’s also a Chinatown Night Market in downtown Vancouver.

Vancouver Eats

Tojo's Restaurant
1133 Broadway West
Vancouver, BC V6H 1G1, Canada
(604) 872-8051
www.tojos.com

Tojo’s is the star of Vancouver’s Asian restaurant scene. Owner/chef Hidekazu Tojo is Canada’s undisputed answer to America’s Nobu and Australia’s Tetsuya. Trained in Osaka, Japan, he arrived in Canada in 1971 to escape Japanese society’s emphasis on academic performance over life experience at the time, when perfection of the classics was valued over creativity. In Canada, he thrived, opening his namesake restaurant 17 years after he settled here. For certain, he’s incredibly inventive. “I see northern lights and I make Northern Light Roll,” he has said. Although 'oriental' food such as raw fish, eel and seaweed were unknown in his adopted city, Tojo used them in numerous dishes that appealed to the locals. He emphasizes local and seasonal ingredients, and transforms them into dishes that embody his passion for creative cooking.


Vij's Restaurant Inc
1480 11th Avenue West
Vancouver, BC V6H 1L1, Canada
(604) 736-6664
www.vijs.ca

Vij's, one of the world’s best Indian restaurants, is owned by Vikram Vij while his wife, Meeru, runs the nearly all-female staffed kitchen. With it’s expert pairing of modern sensibilities and traditional spices all across India, Vij’s has developed a reputation for ingenious culinary innovation.


Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant
3888 Main Street, BC V5V 3P1, Canada
(604) 872-8822
www.sunsuiwah.com

With its huge Chinese influence, Vancouver rivals New York and San Francisco for top-notch Chinese cuisine. Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant is a large and excellent dim sum parlor. Considering this is Vancouver, expect excellent seafood, gigantic Alaskan king crabs, fresh geoduck and cartloads of the best dim sum in town.


Lumière
2551 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6K 2E9, Canada
(604) 739-8185
www.lumiere.ca

Now under the direction of star/chef Daniel Boulud, Lumière was recently the site of a Relais & Chateaux and Sonora Resort tasting. Six Relais & Chateau Chefs including Chef Daniel Boulud, Chef Matthew Stowe, Chef Dale Mackay, Chef Lee Parsons, Chef Castro Boateng, and Chef John Waller prepared a tasting menu to celebrate Relais & Chateaux’s newest member, Sonora Resort. Top choices on the regular menu include BC spot prawns with coriander, curried cauliflower coulis and apple chutney; Polderside Farm duck with ginger-pomegranate glaze; and Salt Spring mussel gratine with almond, bacon and saffron.

by: Andrea Rademan