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Vancouver: The city that never stays the same

July 27th, 2011 · 22 Comments

Four weeks away reminds me, when I return, of the essential fact about Vancouver — that, like a river, it’s a city where it’s impossible to experience it as the same place twice because it keeps changing.

When I was in Paris a few years ago, I was agog as a Vancouverite to see how much was the same from when I had been a student there almost three decades previously. It wasn’t just the major landmarks that were exactly the same. It was dozens of little places that I had been to as a student that were still there, doing business exactly as they always had.

A paper shop near the Pompidou, the bookstores where I had bought books. Shakespeare & Co, of course. And the restaurant that we students had thought the height of elegance, Polidor, was still serving almost the same menu, including the exotic kidneys in mustard sauce that I’d first tried there, and its squat toilets hadn’t been updated a bit. (No wonder, I guess, that it’s featured fleetingly in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.)

But Vancouver. I was gone for 28 days. I come back and every time I leave the house, I notice some new thing that’s changed. Legendary Noodles on Main is gone, about to be replaced by an Indian restaurant, while the small Italian store nearby that had been there for the decade since I’ve lived here is shut down.

Bin 942 on Broadway is being transformed into Go Fish. La Taqueria, with some of the best tacos in town, has taken the jump and expanded to Broadway and Cambie. The Opsal Steel building has been disassembled completely (presumably to be re-assembled in a more spiffy state later on), while the first of the province’s social housing buildings, the Sorella, has opened up in what seems like three minutes since construction started.

The only things that remain eternal are the grinding debates on the same old topics that go on and on without change: TransLink funding, garbage disposal, the HST, complaints about both development and affordability in the city, the bike lanes, the wickedness of the opposing political party.

Ah yes, here I am in Vancouver after all. The landmarks may be slightly different, but the conversation is the same.

Categories: Uncategorized

  • IanS

    “The only things that remain eternal are the grinding debates on the same old topics that go on and on without change:”

    Very true. One need look no further than the same people saying the same things about the same topics in the most recent “bike lane” post on this blog. Kind of depressing.

  • spartikus

    Spartikus’s review of La Taqueria

    4 tacos ordered: Pescado (fish), al Castor (pork), Pollo Con Molle (chicken) and a lamb special.

    Cost: $10+

    I was a bit disappointed. The size of the toppings varied significantly from dollop to expectation meeting. The fish was a bit dry. But what’s most important is I was still hungry after shelling out $10.

    I hate to say it, but the Chronic Taco just up the street is better – although I hate the skater aesthetic.

    Still…Viva Mexico.

  • Agustin

    Same thing with Calgary – every time I go for a visit (several times a year), something’s changed. And there, the changes are bigger in scale: new roads, new neighbourhoods, etc.

    I bet that things change in Paris, too, though; although maybe not as obviously. How many north Africans were in Paris when you were there as a student? How big were the bainlieus?

    It is fascinating to think about the fluctuations throughout a city’s history. Very often we get caught up in the here and now, and the minute changes can seem enormous.

  • The Fourth Horseman

    Hi @sparty,

    Have to agree with you on La Taque. I tried the one on Hastings–same thing. Underwhelming portions and franktly, all the toppings looked the same.

    Thanks for the tip on the Chronic Taco. But “what this town really needs”…is good regional Mexican cooking. Not everything had to be in/on a taco. great fish dishes, ceviche, etc.

    BTW, Frances, nice to see that sister restaurant to La Regalade in West Vancouver, Cafe Regalade, is doing great business. Awsome brunches, bistro style, at 4th and MacDonald.

  • Bill Lee

    What corn meal and beans (complementary amines/proteins) do you wish?
    Does it have to Mexico? What about the Salvadoran El Caracol, the Chilean sweets of Panaderia Latina Bakery on Joyce, or many others.
    A starting map might be the greedy eaters’ super list at http://www.urbanspoon.com/f/14/1342/Vancouver/Mexican-Restaurants

    Ah, the Cremerie Restaurant Polidor on 41 rue Monsieur le Prince.
    Long table, no credit cards and ….
    Back to Chez Swartz Charcuterie Hebraique on “The Main” on a hot summer night.

    They are doing long communal tables and sharing spaces in places in uptight Vancouver now, aren’t they.
    But Chilean is so much more subtle.

  • City Observer

    For my money, there is no better Latin American restaurant in town than El Pulgarcito, on Hastings just east of Penticton. Humungous portions, fresh ingredients, pleasant atmosphere, attentive service, and cheap, cheap, cheap ($10 for dinner, including a beverage and taxes) — the Chicken Burrito is to die for. BTW, El Pulgarcito means “little finger” or thumb, which is exactly what El Salvador appears as on a Central American map.

  • Evan

    Interesting comparison with Paris, perhaps the city most famously renovated as a result of an immense, decades-long property bubble. Of course, that was in the 1860s. But that sense of construction, demolition, and businesses opening and closing constantly and change so rapid its difficult to keep up with found in writing of the time on Paris is definitely familiar when it comes to Vancouver.

  • gmgw

    If it’s any consolation, Go Fish (for those who don’t know, the purveyors of, arguably, the best fish & chips in town, down at the fish docks near Granville Island) has, since its inception, been a spinoff of the Bin 941/942 empire. So B942 is merely being replaced by another division of the same outfit. It’s to be hoped that Go Fish #2 will, unlike GF #1, keep hours that enable working people to have dinner there more often, and that its staff will be less bitchy when asked about things like the possibility of expanded hours so that residents as well as tourists might partake.
    gmgw

  • Michael Geller

    Speaking of kidneys in mustard sauce, can anyone recommend a restaurant where they are served in Vancouver?

    And as for Midnight in Paris, I highly recommend it, but make a reservation at a French restaurant for after the cinema.

  • Frances Bula

    I have to say, I’m amused to see how this post has veered off onto a discussion of Mexican restaurants in town. Oh, the delights of randomness.

    I stand by my praise of La Taqueria — it has more variety and flavour than several of the other “best of” Mexican restaurants listed in various places, which just serve hunks of indistinguishable fried meat, as far as I can tell.

    I do agree that the general level of Mexican food is appalling here. Why we don’t have something that’s the equivalent of La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard (Seattle) is beyond me. A killing to be made by the right person.

    And while we’re digressing — I hated Midnight in Paris. I went totally prepared to love it, but found it silly. Oh, I got it, don’t worry. The characters were meant to be stereotypes, a naive American writer’s idea of how Hemingway would talk or Zelda carry on. But it was like a one-note joke that just went on far too long. And if you’ve read Allen’s story about the professor who managed to get into the pages of Madame Bovary, all too familiar a trick.

  • spartikus

    There does seem to be a boom in Mexican restaurants – at least around Broadway + Cambie.

    There’s a burrito place opening soon there too.

    If I ever win the lottery, I intend to open a restaurant dedicated to Uruguay’s pride.

    You can only eat per year however if you want to live. Which is unfortunate for the business model.

  • Bill Lee

    Speaking of changes to the city, I noticed a half dozen closures–some labled as bankruptcies — along South Granville (from 16th to 5th avenue)
    Along with a half-dozen closures along East Pender (occasioned by the Rennie Black non-retail Black Monster at 50 metres from 51 to 71 East Pender), I wonder if people are holding tight to their wallets.
    I know that my wallet has been sealed the past months.

    I used to enjoy Que Pasa when it was on West 5th. Lets just say that the staff was ‘jolly’

    Now however it is off in the far off south Richmond on No. 5 road south of Steveston highway, with its deli, factory, and its stock of Mexican souvenirs and fine foods and kitchenwhere and hundreds of cookbooks. 12031 Five Road Richmond BC. Still open 7 days a week until 6.

    Speaking of Oaxaca, (English Pronunciation: /wəˈhɑːkə/), you do know that the Mexicofest.ca in September will have a Week of Oaxacan Cuisine, 9th – 14th September.

    Probably that will bring out the hidden Oaxaca people and foods such as : Cocido, Mole Negro , Chiles Rellenos de Sardinas, Tortillas Clayudas, Totopos, Alegría, Ate, Capirotada, Gaznate , Mamón, Pozol de Cacao , Tejata etc.

  • ThinkOutsideABox

    It was dozens of little places that I had been to as a student that were still there, doing business exactly as they always had.

    Mysterious. How did Paris ever get to become a world class city then?

  • Wendy

    Since we have digressed to Mexican food. Where can I find some good Mole Poblano?

  • Wendy

    Tio Pepe’s on the Drive used to do good Yucatecan food. But the last few times I’ve been, it really hasn’t been as good. I think the Mexican Dona (pron. donya, meaning respected elder) who did the cooking may have retired.

    Loved this post though. I’d never thought about cities in that way before. Raises all sorts of “why” questions.

  • Mary Frances Hill

    As far as Latin food goes, Dona Cata on Victoria is as brilliant as they come. And Frances, you’re right on with La Taqueria–I’m a regular…but so so sad to see that Legendary Noodle is gone. Remember the three-course meal for two for under 20 bucks–with pea shoots and peanut noodles? Sigh.

  • Roger Kemble

    Interesting . . .

    Eateries going in and out of business . . . ummmm . . . an ominous sign . . .

    I got a note the other day from Brent, circulated by SCARP, that the city, after months of a freeze, is hiring again!

    And the election is just three and one half months away!

    Si, si . . . ¡Más cosas cambian más que permanecen iguales!

  • Hazu Chan

    One thing that hasn’t changed in Lotusland is the incessant snobbery about tastes in local food joints.

  • Hazu Chan

    That said, I’d like to randomly spout that Pho Tan on Main St. has perhaps the best “off-menu” Vietnamese dishes ever! Be sure to call in advance as it takes 24 hours to prepare. Recommendations include vietnamese lamp chops and their exquisite ox-tail.

  • Baran

    Such an unlikely topic for your blog Frances… although, I’m quite enjoying it!

    Dona Cata on Victoria Drive gets my vote for excellent Mexican food. Simple basic menu, but they do it well. I particularly like their table of fresh homemade salsas.

    The Mexican brunch at the Waldorf Hotel is also excellent. The hotel restaurant is now run by Nuba, but they do a fantastic Mexican brunch on the weekends.

  • David

    Often over the past 30 years I’ve walked/driven/bused past a freshly demolished building and realizing I couldn’t remember what had occupied the lot… no Google Streetview instantly available on a smartphone….

    This photo taken from Harbour Centre in 1981 is interesting.. on the one hand not much in the foreground has changed. The Dominion Building, Carter Cotton, Sun Tower, VVI.

    But the background, the top 1/3rd of the photo, still shows the industry of False Creek prior to Expo ’86 No Hockey arena, no Science World, no CityGate, no Skytrain http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4372347298_0d8e24fb43_o.jpg

  • tienda de electricidad

    Midnight in Paris, I highly recommend it, but make a reservation at a French restaurant for after the cinema.