Chef Jean-Christophe Poirier and GM Matthew Morgenstern made Ask For Luigi a bastion for Italian food in Railtown. The cozy 36-seat space displays black and white photos of sign language gestures, a thoughtful touch. Albacore tuna crudo with clams escabeche made for a bright, piquant starter. Luigi meatballs seamlessly melded chuck, brisket, golden raisins and pine nuts. House-made tagliatelle verde paired spinach pasta with sorrel kissed lamb ragù. Pappardelle with chicken livers and artichokes proved heartier.

Longtime designer Jackie Kai Ellis opened Beaucoup Bakery & Cafe near Granville Island in 2012. She sold the business to two team members, Betty Hung and brother Jacky, who recently expanded to the St. Regis Hotel. Pastries include a buttery almond croissant with flaky crust and small, circular kouign amann with winning caramelization. 49th Parallel beans fuel their coffee program.

A Mount Pleasant industrial park hardly seems like a destination for sugary creations, but that’s where Adam Chandler and Jess Rosinski debuted Beta5 Chocolates in 2011. The name Beta5 refers to the structural ideal for sugar crystals. Raspberry Earl Grey Cream Puff featured an Earl Grey core, tart raspberry layer, raspberry lid and crisp choux pastry. They developed a bonkers Bourbon cashew bar finished with fleur de sel for Meat & Bread. Ice cream includes 66% dark chocolate and rhubarb vanilla swirl.

In a true small world moment, I met Matthew Senecal-Junkeer when he was touring L.A. coffeehouses. We randomly reconnected at The Birds & The Beets, an airy Gastown cafe he founded with Trevor Pruegger in 2015.. Their food resembled California seasonal dishes. Weekend only breakfast egg & barley bowl combined colorful pickled radish and cauliflower, pepitas and sesame seeds, crunchy cole slaw, carrots, raw kale, mushrooms, and miso dressing. Fluffy caramelized onion and ricotta quiche and came with a small salad of kale, green lentils and herbed vinaigrette with cilantro and radish tops. Brioche toast rotates, just like everything else, and hosted rhubarb preserves and candied rhubarb on house-baked bread. The Birds & The Beets also takes coffee seriously.

Hidalgo born chef Hector Laguna and his team bring international flair to Botanist’s seasonal menu at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. Botanist presents sustainably certified seafood like sablefish and local ingredients like maitake mushrooms in unexpected ways. Pastry chef Kate Siegel keeps pace with creative desserts like Black Forest Cherry, a decadent Black Forest cake that looks like the featured fruit. Bartender Jeff Savage complements the food with cocktails like In The Pines, Under The Palms (play on a Martinez) and God Loves Figs (a sherry cobbler riff). Botanist also hosted one of my top meals in 2023, a collaborative dinner with Lazy Bear.

Erica Bernardi and Ben Ernst partnered on Earnest Ice Cream in 2012 and now have four locations. I visited Mount Pleasant. The company’s committed to eco-friendly business practices and produces small-batch ice cream with seasonal ingredients. Depending on the day, Earnest may offer ice cream flavors like whiskey hazelnut, Velvet Fog, or lemon poppyseed, all “seriously good.”

Betsy Ng and brother Bruce opened Elephant Garden Creamery in Grandview-Woodland in 2018. The siblings specialize in ice cream with Asian flavors and textural twists. They fold matcha ice cream with “dalgona” honeycomb nuggets and supercharge tangy yuzu butter ice cream with lemon curd. Mango coconut sticky rice, Vietnamese coffee and Hong Kong milk tea are staple flavors.

Chef Angus An has built a Thai restaurant empire that includes Sen Pad Thai on Granville Island, Longtail Kitchen in New Westminster and higher end Maenam in Kitsilano. The Fat Mao location I tried downtown served knockout nham ngeaw, a compelling Northern Thai soup with pork rib, pork blood, tomato, mustard greens, fried garlic, fried chilies, and red cotton tree flowers. They toss albacore tuna “ceviche” with bracing herb vinaigrette.

Chef Robert Clark and marine biologist Mike McDermid founded The Fish Counter, a sustainable Mount Pleasant seafood shop, in 2013. Perhaps even more importantly, in 2005, the partners founded Ocean Wise Seafood program, the Canadian equivalent to Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood watch list. Fish and chips may be the best reason to visit The Fish Counter, whether it’s halibut or ling cod, both served with sturdy, skin-on chips. You should also swing by the deli counter for smoked fish, including smoked salmon “hot chips,” smoked sockeye maple nuggets, and smoked sablefish candy for sale by the gram.

Now Kitanoya Marketing Corp. president Kazunori Kunimura helms five Guu izakayas in the Vancouver metro area, plus one in Toronto. The West End outpost, Guu with Garlic, dates to 2001. Highlights during my high energy Japanese dinner included kimchi udon with bouncy noodles and mentaiko (cod roe) and chicken karaage featuring deep-fried thigh and crispy skin flaps. Hotate starred sea scallop with bonito flakes, fried garlic slivers, soy sauce and butter, served with raw onion salad. Spot prawn sashimi dipped in soy sauce with wasabi may be the showstopper, especially when you request deep-fried heads.

I spotted Il Saltimbocca while walking downtown to another restaurant and doubled back. Nearby Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana pilots this orange truck, which houses a wood-fired oven and makes stellar Italian sandwiches on their supple pizza bread. The Cheech combines warm ham, salami, and mortadella with fresh melted mozzarella, tomato, arugula, and basil mayo.

Granville Island, which honors an early name for Vancouver, welcomed a public market in 1979. Lee’s Donuts is one of four original vendors. Sadly, Alan Lee passed away in 2014, but the stall is still thriving by the west entrance. Lee’s sells their signature honey glazed donuts warm, with good chew and judicious sweetness. Blueberry, chocolate, and chai space are also viable flavors.

Anthony Bourdain immortalized Saigon noodle soup star Nguyen Thi Thanh, aka The Lunch Lady, on “No Reservations.” In 2020, Benedict Lim brought her scintillating food to Vancouver and added fantastic flourishes like Atlantic lobster pomelo salad.

Lucky’s Doughnuts shares four Vancouver outposts and one Montreal “Micro-Torréfacteur Cafe” with sister brand 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters. The Mount Pleasant location features roll-up garage doors, a sporty motorcyclist mural, and a Spirit Triplette espresso machine. and pale blue ceramics help to deliver beautifully roasted coffee beans from Vince Piccolo and crew. Coffee cruller is the standout item, with espresso in the glaze and cold brew in the batter. Seasonal old fashioned donuts are softer and lighter than normal and come in flavors like crumble-topped strawberry shortcake and blueberry with pistachios.

Chef David Hawksworth, who also runs high-end Hawksworth nearby, debuted Nightingale in 2016. High above the dining room, a flock of 3D nightingales “flies” over a picture frame backdrop. Hawksworth adheres to a highly seasonal approach, meaning my recommendations will no doubt be null when you visit. That said, I enjoyed wilted pea & fava shoots with garlic and fermented chile; sunchoke agnolotti with mustard greens, pumpkin seeds, and shaved piave; and the thin stone-cooked pizza with black pock marks and toppings that consisted of guanciale, green olives, San Marzano tomatoes, chile, and fior di latte.

Josie Fenton and husband Blair Casey run three ice cream shops in Kitsilano, Cambie Village and at The University of British Columbia. I visited their kooky Cambie Village location, which touts a purple cow head with yellow ice cream cone unicorn horn. They source dairy from Birchwood Dairy Farm in B.C. for their “Philadelphia style” ice cream (“100% dairy with no eggs”). “Seasonal Flings” may include Sticky Toffee Pudding or Chamomile with honey roasted sunflower seeds and bright, potent Citra hops. Sweet-tart blueberry balsamic and malted milk chocolate honeycomb made for a great one-two punch in a house-made waffle cone.

Prince Edward Island oyster farmer Rodney Clark debuted in Toronto. A now unaffiliated Yaletown location opened in 1998, followed by Gastown in 2013. I savored West Coast oysters – Okeovers, Shigokus, Lighthouse, and Little Wings – with a choice of house sauces: Shallot Vinaigrette, Seawitch Sauce (cocktail), White Boy Soul Sauce, Johnny Reb’s Española Hot Sauce, and Back From Hell!

Tokyo native chef Taka Omi opened this high value, grab-and-go sashimi shop and grocery store in 2020. Their refrigerator displays dozens of tantalizing raw and grilled seafood preparations. Chirashi Premium is a great way to sample different flavors and textures. My haul included silky Hokkaido scallop, both sockeye and Atlantic salmon, ikura (salmon roe), shrimp, maguro and bonito.

Kenya native Karim Nathoo has over 30 years of baking experience. In 2014, he debuted Small Victory Bakery with daughter Afshan and son Qasim. The family now has four locations. Buttery croissants are clearly a strength, whether you opt for them solo or in sandwiches. To crank up the sweetness, consider salted caramel cheesecake with Graham cracker crust and spiral pattern. In the past, I also enjoyed a savory bacon and yellow cheddar croissant and Appolloni, a flaky pastry horn filled with Chantilly cream.

Chef Maumi Ozaki, originally from Japan’s Seitama prefecture, debuted a 10-seat omakase bar on Vancouver’s West End in 2015. In October 2023, he upgraded to a whopping 17 seats. I found Maumi charming, wearing black-framed glasses, a gray-blue bandanna, and a collar-free black shirt. From the core menu, I particularly enjoyed silky spot prawns served with fried heads, shima aji (striped jack) and aji (horse mackerel). Bonus round bites included mirugai (geoduck), uchiwahagi (unicorn leatherjacket) and crunchy ezo awabi (abalone) with a nori belt and sauce of abalone guts, soy sauce, and squid ink. The menu featured a glossary of four different housemade sauces – nikiri shoyu, irizake, mojio, and tsume – which Mauri-san applies to different nigiri when appropriate.

Most trails tend to have switchbacks that give hikers slight breathers between climbs. Grouse Grind follows a serpentine path right up the mountain. The path involves 2,820 mismatched stairs of varying heights (some as high as 2-3 feet) with roots, rocks and tree stumps thrown into the mix. Grouse Grind is a technical climb, a real thigh burner through a mossy forest, and leads to breathtaking panoramic views and a sense of achievement. The only downhill option is to take a 20 CAD gondola ride.

“Have you been to Capilano Suspension Bridge? Don’t go.” My UberX driver, Mohammed, recommended Lynn Canyon instead. Local writer Bianca Bujan also made a compelling case for this far less crowded, free suspension bridge. I took a SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay and grabbed the 228 bus to the trailhead near the End of the Line (General Store). Mossy, fern covered trails and stairs up and down mist shrouded boardwalks led me to a bouncy bridge that overlooks waterfalls in a verdant gorge.

Stanley Park extends north into Burrard Inlet and provides visitors with a gorgeous urban playspace and picnic venue. A 10K path along the seawall is an inspiring setting for a bike ride or run. Take a 15-minute ride on Stanley Park Train, play pitch & putt or enjoy totem poles that celebrate Native heritage. From spring until fall, Third Beach also hosts a joyous Tuesday night drum circle.