Here are five A-list hotspots where you can caffeinate like Clooney...
Vancouver is fast becoming the new Hollywood, with British Columbia’s largest city providing the location for more and more big- and little-screen productions – from Deadpool to Entourage and the kinda-crap-but-you-know-you-watched-it fap franchise Fifty Shades of Grey. With movie productions come movie stars, with plenty of disposable income and a seemingly bottomless appetite for good eats and drinks, when they’re not filming more-vanilla-than-ice-cream bondage scenes, we guess. So here are five A-list hotspots, thanks to our eagle-eyed mates at Pan Pacific Hotels, where you can caffeinate like Clooney, or chow down like… um… John Cho?
1. Café Medina
Address: 780 Richards St, Vancouver, BC V6B 3A4
Opening hours: 8:00am or 9:00am to 3:00pm (daily)
This café recently clinched the ‘Best Brunch’ award in the annual ‘Best of Vancouver’ poll. Entourage actress Constance Zimmer recommends the Liege waffles and lavender lattes, which sounds bloody fabulous and very slightly scary, in that order. But we’re in.
2. Legendary Noodle
Address: 1074 Denman St, Vancouver, BC V6G 2M8
Opening hours: 12:00pm to 9:00pm (daily)
Within the same neighbourhood, Zimmer is also partial to the fare at Chinese eatery Legendary Noodle, which has been described in Food & Wine Magazine as one of the “best-value restaurants around the world.” We’d go there simply because the name is awesome.
3. Minami
Address: 1118 Mainland St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2T9
Opening hours: 11:30am to 10:00pm or 11:00pm (Friday and Saturday)
As evening falls, make a beeline for Yaletown to revel in its hip factor. Like perennial charmer George Clooney, you too can savour contemporary (and sustainable) Japanese cuisine at Minami, and chase your dinner down with a vodka martini. Located in the heart of Yaletown, Minami focuses on innovative upscale Japanese dining with an emphasis on farm-to-table cuisine and flame-seared Aburi sushi.
4. Rodney’s Oyster House
Address (Yaletown): 1228 Hamilton St, Vancouver, BC V6B 6L2
Opening hours: 11:30am to 11:00pm (daily)
Address (Gastown): 52 Powell Street,Vancouver, BC V6A 1E7
Opening hours: 11:30am to 11:00pm (Monday to Saturday); 4:30pm to 11:00pm (Sunday)
Heed Canadian actress Meaghan Rath’s advice to load up on oysters and lobsters at Rodney’s Oyster House—for dessert, be sure to enquire about the off-menu key lime pie, reserved for those in the know.
5. Hawksworth Restaurant
Address: 801 W Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6C 1P7, Canada
Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 6:30am – 10:30am (breakfast), 11:30am-2:00pm (lunch), 5:00pm – late (dinner and bar menu)
Saturday and Sunday: 7:00am or 7:00am to 10:30am (breakfast), 10:30am – 2:00pm (brunch), 5:00pm – late (dinner and bar menu)
For a fine dining option, consider Hawksworth Restaurant (Downtown Vancouver), voted ‘Best Fine-Dining Restaurant’ in the ‘Best of Vancouver’ poll and also cited by Forbes Travel Guide as a celebrity-worthy choice.