Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/112499
the street: Vancouver���s Carrall A short road with a long history Calabash Bistro���s Caribbean vibe centres on spicy goat curry ��� with a dance ���oor to work off that jerk belly (calabashbistro.com). S ite of Gassy Jack���s settlement-triggering first saloon plus the maple tree that sheltered early civic meetings, Carrall is not only one of Vancouver���s shortest streets, it���s possibly its most historic: darting south, it traverses both Gastown and Chinatown, two early pioneer neighbourhoods. But while blue-collar locals kept taverns teeming here for decades, by the 1960s the Downtown Eastside���s skid row had taken hold. Luckily, demolition of the area was shelved when campaigners eventually earned National Historic Site designations for both Gastown and Chinatown. Today, rapidly gentrifying under a wave of young entrepreneurs, Carrall highlights such as the old Bodega Hotel and Byrnes Block now house top-notch indie boutiques and resto-bars. ���John Lee Jeff Topham p14-15_Street.indd 15 [ OCTOBER Heart of the City Festival NOVEMBER Gastown Shop Hop NOVEMBER Eastside Culture Crawl The Go Spots SHOPS With a changing room fashioned from 6,000 paperbacks, Lynn Steven Boutique hawks cool womenswear, from DL1961 denim to local Toodlebunny jewellery (lynnsteven.com). Via adjoining Blood Alley, the former Shebeen Whiskey House is now home to shot-sized Haven, with labelconscious duds for skinny-jeaned lads (havenshop.ca). Community Thrift & Vintage favours preworn natural ���bre togs, including party-perfect 1930s frocks (com munitythriftandvintage.ca); for matching purses, Erin Templeton recycles leather into hip, supersupple bags (erintempleton.com). Nearby, the Pennsylvania Hotel���s neon sign crowns Cartems gourmet doughnuts ��� Earl Grey and bourbon bacon recommended (cartems.com). ] EATS Nelson the Seagull hooks iPad coolsters with perfect java and wholesome baking (nelsonthe seagull.com), while cave-like Salt Tasting Room offers cheese, charcuterie and properly paired wine (salttastingroom.com). For candlelit romance, carnivorous, French-in���uenced L���Abbatoir (labattoir.ca) is a belt notch from Boneta, where impeccable dishes include velvet-soft lamb sirloin (boneta.ca). Two blocks south, DRINKS Toast Gassy Jack���s statue with a cocktail at chandelier-lit Diamond (di6mond.com), or down a Red Racer IPA at kitty-corner Six Acres ��� recalling the size of the original Granville townsite (sixacres.ca). Sample from 200plus whiskies while making friends at an Irish Heather longtable dinner (irishheather.com). Nip into Bitter Tasting Room; the curated menu includes craft beers from B.C. and beyond (bittertastingroom.com). WILD CARD Bookmarking Carrall Street���s Chinatown end, the walls of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden frame a jadegreen lily pond teeming with turtles. Opened for Expo 86 and exemplifying Ming-era horticultural values, the tilecrowned pavilions and winter���owering plum trees fringe a wealth of symbolic details, from bat-shaped door-pulls to alienlooking Lake Tai limestone formations. Take a guided tour for the full yin and yang story, then explore Chinatown���s antique buildings and dragon-topped lampposts in a rich, new light (vancouverchinesegarden.com). Lee takes a calligraphy lesson at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden: bcaa.com/sunyatsen WESTWORLD >> FA L L 2 0 1 2 15 12-08-17 1:44 PM