With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1332052
V A N M A G . C O M J A N U A R Y/ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 5 Masayoshi EDOMAE CHIRASHI The sight of Masa-san working away with a huge smile on his face as he prepped takeout was one of the most uplifting mo- ments of the early days of the pandemic. It was like watching Lucian Freud happily painting a house. His restaurant joined with its neighbour Say Mercy! in the Staff Meal program, offering Japanese stews and the like, and while all his takeout was a treat and a rare bargain, it was the sold-out-every-day- in-10-minutes chirashi ($25)—marinated fish on a bed of sushi rice—that became the beauty of a calling card. Boulevard CLAM CHOWDER Choosing just one thing from our reigning restaurant of the year is near impossible, given that they spanned the spectrum from a kit for baking a fresh sea bream in salt (surprisingly easy) to cornbread that could save the worst pandemic day. But we're going with their flawless rendition of clam chowder served by the litre at an affordable price (it started at $10, and is still just $14). That it got you JP Potters strolling out to cheerfully drop it in your trunk in the Sutton Place roundabout was the icing on the cake. Dachi A MAGNUM OF BELLA RESERVE CUVEE Once the province relaxed its dumb-ass rules on wine, there was a cavalcade of spots that turned to their cellars for financial salvation. For the savvy there were deals and for the nerdy there were unicorns, but no one combined both better than Dachi, selling a long sold- out magnum of gorgeous Bella bubbles for $88—or 25 percent less than the wine's retail price (when it was available). AnnaLena ROTATING TUESDAY TAKEOUT While many of the dishes here came from the early days of the pandemic, leave it up to AnnaLena to shine in the second act with a high-wire four-course mini tasting menu (smoked squid bruschetta, bison ribs) created just for takeout at the they've-got-to-be-losing-their-shirts price of $59. Elisa HOLSTEIN STRIPLOIN In the realm of things you couldn't buy anywhere before, we choose the Holstein striploin from Top- table's Elisa. We'd enjoyed the cut pre-COVID at the restaurant for a cool $55, and while we're no match for Chef Andrew Richardson, this falls in the almost-impossible- to-screw-up category. When we needed a pick-me-up from the grind, this special occasion cut at a Safeway price ($20) was there. Actual Daddy PIZZA I know only two things about the owner of the Instagram handle @actual_daddy: I think he works at Como Taperia and every Monday he hand-made pizzas for friends, with goofy names like Howdy Valley Ranch. And they went bonkers for them. They're the perfect lo-fi antidote to the flurry of bad news bombarding us every day and it looks like they'll soon be available to the rest of us under the name Good Pizza (@goodpizzayvr). That seems like a win.