July 2015 BCBusiness 169
Half an hour into Off the eaten Track's
culinary tour of Railtown, we're at Big
Lou's Butcher Shop, devouring warm
and zingy porchetta sandwiches with
parsley-cilantro chimichurri sauce.
Half a sandwich, anyway: there's still
plenty to eat on this two-hour trip into
a neighbourhood most Vancouverites
never visit.
Formerly the home of Hootsuite
and still the headquarters of Aritzia,
Railtown is an emergent tech-design
zone built on the postwar industrial
bones of Japantown. It comprises maybe
five blocks of warehouses, lofts and
storefronts between Alexander Street
and the railroad tracks—and while it's
been pegged as the next Yaletown, this
is still the Downtown Eastside. A foodie
tour here is unapologetically gritty.
"I've always had a passion for find-
ing holes-in-the-wall and fringe stuff,"
says Bonnie Todd, Off the Eaten Track's
co-founder. Todd spent seven years as a
tour guide on the Rocky Mountaineer's
Whistler-Jasper run—working six
months and travelling the other
six—before starting the culinary tour
company in 2012 with business partner
Alexis Ragan. As frequent travellers,
both she and Ragan appreciated "being
taken out of the norm" rather than to
well-worn spots, and that ethos has
defined their business model.
"We get a lot of good feedback on the
neighbourhoods we choose," says Todd.
Food
Tracks
W
Suzanne RuShton
F o o d
Culinary tours go out of
their way to give foodies
a taste of Vancouver
and beyond
by Tyee Bridge
J U ly 2 0 15
O
ou t of office
INSIDE
Best summer drinks ... Notch8 + Sai Woo ... 30 under 30 gala photos ... Lunch with Lisa tuningley
A 2013 report by Mandala Research put
the percentage of U.S. leisure travellers
who travel to learn about and enjoy
unique dining experiences at 51 per cent
–p.170
NON-STANDARD FARE
Off the Eaten Track skips the
tourist traps, preferring east-
side options like Vancouver
Urban Winery in Railtown
