62 BCBUSINESS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017
TABLE TALK
A Room
of One's
Own
Six of the city's
best private dining
spaces, with a
mixture of styles,
menus and 'hoods
to suit just about any
business need
by Amanda Ross
From heritage spaces to dyna-
mite views to luxe lounges,
trying to find the right room
to accommodate an intimate
meal, festive gathering or
full-on office holiday bash
often seems to need military
strategic planning. We've
scoured the city and chosen
six excellent options (plus
one coming down the pike)
that, depending on the size
of your party, capture just
the right ingredients for
merrymaking.
Oru at Pacific Rim &
Market at Shangri-La
As far as hotels go, Oru at Pacific Rim
and Market at Shangri-La both do an
excellent job of not making their private
dining experiences feel hotel-y. Nestled
next to Oru's wine cellar sits the petite
Private Wine Room, a wee 210-square-
foot gem with a hand-crafted marble
longtable and glass-wall surround,
which lends a rather celebrity-special-
treatment-like vibe to the intimate
experience. At Market, the sixth-
floor Conway Room is a long, linear
affair in a residential-style space
with floor-to-ceiling windows and
crystal chandeliers fit for a larger crowd.
The heated outdoor terrace adds
party space and, literally, a breath of
fresh air.
ORU SIZE: 210 square feet
ORU CAPACITY: 14 seated
MARKET SIZE: 1,832 square feet +
1,259-square-foot terrace
MARKET CAPACITY: 120 seated or
150 standing (200 with terrace)
L'Abbatoir
Accessing L'Abbatoir's private dining
room via a back door and through the
kitchen feels like the famed tracking
shot from Goodfellas–if that movie's
scullery were sleek, modern and filled
with friendly, smiling chefs going about
their French-influenced fare. But it's
all part of the rustic-meets-modern
charm: up a flight of stairs, the intimate
room–housed in one of the city's oldest
buildings, in Blood Alley (the 128-year-old
former police horse stables)–features
the original exposed-brick walls and
wood beams contrasted with glass and
steel finishes for an excellent old-world/
new-world mashup. Not too-cool-for-
school, the Gastown boîte—under the
watchful eye of chef Lee Cooper—finds
magic by channelling the area's historic
roots while still being edgy and hip.
SIZE: 1,200 square feet
CAPACITY: 50 seated; 70 standing
(room can be divided in half for 24 seated
on each side)
Miku
Those who bemoan the lack of dynamite
food with a view in Vancouver have
BACKROOMS
(Clockwise from left) Oru at
Pacific Rim; L'Abbatoir; Market
at Shangri-La; Glowbal; Homer
Street Cafe; Miku
