Vancouver鈥檚 Granville Island has been working towards its own somewhat re-imagined future for the past few years, and as part of an overall plan to make the longstanding destination a more vibrant Market District, some changes are already unfolding.
One big move is the just-announced collaborative restaurant project from a team of top 麻豆传媒映画chefs. Popina Canteen will be a 鈥済ourmet counter-service鈥� eatery set up in repurposed shipping containers, and it comes from the culinary minds of, , , and .
An, who already blazed the trail to Granville Island when he opened his Sen Pad Thai noodle stand there last year, says working with his three collaborators and adding to the Granville Island food scene is 鈥渁 dream come true.鈥�
鈥淧opina Canteen is a project that distils our years of fine dining experience into something that is casual and fun,鈥� adds An in a media release.
In addition to Sen Pad Thai and Kitsilano鈥檚 Maenam, An is a market restaurant vet, with two popular concepts in New Westminster鈥檚 River Market, Longtail Kitchen and Freebird Chicken. Belcham, of Campagnolo and Campagnolo Roma, also operates Monarch Burger inside the American on Main Street. Culinary coach and Diva at the Met alum Salimian has most recently been focusing on elevating the profile of Persian cuisine in Canada. Watanabe is part of the team behind Chinatown鈥檚 modern classic superstars Bao Bei and Kissa Tanto.
Creating a 鈥渕arket district鈥� and amping up the high-quality food offerings on Granville Island is one of four core tenets of the听.
Lisa Ono,听Manager of Public Affairs & Programming for CMHC-Granville Island, says locals and visitors alike have expressed interest in Granville Island offering 鈥渕ore varied and creative food鈥� options.
An opening date has not been set yet for Popina Canteen. The venture will be situated on the northwest side of the Public Market, and new outdoor public seating will face False Creek and downtown Vancouver.
