麻豆传媒映画gets all the praise for its food scene, but let鈥檚 be honest 鈥� there鈥檚 plenty to taste north of Burrard Inlet and east of Boundary Road. If you needed a reason to visit West 麻豆传媒映画or Burnaby Heights, here are three spots to whet your appetite.
Dundarave Village gets a Temper
If you haven鈥檛 heard of Steven Hodge before, that鈥檚 OK. Chances are you鈥檙e already familiar with his work. Before opening Temper Pastry this January, Hodge spent nearly five years with Thomas Haas; before that, three years in some of London鈥檚 top kitchens (including Gordon Ramsay鈥檚 three-Michelin-starred Royal Hospital Road) and eight years in California.
But there鈥檚 no place like home. 鈥淚t鈥檚 funny,鈥� says Hodge, who grew up in Dundarave Village. 鈥淲hen I first announced it, there were skeptics that said 鈥極h, Dundarave, it鈥檚 slow and old. Are you sure you don鈥檛 want to go downtown?鈥欌�� Hodge was, and is, sure. In fact, the shop has already outgrown its kitchen and he鈥檚 looking for production space elsewhere.
There鈥檚 a story behind everything on the Temper menu. Charlie Bites, named after his daughter, started as a way to use up croissant scraps but are so popular they merit their own dough. A bourbon-vanilla confection comes from Hodge using a vanilla pod as a swizzle stick in an after-work drink 鈥� and the resulting chocolate explodes with an extravagance of vanilla beans that I鈥檝e never encountered in this city.
This summer, Dundaravians can look forward to Temper鈥檚 liquor license 鈥� and a patio.
(2409 Marine Dr., West Vancouver)
Sweet Heights in Burnaby
In Burnaby Heights, Hastings Street feels like a calmer, friendlier Vancouver. Short buildings, hand-lettered signs, family-run shops. In other words, a neighbourhood.
That鈥檚 exactly why Christophe Bonzon moved here. 鈥淔or me, it reminds me of Switzerland,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen you go to small businesses, you know the owner, they know their customers.鈥�
The Swiss-born Bonzon has worked in boutique pastry shops in France, Switzerland and Australia for 16 of his 31 years. Most recently, he was the pastry chef at CinCin. In 2013, he and his wife, Jess, opened Chez Christophe Patisserie Chocolaterie; he runs the kitchen and she runs the caf茅. Bonzon makes everything in-house, including the exceptional puff pastry in the tonka-coffee millefeuille. And it鈥檚 worth a visit just for the flutes; they look like breadsticks, taste like butter, and shatter into flaky fireworks. 鈥淚n Switzerland it鈥檚 a common snack with a glass of wine,鈥� he explains.
Given the extensive menu 鈥� vienoisseries, cakes, chocolates, flutes 鈥� I ask if he plans to do ice creams this summer. He says no. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a great soda place just a few blocks down from us.鈥�
(4712 Hastings St., Burnaby)
Soda Jerks on Hastings Street
Bonzon is referring, of course, to Glenburn Soda Fountain and Confectionery. Walking into the shop, you feel like you鈥檝e stepped back in time. Soda jerk and owner Ron LaQuaglia strides from vintage soda machine to counter, delivering ice cream sundaes and handmade sodas with a grin.
All the toppings and syrups are made in-house from local fruit and, where possible, local nuts. Pie comes from The Pie Hole in Vancouver, ice cream from Birchwood Dairy in Abbotsford and sorbet from Rocky Point Ice Cream in Port Moody.
Ron and his wife Roberta (operations manager for the 麻豆传媒映画Farmers Market society) have lived in Burnaby Heights since 2006. 鈥淲e wanted to bring something that would be a benefit to the community,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople are bringing in their kids, young kids. Twenty years from now we may be gone but that kid鈥檚 25, 26 and they鈥檒l say, 鈥楻emember when we used to go to Glenburn?鈥� To be able to provide those memories for people is really important for us.鈥�
(4090 Hastings St., Burnaby)
