Somewhere between the cross-border Thanksgivings, it becomes all-too-apparent that rain-soaked streets and leaden skies will be with us for the next four to six months. With the arrival of winters wet blanket, everything contracts daylight, reasons to get out of bed, the will to live. Even your home that bijou 500-square-foot-one-bedroom-plus-flex-space that you pay way too much for becomes a gilded cage. Eventually, your Netflix cue will dwindle down to its dregs. A bowl of mashed potatoes topped with crushed sour cream and onion chips (for the crunch) will seem like a perfectly acceptable meal. And then, the mother of all indignities: the elastic waist on your pyjama pants starts feeling snug.
Thus, in the interests of your mental and physical well-being, now that the weather (and the worm) has turned, our inaugural 5 Stars column is a compilation of newly opened, design-heavy hangouts (and one so-new-it-almost-didnt-make-it-in alternate) worth heaving your carcass off the couch and donning real clothes for.
THE RUMPUS ROOM
2689 Main |
As if the old-school tabletop Pac-Man/Donkey Kong video game by the front door wasnt enough to clue you in, maybe the black-light bathrooms day-glo sword-wielding wolf-man and spell-casting wizard will drive the point home: The Rumpus Room is an unrepentant shrine to the design excesses of the 1970s. Co-owner and Main Street grande dame Rachel Zottenberg (of the Narrow Lounge and defunct Grace Gallery) has taken to Ebay, Etsy and her grandfathers estate to create a kitschy hot spot in the heart of Hipsterville. From the mismatched earthenware plates, to the suitcases up in the rafters to the water floats draped garland-like over the bar, Zottenbergs quirky design sense is everywhere. An acid green couch proves a most comfy corner seat where you can unfold a TV tray and order up nostalgic childhood treats (Ants on a Log) and more adult pleasures (Pickleback shooters Jamesons and dill brine). Take a table to pit friends against friends in a rousing match of Mousetrap or Boggle or search for the latest in a series of mash notes between two young lovers who use a reportedly use a hidey-hole in one of the oversized coffee tables as their drop-off spot. (Hint: love is the key to happiness.) Alternatively you can belly up to the purple-upholstered bar and worship at a makeshift shrine to Elvis hanging beside an East Van cross made of Jenga tiles. What to wear: skinny jeans, a loose tuque and vintage trainers to funk it up.
THE OAKWOOD CANADIAN BISTRO
2741 W. 4th |
If we might be permitted a fashion analogy to describe the vibe at The Oakwood: If Roots had an illicit affair with the boys from DSquared2 in a Kitsilano alley, the resulting love child would feel quite at home in this warm-wooded bistro. Owner Mike Shea collaborated with acclaimed Ontario-based custom carpenter Roman Mann and Vancouver-based SSDG Interiors to create a pan-Canadian, cottage-meets-châlet dining room complete with central communal table made of reclaimed Douglas fir under two stunning Atelier Oi light fixtures from Italy (larger versions of which can be spied in the lobby of the Fairmont Pacific Rim). Pretend youre taking a break from the powder at your luxury ski-in-ski-out condo in Whistler by snuggling into one of the moss-green plaid blanket-upholsterted banquettes on either side of the roaring fireplace. What to wear: nubby wool sweater (extra points for Cowichan or après ski), Native Shoes Fitzsimmons boot and Peak Performance Helium jacket, with lift ticket still attched, natch.
REVOLVER COFFEE
325 Cambie |
At first glance, Revolvers exposed brick, original wood floors and extra-high ceilings, dont offer much different décor-wise from most other Gastown spots. Of course, good design is often a subtle art, and designer Craig Stanghetta (responsible for other shabby-chic eateries such as Meat & Bread, Bao Bei and Pizza Farina) has given his signature laid-back, modern take on turn-of-the-century style a comfortable tweak. Reclaimed wood tabletops are bookended by slatted benches suspended from the ceiling with metal rods. The metal motif continues in the fronting on the chevron-style reclaimed wood countertop and in the aluminum lamps that jut from the walls under a painstakingly accurate world map made entirely out of coloured nails. If Gastown is still in the running towards becoming North Americas Next Top Re-Model of Williamsburg, Revolver is its strongest competitor to date. What to wear: Hope of Sweden floral prairie top, Gram shoes, circle scarf by Kove.
THIERRY
1059 Alberni |
Maybe its the smell of the macarons and madeleines, but maître chocolatier Thierry Bussets eponymous café reminds us of a Parisian pâtisserie only much cleaner and prettier, in the same way that the movie Amélie made Paris Montmartre district look bright and charming and not at all rundown or overrun with banlieue street gangs. Walk through Bricault Designs custom palmwood door (whose porthole-like windows evoke the small, straight-sided cupcake pan used to make the delicate pistachio financiers) and youll notice the same dark, lined palmwood used on the stainless steel café tables. The rich tone is also picked up in the milk chocolate swirl of the Italian marble floors and the dark stain of the iconic Thonet bentwood chairs, first introduced to the world at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867. What to wear: wool sportcoat or classic trench with a cashmere scarf in a French knot. Vuitton or Hermès bag optional.
1927
801 W. Georgia |
When it came to summertime lounging, the citys headlines were stolen by the glass pergolas and breathtaking moat-like water features of the sun-dappled fourth-floor Reflections courtyard in the newly renovated Rosewood Hotel Georgia. And no matter how impressive its oversized gas-powered fire bowl may be, the arrival of single-digit, monsoon-like conditions isnt conducive to reclining on a Hamptons-style bleached-wood day-bed whilst sipping on a glass of Joie rosé. For a civilized after-work or pre-theatre cocktail no matter the season curl up in the cave-like sunken portion of Rosewoods 1927 bar. Named after the year the building in which it sits was completed, the cozy, traincar-like space boasts panelled silk walls, leather chairs, marble tabletops, velvet sofas and sumptuous silk Dupioni curtains on the streetfront windows (which are mirrored by wrought-iron peek-a-boo openings looking onto the gold-and-marble lobby). Adding to the opulence are two canvasses by Montreal-born abstract master Guido Molinari juxtaposed against a First Nations-carved medallion by Ray Natraoro and the mother-of-pearl inlay of two ceremonial oars by Moy Sutherland. What to wear: Your best Ermenegildo Zegna suit or highest Tom Ford heel.
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HOUSE GUEST
332 Water | HouseXGuest.com
So were breaking our own rule here with a sixth entry, but we just had to. How do you describe a space so intensely personal and bizarrely eclectic yet still ultimately warm and welcoming? Where a solid wall of gold skulls (pictured below) doesnt seem like overkill? Where taxidermy and table dhôte coexist in a strange, almost schoolboyish way without the predictably laughable results? However you would go about it, House Guest sure doesnt make it easy. The dream for a pair of first-time restaurateurs, twentysomethings Justin Devlin and Matt Schmidt, House Guest is part Victorian curio shoppe, part goth attic and all kinds of your strange hoarder uncles workshop. Chock full of internet and flea market finds, the walls are covered in framed, bartered art with a smattering of random steampunk-style switches that control nothing. Both bathrooms are liberally graffitied with quotes chosen by the owners and artist Adam Lupton (as always, the ladies is more elaborate and red!) and a collection of German hunting trophies (aka blanched animal skulls) holds court in an alcove in the main dining room. Downstairs, a grotto-like lounge boasts banquette seating and vintage leather suitcases encased in plexiglass to form stylish and envy-inducing drink tables. What to wear: Mix and match with panache. Just make sure you own it. Remember, many of the citys top tastemakers have been spotted sipping cocktails in the bars tufted leather wing chairs.
