SuperGirls Wrestling comes back to the Russian Community Center on Saturday, September 24th and Mikey and I will definitely be in attendance this time around. Be sure to join the lady wrestlers for the SuperGirls’ official after-show party at the Frog and Firkin on West Broadway.
Jamie Maw of Vancouver Magazine tackles Kitsilano’s Watermark in this month’s edition. While he agrees with other food critics and loves the building and atmosphere, he delivers the 3rd strike (strike 1, strike 2) on this new eatery. Watermark, you’re out.
Holding Watermark up to the light is no easy task. First, it needs to define its purpose. Second, the menu needs some serious recalibration and a visit to San Francisco to see exactly how high-volume, tourist-dependent restaurants cook for the masses without anyone’s feelings getting hurt. Right now, the food falls well short of the glorious room, the kitchen clearly unprepared and the thought of refined, casual dining under the night sky a still-distant promise.
Read back through this blog and you’ll see that Mikey and I were in full support of this beach restaurant venture from day one and they is nobody more upset that it has not measured up (other than Lynda Larouche). We’re going to cut Watermark some slack for a couple months and see if it can get its head above water.
Today, the Georgia Straight shed some light on the tragic accident at Safeway last week:
The Vancouver music scene lost one of its pioneering fathers on August 31, as bassist Jim Bescott, 52, died in a Kitsilano parking-lot accident. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Bescott was a founding member of the Young Canadians, a legendary local trio fronted by Art Bergmann. His run with the band, which included two classic EPs and a single, established him as one of the most talented bassists to emerge from Vancouver’s fertile first-wave punk scene. He also cowrote some of the group’s best-loved songs, including “No Escape” and “Automan”. Bescott died when he was backed over by a semi-tractor trailer. According to Vancouver police department spokesman Tim Fanning, the accident is still under investigation.
There will be an 11 a.m. funeral service for Bescott this Friday (September 9) at Saint Augustine’s Church, 2028 West 7th Avenue. A wake will follow the next day on Saturday (September 10) at the Railway Club from 4 to 7 p.m.
Rest in Peace Jim.
Sad news in the Kits restaurant scene – the owners of Tangerine have decided to shut it down and start anew on Main Street. From their goodbye flyer:
Tangerine has a new Habit. Tangerine will be closing its doors after brunch on Sunday, September 11th. After 6 years in Kitsilano we have decided to move forward with a new challenge – Habit Lounge/Restuarant. Our new venture, is due to open on Main Street in October 2005, and will feature a new menu by Tangerine chef, Greg Armstrong, of fresh, modern food served in a lounge atmosphere. We thank everyone for the support and friendship over the years and we look forward to seeing you soon.
The guys behind Hell’s Kitchen and Nevermind have bought the space and are set to open Abigail’s Party after a week break for renovations. Considering how busy and popular Tangerine was, I can’t imagine them making much more money in this small space… unless, of course they can sell more liquor. And that shouldn’t be a problem for these guys.
See you at Abigail’s on Sunday morning!
It’s back to school in Kitsilano tomorrow. I wonder if any of our Kitsilano.ca stickers will make it into the student’s lockers at Kitsilano High. Mikey and I will be pulling for the Blue Demons again this year!
When it comes to Indian food in Vancouver, you can’t beat Vij’s, but tonight I discovered a great little restaurant called Jolly’s Indian Bistro at West 4th and MacDonald. The butter chicken was delicious and it was super affordable at only $9. We had planned on going to Topanga but arrived during a rush and didn’t feel like waiting 15 minutes for a table. Jolly’s was intimate but busy and you could tell that lots of others discovered this little gem long before us.
Everyone in my postal code got an interesting piece of what appeared to be junk mail in their mailbox today. It was an announcement that a watch & sunglass chain out of Edmonton is opening a store in Kitsilano this November. Watch IT! has found a storefront location on West 4th between Arbutus & Yew – at least its not another baby/maternity store! What was different about this piece of direct mail is that it included a letter stating that Watch IT! is looking for a local resident to step up and invest in this franchise:
Like all new stores, this location presents a unique opportunity as our customers often become our franchise owners. If you are entreprenuial, love retail and fashion, then this might be just the business venture that you are looking for. To find out more about owning this Watch IT! boutique, please have a look through the franchise section of our website or feel free to contact me direct at 1-877-404-2824.
This letter is signed by the Prez, Darren Bondar. Smart move Darren – that kind of forward thinking will ensure you success in Kits! There are too many business owners that just open up shop on West 4th and expect to be a success without really understanding the market and neighborhood. And they don’t usually last that long.
Does anybody know what happened at Safeway on West 4th today? When Mikey and I drove by at 7pm the store was closed and the entire parking lot was taped off with yellow crime scene tape . There was at least 10 police cars surrounding the area and a couple firemen were busy hosing down the parking lot – it looked like it might have been messy.
We dropped by a couple hours later and all was back to normal, however, when I quized the Safeway customer service staff about what had happened, all they could say was that "there was an accident". Nothing more.
That’s a pretty busy area. If anybody else knows what happened, feel free to comment.
Tonight while walking with my sweetie on West 4th Ave, I had a sudden urge to get my snack on. We found ourselves in Romios Greek Taverna and during dinner our waitress passed on some surprising information.
The owner of Romios has sold the business and they close in one week. I couldn’t even get a cider with my meal because they discontinued liquor orders last week (when they stop buyin’ booze, you know the end is near). This cozy family-owned restaurant has been a fixture on West 4th for 27 years. The place will be gutted, renovated and re-open as another restaurant. Our waitress looked to be in a state of shock… hope she finds work elsewhere.
Is it just me or has anybody else noticed the slow gentrification of West 4th? Apparently, we needed both Telus and Bell hawking cel phones in the same block. Goodbye Touch of Sweden.
I needed to renew the driver’s licence today, so off I went to the Driver Services Centre at 24th and MacDonald. It was approaching 4:30pm (closing time) and I was just about to fork over my $75 after waiting for 25 minutes. I heard a guy come through the door behind me, followed by a ladies voice… "Sir, we’re closed. You’re too late". He was choked. "Its not 4:30 yet man!" he yelled (he was right). Another employee quickly came over, closed the door in the guy’s face and locked it. He was outside banging on the glass and throwing massive f-bombs. I mean really losing it. I felt for the guy, he was in the door before 4:30.
What happened next shocked me. More than a few employees started laughing out loud in front of at least 15 customers still being served. The guy helping me said, "Can you believe that wacko?" I told him that if it had been me they would have already dialed 9-1-1 due to my tendency to freak out when I know I’m being screwed around. What a bunch of clowns. Sorry buddy… better luck next time.
