The Travel Insider team is exploring Vancouver before the Olympic Winter Games hit town in February 2010, and will be sharing daily tips from our travels over the next week. Here is the first instalment, featuring some of the city’s best coffees and cocktails, a monstrous gourmet burger, and a fish valet service...
Drink
Caffe Artigiano
1101 West Pender Street.
+1 604 685 5333.
Since January 2000 this original location has expanded to a franchise of 14 and counting, but the quality of the espresso (yes, not filter) coffee has not been compromised. “It’s the best coffee in Vancouver; I saw Renee Zellweger here last Saturday” – endorsement from the guy sitting next to us, who has been coming since it opened. The 8am line-ups are even longer than those at Tim Horton’s (just don't tell anyone from Toronto; you might shock them).
Website
Chambar
562 Beatty Street , Crosstown.
+1 604 879 7119.
Just on the outskirts of Gastown (which we are told is having a bit of a bar renaissance), the name of the game is cocktails and a serious Belgian beer list. The proprietors also run the new Dirty Apron Cooking School & Cook Shop, recently featured as one of Vancouver’s East End hotpots in Wallpaper*.
Website
Eat
DB Bistro Moderne
2551 Broadway West, Kitsilano.
+1 604 739 7115.
Headed-up by three-Michelin starred (for restaurant DANIEL in New York) Chef Daniel Boulud, the cuisine is largely French, taking advantage of the fresh produce the province has to offer. Firm favourites include the country duck terrine, the top sirloin burger filled with braised short ribs and black truffle – and pretty much everything from the dessert list. The restaurant’s website offers some of Boulud’s trade secrets, including a number of recipes from his six cookbooks.
Website
Stay
Shangri-La Vancouver
1128 West Georgia Street.
One of the newer properties in the city (opened in January 2009), the Shangri-La continues its tradition of contemporary Asian elegance in its first North American venture (Toronto and Las Vegas to follow in 2012). An in-room highlight is the oversized ensuites - at 14-square-metres they are said to be the largest in the city. Book an executive balcony king room for the best Vancity views.
The Fairmont Vancouver Airport
3111 Grant McConachie Way.
Accessible from inside the terminal, the Fairmont Vancouver Airport offers the same standard amenities as the rest of the luxury chain with some notable extras – including a “fish valet” service (a freezer set to -15oC to accommodate the many travellers heading home from BC’s popular fishing lodges) and coat and boot check (guest heading to warmer destinations can leave woollies behind to be picked up on return). With a free President’s Club membership, guests receive benefits such as complimentary internet and local calls, and the “Fairmont Fit” package – use of adidas shoes and sportswear, an mp3 player and yoga mat (you can enrol upon check-in). For those just wanting a bit of a freshening up, the pool and health club are open to anyone for a fee of CA$15; you will have to clear Canadian customs to access. Voted #2 hotel in Canada by the Condé Nast Traveler 2009 Readers Choice Awards. Already fully booked for the duration of the Winter Olympics, as most properties in the city are. Twenty minutes from the city centre via the Skytrain.