Even staying just a few days in Vancouver and Okanagan valley is worth the trip from Switzerland.

I know it’s absurd to fly to Vancouver for a week, but as family vacations go… Anyway, it was a brilliant week with lovely weather, nice people, beautiful sights and mostly excellent food. The first night we stayed at the Opus hotel in Yaletown. A boutique hotel right on the corner of Davie and Hamilton street. It has received Forbes four-star-ratings the past five years, but still the hip and trendy look of a few years ago has lost a bit of its flair – especially the bar.

The location of the hotel on the other hand is pretty sweet. Hamilton street is lined with restaurants, that cater to pretty much all paletes. We chose Rodney’s Oyster House as we love sea food and fresh fish. The place was loud and packed. As we had to wait for half an hour, we went back to the bar at the Opus to enjoy a Dry Martini cocktail with the local made Long Table Cucumber Gin. The cocktail was fresh, but the gin didn’t surprise me with a unique taste. Please don’t get me wrong. It was fine, but it didn’t stand out in anyway.

Aah, oysters!

But the food at Rodney’s did. We started with half a dozen local oysters. Our waiter Louis suggested to take a selection. What a brilliant idea. We had three different calibers with very different tastes. Splendid. The hot sauces that go with it, were also worth trying. We then picked our way through a Dungeness crab, just taken from a water tank in the restaurant. Sweet, but boy, do you have to earn your dinner. As will still felt peckish, we added the halibut to the our selection. It comes with a potato crust. Terrific. The Mission Hill chardonnay was not as full-bodied as its French counterparts, but worked nicely.

The next day took us to Okanagan valley, where we visited some family members and some wineries. As my best friend suggested we checked out the Blasted Church vineyards. Set right on the border of Skaha lake the estate is rather small and has a selection of approximately two dozen whites and reds. The branding and storytelling of this winery is extremely well done and followed through on every level. Of course the blasphemous irony wont appeal to everybody, which is quite okay.

As we prefer full-bodied whites we skipped these after the tasting and went for the muscular reds Holy Moly, a pure Petit Verdot, and Nothing Sacred, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. Both are part of Revered Series, the prime choice of Blasted Church wines that are only available at the estate or in the online-shop. With prices of 40 or 45 Canadian Dollar the Blasted Church wines are much more affordable than the Northern brethren, but compared to European wines they will get a run for the money. Anyway Holy Moly and Nothing Sacred are excellent full-bodied reds that will be a great pleasure to enjoy together with a perfectly grilled steak. Unfortunately Blasted Church does not have a restaurant, but does offer a pic-nic-basket with cold cuts and bread that can be accompanied by a glass of wine and a grand view of Skaha lake.

Say hello to the Grey Monk

The other vineyard we visited for dinner was Grey Monk which is way bigger than Blasted Church. The restaurant sports a big terrace with a stunning view on Okanagan lake below. But not only the sight of the ever-changing water is magnificent. The food and the wines are as well. As a first course I chose a salmon and tuna poké, which was tasty and fresh. The Okanagan Grilled Beef Tenderloin Tafelspitz as a main course was cooked to perfection and exceptionally tender. One shouldn’t be put off by the size of the Grey Monk vineyards. Tasting the different wines and eating at the restaurant are a delight.

Back in Vancouver

Back in Vancouver we stayed the second part of our short trip at the Hotel Georgia, that is part of the Rosewood hotel group. Rarely have I experienced such a well run hotel. The staff is not only friendly, but also helpful and knowledgeable. With approx. 150 rooms it still runs under the boutique flag, but has the grandeur of a five star hotel. Dark woods line the lobby, a fascinating work of art just across the hall of the reception desks lets you look twice and doubt your eyes.

The Georgia has the luxury of three bars which are well maintained like the rest of the hotel. The1927 Lobby Bar has like two levels, the lower one is shielded from the entrance hall and lends itself to discrete meetings – in case you need one. The staff is attentive to the degree, that the orders of the day before will be remembered and proposed. The second bar is part of the fabulous Hawksworth restaurant. Here I tried a Dry Martini with B.C.’s own Queensborough Small Batch Gin – fresh, subtle citrus note, a nicely rounded gin.

As luck would have it, we managed to get a table and boy, were we in for a treat. Chef David Hawksworth is a fantastic cook who comes up with original, but not forced combinations of flavours. The first course was a fois gras mousse with a covered with a cranberry jelly. The slight sweet and sour taste harmonized perfectly with the rich flavour of the duck liver. As a main course I went for the halibut, because I knew, that I will have the lobster next evening at Rodney’s.

Riding a bike in Stanley Park

But before going out for dinner I went for a bike ride in Stanley park together with my son. We rented a tandem at Spokes, a shop nearby. The quality of the bike was pretty dreadful especially considering that we at the end of not even three hours had to pay more than 50 Canadian dollars. I strongly suggest to get one of the bikes that are available across the city and take the beautiful ride around Stanley park.

Well, as aforementioned dinner was served at Rodney’s once again. This time around my wife and I shared a dozen super fresh oysters followed by two impressive lobsters served with melted butter, corn on the cob and potatoes. We once again chose the Mission Hill chardonnay, that added a subtle acidity to the seafood. Eating at Rodney’s is a celebration of fresh fish and seafood. It’s a no nonsense cuisine. Straight forward, no fuss.

Shopping, trimming and art

A nice way to start a day is a stroll through Granville Island Public Market, where you can eat breakfast as well, choosing your own bagel, scone or Cornish Pasty. Delightful. The shops surrounding the food hall are worth visiting as well. Out this world is the Broom Company. Sisters Mary and Sarah Schwieger learned to make brooms from their family while growing up in the Kootenay region of BC. The brooms are woven using Shaker methods and are designed to withstand years with regular use. Fantastic.

After day of sightseeing, shopping on Robson, a trip to the Regal Grooming Lounge on Hornby for a beard trim (recommendable) and a manicure (not recommendable) as well as a brief stint at the Art Gallery we were looking forward to the third bar of the Georgia hotel, the Prohibition bar. There is no direct access from the hotel and it only opens from Thursday to Saturday at seven. Unfortunately we couldn’t enjoy our drink there because no minors are allowed in the bar. This I find ridiculous that not even in the company of their parents are kids allowed to got to a bar and drink a glass of soda. So we had another drink a the lobby bar. This time I chose the Empress gin, a lavender colored Victoria gin, that was not only spectacular to look at but subtle in flavor.

We had dinner at the Cin Cin on Robson. Even though I find octopi extremely intelligent and fascinating creatures I chose – with a bad conscience – grilled octopus and chorizo as a starter. There were only two pieces of seafood on the plate, but these were delicious. My mother-in-law would have liked the lamb rare but was informed that they only served it medium-rare to well done. The meat is prepared sous-vide and just gets a final treatment on the wood grill. She therefore swapped to a tender filet steak and was happy. My wife and I went for the ribeye on a bone which was perfectly prepared. This said: The food at the Cin Cin is very nice and there’s nothing wrong with it. But compared with the exquisite tastes and combinations at the Hawksworth it couldn’t hold up. Interestingly the differences in price were not all that big, so if you want to really enjoy good food: Hawksworth is the place.

Vancouver’s dark side

This has certainly not been the last time for us to visit Vancouver. It is a cool town with amazing architecture, great food, lovely people and great places to visit and stay. This said, I have to end with a darker note: On the hop-on-hop-off-bus tour we passed through the downtown eastside. This part of Vancouver looked dreary, like something out of a dystopian movie. Even though Vancouver has – for North American standards – a forward looking program with a supervised heroin injection site, what is going down here reminds me of a zombie movie or what took place in Zurich decades ago right around the corner from where I live: the so called Needle Park and open drug scene below the Kornhaus bridge. Like in my hometown it is sickening to see how in a rich city like Vancouver people seem to have lost all their dignity to drugs and like in San Francisco or Los Angeles having homeless people begging and sleeping on the streets right next to Lamborghinis and posh shopping alleys.

A city and a society has a certain responsibility towards all people. In Zurich we realized this after having gone through the devastating years of the local open drug scene. Changes in drug policy, supervised injection sights and other programs have reduced the problematic drug use drastically. For beautiful cities like Vancouver or San Francisco it is high time to take on the responsibility even if it means to change the repressive drug policy to a more liberal and constructive one.