Western Living May/June 2022 by Canada Wide Media

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Before & After

Gorgeous Renovations, Including This Stunning Beach House in Vancouver

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WESTERN LIVING.CA // GORGEOUS RENOVATIONS MAY/JUNE 2022

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Design Days

HOMES + DESIGN

Trade Secrets

Victoria’s Bidgood brings the wow factor to an arched entryway.

Shopping

Bold kitchenware, serene seating and the hottest summer accessories for the home.

One to Watch

Great Spaces

Amanda Hamilton proves she’s a designer’s designer in her new Calgary office.

FEATURES 22

What Have We Done?

The most honest renovation story you’ll ever read from our very own editor-at-large.

Our annual celebration of folks making good food (and a big impact) in the culinary scene.

FOOD + TRAVEL

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Dreamy on the Beach

A once-awkward seaside home turns functional and beautiful thanks to Measured Architecture.

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114

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The Ultimate B.C. Getaway Guide

We’ve charted the uncharted: here are 21 incredible destinations for you to cross off your summer bucket list.

B.C. & ALBERTA L VOLUME 51 L NUMBER 3

CONTENTS 6

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Sex and the City, meet kitchen. Marrimor shares a sneak peek of this whimsical yet sophisticated space.

Marion Selma Gamba and Ayissi Nyemba: Kyoko Fierro; Amanda Hamilton Studio: Joel Klassen; Aki Kaltenbach: Lillie Louise Major; Omar Mouallem: Aaron Pedersen; condo: Tina Kulic; Mystic Beach: Tourism Vancouver Island

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EDITOR'S NOTE

This month we asked our contributors, What’s your favourite B.C. getaway? Tina Kulic, “What Have We Done?” page 22

Follow Anicka on Instagram @aniqua

Surviving the In-Between

Hornby Island is my favourite summer B.C. getaway. The sand beaches and bioluminescence is enough to keep me coming back again and again. The moment I step onto the ferry I feel like I’m being transported to another world. I even ran into Sarah McLachlan at the market on the way there. What more of a B.C. experience could you ask for?

When we profile renovations in WL, we’re all about the befores and afters: the scary

photos of some ugly duckling of a home followed by the phoenix-like transformation of what it has become in the present day. And we’re all suitably envious of the people who get to live in those gorgeous spaces—while giving little thought to what the in-between process might have been like for them. Our editor-at-large, Stacey McLachlan, has now joined that “after” crew thanks to a pandemic renovation of her Kitsilano condo. But, as she tells us in “What Have We Done?” (page 22), the transformation from a nicotine-stained, ’80s-era shudder of a place to the lovely home she lives in now was anything but straightforward. What was meant to take a max of eight weeks actually ended up taking six months—and plenty of tears were shed along the way. If you followed Stacey’s “Renovation Diaries” on westernliving.ca over this past year, you’ll have laughed and cried along with her (no one tells a story quite like Stacey—she’s also a hilarious improv comedian in her spare time). “There are moments when you realize you are putting your marriage vows to the test over an argument about pot lights,” she writes. “There is a darkness that you didn’t realize lived inside of you until the cabinetmaker and the countertop installers disagree about the laws of physics and refuse to do any further work until you, someone who does not know anything about cabinets or countertops, pick a side.” If you’ve lived through a renovation yourself, I’m sure her tale will resonate—and if you’re considering taking one on in the near future, consider it your preparation manual. Stacey has just returned from maternity leave, and—speaking of long, dark times— we’ve missed her terribly here at the magazine. But now we have a world with her daughter Coco in it, so the wait was worth it. Welcome back, Stacey! May you and your new family adore your new home as much as we love you. (And you’re never allowed to leave us again.)

Dani Wright, “One to Watch” page 18 As a California transplant, I’ve only ever been on one summer getaway in B.C., which means by default Kelowna is my favourite. My partner and I left the city behind for a weekend of wineries, cycling over the Kettle Valley Railway and sitting in the sun with our friends. The best part of the getaway? The feeling of escape.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Photographer Tina Kulic captures our editorat-large Stacey McLachlan at home with baby Coco, while husband Max Mitchell (in the toque) and designer Ben Leavitt of PlaidFox Studio observe behind the scenes. See more of Stacey and Max’s condo on page 22.

VISIT

anicka quin, editorial director anicka.quin@westernliving.ca

Anicka Quin portrait: Evaan Kheraj; styling by Luisa Rino, stylist assistant Araceli Ogrinc; makeup by Melanie Neufeld; outfit courtesy Holt Renfrew, holtrenfrew.com; photographed at the Polygon Gallery

q& A

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The Look: Miles of Tiles

Hallway: Janis Nicolay; portrait: Mary McNeill-Knowles

An entryway can be simply a transitional space—or it can be an opportunity. For Victoria-based designer Kyla Bidgood, the entry in this home with “incredible bones” was the latter, outfitted with gorgeous mirroring archways that Bidgood describes as “begging to be enhanced.” Working with Strong Built, her team painted the doorways in high-contrast black to emphasize the shape against the pristine white walls and to complement the character of the home. Lightweight Non-Random lights from Moooi illuminate the length of the Bouquet 1 tiles to create a true design moment that doesn’t just move you through the home: it’s a space that says, “You’ve arrived.”

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HOMES + DESIGN SHOPPING

Blue’s Clues

There’s something so soothing about the blue hues in Vancouver-based Lineage Ceramics’ latest collection. The full coupe set (from $180) comes with enough entrée plates, bread plates, salad bowls, dessert bowls and party plates for the whole family, all finished in a deep marine glaze. lineageceramics.com

Quick Change

The weather’s warming up, but these lightweight throw blankets (from $378) will keep your space stylish (and not sweaty). The 100-percent cotton throws are hand block printed and reversible. gildandco.com

NOTEWORTHY

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Bench Warmer

Hungry Hungry

If calling luxury furniture “cute” is wrong, we don’t want to be right. Norr11’s aptly named Hippo lounge chair ($2,688) has a playful, organic shape and is available in 24 colours of Barnum bouclé fabric. spencerinteriors.com

Slow and Steady

Life’s too short for boring bookshelves. The Turtle Carry bookcase by Qeeboo ($1,327) is exactly what it sounds like—hidden metal supports create the optical illusion of a turtle hauling a pile of books. arkinteriors.ca

Throw blankets: Tracey Ayton

The BM0488 table bench was first designed by Børge Mogensen in 1958, but it’s just re-launched in fun size. This shorter version ($1,550) has the same solid oak and classic woven seat as the original, and works as a side table or as entryway furniture. kitinteriorobjects.com

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HOMES + DESIGN SHOPPING Editor’s Pick

Porch Perk

Loll’s newly launched Nisswa swing is a modern take on an old-school classic. It comes in both single- and double-seaters ($1,595 and $2,395, respectively) and nine bright hues—perfect for those lazy summer days. grshop.com

Always pan in Acid

from Our Place, $195. fromourplace.com I’d like to take a moment to applaud the bravery it takes to name a kitchen appliance colour “Acid.” Compared to Our Place’s other colourways (think Sage, Steam and Lavender) it’s bold as hell. But when you have a cult favourite product that can replace seven traditional pieces of cookware plus offer a spoon rest, you can afford to be a little cheeky. This electric green pan has become a staple in my kitchen: in fact, we use it so much that it doesn’t have a home in the cupboard. The unapologetically, almost offensively neon Always pan is on the stove, well, always. —Alyssa Hirose, assistant editor

For more editors’ picks visit westernliving.ca

Two Birds

Table Turned

The Androgyne side table (from $950) is crafted from oak and stone, and the design is meant to combine traditional “masculine” and “feminine” elements. (Questioning the gender binary? We’re here for it.) fullhousemodern.com

Surf’s Up

Serene ocean vibes are channelled in the Wave loveseat ($6,160). The vintage-style sofa’s flowy design is as comfy as it looks thanks to high-density polyurethane foam. inspirationfurniture.ca

You can do it all. At least, this lamp can. The Ozz floor lamp ($1,705) from Miniforms is the ultimate space-saver: it’s a light and table in one cool, curvilinear design. dwellmodern.ca

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HOMES + DESIGN ONE TO WATCH

Shape Shifter MARION SELMA GAMBA, ceramicist

On the Move

“Fluidity is very important in my work, so instinctively it’s related to movement,” says Gamba. In her pivot from fashion to ceramics, she maintains a playful touch.

her through a decade-long career as a fashion designer working for brands like Chloé, Balenciaga and Aritzia. But a newfound love for hand-built ceramics has taken her in a very different direction. “I was doing ceramics on the side, taking night classes at community centres,” Gamba recalls. Unlike the stressful, fast-paced world of fashion, she says, ceramics offered an environment she didn’t feel judged in. “It was just about emotion and creativity,” says Gamba. Right before the COVID-19 pandemic, the designer launched her ceramics brand, A Deumain. “À demain means ‘see you tomorrow’ in French,” she explains, “but to me it also means looking to the future. It’s sort of a reflection, thinking about what is next and how we can make life better.” Her sculptures focus on fluidity and movement with organic shapes and a textural feel. “Art and design are very connected together. I create bridges between disciplines and my world,” explains Gamba. Her new line of free-flowing bowls highlights this connection, and hearkens back to her fashion roots. “I wanted a sculptural object that is bold and curvy but feels light, like fabric does,” she says. Gamba’s goal is to invoke an emotional response through her abstract but functional sculptures. “I believe that objects bring some meaning to people, and right now what we need is emotion,” she says. She uses two types of stoneware clay to create her organic

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pieces, but paramount to their unique look are the glazes that she makes herself. No two objects are exactly the same. “It’s a dialogue between the material, the shape I have in mind and myself,” Gamba explains. “The forms I create are organic and sculptural—in a way, they mirror the body and its movement.”—Dani Wright

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Designer Marion Selma Gamba’s eye for movement carried

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OFFICE PARTY

Amanda Hamilton’s Calgary studio is daring design in action.

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Home and Away

Inspired by stays around the world (think the Hotel San Cristóbal in Mexico and Hôtel Les Roches Rouges in the south of France), Hamilton went for a sophisticated but relaxed vibe in her Calgary office.

The office bursts with personality, but also opportunity: the studio’s banquette seating shows off a variation of degrees of cushion firmness for clients to test out. The baseboards, millwork and casings throughout the space exhibit different design details, and the 14-foot sample wall is full of materials for clients to see and touch. “Seeing those in person is super valuable,” says Hamilton. Even though it’s a workplace, the project’s distinct details and playful touches give it a decidedly homey vibe. “We took a residential approach to this, so it feels less corporate and more cozy and cool,” the designer says.—Alyssa Hirose

Find more inspiring spaces at westernliving.ca

Joel Klassen

“Do we design this for our clients, or do we design this for ourselves?” That was the first question Amanda Hamilton and her team asked as they set out to build the new Amanda Hamilton Interior Design office in Calgary. “Part of it was showcasing what we are capable of to our clients,” explains Hamilton, “but ultimately we just wanted a space we could come into and enjoy every single day.” The office needed to be inspirational, aspirational and educational. And you know what they say: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single tile. It was the mosaic marble in the reception area that set the mood for the space. “We fell in love with it, and selected everything around it,” says Hamilton. The multi-blend geometric tile is all natural, and the colours informed the rest of the room: terracotta for the armchairs, green marble for the reception desk. The 10-foot fiddle-leaf was sourced from Instagram—“You cannot buy these things anywhere!” Hamilton notes. The natural-but-daring design continues in the main studio space, where different wood tones work in harmony. Hickory tables (almost regulation ping-pong size, thanks for asking) sit atop European white oak floors, and warm cabinetry provides both display space and storage for office necessities. The boardroom pays homage to the creative director’s personal love of 1970s Italian vintage—think funky pink ceramic lights and curvilinear red chairs with textured upholstered seat pads. Hamilton’s personal office is sectioned off with a New York loft-style wall made of metal and glass and splashed with a black and cream Kelly Wearstler wallpaper.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

Our editor-at-large knew better than to tackle a renovation… but she did it anyway. by Stacey M c Lachlan // photographs by Tina Kulic // styling by Ben leavitt

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Happy Now

Our editor-at-large, Stacey McLachlan, sits with husband Max Mitchell and daughter Coco in their newly renovated condo—an experience that saw its challenges, to say the least. The built-in birch plywood bench (designed by PlaidFox Studio and executed by Sofo Kitchens) has a hinged seat, offering additional storage. The Column dining table in ash from Union Wood Co. seats up to eight. On the opposite page, Sofo Kitchens crafted custom kitchen cabinets in Benjamin Moore’s Shady Lane and with birch plywood. The backsplash is from Concrete Collaborative, and the countertop is Caesarstone.

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HOMES + DESIGN WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

’ve been working with Western Living since 2010, and over

that time I’ve probably written hundreds of renovation stories. I’ve covered makeovers big and small, interviewed homeowners and designers about both “money is no object” dreams and tight-budget beauties, and invented a very rowdy drinking game based on the phrase “The house had good bones.” Here’s what I’ve learned along the way: a renovation is always— always—a nightmare. Things go wrong. It always takes more time and money than planned. Even for designers and architects who deal with these sorts of projects all the time, it’s never smooth sailing. And yet, last winter, I somehow decided it would be a good idea to try a renovation of my own. In my defence, the pandemic prompted many of us to make some crazy decisions: some of us cut our own bangs, others bought terrible apartments. Potato, poh-tahto! Around month eight of working from home, my husband Max and I started hunting for a condo with a little more space, and in the process we stumbled across a priced-to-move, 850-square-foot unit in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. We saw nicotine-stained walls, carpeting destroyed by what I can only assume were some very ill cats, curling linoleum, lighting and closet doors dangling from their fixtures... and we also saw potential. (Well, I saw potential. Max took one step in the door during the open house and turned right back around to wait in the hallway.) Sure, I knew that a renovation would take some blood, sweat and tears, but an opportunity was knocking to save hundreds of thousands on the

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Chill Zone

The awkward shape of the living room made deciding on a layout tough, but ultimately the couple went with designer Ben Leavitt’s suggestion to just block off the patio door with a royal blue Replay sectional from EQ3. (The patio can be accessed from either of the bedrooms.) They spray-painted the gold detailing of the gas fireplace black, and installed oversized vertical tiles from Tierra Sol around it. Vancouver Special chairs at the table and by the hearth offer additional seating.

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HOMES + DESIGN WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

“renovating is always —always—a nightmare. Things go wrong. It always takes more time and money than planned.”

Curves Ahead

Max’s father was able to craft a perfect drywall circle detail onto the bedroom wall, and the couple added vinyl decals from Urban Walls. Sofo Kitchens built the salmon-coloured side table here, just visible on the other side of the bed, with a Muuto lamp from Vancouver Special. The wall-mounted light is a classic Herman Miller design, sourced from Lightform.

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

During

Before

During

It’s a Process

Custom terrazzo countertops from Paragon Surfacing are a quieter neutral to the bold mustard cabinets in the bathroom (left). The faucet is a matte white Rubinet number—a match to a beloved favourite blue faucet in the kitchen. Accessories here are courtesy of Vancouver Special. Oversized confettiprint tiles from Mutina grace the floor. The plumbing work was done by C&C Electrical Mechanical. “The condo went through a lot of changes— and we weren’t sorry to say goodbye to the carpet in the bedroom,” says Stacey.

typical Vancouver condo ticket price and have an excuse to buy a cool dining room light fixture. Designer Ben Leavitt, principal of PlaidFox Studio, was game to help us with the design; Max’s dad, Paul, was both a skilled amateur handyman and very retired. We could toss our furniture into storage, crash with my mom in the suburbs for a couple of months and be living in our dream condo in Kits in no time. Leavitt drafted up an exciting, colourful concept for the space. We’d open up the kitchen by knocking out the upper cabinets, and double the depth of the countertop to create an island-like effect (though it would technically be a peninsula) with a breakfast bar and cabinets on the backside. A long plywood built-in bench (complete with storage) would run the length of the living space so that we could tuck the dining table closer to the wall. The cabinetry would be a mix of birch plywood and olive green, while the fireplace across the room would be decked out in a floor-to-ceiling grid of oversized dusty blue and white rectangular tiles. In the bathroom, the plan was for mustard-yellow cabinets with a custom

terrazzo countertop and walls covered in white squares with black grout; in the bedroom, a circular drywall cut-out would create a unique architectural focal point behind the headboard. We fell in love with the plan (Who wouldn’t? Mustard cabinets? Get real!) and took the plunge. We sold our apartment and packed up our U-Haul storage boxes... and spent the next six months covered in drywall dust and taking turns having mental breakdowns. Listen, I know how privileged we are to have gotten to tackle this project at all. I am so grateful for how much time we got to spend with our parents and how much help we received. But it was also a dark, dark time. There is a unique despair associated with getting a phone call from the tiler telling you that the splurge-y Italian floor tile you bought for the bathroom shattered upon installation, and mental health professionals are not talking about it enough. There are moments when you realize you are putting your marriage vows to the test over an argument about pot lights. There is a darkness that you didn’t realize lived inside of you until the cabinetmaker and

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2022

HOMES + DESIGN WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

the countertop installers disagree about the laws of physics and refuse to do any further work until you, someone who does not know anything about cabinets or countertops, pick a side. I cried multiple times. I snapped at my very kind and helpful mother regularly. I was... not my best. But as low as the lows were, the highs were high. When the pieces finally came together, it was downright magical. There is no living room floor as beautiful as one snapped together by your own husband and his dad, and the crossword-puzzle-like tiles in your bathroom look even more dazzling when you know intimately the work that went into waterproofing the wall behind them. Scrubbing the bubbling nicotine out of the stained blue walls and covering them with a fresh coat of crisp white? Pure before-and-after satisfaction. Running our bright blue kitchen faucet, dimming our Scandi-chic lights, performing a Rorschach test with the pattern on our kitchen backsplash tile: each was a moment of design joy that suggested some light appearing at the end of the tunnel. We moved in August 1—five and a half months after the chaos began. And, luckily, the longer we live here, the further away we get from those moments of regret and unhappiness, and the more we nestle in to the appreciation of the final product: the magic of the human brain. (I guess it’s the same psychological function that tricks people into having more than one kid?) Yes, Max continues to give tours of the apartment with a thematic focus of “Look How Sloppy the Baseboards Are,” but we’re ultimately proud of how things turned out. We made it through, and now I cook in our beautiful green kitchen with joy, eat my cereal at our oversized countertop, play elaborate bird-themed board games around our custom Union Wood Co. table, write this very article in my terrazzo-wallpapered home office. We turned an opportunity into a home. (Well, mostly Max and Paul and the tradespeople: I just did a lot of emailing and weeping.) Would I do it again? No. But only because we managed to create a place I can’t imagine wanting to leave.

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

THE RENOVATION DIARIES Over the course of the spring and summer, editor-at-large Stacey McLachlan kept a detailed account of the action (and her psychic unravelling), week-by-week. Read the full account at westernliving.ca. WEEK 1: “We had assumed initially that we would get a demolition team to gut the place, but when we got the quote, Max’s dad made us an intriguing counter-offer of ‘do it yourself, you Millennial goons.’ (Not literally, but this was inarguably the subtext.) So, this week, we have become both Surrey residents and our own wrecking crew.” WEEK 3: “There are so many micro-decisions to make every day. I thought once we had the plan in place, it would just be like putting together an Ikea Kallax unit (or, in a worst-case scenario, like an Ikea Malm bed): step by step, along a clear and mutually understood plan, maybe with a few arguments about which Allen key to use, just to keep things spicy. Instead, there are so many little things that we forgot to make a decision about that keep coming up. Have you ever thought about where baseboard heaters come from? Me neither. I feel dumb almost every day.” WEEK 4: “The apartment is either starting to smell better, or I’ve coated the inside of my sinuses with such a fine layer of plaster dust that cigarette stench can no longer permeate it. I wear a mask when I’m there but I tend to collect dust I bring with me, like I’m cosplaying as Pigpen.” WEEK 5: “It’s plumbing day! It’s plumbing day! It feels like Christmas, except Santa is arriving in a tub, not a sleigh, and the presents are also the tub. Though I won’t be getting hands-on with this particular stage of the renovation, I do feel like I’ve played my part. The emotional labour of hassling the plumbing distributor for five days straight to confirm a delivery date cannot be undersold here.” WEEK 7: “When people ask me if we have a ‘move in day’ or ‘what’s the timeline looking like,’ I just cut them out of my life. It’s easier this way.”

WEEK 10: “Our talented and very patient cabinetmaker, Radu at Sofo Kitchens, gave us a panel to show us the final colour. It’s propped up on our bedside table, like it’s a photo of our daughter and we’re a cop in a ’90s movie who needs a reminder of what the hell we’re doing all this for.” WEEK 11: “We wanted the wall in the kitchen down. No one was 100-percent certain that was safe, though I was 100-percent certain it was aesthetically necessary. This brought us to a bit of an impasse. The fine folks at Alair Homes came to look inside the ceiling and gave us the thumbs-up from a structural engineer, bringing peace to the kingdom. Now we just have one neat-and-tidy post and very nice, open sightlines from the kitchen to the hall, and my upstairs neighbours have not fallen through the ceiling even once.” WEEK 12: “The ceiling has been lovingly spackled and smoothed by a friend of a friend whose first name is Ray and whose last name I can’t recall but it probably should be Michelangelo because this damn thing is more beautiful (though admittedly more minimalist) than the Sistine Chapel. (It turns out that it’s impossible to take a good photo of a ceiling, but please believe me when I say: this is a true work of art.)”

Work Party

In the soon-to-be office, the couple opted for Terrazzo wallpaper from Anewall—a fun Zoom backdrop for now, but perfect for when the space converts to a kid’s bedroom. New doors, trim and baseboards were courtesy of Metrie.

WEEK 14: “Four absolutely giant Mutina tiles for the bathroom floor are delicately stacked in the closet after four incredibly high-stakes journeys hauling them up in the elevator. (Somehow they were at once ultra-heavy and heart-stoppingly fragile? What is up over there in Italy?)” WEEK 16: “Max stepped on his dad’s hands four times this week as they were laying the floor and now suddenly his parents are going to Powell River for the week—I do not think this is a coincidence.” WEEK 17: “The countertop installers showed up only to inform us a cabinet piece was sticking out 1/8th of an inch in the wrong spot, so they had to cut their visit short and the whole rest of the carefully calibrated ‘Week of Progress/Road to Victory’ we had planned just crumpled before my eyes, like a literal house of cards or the production of the television show House of Cards.” WEEK 18: “Tile Guy Dan has probably spent more time at the apartment than we have at this point. He is doing a bang-up job though, and has a lot of very good ideas about how to make things more practical that we ignore.” WEEK 20: “When we put in the baseboards, we discovered that about 20 percent of the walls are bowed. (Though, on the bright side: what a great hands-on way for any young masochists out there to learn about both fulcrums and futility!)” WEEK 22: “This weekend, we had the dubious honour of celebrating our five-month renovation-aversary. That’s a pace of 5.5 square feet per day, which, honestly, feels correct. I don’t know if there’s a Tortoise and the Hare-like fable where the protagonist is just slow and steady the whole time—The Banana Slug Who Napped So Hard He Died? Is that one?”

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DREAMY ON THE BEACH Rescued from demolition, this formerly ’80s-era beach house now offers a lesson in flow, functionality— and beautiful modern design. by amanda ross photographs by ema peter

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Space Suits

“We never want to have that spot where someone could say there’s a transition from old to new, or a previous space,” says architect Piers Cunnington of Measured. They worked with the homeowners to rescue the vintage home, rather than send it to the landfill.

the pantheon of great architecture eras, rarely do the 1980s crack the top 10.

Heck, even the top 100 might be a stretch thanks to the decade’s love affair with glass block and peach stucco exteriors, the two design hallmarks that were as ubiquitous as the power suit and the shoulder pad. But for one Vancouver couple, the purchase of a 1980s waterfront house inspired them to not only preserve its underappreciated period elements, but to actually pay homage to them. The Beach House started life in the early-1990s

as the Skinny House, due to its original, ultracompact 19-foot-wide-lot and 3,000-square-foot total footprint. Originally crafted as a city initiative for a laneway infill, the home sat on a long and razor-thin piece of land that was eventually merged with a neighbouring lot in 2012, which gave way to its current 45-foot width. When the homeowners purchased the newly widened property, they could have opted to tear the small house down. Instead, they chose to renovate. “The original house was exceptionally designed,” says architect Piers

westernliving.ca / m a y / j u n e

2022

HOMES + DESIGN DREAMY ON THE BEACH

Open Spaces

In the kitchen, pantry and powder room, white oak millwork echoes the other spaces, while the red cedar lining the ceiling of the kitchen helps keep the lower height from feeling closed-in.

Before

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

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HOMES + DESIGN DREAMY ON THE BEACH

Cunnington of Measured Architecture, who, along with business partner Clinton Cuddington, signed on to shepherd the process. “Fifty percent of Vancouver’s landfill is housing [waste], so both we and our client were looking for a way to keep the house out of the garbage,” says Piers. “There were a lot of valuable assets inside so we worked to preserve and protect the things that were working while integrating an addition that would improve its size, flow and functionality.” The original house featured a stunning white stone fireplace with carved First Nation designs, a light-filled glass staircase and a shape that could work well with an add-on. One of the biggest challenges the architects faced was ensuring that the addition and the original home would come together in a single, homogenous design. With a new space stitched on to the original envelope, the size more than doubled, to 5,600 square feet. “We didn’t want a 2018 design sitting next to a 1980s design,” says Piers. To boot, the home had undergone an early-2000s renovation by renowned interior designer Robert Ledingham—which, while offering myriad beautiful details, also added to the list of features that would all need to integrate seamlessly. Because Skinny House was so long and thin, the architects were contending with 80 feet of solid wall between the existing house and the new portion. The duo sought to create openness between

Sound Machine

A polished white oak bench topped with concrete serves both as useful fireplace seating and as an AV zone with its integrated fabric-covered speaker. “It also creates a uniform line as you move through the living and dining room,” says Piers. The Shepherd’s Chair by Vancouver-based Hinterland serves up the perfect fireside chat.

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

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HOMES + DESIGN DREAMY ON THE BEACH

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m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

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HOMES + DESIGN DREAMY ON THE BEACH

Beach Time

Beachgrass bridges the house and sea where a faceted Corten steel retaining wall—designed by landscape architect Paul Sangha for a previous owner—keeps the beach from eroding.

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

“The original house was exceptionally designed. Fifty per cent of Vancouver’s landfill is housing [waste], so both we and our client were looking for a way to keep the house out of the garbage.” Before

efore

Builder: Keystone; Landscape: Considered Design

Before

the old and new by adding large openings, while ensuring that each room had enough autonomy to feel cozy on its own. Most of the plumbing was kept within the original portion of the house; the stairs and kitchen were also left in place and updated. “One of the fascinating things about these types of renovations is that they give you strong footholds to leap from, which leads to outcomes you would never design from the outset,” says Clinton. To wit: a powder room on the main floor that features a skylight wedged into a tight, diagonal space. “I never would have designed that on a blank piece of paper, but it’s kind of a fabulous space,” says Piers. “You’ve got great light and a window out to the west—it’s like a charm that comes out of the geometry of the existing residence.” The homeowner was seeking a casual, easy feel that evoked a beach house. “He came to us showing pictures of cabins and beach houses that weren’t fussy,” says Clinton. “He wanted to be able to walk in with sandy feet.” The architects opted for concrete floors for easy clean-up, but brought in the softness and warmth of wood for cozy contrast. Comb-faced stained western red cedar panelling on the walls, ceiling and exterior soffits nod to the classic West Coast architecture of places like California’s Sea Ranch, while strategically placed white drywall offers visual respite and pulls the eye toward the view. From the outside, no one would be the wiser that this stunning, metal-clad modern beach house sprang from the ’80s. “That original building is in there somewhere,” says Clinton. “But this project worked to gift-wrap the old form.”

H O M E ACC E S S O R I E S W I T H P E R S O N A L I T Y 2 7 1 7 G R A N V I L L E S T. / T 6 0 4 .8 0 6 .0 5 10 / D E TA I L S B Y M R K .CO M

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HAVAN FEATURE

HAVAN AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED The Homebuilders Association Vancouver (HAVAN) Awards for Housing Excellence winners were announced on April 30 at the JW Marriott Parq Hotel in Vancouver.

PROJECT: SQUAMISH DEEP ENERGY RETROFIT – COAST ESSENTIAL CONSTRUCTION

n exclusive industry event, special guests at the 2022 Havan Awards included Honourable David Eby, Attorney General and Minister responsible for housing

The Step Code’s influence on home building projects is clear. It is raising the bar for higher performance homes with advanced techniques and technologies, resulting in improved energy efficiencies, consistent comfort, and better indoor air quality for the homeowner. “It is exciting to see the broad variety of archetypes winning awards," says HAVAN CEO, Ron Rapp. "From innovative laneway homes to character renovations,

luxurious ultra modern houses, and the full spectrum of multi-family developments in between, the HAVAN Awards showcase our members’ best in housing.” Celebrating the 13th annual awards season, 33 builders and designers were awarded 61 prestigious HAVAN Awards Rapp says the awards are about more than honouring the incredible work of Vancouver’s best design and build professionals—they are also a great means through which homeowners can be inspired, get renovation ideas, and connect with award-winning professional designers, builders, and contractors. Continued on page 45

Created by the Canada Wide Media advertising department in partnership with HAVAN

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2014 - 2020

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AFTER

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FullPage

Congratulations FINALISTS & WINNERS

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RENOVATION DESIGN & CUSTOM HOME INSPIRATION! PHOTO: COAST ESSENTIAL CONSTRUCTION BEST RENOVATION: OVER $1 MILLION

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HAVAN FEATURE

PROJECT: SQUAMISH DEEP ENERGY RETROFIT – COAST ESSENTIAL CONSTRUCTION

“Finalists and winners are chosen by a peer-reviewed panel of awardwinning builders, renovators, and designers drawn from across the country through a rigorous judging process,” he says. Judges are selected from outside the Lower Mainland area to assure objectivity, and project entries do not disclose any corporate branding. Each award is based on a specific set of criteria noting the scope of the build or renovation needs to match the category criteria, such as meeting the client’s needs, vision, and expectations. “Creativity, innovative design, and efficient use of space, including changes to layout are also

considered,” Rapp says. “Additional key points include compatibility of existing and/or new structure and materials, quality workmanship and finishing details, and construction details, materials, and techniques that reflect industry best practices.” The judges also consider techniques for achieving higher thresholds of energy efficiency and lower carbon footprint, as well as improved comfort, liveability, indoor air quality, and health.

“It is important to consider highperformance benefits to realize energy savings, improved livability—including year-round comfort, no more drafty homes, improved air indoor quality and better sleep—and resilience,” Rapp says. “Wall assemblies, windows, doors, and cladding are all superior in a HP build, along with the air and vapour transfer and insulation specifications. HP homes provide value now and into the future while making a positive contribution to climate action.”

In fact, high-performance (HP) building was a key theme driving year’s event. HAVAN finalists exhibited a number of features in their projects that demonstrate the importance of considering high-performance in every new build and renovation.

“The HAVAN Awards showcase the creativity, innovation, and best works of our member designers, builders, renovators, trades, and suppliers,” Rapp says. “They highlight the positive legacy of their products and work for their clients, their team, their business, Continued on page 49

2022-05-02 11:18 AM

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MODERN. LUXE. YOU. Luxuriously liveable interiors for the busy professional Let your home be your sanctuary

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HAVAN FEATURE

PROJECT: LIVING SQUARED – A.W. KENNEDY CONSTRUCTION INC.

the community, and the residential construction industry. Congratulations to the 2022 winners!” PM

Read on to discover HAVAN Award winners in the Renovation categories. Visit havan.ca for a complete list of winners in all 61 categories. WINNER: Best Renovation: Over $1 Million; Best Energy Labelled Home: Whole Home Renovation Project: SQUAMISH DEEP ENERGY RETROFIT see photos pgs 40,45 Builder: Coast Essential Construction Image Credit: submitted by Coast Essential Construction Updating this 1980s home to a Net-Zero PassiveHaus standard was top-of-mind for the homeowner’s when deciding to renovate to maximize the mountain/ocean views by combining

disconnected small rooms into a greatroom, entertainment-friendly home.

construction), and it is a case study for future renovations under this program.

The size of the rear entertainmentdeck, now doubled, features a twosided infinity-edge pool plus hot tub. The 12-foot sliding doors provide seamless flow with dining/family room to the great outdoors. Existing rough beams wrapped in whitewashed vertical-grain fir match doors and allow full-height corner windows for unobstructed views. A white interior palette creates a gallery ambience allowing the client to showcase an extensive art collection.

WINNER: Best Renovation: $200,000 - $399,999 Project: LIVING SQUARED Builder: A.W. Kennedy Construction Inc. Image Credit: submitted by A.W. Kennedy Construction Inc.

This project is BuiltGreen Platinum and Mercier green certified. This is the first renovation project completed under Vancouver’s stringent ZEBx (Zero-Emissions Building Plan for new

Architectural beauty emerges in this seamless addition renovation focused on creating overall synergy of the home’s interior and exterior finishings, while creating a new master suite and office space. After completely removing the old, dilapidated, asbestos-ridden addition, the original form was reimagined in structural steel, allowing more space above and below with modifications to the layout. The redesign moved the master Continued on page 50

2022-05-02 11:23 AM

HAVAN FEATURE

PROJECT: STILL LIFE – SGDI

bedroom occupying the main space, allowing a walk-in closet, ensuite, and ancillary office, and created a ground level office below next to the mixedspace use area below the seemingly floating mass. Identical flooring was matched from the original house and continued through into the new space. Original window manufacture from a previous renovation was located and used. Modern rainscreen, integrated with the old cedar cladding, was matched and the entire house repainted, making the new addition indistinguishable from the original home. WINNER: Best Kitchen and Great Room Renovation; Best Interior Design Renovated Residence Project: STILL LIFE Builder: Best Builders Ltd. – GRAND HAVAN Renovator of the Year

Designer: Sarah Gallop Design Inc – GRAND HAVAN Designer of the Year Image Credit: Submitted by SGDI Wrapped in windows, this home’s newly renovated, stunning, openconcept space is flooded in natural light. The centrally located, luxury, linear kitchen is designed as clean sophisticated space for functional easy family cooking and perfectly planned for entertaining. The homeowners’ keen artistic eye made cohesive aesthetic appeal a high priority. Glass, concrete, and warm wooden beams create a contemporary west coast ambiance, with white flat-panel cabinetry off-set by walnut detailing and black powder-coated hardware for added sophistication. Light concrete floors unite the surrounding spaces, keeping the contemporary, casual vibe.

WINNER: Best Renovation: $400,000 - $699,999; Best Kitchen Renovation: $75,000 - $150,000; Best Townhouse/Condominium Renovation: $250,000 and Over Project: HIGH ABOVE see photos pg 55 Builder: Vertical Grain Projects Image Credit: Submitted by Vertical Grain Projects Transforming this 2,000-squarefoot penthouse into a stunning state-of-the-art home ensures yearround entertaining with ease. The designer kitchen features a onepiece, precast-concrete island with integrated double-sink, wine-fridge, microwave, and recycle centre that was craned to 18th floor and rolled into place, requiring the balcony to be temporarily removed. A dysfunctional secondary bedroom Continued on page 55

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DesignTalks

CREATING A LEGACY PROJECT What goes into the planning and designing of homes intended for multi-generations of use? Join editorial director Anicka Quin as she discusses the topic with renowned interior designers Jennifer Heffel and Alex McFadyen of Vancouver’s HB Design. Expect to see some great projects they’ve designed!

SPEAKERS Jennifer Heffel, BID RID Owner and Principal Interior Designer, HB Design Jennifer has been practicing interior design since 1988. It has been said, “Jennifer has the rare ability to understand aesthetic tastes intuitively and translate them into the design.” She is the guiding hand over the HB team ensuring all projects follow HB’s highest professional standards, and her expert design mark is stamped on every project. Alex McFadyen, CBA CID

Lead Interior Designer, HB Design Alex joined HB Design after completing her Residential Design training at BCIT. Alex’s interests lay in the complexities of interior space planning combined with the softer decoration of a home to create impactful environments. She has a talented & creative eye for putting together finishes, fabrics, and furniture. Alex’s goal is to ensure the client feels they are standing in their dream home upon conclusion of each project.

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DESIGNS BY KS

partnered up with Furtado Contracting to transform the main floor of this Greater Vancouver classic home. Also referred to as the “Vancouver Special” this style of home was popular in the 60’s-80’s and has been re-decorated and renovated ever since.

LAYOUT DETAILS: By eliminating the wall between the dining room and kitchen, and reducing the length of the hallway, we were able to create a large, open concept space. The previous u-shape kitchen turned into a large galley kitchen, which allowed us to incorporate an island with seating for four. We relocated the appliances to the outside wall, leaving the opposite wall for a large pantry space to store all the necessities from food to cleaning supplies. We designed a niche, as a focal point, to break up the span of tall cabinets which is used for a coffee & bar serving area. On the far end of the kitchen, we snuck in a narrow cabinet that has been designed to act as a mudroom; a place for shoes and jackets near the back door. MATERIAL DETAILS: The living room and foyer received an upgrade with new flooring, light fixtures and paint. In the kitchen, woodgrain cabinets made from durable laminate are paired with painted materials. A 1” shaker door painted in our favourite Benjamin Moore “Silver Satin” is seen on the upper cabinets only. This special detail is complimented with bronze knobs by Marathon Hardware. For the pantry wall, we decided to use a white painted slab door instead of the shaker. The lack of detail on the cabinet door helped off set the weight of the millwork. The island is painted in Benjamin Moore “Black Pepper”, paired with bronze hardware by Marathon Hardware. The countertop; Silestone’s “Et. Calacatta Gold”, Quartz is a go-to material if maintenance is not your thing! There are so many possibilities in the layout of a Vancouver Special. We’ve had the pleasure to have designed a few of them. For more information be sure to visit us designsbyks.com @designsby_ks

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HAVAN FEATURE

PROJECT: HIGH ABOVE – VERTICAL GRAIN PROJECTS

door beside the stove was closed off, creating an eight-foot counter extension now connecting to the pantry wall. As a bonus, the design enhances traffic flow and creates additional storage and counter space. The enclosed, concrete staircase to the rooftop deck feels airy and light with new glassrailings. Upstairs, the small alcove is reinvented as a “secret” sports den/wine bar with a sophisticated black-on-black palette. An adjacent three-piece bathroom features a herringbone backsplash, concrete

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vessel-sink, and backlit custom mirror. The rooftop deck is ready to rock’n’roll in every season with a fully-equipped barbecue kitchen, al fresco dining table, low-maintenance Astro turf lawn, and jaw-dropping ocean and cityscape views. The highlight is a much-loved, outdoor theatre lounge with a gas firepit, sectional seating, and all-weather umbrella. When not in use, the 105-inch TV screen suspended on structuralsteel frame retracts invisibly into the concrete surround. n

Learn more: HAVAN.ca/awards

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Langley Showroom 20670 Langley Bypass Opening June 2022

iStock/Angelina Bambina

It’s our 15th Annual celebration of the farmers, chefs, activists, owners, authors and more who make the West the very best place to be for food lovers. by Neal M c Lennan and Dani Wright

westernliving.ca / m a y / j u n e

2022

Aki Kaltenbach,

Save da Sea, Victoria When Save da Sea founder Aki Kaltenbach transitioned to a plant-based lifestyle with her partner in 2018, she made it her mission to find the “Beyond” of seafood—both for herself and to serve to customers at her family’s Japanese restaurant in Whistler. The search turned up no viable options—so Kaltenbach decided to create her own recipe. The result: Save da Sea’s now-mainstay carrotbased smoked salmon alternative. “I always wanted to be an entrepreneur,” says Kaltenbach, “and Save da Sea sort of fell into my lap.” Originally intended as a brand that would cater exclusively to restaurants, Save da Sea pivoted to retail during the pandemic and, luckily for us, Kaltenbach hasn’t looked back. While you can still try their products at select restaurants in Vancouver, retail is now the company’s primary outlet, with availability in 200 stores nationwide. And in March of this year, Save da Sea launched two new products: a dill and caper version of that carrot lox, and a tuna salad made from jackfruit. According to Kaltenbach, Save da Sea makes “delicious plant-based seafood products that are better for you and our planet.” Many of B.C.’s wild salmon stocks are declining to historic lows. But thanks to Save da Sea, we now have the opportunity to enjoy the same flavours we know and love without harming fish stocks— so we can, well, save the seas.

Q&&A

Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles. Matthew Kenney is my hero.

What ingredient scares home cooks, but shouldn’t? I have never understood why anyone would ever buy pre-made salad dressing. All you need is vinegar, oil, mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper and you have the most delicious vinaigrette.

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Lillie Louise Major

Where would you love to eat once travel is back to normal?

Aaron Pedersen

Omar Mouallem, The Last Baron, Edmonton It was 2013, and Edmonton writer (and, full disclosure, former WL contributor) Omar Mouallem had hopped into his car to drive across Alberta and chase down a story/obsession about a quirky regional chain called Burger Baron. Like with all of Mouallem’s work, the resulting article blended riveting storytelling with a dash of the oddities of life and a slice of a deeper subtext that was both personal (his family owned a Burger Baron franchise in High Prairie) and broader (how the Lebanese diaspora became attracted to the chain). In the years following the article’s publication, Mouallem’s stature kept growing—several books published, bylines in The New Yorker—but the story behind Burger Baron never left him. The pursuit ultimately culminated with him stepping behind the camera and, in the middle of a pandemic, creating a documentary. The Last Baron is a visual deep dive into the chain’s origin story, and the original short doc that screened on CBC received such acclaim that a full-length feature—set to debut in late 2022 and now titled The Lebanese Burger Mafia—is now in post-production.

Q&&A

What’s the most useless tool in the kitchen?

The bread-maker. Some foolish hubris convinced me I had time to make my own bread, and that I could best the $4 loaf at the deli two blocks away. Nothing enjoyable has ever come out of that machine in the five years I’ve owned it.

Best movie scene dealing with food? At the risk of getting cancelled, I’d have to say that the lobster boiling scene between Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in Annie Hall was so perfectly improvised. I’ve never seen better chemistry between two people and a crustacean. Interestingly, it was the first scene they shot for the movie. It’s just too bad that, well, you know…

Once travel is fully up and running, where’s the one restaurant you’d love to travel to? I still daydream about the most epic mezze I ever had at Damas, an upscale Syrian restaurant in Montreal that is truly one-of-a-kind.

westernliving.ca / m a y / j u n e

2022

Q&&A

What ingredient scares home cooks, but shouldn’t? Ghost peppers.

Your perfect dessert? Lava cake (or fondant au chocolat in French).

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Poplar Grove The Legacy Building a Legacy

Ayissi Nyemba,

THE LEGACY 2017

Emkao Foods, Mission

Gold - 93 pts.

Kyoko Fierro

Best in Show

Starting a business is always a tricky endeavour. Doing it as a recent immigrant only compounds that difficulty. Add to that the mission to manage your business according to the highest level of ethical and sustainable standards? Well, now we’re in truly rarefied territory. But when Ayissi Nyemba emigrated to Canada from Cameroon via France in 2015, she already had generations of family behind her who had farmed cacao in the equatorial African country. So, after settling down here, she added chocolate maker and professional chocolatier certifications from École Chocolat in Vancouver to that lineage. With this combined experience, she set about launching Emkao Foods—B.C.’s first single source, traceable and sustainable chocolate purveyor. Emkao makes cocoa ingredients from organic beans imported from Nyemba’s family farm, then sells it directly to local companies like Dolce Amore to use in their products. The business model not only keeps pricing sustainable, it also allows Emkao to take a more active role in directly supporting female workers and business owners all along the supply chain.

2021 London Wine Awards THE LEGACY 2016 Gold - 96 pts.

2020 Decanter World Wine Awards THE LEGACY 2015 Gold - 91 pts.

2020 London Wine Awards THE LEGACY 2014 Winner

The 2018 Judgment of BC THE LEGACY 2013 Double Gold - 95 pts.

2017 San Francisco International Wine Competition

WWW.POPLARGROVE.CA WWW.POPLA .POPLARGROVE.CA

Q&&A

Concorde Entertainment Group, Calgary There are the chain restaurants (consistent, dependable) and there are the independents (quirky, but maybe hit-or-miss), and never the twain shall meet—or so the conventional wisdom would have you believe. But if a friend were visiting Calgary and you wanted to draw up a list of must-hit spots for them, it’s pretty likely that your roster would be heavy on rooms that have been touched by Martin’s oversight as culinary director of special projects: Model Milk, Major Tom, Pigeonhole. And so on. And that wouldn’t even hit on the rooms that lie farther afield, like the top of the Calgary Tower, for pete’s sake! One fact that underscores this unstoppable march is that, between the time we longlisted Martin for this award (thanks to the success of Major Tom, the Concorde Group’s 18 th venue to open) and the time that you’re reading this, the team has actually opened yet another new spot. But it’s the rooms under Martin’s purview that each inspire in their own, unique ways that belie the fact that they have him as a common thread—a testament to someone who knows enough to give his chefs the freedom to create a corporately owned restaurant that never feels corporate, and who nonetheless keeps the necessary level of focus to ensure that the group has no weak links.

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

A cake tester. Once I learned how to use one to check the internal temperatures on meat and fish, it gave me all the confidence to cook proteins with precision.

You can only have one cookbook for the rest of your life: what is it? Bar Tartine, or the original Eleven Madison Park cookbook.

Best cookbook released during the pandemic? I love Maenam in Vancouver so I picked up their cookbook. Angus An’s food is some of the best in the country.

Once travel is fully up and running, where’s the one restaurant you’d love to travel to?

Britta Kokemor

Garrett Bruce Martin,

What’s the most useful tool in the kitchen?

Harbor House Inn in California, just south of Mendocino. It looks incredible.

TD_WL.i

Why this small business made the switch to TD Why this small business

made the switch to TD

SINCE 2018, HARC CREATIVE has been helping organizations step into their own light. The duo behind the agency, Parker McLean and Jarren MacDougall, are helping empower businesses across BC and Canada to present themselves to the world with authenticity and joy. As Harc Creative is itself a small business, Parker and Jarren believed that their agency’s financial needs required a more personal relationship with their bank. Here’s more on their journey as small business owners and why they made the switch to TD. Tell us, what is the story behind Harc Creative?

For years we thought we had to hustle in the same way every other creative agency did. We’d climbed up through Vancouver’s start-up scene but something always felt a little ‘off’. We had some work to do, so we rolled up our sleeves, checked our egos, did our own personal work, and asked ourselves some brave questions. That’s when it came to us: what if we gave our clients that same space for reflection and self-discovery we gave to ourselves? And so, we started Harc – named after Parker’s grandfather who had that nickname in his day. The word ‘hark’ is itself a perfect representation of the space we’re inspired to make for clients and ourselves to feel heard. It struck a perfect balance between close-to-home and openly accessible, so it stuck.

What is it about TD that attracted you the most?

We heard a TD representative speak very passionately about diversity and inclusion at a queer entrepreneurship conference a few years back. Since then, we weren’t able to shake the feeling that our banking relationship could be more meaningful than just purely transactional. At Harc, we believe that the highest impact projects always arise from partnering with clients whose values align with ours, so we thought why not apply that same principle when choosing a financial institution? With that lens, remembering the TD representative’s passionate speech at the conference, we felt that they were right for us.

What has the onboarding experience been like?

We didn’t know what to expect when switching to TD from another major

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bank, so the experience we had was a very nice surprise. Arriving at our first appointment in downtown Vancouver, we immediately knew that ‘we weren’t in Kansas anymore’. Within minutes, the representative smoothly asked our pronouns, checked with us about access needs, and– more important than anything else– helped us feel visible and affirmed as the gay couple we are. No chuckles, no jokes, no foot-in-the-mouth moments– just a human helping some humans on their road to financial achievement.

In your view, what are some of the benefits TD has been able to offer from a small business perspective?

For us, honesty is extremely important. In everything we do, we show up honestly so that our clients have permission to do the same. That might include some tough conversations about hearts and minds and touchy-feely stuff, but we’re big believers in speaking from the heart. In our own lives as gay men, we’ve had to choose authenticity. Taking that one step further, we’ve had to learn how to be kind to ourselves, and we feel called to help clients make that same space for themselves, their colleagues, and their customers. And so, it is clear that one of the benefits of working with TD has been the team’s openness and availability every step of the way. For both of us, imposter syndrome and self-doubt have plagued our approach to our finances since forever, so the TD team’s willingness to support us on our financial journey has been invaluable. Whether you’re starting, growing or managing your business, TD can help you with your business’s financial journey. Learn more at www.td.com/businessbanking

4/13/22 11:43 AM

Scott Iserhoff,

You can only have one cookbook for the rest of your life: what is it? The Sioux Chef by Sean Sherman.

Q&&A

Once travel is fully up and running, where’s the one restaurant you’d love to travel to? My parents-in-law Tania and Misha’s kitchen in Ukraine, once the war is over.

Mushkego Cree chef Scott Iserhoff is bringing Indigenous cuisine to the forefront through his Edmonton-based company Pei Pei Chei Ow—while also using food as a way to delve into more far-reaching conversations. Speaking at local schools—and to large groups at companies like Google and YouTube—about the importance of food sovereignty and food history is part of Iserhoff’s greater belief that food is a universal language. “The topic of Indigenous cuisine can open a conversation about relocation and much more, such as colonization and starvation and cultural genocide. These are topics that are directly related to how we eat and how we heal.” Iserhoff is spreading awareness to others, but it’s a mission with internal benefits, too. “It’s a journey of reconnecting to my culture,” Iserhoff explains. The dishes he makes and teaches in his classes are about more than just sustenance—they tell a story: through their historical context, but also through traditional cooking methods and the sourcing of hyper-local ingredients. By keeping the context of these recipes in the foreground, Iserhoff hopes to build a platform to lift others up as well. “I want to provide opportunities for other Indigenous people to share their stories, too.”

Aaron Pedersen

Pei Pei Chei Ow Catering, Edmonton

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Timeless

Aero Series

ClearPlex Series

Specializing in exceptional wine cellars that range from neo-classical to contemporary. Our family business has remained loyal to one of its founding values; anything built by our hands will be built to last.

timelesswinecellars.com

Wood Series

155 1st Street East, North Vancouver, BC V7L 1B2 | 604-770-3317 | info@timelesswinecellars.com

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2022-04-29 8:52 AM

Don Guthro and Quang Dang,

Q&&A

with Don Guthro

What was a food-related skill you discovered or mastered during the pandemic? I became very aware of costs, food waste and supply chain issues. We discovered that we could be very creative with menu items for our at-risk meal programs when we were shorted products because of supplier limitations.

Best movie scene dealing with food? Chef. The moment when they made sandwiches for the workers after the labourers helped them with the setup of the equipment in the food truck. I loved the idea of a barter system of great food for supporting each other.

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Here’s the reality: there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of unbelievably caring people across the West who have dedicated their lives to helping those less privileged than themselves— and who never get a drop of ink written about their endeavours. And sometime all it takes is for a new detail to surface to help us all see what was right in front of us the whole time. In this case, the story was that Don Guthro, an internationally trained chef who had worked in some of Canada’s top rooms, had taken the initiative to found D.I.C.E.D. Culinary School with the goal of training aspiring chefs in the proper techniques without saddling them with backbreaking debt. And the detail that finally brought this immensely admirable work to the wider public’s attention? The fact that Quang Dang, the acclaimed Calgary-born chef from West and other top rooms, signed on to help the initiative, and helped bring attention to a cause run from a basement-level room hidden deep in Vancouver’s west side. The idea of an acclaimed chef cooking a $5.95 hamburger kicked off the buzz, and as more people flocked to D.I.C.E.D.’s Discovery Café to see the much-loved Dang in action, the community began to get a better understanding of what Guthro had already been quietly achieving for the past dozen years. It’s that rare win/win—we now know, and can support, Guthro’s passion... and we get to chow down on Dang’s food at the same time.

Leila Kwok

D.I.C.E.D. Culinary School, Vancouver

“Anyone who ever questions the potential of British Columbia to produce wines as complex as any in the world should start popping the corks on both the whites and the reds from Phantom Creek; They’ll be convinced by the second sip.” - Brian Freedman FORBES.com

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4/13/22 4:41 PM

Roni Zaide, Roni’s Kitchen, Calgary After working in restaurants, hosting brunch pop-ups and catering weddings across Calgary, Israeli-born Roni Zaide shifted her focus to “demystifying cooking” and making delicious, plant-based homemade food accessible to all. Even from the beginning, says Zaide, her goal has been “to give people an experience, and to help people feel more comfortable around food and cooking in their own kitchens.” Pre-COVID, she hosted in-person cooking classes and retreats; then, right on the eve of the pandemic, her popular cookbook, Roni’s Kitchen: Recipes from My Food Journeys Around the World, was released—sparking an influx of fans hoping for more culinary content. Zaide expanded her repertoire and began hosting Zoom classes and then pre-filmed cooking classes to help home cooks recreate her famous dishes, and make daunting ingredients and plant-based-specific cooking techniques feel manageable and even easy. “People new to vegan cooking should start with something simple and build from there if they feel overwhelmed,” says the chef. Demystification is a huge part of her work: according to Zaide, many folks don’t make the connection that dishes they already enjoy (like hummus!) are actually vegan. To that end, she simply provides the essential building blocks for being a great home cook, whether you’re a full-time vegan or not. Who’s afraid of tofu? Definitely not us... when we have Roni Zaide in our corner. Like she says: “Everything is new, until it isn’t.”

What ingredient scares home cooks, but shouldn’t? Tofu. I created “Who’s Afraid of Tofu” for that reason.

Hannah Burne

Q&&A

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

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Jeff Guignard,

ABLE BC, Vancouver Ask any British Columbian who makes their living as a restaurateur: pre-COVID, the province was among the most repressive jurisdictions around when it came to making a buck from selling booze. The sight of a local owner lining up with everyone else to buy stock for their restaurant at full retail price was a pretty common event at liquor store tills across the region. But in the depths of the pandemic came a rare ray of light to the industry: the provincial government agreed to allow restaurants to buy wine, beer and liquor at wholesale prices ( just like in every other province in Canada). The decision was a lifeline and it came about as a result of years of lobbying efforts from Guignard and his group, the Alliance of Beverage Licensees (ABLE BC). And not only did the policy change give restaurants a boost during the hard times of the pandemic, it will continue to pay dividends to the still-struggling industry for years to come. And for the rest of us? It also might mean that a bottle of brunello can come to our table at a slightly more reasonable price point.

Q&&A

You can only have one cookbook for the rest of your life: what is it? The Haven’s Kitchen Cooking School by Alison Cayne uses delicious recipes to teach basic skills and increase your confidence. Great for beginners, or those who have some game but want to improve basic techniques.

I prefer liquid desserts. What dinner isn’t improved by finishing with an aged tawny port, a rare single malt scotch or an amaro?

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Leila Kwok

Your perfect dessert?

Miki Ellis and Stephen Whiteside,

Leila Kwok

Dachi, Elephant and Hanai, Vancouver

The great ones make it look easy. Drop by Dachi on any given night and you’ll probably see Miki Ellis or Stephen Whiteside milling about, effortlessly attending to everyone’s needs—and, for a second, you’ll think I could do that in the same way that watching Steph Curry draining three-pointers at a pre-game practice makes basketball seem simple, too. Ditto at Elephant, where, notwithstanding the fact that chef Justin Lee is creating one of the most ambitious tasting menus in Vancouver for an insanely low tariff, there’s no sense of artiste tension pervading the easygoing space. And don’t even get us started on the brand-new Hanai, where Chef Tess Bevernage’s spirit of Aloha brings the fun factor to 11. The sense of ease is amped up even further by the tendency of the self-deprecating duo to spotlight their collaborators as the reason for their restaurants’ successes... yet, despite that ample quick praise, at a certain juncture you realize that they are the common denominator. But behind all that self-erasure beat the hearts of two industry vets who’ve opened huge rooms and managed big budgets—always based on the same recipe of serious elbow grease (“I’ve gotten really good at electrical,” confides Ellis), even more serious passion, and an overwhelming faith in letting good people do great work.

Q&&A

with Miki Ellis

What was a food-related skill you discovered or mastered during the pandemic? At the beginning of the pandemic, I made these brownies every day. It was a ridiculous home recipe that was not scaled up for the volume, so I would make several batches daily, and they were so expensive and time-consuming it made no sense! But the daily routine of it was somewhat grounding amid the chaos of the times.

Best movie scene dealing with food? Spirited Away, with the pigs gorging on everything.

Once travel is fully up and running, where’s the one restaurant you’d love to travel to? To visit Darren and Nana in Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan!

Your perfect dessert? Love an opera cake!

westernliving.ca / m a y / j u n e

2022

Greg Dilabio and Antoine Dumont,

Q&&A

What’s the most useless tool in the kitchen? The melon baller.

You can only have one cookbook for the rest of your life: what is it? Ratio by Michael Ruhlman.

A killer bottle of wine under $40? Ferrari Trento for the bubbles.

Ask any artist (okay, at least any modern artist) what the most difficult task is and they will tell you it is drawing that perfect circle—anyone looking at it will know exactly where the mistakes are, because there’s no hiding space for error like you’ll find in shading or colouring. Which sort of makes Greg Dilabio the Titian of fresh pasta, Antoine Dumont the Bernini of the front of house, and their modestly sized Oca Pastificio the Uffizi of Commercial Drive—except that it’s easier to get into the Uffizi in July than it is to get into Oca, with its firm no-reservations policy and eight zillion people out there hankering for its wares. The fuss over the spot comes from the lack of fuss—the pastas are made literally right in front of you by Dilabio, cooked just feet behind him, and then delivered to your table by Dumont and his small team in a relaxed choreography that’s a necessity in such a small room. The whole dance is accomplished with an air of the everyday, but one bite of Dilabio’s squash tortelli (one of the few staples on the ever-changing menu) and you’ll realize you’re in transformative territory here.

Leila Kwok

Oca Pastificio, Vancouver

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

Cascadia

SNACK WITH PURPOSE

Sea Spice by Kove Ocean Foods brings wholesome, spectacular flavour to your meals and snacks while doing good for the environment and local communities

CASCADIA SEAWEED FARM AND SUGAR KELP

SEA SPICE AND AVOCADO TOAST

t’s crunchy. It’s salty. It’s garlicky, sea-weedy and absolutely yummy, and you need it on your snackies for more reasons than one. Sea Spice is Kove Ocean Foods’ signature seaweed seasoning, done in a furikake style using sugar kelp flakes grown by Cascadia Seaweed in the pristine waters of the Pacific Ocean. “Sea Spice is incredibly flavourful and acts like a natural flavour enhancer, enhancing the taste of everything it touches,” says Desiree Dupuis, VP of sales and marketing for Kove Ocean Foods, a subsidiary of Cascadia Seaweed. Love avocado toast, ramen, and poké bowls? Wait ‘til you try them with Sea Spice. It takes popcorn to new heights and is an easy salad dressing combined with your favourite go-to olive oil. “It is also great on eggs, steamed rice and baked potato, and awesome for grilling,” Dupuis says. “We put the sea in seasoning, so you can put it on

everything you love to eat.” But there’s more. The awesomeness in Sea Spice goes so much further than a delicious topping for your favourite meals and snacks. The product is made using seaweed grown on seven sites around Vancouver Island—regenerative ocean farms which operate in partnership with local First Nations. “We are hiring local people in remote places like Cortes Island where we are growing and harvesting this beautiful, regenerative crop,” Dupuis says. “It grows in the ocean, so there is no demand on resources like land and water, and there is no need for external inputs.” In fact, it gives back to the environment. The Kove team quickly noticed ecosystems coming to life among the seaweed farms. “Birds, bears, salmon—these ecosystems are thriving because the seaweed is providing nutrients and helping to create habitat,” Dupuis says.

Sea Spice also contains nutritional yeast, white and black sesame seeds, dried garlic and onion flakes, poppy seeds, smoked salt and non-GMO canola oil. This May, Kove will be launching this tasty vegan and glutenfree treat in two additional flavours: Sriracha and Lemon. Sea Spice is available at independent retailers, like Pomme, Red Barn Market and Nature’s Fare Markets, or get a bottle (or get three for free shipping) at koveocean.com/products/sea-spice CONNECT @koveocean @koveocean @cascadiaseaweed

Created by the Canada Wide Media advertising department in partnership with Cascadia Seaweed

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2022-04-26 10:02 AM

REBUILDING THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE The Salvation Army Vancouver Harbour Light has been a key part of the social infrastructure of the Downtown Eastside for over six decades. We feed, shelter and provide more services and programs than any non-governmental organization in the community, but we need a new Vision. The new realities impacting the community have pushed our ability to serve to the limit and our buildings have reached their ability to serve. The facilities can no longer support the growing demands… and it’s time for a new facility.

The nine-storey, 170,000 sq ft, purpose-built facility will replace the four aging buildings we currently use and consolidate programs and services under one roof. New programs will be created, including a much-needed women’s treatment program. This once-in-a-generation project will transform peoples’ lives and revitalize the community, now and for years to come. To be a part of this vision, contact us today. ninestoriesofhope.org

“Without The Salvation Army, I would have been another statistic of the opioid crisis.” My story is not unique. I was an addict and I needed help. The Salvation Army took me in without judgement and they saved my life. I work there now, sending the elevator back down to help others like me. –Christina Petrina, The Salvation Army Case Worker

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4/14/22 4:25 PM

2 4:25 PM

welcome back

YALETOWN

is Blo ing

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4/15/22 9:32 PM

2 9:32 PM

HIDDEN PLACES to Hike, Bike, Paddle and Chill in B.C.’s Backyard

Destination BC/Stirl and Rae Photo

GET OUT

For the past two years travel has been local out of necessity. But the stayclose-to-home mandate opened our eyes to an amazing reality—we just might live in the best place in the world. So we’ve doubled down on the staycation and sourced the best adventures from every corner of our home turf. westernliving.ca / m a y / J U N E

2022

VANCOUVER COAST MOUNTAINS

Coureur de Boys Four weekend warriors seek a slice of classic Canadiana in Powell River. by Neal McLennan

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

J Crew The paddling is mostly easy on the Powell River Canoe Route, the portaging a little less so, but it’s all worthwhile for the solitary views.

certain things slide—like his lastminute decision to take an unburdened plane ride from Vancouver (travel time: 35 minutes) while the rest of us hauled up all the necessary gear by road (travel time: a very scenic five hours). And while I had infinite faith in Paul’s pack planning, his suggestion to compact the standard five-day time frame for the route into three “hard” days had me concerned. To ease my fears, I reached out to Hugh Prichard, director of the Powell Lake Outdoor Learning Centre and

an avid canoeist, to see if he could give Paul’s plan a local’s once-over. His exceedingly diplomatic response included phrases like, “Well, you could do that, but why?” and “Are you guys not interested in taking in any natural beauty?” Ultimately, we reached a hybrid plan that combined Prichard’s vast experience and Paul’s original idea (at least the part that was about going canoeing, somewhere). We would arrange to be dropped off a quarter of the way through the traditional fiveday route and picked up at the end,

(Top) Tomas Jirku; Neal McLennan

’d like to say that I came to the Powell River Canoe Route because it had long been on my outdoor-pursuit bucket list, but the truth is that I hadn’t been in a canoe since I was 12 and my connection to Powell River began and ended with ordering their truly excellent craft beers while in the very urban watering holes of Vancouver. And while the even more famous West Coast Trail likewise wasn’t on my bucket list, it was on my buddy Kevin’s, and he had cajoled a bunch of us into hopping aboard his pandemic adventure—including me, despite a fair amount of trepidation around the related worries of my inability to physically carry the necessary amount of Lagavulin for the trip. So when B.C. announced its pandemic ban on regional travel just days before our scheduled departure, the news was received with a mix of deep sorrow (Kevin) and private elation (me). But we had already embarked on our half-assed preparatory fitness regimen and I had also already bought a bunch of brand-new gear that I couldn’t return (because I had purposefully scuffed it up so I wouldn’t look like a newbie from the city). So we gathered to determine where within our health region we might still wrest some outdoor immersion—and it was Paul who came up with Powell River. Paul is a canoer. He takes a yearly trip to Algonquin and he uses words like portage and J-stroke freely—so we put him in charge of figuring out a route. Because Paul also took on the work of building an itinerary, we let

four days later. We’d be undertaking at least one portage every day, and we would camp along the way—since it was mid-June, we wouldn’t have to worry about reservations. If we were lucky, added Prichard, we might not even run into other folks at all. The next morning, with a modicum of fuss, we picked up our rented canoes and pushed off into to the glassy waters of Nanton Lake. There really is something primordially Canadian about the way a canoe bow cuts silently through the water. That reverie, however, was frequently interrupted by my stern-man, Mac, saying things like: “Neal, we both need to paddle,” and (after telling me to paddle hard right only to watch me immediately dig in left) “Are you sure you’re not dyslexic?” Still, our leisurely itinerary allowed as to wend around the lake, get lost a bit, and still find our way to our first portage in plenty of time. The concept of portaging has ingrained itself into the Canadian psyche in a way that makes a more descriptive word, like “carry,” less meaningful. But thankfully my role in this work was, again, modest. One of Mac’s children had done this same canoe route the previous summer and had boasted about carrying the canoe all by himself. Mac, therefore, insisted he follow suit, which left me to carry all of our packs—backpacks, front packs, side packs—and trudge sadly behind him like an overburdened Sancho Panza. The hikes were strenuous, but not gutting (that would come later: we had been warned that the final portage of the trip—the 2.4 kilometre trail at Windsor Lake—would test our mettle), and while most of us had proper hiking boots, Paul accomplished the whole thing in the same pair of Allbirds he had worn on the plane. On the first night, we made camp at a perfectly isolated site on the shore of Dodd Lake... then did a little fishing, drank the entire trip’s worth of Lagavulin and promptly fell asleep. In the morning, and despite a

THE ‘IT’ GEAR

Allbirds might seem like an odd shoe choice for backcountry living, but Paul swore by his waterproof Mizzles ($170)—they kept him dry and happy and he could go out for dinner without changing his shoes—so who are we to argue? allbirds.ca

Navigating the submerged oldgrowth forest at the start of Powell Lake felt very “hour two” of Apocalypse Now... if Colonel Kurtz wore Allbirds.

seriously rainy night, we woke to warm sunshine with just a little haze on the water—the ideal combo for postcard Canadiana. And, like day one, quiet mostly ruled our second day of paddling, save for the times we’d look up at the towering 6,000-foot-elevation Coast Mountains cascading down around us straight into the water and one of us would snarkily ask: So, Paul, how does this compare to Algonquin? Night two brought the double whammy of more rain and no whisky,

so we truly understood what the early explorers must have felt. Like, exactly how they would have felt. But the forced abstinence served us well on our third day as we made our way closer to the feared Windsor Lake Portage. It turned out to be a steep ascent of about 80 metres, followed by an 111-metre descent and, while it was definitely challenging, it offered the immediate reward of several stunning vistas, the first being the sight of Goat Lake, with Overlook Mountain looming over it. The final reward of the portage was the eerie paddle that followed it: navigating the submerged old growth forest at the start of Powell Lake felt very “hour two” of Apocalypse Now... if Colonel Kurtz wore Allbirds. But as we emerged into the open vastness of the lake (Powell is by far the largest lake on the circuit) and came up against the wall of the strong prevailing headwinds, it became clear that the last leg of our paddle was going to be the most challenging. Especially for Mac at the back of the canoe. Like the winds, we prevailed, and spent our final night in a hut that also is part of the Sunshine Coast Trail. The work of the day’s paddle had me dreaming of reaching some hand-carved Swiss idyll with a woodfired stove, but the simple plywood structure—no fire, zero hand-carved anything—still offered a nice break. The next morning—our final day on the water—brought more of the same: Powell Lake is huge and, during our time there, very blowy, and the plentiful presence of both cabins and power boats made our choice to paddle feel quaint. But Mac was up to the challenge, and I even pitched in a bit more when it became clear our group was going to race to our final stop. (We won, thank you.) Overall, we made good enough time the final day to sneak in nine holes, where Paul, no word of a lie, took off his Allbirds for the first time in three days and put on a pair of Teva water sandals he had been carrying for the whole trip.

westernliving.ca / m a y / J U N E

2022

VANCOUVER COAST MOUNTAINS

Iconic Hike

STAWAMUS CHIEF

Audain x Alta

Round trip: 14 kilometres

1. You buy a ticket for one of the upcoming Friday events—which, at $99, is a screaming bargain for Whistler (plus it’s $10 off if you’re a museum member)—and show up at the appointed time. Before you’re seated, you get an intimate docent-guided tour through the museum’s permanent collection, hitting the highlights (like this jaw-dropper of a piece by James Hart), and giving you a just a taste of what one of the best small museums in North America has to offer.

3. You sit in the open air, sipping a Nichol Syrah, wondering how you got so freaking lucky.

THE ‘IT’ GEAR

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2. Next, you’re led to your en plein air table facing the museum’s lawn and interior courtyard. Now, the Alta Bistro team shifts into gear with an art-inspired (and not in a hokey way) four-course menu. Expect a few showstoppers— like the tomato panzanella salad with gazpacho dressing hidden under a Warhol-inspired soup can that blew up Instagram last summer.

4. Over the next two days, use your dinner ticket for free entry into the museum as often as you like, allowing you to peruse the collection at your leisure—perhaps dropping a few of the docent’s observations and passing them off as your own to impress the other onlookers.—N.M.

You want to be rugged, not ragged. To cut the swath of Indiana Jones, not the Jones family from Indiana. That means you want this duffel from the purveyors of the original Klondike Gold Rush: Seattle’s Filson. Equally at home in a Gulfstream V or a 1952 Beaver— we love this bag. filson.com

Elevation gain: 625 metres Location: Stawamus Chief Provincial Park (Squamish)

Climb the three peaks of the Stawamus Chief for classic clifftop views of Howe Sound and the Squamish River valley. From the day-use parking area, stroll through the campground to the trailhead. The steep Chief Peaks Trail kicks off with lots of stairs, soon merging with the Sea to Summit Trail. After the Sea to Summit exits right, take a left fork, signed for the First and Second Peaks. Before long, the trail splits again. Go left and ascend to the bare rock of First Peak. Back at the fork, proceed north to the top of the South Gully. Ascend a ledge with the help of a fixed chain, traverse a cleft covered by logs and climb a short ladder to Second Peak. Follow the markers northeast to North Gully. Stay left at the junction with the third backside trail to visit Third Peak. Return to the last junction and plunge down the rough North Gully Trail. Turn right and head back to the trailhead. —Stephen Hui

(Audain x Alta) Mirae Campbell

We’re allergic to hyperbole so when we say this Whistler dinner might be the greatest event in the West this summer, please don’t snicker. Bear with us as we convince you. On the one hand, we have Eric Griffith and Nicholas Cassettari of Alta Bistro, the reigning champ of Vanmag’s Best Whistler category in the Restaurant Awards. On the other hand, you have architects John and Patricia Patkau, Western Canada’s greatest living architects (or, really, Canada’s, because Frank Gehry is more or less a Californian these days) and the designers of the stunning Audain Art Museum. And on the third hand (the last one, we promise), you have the magnificent collection inside the museum itself. Here’s how it all comes together.

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VANCOUVER COAST MOUNTAINS

5 Must-See Hits in Squamish by

Kurtis Kolt

My wife and I do not own hiking boots, nor do we own bikes. We’re not rock-climbers, and the vast amount of adventuring we do is more in the line of culinary and thirstquenching pursuits. So, what did we do when offered the opportunity to house-sit up in Squamish? Well, we got our eat and drink on—and here’s where we landed.

1 FOX AND OAK

1396 Main Street This lively, cute-as-a-button café features a rotating roster of seasonal, well-sourced coffee roasters, but it’s their delish brioche, cake and vegan doughnuts that are the talk of the town. The core lineup features rings of chocolate glaze and a bright and zippy mango passionfruit number, while the limited edition specialty doughnuts venture toward gems like a churro crueller or the key lime pie. foxandoak.ca

-FRAME BREWING CO. 2A AND LUZ TACOS 38927 Queens Way Step into this bright and cheery craft brewery for fresh and lively pours like Shuswap Lake IPA and Sproat Lake Pale Ale, then toddle outside and treat yourself to Mexican fare from the Luz Tacos food trailer, which is frequently parked on the property. We gobbled up gusto plates of tacos al pastor, chorizo and potato tacos and the excellent Luz nachos with reckless abandon. aframebrewing.com, luztacos.com

3 BACKCOUNTRY BREWING

405–1201 Commercial Way Chock-full of families and boisterous buddies returning from outdoor adventures, the buzzy tasting room has locals and visitors alike feasting on wood-fired pizzas—like the prosciutto and fig with melted leeks, arugula

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and mozzarella. While their core beers, like the Widowmaker IPA or Trailbreaker Pale Ale, are consistent hits, do opt for a flight so you can get weird with pours like the “Might as Well Go for a Soda” Cherry Cola Sour—a definite hit at our table. backcountrybrewing.com

4 FLIPSIDE BURGERS AND

margarita, with lime juice, simple syrup, El Jimador tequila, Cointreau and a top-off of your choice of cider. Right around back is the Flipside Burgers food truck, serving up beef, chicken and veggie burgers piled high. flipsideburgers.ca, cliffsidecider.com

CLIFFSIDE CIDER

103–37760 2 Avenue Cliffside is just the most adorable little craft cidery, featuring a small bar, a couple of high-top tables and—you guessed it—tasty, tasty ciders. Start with the OG, which is a 5.6-percent classic apple version that also doubles as the base for their other ciders— such as the Tina Louise, which has a punchy kick of fresh ginger juice, or the grapefruit cider, which manages to walk a steady tightrope between tart and sweet. Looking for something more complex? House cocktails include everything from a Squamish mule (simple syrup, lime juice, Luksusowa vodka, ginger cider and a ginger sugar rim) to the Cliffside

5 PECKINPAH

38005 Cleveland Avenue The longtime Vancouver hub for Carolinastyle barbecue has packed their bags and headed up the Sea-to-Sky Highway, landing on Squamish’s main drag. Meats are smoked inhouse anywhere from five to 14 hours and can be accented with a tomato-based barbecue sauce or, if you want to go full-Carolina, a zippy chili vinegar to perk things up. Beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked chicken wings and the like are handily washed down with hits from an ample booze list or a tidy selection of craft beer and wine. A little outpost of home. peckinpahbbq.com

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4/20/22 10:32 AM

TOURISM WHISTLER/ JUSTA JESKOVA

Discover Spring in Whistler Come out to play in a multisport way and make the most of spring in Whistler.

nown as Whistler’s secret season, spring means longer, warmer days for the perfect time to treat yourself to soft turns on the slopes, pedals in the sunshine, and patio time with friends and family. Not to mention, springtime also offers great value on accommodation, dining, and activities, along with a quieter pace, especially midweek. With plenty to do on and off the slopes, here are a few ways to experience springtime in Whistler. INDULGENT DINING Fresh air, sun-soaked patios, cold beverages and tasty food; Whistler’s awardwinning dining scene is an adventure in itself. Look out for spring dining specials at Whistler’s eclectic mix of eateries, from laid-back lounges to farm-to-table menus, and celebrate the day’s adventures with something delicious. CRUISE THE VALLEY Dust off the bike, or rent one in the Village, and go for a cruise. Stretching from Green Lake to Function Junction, Whistler’s Valley Trail is a 46-kilometre, car-free, paved network that weaves its way past parks, lakes, viewpoints and public art. Switch up the pedalling for a

paddle break on the water by renting a canoe, kayak or paddleboard in town. HIT THE HIKING TRAILS Switch up your ski boots for hiking boots. While high alpine hikes are still blanketed in snow, spring is a prime opportunity to explore the network of trails in Whistler’s lower valley. Varying in lengths and ability levels, Whistler’s array of hiking trails will lead you to spectacular waterfalls, ancient forests and breathtaking mountain vistas. SPRING SKIING Whistler offers one of the longest ski seasons in North America and some of the best spring skiing. With longer days and warmer temperatures, spring skiing offers up fresh, buttery turns on sunbaked snow with fewer crowds. The snow-covered peaks and runs of Blackcomb Mountain will be open for skiing and snowboarding until late May. TRY SOMETHING NEW Known as Whistler’s multisport season, there are endless ways to play in spring. Start the day with a tee time at one of Whistler’s four championship golf courses and then up the

adventure with an afternoon ATV ride or zipline through old growth forests. Whistler also offers plenty of spa and wellness activities to treat yourself and rejuvenate after a day exploring. FAMILY FUN The 39th Whistler Children’s Festival returns with a new format, making a springtime debut with two full weekends of entertainment for kids and families to enjoy May 20-22 and May 27-29. With so much to do, spring in Whistler is the perfect time to plan a family getaway. STAY LONGER, SAVE MORE Extend your stay with rates starting from $127 per night when you stay three nights or more.

Learn more at whistler.com/spring-thing @GoWhistler @GoWhistler gowhistler

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4/20/22 11:01 AM

VANCOUVER ISLAND

3 Days in Sooke Sure, it’s just a short drive west of Victoria, but Sooke manages to seem like a wild excursion all the same. by Tyee Bridge

Let’s get this straight—you’re not here for culture; you’re here to leave all that in the rear-view mirror. So, first things first: stock up. If you’re coming from the Swartz Bay ferry, hit up Four Quarters Meats in Sidney for excellent sausages, bacon and can’t-get-elsewhere stuff like their Lemon Drop or killer salamis. For the wine-minded, stop at Church and State, about 20 minutes south—pick up the Signature Series Trebella and the Cabernet Franc if you can get them. For the beerhound, do a tasting and grab your Young Lions IPA to-go at Victoria’s Hoyne Brewing. Once you’ve secured other, less essential groceries, head to one of the two-dozen private cabins at Point No Point in Sooke. Sited on a bluff above a mile of private beach, the cabins come complete with kitchens, fireplaces, private hot tubs and very audible surf. On this first evening, you’ll also enjoy the welcome culture shock of what Point No Point doesn’t have, thanks to its stubborn grasp on its 1950s roots: no phones, no TVs and no wifi in your rooms. And, correct: no cell service, either. Thus, the selection of cribbage boards and other games on offer. Walk to the beach to work up an appetite and remember that there is life beyond streaming video.

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arch, a ride on the rope swing and (if it’s warm enough or you’re feeling just that happy) a skinny-dip in the waterfall. This is the great outdoors, people. Not Those that prefer to roll can bike the only is your cabin a pinecone’s throw Galloping Goose Trail for as long as from the beach, you are also close to your quads can stand it—but be aware some of the best coastal hiking in that, if you head north out of Sooke Canada. Drive 15 minutes to the Mystic Beach trailhead, part of the 47-kilometre seeking the “ghost town” of Leechtown, there’s not really much to see (that’s Juan de Fuca Trail. The hike to the surf ghosts for you), and that the sword ferns takes less than an hour via the forest trail, crossing a suspension bridge along and cedars there look pretty much the same as they do outside your cabin. the way. If the tide is out, you can treat Culture (if you must!) can be had yourself to a walk through the rock

SATURDAY

Mystic Beach: Tourism Vancouver Island/Jordan Dyck

FRIDAY

at the 11-day Sooke Fine Arts Show, which runs from July 22 to August 1 and features hundreds of works by Vancouver Island sculptors, painters, photographers and jewellers. Past prizewinners include Vincent Fe’s steampunk teapot, Jonathan Kacki’s bike-wheel photography and Nicole Sleeth’s arresting, cigarette-smoking nude. You can also absorb your fill of local history at the Sooke Region Museum, featuring photography, clothing and artifacts dating back as far as the 18th century. For dinner, head to Wild Mountain, which is not only the best in Sooke (especially with the iconic Sooke Harbour House still under renovation), it could easily take the podium for the best in B.C. Oliver Kienast and Brooke Fader are straight out of central casting for passionate, talented chefs who use farm-to-table as an ethos, not a catchphrase. There’s a new wood-fired pizza oven if you want more casual, but the daily menu always offers a masterclass in what Sooke is all about.

SUNDAY

Wild World (clockwise from left) Mystic Beach; the nearby boardwalk; a selection from Sooke Fine Arts Show; a dish from Wild Mountain; and Sooke Potholes Provincial Park

THE ‘IT’ GEAR

You’ve had your morning soak in the hot tub. You’re almost awake. What about coffee? Get it organic and locally roasted at the West Coast Grill along with your chicken and waffles or a West Coast benny. Caloried up, you’re ready for your last splash. Summer in Sooke means the Potholes. That’s not a pub, nor a road hazard—the Potholes are a series of swimming holes carved into the bedrock of the Sooke River by glacier-deposited boulders... and, in more plain terms, they’re a hoot. Clear, clean and not-too-cold water will give you a last dose of West Coast wilderness to set you up for the trip home.

Iconic Hike

MOUNT WORK Round trip: 6 kilometres Elevation gain: 300 metres Location: Mount Work

Regional Park (northwest of Victoria) Hike the highest peak on the Saanich Peninsula. From the park’s main entrance in the Highlands, start up the wide path. Quickly, fork right for the Summit Trail. As you ascend, the mixed forest thins out and arbutus trees with their peeling cinnamon bark increase in numbers. Look for the yellow plates to stay on the rocky and rooty trail; ignore the numerous side paths. Reach a broad viewpoint overlooking Jocelyn Hill, Pease Lake and Saanich Inlet. Kinnikinnick and hairy manzanita line the path. A metal sign marks the viewchallenged summit. Push on for several minutes south for mossy ground, open rock and expansive views. Watch the ravens and bald eagles, and survey the anchorage of Royal Roads, the Salish Sea and Washington’s snowy Olympic Mountains. Return the way you came. —Stephen Hui

Early summer on the Island is your best bet for enjoying an outdoor fire, and these portable fire pits from Solo (from $199) not only light faster but also keep things properly contained—two absolute musts in this day and age. solostove.com

westernliving.ca / m a y / J U N E

2022

VANCOUVER ISLAND

The Beach of the Hour

A Victoria Hotel for Every Type of Design Lover Everybody knows about Victoria’s historical side—and, if you ever forget, the flanking classical beacons of the Empress and the Legislature (both the handiwork of Samuel Maclure) are always there to remind you. But with a little exploring, the creative visitor can find lodging to suit any architectural style. L THE CLASSICIST

Spit Take The beach at Departure Bay in Nanaimo (top), and the almost- tropical Pipers Lagoon (left).

Which beach? That’s the question we ask on summer days in Nanaimo. The sweet, small cove near the parking lot at Neck Point is perfect at daybreak. Sure, the morning might be cold and the water dark, but once you get in your skin will turn fiery with nerve endings. Soon the slanting rays of the rising sun will let you see the coloured pebbles and starfish on the ocean floor, and you’ll know you have already aced the day. Around noon, it’s time to hit Departure Bay Beach, where you can tread choppy water while you watch the ferries nose in and out of the terminal. If you like a little show-off with your cool-down, you can swim to the little dock and demo your glorious belly

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flops. When you’re done, hit one of the food trucks that line the road above you. Hot tip: get the mini sliders. On a hot afternoon at low tide, head to Invermere Beach at the base of the Blueback Stairs, all two hundred of them. You’ll have earned every second of bliss when the water comes in over the great expanse of warm sand, leaving you feeling like you’re paddling around in the Mediterranean. Teenagers skimboard in long shallow pools and little kids totter about in their best sun protection finery and you can’t quite believe it’s all real. Evenings are for Pipers Lagoon, where the water and the south-facing evening sky turn the exact same shade of grey-blue. People are nestled all up and down the beach but there’s plenty of room for everyone. Kids splash just one more somersault before bed and when you look at the driftwood line behind you, you’ll probably spot people kissing in the electric pink glow of the setting sun.—Susan Juby

Ok, there’s the Empress—that’s a given. And it’s great (and frequently priced for greatness). But if the Grand Old Dame is not in the cards, might we suggest The Inn at the Union Club, the kitty-corner lodging that has arguably more history—the attached club saw powerbrokers guiding B.C. policy for decades—and also a quirky patina and charm (the billiards room, for example) that you don’t get in a big chain. unionclub.com

L THE MID-CENTURYIST This is the architectural style of the people, and it doesn’t get more open-to-all than the motor hotel. Luckily the team at Hotel Zed know how to jazz the expected into unexpected moments: bold colours, free bikes, ping pong! hotelzed.com

L THE MODERNIST The legendary Arthur Erickson only designed one hotel in his illustrious career, and that’s The Inn at Laurel Point—a perfectly situated masterpiece gazing out at the Pacific. Make sure you request a room in the Erickson wing... that way you’ll be rewarded with the Japanese-inflected rooms and huge hallways studded with art displays, just as Erickson meticulously planned. laurelpoint.com

It all starts in Nanaimo

Take some time to unwind and enjoy quality time with the people that matter most. Nanaimo is the perfect place for the ultimate staycation—full of adventure, downtime, and exploring!

PHOTO: THE SNUNEYMUXW FIRST NATIONS CULTURAL DISPLAY AT NANAIMO MUSEUM.

GET OUTSIDE AND EXPLORE Hiking fans will be in awe at the lush landscape Vancouver Island has to explore. Ammonite Falls is an authentic West Coast experience with a forest trail leading to a cascading waterfall that flows in winter and spring; the steady roar of water against the towering fir backdrop is unforgettable. For a more leisurely hike with views just as beautiful, check out Neck Point Park. Make sure to watch for sea lions offshore and bald eagles roosting in trees along the shoreline. For the ultimate afternoon spent making memories together in the fresh air, head to WildPlay and play among the treetops on one of their adventure courses or river canyon zipline. HISTORY AND CULTURE THRIVE HERE In Nanaimo, from shops to museums and shows, there is something for everyone. Shopping lovers can spend hours browsing the quaint boutiques along Commercial Street and in the Old City Quarter before strolling past the historic Bastion and along

PHOTO: MORDEN COLLIERY HISTORIC PROVINCIAL PARK

the harbourfront walkway. Watch seaplanes take off against spectacular views of the Gulf Islands and Coastal Mountains. History buffs will love the Nanaimo Museum, where you can sit on a Nanaimo Bar, walk through a replica coal mine, or imagine what daily life was like in a traditional Snuneymuxw First Nation longhouse. Morden Colliery Historic Provincial Park is another must-see stop containing the only remaining coal tipple on Vancouver Island. This unique piece of Nanaimo’s history operated primarily from 1914 to 1921 and went through a historical conservation process that was completed in 2021. If it’s nightlife you crave, the Queen’s nightclub and the aptly named Nanaimo Bar are perfect places to enjoy some live music and dancing. SIP, SAVOUR, AND ENJOY Fuel up after or in-between adventures anywhere in Nanaimo, and you’ll be in for a treat. Anyone looking for a casual

PHOTO: NECK POINT PARK, TOP: WHITE RABBIT CAFÉ

meal with good food and company will enjoy Gabriel’s Cafe, a local favourite brunch spot with farm-to-fork fare. Other great options downtown include Melange, Top Notch Burgers, or enjoy a more upscale meal at the View Oceanside Grill. A popular stop on the BC Ale Trail is White Sails Brewing where you can sample a flight of local craft beers. Or, try something sweet like the legendary Nanaimo Bar from White Rabbit Café or Bocca Cafe or a Nanaimo Bar cupcake from A Wee Cupcakery. Nanaimo is the perfect spot for a staycation. With biking, hiking, whale watching, shopping, ziplining, and more to explore, you will love every minute! Start planning your Nanaimo getaway at tourismnanaimo.com/StartHere @TourismNanaimo @TourismNanaimo @TourismNanaimo

Created by the Canada Wide Media advertising department in partnership with NANAIMO HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION

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It all starts here

Nanaimo is the perfect starting place for your Vancouver Island getaway — with biking, kayaking, whale watching, shopping, ziplining and more. The moment you take the bikes off the roof rack, get onto the water, take that first sip of wine, or open the door to your hotel room: now you’re really on vacation.

tourismnanaimo.com/StartHere

@TourismNanaimo

THOMPSON/ OKANAGAN

Ready, Aim, Chute! Cycle the Kettle Valley Rail Trail from Chute Lake Lodge down to Penticton? No sweat. It’s pedalling back up to our Okanagan mountain hideaway that leaves us wishing we could still hop a train. by Nick Rockel

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Wheel Cool Cycling past vineyards on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail between Penticton and Naramata (above); a decidedly more chill e-bike tour on the KVR Trail (right).

bearded Belgian, sets us up with our rented rides—big-boned Trek e-bikes whose knobby tires look wide enough to serve a meal on. As something of a cycling masochist, I’ve looked down my nose at going electric, but this is a perfect chance to wimp out. Or so I think. Young, friendly and laid-back, Arnie and his fellow staffers bring new life to an old hotel with a gritty origin story. What’s now Chute Lake Lodge opened its doors a century ago as a bunkhouse for loggers. The property, which soon became a water stop for KVR steam engines, grew into a popular vacation

Destination BC/Kari Medig; Destination BC/@vancouverfoodie

That beer is going to taste so good. As a motivational mantra, the phrase does lack elegance. But hey, whatever works. It’s been several hours since the four of us set out by bike from Chute Lake Lodge, a rustic retreat tucked into the mountains above the wine country of the Naramata Bench. Our mission, which we accepted all too cavalierly: ride down to Penticton and back along the Kettle Valley Rail (KVR) Trail. We’re reasonably fit people in our early 50s or so, and no strangers to cycling. How hard can it be? After all, today’s 60-kilometre round trip covers just a slice of the KVR Trail, which follows the bed of an abandoned railway. The entire 500-kilometre network, part of the Trans Canada Trail, stretches from Hope to Castlegar. Aerobically speaking, we might not have chosen the best time to test ourselves. Our two-night visit in September falls at the tail end of that infamous pall of woodsmoke, blown north from U.S. wildfires, that blanketed B.C. skies for more than a week. But after months of pandemic lockdowns, we aren’t feeling that particular about particulate matter. And to be fair, we’re cheating a little at Chute Lake Lodge. Arnie, a lanky,

THOMPSON/OKANAGAN

THE ‘IT’ GEAR

Lake Placid The KVR offers prime views of Christina Lake; the cozy digs at the lodge.

of the past remain—like the cluster of stone ovens that railway labourers once fired up to feed themselves. About a quarter of the way down, we dismount and tiptoe into closed-off Adra Tunnel, whose dark mouth could be a gate to the underworld. From lookouts along the way, smoke obscures what is usually a spectacularly colourful view of Okanagan Lake. But we soon reach Little Tunnel, a busy pit stop that sits on a paved section of the car-friendly trail, and make our way to the Naramata Bench. Departing Yosemite Sam country, we find ourselves in an alternate version of Provence. We skirt banks of vineyards that roll down to the lake. Barrel through an apple orchard, its fallen red fruit scattered

Why are we obsessed with waterproof hiking boots even when we know there’ll be zero moisture on certain treks (ahem, Canada’s desert)? The sustainably-minded Erem ($189) proudly makes boots for the desert—and these stylish European-made boots not only have a lifetime guarantee on workmanship, they’re actually water resistant should you run into one of those occasional flash floods. eremlife.com

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on the ground. Zip past stands of pale green sagebrush as delicate as coral. At a lakefront park in Penticton, everyone devours a packed lunch of hearty sandwiches provided by the lodge, washing it down with a bottle of bubbly rosé we picked up the day before at Mocojo Winery and Vineyard in Naramata. Then, with nightfall on its way, it’s back on the bikes for what turns out to be a gruelling uphill battle. The KVR Trail’s easygoing 2.2-percent grade should make the climb to home base a snap, right? Not so fast. Once we’re on the mountain again, watching breathlessly for distance markers becomes a ritual. E-bikes don’t pedal themselves, I remind myself while downing the last of my water. And they still may pack plenty of battery power, but fear of running out of juice keeps us frugal until we spot the Mile 107 sign near Chute Lake Lodge. That beer plucked from the cooler doesn’t disappoint. After drinks in the garden, we move inside for a dinner of what’s billed as Canadiana lodge food—think burgers, grilled salmon and mac and cheese, with a vegan curry thrown in for good measure. Whatever works after a long day on the trail.

Destination BC/Hubert Kang

spot before falling into disuse. Local tour operator Hoodoo Adventures reopened it in 2018, later handing the keys to investors who had backed the revival. Today, the lodge on narrow Chute Lake is a jumping-off point for cyclists, boaters, hikers, snowshoers and crosscountry skiers—and a favourite of small wedding parties, we’re told. Accessible by dirt road, it’s also a village of sorts. Besides the two-storey lodge, an ascetic log structure that houses a restaurant, there are cabins, yurts, campsites and glamping tents. We’re staying in the main building, where guests share bathrooms. The beds in our small, second-floor rooms keep us cozy, but be warned: the walls are thinner than the plump, white duvets. Good thing the downstairs restaurant closes early. We soon leave those comforts behind as we hit the trail on an overcast day, with smoke still lingering above the tall pines like fog. The gravel beneath our tires feels mostly stable, but this ride has its uh-oh moments, especially when the shoulder drops away to the right. Gliding downhill on a gentle incline, we follow the Z-shaped route that the KVR’s builders blasted through the rocky terrain from 1910 to 1915. Although the tracks are long gone, other signs

Iconic Hike

THOMPSON/OKANAGAN

POLAND LAKE

An Ode to Tulameen

Round trip: 16.5 kilometres Elevation gain: 480 metres Location: E.C. Manning

Provincial Park (southwest of Princeton)

Shore Enough The quaint houses along Otter Lake (above); the essential Trading Post (left).

Tulameen has one store (the Trading Post), which happens to be the gas station and a restaurant (also called the Trading Post). Inside, you can stock up on beer, buy a floatie shaped like a dolphin and grab an ice-cream cone before you head out. You know: just like the fur traders who founded this small B.C. town did. But the real action is down by the lake. You can’t miss it—just walk straight down one road through town until you hit the water. Kids are out on the floating dock, clambering over each other to pile onto one side and tip it over, while parents set up camp on the sandy beach, flanked by colourful coolers and lazily debating over whether

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to take the boat out today. The brave (or the slightly tipsy) take turns jumping off the trestle bridge into the water below. Less than 500 people live in this tiny town year-round, but the numbers swell in the summer as West Coasters make the pilgrimage to the A-frame cabins and little log houses that have been in their families for generations. There are no wineries or surf spots here and no hidden-gem restaurants (no offence, Trading Post), but here’s why we drive the four hours from Vancouver to be in the middle of nowhere: it just feels like summer here. You step out of the car, and time turns into a beautiful haze. A morning at the beach bleeds into later afternoon, before simple back-porch dinners turn into late nights under the stars.—Stacey McLachlan

Surrounded by woods and meadows, Poland Lake is a lovely destination. Find the trailhead on Gibson Pass Road and set off west on the Poland Lake Trail. Head right on a gravel road, which goes over a few streams as it rises to enter the ski area at Manning Park Resort. Earn a big view of Hozomeen Mountain in Washington. Fork right and duck under a chairlift. Where the road curves right, bear left on a path through meadows. Switchback up the ski area and rejoin the road higher up. The road peaks near the top of Grassy Mountain. After a gentle descent, the road rises to traverse the south slopes of Bojo Mountain. Continue on the path along Poland Creek to arrive at the lake. Round the eastern shore to find Poland Lake Camp. Backtrack to return to the trailhead. —Stephen Hui

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KOOTENAY ROCKIES

Architecture and Asanas in the Kootenays

OHM MG (clockwise from top) the Temple of Light; the temple’s stunning interior, designed with eight curved “petals”; a solo hatha yoga session above Kootenay Lake.

Two of Canada’s most acclaimed architects have crafted something magical just outside of Nelson. by Anicka Quin

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in the middle of the woods. (And, boy, is it ever in the middle of the woods.) And now, after the past couple of years of uncertainty and anxiety, I can’t imagine a more ideal place to escape to. Perched on a rocky outcrop of Kootenay Bay, Yasodhara Ashram takes a while to reach: from Nelson, B.C. (itself a 90-minute flight or eight-hour drive from Vancouver), you drive a half hour, then you take another half-hour ferry to arrive at the 85-acre property. The ashram itself—which hosts both full-time residents and yoga students whose retreat times range from a few days to many months—was the brainchild of a German woman, Swami Radha, who studied under a

guru in India in the late 1950s. That guru’s encouragement to bring yoga to the West evolved into the current women-led retreat and study centre that practices the spiritual tradition of the Divine Feminine, with a kind of we-produce-our-own-honey Kootenays vibe that’s almost instantly calming. The pandemic was challenging for a retreat that’s designed to be an

Daniel Séguin, Amy Allcock

ack in 2019, a visit to an ashram wasn’t that high on my travel wish list. I mean, I’ve read Eat, Pray, Love, so I get the appeal. But I’ve always thought that my mind is too busy, too distracted for me to manage an extended time in a space that’s all about self-reflection. But sometimes you don’t know how much you need a space like Yasodhara Ashram until you’re in the middle of it. After a (much too short) long-weekend retreat, I came away from the experience feeling like I’d gained a better sense of self—and some stress management skills, too. (Even as I write this, I’ve remembered a meditation I picked up at Yasodhara that could be the perfect antidote for my present-day ball-of-stress self— and just now I stopped to do it.) I had been lucky enough to be invited up to the retreat some time ago for nontraditional reasons: they’d just built an architecturally significant temple with legendary Canadian architects John and Patricia Patkau, and I had come to profile the new building for Western Living. By all accounts, their new Temple of Light is stunning: a lotus-like design

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KOOTENAY ROCKIES

open-door teaching space, and so they pivoted to online courses for much of it, with some residential stays being permitted after a decently long quarantine. Now they’re back to offering in-person courses and restorative retreats that range from five days to three weeks, with a twoday quarantine (and a two-negativerapid-test requirement) at the onset. Throughout the course of a given retreat, yoga is just a small part of what you’ll do. Depending on the program, you’ll be asked questions to reflect on, sometimes through writing, sometimes by drawing pictures. What is a single word that expresses relaxation? What do you need to let go of? Even yoga sessions are done with a notebook close by, for reflection on what comes up during certain poses. There’s karma yoga—the act of selfless service—that might involve pulling weeds in the kale patch or digging out invasive scotch broom in the orchard. Nourishment comes in a literal form, too: all meals are held silently and in reflection, and the ingredients are often grown right on the property. The summer I was there, one spread included bruschetta topped with garden tomatoes, garlic scapes and dill; rice-wrapped salad rolls with peanut sauce; rich yam and coconut soup drizzled with homemade pesto—plus homemade

THE ‘IT’ GEAR

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biscuits or, for those in need of it, gluten-free pumpkin-seed crackers, and an always-present garden salad topped with tahini lemon dressing. And that stunning, architecturally significant temple from the Patkaus? It’s as breathtaking as you’d hope it would be. The structure is both spiritually significant to the local community—it’s designed with eight doors, signifying the eight major religions of the world, along with an aperture at its peak—and a truly stunning piece of architecture. Eight petals curve together to form one dome, and each petal is made of eight panels. That aperture at the top is dotted with hanging lights; you’ll feel the same hush coming into this space that you’d experience in centuriesold churches around the world. Yasodhara is designed to help folks process whatever is going on within them at that moment—to help visitors work on those big-picture questions. As the organization’s president, Swami Lalitananda, told me back then, “We have tools to give people so they can find meaning—to take the time to pause and ask: Where am I? What do I want to do in my life?” I can’t imagine a more perfect spot to process the last couple of years—and to plan for the great ones to come.

We’ve now unquestionably entered into the era of golf-as-legitimate-physical-sport, so it’s time to drop the 100-percent cotton gear of the Nicklaus era and let technology work its wonders. The nice thing about these Lululemon Commission Slim Fit ($138) is that they’re not golf pants, they’re just slim-fitting advanced fabric wonders that happen to work for golfing (or for hiking... or, really, for a street brawl if it came to that). lululemon.com

The Bright Future of Revy Tktktktk It was just before the 2007 meltdown One of the trestle bridges and I, a young cub reporter, wason the overlooking Myra Canyon KettletoValley Rail Trail, dispatched Revelstoke toChute meetLake Lodge with the legendary British golfer Sir Nick Faldo, who had been retained to design a world-class golf course near the base of the newly revamped ski hill, thus cementing Revy’s ascendency as a year-round playground for the well-heeled. We all know what happened next: once the stock market tanked, the first thing to go was pricey destination golf courses... and while the ski hill is amazing, I think it’s fair to say it still remains a hidden-secret sorta place, not soon to be a stop on the global jet set circuit. (Which, I should add, suits most residents just fine, thank you very much.) But the announcement last year that the team behind the Cabot course that had turned New Brunswick into a serious global destination didn’t just revive that long-ago dream—it doubled down on it. Rod Whitman, the West’s greatest golf course designer, has created a new layout right near the old Faldo one at the base of Mount MacKenzie—right near the gondola—and there’s a housing development planned as well. The only downside? It’s not set to open until 2024. But, until then, there’s the surprisingly excellent Revelstoke Golf Club course, a track with a 124-year-old legacy and a fantastic layout—and that can still be enjoyed with the calm idyll that Revelstoke specializes in.—N.M.

Get off the beaten track.

ALBERTA

Photo by A Barrett Photography

Jasper National Park

BRITISH COLUMBIA Glacier National Park

GOLDEN

Banff National Park

Yoho National Park

Mt. Revelstoke National Park

Kootenay National Park Bugaboo Provincial Park

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KOOTENAY ROCKIES

Getting Outside in Golden

Iconic Hike

PAGET LOOKOUT Round trip: 7 kilometres Elevation gain: 520 metres Location: Yoho National Park

Span Decks The jaw-dropping/ stomach-churning Golden Skybridge.

There’s a scene in the 1984 classic Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom—admittedly the most cringey of the Indy series—that has me forever traumatized. To get away from a pack of cult-loving baddies on a suspension bridge, Indy gets his crew to hold on tight so he can slash the ropes—thus dropping the bad guys into the valley below when the bridge collapses. He does, they do, and my 11-year-old self knew I’d never be able to hang on. And, yes, that’s exactly what I pictured happening just before I stepped onto the Golden Skybridge suspension bridge that crosses over a canyon floor sitting a mere 426 feet below. And yet, even while hyperventilating my way across the bridge and swearing I’d never do it again, I thought, “Man, would my niece and nephew think this place is awesome. I’ve got to get them back here.” That’s the magic of this place called Golden: it’s full of thrilling challenges that keep you coming back. Because everything around here is big. If you’re here in the winter, then you’re screaming

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your way down the steep and deep chutes of Kicking Horse Mountain. In summer, it’s the Via Ferrata climbing experience—likely one of the edgiest in Western Canada, with cliffside scrambles and ladder climbs—that has thrill-seeking climbers of all skill levels belaying from ground to peak. (And, like the Skybridge, you can’t actually fall—you’re clipped in the whole time. Plus, there’s also a “chicken trail” exit for those who change their minds.) The town itself is surrounded by six national parks, and over 20 backcountry lodges stage out of the area. Not to mention whitewater rafting in the Columbia River, and over 100 kilometres of mountain bike trails. Legend has it that when the survey camp for the CP railway settled in the area, they changed the site’s name— McMillan’s Camp—to Golden City after they heard that a nearby camp was naming themselves Silver City. Perhaps it was just competitive spirit, but they also weren’t wrong: around these parts, days are big, and days are golden.—A.Q.

An old fire lookout located partway up Paget Peak rewards hikers with sweet views of the Kicking Horse River, the Continental Divide and the Rocky Mountains. Find the trailhead at the Sherbrooke Lake parking lot, off the Trans-Canada Highway. The trail starts off easy, gently gaining altitude in the subalpine woods. Then the path narrows and steepens, switchbacking up the mountainside. Mount Ogden and Sherbrooke Lake are particularly eye-catching to the west. Arrive at the lookout, now a day-use shelter. Bask in the mountainous views. Then turn around here, unless you’re prepared to tackle the peak—a much higher and farther objective. Note: kids under 8 are not allowed on this trail, and youth 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult. —Stephen Hui

Kootenay Rockies Tourism/Mitch Winton/Golden Skybridge

(east of Field)

Wide Open Spaces

NEMAIAH VALLEY/JESAJA CLASS

BARKERVILLE/ROB LLOYD

GHOST LAKE/BLAKE JORGENSON

TERRA NOSTRA GUEST RANCH/KARI MEDIG

GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST/KENT BERNADET

Discover the authentic BC frontier. An untamed land framed by golden hills and coastal mountains, sheltering diverse wildlife from concrete city scapes. Follow in the footsteps of past explorers to seek your own connection with nature. Visit LANDWITHOUTLIMITS.COM/STAYCATION to download your vacation guide.

CARIBOO/ CHILCOTIN

The Greatest Canoe Trip You’ve Never Heard Of The Bowron Lakes are great, but if you want serious solitude it’s time to look to look west. by Andrew Findlay

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It takes two flights from Nimpo Lake to shuttle eight people and a week’s worth of gear to Turner Lake, the largest of the seven. If the sound of a Beaver evokes the enchantment of frontier B.C., then the silence that follows after the plane leaves you behind is equally as evocative. A trio of grey jays circles curiously as we begin shuttling our waterproof bags and packs to the three rustic cabins that make up Tweedsmuir Wilderness Camp. The camp sits at nearly 1,100 metres of elevation. It’s single-digit temperatures that night, so we enjoy the luxury of woodstoves and cabin accommodations. The next day we’re underway, skirting the shoreline toward a lush estuary at Turner Lake’s southern end. After 20 minutes of easy paddling, we pause to speak with a Montana couple enjoying their morning coffee next to a crackling fire. “We’re flying out today. We haven’t seen any other people up here,” the man tells us. They are the last other humans we will see for six days. Someone had

IF YOU GO For canoe rentals, flights and campsite and cabin bookings, contact Tweedsmuir Air Services. tweedsmuirair.com

told me Turner Lakes is one of B.C.’s best-kept paddling secrets. Now I get it. Late in the afternoon, after our third mini-portage of the day, we paddle down Junker Lake, propelled by an exciting tail wind. Small whitecaps splash over the canoe’s bow. The acrid smell of a distant forest fire tinges the air. A smoke

Destination BC/Kari Medig

he engine sputters to life, and I put on the headset to dampen the telltale roar of the de Havilland Beaver’s radial piston engine. Soon we’re taxiing along the rippled surface of Nimpo Lake. The pilot throttles up. At first, the floatplane seems to plow water sluggishly, then it quickly gathers speed. The pontoons skip, suggesting flight, and before long we’re airborne, temporarily leaving behind our wives and kids waving on the dock. The vast Chilcotin Plateau unfolds beneath us, a tapestry of lakes, marshy wetlands and dense young pine forests in a constant cycle of recovery and renewal from forest fires and beetle attack. To the southeast, the crown of Monarch Mountain is secluded in cloud. Whenever I strap into a Beaver, it usually means good times lie ahead. We are bound for a two-family, sixday paddling adventure on the remote Turner Lake Chain, a string of seven lakes located in southern Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. It’s our back-toschool gift to the kids: the gift of being immersed in the wilderness of B.C.’s largest provincial park—at 9,800 square kilometres, it’s an area almost the size of Hawaii’s Big Island.

Iconic Hike CAMEL PASS

Round trip: 17.5 kilometres

adults set up camp and work on dinner. The following morning breaks blue and clear. Winds have shifted and blown the smoke haze elsewhere. We linger over multiple coffees while the kids play on the beach and practice casting with a fly rod. A breeze ripples the surface of Widgeon Lake, so we load up the canoes with day provisions and start paddling into the stiffening wind. An hour of strenuous paddling brings us to a halfsunk jetty at the lake’s end. Soon, we’re walking rough trail between Widgeon and Kidney Lakes. Head-high blueberry View Finder and huckleberry bushes, plump with Two vignettes of what it’s like to canoe on Turner Lake in South fruit and wet with dew, crowd the path. Tweedsmuir Provincial Park: Landmines of fresh bear scat, purple stunning views, no people. from this berry abundance, dot the trail, an acute reminder that we’re in grizzly country with four little kids in tow. We haze gathers on the northern horizon. An stay close together, and I breathe silent relief when we reach the shore of Kidney hour’s paddling brings us to a sheltered Lake. bay at the lake’s west end, where we find That evening, back at our perfect the trailhead for the day’s last portage. campsite on Widgeon Lake, the adults The kids look for frogs in the lily pads sit on the beach with cups of wine, while the adults begin the tedious task taking in a magenta sunset. The kids of unloading the canoes for the fourth time today. The kids groan when we load play some sort of imaginary ninja their packs up, but it’s a short walk on flat game that has been unfolding for the past few days, using boulders and logs trail to our campsite on Widgeon Lake. as an obstacle course. These are the If it wasn’t for glacier views and conifer dying days of summer vacation, and the forests, the white sand beach might fool kids are at home in this giant outdoor us into thinking we’ve stumbled upon a slice of the Caribbean in the B.C. interior. classroom beneath the expansive skies of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. For a Give a kid a lake and a beach, then let moment I’m melancholy, thinking about them loose. They drop their lifejackets and paddles and race down to toss stones, September and the four walls of the indoor classroom that awaits them. wade in the water and walk on logs. The

Andrew Findlay

THE ‘IT’ GEAR

Elevation gain: 1,090 metres Location: South Chilcotin

Mountains Provincial Park (north of Gold Bridge) Take a hike on the High Trail to experience a corner of this backcountry paradise in the Coast Mountains. Set off from the Gun Creek logging road near Tyaughton Lake. Stick with the old mining road as it heads northwest, steadily gains elevation, and encounters clear-cuts, crosses streams and passes a park boundary marker. Going left at the signed junction, say hello to lovely single-track and the wildflower meadows and ore-stained mountains of the Pearson Creek basin. Turn right on the Taylor-Pearson Trail in the subalpine meadows. Keep an eye out for spruce grouse. Ascend northwest and up a dirt track to the otherworldly Camel Pass. The Chilcotin Ranges surround you, Harris Ridge and Taylor Peak are nearby high points and Nea Peak rises across the basin. Return the way you came. —Stephen Hui

Packable rain gear. Other than “canoe that floats,” these are the three most important words you’ll hear in the backcountry. Which is why the Trino SL ($300) from Arc’teryx is a lifesaver—it packs down to nothing, it stops the rain like no other... and it still looks cool for grabbing a beer in town three weeks after your trip. arcteryx.com

westernliving.ca / m a y / J U N E

2022

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CARIBOO / CHILCOTIN

Fat Tire Nirvana

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Tyax can pick you up from anywhere there’s water, including directly from Vancouver, Seattle or Tofino. However, the best bang for your time and money is meeting the plane on Whistler’s Green Lake, thus turning a four-and-a-halfhour drive along rough roads into a halfhour scenic flight over the spectacular Coast Range. Maybe you’ll detour off the flight path to check out a herd of mountain goats—little white puffballs on a mountain ridge. It’s a good prelude to the drama of skidding onto a glassy alpine lake and the realization that you’re about to cover somewhere around 80 kilometres of pure rolling bliss over the next three days. Bikes can be rented but most riders on this intermediate trip will want to bring their own.

You’ll open your eyes to warm morning light diffusing through the white walls of your “safari-style” wall tent; having made it to Bear Paw camp yesterday afternoon, you can replay the previous day of creek-crossings, hill-climbing and general wonderment as you made your way through Big Creek Park, down through Graveyard Valley and up Elbow Pass to the headwaters of Tyaughton Creek. Here your camp host awaits with oatmeal and pancakes to fuel you for 27 kilometres and about 1,000 metres of elevation gain and loss through Deer Pass to a quintessential Chilcotin view spot, then through technical terrain. Push a rowboat into Spruce Lake and see if you can’t supplement dinner with a fresh trout or two.

Wake, ride, repeat. You’ll want to savour this cycle, as it’s your last on this trip. You’ll ride just shy of 28 kilometres today with another 1,000 metres of elevation gain (and then as much elevation drop) as your journey through Windy Pass takes you down into Eldorado Basin and the final descent along the fast, sandy track following Lick Creek. Depending on the time of year, you may get slowed down by photo-ops among the alpine wildflowers or within sight of wandering bears or deer. The final reward at the end of your journey at Tyaughton Lake is to make an entrance, salty from your miles in the saddle, through the lobby of Tyax Wilderness Resort. Trade your spurs for a civilized drink at the bar and a session in the spa. You’ve earned it. — Masa Takei

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A proper toast to your downhill achievement is a must, which is why Yeti’s new M20 ($450), a backpack made for cold ones, is maybe the greatest strapped object ever. An easy-access rolled top and that legendary cooling capacity all add up to a perfect backcountry “here’s to us” moment. yeti.ca

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Courtesy of Tyax Adventures

The South Chilcotin is veiny with pack trails worn down by gold miners hauling in supplies and hauling out their bounty. But in the Spruce Lake Protected Area, about 150 kilometres north of Whistler, the real gold in the hills these days is the trails themselves. The flowing world-class single-track yields epic days spent biking, hiking or horseback riding through God’s country: think alpine and subalpine meadows, copper-rich red rock slopes, glacial green lakes and sweeping vistas of mountains. So even if you like to earn your turns, a little boost from a float plane is welcome—especially if you’d like to get deep into the backcountry on a multi-day trip. Enter Tyax Adventures, Canada’s only float-plane supported mountain biking company. Founded by national veteran cross-country champion Dale Douglas, the company has a 1965 de Havilland Beaver to airlift 1,100 pounds of riders, gear and bikes up into pedalling nirvana.

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2022

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THE NORTH

Paw Patrol Getting up close and hopefully not too personal with Ursus horribilis in the Khutzeymateen by Neal McLennan

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Cote bestows an obvious piece of advice: “Remember, you don’t have to run faster than the bear, you just have to run faster than one of us.” The grizzly sanctuary and the surrounding inlet conservancy are 100,000 hectares of protected habitat that are home to upward of 60 grizzlies—and it’s the lure of witnessing these land giants in the wild that has drawn me here, as it has as a Swiss family who’ve travelled across the globe for a chance to spot one of these rare behemoths. We’ll all be bunking in at the floating lodge, which sleeps eight as a bobbing respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Shortly after getting settled, we

Even in the summer, the weather patterns in the North are not to be trifled with, which makes discovering a low-cost, high-quality purveyor of ultralight backcountry gear a gamechanger. Outdoor Vitals does the direct-to-consumer route, so options like the Down Topquilt meet all the quality requirements while going easy ($289) on the price. outdoorvitals.com

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

head out with lodge owner Jamie Hahn aboard his workhorse aluminum Zodiacs. The remote inlet is devoid of other humans... and, it seems, of bears too. We pass towering cliffs and a half-dozen waterfalls, but our lone grizzly sighting consists of a passing glance at a small juvenile nicknamed “Big Ears,” who bolts from the shore back into the dense brush as soon as we manoeuvre our craft a little closer. It’s not exactly Wild Kingdom, but I can now safely pass a polygraph test on whether I’ve ever seen a grizzly in the wild. So, check that box off. We chug back to camp for an early dinner so luxe that the mind immediately wonders how it could come from such a small kitchen footprint. But before I can get an answer and/ or meet the chef, we’re back out on the water (up here, summer nights stay light very late) searching for giants. Like last time, none exactly announce themselves—but, again, it’s surprisingly easy to forget what the prime objective is when you have a hundred thousand pristine hectares all to yourself. Getting off the boat within the sanctuary is not allowed, but outside

Destination BC/Andrew Strain

or those of us who grew up in Western Canada, one of the conceits we perpetuate is that we are all very comfortable with bears. But my guess is that the share of the full-blown adult population that has read all the Harry Potter novels more than three times is much larger than the share of those who have actually seen a grizzly in the wild. But there are areas out there where grizzlies are not just present, they are a common enough sight to actually be the star attraction. Which is how I find myself—a person who spent an entire summer living in a remote ranger station on the border between Banff and Jasper but never once saw a grizzly—on a float plane from Prince Rupert with a wily old bush pilot named Ken Cote, destined for the floating Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge—the only accommodation near the neighbouring Khutzeymateen grizzly bear sanctuary. As we disembark,

Bear Necessities (clockwise from left) A family of grizzlies cruise along the tideline in the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary; the local version of a Land Rover; the rustic charm of your floating accomodations smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

Iconic Hike PESUTA SHIPWRECK

Round trip: 12 kilometres Elevation gain: Minimal Location: Naikoon Provincial

Northern BC Tourism/Shayd Johnson

Park (Haida Gwaii)

in the conservancy where the lodge is located there are a few spots where a brief landfall is doable. That means there are waterfalls to explore, ancient cedars to commune with and a whole lot of trails that seem to have been blazed by our ursine friends... all underscoring that sometimes the process is every bit as important as the result. The next morning I find myself adopting an it-doesn’t-matter-if-wesee-bears-it’s-about-experiencingwilderness outlook when one of the Swiss folk asks: “Can grizzlies swim?” All eyes dart hard left to a slow-moving form paddling across the channel that, from a distance, could be the head of a jacked seal. But as we drift closer it’s unmistakably a 750-pound Ursus horribilis. Unlike Big Ears, this fella has zero worries about us—or

about anything else, for that matter. He pulls himself up the beach and we can clearly hear his massive claws click-clacking over the rocks as he goes about his explorations and we excitedly snap away with our cameras. We silently follow him for another 30 minutes or so, and it’s fascinating to watch him in his element—a little foraging, a bit more swimming and an occasional break to scratch himself. Finally, the bear decides to head inland and we silently putt back to the lodge. Everyone is wearing smiles befitting the interlude we’ve just had. The Swiss will stay on for a few days— they have a level of appreciation for the rarity of the occasion that I, until a few days ago, did not share. On my part, I’ll return with a bona fide up-close-andpersonal grizzly experience of my own.

Running from Tlell to Tow Hill, the bucket-list-worthy East Beach Trail covers 89 kilometres on Graham Island. Sample the south end of this remote coastal route and pay a visit to the wreck of the Pesuta. From the trailhead at Tlell, set off north. The trail follows the left bank of the Tlell River to the sandy shore of Hecate Strait. Keep going until you reach the intriguing remains of the 264-foot log barge. The shipwreck is the result of a winter storm in 1928. Turn around here. Backpackers may continue north, crossing the Mayer River, to camp at the mouth of the Cape Ball River. Once back at the trailhead, consider visiting the Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay, down the road, to learn about Haida culture. —Stephen Hui

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THE NORTH

History Lesson Ksan Historical Village celebrates Indigenous culture in northern B.C.

There’s More to Northern B.C. Than Nature “I was born in June when the spring salmon were just starting to go up the Nass River,” the groundbreaking Hazelton-based painter Roy Henry Vickers once said. And this same season is the perfect time to gain your own inspiration from the culture, cuisine and curated adventures you’ll find in this vast region. Spanning close to 570,000 square kilometres and featuring more than 60 major parks and wildlife refuges, Northern B.C. is home to thousands of black and grizzly bears, caribou, and bison. But that’s just the beginning. From stunning Indigenous landmarks to a thriving craft beer culture, the region has plenty of human-made wonders to complement the natural ones. The ’Ksan Historical Village, which debuted in 1970 on the site of an old Gitxsan village, is a Hazelton-area must-see. Featuring seven replica longhouses, it’s open May to September—and on a guided tour, you can admire and touch traditional warrior armour and intricate leather robes adorned with abalone and mother-of-pearl. Don’t miss the Frog House—which could accommodate up to 80 people—where wolf and bear skins hang on the walls, and a huge feast bowl for serving meat and berry stews is on display. Over in the Nisga’a Homeland, the twostorey, spectacularly curved Nisga’a Lisims Government Building, opened in 2000, offers a more contemporary architectural interpretation of the longhouse. Nestled in the Nass Valley,

THE ‘IT’ GEAR

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Lucas Aykroyd

the 1,800-strong village of Gitlaxt’aamiks is the centre of power for this self-governing First Nation, set in a territory covering close to 2,000 square kilometres. The Government Building’s elliptical, red-carpeted legislative chamber is impressive, but the carved cedar masks and the exterior totem pole featuring beaver, wolf, and orca motifs work to elevate the facility inside and out. The Nisga’a Homeland boasts extraordinary natural highlights, too. The Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park (Anhluut’ukwsim Laxmihl Angwinga’Asanskwhl Nisga’a) is where, some 300 years ago, a giant volcanic eruption snuffed out close to 2,000 lives. Today, this 1992-established provincial park and its carpet of alkali basalt covered in lichen seems like a landscape from a different planet. Nearby, the cedar, spruce and pine trees of the Drowned Forest sit half-immersed in blue water when the Tseax River floods. The scene’s surreal, translucent beauty is as haunting as any science-fiction movie. But if your taste for liquid runs more toward craft beer, a drive to Sherwood Mountain Brewhouse in Terrace is in order. Yes, the 2014-established brewery’s name pays tribute to the Robin Hood legend, and its German-style lagers— like the Munich and Friar House options—are refreshingly on target. Another craft-house mainstay is the Smithers Brewing Company. Located steps from the iconic Alpen Man statue, the 10-barrel

It’s easy to associate Canada Goose with fashion, and while there’s no doubt their parkas fly off of the shelves at Holts, make no mistake—it is the most serious wear for northern climes out there. While you’re unlikely to need a full expedition parka in the summer, something like the made-in-Canada, lifetime-warranty Crofton vest ($595) will do the seasonal trick in the wilds of B.C. (and in the urban jungle back home). canadagoose.com

m a y / j u n e 2 0 2 2 / westernliving.ca

brewhouse offers memorable favourites—like the Bootlegger Brown Ale, which features notes of toffee and chocolate. When it comes time to eat, start with a breakfast of a hearty vegetable omelette from Louise’s Kitchen, which also dishes up classic Ukrainian lunches, from perogies to cabbage rolls. Or try the avocado toast at Two Sisters, which uses local organic produce, eggs and meat. For those with an appetite for adventure, there is, of course, Northern BC Jet Boat Tours. On a guided Skeena River expedition, you might spot bald eagles soaring overhead, grizzly bear footprints in the sand or a CN train passing by over the dramatic and historic high-level deck truss of the Skeena River Crossing Bridge. But why not wrap it up into a single all-in-one luxury getaway? The secluded, 15,000-square-foot Bear Claw Lodge provides true magic with eight themed rooms, each featuring locally sourced Indigenous and contemporary art. Heli-hiking, kayaking, horseback riding and snorkelling with salmon are among the diversions you can find here. Once you’ve worked up your appetite, feast on smoked salmon corn chowder, bannock with fireweed jelly, or some pan-seared Prince Rupert halibut.

Destination BC/@calsnape

A trip up north is equal parts adventure and education.

Kostuik Gallery represents visual artists from Vancouver, across Canada, the USA, Europe, Mexico and Argentina. Jennifer Kostuik offers painting, sculpture, collage, textile and all photography formats with expertise in special commissions. exper

MOOD BOARD

Heritage Glamour

Paris meets NYC in this kitchen from Tanja Hinder of Marrimor.

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“When we took on the design for a renovation in this heritage space in Vancouver, we pictured Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment in Sex and the City,” says Tanja Hinder. “A lot of feminine glamour with playful elements, too.”

1 It’s all about those gorgeous herringbone floors in a rich walnut stain. They set a real wow moment as soon as you walk into the space. bchardwood.com 2 The Fandango light fixture was designed to capture the power and expression of a Flamenco dancer twirling in space— and really adds a lovely and soft moment against the angles in the room. bloomfurniturestudio.com 3 There’s a hint of sparkle thanks to these Bristol crystal cabinet knobs. bradfordhardware.com 4 Every kitchen should have warm and organic elements in it—and so an Alder Disc from furniture designer Brent Comber acts as a cutting board on the counter. brentcomber.com

5 We took a high-low approach to the design— and these Park Place counter stools designed by Yabu Pushelberg from Avenue Road were a gorgeous, sculptural splurge. avenue-road.com 6 The light moments balance those richly toned floors—like with the Caesarstone counters in Frosty Carrina. caesarstone.ca

8 …and they pair up with another luxe move: a Carrara marble Saarinen table. informinteriors.com

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7 These ’50s-inspired Rönninge dining chairs from Ikea were a bargain. ikea.com

Lauren Bugliarisi

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Photo by Michel Gibert and Baptiste Le Quiniou, for advertising purposes only.

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